Chapitre 18: Learning

1133 AD: 169 Years(17 YO)

"There's a small problem with this." I say, as soon as Master Julius, who is going to be my direct supervisor during my stay at Kamar Taj, puts 3 primers on 3 different languages in front of me. Arabic, Sanskrit, and Latin. At least, I think it's Latin, as the language does not have a name, but the words sound similar to spells from Harry Potter.

"What?" Julius asks, looking at me scowling at the books.

I turn to him and say, "I might know how to speak every language here, but I can't read any of these."

Julius stares at me for a few seconds, and bursts out laughing. I turn my scowl back on, at him.

"HAHA! Haha! You can't read these languages? But you can speak them?" Julius says, laughing a bit more. Thankfully, other than the Guardian of the Library, Julius, and me, there's no one here.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. How many languages can you speak fluently again? 1? 2? 10? I can speak millions, and can learn to speak any new language within a few seconds." I reply, a bit arrogantly.

This puny mortal did not just insult The AllSpeak.

Julius stops laughing and looks at me, shocked. He shakes his head, and says, "Right, AllSpeak. I should have known. Sorry for that. But, the only solution I can offer you is learn to read and write. As fast as possible. I'll have a master help you with that. And as you can already speak those languages, you'll probably grasp reading within a few days, and writing in a week or so."

I nod, accepting that. I really should have seen this coming. Why didn't AllSpeak also include AllRead? I should suggest something to mother the next time I see her.

I knew how to read Modern 21st century English, Marathi, Hindi, a bit of Japanese Hiragana, and this age's Kree, Asgardian(which is just Norse). That's it. Compared to speaking millions of languages, thousands of which are on this planet alone, that's an insignificant number.

Taking the books with me, I leave for my room and sit on the table given to me. You see, something I did not realize when I made the "inhibitor" necklace, but realized it later in life, was that it did not, and could not block something that is not part of my Asgardian Heritage, or Magic.

Meaning my connection to the Light Dimension was safe from the Inhibitor. When I was using my own Divine Energy as fuel for the Light powers I used, it could block it off, no problem. But when I connected to the Light Dimension? Nope.

So it was, that I realized that even with the Inhibitor activated, I could still enhance my eyes, or use my Light attacks, albeit at a lower Strength. My Asgardian Body, and Magic, helped strengthen those attacks. Even my intrinsic Healing factor was pretty much unaffected by the Inhibitor, turning me into a Deadpool rip off.

So using my enhanced sight, my near Eidetic memory, thanks to Occlumency, and my iron will, I managed to learn 7 of the Midgardian languages within 3 months. During which I spammed the use of Astral Projection to read the books at night, and practiced no other form of magic.

I also trained in the physical forms that was taught here. It was very close to what I remembered Jackie Chan doing in his old movies, I didn't exactly know the style's name. Learning to fight with my mortal form was necessary for me to fight better in my Aesir form.

Other than that, I roamed Kamar Taj a lot, simply observing the students training.

Kamar Taj is a lot bigger than what the movies would have you believe. But it was also a bit of spatial manipulation. From the outside, Kamar Taj was about a 10-20 meters wide, or long, at most. But, from the inside? Including all the training grounds, the big Library, all the rooms for the students, masters, and the rooms to carry out dangerous experiments, Kamar Taj covered about 5 acres in area.

Which was pretty big, if you compare it with 100 square meters from the outside.

Also, as I suspected, Kamar Taj was hidden from Heimdall. I could talk with him, but he could not see anything other than me, nor could he hear anything. He told me so himself.

