章節 594: The New Kamar Taj (I)
"I know this is difficult to accept," continued Edward. "So, you have three days to decide. If you feel this is unacceptable, you can leave Kamar Taj and return to your mundane life. Kamar Taj will still be your home and family; you can return to ask for any help if needed.
"You can choose the second path if this is unacceptable to you, but you still want to continue your duty. You will then become non-combatant and be assigned to more assistant roles.
"As for the rest, if you choose to say, know things will change; you should be prepared to sacrifice everything for this job."
The ceremony became quiet for a moment before a sorcerer raised his hand, "Sorcerer Supreme, I respect you for telling the truth, but I am of the belief that how we win matters more than winning itself. So, I cannot accept that I have to sacrifice others and commit countless atrocities just to save my own behind. I choose to leave."
"That's fair," nodded Edward. "Sorcerer Andreas, I salute you for all your years of service." After saluting him, Andreas did the same. Soon afterward, more than ten sorcerers chose the same path as them. The others still had not decided, so the assembly ended.
After the meeting ended, Edward rested in his room. He knew these sorcerers should be talking to the Ancient One, getting more information and her perspective. They've known her longer and trust her regarding such a thing. Additionally, many people are confused and could use her guidance.
Edward entered the Mirror Dimension before activating the Time Stone to summon Time Duplicates of the Soul Stone, absorbing all its energy into his soul. The Soul Divination process had made tremendous progress, but he felt he was far from the Soul Flame level equaled to Tier 11 and above. He suddenly sensed something and stopped his actions before leaving the mirror dimension.
"Mordo?" Edward did not expect his presence.
"I…came to talk to you. I'm…confused," said Mordo after a brief pause.
"I'm all ears," said Edward, waving his hand to manifest a chair and tea before inviting him.
"You may not know this, but my past was filled with hatred and violence. Unlike the others, I came to Kamar Taj for power and revenge," explained Mordo. "The Ancient One taught me how to control that violent side of me, and only recently could I say that I was successful.
"But now, after the future you showed us, and what you said, I can see myself slipping. Everything I know and the beliefs I held on to seemed to be slipping; I'm confused and don't know what to do."
Mordo's eyes were red as if his madness and confusion were affecting him physically.
"Drink some tea."
"I don't want tea — I want answers."
"You can have both," said Edward. At his insistence, Mordo finally drank the tea, feeling an unknown energy rush into his brain and calm his mind.
"Have you ever watched the movie The Princess Bride?" Mordo looked at him, wondering why he was talking about a movie when he was asking for answers and guidance.
"I'm assuming that's a no," said Edward with a smile. "One of my favorite characters in that movie was Inigo Montaya. I love the man because he is one of the few characters in literature portrayed as having no regrets after accomplishing his revenge. Everyone else feels a sense of regret and emptiness once they've killed the people who've wronged them."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Inigo was not affected by his revenge because he knew it was wrong but accepted it as necessary to give him closure. Once it was done, he did not let his actions or his past define him—he processed his trauma, moved on, and lived a happy and fulfilling life.
"But you, on the other hand, are defined by your past actions. You fear you will return to your former self, return to a life of unrestrained violence. So, to protect yourself from reverting to your old self, you build an ideology on stubborn and rigid respect for the Ancient One or the traditional laws of the universe.
"You know these things are constant and will not change. So, you believe as long as you follow them and keep them as a tether, you won't change — you can be the calm and wise Master of the Mystic Arts instead of the violent Mordo."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Many," replied Edward. "You cannot live for others. Humans are complicated, and I guarantee you the Ancient One you know is only an ideal version you've created in your mind. She has lived so long that you cannot fathom what secrets she's hiding or how much she's changed from when she first became a sorcerer."
"What about the natural order of things? Surely there is nothing wrong with living by such a philosophy," Mordo asked.
"There isn't," nodded Edward. "The issue is extremism, to the point of accepting any act of bending the laws for a greater cause."
"Then, what am I supposed to do?"
"I recommend leaving Kamar Taj and finding a therapist to deal with your past and find yourself. Then, you can choose whether to return and in what capacity."
"I see." Mordo left his room, and the next day, he also left Kamar Taj. On the third day, Edward gathered everyone again, and this time, he lost 10% of the sorcerers who left and another 20% who chose to become non-combatants.
