Seeing the process of making a staff, and seeing how personal it is, I can understand why european witches switched to using wands. They may be less powerful, but they are also easier to mass produce for a growing population of mages. Especially at this time when relying on a focus, be it staff or wand or book, is considered to be secondary to being able to use your own magic without such a tool. They were meant to be status symbols for a reason. You could be a witch or wizard without a focus, but you weren't a Mage until you had made your own.
Mason Aves: The Wizard(Kinda Complete.. again)
- Thread starter HelloDarkness07
- Start date
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
- Location
- Breukelen
I really like this story. The author is really good at making Mason powerful but not OP. This allows for the fights he's in to stay interesting, not knowing what's going to happen.
I also like the exposition. It's also just the right amount. I allows me to imagine the story without being overtly dense, and thus making me expend too much effort to keep track of what's going on.
There are many more of these things that are just right for this type of story, which is really making me enjoy, and I look forward to each new chapter. So I hope you keep going @HelloDarkness07, would love to read more!
I also like the exposition. It's also just the right amount. I allows me to imagine the story without being overtly dense, and thus making me expend too much effort to keep track of what's going on.
There are many more of these things that are just right for this type of story, which is really making me enjoy, and I look forward to each new chapter. So I hope you keep going @HelloDarkness07, would love to read more!
???
Kasha, my magical animagus form, but it would
wound
heart
stabbed in the heart
any human
how does being tougher get in the way?
stabbed with his boney tail which he had covered it with his venom.
Nowhere
stone nest
mindless
other dragon corpses
had not been damaged
submerged in its own blood
on the clock
- Location
- America
I agree with most of this, but "Every hour, on the hour," is correct.
- Location
- Planet Earth
If I were Mason, I would NOT be comfortable having the Dakholde on my island. The attention it brings, as well as the danger, being too great.
Our guy is taking the Grudge Book too lightly in my opinion. He's got no idea what that thing can really do. I'd be YEETing it in the general direction of the current Sorcerer Supreme ASAP if it was me. Who is the SS at this point in time? Has the current Ancient One even been born yet? I can understand him not fighting the mind control from the dying Dragon Mama because it's something he would have done anyway, but it's funny how he's just accepting he now has 6-7 adopted dragon children. I wonder if any of them survive to the present day? That'd be an interesting family reunion.
61. Filler
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
---
While the staff is soaking in Drugir's blood, I have one more task to get through. Dealing with the foreign memories in my mind. Essex, Howard, Zola, Schmidt, Hiiragi Kurosawa, and a couple more muggle scientists have their entire lives copied in a corner of my mind, which makes a total of 450 additional years of just foreign memories.
Thankfully, my mind is that of a telepath and it is literally designed to store foreign memories. My early steps into the study of Occlumency just helped it organise them properly.
But still, they're foreign memories, and most of them are completely useless to me. So, I'm going through this Ritual. I've waited on this one Ritual for 4 whole years, ever since I copied the memories of Howard Stark and now that I'm free from the cooldown, I cannot wait any longer.
Taking the Cauldron off of the flames, I drop two porcupine quills in it, stir three times counterclockwise, and smile, seeing the Potion settle down into a smooth sky blue colour.
The Memory Transference Potion. On its own, the Potion can just transfer a large number of Memories from one mind to another, without a risk of breaking the later mind. It was invented in the 18th century, after the Wizards realised that memories seen in the Pensive cannot be replicated.
Meaning, if I see someone's memories in a pensive, I cannot take my memories of the Pensive memories out of my mind. They can only be removed from the original mind.
The Memory Transference Potion directly copies all the memories into the mind of anyone who drinks the Potion, giving them all access to all the memories. Just one sip is all it takes to complete the process of transference. There was another Potion, an antidote to this one, that clears the mind of all the memories not your own, to create more space within the mind.
That one was called the Mind Cleansing Elixir, and I had it already prepared, in a small flask. I might not be bothered by the useless memories from the ones I've completely absorbed, but couldn't hurt to have it in hand.
Picking the Cauldron up, I start walking towards the Ritual Chamber, since this one does not actually need me to be outside. The Runes were already carved into the stone floor, so I sit down and begin.
I walk into the centre of the Ritual Circle, and place the Cauldron in the exact centre. I stand next to it, and bring a small copper plate out. Placing the copper plate under the Cauldron, in the space formed by the Cauldron's legs lifting it up, I take some dried Marijuana leaves from my pocket, and place it on the plate.
And then, I take the Elder Wand out.
I can't help but smile a bit, when it thrums in my hand in excitement. The Wand wants to be used, a lot. Everytime I use it, it becomes happy, but I know how it is. The Wand is addictive, its power is addictive. Every spell comes out stronger than I'm meaning to cast, every destructive spell causes more destruction than normally possible. This Wand works as a focus, as well as an amplifier for my Magic, and hence, it is a dangerous tool.
But, it is my sole wand currently, and so, I'm using it.
I put the Wand tip on the side of my forehead, and focus within. As I gently pull the wand away, a large blob of white smoke comes out with it. This orb contained all the useful memories of Nathaniel Essex. His knowledge, his experiments, his bases, his meeting with Apocalypse, his meeting with the Time travelling Mutants, all of it condensed into one single orb. I've left the useless memories out, like his life, wife and son.
While the Ritual won't change me to be more similar to Essex, I don't want to see how he experimented on his own son, or how his wife killed herself again and again, ingrained into my mind.
I gently tap the Cauldron's edge with the Elder Wand, and the white blob of memories falls down. Immediately, it disperses into the Potion, with the colour of the Memory Transference Potion turning a bit darker.
Placing the wand tip on my forehead, I next call up the Knowledge part of Stark's memories, and do the same. Then comes Red Skull, Arnim Zola, and Hiiragi Kurosawa (Kuronin). For most of them, I take just the knowledge part of their memories, which will change my mind(hopefully), to fully work like theirs.
But, for Hiiragi, I did.. more. He had two decades of training under the Hand's Nobu, which included survival training, stealth training, tracking, and a lot more. Then came his memories of the Hand bases in Europe, and those in Japan, since that is where Murakami is more focused in.
I can't do anything with the Hand now, but I will once I'm in the future. Hand, DOM, and MIS. Three organizations I need to take care of, all on my own. Great.
Shaking my head, I bend down, and with the twitch of my hand, light the Marijuana leaves on fire. Standing back up, I close my eyes, and spread my arms apart, the wand already in the Nowhere. And then, I say, "Begin."
Immediately, all the smoke from the Marijuana leaves speeds towards the bottom of the Cauldron, and through it, enters the Potion. The Potion begins bubbling, and swirling, and immediately, I'm sucked into the Cauldron.
The memories start from the last to the first, and hence, I see Hiiragi's training play out first. At the age of 5, Hiiragi was recruited by Nobu from a Karate Dojo, with his parents' approval. He was then taken to the Hand's training school, where he was taught alongside other children. They were taught hand to hand combat, Kunai and Shuriken throwing, Kunai fighting, Sword fighting, hunting, hiding, and a lot more, for 10 years. And then, when he was deemed better than most, Nobu took him on himself.
Nobu taught Hiiragi about Chi, and how to use it to your benefit. He also taught Hiiragi how to use his Chi to make his heart silent, dampening the sound that came out of your body completely. For 7 years, Hiiragi was taught to go from better, to the best amongst best. So much so, that just at the age of 30, when I fought him, Hiiragi was already amongst the top 10 fighters in the Hand.
I could feel my bones breaking everytime someone broke his bones, I could feel my muscles aching for every exercise he did. I could feel my own Magic mimic the Chi whenever I saw Hiiragi train with it.
I could feel everything he did in my own body, as I was getting all the benefits of his training without actually doing them.
I could also feel my mind changing a bit to think more like him, but it wasn't anything major. Even if the Hiiragi portion of my mind wants to attack the enemies on his back, my feral side will refuse to turn away from a good fight.
Then comes Arnim Zola. When his memories start, I feel my mind change with every new thing he learned. Nuclear Physics, Engineering, Quantum Mechanics, Biochemistry, I could feel my old memories of my old life making a lot more sense now. I could feel it in my bones, that I now have a method to harness the energy of any Infinity Stone I want, thanks to Zola's memories of doing so to the Tesseract. Then came Red Skull, and finally Nathaniel Essex.
One by one, I get all the memories ingrained into my mind, into my muscles. After Essex's memories are done with, I finally open my eyes, finding myself laying on the floor of the Ritual Chamber, having no idea when I was spit out.
The Potion was all gone, used up in the Ritual, and so was the Marijuana. As I stand up, I smile, immediately able to recall everything that everyone of my Mind copy victims had learned.
"So much knowledge in your mind, Essex, and you chose to pursue revenge against a God?" I whisper, staring at my hand.
With a kickflip, I get up, and immediately do a corkscrew. Conjuring two swords, I run around, cutting through imaginary enemies with a single strike each, and finally, stop once again in the middle. All the while, I made not a single sound.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my heart, and gently stop it from pumping blood loudly, instead forcing it to do it slowly with the help of my Magic. One beat every minute. The blood flow is so slow, that even I find it hard to hear it, despite it being in my own body.
That's all thanks to Chi. The Personal Energy within every living being, Chi. For me, my Personal Energy is already there and in large amount. But, it can mimic the effects of Chi thanks to the memories now ingrained within myself.
And while the effects are not too strong, Chi is an impressive Energy. Dampening the Heartbeats, slowing down breathing, strengthening limbs for stronger attacks, strengthening body for tougher defence, hardening Muscles to not tire up too early. And the finishing move, gather all Chi in your body at one point, and use that point for attack.
Like what the Kuronin had done to me with his fist. This, however, tires you out too much for any Chi attacks later.
Ninjas are awesome, is all I can say.
Well, time to begin training with these new Ninja memories. The Scientist memories are more for my brain than anything else. Essex's memories will sure come in handy trying to find out what's wrong with the Elves, while his and Zola's memories will help me figure out a way to cure them.
---
7 days later, I go towards the Barrel of Dragon blood that's sitting outside the Castle. The 10 days of soaking are up, and now, it's time to pick my staff.
Opening the barrel, I put my right hand directly inside the blood, and just flex my hand. Immediately, something smacks into my palm, and I pull it out. I was holding on to the staff in the middle, and it still looked the same as before. Only now, there were a few veins of red blood within the Eye. They will fade away with time, I can tell.
Feeling it hum happily in my hand, I take a step away from the barrel of blood, and raise the staff up into the air. And the effect is immediately.
A wave of Magic flows over from my hand to the staff, causing the Eye to shine brightly in a silver light, mixed with red. I hear the screech of a dragon go out all around me, as the staff automatically starts get pulled down, towards the ground. As soon as the staff slams its butt into the ground, the ground itself shakes, as a circle of orange fire forms around me.
These flames then start spinning fast, forming into a tornado, and then with a whoosh, they disappear back into the Staff's eye.
I smile, when the Staff matching is done, having shown me a good enough reaction. It resonates with the Magic of my hand, as if it wants to be used immediately, and well.. who am I to say no?
Pointing the Staff head at a tree in the distance, I focus internally, and whisper, "Destroy."
Immediately, a ball of thick purple magic emits out of the Staff...
...and slams into my stomach, sending me flying back into the Castle door, sans my staff.
"Ugh!" I groan, as my stomach heals from the giant hole that had just been carved into it. "I really need to train to use a Staff, don't I?" I ask myself, sighing in annoyance.
I hold my hand out towards the staff, and smile as it comes flying to my hand. There's a soft hum, as if the Staff is sorry for harming me, which is what caused me to smile.
"I know, we both have a lot to learn before we can get competent. So.. let's get to it, shall we?" I say, to the staff, and to myself.
Time for a training montage!
---
"This.. is weird." I mumble, looking at the illusion of Kultur's DNA strand floating in the air in front of me.
Beside it, floated another DNA strand, belonging to another House Elf called Holar. Holar was an old Elf, almost 80 years old, in fact, where Kultur was barely 40 years old. Holar was found by Kultur in a forest in Greece. The forest is apparently a hotspot for Freed Greek Elves, where they go to die.
And Kultur found Holar there just in time to prevent his suicide by a crocodile, and offered him job here, with me. He was too old to do any hard jobs, so I'd hired him for the Greenhouses, to take care of my plants.
Anyway, the reason for my shock is that their DNA doesn't make sense, even with Essex's knowledge now ingrained in my mind. Most of their Genetic data is normal, what I'd expect of someone living. But there were a few markers that told me that the two Elves are not completely natural, as if they were clones.
Then there was the result of an Ancestry Ritual. I'd done the same Ritual for both the elves, trying to gain the complete Genealogy record of both Kultur and Holar up to 3000 years back.
But, for Kultur, the Ritual just stopped showing results at around 950 years ago, and for Holar around 1000 years ago. I didn't have any of Blinky's blood, but I assume it'll be the same for her too.
Which means the House Elves, as they are now, didn't exist until around 1000 years ago. So.. what happened then? How did they come alive? Did they just.. form into existence?
No, the Clone markers wouldn't have appeared then.
So, someone took the blood, or flesh, or something from someone else, and created these Elves.
Sighing, I wave my hand to turn everything off, and disapparate out of there, appearing in front of the Magical Library of Alexandria. Walking in after conjuring a lumos orb, I knock on the door, and enter.
"Please tell me you found something about Elves, because what I found doesn't make sense." I say, when I see Master Onuris working on some translation or the other.
Master Onuris looks up, frowning, and asks, "First tell me what did you find."
