Karl stared intently at the Ancient One, his expression extremely sincere.
The Ancient One couldn't help twitching the corner of her mouth.
"Alright, you don't need to look at me like that."
"I definitely won't teach you advanced magic right now."
"The advanced magic you currently have is already enough."
The Ancient One spoke calmly.
"Then, Ancient One-sensei, what are you going to teach me?" Karl asked.
"Of course I'm going to teach you Laws," the Ancient One replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Laws? What are those?" Karl asked.
"You can treat it as a road, or a direction."
"Laws are the building blocks that make up this world."
"Everything in this world is composed of Laws."
"Everything can be explained through Laws."
"You can also think of it as a path—the path we're going to walk."
The Ancient One said this with unusual seriousness.
Karl had heard the term "Laws" plenty of times.
Everyone explained it differently, and even across different works of fiction, it could mean completely different things.
He didn't know what the Ancient One meant by "Laws," exactly.
"The Path of Laws can only be grasped, not spoken," the Ancient One said.
"Anything said out loud is ultimately false. I'll have to show you."
As she spoke, she swept a hand through the air.
A portal was carved open right beside her.
With Karl in tow, the Ancient One walked straight in.
Seeing Karl's confused face, she explained:
"This is a Mirror Dimension I constructed using the Eye of Agamotto."
"The flow of time inside is different from the outside. You can contemplate the Path of Laws properly here."
Karl's heart jolted.
The Ancient One truly was unfathomable.
With a casual gesture, she could alter the time flow of an entire space.
Even if it relied on the Eye of Agamotto, that kind of power was still terrifying.
Just look at what happened to Thanos and Iron Man.
Even the overwhelming power of the Infinity Stones could still be forcibly suppressed.
Yet the Ancient One did it with ease.
That kind of strength…
It was hard to even imagine.
Thinking this, Karl's anticipation only grew.
The Ancient One's true might felt completely different from before.
Seeing the expression on Karl's face, the Ancient One knew he couldn't wait any longer.
So she spoke directly.
"Watch carefully. I'll demonstrate once."
As she spoke, she flicked her hand, and a golden Tao Mandalas formed in her grasp.
"Do you see anything?" the Ancient One asked.
She looked at Karl with clear expectation.
"Your Tao Mandalas seems… not that perfect."
"But its power is…" Karl was deeply shaken.
He had always believed that only by pushing magic to absolute perfection could you produce truly overwhelming power.
But now he realized…
There was another road.
The Ancient One's shield wasn't especially "perfect," and the energy she used didn't even feel perfectly pure.
And yet—
It was terrifyingly strong.
Karl estimated that even if he went all-out, he still might not be able to break through this Tao Mandalas infused with Law-level power.
How absurd was that?
He wasn't weak anymore.
He had even driven off Hela—yet the Ancient One's magic wasn't something he could casually shatter.
So this was "Laws"?
Interesting.
Karl's mind churned.
He finally understood the gist.
Laws—just as the name implied.
It was like aluminum alloy.
Pure aluminum was soft and not very hard.
But—
mix in other materials and metals, and its properties change, its hardness rising drastically.
Or to put it another way—
Laws let you use one unit of power to pry open something far greater, on a higher level.
"This disciple understands a little," Karl said.
"Laws really are endlessly wondrous."
"That's right. Laws are endlessly wondrous," the Ancient One said.
"This is the most miraculous power in the universe."
She let out a soft sigh.
"I'll show you again. Watch carefully, and slowly comprehend it yourself."
"In this Mirror Dimension, you don't need to worry about time."
As she spoke, the Tao Mandalas in her hand began to change.
Runes started peeling off the shield one by one—threads of light, individual structures.
The Ancient One dismantled the spell strand by strand, letting Karl see everything clearly.
[ Ding! ]
[ Detected: Host is learning the world's foundational structure—Laws. God-tier Talent triggers a hundredfold critical strike. ]
[ You have mastered the Law of Force. ]
Karl: ???
No.
Something was very wrong.
For the first time, Karl felt like there was something wrong with his God-tier Talent.
He was—a mage.
A lofty archmage!
What was he supposed to do with a "Law of Force"?
Was he really going to turn into Gandalf—stacking crit to the ceiling, gripping a holy sword, only putting one point into a "Holy Light" spell, and then charging a fire demon head-on?
But Gandalf was a demigod to begin with.
Karl felt that if he tried playing like that, he'd die without even leaving a corpse.
While Karl was complaining internally, the system notification sounded again.
[ Ding! ]
[ Detected: Host is learning the world's foundational structure—Laws. God-tier Talent triggers a hundredfold critical strike. ]
[ Host has mastered the Law of Light. ]
The system chimed again.
Karl's expression turned odd.
This…
Laws could proc twice?
The Ancient One hadn't told him something like this could happen!
On the other side, the Ancient One saw Karl's strange expression and assumed he hadn't grasped anything, so she comforted him.
"Karl, don't rush."
"Comprehending Laws is extremely difficult. Many people can't comprehend even one in their entire lifetime."
"Even in history, those who managed to comprehend Laws weren't that many."
"Other than those gods who are born with it, and the four Over-Dimensional-level existences."
Karl, however, was still blankly stunned.
He raised his hand.
A beam of radiance appeared in his palm.
"That…" the Ancient One's eyes widened violently.
In a moment of shock, she crushed the small fan in her hand.
"This is the Law of Light?!"
"How is that possible?!"
A storm raged in the Ancient One's heart.
This kid Karl—
He really did comprehend a Law just by looking once?!
Was this a joke?!
Even for her, back then, comprehending a Law had taken a full hundred years.
Slowly tempering herself, finally following Agamotto's path, she had comprehended it.
But Karl…
He had only looked once.
No accumulation, no tempering—yet he had comprehended her Law.
That kind of talent was simply too terrifying!
Even the ancient gods said to be born of heaven and earth back then weren't this outrageous.
They were born with Laws—they didn't just make them appear at will.
The talent Karl had displayed now…
Was even more frightening than those legendary ancient gods.
(End of Chapter)
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