"This is going to be unpleasant," Edward warned before transforming his mana into Chakra. Then, to Hawkeye's horror, he casually removed his eyeballs. The worst part is that Clint was so shocked that he could not react. So, Edward continued this life-threatening operation as if he were dealing with bolts.
Edward put Hanuman's eyes into Hawkeye's socket before crushing his original pair of eyes, turning them into motes of light that fused with the artifact.
"Done," he exclaimed. "Now, try them out."
It took Hawkeye a moment to regain his bearing. Then, he used his former training to use these new eyes. "Amazing. I can see Tony from here. Here is Cap, Fury, and Nat. Is she playing with a booger? Hahaha, I will never let her live this one down. Fascinating. I can even see a pimple on my wife's face."
"It's good you adapt so quickly," Edward praised. "Now, focus on the sun. Can you see it?"
"I can."
"Zoom in. What do you see?"
"I see, hmm, are those atoms? No, maybe smaller."
"Good. Now zoom out and observe the galaxy."
"Can I do that? Well, it seems I can," Hawkeye commented. "Are those aliens? Why do so many of them look like humans?"
"Focus. Zoom out until the entire universe is in your eyes."
"It's beautiful," Hawkeye commented. He saw so many galaxies, black holes, and other cosmic wonders. "What are these weird dark spots with strange aura?"
"Places with powerful entities that you should not look at," Edward explained.
"I see."
"Now, keep zooming out. What do you see?"
"Bubbles? It's like we are large bubbles, but other bubbles are attached to us. I don't know, but that's the best way I can explain."
"The Dimension Sea," Edward explained.
"So, those are other dimensions? So many dark spots."
"Try to zoom out further. What do you see?"
"It's like thousands of Earths are next to each other but separated by an invisible film."
"An interesting way to visualize the multiverse," Edward commented. "Now, I need you to focus on one of the Earths with a very weak aura. Concentrate and try to fire an arrow." Edward handed him the other two artifacts.
"Fire an arrow? I guess that's fine, but where is the arrow?" When his words finished, the quiver released a purple light, and an arrow appeared. Hawkeye was slightly surprised but followed the command.
The bow felt perfectly suited to him, and he could sense the terrifying power contained in the arrow. He controlled his breathing, focused on the weak Earth he detected, and fired the arrow.
The thing flew from his bow to a portal that appeared before it. Then, Hawkeye watched as the Earth he was observing suddenly vanished in a fiery purple explosion.
"Wait, did I just destroy a universe?" he asked.
"You did."
"I…" He did not know how to feel about that. In just a moment, he ended trillions of lives.
"You should get used to this, as you will be doing this a lot more often from now on."
"I…But…"
Hawkeye suddenly fell to the floor and twitched with a severe seizure. Blood dripped from all the orifices of his body.
"His soul is collapsing, and his Mana Core cracked," Morgana stated. "Even though the artifacts did most of the work, he's still too weak to use them without repercussions."
"I was correct in my initial assessment that he would need at least Tier 6," Edward calmly said. "However, his displayed talent is enough for me to be cautious." He was more than satisfied with Hawkeye's result. The fact he could use the Hanuman's Eyes to such an effect immediately after acquiring them was proof of his overwhelming talent.
He summoned the Soul Stone to heal Hawkeye, which should take some time. Once he's completely recovered, Edward will give him a break by sending him to his family. He did not waste time and summoned the next avenger: Black Widow.
"How did things go with Clint?" Natasha asked.
"Better than I could imagine."
"That's good, I guess."
"Stand before this orb and do as it's instructed," Edward said, and a few hours later, he got the result.
"Just like him: abnormal results," Morgana commented.
"What happened to the sorcerers we tested?"
"Their talent was much higher than originally, but they were not nearly as outlandish as this one."
"Did you check Wong's results?"
"He's on a mission."
Edward nodded. It appeared that his theory that explains this situation was close to being verified.
"Well?" Natasha asked, waking him from his thoughts.
"Decent-level Charming Ability, hidden Metamorphmagus Ability, and an absurd affinity with Shadow Magic that is comparable to even the best Shadow Elemental Creature
"You're saying many words, but not many of them make sense."
"In simple terms, you're the ultimate assassin/spy."
"I guess that fits," Natasha commented.
"The question now is what to do with you," Edward added. "Becoming a standard Arcanist that uses mana might be a waste for you, given your affinity with Shadow Magic. So, the best option would probably be to use Shadow Energy as your primary energy, then learn Energy Conversion to use mana or other powers when necessary.