"I'm glad so many of you stayed," said Edward. "We have a lot of work to do, so if you have any questions about what I previously said, do it now."
"I have a question, but not about what you said," said Wong.
"What is it?"
"What do we call you?"
"Excuse me?"
"We can't call you Sorcerer Supreme, as that's more of a title. So, now that you're in this position, how should we address you?"
"You can continue calling me by name or call me the Arcane Emperor. It's your choice, and I don't mind either way," replied Edward. "Anything else." No one had a question.
"In that case, let's begin." He waved his hand to manifest a contract before everyone else. "You will all access valuable knowledge, many of which must be protected to prevent getting into the wrong hands. This contract is to protect that knowledge."
The sorcerers looked at the contract, which was pretty basic, with straightforward wording. So, they signed it.
Edward nodded before pointing at Wong. "Come to the front for a demonstration." Although baffled, Wong walked to the front.
"What is the biggest restriction of Sorcerers?" asked Edward, who immediately answered the question. "Our bodies and souls cannot bear certain energies, so we must rely on Relic. But that will be no more." He raised his hand to summon a yellow rune floating before him.
"Close your eyes and receive the information in this rune." Wong followed the order, and more than five minutes later, he opened his eyes and raised his fists to summon a white aura around them.
"What's this? I feel so powerful," proclaimed Wong. A white aura appeared on his legs, and he jumped more than five meters into the distance before punching a large rock, which his hand penetrated.
"This is [Combat Aura] — a form of power created by combining dimensional energy with the Life Energy in your bodies. It will push your physical abilities to limits you never thought possible," explained Edward. "And with such powerful bodies, you can now tap into energies you never thought you could bore without dying."
The sorcerers looked at Wong with shining eyes. They all loved magic, so why would they not be excited about a new form of mystic art?
"These are just the obvious benefits," said Edward. "There are others, like healing, defense, and ensuring you can live at least 120 years without illness or pain. Of course, you have to survive if you want to enjoy the last benefit." The joyful mood immediately disappeared, replaced by a somber tone.
"Let's proceed to the next one."
章節 595: The New Kamar Taj (II)
A portal appeared behind Edward, and the sorcerers followed him. They found themselves in a large, dimly lit room. However, no one cared about the room's ambiance, as their attention was immediately drawn to a towering gate before them with symbols and runes engraved on it. It was beautiful, majestic. All the sorcerers could not remove their eyes from the gate.
"What is this?" asked a sorcerer.
"This is the Gate of Truth," said Edward in a calm voice. "I created this for three purposes: to increase your talent at sensing and controlling energy, to increase your soul's ability to bear certain energy, and, lastly, as the name implied, to contain knowledge beyond your imagination."
The sorcerers looked at each other, but before they could begin murmuring, Edward pointed at Wong and said, "You're first."
"Me?
"Yes. Put your hand on the gate and close your eyes."
Wong hesitated for less than a second before walking to this intimidating gate. He closed his eyes and did as instructed. A white light enveloped his body, scaring a few of the sorcerers. Wong opened his eyes and clenched his fist as he felt he was somehow different but could not explain it in simple words; he could feel something in his mind, no, his soul, when he closed his eyes — another gate.
"Try a spell you would normally rely on a Relic," Edward instructed. Wong thought briefly before jumping in the air. A yellow energy materialized under his feet, and he used it as a lever to keep moving upward; he jumped more than ten meters before slowly descending using the same method.
"The Vaulting Boots of Valtor," commented a sorcerer, realizing what spell Wong used. The sorcerers became excited once they realized Wong had normal shoes on and used such a powerful spell.
"Now, it's your turn," said Edward. One by one, the sorcerers walked to the front and placed their hands on the gate to acquire their own Gate of Truth. Given the large surface area of the gate, the process took less than an hour.
"I've said the gate contained knowledge beyond your comprehension, and I was not kidding," said Edward calmly. "However, such precious knowledge cannot be given for free. Before anyone raises their disagreements and talks about Karma Taj's policy on knowledge for everybody, remember what I said — things will be different now.
"The knowledge behind this gate will allow you to bend the universe's natural laws as your plaything. It can show a path to godlike powers. Such power cannot be accessed by anyone." Edward paused to give everyone time to process this news.