Thankfully, he could only see, or talk to me, if I allow it. If I did not allow him, he would not be able to even see what area he couldn't see. Kamar Taj was weird like that.

~~~Time Skip: 1 Year~~~

1134 AD, Age: 170 Years (17)

It's been a year since I entered Kamar Taj, and I have to say, it's been interesting. In this year, I have read and memorized about 50% of the books that are available to the Masters, which I was not, while completing the full syllabus for the Apprentices.

You see, the ranking system of Kamar Taj is something like this. Sorcerer Supreme (which is Master Yao) > Masters of the 3 Sanctums, and the Guardian of the Library > Masters of Mystic Arts (Also called full fledged Sorcerers) > Apprentice Sorcerers > Recruits. Most of the time, anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme are also called Disciples of the Mystic Arts, but I like the upper ranking more.

I was now an Apprentice Sorcerer, which was someone who had managed to connect to and bring forth either the Personal Magic, Universal Magic, or the Dimensional Magic, which is called External Magic here. I could of course do all three. I had managed to make Tao Mandalas as Shields, or throwing weapons, using any of the three energies, although the Light Dimension Energy worked best for me.

I especially liked to throw my Tao Mandala Shield, so that it cuts into things, or enemies, and dissipates, or comes back to me. Other than that, I had managed to make whips out of both my arms, to bind, or cut into enemies.

You see, most of the spells that Sorcerers use utilizes either the Personal Energies, the internal Magic, or the Universal Energies, which was sort of like Ambient Magic. Shields, weapons, bindings, whips, most of these spells only used these two types of energies.

Heck, even Telekinesis and telepathy used these two energies. Same for short range teleportation, or long range Sling Ring portals.

But, most higher level spells use the energies from other dimensions. Like the spell, Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, calls forth energy from the Dimension of Cyttorak, which focuses on Strength, and can be used to bind many stronger enemies. Flames of Balthakk, Icy winds of Ikthalon, are other such examples.

The good thing was, that they allow sorcerers to use their power for spells, as it indirectly makes them stronger while not requiring any significant work from them.

I, having an immense talent with Dimensional Energies, thanks to my connection to the Light Dimension, most often used that same energy for my spells. Of course I had to create spells for me to use, as the Light Dimension was relatively unknown for the Sorcerers, and seldom used.

One spell I created was inspired by 'Solar Flare' from DBZ, and it could do exactly that. I called it the "Flare of Light" and it could shoot an intense burst of pure white light, blinding anyone who looks at it.

Another spell was something I created after observing a tribal Shaman healing an injured dog, by channeling the Energy of the Earth into the dog. Of course the actual process was probably more complicated than what I saw. But I did get inspired by it.

I knew that the Dark Dimension Energy was corrosive in nature, and hence, deduced that Light Dimension Energy must have at least some Healing Properties. Plus the fact that my healing factor improved once my connection to the Light Dimension was established gave a big neon sign saying "I HEAL!"

So, when I traveled the world during weekends, I looked for injured animals, and tried to heal them, by channeling the LDE with an intent to heal into them. Unfortunately, the first few animals I tried it with either burst because of excess of Energy, or turned into Eldritch Abominations capable of firing photon beams at me. I, being suitably insulted, killed them on the spot and burned their bodies.

This made me decrease the output, until I succeeded in healing a rabbit. After 3 blown up animals, I finally succeeded.

Then I tried it with my fellow students, which also succeeded after a few tries under the watchful eyes of Master Yao.

Officially, I became the first Sorcerer of Kamar Taj, to have an actual healing spell. Ever. Literally, no other Sorcerer had actual healing spells. Mystic Energy, of all three kinds, had intrinsic healing properties, but not on the scale of Light Dimension. So Sorcerers never needed healing spells for themselves. But what I did was heal others, and way better than Dimensional Energy heals us.

I had also gotten on the top of the food chain when it came to Physical combat, as no one here could defeat me. Except Master Yao, but he was older than me by at least a couple centuries, and hence had greater experience in fighting physically superior enemies. Which was why he was the one to train me, most of these days.

But now, was the most important thing I was going to learn. Something which was probably the only reason I was intent on coming to Kamar Taj. Something which will help me immensely.

Sling Ring. Portals. Teleportation.

I had just taken one of the offered rings, which were made from some metal with mystical properties like Uru, and enchanted with the help of Dimensional energies.

"Mastery of the sling ring is essential to the mystic arts. They allow us to travel throughout the multiverse. All you need to do is focus. Visualize. See the destination in your mind. Look beyond the world in front of you. Imagine every detail. The clearer the picture, the quicker, and easier, the gateway will come." Master Julius explains to us Apprentice Sorcerers, all 16 of us.