"Shadow is a pretty malleable element, so it will go well with your metamorphmagus talent. However, not necessarily with your Charm. Should I give you a Succubus Bloodline? No, elevating your Charming Talent too much might destroy the balance of all your other top talents, so it's probably best to find another way.
"So, the focus should be on Shadow Magic," Edward rumbled on to himself. "I know what to do with you."
"And what is that?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's start with the first step: train your body and [Aura] to Tier 4 while also learning as much as possible about Shadow Magic/Sorcery." Edward created another clone to train. Then, he left the room.
"What are you thinking?" Morgana asked.
"Wasn't there a low Demon God with a shadow dimension?"
"You're thinking of Morag? Do you want to take his dimension for her to use?" Morgana asked.
"Better yet, I want Natasha to fuse with Morag before fusing with the shadow dimension."
"Slow down a little," Morgana said. "Even with your help, do you think it's possible for a Tier 4 Shadow Arcanist to fuse with a Tier 10 Demon God?"
"You remember the research from Nick Morton's unique body?"
"The one from the Mummy World we visited? The one who seals Set inside his body to use his divine power?"
"That's right."
"I see. If we use the research from his unique body and the sealing method used in Naruto for the Nine-Tails, we might be able to seal Morag in Natasha's body for her to use his power," Morgana explained. "But it is still too risky."
"In the Library of Cagliostro, a unique spell allows Strange to absorb countless dimensional entities until he becomes at least Tier 9. If we add that one, with Natasha's high affinity with Morag's power, it's not impossible for her to swallow him."
"If we wait until her soul reaches Tier 6, no, Tier 7, the chances of success would be much higher," Morgana analyzed. "However, even if she succeeds, what about the Dimension Fusion? All our previous experiments failed."
"Now that I'm Tier 10 and have better understanding and control of my Space-Time Law, I'm more confident. However, our odds should increase if I also acquired Life Law," Edward explained.
"Is it really necessary to go this far? As long as she absorbs Morag, she can draw infinite power from the shadow dimension. We have a lot of work waiting for us."
"No, this experiment is crucial," Edward replied.
"How so?"
"Do you remember how Merlin said we skipped too many steps when we tried to develop our own internal law? I think I know what is missing, and this experiment will point us in the right direction."
"Turning the Soul Dimension into a universe — not just any universe, but a perfect one with its laws, rules, and authority."
"What you're saying is the final evolution of an Arcanist is for their mind to be its own internal universe that condensed laws based on their understanding or type of magic," Morgana summarized.
"Exactly."
"This actually makes sense," Morgana pondered. "So far, we have only encountered two things that can hold laws: magical objects and a universe. My idea was that we could refine the Gate of Truth into an object that can hold the law, but your idea is better than mine."
"No, your idea is also excellent," Edward said with shining eyes. "Maybe we can combine the two. We use the Gate of Power as the Law Core of the Soul Universe. This would make the universe more stable and make it easier to wield the law."
"We are getting ahead of ourselves once again," Morgana reminded. "Let's succeed in fusing a person with a dimension and go from there."
"You're right."
After leaving Black Widow to train, Edward used the Time Stone and his Cosmic Awareness to track the whereabouts of the Morag, the Shadow Demon God. However, that bastard was sneaky, resulting in Edward searching in vain. Finally, he had to elicit the Ancient One and Hawkeye's help. With the two of them simultaneously using the Time Stone's power to sift through countless possibilities and Hawkeye's divine eye, they finally found his dimension.
Then, the three of them invaded the Shadow Dimension to capture Morag. Edward might have the strength to do it alone; however, he used the others' help to ensure no problem. After all, Morad had the home advantage, and his Shadow Attribute meant he was good at hiding.
Then, with two Sorcerer Supreme ganging up on him and an Archer who can fire Tier 10 arrows from across dimensions, the Demon God was captured and sealed.
Once that was done, Edward summoned the Library of Cagliostro from the river of time and put all its content in Kamar-Taj. After mastering the library's content, he returned to Natasha's training.
As Edward entered the training room and synched his memories with his clone, his mouth could not help but twitch. "You couldn't control yourself, could you?"
"I'm you, so what do you think?" the clone replied, and with a snap of his finger, the original dispersed this bastard. The clone had tried to woo Natasha, as expected. Unfortunately, she rejected his advance despite flirting back. Apparently, she was not too thrilled with Edward being married with seven or more wives.
