"No wonder the Ancient One has so few disciples. This is incredibly difficult. Do all these people have to learn these basics?" Watching the other disciples practicing magic in the courtyard, Daniel Davis frowned.
Like the original Stephen Strange, Daniel was training with the other disciples, but while they produced glowing golden sparks, he only managed empty gestures.
According to Wong's guidance, even for those with natural talent, it would take at least six months to produce even basic effects. Becoming a full-fledged sorcerer required five to ten years of dedicated practice.
Most of the Ancient One's disciples had been training for over ten years, starting in their youth and persevering. Those who couldn't endure had long since left, finding the progress too slow and the distractions of modern life too tempting.
For example, the man who guided Strange to Kamar-Taj left as soon as his injuries healed. The lure of the real world was simply too strong compared to the austere life at Kamar-Taj.
Even a genius like Kaecilius spent over five years training. As for Strange, his photographic memory gave him a significant advantage in learning magic.
During his few days at Kamar-Taj, Daniel noticed why the Ancient One needed a successor. None of her disciples seemed capable of handling serious threats. Wong, Mordo, Hamir—they were skilled, but none could match Captain America in combat, let alone face powerful dimensional entities. The disciples' primary function appeared to be giving the Ancient One something to do, preventing her from being bored.
Kamar-Taj was essentially upheld by the Ancient One alone.
"Room." Watching the golden sparks fly from his fellow disciples' hands, Daniel had an idea. He turned to the person next to him and activated his Op-Op Fruit powers.
In the hall, the Ancient One, reading a book, seemed to sense something. She put down the book and stepped outside.
Daniel wasn't surprised by the Ancient One's appearance. He had considered this scenario before coming here. It was impossible to hide the Op-Op Fruit's powers from her.
Unless he never used these powers in her presence, which wasn't feasible. Moreover, displaying such abilities might earn him special attention from the Ancient One.
The magic system at Kamar-Taj focused on dimensional magic, primarily energy manipulation. Summoning golden sparks was just the beginning. The next step was forming a golden disc and constructing magical arrays on it to shape weapons or shields. Advanced practitioners could skip these steps and directly conjure various weapons.
"Daniel, come here." After watching him for a while, the Ancient One called out.
"Yes." Daniel didn't hesitate to follow her.
"Seems like the other disciples didn't sense the Op-Op Fruit's aura." In the world of One Piece, the Op-Op Fruit mainly showcased combat abilities, but its medical capabilities were potent, as seen when Law saved Luffy.
Besides these powers, the Op-Op Fruit also allowed cutting through anything regardless of hardness, unless protected by Haki.
"Sit." The Ancient One gestured for Daniel to sit. "What were you doing just now?"
"Just now, I was using my innate ability," Daniel explained. He then described some of the Op-Op Fruit's abilities.
"I see. You can go back now." The Ancient One dismissed him after listening.
Once Daniel left, the Ancient One went to the library and retrieved the Eye of Agamotto. Unlike Strange, who constantly wore it, the Ancient One seldom used it.
The next day, the Ancient One summoned Daniel again. This time, without a word, she struck, ejecting his soul from his body.
"Ahhh!" Daniel's soul tried to speak but was overwhelmed by the vibrant, shifting dimensions. He now understood why Strange had screamed, for he did the same.
The Ancient One gave him a taste of Strange's experience, sending his soul on a journey through the multiverse. The marvels of the dimensional realms were beyond words.
"How do you feel?" The Ancient One asked as Daniel's soul returned to his body.
"Completely different from what I imagined." Reality was far more astonishing than movies.
"Go rest," the Ancient One nodded.
Daniel didn't say a word, just returned to his room. The soul's journey through the dimensions had profoundly shocked him. Without the Ancient One's protection, his soul would have been lost.
Understanding dimensional space was the first step in learning Kamar-Taj's magic. One of the basic texts explained this concept in depth. If this book were released to the world, scientists studying parallel universes would be humbled. For most scientists, parallel universe research was speculative, but at Kamar-Taj, it was basic knowledge. The sorcerers derived their power from these dimensions, absorbing dimensional energy through their souls.
For Kamar-Taj sorcerers, astral projection was simple, and soul combat was common. In other systems, astral projection was a death sentence.
Kamar-Taj's magic could heal injuries, even paralysis, by channeling dimensional energy through the soul.
Dimensional space equated to parallel universes, though the former encompassed more.
Zzzzt.
Seeing golden sparks in his hands, Daniel felt a surge of excitement. The soul's journey had indeed accelerated his magic learning.
Producing sparks was a milestone. Now, diligent practice would lead to mastery.
"If the Ancient One had the Space Stone, she'd be invincible," Daniel mused during practice.
The Space Stone's powers were remarkably similar to the Ancient One's abilities. It was underutilized on Earth, often seen merely as an infinite energy source. Red Skull, Project Pegasus, and even Nick Fury used it this way.
"No wonder Kaecilius sought dark energy. Normal training is too slow. Did the Ancient One really die? Maybe she just left this world for a vacation in another dimension."
During his soul's journey, Daniel saw not only realms filled with dimensional creatures but also worlds inhabited by humans—true parallel universes.
With the Ancient One's skills, traveling to these worlds was easy. She might have faked her death to retire there.
After all, guarding Earth for so long, she deserved a rest.
Kaecilius and the Ancient One both used dark energy, but their results were vastly different. Kaecilius became Dormammu's slave, while the Ancient One harnessed the energy to resist Dormammu.
The Ancient One's name was little known on Earth but renowned among the cosmic elite and across the multiverse. Her fame eclipsed Odin's and Thanos'.
Yet such a powerful figure was allegedly killed by a mere follower of Dormammu? Preposterous.
"Dimensional projection?" Reading more Kamar-Taj texts, Daniel began understanding his own and his original world's connection to this one, and the appearance of Umbrella Corporation.
The simplest explanation: Stan Lee was from the Marvel Universe and traveled to our world. Parallel universes are generally separate but can intersect under special conditions, as Daniel's travel showed.
Another possibility was dimensional projection. An online theory suggested Earth was a projection of higher dimensions, a notion Daniel had dismissed until now. Ancient One's magic showed this was rare but possible, provided the dimensional positioning was unique.
Since Daniel now existed in this world, projection couldn't be entirely false. If it were, he couldn't be here.
As for Umbrella Corporation, it could be like blind men describing an elephant. Multiple descriptions combine to form a whole. Future surprises might still await Daniel.
"Parallel worlds truly exist. So, One Piece's world might be real too. I'd love to visit, but locating it is impossible." Dimensional travel wasn't easy. Otherwise, dimensional creatures would overrun worlds, and even Dormammu couldn't do it freely.
"Good thing these books didn't leak. Most scientists would go mad." Scientists dedicating their lives to elusive theories would find complete, established knowledge a bitter pill.
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