Previously, the tiline had been fixed. No matter how the Ancient One tried to change things, it would only destabilize the universe, leaving her powerless.
Whether it was Kaecilius or that other disciple.
Now, however, things were different.
Kaecilius's fear of death, born from losing his wife and children, and his obsession with eternity ant that his fall into darkness was inevitable.
No amount of guidance from the Ancient One could change that kind of stubbornness and extremism.
But the other disciple was different.
Extre justice. Extre belief in the light. A worldview of absolute black and white.
Difficult to handle, yes—but not impossible to guide.
As for Matthew—
He didn't need guidance.
From the very first mont she t him, the Ancient One had sensed that Matthew possessed a temperant similar to her own.
Ambition.
The Ancient One's ambition lay in knowledge and higher realms of existence.
Matthew was the sa, though the specifics of their ambitions differed sowhat.
But the Ancient One understood that soone like Matthew, whose ntality was already mature from the very beginning, could not be easily influenced.
That was why she invested in him openly and directly.
She made it clear to Matthew that this was an investnt—not taking him in as a disciple, nor using magical knowledge as leverage.
The two of them were investor and invested party, but also partners.
The dark mark she would never reveal to other sorcerers ant nothing in front of Matthew.
She trusted that the way Matthew thought and perceived the world was fundantally different from the other sorcerers.
The level from which he viewed things simply wasn't the sa.
And just as expected, after hearing her explanation, Matthew was briefly surprised before quickly understanding and saying nothing further.
Honestly, drawing a little dark power was hardly a big deal.
The Ancient One could shalessly default on the debts she owed the Vishanti, the gods of white magic.
And she did it openly and confidently, to the point where even the Vishanti didn't dare say much about it.
Compared to that, borrowing a bit of Dormammu's power was nothing.
That was practically giving Dormammu face.
"Facing dinsional lords like phisto and Dormammu at least gave so understanding of that level," Matthew said, clearly in a good mood.
Although he had offended Dormammu and drawn his attention—
Being able to personally sense the gap between himself and that level of existence, and gaining a clearer understanding of his own strength, made the risk completely worthwhile.
And Matthew didn't think being targeted by Dormammu posed much danger anyway.
At least for now, before he had fully grown stronger, the Ancient One would not leave her position early.
In the Sacred Tiline, to pave the way for Doctor Stephen Strange, the Ancient One directed her own death scene to step down and travel the universe.
But now that Matthew had disrupted the tiline, even the Ancient One could no longer clearly predict how the future would unfold.
Though she had long wanted to step down, her sense of responsibility as the Sorcerer Supre remained intact.
Whether it was ensuring Strange's growth so he could beco the Sorcerer Supre, or ensuring Matthew's rise, she had to wait until at least one of them was capable of protecting Earth before she could leave with peace of mind.
Otherwise, if she left and Earth ended up destroyed afterward, that would be a real problem.
"Your growth on the path of magic has been extrely rapid," the Ancient One reminded him. "But the thing limiting your growth is still yourself, Matthew."
Matthew possessed advantages far greater than ordinary sorcerers.
But while other sorcerers borrowed their power externally—and if they pushed hard enough, the borrowed power could theoretically be limitless—
Matthew was different.
His power ca from himself.
He lacked nothing in magical knowledge. In that area, his talent was no weaker than, or perhaps even superior to, Strange's.
But his upper limit depended on the amount of energy within himself.
"I know, Ancient One."
Of course Matthew hadn't overlooked her warning.
In fact, ever since he first stepped into magic, he had already realized this issue.
The amount of energy produced by the Glint-Glint Fruit depended entirely on himself. As his life force, spirit, and physical strength increased, the amount of energy he could use would also grow.
He had never stopped training in that area.
Big Mom's talent truly was absurd. Up until now, he still hadn't felt any upper limit or bottleneck—perhaps because he had been consciously developing it all along.
And if that still wasn't enough, he could always find an ownerless dinsion filled with energy and use it as a power source.
He rembered that in the X-n universe, Cyclops's eyes seed to be connected to a dinsion with endless energy. If necessary, he could find an opportunity to establish an anchor point there.
Without affecting Cyclops himself, he could also create a channel that could be opened and closed at will.
Of course, what Matthew cared about more was his own personal growth.
Seeing that Matthew had taken her words seriously, the Ancient One nodded before turning her gaze toward the destroyed library within the Mirror Dinsion.
It was as though she could see through the Mirror Dinsion itself and look upon the real library of Kamar-Taj, where a page had been torn from the Book of Cagliostro.
It would have been impossible for Kaecilius's betrayal not to stir sothing within her.
That disciple truly had exceptional talent.
Ever since she beca the Sorcerer Supre, there had been very few who could compare to Kaecilius.
Unfortunately, because of his past experiences, his mind had beco twisted and obsessive, causing him to fall into darkness as its servant.
Kaecilius believed he had seen through the true nature of the world. He believed that by embracing darkness, he could obtain eternal life and power.
But what he didn't realize was that Dormammu rely viewed him as a puppet.
The mont Dormammu successfully descended upon Earth, Kaecilius would lose all value and be consud and assimilated by the darkness.
"Aren't you going to bring him back?" Matthew asked casually.
The Ancient One shook her head.
"Dormammu granted him authority. He can travel between dinsions and conceal his aura. I can no longer track him."
She was not an omnipotent god.
There were still many things she could not do.
"I should be going now, Ancient One."
With things settled here, Matthew prepared to leave.
"You're not going to take a look?" the Ancient One asked with interest. "You defeated Kaecilius and even forced back Dormammu. To them, you would beco the next Sorcerer Supre."
"You know ," Matthew replied aningfully. "I don't like working for other people."
The title of Sorcerer Supre was not rely granted by the Ancient One or recognized by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. It was not just an honorary position.
It also required recognition from the Vishanti, the gods of white magic, along with a binding contract.
"Well then, it seems I'll have to look for soone else again."
The Ancient One wasn't surprised.
She had only ntioned it casually just now. If she managed to bring Matthew in, that would naturally be good. If not, there was no loss.
Hearing that, Matthew raised an eyebrow.
Look for soone else again?
Was she planning to change candidates? aning that troubleso Doctor Strange might no longer be the chosen one?
It was actually very possible.
After all, that arrogant and reckless sorcerer caused far too many problems. If not for his overwhelming talent and destiny, soone as steady and cautious as the Ancient One likely would never have considered him in the first place.
Now that the tiline had been disrupted, and with soone like Matthew—whose potential within Earth's camp was nearly limitless—around, Strange was no longer the only option.
Still, it didn't matter to Matthew.
Whoever beca the Sorcerer Supre had nothing to do with him, as long as it wasn't himself.
With a casual wave, he opened a portal and stepped through it.
As Matthew departed, the uncontrolled Mirror Dinsion shattered apart, while the Ancient One's figure returned to the real world.
...
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