He came home at nine o'clock sharp. He stood in front of the door, and with a slight movement of his fingers, the door creaked open by itself. The man, as usual, changed into slippers and went into the living room, where he found a man standing with his back to him in the living room of his house.
"Why am I not surprised, Strange?" He didn't even bother to look at him and went to the kitchen to open the refrigerator and get himself a can of beer.
"It's not too late to give up, Carlo." The man known as Strange turned around, wearing a tight-fitting robe and a high-collared red cloak, his entire body actually floating in the air.
"What do you mean?" He went into the living room and threw him a can of beer. He sat down on his comfortable sofa, looking through the large floor-to-ceiling windows at the noisy New York City at night, and asked a rhetorical question.
Strange took the beer, but didn't drink it. He put it on the coffee table in front of the man and said sternly: "I know what you want, Carlo. For the sake of having the same teacher, I'll skip it. Until you stop."
He shook his head, sitting in silence and sipping his beer one sip at a time. After a moment, he said slowly, "Once something starts, there's no stopping it. Do you understand, Strange? Is it like an operation, when it starts, the surgeon can't escape?".
"It's not the same thing. You still have a chance to come back."
"What do you mean, you can come back? I don't like your attitude... Dude."
He got to his feet, black magic accumulated between his fingers: "Why do you think I should be wrong?".
Strange did not move in the face of this dangerous warning, instead he calmly said: "Because I saw it."
He smiled coldly as he looked at the mysterious necklace on Strange's chest.
"I knew you'd do it! But what you saw was just an opportunity, you fool. The most important thing for a magician is creativity and imagination! Your conformity will disgrace the Ancient One!".
"I admit that you're better than me, and I don't understand why she gave me the position of Archmage. But we're not talking about the same thing. Carlo, you have to believe me that the attempts you are making will only lead to destruction." Strange's tone softened, almost pleading.
"That's right, and who do you think is the best student of the Ancient One?". Carlo's eyes filled with intense confidence as he crossed ten fingers, thumb, index finger and little finger together, and black magic violently exploded, "And I'm not interested in this position either. For the last time, I just want to find my way home. I don't need anything else, Strange."
Strange's eyes were bitter, he was indifferent to the dangerous signal: "Of course, I wouldn't want to stop you if I could. But I've seen the whole future, and not once have you succeeded. The effects of the boundary-breaking spell tore the world apart... You should know what that means."
Of course Carlo knew. You can't talk about extraterrestrial gods, you can't see them directly. There have been two cases in history when the walls of the world were destroyed, killing countless people and bringing vampires, werewolves and other dark monsters into the world. It can be said that even a curious look from their eyes can tear the world apart.
"But I'll try anyway." He said firmly.
Strange shook his head helplessly as he opened the portal and left, leaving behind only one word: "I'll be back tomorrow...". I want you to think about what you're going to do tonight and what it means, Carlo. I really don't want it to come to this. You have saved the world more than once."
Yes. You don't need to tell me about it. Of course I knew.
He dispelled the magic with his hand.
In the dark, the man, left alone, silently thought. Of course, he was aware of the dangers associated with the trespass spell.
But of all the spell books in the world, this was the only one that dealt with traveling the world. This spell, invented by the infamous "madman" Vyvant Dukovich, is said to have originated from a dream he had. Vyvant believed that beyond the world that is under our feet, there are countless other magnificent worlds that are waiting to be explored.
He was the most powerful magician of his time and the supreme magician. He considered himself a pioneer of mankind. He spent thirty years studying the art of breaking boundaries, and at the age of 178, he managed to develop a complete spell of breaking boundaries. Vyvant found the weakest point in the world wall and mixed the soul of the Wise Angel with the soul of the King of Inferno.
He succeeded, but he did not succeed, because after the barrier was destroyed, he disappeared into the chaos of the world, leaving only three of the seventy magicians who were with him alive. Everything concerning him was sealed and marked as forbidden, and his own name was changed to "Madman".
