章節 8: Mystic Arts

He woke up to a wooden ceiling, it had a green piece of fabric hanging from the chandelier to the side of a shelf. There's golden embroidery on it, depicting mountains and- flying people? He rushed to sit up and winced when his vision turned a bit white. Blinking a little and when colours returned, he made his way to the window.

He wasn't sure if it was fog or clouds covering the base of the mountains but he knew he was somewhere very high up. The mountain peaks seem to spread until the end of the horizon, some dusted with light snow. He heard creaking from outside the door and it swung open revealing a young Asian woman holding some clothes.

"You're awake," she walked to the side of the bed and placed the robes down. "Wear this and follow me."

The clothes were a little too big for him so he had to roll the sleeves up. He tried fixing his hair a bit in the mirror but the curls wouldn't settle, patting himself once more he went out where the lady was waiting. She took one look at him and flicked her hands, his sleeves shortened.

"My name is Kiko, The Ancient One told me to show you around today. Tomorrow you will be starting your formal training with her." She smiled and led him down a luxurious hallway, paintings with golden frames decorated the walls along with assortments of artifacts. They visited the training grounds where people were practising martial arts, below them, some were practising creating portals. Then she led him to the library. It was filled with books and old tombs, his neck was sore from how fast he looked around. Then she led him to the cafeteria. It was a large hall with wooden benches and tabling. Some people were already sitting there and when they entered their eyes followed Allen's figure. They whispered amongst themselves.

After Allen and Kiko were done with their meals. A simple rice dish with a side of meat and vegetables. Kiko led them around to various other facilities then lastly back to his room.

"You are free to roam around as long as you stay within the premises. The Ancient One will meet with you at 6 am at the private training hall I showed you earlier today. Do you have any questions?"

He shook his head.

"Good." she turned around to leave but paused. "Welcome to Kamar Taj, Allen," she gave him a big smile and left.

He went straight to the library and before he could pull out a book the voice stopped him.

"Ah- ah-."

He turned around and saw an old woman. Her hair went from grey to pure white and her face was full of wrinkles. He froze. Blood. Dripping so slowly from a knife. Blue eyes stared right at him. Her wound hardened fast in his palm. Her bony fingers pressed into his wrist and-

THUD!

He startled. Her eyes weren't blue but pale grey, so full of 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. She looked at him, tapping impatiently on the book she had slammed.

"You must be The Ancient One's new charge." She slowly stepped towards him, her cane clacking as she got closer. "Before you take that book-," she pulled a piece of paper from behind her and slid it in his hands, "sign here."

'I _________ understand that all material taken within the library is to be handled with care, and if it were to be damaged, destroyed or disappeared in any way, I am to be punished in the same way.'

He signed it immediately. Books were sacred after all. The librarian seeing how Allen had signed it without any hesitation, nodded in approval.

"I would recommend you start here." She pointed at the beginning of a bookshelf. "I sort the books on proficiency and by subject. Treat these books as you would treat any priceless treat Allen White, or else...." she laughed.

He got started on the books right away. Night fell when he finished his fourth book. The librarian had allowed him to take some with him, not before waving his contract with her ominously.

He woke up early the next morning. After grabbing a quick breakfast he had his way to the training hall. He stopped at the door and before he could knock, it opened, revealing the Ancient One sipping tea casually.

"Allen White," she smiled, her eyes following him until he settled in the chair opposite of her. "Good, I am glad you are on time. I was informed by Pham that you have begun reading the basic books."

He nodded. He managed to finish basic runes before he had to return to his room where he read 'Mystic Arts, Theory for Airheads'.

"Great since you have the basic theory down, let me show you practically-," she placed her palm on his head, "What the Mystic Art is," and p u s h e d

His vision exploded in bright colours as his body tumbled through numerous universes, glass shattered everywhere reflecting strange shapes. He felt nauseous but the beauty of each universe prevented him from closing his eyes. He wanted to see it all.

He landed back in his chair, breathing heavily. "It's so beautiful-," he felt bile rising from his throat, he scrambled to the side and emptied his breakfast.

The Ancient One grimaced, she waved her hand and the pile of vomits disappeared and with another wave, a glass of water appeared before him. He drank it eagerly.

"I am glad you like it, Mr White, as the Mystic Arts call upon these universes to power our magic."

Allen's eyes widened with wonder. Then he hesitated. "Allen," his voice almost a whisper, The Ancient One sent him a questioning look. "Please call me Allen," his voice a little louder.

She smiled, "and you may call me- Master."

She looked to the side and hovered over a piece of paper to Allen. "I want you to finish reading these books by the end of this week. Now onto your schedule. Each morning I want you to meditate for an hour. Then you will meet me here and we will train your power with the Time Stone, after that, you will train martial arts with Kiko until dinner. After that, you are to self-study. Once you have more control of the Time Stone we will train your Mystic Art."

He nodded.

"Good. Now let us test your current control, take off your gloves."

The Ancient One led them to a private, outdoor training area. It sat right next to a cliff, Allen warily looked down and saw fog. The Ancient One sat cross-legged, scarily close to the cliff, he sat acrossed from her.

There they discovered many things with his current powers.

First, his eyes glow green when he used his powers.

Second, his powers are very intuitive and controlling it would take time.

His powers worked the same way as when his master possessed the stone so she can teach him how to use it. Currently, he can revert or accelerate an object's time with a touch of his five fingers. He is also able to slow time with a thought, the area of the space is very small, however.

"You will be able to access more of the stone's power with practice", his master assured him. A month has passed and he's barely able to touch an apple without ruining it. "Now, how much of the future are you able to see?"

"I've seen the vague future, major events like- New York," his eyes widened, his master looked grim. "But, if I focus hard, I can see the future that I want to see. Sometimes it'll come to me. But-," he hesitated, "my head really hurts when I do and I get a blood nose- I think."

His master looked thoughtful. She conjured up a cup, "Try seeing what I am going to do with this cup."

Her hands moved, but before she could do anything, he focused his powers, his vision blurred and he saw glimpses of the cup. He focused on that, "You-you're going to turn it into a teapot. Then you're going to throw it off the cliff and-," he knows the blood dripping from his nose isn't stopping but he kept looking.

There's a small ringing in his head, his brain feels like it's being pressed into a small ball. His vision flashed, he sees doctor strange he sees his master and- "You're falling and-," he gasped. The colour was returning and he can see his surroundings. His master looked at him with sad eyes. "You died," he whispered.