บท 9: Chapter 9: Strange Past Months
[Third Person's PoV]
"A 5-leaf clover?" Stephen questioned as he studied Asta's grimoire.
Asta scratched his head in confusion. "Yeah, I don't know what that means either. Heh, it's kinda like we're counting. Yuno has a 4-leaf, I have a 5-leaf, and you have a 6-leaf..."
"Okay, quick question, have you studied any martial arts that involve wielding a big sword?"
"Asta, what do you think?" Stephen replied dryly.
"Sorry, I was just curious since the Magic Knight exam is in 6 months, and I really want to use this efficiently by then..." Asta said, picking up the sword and swinging it around.
Nero then lightly pecked Stephen and landed on his grimoire. "Oh, right!"
"Asta, I think I might actually have something for you..."
"Eh? Seriously? I only asked you hopefully, I didn't actually expect you to have something," Asta said in surprise.
Stephen picked up his grimoire and began flipping through the pages. "Now, where's the search bar on this thing..."
He released his hand from the book as it floated in front of him, orange runes glowing above it.
"Woah..." Asta muttered, entranced by how mystical it appeared.
"Alright, show me a Martial Arts Scroll related to the use of a buster sword," Stephen asked his grimoire.
The glowing orange runes retreated back into the book as the pages rapidly flipped. Soon, images of a person wielding a buster sword step-by-step began to appear.
"Here, train in every move shown here once, commit it to memory, then start perfecting them," Stephen advised, flipping the grimoire over so Asta could see.
Asta nodded in agreement and held his buster sword like it was shown in the images. He started moving and stepping as the pictures displayed. He slashed the sword in one direction, turned to look at the next image, and followed that sequence.
After repeating all the images once, Asta began doing it in one fluid motion, without stopping to look at the pictures. "Alright, I think I got it... Thank you, Stephen... Honestly," Asta said, smiling.
Stephen scoffed. "Don't thank me, just keep practicing."
Asta's expression turned serious as he nodded and continued swinging and cleaving his sword around. He spun it over his head before striking at an angle, then switched to an upward slash.
Once Stephen saw Asta focused on his training, he silently walked away to focus on his own. He sat down on a large boulder and laid the book on his lap. "The pages on Astral Projection..."
The words and images of the buster sword shifted and changed, and information about the astral body began to appear.
Stephen then moved his hands in a series of hand signs before finishing with a triangle gesture, pushing it outward from his body.
Stephen let out a sharp gasp as his astral form left his body. As he floated away, he turned to look at himself. "Well, that was easy. I'm practically a natural at this once I have a guide in front of me on how to do things," he said proudly to himself before returning to his body.
…
Two months later…
In the middle of the night, Stephen's body was seen resting with his eyes closed. Around him, his astral body was kicking its feet as he rapidly flipped through the pages of his grimoire. "The Mirror Dimension..." he muttered with a large smile on his face.
"Shouldn't be too hard for the great old Stephen Strange..."
Stephen spent the entire night studying and preparing to enter the Mirror Dimension.
The next morning, he returned to the giant Demon Skull, with Nero perched on his shoulders, curiously watching Stephen. Stephen hadn't told her anything about what he had been learning, wanting to surprise her. Around Stephen's arm, Eldritch magic circles appeared. He turned toward her and asked, "Ready?"
Nero simply shrugged her wings. Stephen lifted his arm and tapped the air in front of him, which soon began splintering like glass, surprising Nero slightly as Stephen calmly walked through it.
Nero looked at the crack in confusion and then at Stephen. "This, my beautiful feathery friend, is known as the Mirror Dimension. You know when you look at a mirror and see another version of yourself? Well, we're in that dimension right now."
Nero looked at Stephen in amazement as he began to explain the practicality of it. "If we want to fight someone and don't want to damage the area around us, we bring them here... Not to mention, it's a great place to banish someone."
Nero nodded in agreement, still awed by the new discovery. Stephen tapped the glass-like air again, cracking it open and allowing them to leave the Mirror Dimension.
"Phew... I was worried I might have messed that up and gotten us stuck there forever!" Stephen said, putting a hand over his chest.
Nero, in her usual dull, deadpan way, smacked the back of his head with her small wings.
---
One month later…
Stephen was rapidly moving his hands, gathering an orange ball of energy in his palm. He sent it toward a boulder, which began to compress and change shape, turning into a golden ring with two finger holes.
"Step one, using the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, check," Stephen smirked, proud of himself.
---
Two months later…
Stephen was inside the Mirror Dimension, in deep concentration. In his left palm was a magic circle filled with deep orange liquid, while his right hand was pinching and shaping the golden liquid into golden runes.
In front of him, the golden two-finger ring floated, surrounded by multiple rings of runes, moving and overlapping each other.
When Stephen finished, he began moving his hands closer together, as if squishing a ball. The runes started to close in on the ring until they made contact. It glowed with a bright golden light and, as it released a burst of energy, Stephen quickly tapped his wrists together, creating a giant shield around himself, though he was still pushed back.
When the light dissipated, a glowing golden ring hovered, slowly dimming before dropping to the ground.
"Runes of Kof-Kol... Check," Stephen smirked, calling the ring toward him. It levitated and flew into his hand.
He slipped it onto his fingers and looked ahead. "Visualize where you want to go..." he muttered, sticking out his left hand with the ring and rotating it.
Sparks flew in front of him before fading away. Stephen sighed and tried again. A wonky circle appeared, then quickly closed. He inhaled deeply, trying to relax. "I'm way too excited... I need to calm down..."
Stephen imagined the Demon Skull and gently began to make a circle with his hands. A portal slowly opened, and a large grin spread across his face as he stepped out of the Mirror Dimension and back into the real world.
Nero came flying off the statue of the First Wizard King and landed on Stephen's head, puffing her chest with pride at how quickly he was advancing since receiving his grimoire.
However, the smile on Stephen's face shifted to a serious expression. Nero detected the sudden change and looked at him with concern.
"It's time..." he muttered. Stephen conjured a stepping stone with magic circles and jumped on top of the Demon Skull, next to the statue.
He spread his arms and closed his eyes.
---
Near the church, in the backyard by a tree, the ground began to shake slightly as if something was trying to escape. After several attempts, the ground cracked, and out popped a wooden box. The box burst open, and out came a red cloak with golden outlines. By the cloak's collar was an amulet with a symbol of an eye.
The cloak swayed slightly before spinning around, shaking off the dust, and flying toward the giant Demon Skull where Stephen Strange stood, arms outstretched. The cloak softly hovered above him before slowly descending and draping itself over his shoulders, with the amulet settling around his neck.
Stephen began to levitate from the skull and descended toward the ground. He whipped the cloak back and smirked, "Like a glove~"
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