Su Ming and Holloway followed the Ancient One through the ruined square. Holloway was curiously studying the Sorcerer Supre, while Su Ming was calculating in his mind.
They stepped around the blackened craters, charred pine trees, and various mage corpses. The Ancient One sighed repeatedly.
The losses were significant, almost as bad as when they fought Dormammu's descent centuries ago.
Her childhood friend, who later beca her enemy, Karu, had left his dinsion and beco the Sorcerer Supre of another realm.
The future would be even more difficult.
The side hall no longer existed; where it once stood were four broken pillars and a chair still smoldering with fire.
The Ancient One raised the Eye of Agamotto, forming magical seals with one hand as she twisted the air like turning a screw.
It was as if an invisible giant beast spat out the room from its jaws—the ruins flashed and returned to their original state. Ti had reversed, and the Ancient One retrieved the room from the river of ti.
Holloway looked on in astonishnt, unable to grasp the principle behind it. This defied the materialistic worldview he had held for decades.
Su Ming, however, remained relaxed, knowing exactly what was happening: "Impressive power."
"And dangerous," the Ancient One turned around, the golden relic on her chest slowly closing its eye as the green light withdrew. "Restoring objects is fine, but resurrecting humans brings endless risks. The dead should not return to this world."
In the Marvel universe, there were plenty of ways to resurrect soone, and using the Ti Stone was one of the trickiest.
When soone dies here, there aren't many places for their soul to go.
True warriors and heroes often go to Asgard's Valhalla or its underworld, where they enjoy drinking and revelry, a benefit Odin secured for them.
Most other beings in the universe go to the realm of the goddess 'Death,' the largest gathering place for souls. There, the souls serve her and wait for reincarnation.
Mages, if they haven't served evil gods or demons, usually return to the Vishanti after death, becoming part of their magical power—like returning to their source.
So native beliefs, like Wakanda's Black Panther totem, can retain souls. For instance, all forr kings' souls belong to the Black Panther.
In short, once you die in the Marvel universe, your soul is no longer your own. The mont of death determines where your soul goes, based on your actions and beliefs.
In other words, you now have a new "owner."
Resurrecting soone ans pulling their soul from their post-death "owner." Imagine 'Death' sitting in her realm, sipping wine and counting her slaves, when suddenly one of her souls is snatched right under her nose.
Do you think she wouldn't chase after her stolen slave and hunt down the thief?
'Death' isn't like Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death. She's a primordial cosmic entity, and for her, humans are insignificant—if she decides you should die, you die. While she rarely acts personally, all sorts of death gods and hell lords would happily serve her. She just needs to give the order and wait for the accounting.
This ans the person performing the resurrection would be hounded by a host of gods and spirits. And since deities in the Pri Dinsion can't die, they'll keep haunting you, using all sorts of despicable thods to destroy you to please the goddess of death.
Even if the Ti Stone could handle these dinsional lords and demon kings, and even 'Death' herself, there's still her extended family—'Infinity,' 'Oblivion,' 'Eternity.' Facing these cosmic entities with just the Ti Stone is a death wish.
To avoid being chased by 'Death,' if you wanted to use the Ti Stone to resurrect soone, you'd have to reverse ti for the entire universe, back to a point when the person hadn't died yet.
But even Doctor Strange sealed himself and Dormammu inside a pocket dinsion during their negotiation; he wouldn't dare ss with ti on such a large scale in the Pri Dinsion.
Reversing ti for the entire universe is an incredibly heavy burden, and even though the Eye of Agamotto is powered by white magic, the cost is too much for most to bear.
"May the dead find peace with the Vishanti," Su Ming offered a few words of comfort. He didn't want to get involved in the Ancient One's personal matters, so he said sothing nice to gloss over the situation.
The Ancient One opened the door to the restored side hall, smiling as she invited them in. "I have witnessed many deaths. It all feels... If I hadn't yet found a suitable successor, I would have put down the burden of Sorcerer Supre and returned to the Vishanti myself. Death is not frightening; it's just another beginning."