Immediately after that, there was an incident in the Bastille. A bloody-flesh mass appeared out of nowhere in a small village in Northern Europe and in three days swallowed up half of the planet. Its height reached 300 meters when it was destroyed, and its chaotic pollution was so strong that even a mage without mental protection would be infected and become part of its stinking flesh and blood.
Strange doesn't lie, he has the Eye of Agamotto. However, he says that he has failed in all future affairs. But it can't be his own fault, only that the method of trespassing has not been perfected...
Vyvant's own ideas were good, but he was still limited by the limits of his time. The magicians of his time could not even imagine that the magicians of our time could open portals to anywhere in the world at will.
I can improve it. The idea had just taken root in his head, and as arrogant as it seemed, he had power when it came to spells.
After all, it doesn't matter who you are, if it only took you four months to become a master with the most powerful magician in the world, and she herself said that you could surpass yourself in three years, you'd be damn proud.
With a wave of his hand, Carlo could summon a stormy wind and cause a rain of lightning. He can go to hell at will and demand souls from these greedy demons. He can also turn stone into gold and distort reality. Turn a chair into a rabbit. His talent was unprecedented.
The man snapped his fingers and did what he said. Black magic accumulated between his fingers, and he didn't have to make complicated gestures like other magicians using the ring to open the portal. He had perfected this spell many years ago using his magic and spirit directly, and although it was more complex, it was more than twice as effective. He opened the portal behind which his laboratory was located and stepped inside. The familiar smell of the magic potion immediately turned his head, it was the characteristic aroma of the magic potion called "Sobriety".
The creation process... There was no need to know. After all, every magic potion, whatever it is in the end, the process of its preparation should be very... unattractive. All you need to know is that the potion keeps you sane, not drowsy.
He walked out into the center of the laboratory, his casual clothes turned into a black robe in a rustic style, the corners of his coat fluttered freely. Magic gathered in his hands, and he focused on writing guesses and calculations in the air with his magic. The biggest reason for Vyvant's failure, according to his assumptions, was that he did not consider the possibility of failure. So why did he fail?
He drew a circle in the air with his hand, and with his level of magic, these low-level tricks were at his fingertips. And so it happened that Stephen Strange suddenly found a folio of "madman" Wyvant in front of him, who suddenly disappeared. If anyone had managed to hide the book from his vigilance spell, it could only be Carlo.
With a face full of helplessness, Strange opened the portal again and entered Carlo's laboratory: "What are you doing?"
"I'm reading a book. Isn't it obvious? Does the great Supreme Master not even allow me to read books anymore?" When I first saw the book, I was able to make it out.
"No...
Flipping through a heavy folio, Carlo casually replied: "Yes, I did it, you just didn't notice it yourself."
"What?" Strange's face was full of confusion, he searched with his eyes closed and found that, as Carlo had said, he had left a mark on his own vigilance spell, which was a greeting. But it was so thin, like a hair thrown on a sheet, that it could only be noticed by looking closely. But he said hello, and Strange couldn't vent his anger, so he stood there, huddled and hugging his chest.
"Why are you just standing there? Come and do something for your brother." He waved at him, indicating that he had to do something with the formula he had just left in the air. Strange immediately wanted to open the transfer door and leave, remembering the times when they studied together, and Carlo used this excuse to torment him. The bill was endless, and he couldn't get out of the library for more than a month and a half. He didn't want to have to do it again.
But it was already too late, black magic imposed a ban on him, and his portal was completely inoperable. Strange turned to Carlo and complained loudly, "Hey! You can't just drag me here to do your dirty work!"
"I didn't drag you, you came by yourself. It's like you broke into my house tonight without even saying hello."
However, Strange had no choice but to step up and help. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was glad that it happened. At least it proved that Carlo wasn't completely crazy, and it was better than fighting each other.