I shrug, and sit down. He's not going to tell anyone, I doubt it. I say, "The House Elves, as a breed, didn't exist until around 1000 years ago. They were created to mimic someone else, I believe. But why, and whom, I have no idea."
Master Onuris sighs, and says, "I was afraid of that. I did find something a few months ago in the Temple of Osiris, hidden very deep within the Library. But, I didn't believe it myself until you told me this."
And with that, he pulls something out of a drawer, and hands it to me. A scroll, a single scroll.
I look at him in disbelief, since this scroll can't have that much information, can it?
Scoffing, Master Onuris says, "Open it, and then decide whether it is worthless or not."
Rolling my eyes, I click the clasp open, and spread the Scroll on the table in front of us. I blink in surprise as soon as I see it.
"It's a tale, written in Hieroglyphics." I voice out loud, a bit surprised. And then, I begin to read.
"Long ago, in the lands of the Pharoahs, there existed an Alchemist of the highest calibre. He never married, never had children, and chose to focus only on his studies. But, so much of his time was wasted on doing daily chores, that he felt could have been better spent in his chambers, studying.
And so, he created an Enchanted Golem. In a long Alchemical Ritual that used the blood of the Light Elves of old, this Golem was formed out of the very Earth itself. The blood of the Light Elves had some influence, however, and the Golem took the shape similar to a Light Elf. But, the Magic within the Ritual wasn't enough to completely mimic the Light Elf, and so, the new Elf Golem was.. small. He had created this.. Brown.. Elf to work as his servent, his maid, gardener, and his cook, all in one.
He connected the tiny Brown Elf to his own Magic, and taught it to use simple spells, so that it could take care of the house for him, take care of the chores. While he worked in his Chambers, the Elf worked the chores. It cooked food for him, washed his clothes, washed the utensils, and cleaned the house. It also took care of the herbs and plants the Alchemist had, after some teaching.
In just 10 years, the Alchemist went from relatively infamous, to famous all around River Nile. His success brought attention to the cause of it, and other Mages came to know about the Brown Elf. A servent made completely out of Mud, that took care of all the Alchemist's chores.
Soon, other people began to ask for a Brown Elf of their own, and the Alchemist, happy to earn more Silver, accepted the order. Within a year, he had replicated his feat multiple times, and created 10 more Brown Elves, and connected them to the Magic of the Buying Mages.
Within 3 more years, the number of Brown Elves had gone up to 1000, and people from all over the world came to him to buy them. The man became rich and greedy, and abandoned Alchemy in favour of becoming even richer. He began getting arrogant, which caused him to anger many a people."
I pause before continuing, already knowing where this story will go next.
"Some of them got together, and killed him. They stole his life's work, his texts and tomes, and even the blood of the Light Elf that had been in his family's possession for centuries. One of them, an Alchemist of some repute, began working on creating a Brown Elf of his own.
Unfortunately, he was not as well versed in Alchemy as the Alchemist was, and hence, the Elves were born.. different. Just by being born, they not only began to change themselves, these Elves began to change the other, previous Elves. They began to evolve.
In 100 years, all the Brown Elves evolved to speak, they began to understand. They had become truly living, and were slowly becoming even more sentient.
Just like the Alchemist before them, these people were also killed by more greedy people, and the Ritual to create the Golems was lost, having burned down in one of the fights, leaving just shy of 2000 Brown Elves in the entire world.
Within the next 100 years, the Brown Elves managed to breed with each other, and the next generation of Elves was born. These Elves weren't completely mud brown, but a lighter shade. And these elves began to evolve further. They had some emotions, but more importantly they had Magic of their own.
Unfortunately, no matter how much they had evolved, they couldn't evolve past their purpose. And that purpose was to serve their Masters, to serve Mages. And so, even after the Ritual to create the Elves was lost, the Brown Elves continued to find families to work for.
In 20 years of searching, I couldn't find a way to free them completely. But, I did find a way to free them from their current master. I used my Mind Magics to convince my Brown Elf that if I give him a piece of cloth, he will be freed from my services. While it did work as intended, and people got to know of this fact, my Elf disappeared, never to be seen again.
The Power of Belief convinced everyone around, person and elf, that granting a piece of cloth to the Elf frees them from their Enslavement. But, the Elves don't want Freedom from their sole purpose. And so, having nothing to do now, most of the freed Elves killed themselves.
Everyone needs purpose in their lives, and I've fulfilled mine. I found a way to free the Elves from the Alchemist's curse. Alas, I also doomed the freed ones to their deaths."
"It's a journal? Who's?" I ask, looking up at Master Onuris.
Master Onuris looks towards the door, and says, "His name has been removed from any and all texts within the Temple, I'm afraid. Someone tried really hard to remove all evidence of the creation of the House Elves, and I'm afraid they've succeeded. This.. is the only manuscript that even mentioned their history, and the only reason it survived is because of its nondescript appearance."
I nod, and roll the scroll back up. This makes sense, the House Elves were artificially created around 1000 years ago. This explains the difference between the bloods of Kultur and Blinky, and the Clone Markers. It seems the Alchemist cloned a Light Elf in 1050 BC. Must've been the first of its kind.
But, he created the Brown Elves out of the Ground itself. Hmm.. I'm guessing some God or the other had a hand in this, why else would the Elves evolve to speak in just 100 years, and to breed in 200? One mother Goddess certainly comes to mind.
"Can I have this?" I ask Master Onuris, lifting the Scroll in my hand.
He nods, and says, "I've already copied the tale down in Ancient Egyptian. This knowledge is not something I want the people to know, because it can have some dangerous consequences."
Yeah, I can see people seeking out Light Elves to kill them and use their blood in Rituals of Golem creation.
The work part of the conversation done, I smile at Master Onuris, and say, "This is not the sole reason I came here. I finished crafting my staff."
Master Onuris perks up, and asks, "Can I see? From afar, of course."
Not minding it, I nod, and bring the staff out of Nowhere. I spin it around my arm, and as a few books float out of the shelves to spin around me, I say, "I'm still learning of course, aiming with a Wand is leagues easier than with a staff."
Master Onuris snorts, and says, "And the Staff is a better channel for your Magic. You must've noticed that less of your Magic is wasted when you cast with a staff than your wand."
I did, actually notice it. The Staff channels Personal Magic around 50% more efficiently than a wand. It was only after using this Staff that I came to realise exactly what made the Elder Wand so dangerous. It has the focusing benefit of a Wand, while also holding the Magical Potency behind the Staff.
What it means, is that, for every spell worth 60 units of Magic, I waste around 40 units into the air. So, for a spell worth 60 units, I use 100 units with a wand, making the efficiency just 60%.
And for my staff, the numbers jump up to around 90% efficiency, with a wastage of just 10 units. Of course, there's no way to accurately measure it, I'm just guessing by way of the power of my destruction.
As for the Elder Wand, there is no wastage of Magic, with the efficiency being 100%. Every bit of Magic you put into the spell is used in the actual spell, and nothing is let out into the air. This just makes my defeat of Grindelwald that much more impressive.
What can I say? I am an impressive Wizard.
Master Onuris observes the Staff for a while, and nods. He says, "I would advise showing the staff to an actual Crafter, so that they can see if there's any error. Neither I or you are experts in this field."
I nod, accepting the advice, and say, "Thank you, I might have to think this through."
After that, I return to Sanctuary, with new realisations in my mind. House Elves are Golems that gained sentience thanks to the Magic within them. Their subconscious mind however still believes that they need to work for Wizards, and that they need external Magic to survive, Magic that they can get in places of extreme Magic and near people.
And I doubt the Wizards want this to change, why let go of slaves that follow all their orders?
Power of Belief, hm? Maybe I can use this for my own benefit. I know Ororo once became a Goddess because of this Power of Belief. Maybe I can use this same Power of Belief to convince the Elves to stop working for Wizards?
It's difficult, not impossible, but at least now I know what direction to go in.
---
With a new problem on my mind, I continue travelling the world with little to no issues, to look for the Sands of Time, and for other Magical Creatures.
I'd kept visiting a Wand/Staff crafter on my to-do list, but didn't plan on actually going. I'm pretty confident in my Crafting, to be honest, and the Staff hasn't given me any problems as of yet.
Except for the aiming problem that went away after the first week, of course.
The Staff is an amazing Focus, and I'm saying this after using the Elder Wand. All the spells that I could use with a Wand, I could also use with a staff, and now that I've gotten used to it, I don't even need to point the staff at my target.
Just focus on casting the spell, and boom! My target is hit. Benefits of having a spherical Focal stone, I suppose.
Of course, if my enemy is faster this won't work, and neither would it if my enemy is stronger, but I'm learning still. I've also begun spending an hour or two practicing using my Chi, or the part of my Magic that behaves like Chi.
Personal Energy within a person can lean towards any direction. It can either go towards Mind Magic(Telepathy and Telekinesis like spells), and Body Magic(Chi). Spiritual and Physical, Yin and Yang, as the theme goes.
Obviously, it is not completely separate. Mind Magic users need a good enough body, and Body Magic users need a clear enough mind.
For Muggles, a learner of One usually cannot learn the other. Chi users can't use any spells that don't use Chi, and similarly, Mystic Arts users can't use Chi. There might be exceptions, but generally, this is the rule.
For Wizards like me however, my Magic itself is very flexible. It can be Mind Magic when it wants to, and it can be Body Magic if I know how to use it.
I really need to study Wizard DNA when I reach my own time. Studying through Runic Holograms can only get me so far.
So, yeah, a small part of my Magic, my Personal Energy was mimicking the Energy patterns of Chi, and I can use it to become even stronger than before. It's not much, but I admit I've gone from just a bit stronger than Wolverine to just a bit weaker than Sabertooth. And that's when I'm actually using the Chi.
To be fair to me, Sabertooth is a century older than me, and his Mutation has had more time to evolve.
There's also a limit to how far I can actually take Chi. I can use it to dampen my heartbeat and cleanse my body smell forever, and I won't even feel the drain. But, I cannot spend more than 3 hours fighting using Chi, I need to spend one hour without using chi for every 3 hours with it.
And I can focus Chi on one single part of my body to take my strength to 10 times my normal strength, but I won't be able to use this method for more than 3 times in those three hours.
I'll probably increase the time limit, the stronger and older I get, but it won't be too much.
Currently, I was walking through the city of Pataliputra, the capital of the Kanva Dynasty in India. The Kanva Dynasty was relatively new to the rule, with the previous King Vasudeva being a Minister of the Shunga Emperor Devabhuti, the last Emporor of the Shunga Empire. Assasinations happen, and Vasudeva becomes the King.
And now, Vasudeva's son, Bhumimitra ruled the Dynasty.
Pataliputra is a pretty lively city in the Magadha region, in what might amount to Eastern India. Even in the last life I never paid attention to Indian history, and I'm cursing my old life now. Pataliputra is beautiful, and I only came here now, because I didn't fucking know about it.
I was here, not just to enjoy my.. soul's heritage, no. I was here to visit someone I'd heard about from the Indian locals. Chandragupta, no relation to the Maurya as far as I can tell, is a Mage of some good reputation in Patliputra.
He can talk to snakes, give Blessings or curses to anyone if the Gods agree, he predicts a lot of stuff accurately, and he's a Potions Master. My reason for seeking him out is twofold. One, he's a Parselmouth, the first one I've heard of in this Era, that isn't simultaneously a Dark Wizard. Hence, he's the only source for any Parseltongue Magicks that might have been lost in time before even Salazar's era.
I'm going to visit the Nalanda Mahavihara after this anyway, just to check the world's first residential University, but visiting the actual Parselmouth first was a priority.
As for the second reason, I'm hoping to learn Divination from him. Chandragupta has predicted weather, family reputation, and a lot more, just by looking at either palms, or eyes, or even reading cards.
So, yeah, I'm honestly psyched to meet this man, since my knowledge of Divination is.. lackluster.
Right before I reach his house, however, I feel a buzz go off on the back of my neck, immediately making me smile widely. One of my Alert Charms had gone off, and I know which one it is.
Durra's dragon eggs were hatching, 1 entire year after I'd gotten them. And there's no way in hell that I'm losing the opportunity of seeing that.
Chandragupta can wait, my baby dragons won't.
---
A/N: I'm trying to classify the Magic according to the myths, while also balancing it properly.
Indian Saadhus were said to have direct contact with the Gods, and some Gods even respected these Sadhus as authorities. Heck, some Sadhus have cursed Gods, and Gods accepted that!
So, yeah, the power scaling needs some work. I won't focus more on Chandragupta, barely half a chapter if that, but hopefully I won't need to. The dragons also won't make too much of an appearance, just like Sly. I cannot write pets very well.
The next few chapters will have multiple time skips, so that I can get Mason back to the Present. I'm guessing now that it'll take me Ch 75 to get to 1945 again, but it can extend to Ch 80. Sorry! I'm just enjoying the past too much.
Huh, maybe I should write a fic based actually in the past, maybe just MCU though, or just HP. But, it won't happen yet.
Thank you for your support! Tata!
---
While the staff is soaking in Drugir's blood, I have one more task to get through. Dealing with the foreign memories in my mind. Essex, Howard, Zola, Schmidt, Hiiragi Kurosawa, and a couple more muggle scientists have their entire lives copied in a corner of my mind, which makes a total of 450 additional years of just foreign memories.
Thankfully, my mind is that of a telepath and it is literally designed to store foreign memories. My early steps into the study of Occlumency just helped it organise them properly.
