Since Salomon could now use a bit of magic, the Ancient One had him join Kamar-Taj's magical training.
In essence, Kamar-Taj's magic system was akin to warlocks from the Toril Crystal Sphere—also known as pact mages or thaumaturges—drawing power from extraplanar patrons. It was a legitimate magical discipline, with basic mystical flames and dimensional magic granted by Vishanti being core subjects for Kamar-Taj's sorcerers. Beyond that, the Ancient One had also gathered mystical texts from around the world, allowing students yet to form a contract with Vishanti to refine their life force and cast non-Vishanti-related spells.
Since Salomon had not yet formed a contract, and the Ancient One was reluctant for him to interact with Vishanti too soon, his young age also made excessive life force refinement detrimental to his development. As a result, his only available course at Kamar-Taj was another required discipline—martial arts.
"The body is a vessel for magic. Only with a strong body can you contain more magic and cast more spells," the Ancient One had explained, and thus, everyone followed suit.
Many Kamar-Taj sorcerers had lived there for generations, meaning there were plenty of children of suitable age. Whether raised within Kamar-Taj or arriving as outsiders, all students had to undergo martial arts training.
"Magic must be practiced from a young age. Train your muscles and bones externally, refine your energy internally. The faster you punch, the faster your spells land. Got it? Now, Two-Form Stance! Ready!"
A certain Zhang, a martial arts instructor from the Hong Kong Sanctum, oversaw Kamar-Taj's physical training. He frequently mixed Cantonese phrases into his demonstrations. Oddly enough, everyone except Salomon seemed to understand him.
As Salomon awkwardly mimicked the stance, Master Zhang suddenly smacked the back of his head. "Oi! Stop posing stiffly like a statue! Kid, you can't even throw a proper punch! No power in the reverse strike, no precision in the forward strike. How are you gonna learn Bajiquan?! Get lost and go play somewhere else."
Feeling rejected, Salomon pouted and shuffled aside.
"The Hong Kong Sanctum takes martial arts seriously. Just follow the training."
Out of nowhere, the Ancient One appeared beside him, now wearing sunglasses and speaking in a thick Hong Kong accent. Salomon nearly choked on his own breath—was this really the Ancient One? Completely unfazed, she continued, having cast a mirror dimension spell so only he could see her.
"What? You don't want to learn Bajiquan? Then go learn Wing Chun!"
"Master, I don't understand what you're saying with that accent…" Salomon muttered, exasperated. His only impression of Cantonese was "meh ah, meh ah"—everything else was incomprehensible.
"Tsk tsk tsk, young people these days need to learn more!" The Ancient One shook her head. "Tomorrow, your senior brother will take you to find a master."
"Master what?"
"Like I said, learn Wing Chun!"
---
The next day, Salomon's guide was the son of a respected Kamar-Taj sorcerer, Master Hamir. His senior brother had a round face and rarely smiled, which made Salomon feel somewhat nervous in his presence.
"Thank you, Senior Brother, but…" Salomon pointed at a street poster and shook his head. His senior brother had tried to buy him an age-appropriate toy. "I don't like Captain America. Or any superheroes, for that matter. No Superman, no Batman, no toys, thanks."
In reality, Wang (Salomon's senior brother) was just as nervous. His father had strictly instructed him the night before to take good care of Salomon at all costs—after all, he was the Ancient One's treasured disciple. While technically all Kamar-Taj students were her disciples, their starting points differed. A sorcerer who could cast magic independently was undoubtedly a cut above the rest.
Although Master Hamir didn't fully understand what it meant for Salomon to be a "saint," one thing was clear: the Ancient One valued him highly. Some even speculated that Salomon was being groomed as the next Sorcerer Supreme.
So, when Salomon's eyes landed on a street stall outside the Hong Kong Sanctum, Wang had no choice but to use his meager worldly funds to buy the boy a bowl of wonton noodles.
Salomon picked up the chopsticks with practiced ease, but Wang wasn't surprised—Kamar-Taj's meals were a hodgepodge of global cuisines.
"Senior Brother, is Kamar-Taj really this poor?" Salomon innocently pointed at Wang's ragged attire.
"Not Kamar-Taj—just me." Wang rolled his eyes.
Truthfully, Kamar-Taj had stood for centuries and was not lacking in worldly resources. One major source of income came from treating terminally ill patients, as the Ancient One accepted all, regardless of wealth. Naturally, some rich people sought their help and left generous donations. Additionally, Kamar-Taj regularly hunted dark entities like vampires and black wizards, claiming their amassed wealth.
After all, even sorcerers needed to eat. It was rumored that the Ancient One held stocks in several major corporations. During the American Westward Expansion, she had bought land in exchange for money and property in New York. To put it bluntly, Kamar-Taj and its financial proxies might just be the biggest landlords in New York—though, being ascetics, they didn't need much.
After hearing this, Salomon asked, "Then why are you still so poor?"
Wang sighed deeply and clutched his chest, launching into a tale of woe. His father, Master Hamir, had confiscated all of his stipend from Kamar-Taj, claiming to save it for his future marriage and house.
"Not everyone lives in a sanctum, you know," Wang said, looking forlorn. But when he later discovered that his father had gambled away his savings in a mahjong game with Wu Guiyue, the protector of the Hong Kong Sanctum, he never trusted him again. (How a one-handed man played mahjong was another mystery altogether.)
"So, where are we going now?" Salomon asked through a mouthful of noodles.
"The place we're heading to only started taking students a few years ago. If Kamar-Taj didn't have some connections with Hongmen, they probably wouldn't even consider accepting a foreigner like you," Wang said. "If that doesn't work out, you'll have to stick with Bajiquan. Against Kamar-Taj's enemies, those 'scholarly' martial arts won't cut it."
Salomon scoffed.
He understood the Ancient One's intentions—she wanted him to form attachments to this world, to love it. She told him the story of Jezebel, encouraged him to interact with fellow disciples, and hoped he'd see the world's beauty.
But that wouldn't work. Even if he had a "go with the flow" attitude, he was still an independent-thinking adult. Sure, this world was more exciting than his previous life, but only because of magic—not anything else. He had once dreamed of receiving a Hogwarts letter, but as for everything else…
He firmly believed that every problem in the world could be solved with two phrases:
"None of your business."
"None of my business."
Of course, it wasn't entirely wrong for the Ancient One to place her hopes on him. There would always be fools who disrupted his peaceful life, and when that happened, Salomon—who sided with humanity—would have no choice but to fight for its survival.
The Ancient One had already planned everything out.