After a sleepless night followed by the previous night's hangover, Ronan slept for an entire afternoon and evening, finally catching up on his lost rest.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already 7 a.m. the next day.
Ronan didn't wake up on his own, but was instead roused by the noise of the apprentice sorcerers training outside.
Rubbing his eyes, Ronan reluctantly sat up.
Next to him was the Replica Infinity Gauntlet that he had brought back from Asgard two days prior!
Of course, he still didn't know its true effects.
Yesterday, Ronan had already tried it out. Although it was a replica, when he put it on, the gauntlet shrank down to the size of a regular glove.
The only downside was that its design was a bit flashy.
Of the six slots on the gauntlet, all were empty.
With a thought, a golden portal appeared in front of Ronan.
He stepped through it and arrived in the private vault of the Ancient One.
Here, a small section of the vault was reserved for Ronan.
However, this small section only contained two items.
One was the Thanos' Tyrant's Blade.
The other was the Tesseract that Ronan had "snagged"—the Space Stone.
Beyond that, the space was completely empty.
Ronan picked up the Tesseract, glanced at his "collection," and couldn't help but sigh.
Poor!
He was way too poor!
Especially compared to the Ancient One's vast collection of treasures—Ronan felt even more self-conscious.
No, I still need to raid—uh, I mean, rescue the treasures from Asgard's vault.
Snap!
Ronan crushed the Tesseract in his hand.
With the outer cube shattered, the most precious Space Stone inside was revealed.
Having trained with the Mystic Arts and Dimensional Mirror spells, Ronan immediately felt the powerful spatial fluctuations emanating from the stone.
The energy contained within this small gem was unimaginable to him.
Of course, Ronan didn't dare touch the Space Stone directly—he still remembered Star-Lord's near-death experience from handling one of these stones.
That guy had special blood; Ronan didn't.
He valued his life!
So, Ronan used the same method Kamar-Taj employed to handle the Time Stone and applied it to the Space Stone.
It worked!
Thinking of Thanos, who had wielded all six Infinity Stones together, Ronan couldn't help but recall the immense energy released when they collided.
That energy had nearly cost Thanos his life, but he survived and continued to move freely.
If Ronan attempted to detonate the Space Stone in his hand, he wouldn't even leave a trace of himself behind.
Sigh.
Ronan let out a breath, knowing the next step was critical.
He slipped his left hand into the Infinity Gauntlet, which immediately adjusted to fit his hand.
Then, he slowly brought the Space Stone closer to one of the empty slots.
As soon as he felt a pulling force from the gauntlet, Ronan let go of the stone.
Thud!
The sound of the stone clicking into place echoed, and Ronan immediately felt a surge of immense power erupt from the Space Stone!
The overwhelming force swept through his left arm, and a sharp sensation of tearing pain followed.
"F***!"
Ronan roared as his remaining right hand swiftly formed a seal on his chest, preparing to cast a spell.
But before he could act, a Mirror Dimension enveloped him.
A portal opened behind Ronan, and the Ancient One stepped through.
She had pulled Ronan into the Mirror Dimension.
The moment the Space Stone connected with the Infinity Gauntlet, she had sensed the surge of energy and rushed over immediately.
When she saw the gauntlet on Ronan's left hand and the glowing stone embedded in it, the Ancient One seemed to understand.
She quickly formed several complex hand seals, readying a spell.
"Ronan, if you want to stop what's about to happen, I can help you."
"But if you want to use this stone, you'll have to endure this on your own."
Her voice echoed through the space.
Gritting his teeth against the pain in his left arm, Ronan glanced at the crackling energy surrounding him and shook his head at the Ancient One.
"Master, I'm fine!"
Although he had expected some sort of reaction when placing the stone into the gauntlet, he hadn't anticipated just how intense it would be.
He remembered Thanos looking pained as well, but that was when he had all six stones.
Ronan had only one, yet the pain was already overwhelming.
It was a clear testament to how insanely durable Thanos' body was!
Numbness, tearing, pain, followed by more numbness.
In just a few seconds, Ronan experienced pain beyond anything he had ever felt before.
He knew this was the price of wielding the stone.
When the Guardians of the Galaxy tried to share the burden of the Power Stone, it took all of them combining their strength just to survive.
And Quill wasn't just an ordinary human.
The others aside, Quill alone carried half Celestial blood.
His dad was literally a planet!
Even with such lineage, Quill still struggled to withstand the Power Stone's energy.
As for Ronan, a regular human, there was no comparison.
The fact that Ronan could endure this much was likely thanks to the gauntlet absorbing some of the stone's power.
As the lightning arced up and down his left arm, Ronan slowly began to adjust to the sensation.
He was sure his left arm had already suffered significant tearing, likely severe damage.
But at the same time, he could feel a power unlike any he had ever known starting to awaken.
The power of the Space Stone.
Finally, after nearly a full minute, the tearing pain in the gauntlet began to subside.
The lightning crackling around his arm also gradually disappeared.
"Huff… huff…"
Ronan panted heavily, sweat dripping down his forehead.
He had seen Thanos casually wear a gauntlet with all six stones, and Bruce Banner had done the same.
But he had forgotten—Thanos was an Eternal, his body far beyond human capability.
As for Banner, he had been irradiated with gamma rays, making his body incredibly durable.
Ronan, on the other hand, was just a poor 16-year-old high school kid.
"Master, thank you for your help."
Once he recovered, Ronan immediately thanked the Ancient One.
Had she not pulled him into the Mirror Dimension, the energy that had just been released would've destroyed the entire vault.
"I also saved my collection, didn't I?"
The Ancient One smiled as she approached, helping Ronan up from where he had collapsed.
Ronan's pajamas were drenched with sweat.
Looking at the softly glowing Space Stone in his gauntlet, Ronan couldn't help but smile.
He could feel it—the power of the Space Stone.
With just a thought, he could now use unique abilities derived from the stone.
For example, this Mirror Dimension they were in—
Ronan waved his hand gently.
In front of both Ronan and the Ancient One, ripples appeared in the air, and the Mirror Dimension the Ancient One had created vanished, as if erased.
They were back in the vault.
The Ancient One squinted slightly, turning her gaze toward Ronan.
"Master, this is—"
Before Ronan could finish his sentence, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Fortunately, the Ancient One reacted quickly, catching him before he hit the ground.
Looking at the unconscious Ronan, the Ancient One let out a soft sigh.
"My full-powered Mirror Dimension, and you wiped it away with a simple gesture."
"Ronan…"
"How immense is your mental strength?"