But still, they're foreign memories, and most of them are completely useless to me. So, I'm going through this Ritual. I've waited on this one Ritual for 4 whole years, ever since I copied the memories of Howard Stark and now that I'm free from the cooldown, I cannot wait any longer.
Taking the Cauldron off of the flames, I drop two porcupine quills in it, stir three times counterclockwise, and smile, seeing the Potion settle down into a smooth sky blue colour.
The Memory Transference Potion. On its own, the Potion can just transfer a large number of Memories from one mind to another, without a risk of breaking the later mind. It was invented in the 18th century, after the Wizards realised that memories seen in the Pensive cannot be replicated.
Meaning, if I see someone's memories in a pensive, I cannot take my memories of the Pensive memories out of my mind. They can only be removed from the original mind.
The Memory Transference Potion directly copies all the memories into the mind of anyone who drinks the Potion, giving them all access to all the memories. Just one sip is all it takes to complete the process of transference. There was another Potion, an antidote to this one, that clears the mind of all the memories not your own, to create more space within the mind.
That one was called the Mind Cleansing Elixir, and I had it already prepared, in a small flask. I might not be bothered by the useless memories from the ones I've completely absorbed, but couldn't hurt to have it in hand.
Picking the Cauldron up, I start walking towards the Ritual Chamber, since this one does not actually need me to be outside. The Runes were already carved into the stone floor, so I sit down and begin.
I walk into the centre of the Ritual Circle, and place the Cauldron in the exact centre. I stand next to it, and bring a small copper plate out. Placing the copper plate under the Cauldron, in the space formed by the Cauldron's legs lifting it up, I take some dried Marijuana leaves from my pocket, and place it on the plate.
And then, I take the Elder Wand out.
I can't help but smile a bit, when it thrums in my hand in excitement. The Wand wants to be used, a lot. Everytime I use it, it becomes happy, but I know how it is. The Wand is addictive, its power is addictive. Every spell comes out stronger than I'm meaning to cast, every destructive spell causes more destruction than normally possible. This Wand works as a focus, as well as an amplifier for my Magic, and hence, it is a dangerous tool.
But, it is my sole wand currently, and so, I'm using it.
I put the Wand tip on the side of my forehead, and focus within. As I gently pull the wand away, a large blob of white smoke comes out with it. This orb contained all the useful memories of Nathaniel Essex. His knowledge, his experiments, his bases, his meeting with Apocalypse, his meeting with the Time travelling Mutants, all of it condensed into one single orb. I've left the useless memories out, like his life, wife and son.
While the Ritual won't change me to be more similar to Essex, I don't want to see how he experimented on his own son, or how his wife killed herself again and again, ingrained into my mind.
I gently tap the Cauldron's edge with the Elder Wand, and the white blob of memories falls down. Immediately, it disperses into the Potion, with the colour of the Memory Transference Potion turning a bit darker.
Placing the wand tip on my forehead, I next call up the Knowledge part of Stark's memories, and do the same. Then comes Red Skull, Arnim Zola, and Hiiragi Kurosawa (Kuronin). For most of them, I take just the knowledge part of their memories, which will change my mind(hopefully), to fully work like theirs.
But, for Hiiragi, I did.. more. He had two decades of training under the Hand's Nobu, which included survival training, stealth training, tracking, and a lot more. Then came his memories of the Hand bases in Europe, and those in Japan, since that is where Murakami is more focused in.
I can't do anything with the Hand now, but I will once I'm in the future. Hand, DOM, and MIS. Three organizations I need to take care of, all on my own. Great.
Shaking my head, I bend down, and with the twitch of my hand, light the Marijuana leaves on fire. Standing back up, I close my eyes, and spread my arms apart, the wand already in the Nowhere. And then, I say, "Begin."
Immediately, all the smoke from the Marijuana leaves speeds towards the bottom of the Cauldron, and through it, enters the Potion. The Potion begins bubbling, and swirling, and immediately, I'm sucked into the Cauldron.
The memories start from the last to the first, and hence, I see Hiiragi's training play out first. At the age of 5, Hiiragi was recruited by Nobu from a Karate Dojo, with his parents' approval. He was then taken to the Hand's training school, where he was taught alongside other children. They were taught hand to hand combat, Kunai and Shuriken throwing, Kunai fighting, Sword fighting, hunting, hiding, and a lot more, for 10 years. And then, when he was deemed better than most, Nobu took him on himself.
Nobu taught Hiiragi about Chi, and how to use it to your benefit. He also taught Hiiragi how to use his Chi to make his heart silent, dampening the sound that came out of your body completely. For 7 years, Hiiragi was taught to go from better, to the best amongst best. So much so, that just at the age of 30, when I fought him, Hiiragi was already amongst the top 10 fighters in the Hand.
I could feel my bones breaking everytime someone broke his bones, I could feel my muscles aching for every exercise he did. I could feel my own Magic mimic the Chi whenever I saw Hiiragi train with it.
I could feel everything he did in my own body, as I was getting all the benefits of his training without actually doing them.
I could also feel my mind changing a bit to think more like him, but it wasn't anything major. Even if the Hiiragi portion of my mind wants to attack the enemies on his back, my feral side will refuse to turn away from a good fight.
Then comes Arnim Zola. When his memories start, I feel my mind change with every new thing he learned. Nuclear Physics, Engineering, Quantum Mechanics, Biochemistry, I could feel my old memories of my old life making a lot more sense now. I could feel it in my bones, that I now have a method to harness the energy of any Infinity Stone I want, thanks to Zola's memories of doing so to the Tesseract. Then came Red Skull, and finally Nathaniel Essex.
One by one, I get all the memories ingrained into my mind, into my muscles. After Essex's memories are done with, I finally open my eyes, finding myself laying on the floor of the Ritual Chamber, having no idea when I was spit out.
The Potion was all gone, used up in the Ritual, and so was the Marijuana. As I stand up, I smile, immediately able to recall everything that everyone of my Mind copy victims had learned.
"So much knowledge in your mind, Essex, and you chose to pursue revenge against a God?" I whisper, staring at my hand.
With a kickflip, I get up, and immediately do a corkscrew. Conjuring two swords, I run around, cutting through imaginary enemies with a single strike each, and finally, stop once again in the middle. All the while, I made not a single sound.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my heart, and gently stop it from pumping blood loudly, instead forcing it to do it slowly with the help of my Magic. One beat every minute. The blood flow is so slow, that even I find it hard to hear it, despite it being in my own body.
That's all thanks to Chi. The Personal Energy within every living being, Chi. For me, my Personal Energy is already there and in large amount. But, it can mimic the effects of Chi thanks to the memories now ingrained within myself.
And while the effects are not too strong, Chi is an impressive Energy. Dampening the Heartbeats, slowing down breathing, strengthening limbs for stronger attacks, strengthening body for tougher defence, hardening Muscles to not tire up too early. And the finishing move, gather all Chi in your body at one point, and use that point for attack.
Like what the Kuronin had done to me with his fist. This, however, tires you out too much for any Chi attacks later.
Ninjas are awesome, is all I can say.
Well, time to begin training with these new Ninja memories. The Scientist memories are more for my brain than anything else. Essex's memories will sure come in handy trying to find out what's wrong with the Elves, while his and Zola's memories will help me figure out a way to cure them.
---
7 days later, I go towards the Barrel of Dragon blood that's sitting outside the Castle. The 10 days of soaking are up, and now, it's time to pick my staff.
Opening the barrel, I put my right hand directly inside the blood, and just flex my hand. Immediately, something smacks into my palm, and I pull it out. I was holding on to the staff in the middle, and it still looked the same as before. Only now, there were a few veins of red blood within the Eye. They will fade away with time, I can tell.
Feeling it hum happily in my hand, I take a step away from the barrel of blood, and raise the staff up into the air. And the effect is immediately.
A wave of Magic flows over from my hand to the staff, causing the Eye to shine brightly in a silver light, mixed with red. I hear the screech of a dragon go out all around me, as the staff automatically starts get pulled down, towards the ground. As soon as the staff slams its butt into the ground, the ground itself shakes, as a circle of orange fire forms around me.
These flames then start spinning fast, forming into a tornado, and then with a whoosh, they disappear back into the Staff's eye.
I smile, when the Staff matching is done, having shown me a good enough reaction. It resonates with the Magic of my hand, as if it wants to be used immediately, and well.. who am I to say no?
Pointing the Staff head at a tree in the distance, I focus internally, and whisper, "Destroy."
Immediately, a ball of thick purple magic emits out of the Staff...
...and slams into my stomach, sending me flying back into the Castle door, sans my staff.
"Ugh!" I groan, as my stomach heals from the giant hole that had just been carved into it. "I really need to train to use a Staff, don't I?" I ask myself, sighing in annoyance.
I hold my hand out towards the staff, and smile as it comes flying to my hand. There's a soft hum, as if the Staff is sorry for harming me, which is what caused me to smile.
"I know, we both have a lot to learn before we can get competent. So.. let's get to it, shall we?" I say, to the staff, and to myself.
Time for a training montage!
---
"This.. is weird." I mumble, looking at the illusion of Kultur's DNA strand floating in the air in front of me.
Beside it, floated another DNA strand, belonging to another House Elf called Holar. Holar was an old Elf, almost 80 years old, in fact, where Kultur was barely 40 years old. Holar was found by Kultur in a forest in Greece. The forest is apparently a hotspot for Freed Greek Elves, where they go to die.
And Kultur found Holar there just in time to prevent his suicide by a crocodile, and offered him job here, with me. He was too old to do any hard jobs, so I'd hired him for the Greenhouses, to take care of my plants.
Anyway, the reason for my shock is that their DNA doesn't make sense, even with Essex's knowledge now ingrained in my mind. Most of their Genetic data is normal, what I'd expect of someone living. But there were a few markers that told me that the two Elves are not completely natural, as if they were clones.
Then there was the result of an Ancestry Ritual. I'd done the same Ritual for both the elves, trying to gain the complete Genealogy record of both Kultur and Holar up to 3000 years back.
But, for Kultur, the Ritual just stopped showing results at around 950 years ago, and for Holar around 1000 years ago. I didn't have any of Blinky's blood, but I assume it'll be the same for her too.
Which means the House Elves, as they are now, didn't exist until around 1000 years ago. So.. what happened then? How did they come alive? Did they just.. form into existence?
No, the Clone markers wouldn't have appeared then.
So, someone took the blood, or flesh, or something from someone else, and created these Elves.
Sighing, I wave my hand to turn everything off, and disapparate out of there, appearing in front of the Magical Library of Alexandria. Walking in after conjuring a lumos orb, I knock on the door, and enter.
"Please tell me you found something about Elves, because what I found doesn't make sense." I say, when I see Master Onuris working on some translation or the other.
Master Onuris looks up, frowning, and asks, "First tell me what did you find."
I shrug, and sit down. He's not going to tell anyone, I doubt it. I say, "The House Elves, as a breed, didn't exist until around 1000 years ago. They were created to mimic someone else, I believe. But why, and whom, I have no idea."
Master Onuris sighs, and says, "I was afraid of that. I did find something a few months ago in the Temple of Osiris, hidden very deep within the Library. But, I didn't believe it myself until you told me this."
And with that, he pulls something out of a drawer, and hands it to me. A scroll, a single scroll.
I look at him in disbelief, since this scroll can't have that much information, can it?
Scoffing, Master Onuris says, "Open it, and then decide whether it is worthless or not."
Rolling my eyes, I click the clasp open, and spread the Scroll on the table in front of us. I blink in surprise as soon as I see it.
"It's a tale, written in Hieroglyphics." I voice out loud, a bit surprised. And then, I begin to read.
"Long ago, in the lands of the Pharoahs, there existed an Alchemist of the highest calibre. He never married, never had children, and chose to focus only on his studies. But, so much of his time was wasted on doing daily chores, that he felt could have been better spent in his chambers, studying.
And so, he created an Enchanted Golem. In a long Alchemical Ritual that used the blood of the Light Elves of old, this Golem was formed out of the very Earth itself. The blood of the Light Elves had some influence, however, and the Golem took the shape similar to a Light Elf. But, the Magic within the Ritual wasn't enough to completely mimic the Light Elf, and so, the new Elf Golem was.. small. He had created this.. Brown.. Elf to work as his servent, his maid, gardener, and his cook, all in one.
He connected the tiny Brown Elf to his own Magic, and taught it to use simple spells, so that it could take care of the house for him, take care of the chores. While he worked in his Chambers, the Elf worked the chores. It cooked food for him, washed his clothes, washed the utensils, and cleaned the house. It also took care of the herbs and plants the Alchemist had, after some teaching.
In just 10 years, the Alchemist went from relatively infamous, to famous all around River Nile. His success brought attention to the cause of it, and other Mages came to know about the Brown Elf. A servent made completely out of Mud, that took care of all the Alchemist's chores.
Soon, other people began to ask for a Brown Elf of their own, and the Alchemist, happy to earn more Silver, accepted the order. Within a year, he had replicated his feat multiple times, and created 10 more Brown Elves, and connected them to the Magic of the Buying Mages.
Within 3 more years, the number of Brown Elves had gone up to 1000, and people from all over the world came to him to buy them. The man became rich and greedy, and abandoned Alchemy in favour of becoming even richer. He began getting arrogant, which caused him to anger many a people."
I pause before continuing, already knowing where this story will go next.
"Some of them got together, and killed him. They stole his life's work, his texts and tomes, and even the blood of the Light Elf that had been in his family's possession for centuries. One of them, an Alchemist of some repute, began working on creating a Brown Elf of his own.