Edward coughed in embarrassment to get her attention. Then, he said, "I apologize for his actions. I take full responsibility for not restraining him better, but you should understand they were the clones' actions and his alone."
It took Natasha a while to understand what he was getting at, and when she did, she smiled. "Is this a weird way of you trying to excuse your behavior?"
"Is it working?"
"No," she replied.
"In that case, it's not. This is my way of taking accountability for my inappropriate actions," he declared shamelessly with a serious face.
"It always makes me smile when I see the difference between how you truly are and how I originally perceived you," Natasha commented.
"How did you see me before?"
"Pragmatic, cold, calculating, duty-bound, very serious — maybe too serious, and this detachment from human or mortal affairs. In other words, everything a godly being with your power should be," Natasha replied.
"Did I look so grim?"
Natasha nodded.
"Ooh," Edward shook his head. "These traits are a small percentage of my personality, and some are just skills I had to learn to be as accomplished as I am today."
"So, what are you truly like?" Natasha had a peek at his personality in the five years they spent training in this place. However, she wanted to know how he viewed himself.
"If I had to put it simply — I'm a magic nerd," Edward replied. "If I could have it my way, I would spend thousands of years researching without interacting with anyone or the outside world. Sadly, I have an Empire to run, a family to watch out for, wives to keep happy, and citizens to protect."\
"Why does it sound like these other things were chores you were forced to do?"
"The wording does sound a bit off," Edward acknowledged. "But it's true, to some extent. I love my family, but I would prefer if we lived in this enormous laboratory, everyone doing research together and discussing the results over lunch.
"I love my Empire and my people. After all, I built it step by step, and I could not have accomplished my goals without it or my people. Plus, there is this sense of strength when knowing you have people behind you that you must protect.
"However, I'm not a fan of all the tedious politics, even though I know it's fundamental to the Empire's prosperity. That's why I left most of the politics to my aunt and the council while the military is under my wife's control."
"Something has been puzzling me ever since you, I mean, your clone, told me how laissez-faire you are with how you rule," Natasha said. "Are you worried that your aunt or wife will betray you? If they decide to revolt, they will literally have the power to divide the empire into two or three if you consider people loyal to you."
Natasha looked him in the eye. "From what I gathered, so much power, resources, and wealth is involved. Not to mention things like immortality, godlike powers, and so on. Aren't you the least bit worried?"
"Not really," Edward replied.
"How come?"
"As you said, I trust these people with my life."
"That can't be just it," Natasha continued. "I don't believe in absolute loyalty, especially when it comes to temptation of such a magnitude. Someone as bright as you can also recognize such a possibility.
"You're correct."
"So, what is the reason?"
"How do I explain this?" Edward asked. "You said it yourself. There is so much temptation. Given how human desires work, how do you think such an empire could thrive despite so many people competing for personal, political, military, and economic power? That's because a monster — me — is above them, constantly suppressing their greed.
"And I didn't do it unfairly. No, I established a system that allowed them to take everything away from me as long as they were better than me. However, after a hundred years," Edward used an air-quote for the hundred parts. "I'm still leagues ahead of them."
Edward smirked.
"The Empire literally cannot exist without me. Everyone with a little bit of brain knows that if they successfully revolt, and that's a big if, they might get some pieces of the Empire, but that piece will soon crumble due to internal problems.
"Meanwhile, as long as I'm alive, I can create a new and better Empire. Then, I can return and retake everything they stole from me."
Natasha was impressed and momentarily speechless. "Did you intentionally establish such a system?"
"Not at first," Edward replied. "However, my Think-Tank observed how things were developing, so they created measures to ensure it proceeded as smoothly as possible."
"Think-Tank?"
"One of my greatest assets is I know how to delegate tasks and when to listen to people who know better than me," Edward explained. "I built a Think-Tank with the most brilliant minds of the Empire to help me run things. In fact, I have several of them to cover everything and keep them balanced. I even have a History Council."
"History Council?"
"Basically, a think-tank of all the famous people from history, like Einstein, Newton, Plato, Confucius, Al Khwarizmi, and even the Buddha himself. They gained eternal life and access to magic and advanced knowledge and technology, and in return, they helped me with my problems or develop new things for the empire."
Natasha looked at him, genuinely speechless this time.
"What can I say? Time magic is truly remarkable if you use it correctly," Edward shrugged.