As soon as he finishes talking, I take the stance they had us practice for 2 days straight, and hold my left hand, with the sling ring in it's two fingers, up. Focusing on my destination, which I imagined to be the place I dropped down on Midgard, I look right in front of me, and move my right hand in circles, slowly.

Sparks form, as I feel the Universal Energies flowing through me, and a glowing portal ring forms, big enough for me to walk through, hovering in space. I see through the portal, to find the Greenery of Europe, again. I smile and let the portal dissipate.

Looking around, I see Master Yao, standing near a wall observing the class. He nods at me, smiling proudly, and continues his vigil. I look around, and see that most of the students had managed a small portal to somewhere or the other.

Very few had managed portals big enough for safe travel, but they'll improve, I know that. Not every Sorcerer becomes a Master of the Sanctums, or the Librarian. There are Mediocre Sorcerers too.

I keep playing with the portals, making them from Sri Lanka, to Europe. I even make one over the Arabian Sea, while another one, up in the atmosphere. These two were a little volatile, as the pressure difference had to be included, but I managed within the one hour the class had gone.

"Excellent, students." Master Yao say, coming from the back, and gathering everyone's attention. He smiles at each of us proudly, and says, "You all managed to master Sling Ring usage within an hour, which is a record of this decade. Until now, there was at least one student who had to take extra lessons, or extra.. incentives, to make sure they learned."

He pauses, and says, "I am proud of you. All of you. Dismissed. Rest of the classes are cancelled for the day."

A few students cheer at that, as even if it was magic, it was a school, and the students were mostly teens, with a few young adults mixed in. I too cheer of course.

I can study on my own very well, and probably faster than I can study when the masters teach me. What can I say, I was a talented Sorcerer.

I was an Apprentice 9 months after starting my studies, which was a year after I came to Kamar Taj, as the first three months were spent studying the languages. Most of the other Apprentices, were here for 2-3 years. Some even as long as 5 years.

Not to badmouth people, but I was better than them in this. Not bragging, but it's a fact. I did help them out if they needed it, and if they accepted. Like, I sparred with 5 of my fellow students to make them get used to faster and stronger opponents. Or I helped a girl learn Arabic when she had just begun.

Anyways, my life in Kamar Taj became a lot more interesting after my mastery of Portals. I would visit different places on Earth during the day, and study there, or I would simply study during the night in my Astral Form, while having fun during the days.

I managed to visit Egypt, India, America, Australia, and even the moon using the Sling Ring portals. America was still inhabited by Native tribes, which also had a lot of self taught Sorcerers.

Most of the Native tribes studied some form of Potions, or Nature Magic. So I left them to themselves, and left. They'll be stolen from in the future, why steal knowledge from them and be in the same category as Columbus.

And now, after 2 years of studying everything related to the Mystic Arts, I had just about earned the title of Master of the Mystic Arts. I had studied everything from old languages, to the alien languages, from Conjuring Mystic weapons, to summoning demons to do my bidding. And yes, it was allowed in dire cases, but only for low tier demons. Higher tier Demons are harder to control, and hence are generally avoided, as a rule.

So now, here I was, in the office of Master Yao, waiting for him to speak. After 5 minutes of silence, during which we both drank Masala Tea, Master Yao finally says, "You are ready, I think. Come with me."

He stands up, and starts walking towards the Library, and then beyond it. We enter the room which contains the Orb of Agamotto, and the Eye of Agamotto, and go even beyond it. I look at the eye with glee present in my eye, when Master Yao says, "No, Baldur. That's not yours to wield."

I crush down the urge to scowl at him, and think, 'A man can dream, can't he?' While I loudly say, "I know, Master, I know. It's just.. It's an Infinity stone! Of course I'm excited to see one."

Master Yao snorts, totally believing me, and stops walking once we are near three doors leading to the three Sanctum Sanctorums. Master Yao points to the door to my left, in front of me, and my right, in that order, and says, "These doors lead to the Three Sanctums we have established around the world. This one leads to the next Continent, which we simply call Tribal Lands(Left). This one leads to Londinium(centre) while the last one leads to the Song Dynasty Sanctum(Right)."

I walk forwards until I'm near the doors, and ask, "What do I have to do?"

Master Yao nods and says, "You will go through the Relic Vaults of each of these Sanctums, until you find any and all relics that you feel connected to. Trust me, my student, You'll know it when you find it. Just to be safe, visit all three of the Sanctums, one by one. Don't stop if you find one."

I nod, and taking a deep breath, walk through the portal, leading me to the Tribal Lands Sanctum. Hope I can get a good relic.

~~~

A/N: What Relic(s) would you like him to have?

I have the Arrow of Apollon in my mind, along with the Lamp of Ichthalon. I couldn't exactly find what the lamp does, but it only exists in the MCU, so I can imagine it as anything I want.

Like it only lights up to you, making it so no one else sees it's light. Like the Hand of Glory from Harry potter. Or anything really.

Any other suggestions are welcome. But please nothing that screams anime.