Unfortunately, he was not as well versed in Alchemy as the Alchemist was, and hence, the Elves were born.. different. Just by being born, they not only began to change themselves, these Elves began to change the other, previous Elves. They began to evolve.
In 100 years, all the Brown Elves evolved to speak, they began to understand. They had become truly living, and were slowly becoming even more sentient.
Just like the Alchemist before them, these people were also killed by more greedy people, and the Ritual to create the Golems was lost, having burned down in one of the fights, leaving just shy of 2000 Brown Elves in the entire world.
Within the next 100 years, the Brown Elves managed to breed with each other, and the next generation of Elves was born. These Elves weren't completely mud brown, but a lighter shade. And these elves began to evolve further. They had some emotions, but more importantly they had Magic of their own.
Unfortunately, no matter how much they had evolved, they couldn't evolve past their purpose. And that purpose was to serve their Masters, to serve Mages. And so, even after the Ritual to create the Elves was lost, the Brown Elves continued to find families to work for.
In 20 years of searching, I couldn't find a way to free them completely. But, I did find a way to free them from their current master. I used my Mind Magics to convince my Brown Elf that if I give him a piece of cloth, he will be freed from my services. While it did work as intended, and people got to know of this fact, my Elf disappeared, never to be seen again.
The Power of Belief convinced everyone around, person and elf, that granting a piece of cloth to the Elf frees them from their Enslavement. But, the Elves don't want Freedom from their sole purpose. And so, having nothing to do now, most of the freed Elves killed themselves.
Everyone needs purpose in their lives, and I've fulfilled mine. I found a way to free the Elves from the Alchemist's curse. Alas, I also doomed the freed ones to their deaths."
"It's a journal? Who's?" I ask, looking up at Master Onuris.
Master Onuris looks towards the door, and says, "His name has been removed from any and all texts within the Temple, I'm afraid. Someone tried really hard to remove all evidence of the creation of the House Elves, and I'm afraid they've succeeded. This.. is the only manuscript that even mentioned their history, and the only reason it survived is because of its nondescript appearance."
I nod, and roll the scroll back up. This makes sense, the House Elves were artificially created around 1000 years ago. This explains the difference between the bloods of Kultur and Blinky, and the Clone Markers. It seems the Alchemist cloned a Light Elf in 1050 BC. Must've been the first of its kind.
But, he created the Brown Elves out of the Ground itself. Hmm.. I'm guessing some God or the other had a hand in this, why else would the Elves evolve to speak in just 100 years, and to breed in 200? One mother Goddess certainly comes to mind.
"Can I have this?" I ask Master Onuris, lifting the Scroll in my hand.
He nods, and says, "I've already copied the tale down in Ancient Egyptian. This knowledge is not something I want the people to know, because it can have some dangerous consequences."
Yeah, I can see people seeking out Light Elves to kill them and use their blood in Rituals of Golem creation.
The work part of the conversation done, I smile at Master Onuris, and say, "This is not the sole reason I came here. I finished crafting my staff."
Master Onuris perks up, and asks, "Can I see? From afar, of course."
Not minding it, I nod, and bring the staff out of Nowhere. I spin it around my arm, and as a few books float out of the shelves to spin around me, I say, "I'm still learning of course, aiming with a Wand is leagues easier than with a staff."
Master Onuris snorts, and says, "And the Staff is a better channel for your Magic. You must've noticed that less of your Magic is wasted when you cast with a staff than your wand."
I did, actually notice it. The Staff channels Personal Magic around 50% more efficiently than a wand. It was only after using this Staff that I came to realise exactly what made the Elder Wand so dangerous. It has the focusing benefit of a Wand, while also holding the Magical Potency behind the Staff.
What it means, is that, for every spell worth 60 units of Magic, I waste around 40 units into the air. So, for a spell worth 60 units, I use 100 units with a wand, making the efficiency just 60%.
And for my staff, the numbers jump up to around 90% efficiency, with a wastage of just 10 units. Of course, there's no way to accurately measure it, I'm just guessing by way of the power of my destruction.
As for the Elder Wand, there is no wastage of Magic, with the efficiency being 100%. Every bit of Magic you put into the spell is used in the actual spell, and nothing is let out into the air. This just makes my defeat of Grindelwald that much more impressive.
What can I say? I am an impressive Wizard.
Master Onuris observes the Staff for a while, and nods. He says, "I would advise showing the staff to an actual Crafter, so that they can see if there's any error. Neither I or you are experts in this field."
I nod, accepting the advice, and say, "Thank you, I might have to think this through."
After that, I return to Sanctuary, with new realisations in my mind. House Elves are Golems that gained sentience thanks to the Magic within them. Their subconscious mind however still believes that they need to work for Wizards, and that they need external Magic to survive, Magic that they can get in places of extreme Magic and near people.
And I doubt the Wizards want this to change, why let go of slaves that follow all their orders?
Power of Belief, hm? Maybe I can use this for my own benefit. I know Ororo once became a Goddess because of this Power of Belief. Maybe I can use this same Power of Belief to convince the Elves to stop working for Wizards?
It's difficult, not impossible, but at least now I know what direction to go in.
---
With a new problem on my mind, I continue travelling the world with little to no issues, to look for the Sands of Time, and for other Magical Creatures.
I'd kept visiting a Wand/Staff crafter on my to-do list, but didn't plan on actually going. I'm pretty confident in my Crafting, to be honest, and the Staff hasn't given me any problems as of yet.
Except for the aiming problem that went away after the first week, of course.
The Staff is an amazing Focus, and I'm saying this after using the Elder Wand. All the spells that I could use with a Wand, I could also use with a staff, and now that I've gotten used to it, I don't even need to point the staff at my target.
Just focus on casting the spell, and boom! My target is hit. Benefits of having a spherical Focal stone, I suppose.
Of course, if my enemy is faster this won't work, and neither would it if my enemy is stronger, but I'm learning still. I've also begun spending an hour or two practicing using my Chi, or the part of my Magic that behaves like Chi.
Personal Energy within a person can lean towards any direction. It can either go towards Mind Magic(Telepathy and Telekinesis like spells), and Body Magic(Chi). Spiritual and Physical, Yin and Yang, as the theme goes.
Obviously, it is not completely separate. Mind Magic users need a good enough body, and Body Magic users need a clear enough mind.
For Muggles, a learner of One usually cannot learn the other. Chi users can't use any spells that don't use Chi, and similarly, Mystic Arts users can't use Chi. There might be exceptions, but generally, this is the rule.
For Wizards like me however, my Magic itself is very flexible. It can be Mind Magic when it wants to, and it can be Body Magic if I know how to use it.
I really need to study Wizard DNA when I reach my own time. Studying through Runic Holograms can only get me so far.
So, yeah, a small part of my Magic, my Personal Energy was mimicking the Energy patterns of Chi, and I can use it to become even stronger than before. It's not much, but I admit I've gone from just a bit stronger than Wolverine to just a bit weaker than Sabertooth. And that's when I'm actually using the Chi.
To be fair to me, Sabertooth is a century older than me, and his Mutation has had more time to evolve.
There's also a limit to how far I can actually take Chi. I can use it to dampen my heartbeat and cleanse my body smell forever, and I won't even feel the drain. But, I cannot spend more than 3 hours fighting using Chi, I need to spend one hour without using chi for every 3 hours with it.
And I can focus Chi on one single part of my body to take my strength to 10 times my normal strength, but I won't be able to use this method for more than 3 times in those three hours.
I'll probably increase the time limit, the stronger and older I get, but it won't be too much.
Currently, I was walking through the city of Pataliputra, the capital of the Kanva Dynasty in India. The Kanva Dynasty was relatively new to the rule, with the previous King Vasudeva being a Minister of the Shunga Emperor Devabhuti, the last Emporor of the Shunga Empire. Assasinations happen, and Vasudeva becomes the King.
And now, Vasudeva's son, Bhumimitra ruled the Dynasty.
Pataliputra is a pretty lively city in the Magadha region, in what might amount to Eastern India. Even in the last life I never paid attention to Indian history, and I'm cursing my old life now. Pataliputra is beautiful, and I only came here now, because I didn't fucking know about it.
I was here, not just to enjoy my.. soul's heritage, no. I was here to visit someone I'd heard about from the Indian locals. Chandragupta, no relation to the Maurya as far as I can tell, is a Mage of some good reputation in Patliputra.
He can talk to snakes, give Blessings or curses to anyone if the Gods agree, he predicts a lot of stuff accurately, and he's a Potions Master. My reason for seeking him out is twofold. One, he's a Parselmouth, the first one I've heard of in this Era, that isn't simultaneously a Dark Wizard. Hence, he's the only source for any Parseltongue Magicks that might have been lost in time before even Salazar's era.
I'm going to visit the Nalanda Mahavihara after this anyway, just to check the world's first residential University, but visiting the actual Parselmouth first was a priority.
As for the second reason, I'm hoping to learn Divination from him. Chandragupta has predicted weather, family reputation, and a lot more, just by looking at either palms, or eyes, or even reading cards.
So, yeah, I'm honestly psyched to meet this man, since my knowledge of Divination is.. lackluster.
Right before I reach his house, however, I feel a buzz go off on the back of my neck, immediately making me smile widely. One of my Alert Charms had gone off, and I know which one it is.
Durra's dragon eggs were hatching, 1 entire year after I'd gotten them. And there's no way in hell that I'm losing the opportunity of seeing that.
Chandragupta can wait, my baby dragons won't.
---
A/N: I'm trying to classify the Magic according to the myths, while also balancing it properly.
Indian Saadhus were said to have direct contact with the Gods, and some Gods even respected these Sadhus as authorities. Heck, some Sadhus have cursed Gods, and Gods accepted that!
So, yeah, the power scaling needs some work. I won't focus more on Chandragupta, barely half a chapter if that, but hopefully I won't need to. The dragons also won't make too much of an appearance, just like Sly. I cannot write pets very well.
The next few chapters will have multiple time skips, so that I can get Mason back to the Present. I'm guessing now that it'll take me Ch 75 to get to 1945 again, but it can extend to Ch 80. Sorry! I'm just enjoying the past too much.
Huh, maybe I should write a fic based actually in the past, maybe just MCU though, or just HP. But, it won't happen yet.
Thank you for your support! Tata!
victory over
Kind of expecting that origin for the Elves. Why did you use the Light Elves in the story? Just asking
- Location
- Planet Earth
So... Hope MC has decided to remove that binding on his magic(being unable to heal without permission), and also that he has been continuing to copy memories. I mean, copy Wand/Staff makers, other mages/researchers. That way he can continue to rapidly improve without missing/losing info and without being dependant on others(in the case of Wand/Staff crafters).
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I had two MCU options, Light and Dark Elves. Dark Elves are.. Dark, and people might take it to be the reason why Wizards enslaved them or how they deserved to be enslaved, or something.
So, Light Elves.
- Location
- Existence
I would leave the word ancient off, after all, it is not called that in the time period the character speaking is in.
- Location
- Australia
Nothing wrong with taking your time with the past. Just try to leave some parts open ended if you want to use a flashback or something down the line.
And the dark elves should be extinct in the time Mason is in. They were eliminated by Odin's dad
62. The Eye of True North
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
A/N: Patreon: HelloDarkness07
I'd like to say that I am taking a week long break from writing. Which means, I also won't be posting anything for 7 days. So.. 2 chapters lol.
The break is because I need to recover from my sleep deprivation and my depression, by taking a relaxing week. Hopefully.
Also, as you might notice in this chapter, and the ones with Sly. I cannot write Pets very well. Heck, I can barely write humans as is, but writing animals are worse. So, sorry!
Well, read on!
—
"SCREEEEE!" A high pitched voice sounds from up above, as I rest on the beach. One after the other, six dragons fly overhead, all of them around two feet in length. The seventh dragon laid on the beach with me, with his head on my chest.
Scratching his head gently, I enjoy the peace and quiet I'm getting. It has been three months since the dragons hatched, taking the dragon population of Sanctuary up from zero, to seven. The one currently sleeping beside me was the laziest of the bunch, named Okniros, while the others were pretty energetic.
Hearing a splash, I turn towards the sea, and watch the water rippling, thanks to one of my dragons diving in. Within a second, Mana, the oldest of the bunch flies out of the water, a fish in her mouth. With a single motion, she throws the fish into the air, fries it with her flames, and once again catches it in her mouth to eat it.
She then drops on the beach to my left, and curls up next to me, her own head on my chest. I ask, ~~Enjoy yourself, Mana?~~
Mana looks up at me, and screeches at me. While she does that however, I hear the words hidden underneath the loud voice of screeching, as she says, ~~Yes, I did, Father! We saw Unicorns today!~~
I smile at her excitement, and scratch her own head. I say, ~~Be careful with the Unicorns, they don't like it when someone harms one of them.~~
Seven dragons, four females, three males. Mana, Okniros, Peinon, Filotimo, Zilevo, Aplistia, and Thymos. All of them named after their most dominant personality traits. Mana is motherly, Okniros is lazy, Peinon is a gluton for food, Filotimo is prideful, Zilevo is envious of any attention I give to anyone else, Aplistia is greedy as hell, and Thymos is the one to get angry the easiest. Of these, Mana, Aplistia, Thymos and Peinon are females, while the other three are males.
Not exactly creative names, but they do suit my dragons well.
Speaking of, here they come. After their own swims in the ocean, for fishes, all the remaining five dragons dive at me, with Zilevo jumping on my stomach.
"Oof! Goddamnit, Zi!" I yelp, catching him on my stomach.
