ah!
ah!
Two long, terrified and painful screams rang out simultaneously as the two souls collided with each other. Both Jaina and Arthas were instantly sweating profusely, stumbling to the ground, their faces still etched with intense shock and fear.
"It seems that after a little experience, you should be able to understand the danger of Kamar-Taj's magic." The king squatted down and looked closely at the two people who were gradually recovering their spirits and thinking again.
"What are those?" Arthas assured him. He had never felt those terrifying beings before. Not even the demons of the Burning Legion had given him the same palpitations he felt today. He was certain that if he came into contact with those powers and beings without any protection, even if he mastered the Holy Light, he wouldn't be immune to its influence and infection.
Arthas knew the fate of the fallen! Those on Azeroth contaminated by fel energy or the Old Gods had already set an example for him. Some of these beings, in terms of their distortion and contamination, were even more vicious than fel energy, Arthas felt.
"You mean the ones you saw? Those we call dimensional demons and dimensional life forms. If you want to find a reference, you can understand them as the ancient gods in your world and their enhanced versions. The mages of Kamar-Taj are dealing with such dangerous beings and borrowing their power." Wang answered Arthas's question calmly, without any exaggeration or denigration.
"This is too dangerous!" Jaina took a deep breath to calm herself. The strange images of those dimensional creatures still lingered in her mind, and the mere memory of them made her head ache. Ever since she began learning and studying magic, her teachers had always told her that arcane magic was dangerous, not only to people but also to the world. But after this dimensional journey, Jaina even felt that compared to the magic system of Kamar-Taj, the arcane system was like a harmless lamb.
It was hard for Jaina to guarantee that she wouldn't be affected and corrupted by this. After all, once a mages in Azeroth reached a certain stage, they would inevitably come into contact with other powers, and would inevitably be influenced and corrupted for various reasons. It was as if those talented mages were all prone to corruption. Of course, Jaina knew that this was definitely not the case.
"So, do you still want to insist on learning the magic of Kamar-Taj?" Wang asked.
Jaina and Arthas looked at each other again. They felt that their heads were still in a dizzy and painful state, but they also understood that their next answer might very well determine their future fate.
"Don't worry about anything else. Just tell us what you're thinking. There's no need to worry about anything else. Kamar-Taj's magic isn't necessarily suitable for you, and you don't need to gamble your future on it. I'm leading you on this dimensional journey not to scare you, but to make you understand the dangers involved. Honestly, you've only just scratched the surface. Once you truly begin learning, the dangers ahead will be even more terrifying than what you've seen and felt."
I can see that you are both gifted children. You have your own strengths. There is no need to force yourselves to pursue the power of Kamar-Taj." The king saw the struggle in their eyes and comforted them.
"I choose to study," Jaina said with a firm expression. Arthas was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Are you sure?" Wang reminded again, "Once you make a choice, it will be difficult to back out."
"I'm sure. My teacher taught me that any power is a double-edged sword. You must make sure your hand is on the hilt to wield it. I believe I have enough caution and restraint to control them." Jaina gritted her teeth.
"The Holy Light will protect me!" Arthas said succinctly. Although his faith in the Holy Light had wavered at that moment, this slight wavering was not enough to make him abandon it, or be abandoned by it.
"Okay, since you have decided, then welcome." Wang smiled, stood up and extended his hand to the two people on the ground.
Jaina grabbed the king's hand and stood up with his help.
"You have passed the first test. In fact, everyone who comes to Kamar-Taj to learn magic has an obsession in their heart that cannot be given up. This obsession allows them to remain firm in their choice of learning magic when facing possible dangers in the future." The king said with a smile.
"So, this is just a test?" Jaina looked at the king suspiciously.
"You can think of it as a test, or you can think of it as some other ritual. This is the first time that Kamar-Taj has accepted a wizard apprentice from another strange world, and I think we still have to go through the necessary procedures." Wang smiled, stretched out his hand to draw a circle in the void, and then took out two tubes of azure potion from the circle.
"Drink them." The king handed two potions to Jaina and Arthas.
"What is this?" Jaina and Arthas took it, uncorked it, put it to their lips, and drank it. A cool feeling instantly swept over their bodies, and all their mental discomfort was instantly cleared away, and their entire minds and souls relaxed.
Neither of them had ever felt such a sense of ease and clarity, not even in meditation. In this moment, Jaina felt the arcane energy within her body flow with unwavering control, like an arm or finger. The profound magic that once required so much effort now felt effortless and instantly accessible to her.
Arthas felt the same way. He had never felt the immense control he possessed over his body before.
"This is for calming the mind. It can also help you calm your spirit and remove any possible contamination." Wang explained, "Although your journey is merely astral projection, it's not absolutely safe. If your spiritual awareness isn't strong and resilient enough, certain things will stubbornly take root in your mind and become deeply remembered. Then, through repeated nightmares, they will eventually strengthen enough to allow their owner to locate your coordinates and come to harvest your soul and power."
But this calming liquid can protect your spirits. Even if the dimensional beings persist, it will bear the cost. You have come at a good time."
"Then teacher, can I understand that the magic of Kamar-Taj is not as dangerous as you said? Its risks are controllable?" Jaina called the teacher and guessed based on the king's words and tone.
