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Nolan glanced up from his book. "You are?"
"I'm Master Mordo. The Ancient One has assigned to guide your magical education," said the man with firm conviction, arms folded, posture rigid. The discipline practically radiated from him.
Nolan raised a brow.
So this was Karl Mordo, stern, principled, a stickler for rules. The kind of man who, upon learning that the person he revered most had tapped into dark powers, had his entire worldview shattered.
In another tiline, Mordo would go on to beco the Sorcerer Supre. In others... sothing much darker.
"I'm good," Nolan said, turning back to his to. "I'll handle it myself."
Mordo blinked. "...Excuse ?"
"I already know what I need. I have access to the full library unless you're here to unlock a forbidden section. I'm not sure what you add."
Mordo frowned. "You're going about this all wrong. This kind of unfocused learning will lead you nowhere. Every mage must begin with one branch of study; structure and discipline are everything."
Nolan didn't respond. He was already forming mudras with his fingers, building the shape of a spell in midair.
Mordo's eyes narrowed. "You're attempting the Mirror Dinsion? Seriously? You haven't even fully mastered portal conjuration."
"Could you not talk while I'm reading?" Nolan muttered, annoyed. "I said I didn't need a babysitter. Your pace is too slow, it's a waste of my ti."
Mordo's tone turned cold. "I was given a task by the Ancient One. If I'm to teach you, I'll do it properly. This scatterbrained approach of yours isn't learning, it's arrogance."
"And how exactly do you know I have no structure? Just because I don't follow your structure?" Nolan snapped the book shut and looked him in the eye. "Let guess: in your world, nobody breaks the mold. Nobody colors outside the lines. Ever think so people need a different frawork?"
Mordo's voice dropped an octave. "Every sorcerer believes they're special until they get soone killed."
Nolan held up a hand. "Then let's make it simple. Let's bet."
Mordo paused. "What?"
"Three days," Nolan said. "If I can master the Mirror Dinsion in three days, you back off. Let study my way. If I don't, I'll follow your training plan, step for step, without complaint."
Gasps echoed across the library.
The Mirror Dinsion?! In three days?!
Dozens of apprentices and junior masters turned, whispering furiously among themselves.
"That guy's crazy," soone muttered.
"Even Kaecilius took months to touch the Mirror Realm—"
"Does he even know what he's talking about?"
"I heard only the elder masters can open one..."
"Who is this guy?"
Nolan and Mordo ignored the buzz.
Mordo's jaw clenched. "Do you understand what you're saying? Mirror Dinsion spells don't just bend space, they replicate it, forge an entire temporary dinsion within the real world. It's the highest level of spatial sorcery."
"Then what are you afraid of?" Nolan said calmly.
Mordo stared at him. The arrogance. The certainty.
No... not arrogance. Confidence. Cold, calculating confidence.
"...Fine." Mordo extended his hand. "Three days. If you fail, you'll follow my program until I say otherwise."
Nolan shook it. "Deal."
What Mordo didn't know was that Nolan had already morized the entire Mirror Dinsion frawork chant, sigils, structure, and theory.
The trick lay in feeling the dinsional overlap points, the subtle weaknesses in reality that allowed you to clone space into a reflective shell, stabilized by the Vishanti's power.
Most students struggled to even sense those points.
Nolan had already mapped five.
He wasn't improvising, he was optimizing.
The Mirror Dinsion wasn't so far-off pipe dream to him. It was a process, an equation to be solved.
Mordo's gaze remained steady, but internally, he bristled.
This... child dared to challenge the foundation of sorcery itself? The audacity. Even Kaecilius never boasted like this.
But Mordo reminded himself this wasn't just any recruit.
The Ancient One had chosen him.
Mordo didn't know why... but he trusted her. And if she had seen potential in Nolan, then it was Mordo's duty to put that potential to the test and ensure it didn't beco another Kaecilius.
If Nolan was going to be the next Sorcerer Supre, then Mordo would make damn sure he earned it the right way.
Still, in his heart, he doubted it. Three days?
It had taken him years to learn the Mirror Realm.
This bet?
Would break Nolan's pride or prove he wasn't human.
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