As they all cuddle next to me, however, I can't help but smile. They might be a bit annoying, but they're my dragons, and I love them a lot.
It has been three months since they've hatched, and I've been here on Sanctuary for the majority of the time, taking care of these babies. In the beginning, they were pretty much dependent on me for survival, drinking chicken blood mixed with Fermented goat milk for food. But now, they've begun hunting for their own food.
They eat all the small animals, as well as fish. Thankfully, the dragons don't eat any Magical creatures, at least none on or around Sanctuary. I don't know if this holds true for all dragons, or just these ones, but I'm glad for it.
I did go to visit Chandragupta once, and spoke with him for a while about Magic, and about Parseltongue while staying with his family as a guest. I have to say, I enjoyed his perspective on what Magic is, and what Parseltongue can do.
According to him, and the other Mages of the area, Magic was given to us mages by the Gods, through a blessing to our ancestors. Which is.. kinda true, if Oshtur is actually our creator. According to him, Magic is a force present everywhere in the Universe, since the God Brahma is supposed to be the Creator of the Entire Universe, and hence a Mage can use Magic no matter where in the Universe you go.
This I had a bit of doubt in. While Sorcerers are connected to the Universe, Wizards, or Mages, are not. Mages are connected to the planet. We do have Magic of our own, but most of our spells utilise Planetary Magic to accomplish Magic. Us Mages are just the Channels, sort of like Wands.
Parselmouths, according to Hindu mythology, is a gift given to the descendants of Goddess Manasa, the Snake Goddess. It is a Magical language, and it is actually possible to cast spells in the language. I have no idea why I never tried it, but after he showed me some simple spells, I couldn't help but feel stupid.
I'd tried saying Lumos in Parseltongue before, with a whole lot of focus and willpower. It did light up, but it only happened because of my willpower and focus, not because of Parseltongue.
Just like Greek, Latin, and Egyptian, Parseltongue is a language that's steeped in Magic. You just need to focus on the effect, and say the effect you want clearly. Lumos is Latin, I basically said the Parseltongue translation of a Latin word, which.. did not work.
~~Light.~~ I whisper, as a bright green orb floats out of my chest and remains in the air in front of me.
Unfortunately, Chandragupta refused to teach me anything about Divination, since whatever he can teach me is supposed to only be taught to his family, and his Apprentice. And I am none of them.
He did point me towards the Nalanda University, which takes students all year round. And for some reason, the Magadha region loves Greek people! So, I had planned on going there soon, I was just waiting for the babies to grow old enough to survive on their own.
And now that my babies are independent enough, I can finally leave them to live on Sanctuary on their own. But, nothing says I need to leave right at this moment, while being surrounded by my babies.
---
Walking through the gates of the Nalanda University, I look around with a smile. The architecture here reminded me of the temples I'd seen in my old life, with thick stone walls, carved with the idols of Gods, and the tales of old.
This.. was very nostalgic, and even if I'd left that identity behind, I can't help but feel glad that I'm here.
"Hello, can I help you?" An old man asks in Magadhi Prakrit, the most common language in the Magadha region, which is basically modern day Northeast India, as he approaches me.
Smiling at him, I put my palms together in a hello, bow a bit, and say, "My name is Atharva Joshi." Hey, it's not Brown-face if I actually was a brown guy once. "I am a Mage travelling from the Satavahana Dynasty, here to exchange knowledge."
Bowing back, the old man says, "Nice to meet you, Mage Atharva. I am Brahmaprasad, a Professor here at the Mahavihara. Come, walk with me, and tell me. What do you hope to gain? And, may I ask what do you have to offer?"
As we start walking, I say, "I have spent two years studying in the Great Library of Alexandria, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad. Master Onuris, the Librarian responsible for safeguarding Magical Knowledge allowed me to copy a few texts. I am hoping to exchange some of those texts for any books on Divination, and Souls that the Great Nalanda Mahavihara can grant me."
"Hmm." Brahmaprasad says, as he stops and stares at me. I keep my head low, since the culture this far back demands complete respect be given to the teachers. To be fair, the teachers here are less of arseholes than they're in the future.
He nods, and says, "I will allow an exchange of one book per book. Equal exchange, as the way things should be. Of course, the value of the books you grant us will be decided after I read it, and then, a similarly valued book will be granted to you in return. Is that acceptable, Mage Atharva?"
Considering that what I have is just books from the Royal Mage Library, and hence pretty damn important knowledge, I have no objection to that. Plus, I'm just granting copies, permanent copies, but copies just the same.
Nodding with a short bow, I say, "That is acceptable, Mahaguru. Do I have permission to peruse your Library in the meantime?"
Mahaguru Brahmaprasad nods, as he once more begins walking, and says, "You may visit the Library, but you won't be allowed to copy any of the Tomes there. The only knowledge you will be taking with you is what you exchange, and what you manage to read in the short while."
I smirk, having no problem with it at all. My reading speed is.. extraordinarily fast, is all I can say. We then go to a classroom, where Mahaguru Brahmaprasad asks me to put forward all the books I'm willing to grant them.
From the mokeskin pouch, I take out one book after another, all of them with some manner of highly advanced knowledge. Three on Staff Crafting, seven on Egyptian Enchantments, nine on Curses and Dark Wards, five books on Alchemy, six on Protective Wards, four on Egyptian Rituals, and ten books that were a compendium of Greek and Egyptian Spells, categorized by Charms, Curses, Hexes, Transfigurations, and Miscellaneous. Obviously, all of them were translated to Sanskrit. I did not come unprepared.
The spell books might not be of much use to them, since the spells and all are in different languages than the ones the people here speak, but they can take inspiration from these books. The other books will definitely be of a lot of use here, especially the Staff Crafting, Alchemy, and Ritual books.
As the Mahaguru starts reading, he asks a student named Vijaya to guide me to the Library, and to stay with me, to see that I don't break my word. Jokes on him, I'm not planning on copying this Library.. yet. I'm just waiting to craft a specific spell, one that I know can be done.
But right now, I'm going to just read.
---
"You didn't tell me you read this fast." Mahaguru Brahmaprasad says, as he enters the library. While his words were of accusation, his tone was of amusement.
Chuckling, I put the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals down, and glance at the 60 books that were kept all around me on the table. Those were the books I'd finished reading since I had entered the Library. Which was 90 minutes ago.
Smiling at Mahaguru Brahmaprasad, I say, "I have always been a fast reader, it helps me not waste too much time."
But, what I'm doing is memorizing pages, not actually reading them. It still takes me at least quarter of a second to memorize a single page, and store it in my mind's Library, which is why it took me 90 minutes to read just 60 books.
Brahmaprasad smiles, shakes his head, and says, "Well, carry on. An agreement is an agreement. The other Professors are currently enjoying reading the material you brought us, so I wanted to ask you. What subject matter would you want the books for?"
I'd already decided on my subjects, so I don't have to think a lot before I answer, "I would prefer books that give a detailed study of Divination, Soul Magic, Rituals, and Parselmagic. Whatever you believe to be a suitable exchange will be appreciated, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad."
Divination, because that is the one subject I'm the most lacking in. Soul Magic because this one Sanskrit book that I'm actually reading instead of memorizing gave me a lot of revelations. Rituals because.. well I'm hoping to become a Master in them, and Parselmagic because I have no idea what is possible and what's difficult.
Never impossible, I learned that lesson early on.
Nothing's impossible, only difficult or highly improbable, when it comes to Magic. Everything is possible, the price of the spell however, increases with the improbability.
Nodding, Brahmaprasad leaves me to my studies in the Library, and walks out after a small talk with the student who was keeping an eye on me. Ignoring him, I return to the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals book.
I didn't know this was even possible, which is different than believing it impossible. Souls are Souls, I had thought they're a constant, since my memories from my past life did come here, along with some of my personality.
But, it seems a Soul can be changed.
It should have been obvious, since Demons can corrupt human souls, Gods can turn human souls into Divine, etc. Similarly, there are Rituals to change a human's soul completely, or partially. The complete soul changing Rituals change the body too, either just a little, or a lot.
But, until I learn a lot more, I'm sticking to just reading about these Rituals.
---
One Year Later: 51 BC.
The compass that doesn't point North, that is what I'd called this compass that I'd found in the stomach of Drugir the Berserk Dragon. Actually, I'd found it amongst the Possessions of the Witch he'd swallowed whole, but that's besides the point.
Turns out, this Compass was just too heavily enchanted for me to find its purpose without using it. I'd tried detection spells, and a lot of Analysis Spells, and all of them showed that this compass was a plain Magnetic compass.
Nope.
The compass was one that pointed not at the Magnetic North, but whatever object you're in the most need of. This seriously reminds me of the Compass that Captain Jack Sparrow used in the Pirates movie series.
Unfortunately, the compass doesn't tell you what that need is. It could be a subconscious need, and I wouldn't know until I actually find it.
A year after my visit to the Nalanda Mahavihara, or the Nalanda University, and after I'd returned with 11 books on different levels of Divination, and 3 books on Souls, 4 on Soul magic, 13 on Rituals, with 13 books on Parselmagic, I sat in my Experiment room, carving a few Runes on the compass, while a Potion boiled on the table beside me.
Most of the books were journals, and observations of other Mages, and that is good enough for me. I just didn't expect so many people to have studied Parselmagic. That's not counting the hundred or so books I'd read while in the library, the majority of which were Historical Journals and Mythologies.
Back to the Compass, as far as I can tell, it was a Sorcery Artefact, enchanted using the Universal and Dimensional Magics. It, as I said, pointed anyone towards a direction they need to go to find their greatest need.
If a hungry person holds it, the compass will point them towards some free food, if a person is feeling cold, they'll be pointed towards a direction where they might find some warmth, etc. It always points towards where they will most definitely find that need with minimal work on their part. So, a hungry poor person won't find food from an expensive hotel.
What I'm trying to do, is mix my knowledge of Divination and Arithmancy to basically change the purpose of the Compass.
Instead of pointing me towards the direction of my Need, it will point me towards the direction of my Want, and take me there.
Done with the Runes, I float the compass over my hand, drop it into the bubbling Potion, and whisper, "Enischýo!"
Which means Enhance.
Immediately, the Potion bubbles faster, and the compass is thrown out of it, now with a soft white glow to it. Floating it over my hand, I drop one drop of my blood on the centre, to bind it to me, and take something else out of Nowhere.
Felix Felicus, Liquid Luck Potion. I'd only found it recently in Nowhere, hidden inside some of my old clothes. I might have perfect recall, but I do forget some things it seems.
For someone with Occlumency provided perfect memory, I forget a lot of stuff. Ironic, I know.
I open the bottle cap, and drop a single drop on top of the compass, right where my blood was. And then, as the compass flashes in a gold light once, I smile. Time to see if this artefact is a success.
Taking it in my hand, I close my eyes, keeping the image of the Darkhold in my mind, and press the button on top of it. Immediately, I feel some sort of Magic surround me. As I open my eyes, I see my body covered in a Golden coloured Magic, the same shade as that of Felix Felicus.
And then, I feel my body get squeezed tightly, as I'm forcefully apparated from the Experiment Room in my castle on Sanctuary to somewhere else. This somewhere else turns out to be a forest in Central Africa, somewhere I'd buried the Darkhold in. The Darkhold was deep underground, where its corruption won't bother anyone, in a lead box enchanted to high hells to not allow anyone but me to open it.
So, this Compass obviously works.
Smiling, I start creating a portal back home, when I suddenly stop, shocked.
I.. just apparated.. from an Island between Africa and India, to Central Africa… which is at least 4000 Kilometres away. That's four times greater than my previous limit, and I don't even feel tired!
Either I'm getting better at Apparating, or the Compass is not limited by distance. Damn, I've made something wonderful again, haven't I?
I'm so smart.
Shaking my head, I create a portal to my Castle, and enter through. Gathering a few things, like a few books to pass the time, some food packed in Nowhere, and a tent I'd prepared and enchanted myself, I hold the compass in my hands once again.
Closing my eyes, this time I focus on the image of the Sands of Time, and the Timeglass. The Glass like stone, golden orange in colour, was made up of the Sands of Time. The ingredient necessary in creating a Time Turner, and my way back home.
Once again, I feel myself twisting through the wormhole of apparition, squeezed through it, and I get thrown out into soft land, thankfully legs first. Wait a minute.. soft?
As I open my eyes, I feel before I see the desert all around me. The heat of the Sun, the softness of the sand, the sound of just wind all around me.
Sighing, I start setting up camp. Of course it's a Desert, where else will I find Sands of Time but a desert?
After the tent is up, and a few Wards cast to protect the tent and surrounding area from storms, I get to work. I couldn't use my Echolocation trick, one that I'd used to find the Diadem in Albania, here. The Sands of Time, while Magical, didn't react to my Magic the same way.
I'd tried to use the Sands that I had access to to try and see if I could find more of it, and failed spectacularly.
So, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
Bringing my Staff out of Nowhere, I tap its butt on the desert sand once, and smile, feeling a wave of Magic flow out of it into the ground. From the point my staff connected to the ground, to a dozen meters all around, the desert starts flowing to become a plain floor, as it slowly transforms from Sand, to water.
The only place safe from this transfiguration spell is the spot I'm standing on. The tent I'd already placed way outside the limits. Another tap of my staff solidifies the ground around this water, so that it doesn't flow into the small transfigured pond and ruin it.
I nod, at a task well done, and place the staff back into Nowhere, a single call away.
