'I guess I'll ask the Ancient One later. I still have a lot of other questions that I want answered anyway,' Liam thought.
He continued switching his training between Bolts of Balthakk and lava for the next few hours until it was lunchtime. At lunch, Liam returned to the Sanctum to eat and get some answers from the Ancient One.
'Training really helped with clearing my mind, but I still have unanswered questions for the Ancient One,' Liam thought. 'She didn't mention anything about when all these events would happen. The only clue I have is that it will be after her death, which is another thing she didn't fully explain. I can at least assume the barrier will fully break after Strange takes over in the future. Until then, I assume I'll be relatively safe.'
'She also didn't talk much about "friendly dimensions." I have no idea what I can expect from them.'
With those thoughts, Liam finished his lunch and went to find the Ancient One. She was in the courtyard, observing the training of a newer group of students.
"So, young Liam. Has your mind digested all the information?" the Ancient One asked as she noticed him approach.
Liam nodded.
"Then I assume you still have some questions, right?" she said, her tone calm but it felt like she knew everything about him.
"Yes, a lot of them actually," Liam admitted with a second nod.
"Then let us head inside," she said, opening a portal to her study and gesturing for Liam to follow.
Liam stepped through and sat down. 'I'm coming to this place way too often nowadays. Every time I'm here, something troublesome happens or has happened,' he thought with a sigh.
"So, young Liam, what questions do you have for me?" the Ancient One asked with a soft smile.
"When?" Liam began. "When will the barrier break completely?"
"After I die," she replied simply.
"You don't have a clue how long it would take after your death? Somehow, I doubt that. I find it hard to believe that in all the futures you've seen with the Time Stone, you never checked how damaged the barrier was, or that you never made a rough estimate for yourself or Strange," Liam pressed, frustrated.
"You are correct, young Liam. I have seen countless futures. All of them differ from one another. In some, the barrier could last another ten years. In others, it breaks the moment I die," she explained.
"How many of them break the minute you die?" Liam asked, his frustration growing.
"Many of them," she admitted.
Just as Liam was about to continue his questioning, the Ancient One interrupted him. "But you, young Liam, know very well that if I tell you about the future, it will change again."
Liam fell silent at her words.
"Do you have any more questions?" she asked.
Liam nodded. "Friendly dimensions. You talked about them yesterday. What exactly are they, and how would I know if they're friendly?"
"Friendly dimensions… There is no failsafe way to determine if a dimension is friendly. Often, you can feel the intentions of the other party through their energy and, sometimes, the dimensional energy itself. But trusting your gut is the most important thing," she explained.
"Some dimensions open up dimensional tears themselves, while most require a ruler to do so. For dimensions that open tears on their own, the people inside often aren't hostile. The dimension itself isn't necessarily trying to destroy this dimension either. In most cases, the inhabitants of those dimensions don't even know there's a tear leading to another world," she added.
Liam nodded, processing the information. 'In the end, most of it comes down to gut feeling. Even if the inhabitants aren't hostile at first, their attitude could change on a dime once they realize there are benefits involved,' he thought.
"I have two more questions. These aren't about yesterday but about spells," Liam said. "The Mirror Dimension spell—when do you think I'll be ready to learn it? And is there a spell that can store things out of sight and make them so only I can get the items back?"
The Ancient One smiled softly. "The Mirror Dimension, hmm? That is still outside your reach. Given your talent, you might be able to start learning it in about a year or so," she said.
"As for the other spell, it is called Dimensional Pocketing. It involves creating a separate dimension by folding a layer of space and anchoring it to yourself," she explained.
(A.N.: Yes, the actual spell is indeed called Dimensional Pocketing. I know it sounds cliché, but I'm trying to keep it as authentic as possible.)
"This spell is something you can start training on now. It's a very advanced spell because it involves folding a separate layer of space. By the time you master it, you'll have an easier time learning the Mirror Dimension," she added.
With that, she made a gesture in the air, and three books appeared, falling gently into her hands. She handed them to Liam. "This is the spell you're referring to, and these are the books you'll need to learn it from."
Liam looked at the books:
Theory and Mechanics of Dimensions
Containment
Dimensional Pocketing
'Just great. More books. Who wouldn't want to read more books?' Liam thought sarcastically. His eyes stayed on the first book. 'The book on Mechanics of Dimensions looks to be about 600 pages too.'
Liam thanked the Ancient One and returned to his room. Once there, he opened the Mechanics of Dimensions book and started reading.
After a few pages, he groaned. 'Every page is packed with words. No pictures. There better be pictures later. Reading 600 pages full of dense text is going to take weeks,' he thought bitterly.
He closed the book with a sigh. 'Great. Another thing to add to my already complicated training schedule.' He opened a portal back to the volcano.
At the volcano, Liam resumed his training routine, changing between lava training, physical exercises, and spell practice. This time Liam found himself running up mountain slopes, with a backpack filled with large rocks on his back. 'This is something I neglected quite often before, learning new spells was a great excuse for me to skip physical training.'
'But I have to keep my body in shape. While activating Incursio initially strengthened my physique, I still need to maintain it through training,' Liam thought as he pushed himself. Sweat poured down his face as he reached heights with lower oxygen levels.
Eventually, he found a perfect height that pushed his limits but could be maintained for a while and settled there. 'It's strange. My body should have long surpassed human limits, but it's still growing stronger—slowly but surely.'
After half an hour of running, Liam returned to his usual resting place near the lava and toxic smoke. He drank a bottle of water and summoned Incursio around him.
'Time for lava training again, I can rest my body while in lava. No need to waste time up here,' he thought.
Time passed as Liam stuck to his training routine over the next few days. He balanced lava training with studying new spells like Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon, reading the books for Dimensional Pocketing, improving mastery over his current spells like Bolts of Balthakk and Eldritch Constraints, and improving his physical fitness.
Finally, the day came.
'It's time to meet with S.H.I.E.L.D.,' Liam thought as he walked on the sidewalk of the New York streets.
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Hey everyone, thank you all for the great support. Chapter 50 is a great milestone for me. At the beginning of this fanfiction I had difficulty writing over 800 words a chapter but now I easily make it past the 1000 mark, even sometimes reaching 1200-1500 words on a chapter.
I am enjoying making this fanfiction and will probably continue making fanfictions and actual novels after this one is over. Once again thank you all for the great support and please keep commenting on mistakes I make, it helps me a lot for future chapters/novels.