Seeing that Peter had found his boss, Strange was very satisfied and curiously asked, "Did she say anything to you?"
"Nothing at all. Was what I saw a live feed?"
Strange raised an eyebrow and withdrew the spell. The illusion before Peter vanished. Strange then nodded; Spider-Man indeed possessed magical talent.
"Learning magic has two foundations," Strange began, walking and beckoning Peter to follow. "The first is a strong enough psychic field. This is the basis for learning spells—it's the talent. People without this talent cannot learn magic."
"The second is effort. Talent does not mean you can achieve mastery overnight. Even the most excellent sorcerer needs constant practice and self-improvement."
As they passed through a doorway, Peter and Strange instantly found themselves in a vast, snowy mountain range. Strange gestured for Peter to follow. "We are now at Kamar-Taj, the home of the Sorcerer Supreme on the roof of the world. It's situated on the largest Ley Line on the planet, making it the best place for beginners to learn magic. We pay the Eastern Great Power hundreds of millions in materials every year for rent and maintenance."
The sudden leap of thousands of meters caused Peter a bit of altitude sickness, but he quickly recovered and hurried to catch up. Strange continued as they walked, "Your psychic energy is very strong, Spider-Man. That's a good thing; it means you have the potential to learn magic. Now, I'm going to teach you how to use magic. Remember, I'm only teaching you once."
"And then I study on my own?"
"And then you study with Wong."
Peter saw many Kamar-Taj apprentices. He followed Strange into a dwelling that felt like it was styled after the Tang Dynasty. He took off his shoes with Strange while listening.
"The reason magic students require a powerful psychic field is that every sorcerer must start with the most basic magic. The first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto (one of the Vishanti), summarized the three paths of magic. The first path is the Inner Path. The magical power on this path comes from your own psychic energy, so those with insufficient psychic energy cannot learn."
As Strange spoke, he cast a spell, and quickly, his physical body slumped while a floating, visible, and tangible soul appeared before Peter. This is known in Western magic as Astral Projection.
"Astral Projection, hypnosis, mind control, low-level telepathy, and your spider-sense all stem from this. It's the most basic magic. The Inner Path is represented by the mineral lapis lazuli. Generally, as long as you don't overextend your psychic energy, there will be no harm."
"The second path is the World Path. This is about borrowing power from nature to cast spells. It can create simple force field shields and illusions. Excellent sorcerers can even generate different elements, like the Avatar."
Strange spoke while summoning the four elements of water, fire, wind, and earth with his left hand, and the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth with his right, forming two different cycles. "This type of magic also doesn't deplete your own energy, but it relies too much on the surrounding natural energy and the sorcerer's proficiency. Nexus of Realities like New York, London, and Hong Kong make these spells easier to cast. Kamar-Taj, needless to say, is even better. The portals cast by the Sling Ring also use a magical artifact to manipulate natural elements."
"The drawback is that because natural energy is limited, natural magic generally has a less powerful effect and a short duration, but the advantage is that it won't harm the user. The World Path is represented by the mineral jade."
"Finally, there is the third path, the Outer Path, represented by the mineral gold."
If the magic drawn from the self and the magic drawn from nature are both limited, then where does the power for a sorcerer's truly powerful magic come from?
"When a magic student steps onto the Outer Path, it signifies that they have officially become a sorcerer. Magic is a trick to deceive and alter reality, and the more powerful the effect, the more powerful the energy required. In addition to the countless parallel universes you've traveled to, the cosmos contains other 'extra dimensions' that don't belong to our reality."
"Some of these dimensions are like pocket universes such as Asgard or Olympus. Others are more abstract, like Hell or the Dark Dimension."
Strange's astral form didn't cast an Outer Path spell but showed Peter the enormous heads of various Dimensional Lords. "Some beings transcend a single universe, occupying unowned dimensions and merging their consciousness with the dimension itself—these are the Dimensional Lords. A sorcerer can call upon these Dimensional Lords, borrowing the power of the dimension they control. It's essentially taking out a loan from them."
"Like the Vishanti?"
"Like... the Vishanti are among the better ones, and they don't like hearing that."
Strange rolled his eyes at Peter before continuing, "Outer Path magic is considered the most advanced and powerful form of magic, but to gain the assistance of a Dimensional Lord, the sorcerer must learn and execute complex incantations and master subtle hand gestures. The weaker the sorcerer and the stronger the dimension, the more complex the ritual to draw the demon lord's power."
"Of course, you can also directly draw energy from unowned dimensions, but every sorcerer is advised not to do this because pure dimensional energy is too powerful. Prolonged use will damage the sorcerer's body. Drawing energy from a demon lord, like the Vishanti, mitigates this harm. Of course, we must pay other costs. Kamar-Taj sorcerers, for instance, pay part of their debt with the responsibility of maintaining the safety of reality."
"There are also malevolent Demon Lords, such as Dormammu, Chthon, Set, and Mephisto. They demand costs like the sorcerer's soul, but they are more generous and can rapidly boost a sorcerer's power."
Strange recalled the heads of the Dimensional Lords, and his astral form returned to his body. He stood up from the floor, dusted off his robes, and handed Peter a Sling Ring. "Remember this environment, Spider-Man. When you can use the Sling Ring to open a path to Kamar-Taj, it means you can begin learning the magic of mending reality."
Peter took the Sling Ring and the basic spellbook. Strange had explained the Marvel universe's magical system in great detail. Peter was about to leave through the portal Strange opened but suddenly thought of a question.
"Are these the only three sources of a sorcerer's power?"
"No, Spider-Man. This is what I must warn you about. If you encounter a sorcerer using the fourth path, notify me immediately." Strange's expression turned serious. "Chthon, the God of Black Magic, discovered the fourth path, called the Path of the Necro. Necromancy isn't about summoning skeletons; it means using the energy generated at the moment life ends to cast spells."
"Every single one of them is an unpardonable, rotten-to-the-core bastard who deserves to die."
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