And then, with a wave of my hand, I send my clothes flying off my body towards the Tent, and dive into the Water. As I break the surface of the water with a splash, a single white lumos orb appears above me, to show me the way.
Time to find the Sands of Time, one cylindrical area at a time.
--
It has been seventeen days since I began my search for the Sands of Time, and until now, I haven't found anything even remotely similar. Every day, I would transfigure a piece of the desert into water, and take a deep dive in it.
13 hours a day, I spent underwater, naked, thankfully not freezing my balls off, looking for the golden shimmering dust known as the Sands of Time, or the Timeglass, a stone formed by condensing said Sands of Time.
The Sands of Time cannot be transfigured, at least not normally, so I'm sure I didn't mistakenly transfigure it into water, and then back into Sand again. I would have known, because it would have taken a lot more Magic to do so.
With each Transfiguration spell, I would transfigure a cylindrical volume with a radius of around a dozen meters, and a depth of 100 meters. Then, when I reach the bottom, I cast the spell again, transfiguring the land underneath to Water too. And again, and again.
I did this for a kilometre each time, transfiguring dry solid earth when the Sand ended, and then, I came back up to dispel every transfiguration spell because I couldn't find anything.
But, I haven't lost hope yet. The Sahara Desert, which is where I was brought by the Compass, is a big place. If the Compass brought me here, then it must mean that the Sands of Time are here somewhere, I just need to find it.
On the eighteenth day, as I prepare to transfigure the next patch of the Desert to Water for my Dive in, I am stopped by something surprising.
A voice.
"You don't belong here." The voice, definitely male, says, from behind me, in Greek.
You see, if I wasn't me, I would have believed it to have been an Auditory Hallucination, brought on by 17 days of Heat and loneliness. But I am me, and hence, I am sure that it was no hallucination.
My Healing factor prevents me from getting a Heatstroke, while my mind has already faced worse, longer periods of loneliness from myself.
"You don't belong here." The voice repeats, as I start standing back up from my kneeling position on the desert floor.
Slowly, I turn towards the voice, and see a man in front of me, wearing clothes that look.. weird as fuck. A yellow robe, with his chest halfway open, resting on just his shoulders. A yellow collar that went up to the back of his head. A yellow belt around his hip, with the symbol of Infinity branded on it. A single bright yellow underwear, worn on top of a skin tight off-white pant, as if he believes himself to be a yellow Superman. Two wristbands, and a headband, thankfully gold in colour and not yellow.
He was scowling at me, as I observed him, amused at his choice of clothing. But then, I see it, something that's just peeking out of his robe. A locket, made of an alloy of Orichalum and Gold, hung around his neck. And it was damn recognisable even if I haven't seen it.. ever.
The Eye of Agamotto. The Protective shell of the Time Infinity Stone.
Which means, this man was the Sorcerer Supreme, and I finally understand the meaning of his words.
Nodding, I say, "I think if I didn't actually belong here, you would have sought me out before this time, Sorcerer Supreme."
The man points his palm at me, and says, "You're an aberration, Wizard. You don't belong here."
For fuck's sake, does he not know any other words?
But then, I am forced to immediately apparate away from the place, when the man shoots a red coloured Mystic bolt at me. As I reappear a few dozen feet away from that point, I see the sand scorching red, already turning to glass.
I glare at the wielder of the Eye of Agamotto, and ask, "What kind of Sorcerer Supreme are you, to attack first without asking any questions?"
Shouldn't he already know everything about me, thanks to that Eye around his neck? I've been here for 5 years already, he should have seen my entire bloody life play out during this time!
The man points his palm at me once again, and shoots another red bolt of Magic at me. A bit angry now, I create a portal to his back, in the way of the Mystic bolt. The angry red beam of Magic goes through the portal, and towards the Sorcerer's back. Unfortunately, a barrier forms around him, stopping his own Mystic bolt from harming him.
It is when I created the Portal that I felt it. My connection to the Universe was weakening, very slowly, but it was weakening. It didn't happen before, and I know I wasn't struck by any curse, or any spell. Which means, this man just passively weakens those Sorcerers that are around him.
He's having no effect on my Wizard side, just the Sorcerer side. My Magic is still mine, but he's just decreasing the amount of Magic I passively absorb from the Universe, until slowly, I won't be a Sorcerer any longer.
This man's danger level just went up by an entire scale. I need to escape, but I cannot guarantee that he won't follow me. He's the bloody Sorcerer Supreme, he has the Eye of Agamotto. And Sanctuary isn't that well protected yet, it's just well hidden.
If he wants to follow me there, then he will.
"You don't belong here, in this Time Period." The man repeats, seriously annoying me now. "Your death here will restore the Timeline to the proper path, and send you back to your own time without any memories of the past. So, stay still and allow me to cast my spell."
No, thank you.
As he raises his hand at me once more, I remove my Staff from the Nowhere, and slam it head first on the ground. A wave of Magic erupts out of the Staff, sending Sand flying everywhere, and causing a small tremor of earthquake.
The tremor distracts the Sorcerer from casting his spell, and some of the sand lands in his eyes. While he's distracted, I get to work.
Focusing my Magic, I pull at the sand, and cause it to rise into walls all around us. These four sand walls, which by themselves are a hundred meters long each, then get transfigured into stone, creating a Stone room around us within a single second.
I tap my Staff on the ground once again, and more and more Sand is pulled into the Wall, immediately getting transfigured into Stone, before the walls rise up, and keep rising. Within 3 seconds, there's a room with each wall being 100 meters long, and around half a kilometre tall, around us.
The man scowls at me once again, and points both his palms at me, sending a single brown Mystic bolt at me, once again without any invocation. I apparate away from the position, and appear on the wall, using my nails to stick into place.
The Mystic bolt stops right before the slam into the ground, and surprisingly, shifts its aim towards me. As they speed towards me once again, I apparate away, this time on the wall opposite to it. Once again, the mystic bolt stops before it can hit anything solid, and turns around to follow me.
"No matter where you go, how far, and in which dimension. The Spell will keep following you until you're hit." The man helpfully taunts, as he stares at me apparating away from one place to another.
I apparate from one wall to another, from ceiling to the ground, again and again, with the Mystic bolt always following after me, not hitting anything solid. It was still connected to the Sorcerer's hands, which means he was still providing the spell with his Magic.
Finally, I apparate on the ground, right in the centre of the room, and place my palm down on the stone floor. With barely a moment's notice, an invisible Rune carves itself on the ground, with not even me able to see it.
Once again, the Mystic bolt speeds towards me, and I stand tall. When the bolt is about to hit me, I replace my Staff with my two Swords, Galadmagol and Durmagol, and bring them in between myself and the Spell.
The force of the spell throws me off my feet, flying towards the wall, but thankfully, my highly Magical swords protect me from the effects of the spell, by absorbing the Magic behind it.
As my swords glow orange, heating up thanks to the Dark Magic they just absorbed, I look up at the frowning Sorcerer with a smirk on my face. But then, I suddenly throw the swords down, not able to hold them any longer thanks to the extreme heat.
I know now that no shield would have worked against that spell, it was worse than the Killing Curse in that manner. This long time of dodging and apparating had given me the opportunity to sense the Intent behind the spell.
Total molecular disintegration, even my Healing factor wouldn't have allowed me to survive being hit by this spell. Thankfully, Durmagol and Galadmagol had been Enchanted for just this reason, absorbing Offensive spells.
But, it seems my Metalworking needs some working on, the swords became too hot after absorbing this spell from an actual mortal, no matter that said mortal is the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Before you die here, I would know your name." I say, staring at the man with not even a shred of anger showing on my face.
I didn't bother anyone in the past, at least not on purpose. I didn't even try to change anything major! I just copied the knowledge from the Library of Alexandria, gave some books to the Nalanda University, and that's it.
The man smiles, amused, and asks, "You actually think you can kill me, Wizard?"
Smiling back, I simply pick my swords up with Telekinesis, pointing both of them towards the Sorcerer. With a twitch of my fingers, I banish both the swords towards him, still glowing hot red with the absorbed Curse.
The man raises his hand negligently, either to create a shield, or to stop the swords in their spot. Unfortunately for him, his Magic fails to work, and both the swords stab into his chest, one in his heart, and the other in the right side of his chest.
Eyes wide, the man looks at me with something akin to fear and shock. As his body begins glowing orange, thanks to the Spell absorbed within the swords now destroying him from the inside out, I point at the walls.
The man looks at each of the walls one by one, now down on his knees, and sees 6 blue Runes that glow with my own Magic. I'd carved 6 Runes on the 4 walls, the ceiling, as well as the ground, while I was apparating away from his Curse.
As realization strikes him, I say, "Only the Mage who cast the Runes can use his Magic, former Sorcerer Supreme.. whatever your name is. Goodbye."
And then, before he can do anything, he explodes into an orange dust.
I sigh, as the Sorcerer dies, as I feel my connection to the Universe returning to its previous state. The side effect of being an experienced Sorcerer, is that I know when something is going to work, and when it is not.
His initial shielding from his own spell told me that sneak attacks won't work, and neither will most Wizarding spells. His Mystic bolt told me that he's a lot stronger than me, so much so that I doubt that even with a thousand years of training I will be able to match him Magically.
Which is.. supposed to not be possible, but I did just say a few months ago that nothing is impossible when it comes to Magic. His Soul must have been changed fundamentally, to allow him to store and channel that much Magic.
But, I wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme even attacked me. Speaking of, where's the Time Stone, or even the Eye of Agamotto? It was supposed to have fallen here some.. where.
Fuck, it's not over yet.
Summoning my swords back towards me, I use them to carve a three feet wide circle around myself. And then, I take my Staff out of nowhere, and slam its butt into the ground, creating a barrier of Magic in a cylindrical shape around me.
I do it just in time, when everything around me explodes in a fiery explosion. Thankfully, my barrier protects me from the majority of the damage, while only a few rocks manage to sneak past, and hit my head.
As the dust cloud starts settling down, the stone room I had conjured now once more turned into Sand, I hear the same man's voice say, "You are an annoying pest, Wizard. Just accept your fate, and go back to your own Timeline!"
The voice came from everywhere, and nowhere, with no Direction for me to track. Looking around warily, I say, "Trust me buddy, I will leave for my own Time as soon as I'm ready. But it won't be by someone else's hands, it will happen when I decide it happens."
"Then you leave me no choice. Die!" The man yells, as he reappears in front of me, now in the form of a.. giant floating head? What the fuck?
But before he can attack me, something else happens. Two portals form on the ground, one to my right, and one to my left. The one to my right was orange in colour, while the one on my left was orange with a tint of.. green?
The person that walks through the orange portal is a woman that looks like she's in her fifties. She was dark skinned, with completely white hair, wearing a plain black robe, with a few gold trims here and there. The woman was beautiful, but in an ethereal sort of way.
Then, I notice something surprising around her neck. The Eye of Agamotto. Another Eye of Agamotto.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, I turn towards the orange-green portal, and see two people walk out, both of them really familiar, yet surprising to my sights. One of them was dark skinned, short dark hair, with a dark green Sorcerer's robe on him, although they looked different than what the two Eye of Agamotto wielders were wearing.
The second was fair skinned, with a goatee on his face. He wore blue Sorcerer robes, the same style as the dark skinned man, with a simple addition of a red cloak flying around behind him. He also had another surprising addition around his neck, in the form of a familiar locket. Another.. another Eye of Agamotto.
These two people, however, were really familiar to me, not to Mason Aves, no. But to my previous life.
The dark skinned man was Baron Karl Mordo, while the fair skinned man was Doctor Stephen Strange, both of them Sorcerers from the 21st Century.
What the fuck, then, were they doing in the 1st Century BC?
Well, if the extra pronounced scowl on the disembodied head of the evil Sorcerer Supreme is to be trusted, it's related to him.
Fucking Time Travel.
---
A/N: Sorry for the fast pace, I'm catching up for the last few chapters, which were pretty slow. Expect a similar pace, with frequent short time skips in between for the next 10 or so chapters.
I'm hoping to finish the Past arc before Ch 80, while also setting up his lover.
So, wish me luck!
Thank you for your support! Tata!
I'd like to say that I am taking a week long break from writing. Which means, I also won't be posting anything for 7 days. So.. 2 chapters lol.
The break is because I need to recover from my sleep deprivation and my depression, by taking a relaxing week. Hopefully.
Also, as you might notice in this chapter, and the ones with Sly. I cannot write Pets very well. Heck, I can barely write humans as is, but writing animals are worse. So, sorry!
Well, read on!
—
"SCREEEEE!" A high pitched voice sounds from up above, as I rest on the beach. One after the other, six dragons fly overhead, all of them around two feet in length. The seventh dragon laid on the beach with me, with his head on my chest.
Scratching his head gently, I enjoy the peace and quiet I'm getting. It has been three months since the dragons hatched, taking the dragon population of Sanctuary up from zero, to seven. The one currently sleeping beside me was the laziest of the bunch, named Okniros, while the others were pretty energetic.
Hearing a splash, I turn towards the sea, and watch the water rippling, thanks to one of my dragons diving in. Within a second, Mana, the oldest of the bunch flies out of the water, a fish in her mouth. With a single motion, she throws the fish into the air, fries it with her flames, and once again catches it in her mouth to eat it.