"So, how do we access all this knowledge?"
"Good question," said Edward. "I'm a believer in the Laws of Equivalent Exchange. In other words, you exchange knowledge for knowledge. However, I also understand that innovation is not everyone's forte — especially when we do not have enough time for research. So, I've created another system for the exchange."
Another portal appeared next to Edward, and the sorcerers followed him. They were now in a red room due to the immense heat and the distinctive sound of machines. A towering cauldron was at the center of the room, releasing the heat and making the noise. Edward raised his hand to summon a dead interdimensional creature and dropped it on the floor. The creature suddenly disappeared, and after a few minutes, two orbs the size of marbles and a potion appeared before him.
"Recognize these?"
"Talisman of Strength," said a female sorcerer.
"And this one is a Beast Repelling Talisman, capable of repelling certain animal-based creatures."
"I don't recognize this potion."
"Healing Potion," Edward stated.
"Our new systems at Karmar Taj involved being more proactive. You will have more missions or actively participate in invasions against more aggressive enemies. Then, you will take their bodies to the Cauldron Room, where they will automatically be refined into magical artifacts, relics, and potions for the upcoming turmoil."
"In other words, we're building armament for battle."
"That's correct," nodded Edward. "The more enemies you kill, the more weapons we have, and the higher our chances of surviving. Of course, you own 30% of the relics created in the Cauldron Room, while the rest will be reserved for sale or future use.
Everyone was quiet. Although they knew that they had signed up, the reality of the situation was finally dawning on them, and some people started regretting their choice.
"Sorcer…I mean, Arcane Emperor. You said about buying the relics. Are we going to start using money?" asked a sorcerer with a frown.
"No. We will start following a point system based on your missions or the enemies killed," explained Edward before waving his hand to show everyone a list. The list contained missions, many of which involved traveling to other dimensions to recruit magical artifacts, make allies, or infiltrate enemies to gather information or sabotage them. Each mission rewarded different Mystical Points based on its difficulty level (F to SSS rank).
The list also contained a list of the most frequent invaders Karmar Taj faced and how much they were worth.
"The Mystic Points will be our monetary system from now on. If you want knowledge from the gate, you must use it."
"What about the ones in the library? The ones we already have access to — will those also require a price?"
"No, they will remain free to access," replied Edward.
"How do we access the knowledge from the gate?"
"You only need to close your eyes and access the gate. There is a system that records your available points, and you only need to touch the gate in your soul, which is connected to the main gate, to access the knowledge," explained Edward. "The good news is this system can ignore most dimensions, so if you're in another realm and need information to help in your mission or are in trouble, you can use the gate to save your life."
"What about the non-combatants? What roles do we play? How do we acquire Mystic Points?"
"The non-combatants have many roles to play," replied Edward. "I will eventually open new Sanctorums to strengthen Earth's defense, and it will be your job to oversee them. Jobs like teachers, librarians, and others will be paid monthly like any actual job.
"Secondly, we must increase our numbers. Kamar Taj recruits sorcerers who are destined to it, but we must now take a more active role and recruit more sorcerers.
"Finally, non-combatants can learn a crafting skill to supplement the Cauldron Room. You can sell whatever you make; all the points belong to you. The Cauldron Room will even buy the things you buy at a fair price."
The non-combatants sighed in relief as they realized they would not be ostracized because of their decision. Despite their decisions, they loved magic and wanted to do their parts to protect the world, so they also wanted mystic points and to acquire more knowledge.
"Any more questions?" The sorcerers had many questions but felt they were not important to raise now; they were more involved in the nitty and gritty of certain things, but they could all be figured out after this meeting.
"Very well. In that case, let me show you Kamar Taj's final change." He pointed into the void to open a small black portal. "I want you to sense the power and energy coming from the dimension behind this portal."
"This..." muttered the sorcerers. Their senses took them into a purple world with a power that they could only describe as beautiful and fascinating.
"This energy is called mana," explained Edward. "It is, in my opinion, the best mystical energy due to its ability to virtually do everything. And I'm only using the word virtually because I do not deal in absolute. This entire dimension belongs to us, and you can use all its power as you like without any restraint or conditions."
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