American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

The next day.

Again, in the same place, at the same table, in the same seats, the same four people. Ancient One was educating her newly accepted disciple on the concept of magic.

"…These mystical texts have existed since the beginning of civilization, and they are the foundation for mages to obtain power. As a smart person, I believe you understand the power of language and writing. Human writing laid the foundation for civilization, and these mystical texts have become the cornerstone of a mage's power."

"I understand, but I still can't quite grasp it," Stephen Strange said, still struggling to change his mindset.

"Then let me put it in a way you can understand. You can think of these texts as the source code that makes up the world, and the magic used by combining them is like a software program."

"Then what about the energy? Where does the energy to run and use them come from? Is it from those dimensional worlds you mentioned yesterday?" Stephen asked again.

"You can think of it that way. This planet doesn't have the magical energy that mages need, so if a mage wants to use magic, the first step is to collect energy from other dimensional worlds that have magical energy," Ancient One explained unhurriedly, her voice calm and carrying a power that made people quiet down and listen.

"But those dimensional worlds, they all have owners, right? Are they willing to lend us their power?" With human concepts, Stephen didn't believe there would be such great benevolent gods.

"Some dimensional gods are malicious, but there are also relatively friendly ones. These friendly dimensional gods generally don't mind mages taking some power from them. And the source of power for the Sorcerer Supreme lineage comes from the Vishanti," Ancient One patiently explained.

The next period of time was a question-and-answer session between the two, as well as practical explanations. After answering Stephen's existing questions, Ancient One decisively handed him over to Mordo, while she discussed the cooperation plan with Luke again.

…

"What spells do you want to learn?" On the plaza at the foot of the mountain, Mordo looked at Stephen, who was chasing after him wanting to learn spells.

"That one that draws circles, the one that can instantly take people from one place to another," Stephen chose without hesitation the spell that had left a deep impression on him, and also the first magic he had ever seen.

"That's a portal. As a beginner, I suggest you first learn to gather energy, from easy to difficult," Mordo kindly advised.

"I like a challenge," Stephen said, very confident in his intelligence.

"Then let's begin. Before teaching you the portal, according to the Sorcerer Supreme's requirements, you must first learn to gather energy, and then control it, like this," Mordo said, demonstrating each step of his power usage to Stephen in detail: "A mage's fighting style is to use incantations to turn power into their own shield and weapon."

…

"Looks like you're in good shape," Luke said, walking out of a portal and seeing Stephen lying on the ground in a sorry state, groaning.

"Where did you see that?" Stephen rolled over, his face looking at the dim sunlight, a look of loss on his face. He had always been proud of his intelligence, and he had gained skills, knowledge, fame, benefits, and connections with his brain. He didn't need to work hard in school to surpass his peers, and he was more professional than everyone around him.

He had always firmly believed that as long as he was willing, nothing could really stump him.

But today, this perception of his was completely shattered. He discovered that he was actually inferior to a novice.

"A person who has always had smooth sailing can only grow and reflect on themselves after being hit. Whether this reflection is good or bad," Luke squatted down, poking Stephen, who was aching all over, with his finger: "How does it feel to be a mage apprentice on your first day?"

"Very tired," Stephen rolled his eyes: "Learning magic is nothing like I imagined. How about you? How did your talk with the Sorcerer Supreme go?" Stephen said, turning his head to look at Luke, who was squatting beside him in a gray wool coat.

"There are still some areas where we haven't reached a consensus, and the Sorcerer Supreme needs to consider the opinions of other mages. But most of the cooperation has been finalized. I provide technology, and she provides knowledge and force. You have to work hard too. Maybe in a few years, or ten or twenty years, this batch of shares from the Sorcerer Supreme will be handed over to you to manage," Luke said frankly, without hiding anything.

He did discuss a lot with Ancient One, even if some of it was his own stuff, Ancient One turned a blind eye, after all, in any case, Luke's proposal was still beneficial enough for her faction of mages. As for the future, she wasn't even sure how long she could stay in the position of Sorcerer Supreme. It was hard to say when she would feel that her successor was capable and trustworthy enough, and then decisively become a hands-off shopkeeper.

Stephen propped himself up from the ground with his arms.

"I'm going back tomorrow, what about you? Are you staying or…?" Luke also stood up, mentioning his itinerary for tomorrow and asking Stephen's opinion. However, through his expression and communication, Luke judged that Stephen would most likely choose to stay. After all, he had just come into contact with the magical power, and under Ancient One's guidance, he had browsed a magnificent world he had never seen before. More importantly, he had just suffered a serious setback in mastering this power.

Some people may retreat after being frustrated, but others will become more courageous after each setback. Unless it is proven that there is indeed a dead end ahead.

And Stephen Strange, despite having all kinds of shortcomings and an unpleasant personality, he still has advantages. In Luke's conversations over the past two days, the other party was obviously not someone who would easily give up anything. If he could learn the power of magic as soon as he learned it, then it might not be worth his attention, but if the difficulty hindered him, it would instead stimulate him.

So even if Dr. Stephen Strange hadn't had a car accident at this moment, hadn't lost the flexibility of his hands, and didn't need to seek various unsuccessful treatments, but instead pursue ethereal magic to treat his half-crippled hands, he still wouldn't easily give up magic.

As expected, Stephen chose to stay, as Luke had expected. His eyes were already full of vigorous fighting spirit.

And that night, Stephen began a mode of burning the midnight oil. Although Mordo repeatedly taught him to discard his previous knowledge in order to master magic more smoothly, he believed that his brain was still useful in learning magic. For example, memorizing incantations verbatim?