She then drops on the beach to my left, and curls up next to me, her own head on my chest. I ask, ~~Enjoy yourself, Mana?~~
Mana looks up at me, and screeches at me. While she does that however, I hear the words hidden underneath the loud voice of screeching, as she says, ~~Yes, I did, Father! We saw Unicorns today!~~
I smile at her excitement, and scratch her own head. I say, ~~Be careful with the Unicorns, they don't like it when someone harms one of them.~~
Seven dragons, four females, three males. Mana, Okniros, Peinon, Filotimo, Zilevo, Aplistia, and Thymos. All of them named after their most dominant personality traits. Mana is motherly, Okniros is lazy, Peinon is a gluton for food, Filotimo is prideful, Zilevo is envious of any attention I give to anyone else, Aplistia is greedy as hell, and Thymos is the one to get angry the easiest. Of these, Mana, Aplistia, Thymos and Peinon are females, while the other three are males.
Not exactly creative names, but they do suit my dragons well.
Speaking of, here they come. After their own swims in the ocean, for fishes, all the remaining five dragons dive at me, with Zilevo jumping on my stomach.
"Oof! Goddamnit, Zi!" I yelp, catching him on my stomach.
As they all cuddle next to me, however, I can't help but smile. They might be a bit annoying, but they're my dragons, and I love them a lot.
It has been three months since they've hatched, and I've been here on Sanctuary for the majority of the time, taking care of these babies. In the beginning, they were pretty much dependent on me for survival, drinking chicken blood mixed with Fermented goat milk for food. But now, they've begun hunting for their own food.
They eat all the small animals, as well as fish. Thankfully, the dragons don't eat any Magical creatures, at least none on or around Sanctuary. I don't know if this holds true for all dragons, or just these ones, but I'm glad for it.
I did go to visit Chandragupta once, and spoke with him for a while about Magic, and about Parseltongue while staying with his family as a guest. I have to say, I enjoyed his perspective on what Magic is, and what Parseltongue can do.
According to him, and the other Mages of the area, Magic was given to us mages by the Gods, through a blessing to our ancestors. Which is.. kinda true, if Oshtur is actually our creator. According to him, Magic is a force present everywhere in the Universe, since the God Brahma is supposed to be the Creator of the Entire Universe, and hence a Mage can use Magic no matter where in the Universe you go.
This I had a bit of doubt in. While Sorcerers are connected to the Universe, Wizards, or Mages, are not. Mages are connected to the planet. We do have Magic of our own, but most of our spells utilise Planetary Magic to accomplish Magic. Us Mages are just the Channels, sort of like Wands.
Parselmouths, according to Hindu mythology, is a gift given to the descendants of Goddess Manasa, the Snake Goddess. It is a Magical language, and it is actually possible to cast spells in the language. I have no idea why I never tried it, but after he showed me some simple spells, I couldn't help but feel stupid.
I'd tried saying Lumos in Parseltongue before, with a whole lot of focus and willpower. It did light up, but it only happened because of my willpower and focus, not because of Parseltongue.
Just like Greek, Latin, and Egyptian, Parseltongue is a language that's steeped in Magic. You just need to focus on the effect, and say the effect you want clearly. Lumos is Latin, I basically said the Parseltongue translation of a Latin word, which.. did not work.
~~Light.~~ I whisper, as a bright green orb floats out of my chest and remains in the air in front of me.
Unfortunately, Chandragupta refused to teach me anything about Divination, since whatever he can teach me is supposed to only be taught to his family, and his Apprentice. And I am none of them.
He did point me towards the Nalanda University, which takes students all year round. And for some reason, the Magadha region loves Greek people! So, I had planned on going there soon, I was just waiting for the babies to grow old enough to survive on their own.
And now that my babies are independent enough, I can finally leave them to live on Sanctuary on their own. But, nothing says I need to leave right at this moment, while being surrounded by my babies.
---
Walking through the gates of the Nalanda University, I look around with a smile. The architecture here reminded me of the temples I'd seen in my old life, with thick stone walls, carved with the idols of Gods, and the tales of old.
This.. was very nostalgic, and even if I'd left that identity behind, I can't help but feel glad that I'm here.
"Hello, can I help you?" An old man asks in Magadhi Prakrit, the most common language in the Magadha region, which is basically modern day Northeast India, as he approaches me.
Smiling at him, I put my palms together in a hello, bow a bit, and say, "My name is Atharva Joshi." Hey, it's not Brown-face if I actually was a brown guy once. "I am a Mage travelling from the Satavahana Dynasty, here to exchange knowledge."
Bowing back, the old man says, "Nice to meet you, Mage Atharva. I am Brahmaprasad, a Professor here at the Mahavihara. Come, walk with me, and tell me. What do you hope to gain? And, may I ask what do you have to offer?"
As we start walking, I say, "I have spent two years studying in the Great Library of Alexandria, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad. Master Onuris, the Librarian responsible for safeguarding Magical Knowledge allowed me to copy a few texts. I am hoping to exchange some of those texts for any books on Divination, and Souls that the Great Nalanda Mahavihara can grant me."
"Hmm." Brahmaprasad says, as he stops and stares at me. I keep my head low, since the culture this far back demands complete respect be given to the teachers. To be fair, the teachers here are less of arseholes than they're in the future.
He nods, and says, "I will allow an exchange of one book per book. Equal exchange, as the way things should be. Of course, the value of the books you grant us will be decided after I read it, and then, a similarly valued book will be granted to you in return. Is that acceptable, Mage Atharva?"
Considering that what I have is just books from the Royal Mage Library, and hence pretty damn important knowledge, I have no objection to that. Plus, I'm just granting copies, permanent copies, but copies just the same.
Nodding with a short bow, I say, "That is acceptable, Mahaguru. Do I have permission to peruse your Library in the meantime?"
Mahaguru Brahmaprasad nods, as he once more begins walking, and says, "You may visit the Library, but you won't be allowed to copy any of the Tomes there. The only knowledge you will be taking with you is what you exchange, and what you manage to read in the short while."
I smirk, having no problem with it at all. My reading speed is.. extraordinarily fast, is all I can say. We then go to a classroom, where Mahaguru Brahmaprasad asks me to put forward all the books I'm willing to grant them.
From the mokeskin pouch, I take out one book after another, all of them with some manner of highly advanced knowledge. Three on Staff Crafting, seven on Egyptian Enchantments, nine on Curses and Dark Wards, five books on Alchemy, six on Protective Wards, four on Egyptian Rituals, and ten books that were a compendium of Greek and Egyptian Spells, categorized by Charms, Curses, Hexes, Transfigurations, and Miscellaneous. Obviously, all of them were translated to Sanskrit. I did not come unprepared.
The spell books might not be of much use to them, since the spells and all are in different languages than the ones the people here speak, but they can take inspiration from these books. The other books will definitely be of a lot of use here, especially the Staff Crafting, Alchemy, and Ritual books.
As the Mahaguru starts reading, he asks a student named Vijaya to guide me to the Library, and to stay with me, to see that I don't break my word. Jokes on him, I'm not planning on copying this Library.. yet. I'm just waiting to craft a specific spell, one that I know can be done.
But right now, I'm going to just read.
---
"You didn't tell me you read this fast." Mahaguru Brahmaprasad says, as he enters the library. While his words were of accusation, his tone was of amusement.
Chuckling, I put the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals down, and glance at the 60 books that were kept all around me on the table. Those were the books I'd finished reading since I had entered the Library. Which was 90 minutes ago.
Smiling at Mahaguru Brahmaprasad, I say, "I have always been a fast reader, it helps me not waste too much time."
But, what I'm doing is memorizing pages, not actually reading them. It still takes me at least quarter of a second to memorize a single page, and store it in my mind's Library, which is why it took me 90 minutes to read just 60 books.
Brahmaprasad smiles, shakes his head, and says, "Well, carry on. An agreement is an agreement. The other Professors are currently enjoying reading the material you brought us, so I wanted to ask you. What subject matter would you want the books for?"
I'd already decided on my subjects, so I don't have to think a lot before I answer, "I would prefer books that give a detailed study of Divination, Soul Magic, Rituals, and Parselmagic. Whatever you believe to be a suitable exchange will be appreciated, Mahaguru Brahmaprasad."
Divination, because that is the one subject I'm the most lacking in. Soul Magic because this one Sanskrit book that I'm actually reading instead of memorizing gave me a lot of revelations. Rituals because.. well I'm hoping to become a Master in them, and Parselmagic because I have no idea what is possible and what's difficult.
Never impossible, I learned that lesson early on.
Nothing's impossible, only difficult or highly improbable, when it comes to Magic. Everything is possible, the price of the spell however, increases with the improbability.
Nodding, Brahmaprasad leaves me to my studies in the Library, and walks out after a small talk with the student who was keeping an eye on me. Ignoring him, I return to the book on Soul Enhancing Rituals book.
I didn't know this was even possible, which is different than believing it impossible. Souls are Souls, I had thought they're a constant, since my memories from my past life did come here, along with some of my personality.
But, it seems a Soul can be changed.
It should have been obvious, since Demons can corrupt human souls, Gods can turn human souls into Divine, etc. Similarly, there are Rituals to change a human's soul completely, or partially. The complete soul changing Rituals change the body too, either just a little, or a lot.
But, until I learn a lot more, I'm sticking to just reading about these Rituals.
---
One Year Later: 51 BC.
The compass that doesn't point North, that is what I'd called this compass that I'd found in the stomach of Drugir the Berserk Dragon. Actually, I'd found it amongst the Possessions of the Witch he'd swallowed whole, but that's besides the point.
Turns out, this Compass was just too heavily enchanted for me to find its purpose without using it. I'd tried detection spells, and a lot of Analysis Spells, and all of them showed that this compass was a plain Magnetic compass.
Nope.
The compass was one that pointed not at the Magnetic North, but whatever object you're in the most need of. This seriously reminds me of the Compass that Captain Jack Sparrow used in the Pirates movie series.
Unfortunately, the compass doesn't tell you what that need is. It could be a subconscious need, and I wouldn't know until I actually find it.
A year after my visit to the Nalanda Mahavihara, or the Nalanda University, and after I'd returned with 11 books on different levels of Divination, and 3 books on Souls, 4 on Soul magic, 13 on Rituals, with 13 books on Parselmagic, I sat in my Experiment room, carving a few Runes on the compass, while a Potion boiled on the table beside me.
Most of the books were journals, and observations of other Mages, and that is good enough for me. I just didn't expect so many people to have studied Parselmagic. That's not counting the hundred or so books I'd read while in the library, the majority of which were Historical Journals and Mythologies.
Back to the Compass, as far as I can tell, it was a Sorcery Artefact, enchanted using the Universal and Dimensional Magics. It, as I said, pointed anyone towards a direction they need to go to find their greatest need.
If a hungry person holds it, the compass will point them towards some free food, if a person is feeling cold, they'll be pointed towards a direction where they might find some warmth, etc. It always points towards where they will most definitely find that need with minimal work on their part. So, a hungry poor person won't find food from an expensive hotel.
What I'm trying to do, is mix my knowledge of Divination and Arithmancy to basically change the purpose of the Compass.
Instead of pointing me towards the direction of my Need, it will point me towards the direction of my Want, and take me there.
Done with the Runes, I float the compass over my hand, drop it into the bubbling Potion, and whisper, "Enischýo!"
Which means Enhance.
Immediately, the Potion bubbles faster, and the compass is thrown out of it, now with a soft white glow to it. Floating it over my hand, I drop one drop of my blood on the centre, to bind it to me, and take something else out of Nowhere.
Felix Felicus, Liquid Luck Potion. I'd only found it recently in Nowhere, hidden inside some of my old clothes. I might have perfect recall, but I do forget some things it seems.
For someone with Occlumency provided perfect memory, I forget a lot of stuff. Ironic, I know.
I open the bottle cap, and drop a single drop on top of the compass, right where my blood was. And then, as the compass flashes in a gold light once, I smile. Time to see if this artefact is a success.
Taking it in my hand, I close my eyes, keeping the image of the Darkhold in my mind, and press the button on top of it. Immediately, I feel some sort of Magic surround me. As I open my eyes, I see my body covered in a Golden coloured Magic, the same shade as that of Felix Felicus.
And then, I feel my body get squeezed tightly, as I'm forcefully apparated from the Experiment Room in my castle on Sanctuary to somewhere else. This somewhere else turns out to be a forest in Central Africa, somewhere I'd buried the Darkhold in. The Darkhold was deep underground, where its corruption won't bother anyone, in a lead box enchanted to high hells to not allow anyone but me to open it.
So, this Compass obviously works.
Smiling, I start creating a portal back home, when I suddenly stop, shocked.
I.. just apparated.. from an Island between Africa and India, to Central Africa… which is at least 4000 Kilometres away. That's four times greater than my previous limit, and I don't even feel tired!
Either I'm getting better at Apparating, or the Compass is not limited by distance. Damn, I've made something wonderful again, haven't I?
I'm so smart.
Shaking my head, I create a portal to my Castle, and enter through. Gathering a few things, like a few books to pass the time, some food packed in Nowhere, and a tent I'd prepared and enchanted myself, I hold the compass in my hands once again.
Closing my eyes, this time I focus on the image of the Sands of Time, and the Timeglass. The Glass like stone, golden orange in colour, was made up of the Sands of Time. The ingredient necessary in creating a Time Turner, and my way back home.
Once again, I feel myself twisting through the wormhole of apparition, squeezed through it, and I get thrown out into soft land, thankfully legs first. Wait a minute.. soft?
As I open my eyes, I feel before I see the desert all around me. The heat of the Sun, the softness of the sand, the sound of just wind all around me.
Sighing, I start setting up camp. Of course it's a Desert, where else will I find Sands of Time but a desert?
