----
---
When Nolan heard the Ancient One's words, he couldn't deny it despite all his confidence, despite knowing he had the potential to eventually rival her power, being personally sought out by the Sorcerer Supre to beco her disciple? That was sothing else entirely.
After all, the Ancient One wasn't just so mystic recluse. She was Earth's greatest magical protector. Even Odin, the King of Asgard, respected her power. She'd slain countless interdinsional threats who dared to eye Earth as prey.
And now she had shown up in person offering him ntorship. What's more, she had said outright that he was more suitable than Doctor Strange to inherit the mantle of Sorcerer Supre.
"You said we've t in many tilines," Nolan asked, "does that an you've taken as your disciple in those other universes too?"
"No," the Ancient One replied with a slight smile. "Using the Ti Stone, I traced potential tilines starting from when you were still inside the Hydra facility. In all those fleeting parallel universes, I encountered you many tis."
"But without exception, you died. Sotis inside the base, other tis shortly after escaping. No matter the variation, you always perished."
"Only in this tiline... are you still alive."
Nolan raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not exactly the type who protects the Earth for free, you know," he said bluntly. "If there's no benefit in it for , I'm not interested."
The Ancient One remained unbothered. "I'm not asking you to be selfless. But I have a feeling you'd be very interested in dissecting the corpses of various dinsional entities. So are rooted in science, others in mysticism, many in forms that defy classification."
"Not to ntion," she added, "access to the Ti Stone... and the Space Stone."
Dissecting?
Research?
Nolan didn't hesitate.
"Master, your humble disciple bows before you!"
He dropped to one knee with exaggerated flair.
Ti and Space Stones. The bodies of dinsional gods. That wasn't just ordinary research it was multiversal exploration. Studying those specins could catapult him from a single-universe theorist to a multiverse-level scientist.
And this was the Ancient One. Her reputation spanned not just Earth or the Nine Realms but across the stars.
If she announced she was taking on a disciple, beings from distant galaxies would race to her doorstep.
The only reason her students were all from Earth was because Kamar-Taj had always followed a "Terra-centric" ideology. They didn't take aliens, and barely tolerated interdinsional visitors.
"Good," the Ancient One nodded. "Until you begin your training, do not attempt to open any hell dinsions."
"That's it?" Nolan teased. "No tests of my will? No tragic accident to humble —cripple my hands or sothing?"
He trailed off as she raised a brow with a smile that suggested she'd been very close to doing exactly that.
"Stephen Strange needed to suffer because he didn't believe in magic. Pain was the only way to break him down and rebuild him into soone capable of mastering the arcane arts."
"But you're different."
The Ancient One had already watched Strange's story unfold courtesy of the Ti Stone. As long as he hadn't yet bonded with it, she could still glimpse his future.
Before leaving, she told Nolan she would send for him in one month. He was to report to Kamar-Taj and begin his training then.
Until that ti, he was forbidden from opening any more dinsional gates.
Reality fractured like glass.
Max reappeared at Nolan's side, his body tense and sparking with electricity. He scanned the room.
"Boss, what just happened?! Where'd that woman go?!"
"She's gone," Nolan replied calmly. "It's nothing."
"...Okay?" Max looked around, then pointed to the blood circle still on the ground. "So, uh, what now? Weren't we mid-ritual?"
Nolan exhaled. A blast of freezing wind burst from his mouth, instantly flash-freezing the bloody symbols. His eyes glowed red, and with a flicker of energy, the frozen residue crumbled to ash.
"Forget this ever happened."
"...Yes, sir!"
----
Later, back in his lab coat and seated at his workstation, Nolan sat quietly in thought.
He was now... the Sorcerer Supre's personal disciple?
The title alone still felt absurd.
There was no doubt in his mind that the Ancient One had left plenty unsaid. She claid it was his uniqueness that drew her to him. Most likely, she sensed his twin gifts though not their exact nature.
But sohow, his soul had beco a beacon. And while she hadn't been specific, the implications were clear: his very existence attracted demonic attention across dinsions.
Still, if nothing else, being the Ancient One's protégé ant he had backing now. Protection.
Soone dared to ss with him?
They'd have to deal with Kamar-Taj and the Vishanti themselves.
Let kings fight kings, and generals duel generals.
In ti, he'd uncover the deeper truths. But for now, he had another matter to handle.
There was soone who had clearly set him up. Soone who handed him a ritual he knew would expose him.
That demon.
Black Sky was dragged out again. The Beast re-entered his body, scowling as Nolan approached.
"I told you the ritual worked!" Beast growled. "Now let go!"
"You planned that," Nolan replied coldly.
"Planned what?"
"You knew opening the Hell Dinsion would expose ," Nolan said, narrowing his eyes. "You knew what I was... and you gave the spell anyway."
Beast said nothing.
He knew he'd been caught.
Nolan shook his head. "You thought you could trick into killing myself. Or dying in so catastrophic summoning. Typical demon move."
He turned back toward the control panel.
"Since you won't talk then you'll keep powering my lab."
The magnetic siphon flared back to life. The Beast scread as his stockpiled demonic energy was forcefully drained from Black Sky's body once again.
"Nolan, you bastard! Let go!"
"Why you?" Beast roared. "Why is your soul so special?! You shouldn't even know this stuff!"
His howls turned to curses. Then threats.
Then madness.
It didn't matter. Nolan flipped the soundproof barrier on.
Silence.
---
"Boss, the prototype's ready."
It was Otto—calling from the adjoining lab.
"Perfect. I'm on my way."
Nolan arrived minutes later. Otto turned excitent on his face. "I still don't understand how this energy even exists—it breaks half the known laws of physics."
He was referring, of course, to the demonic energy Nolan had been harvesting.
Now that he had so much of it, Nolan had a new goal: to build a synthetic spine a pseudo-draconic core that could serve as a battery for this power.
Even if it couldn't match the real thing, it only needed to store the energy.
Otto, a master of biochanics and engineering, had been handed Nolan's research and raw energy to study. And as expected, he delivered results.
"So?" Nolan asked. "Did you replicate the structure?"
Otto nodded. "It's not perfect. But it'll do. The prototype can hold up to twenty units of high-grade spectral output."
----
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