"You truly don't care?" The Ancient One calmly closed her eyes behind the fan and smiled.
At that moment, she and Odin were standing on the balcony of the palace, watching the clash between Loki and Alaric in the distance.
"No! It's time for Loki to learn a real lesson!" Odin spoke with a cold voice, his face dark.
The truth was that in his heart he had already cursed Loki many times.
How could a mage who had been studying for over a thousand years and possessed the deep essence of Frigga's magic not be able to face a beginner who only knew teleportation and a few tricks of perception, and end up in such a situation?
A disgrace for Asgard!
You've been too comfortable in this palace for too long!
Just wait until Thor returns, next war I'll drag you to the front line, to sharpen you well there!
"Does your student truly know no other magic?" Odin asked again, not hiding his doubt.
"Not really. I haven't had the time to teach him that." The Ancient One spoke honestly. Alaric had built his magic completely on his own, self-taught.
Even she, after so many years of study, had to admit: without anyone's help, Alaric had relied on his demonic talent and created his own strange yet powerful spells.
Like teleportation. Like the all-seeing eye.
All of these were magics that did not exist at all in Kamar-Taj.
"That eye magic… besides being able to see Asgard, how far can it look?" Odin asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know yet. It hasn't been tested." The Ancient One lightly shook her head and assumed inwardly. Perhaps the all-seeing eye had no limits at all?
As long as he knew the name, maybe Alaric could peer even into the most hidden spaces of the universe.
Even into other dimensions.
"So, your idea was to have him spy on me." Odin looked at the Ancient One expressionlessly.
Alaric was her student, still a beginner. But even beginners were not innocent; there was always some reason to use him.
"I was only testing the limits of his power," she replied calmly.
"Oh? And what did you manage to see through him?" Odin suddenly asked her.
"Nothing," she said without hesitation, showing not a trace of discomfort.
"Hm." Odin sneered.
Keep pretending, let's see if I'll believe you.
At that moment, from the other side of the battlefield, Loki's voice was heard, filled with disbelief and shock.
"Mother!?!"
Odin immediately raised his gaze.
Frigga?!
What is happening?
Why is Frigga lying on the ground!?
Odin's eyes widened when he saw blood soaking the floor beneath her, while Loki knelt beside her, confused and lost, staring at his hands.
"Frigga!" Odin's voice thundered, his eyes flashing, and his body was already preparing to leap from the balcony.
Frigga must not be harmed!
The Ancient One also looked bewildered.
Although she was speaking with Odin, her gaze had not left the battlefield. Before her eyes, Frigga had suddenly appeared, struck by Loki's dagger. Loki had stabbed her helplessly, and the scene looked far too real.
"Strange… could this be a magic that child invented?" The Ancient One felt deeply astonished.
"Where are you rushing off to?"
Frigga entered the room, seeing Odin's worried expression. She stopped and asked him in confusion.
"You are here?!" Odin suddenly froze. If Frigga was unharmed beside him, then who was that lying on the ground, covered in blood?!
"If I'm not here, where else should I be?" Frigga rolled her eyes and approached the Ancient One.
Then she followed her gaze and saw the scene in which Loki was holding a dagger, while she herself collapsed to the ground. At once, she understood why Odin was so unsettled.
"This…?"
"Hm, that is probably the magic of my student," the Ancient One explained.
"Magic?!"
Odin calmed only when he felt that Frigga was truly unharmed. But when he looked again at the scene below, he could not discern the trick.
What the hell is that magic?!
Why is it more real and convincing than Frigga's own phantom illusion?!
That looks like a real person! Are you sure that isn't you yourself?!
"It isn't me," Frigga confirmed seriously.
Odin turned to the Ancient One, seeking a reasonable explanation with his eyes. Why did his wife look as though she had been stabbed by Loki's knife?! What the hell is this magic?
And worse still, this brat Alaric dared to mock Loki using Frigga's likeness!
"Well… I don't know myself." The Ancient One could not hide her confusion. She didn't know when Alaric had reached such a level of power, so under Odin's accusations she had no choice but to speak the truth.
"Isn't he your student?"
"Nominally, yes," she admitted quietly. "But his talent surpasses mine. Perhaps only the Vishanti could teach him."
The Vishanti, if anyone had asked them at that moment, would probably only shake their heads: He no longer even uses our magic. How are we supposed to teach him?
"So powerful?!" Odin and Frigga were shocked.
If even the Ancient One claimed she was unqualified to teach him, what would Aron's future abilities become?
Odin felt bitterness rise in his chest. The Ancient One had just over a century, yet she was already the Sorcerer Supreme, having reached the level of a Skyfather. If Alaric truly stood above her… Odin couldn't even imagine what he would become.
Damn it! He swallowed that bitter thought.
When he thought of his two sons and what he was watching now, his eyes grew moist. Alaric was already more gifted than all of them.
And Loki…
"Mother?! What the hell is happening here?!" Loki was completely bewildered. Before him, Frigga lay on the ground, blood flowing, and in his hands he held the dagger.
"Loki, you…"
He didn't understand. Why was his mother, who had always been so strong, suddenly so weak? Just one stab, and it looked as if she would fade away.
But Loki paid no attention to that. What he felt, the warmth of her body, the blood soaking his palms, all of it pointed to one thing: this was the real Frigga.
And he, with his own hand, had harmed his mother.
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