After the tent is up, and a few Wards cast to protect the tent and surrounding area from storms, I get to work. I couldn't use my Echolocation trick, one that I'd used to find the Diadem in Albania, here. The Sands of Time, while Magical, didn't react to my Magic the same way.
I'd tried to use the Sands that I had access to to try and see if I could find more of it, and failed spectacularly.
So, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
Bringing my Staff out of Nowhere, I tap its butt on the desert sand once, and smile, feeling a wave of Magic flow out of it into the ground. From the point my staff connected to the ground, to a dozen meters all around, the desert starts flowing to become a plain floor, as it slowly transforms from Sand, to water.
The only place safe from this transfiguration spell is the spot I'm standing on. The tent I'd already placed way outside the limits. Another tap of my staff solidifies the ground around this water, so that it doesn't flow into the small transfigured pond and ruin it.
I nod, at a task well done, and place the staff back into Nowhere, a single call away.
And then, with a wave of my hand, I send my clothes flying off my body towards the Tent, and dive into the Water. As I break the surface of the water with a splash, a single white lumos orb appears above me, to show me the way.
Time to find the Sands of Time, one cylindrical area at a time.
--
It has been seventeen days since I began my search for the Sands of Time, and until now, I haven't found anything even remotely similar. Every day, I would transfigure a piece of the desert into water, and take a deep dive in it.
13 hours a day, I spent underwater, naked, thankfully not freezing my balls off, looking for the golden shimmering dust known as the Sands of Time, or the Timeglass, a stone formed by condensing said Sands of Time.
The Sands of Time cannot be transfigured, at least not normally, so I'm sure I didn't mistakenly transfigure it into water, and then back into Sand again. I would have known, because it would have taken a lot more Magic to do so.
With each Transfiguration spell, I would transfigure a cylindrical volume with a radius of around a dozen meters, and a depth of 100 meters. Then, when I reach the bottom, I cast the spell again, transfiguring the land underneath to Water too. And again, and again.
I did this for a kilometre each time, transfiguring dry solid earth when the Sand ended, and then, I came back up to dispel every transfiguration spell because I couldn't find anything.
But, I haven't lost hope yet. The Sahara Desert, which is where I was brought by the Compass, is a big place. If the Compass brought me here, then it must mean that the Sands of Time are here somewhere, I just need to find it.
On the eighteenth day, as I prepare to transfigure the next patch of the Desert to Water for my Dive in, I am stopped by something surprising.
A voice.
"You don't belong here." The voice, definitely male, says, from behind me, in Greek.
You see, if I wasn't me, I would have believed it to have been an Auditory Hallucination, brought on by 17 days of Heat and loneliness. But I am me, and hence, I am sure that it was no hallucination.
My Healing factor prevents me from getting a Heatstroke, while my mind has already faced worse, longer periods of loneliness from myself.
"You don't belong here." The voice repeats, as I start standing back up from my kneeling position on the desert floor.
Slowly, I turn towards the voice, and see a man in front of me, wearing clothes that look.. weird as fuck. A yellow robe, with his chest halfway open, resting on just his shoulders. A yellow collar that went up to the back of his head. A yellow belt around his hip, with the symbol of Infinity branded on it. A single bright yellow underwear, worn on top of a skin tight off-white pant, as if he believes himself to be a yellow Superman. Two wristbands, and a headband, thankfully gold in colour and not yellow.
He was scowling at me, as I observed him, amused at his choice of clothing. But then, I see it, something that's just peeking out of his robe. A locket, made of an alloy of Orichalum and Gold, hung around his neck. And it was damn recognisable even if I haven't seen it.. ever.
The Eye of Agamotto. The Protective shell of the Time Infinity Stone.
Which means, this man was the Sorcerer Supreme, and I finally understand the meaning of his words.
Nodding, I say, "I think if I didn't actually belong here, you would have sought me out before this time, Sorcerer Supreme."
The man points his palm at me, and says, "You're an aberration, Wizard. You don't belong here."
For fuck's sake, does he not know any other words?
But then, I am forced to immediately apparate away from the place, when the man shoots a red coloured Mystic bolt at me. As I reappear a few dozen feet away from that point, I see the sand scorching red, already turning to glass.
I glare at the wielder of the Eye of Agamotto, and ask, "What kind of Sorcerer Supreme are you, to attack first without asking any questions?"
Shouldn't he already know everything about me, thanks to that Eye around his neck? I've been here for 5 years already, he should have seen my entire bloody life play out during this time!
The man points his palm at me once again, and shoots another red bolt of Magic at me. A bit angry now, I create a portal to his back, in the way of the Mystic bolt. The angry red beam of Magic goes through the portal, and towards the Sorcerer's back. Unfortunately, a barrier forms around him, stopping his own Mystic bolt from harming him.
It is when I created the Portal that I felt it. My connection to the Universe was weakening, very slowly, but it was weakening. It didn't happen before, and I know I wasn't struck by any curse, or any spell. Which means, this man just passively weakens those Sorcerers that are around him.
He's having no effect on my Wizard side, just the Sorcerer side. My Magic is still mine, but he's just decreasing the amount of Magic I passively absorb from the Universe, until slowly, I won't be a Sorcerer any longer.
This man's danger level just went up by an entire scale. I need to escape, but I cannot guarantee that he won't follow me. He's the bloody Sorcerer Supreme, he has the Eye of Agamotto. And Sanctuary isn't that well protected yet, it's just well hidden.
If he wants to follow me there, then he will.
"You don't belong here, in this Time Period." The man repeats, seriously annoying me now. "Your death here will restore the Timeline to the proper path, and send you back to your own time without any memories of the past. So, stay still and allow me to cast my spell."
No, thank you.
As he raises his hand at me once more, I remove my Staff from the Nowhere, and slam it head first on the ground. A wave of Magic erupts out of the Staff, sending Sand flying everywhere, and causing a small tremor of earthquake.
The tremor distracts the Sorcerer from casting his spell, and some of the sand lands in his eyes. While he's distracted, I get to work.
Focusing my Magic, I pull at the sand, and cause it to rise into walls all around us. These four sand walls, which by themselves are a hundred meters long each, then get transfigured into stone, creating a Stone room around us within a single second.
I tap my Staff on the ground once again, and more and more Sand is pulled into the Wall, immediately getting transfigured into Stone, before the walls rise up, and keep rising. Within 3 seconds, there's a room with each wall being 100 meters long, and around half a kilometre tall, around us.
The man scowls at me once again, and points both his palms at me, sending a single brown Mystic bolt at me, once again without any invocation. I apparate away from the position, and appear on the wall, using my nails to stick into place.
The Mystic bolt stops right before the slam into the ground, and surprisingly, shifts its aim towards me. As they speed towards me once again, I apparate away, this time on the wall opposite to it. Once again, the mystic bolt stops before it can hit anything solid, and turns around to follow me.
"No matter where you go, how far, and in which dimension. The Spell will keep following you until you're hit." The man helpfully taunts, as he stares at me apparating away from one place to another.
I apparate from one wall to another, from ceiling to the ground, again and again, with the Mystic bolt always following after me, not hitting anything solid. It was still connected to the Sorcerer's hands, which means he was still providing the spell with his Magic.
Finally, I apparate on the ground, right in the centre of the room, and place my palm down on the stone floor. With barely a moment's notice, an invisible Rune carves itself on the ground, with not even me able to see it.
Once again, the Mystic bolt speeds towards me, and I stand tall. When the bolt is about to hit me, I replace my Staff with my two Swords, Galadmagol and Durmagol, and bring them in between myself and the Spell.
The force of the spell throws me off my feet, flying towards the wall, but thankfully, my highly Magical swords protect me from the effects of the spell, by absorbing the Magic behind it.
As my swords glow orange, heating up thanks to the Dark Magic they just absorbed, I look up at the frowning Sorcerer with a smirk on my face. But then, I suddenly throw the swords down, not able to hold them any longer thanks to the extreme heat.
I know now that no shield would have worked against that spell, it was worse than the Killing Curse in that manner. This long time of dodging and apparating had given me the opportunity to sense the Intent behind the spell.
Total molecular disintegration, even my Healing factor wouldn't have allowed me to survive being hit by this spell. Thankfully, Durmagol and Galadmagol had been Enchanted for just this reason, absorbing Offensive spells.
But, it seems my Metalworking needs some working on, the swords became too hot after absorbing this spell from an actual mortal, no matter that said mortal is the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Before you die here, I would know your name." I say, staring at the man with not even a shred of anger showing on my face.
I didn't bother anyone in the past, at least not on purpose. I didn't even try to change anything major! I just copied the knowledge from the Library of Alexandria, gave some books to the Nalanda University, and that's it.
The man smiles, amused, and asks, "You actually think you can kill me, Wizard?"
Smiling back, I simply pick my swords up with Telekinesis, pointing both of them towards the Sorcerer. With a twitch of my fingers, I banish both the swords towards him, still glowing hot red with the absorbed Curse.
The man raises his hand negligently, either to create a shield, or to stop the swords in their spot. Unfortunately for him, his Magic fails to work, and both the swords stab into his chest, one in his heart, and the other in the right side of his chest.
Eyes wide, the man looks at me with something akin to fear and shock. As his body begins glowing orange, thanks to the Spell absorbed within the swords now destroying him from the inside out, I point at the walls.
The man looks at each of the walls one by one, now down on his knees, and sees 6 blue Runes that glow with my own Magic. I'd carved 6 Runes on the 4 walls, the ceiling, as well as the ground, while I was apparating away from his Curse.
As realization strikes him, I say, "Only the Mage who cast the Runes can use his Magic, former Sorcerer Supreme.. whatever your name is. Goodbye."
And then, before he can do anything, he explodes into an orange dust.
I sigh, as the Sorcerer dies, as I feel my connection to the Universe returning to its previous state. The side effect of being an experienced Sorcerer, is that I know when something is going to work, and when it is not.
His initial shielding from his own spell told me that sneak attacks won't work, and neither will most Wizarding spells. His Mystic bolt told me that he's a lot stronger than me, so much so that I doubt that even with a thousand years of training I will be able to match him Magically.
Which is.. supposed to not be possible, but I did just say a few months ago that nothing is impossible when it comes to Magic. His Soul must have been changed fundamentally, to allow him to store and channel that much Magic.
But, I wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme even attacked me. Speaking of, where's the Time Stone, or even the Eye of Agamotto? It was supposed to have fallen here some.. where.
Fuck, it's not over yet.
Summoning my swords back towards me, I use them to carve a three feet wide circle around myself. And then, I take my Staff out of nowhere, and slam its butt into the ground, creating a barrier of Magic in a cylindrical shape around me.
I do it just in time, when everything around me explodes in a fiery explosion. Thankfully, my barrier protects me from the majority of the damage, while only a few rocks manage to sneak past, and hit my head.
As the dust cloud starts settling down, the stone room I had conjured now once more turned into Sand, I hear the same man's voice say, "You are an annoying pest, Wizard. Just accept your fate, and go back to your own Timeline!"
The voice came from everywhere, and nowhere, with no Direction for me to track. Looking around warily, I say, "Trust me buddy, I will leave for my own Time as soon as I'm ready. But it won't be by someone else's hands, it will happen when I decide it happens."
"Then you leave me no choice. Die!" The man yells, as he reappears in front of me, now in the form of a.. giant floating head? What the fuck?
But before he can attack me, something else happens. Two portals form on the ground, one to my right, and one to my left. The one to my right was orange in colour, while the one on my left was orange with a tint of.. green?
The person that walks through the orange portal is a woman that looks like she's in her fifties. She was dark skinned, with completely white hair, wearing a plain black robe, with a few gold trims here and there. The woman was beautiful, but in an ethereal sort of way.
Then, I notice something surprising around her neck. The Eye of Agamotto. Another Eye of Agamotto.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, I turn towards the orange-green portal, and see two people walk out, both of them really familiar, yet surprising to my sights. One of them was dark skinned, short dark hair, with a dark green Sorcerer's robe on him, although they looked different than what the two Eye of Agamotto wielders were wearing.
The second was fair skinned, with a goatee on his face. He wore blue Sorcerer robes, the same style as the dark skinned man, with a simple addition of a red cloak flying around behind him. He also had another surprising addition around his neck, in the form of a familiar locket. Another.. another Eye of Agamotto.
These two people, however, were really familiar to me, not to Mason Aves, no. But to my previous life.
The dark skinned man was Baron Karl Mordo, while the fair skinned man was Doctor Stephen Strange, both of them Sorcerers from the 21st Century.
What the fuck, then, were they doing in the 1st Century BC?
Well, if the extra pronounced scowl on the disembodied head of the evil Sorcerer Supreme is to be trusted, it's related to him.
Fucking Time Travel.
---
A/N: Sorry for the fast pace, I'm catching up for the last few chapters, which were pretty slow. Expect a similar pace, with frequent short time skips in between for the next 10 or so chapters.
I'm hoping to finish the Past arc before Ch 80, while also setting up his lover.
So, wish me luck!
Thank you for your support! Tata!
every college student ever
that I was not even able to see it.
matter if said
I appreciate you creating characters that were influenced by the culture in that time period. Would have been stupid if Chandragupta was an all-knowing man that had no biases.
Also, the part where the MC actually acknowledges the works of others instead of being this arrogant dickhead that thinks other people are stupid and stays in a lab all day researching magic. (read characters a lot like this in other fanfics, hated them)
… time travel
When he is looking for time travel
… hahahahahahaha
When he is looking for time travel
… hahahahahahaha