Su Ming nodded, but he knew it wasn't that simple. If things played out as expected, even after death, the Ancient One wouldn't rest. The cosmic entity 'Eternity' had claid her soul, making her a permanent companion on endless journeys through infinite ti and space.
The Cloak of Levitation floated in, proudly holding out Dr. Manhattan's gem for the Ancient One to see.
She took the gem, her pale fingers gently stroking its smooth surface. After a mont of contemplation, she gave Su Ming a deep look, then handed the gem back to the cloak and patted its collar.
"Would you like to beco the Sorcerer Supre?" she suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
Su Ming, who had removed his helt and was pretending to admire the room's decorations (the Nepalese style reminded him of so regions), almost choked on his own saliva when he heard the question.
Even with his enhanced brain, Su Ming hadn't expected this. Not to ntion, after obtaining X-tal, he was practically immune to magic. Even if he could cast spells, he didn't want to deal with the consequences.
For instance, Doctor Strange's stomach ulcer was a curse from unpaid debts, and that wound would never heal. If Su Ming were cursed with sothing similar, his healing factor would turn it into an eternal tug-of-war, with his stomach constantly dissolving and regenerating in an infinite loop.
He imdiately wanted to decline.
"This gem proves you have the qualifications to be the Sorcerer Supre," the Ancient One smiled as she sat in a nearby chair. With a wave of her hand, tea floated over, offering a cup each to Su Ming and Holloway.
Su Ming paused, intrigued by the ntion of the gem, and sat down to hear more.
"Do you know what it is?" the mystery of the gem had lingered for over a decade, and Su Ming had nearly forgotten about it.
The Ancient One flicked her fingers, causing the tea in her cup to rise into the air, forming a strange symbol that slowly rotated.
"Can you understand it?"
The symbol seed to consist of a triangle, circle, and dot, overlapping and shifting in a constant cycle of transformation.
Su Ming could see the shapes clearly, but their aning was lost on him. He shook his head, waiting for the Ancient One to explain.
"When the ti is right, you will understand. For now, I can only tell you this: these kinds of gems represent the recognition of an entire universe. Their power will reveal itself when you need it." The Ancient One smiled as she reabsorbed the tea back into her cup, offering no further explanation. "By the way, I think you're fit to be the Sorcerer Supre."
The word "Sorcerer" caught in the Ancient One's throat for a mont, but she said it anyway, her eyes gleaming mischievously.
Su Ming couldn't help but smile bitterly. The Ancient One's cryptic answer only made him more curious. All he knew now was that the gem was like a dal of honor, and that wasn't much new information.
On top of that, she seed oddly insistent on saddling him with the title of Sorcerer Supre. What was this about? Was it so aftereffect of her spellcasting?
"I don't think I'm qualified to be the Sorcerer Supre," Su Ming quickly replied.
The Ancient One calmly raised her teacup, her aura blending seamlessly with the room as she closed her eyes. "And what do you think qualifies soone to be the Sorcerer Supre?"
"Uh... powerful magic? Vast knowledge? Selflessness and courage?" Su Ming sipped his tea. It was nice, but he was more focused on thinking up reasons to decline.
"So that's how you see ..." The Ancient One smiled and nodded. It wasn't clear if she was pleased or amused. "But as you saw earlier, that intruder was also a Sorcerer Supre from another dinsion. Which of those qualities applies to her?"
"True, that woman seed a little... insane," Holloway chid in, not entirely understanding the role of Sorcerer Supre. He wondered if it was like being the head of a hospital, in which case maybe Deathstroke could handle it. After all, it would give him control over the mages, and they wouldn't ss with dangerous creatures anymore.
Su Ming glared at Holloway, cursing his "teammate" internally. Taking on the responsibility of Sorcerer Supre would be a death sentence. The burden would eventually break anyone who held it—it was just a matter of ti. Su Ming would rather stitch his mouth shut than let Holloway keep talking.
He had immortality and was enjoying his long life. Why would he want to take on such a heavy responsibility?
The Ancient One nodded approvingly at Holloway, seemingly satisfied with his input. She took a sip of tea and sighed contentedly.
"Your friend is right. All those qualities you listed are just superficial. The most important trait for a Sorcerer Supre is... how good they are in a fight."
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