"You are very smart. But I did not deceive you or exaggerate deliberately. This is how the mages of Kamar-Taj used to be. We walked on the edge of a knife, constantly swinging between madness and depravity. But now it is different, we have the source of power that belongs to the mage. Although it also has certain sequelae, compared with the danger of dealing with those dimensional forces, it is already acceptable." The king ignored Jaina's cleverness, did not refuse, but did not admit it, just gave his own answer to her question.
Of course, the two most recent Supreme Wizards are excluded here! All wizards paid a price before learning magic, but only the Supreme Wizard ignored this price.
When Ancient One borrowed power, he never thought of returning it, nor did he ever say hello to the owner of the power, let alone need the owner of the power's consent.
Pay a price—obtain permission—borrow power—this is the normal process. But the Ancient One bypassed all the prerequisites and procedures for a wizard to cast magic. Her only task was to ensure her own sanity, untainted and uninfluenced. Later, after she abdicated, the new Supreme Sorcerer inherited her teacher, the Ancient One's expertise, and further improved upon it.
You know what I'm doing, and you know what I can do. We both know each other. But I take it without asking, and it's the reward you should pay me. I paid the labor price in vain.
For example, Dormammu, looking at the Abyssal Seal in his own dimension, had to grit his teeth and admit this. Although the payment was made to those at the Energy Bank, it was also true that the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj was one of the creditors. He was one of the main forces maintaining the Abyssal Seal.
"I once met a powerful mage in Azeroth. His name was Kel'Thuzad. The source of his power seemed to come from a powerful god here named Mephisto." Jaina was delighted, thinking that the king had tacitly agreed to his name, so she boldly asked another question tentatively.
"That's a real shame. I hope he lives long enough, or at least still has some use for Mephisto." Wang mourned for the great wizard. He could have fallen into anyone else's hands, but Mephisto's. Is his infernal power so easy to seize? You sold your life in life, and your soul will be valued after death. You didn't choose a good master!
"We currently generally borrow power from two demon gods: the elemental demon god Ancient One, representing psychic energy, and the trinity, representing white magic, Vishanti. However, new mage apprentices rarely borrow Vishanti's power these days. There are many rules involved that you must master.
Also, the spells of the Kamar-Taj mage lineage may be somewhat different from yours. We are used to close combat. So, if possible, some combat experience is still necessary. Of course, you can also specialize in a lineage."
Jaina and Arthas listened attentively.
…
"I didn't expect the examiner to be you, Miss Gwen." After seeing the person who greeted him at Hebern, Phil Coulson stepped forward in surprise and greeted him.
"Maybe it's because we are more familiar with each other." Gwen Stacy, who was wearing a white research suit, smiled.
"Where's Anjing? Won't it come out to say hello?" Phil looked Gwen up and down, a bit puzzled. He and Gwen did interact quite a bit, or rather, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Gwen had always interacted quite a bit. After all, Gwen had been working part-time at Heberon since high school and had joined directly after graduating from college. With a good teacher who was also a semi-veteran, Gwen had been thriving at Heberon. Naturally, she was more valued by Nick and the others.
"She's drunk." Gwen smiled awkwardly.
"Drunk?" Phil was stunned.
"She's brewed a kind of wine from the emotional fluid and even patented it, gaining a certain degree of freedom over the fluid. Now she's either drunk or on her way to get drunk. I can't control her anymore." Gwen threw up her hands helplessly. What could she do with a corrupted symbiote that needed no caretaker, capable of self-sufficiency? The fact that it was still willing to stay with her, treating her as a host, was already a blessing.
But since she spent most of her time in Heberon anyway, the risk of encountering external danger was minimal. So, she simply let An Jing go. After all, she was drunk, so she was just soaking herself in the solution. Her only concern was observing and adjusting the ratios of the various solutions to prevent An Jing from completely transforming from a symbiote into another life form. However, it was hard to say whether An Jing was still a symbiote, even though she still possessed all the characteristics of a symbiote.
But now, even An Jing is having a hard time accessing the symbiote network. If she were to force her way in, the entire symbiote network would even experience severe congestion and lag. The aftermath of a million symbiotes being knocked offline, nearly causing the symbiote community to believe their own network had collapsed, still reverberates today. Later, under Haibolun's emergency maintenance and expansion, the symbiotes that reconnected unanimously voted to restrict An Jing's access to the symbiote network. Otherwise, the symbiotes would have to relay messages to An Jing, who would then relay them to the others. What was once borderless instant communication now required a process. And everyone knew An Jing's personality. His mind was abnormal! It was impossible for him to honestly relay messages to you.
So An Jing now just eats and sleeps, living the life she once dreamed of.
"Okay." Phil smiled helplessly. This was indeed An Jing's style, and it was something she could do. He pointed at Reed and the other five behind him and introduced them to Gwen one by one.
"Come with me." Gwen nodded at them, motioning them to follow.
"Can I ask what kind of assessment it is?" Susan leaned closer and asked in a low voice. Reed and others behind her also pricked up their ears to listen.
"If you had a chaotic model of the world, how would you, as a [God], program it?" Gwen stated the question without reservation, standing in front of a metal door.