The New Era Has Not Yet Arrived

In the training room.

The barbell slipped from her grip and floated more than two meters into the air. Raven startled, quickly sitting up.

"If half your attention is on hiding how different you are, you can't do what needs to be done."

Magneto walked in slowly, speaking.

His words pointed to the way Mystique had been struggling with the barbell just moments ago.

"Your strength is far greater than this. Why hide it?"

Mystique's skin was blue, covered in fine scales, different from ordinary humans, with a certain degree of physical enhancement.

A heavy barbell would be a struggle for a normal person, but for her, it shouldn't have been.

Yet she had been constantly distracted, maintaining the appearance of an ordinary human, concealing her true form, unable to use her full strength.

Swish!

Magneto's eyes flickered, and he released his control over the barbell.

Whoosh!

The heavy 100kg barbell plummeted from midair, whistling as it fell.

Raven was forced to revert to her original blue-skinned, yellow-eyed form, no longer maintaining her disguise. She caught the barbell steadily, without any strain.

Just as Magneto had said, she had been constantly distracted, hiding her true appearance.

But no one likes being lectured by someone they barely know, especially when Magneto's rude actions were infuriating.

"I guess you can stand here and say all this to me.

Because you've never been abandoned as a monster, never wandered as a child, never had stones thrown at you by kids shouting for you to get lost, never been an outcast that society could never accept."

She spoke with anger.

"You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept your true self."

Shaking his head lightly, Magneto's tone was serious, his face radiating an infectious confidence and smile.

"If I were you, I would never hide what I look like. You should be proud. You were born different—you are a miracle, a pioneer."

"We mutants stand at the forefront of evolution, ahead of everyone else. Right now, you're like Copernicus discovering the truth, then fearing being branded a heretic, desperately hiding yourself, blending in with the foolish masses."

Raven, sensitive from a lifetime of hardship, could tell Magneto wasn't just speaking casually. He truly believed it. If he were in her place, would he really do that?

Was she wrong? A leader, yet trying to blend in with ordinary people lagging behind on the path of evolution?

After finishing, Magneto turned and left, leaving Mystique lost in thought and confusion.

"I've only ever thought about hiding, never about accepting myself. Was I wrong?"

She set down the barbell, her eyes filled with struggle.

Knock, knock. A knock at the door. Ron leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"Ron!"

Raven gasped, because she was in her true form now. She turned her head, wanting to change back, to become that beautiful blonde, brown-eyed girl again.

But thinking of the discrimination from her childhood, a mix of sadness and anger welled up inside her. She stopped, turning back to face Ron.

"You saw it. This is what I really look like. Ugly, strange, like a beast, like a demon."

"I did see it. I also heard what he said."

Lowering his arms, Ron walked in slowly. He didn't offer comfort, just acknowledged that he had heard Magneto's words to her.

"Do you think he's right? Have I been wrong all this time, hiding who I am?"

Seeing that Ron's expression hadn't changed, that he showed no shock or disgust, Raven seemed comforted. She asked, a little nervously.

Lost and confused, she needed someone she trusted to help her find her way at this crossroads.

"In a way, he's not wrong," Ron said.

This was a pivotal moment in Mystique's life.

It was after hearing Magneto's words today that she would reject the serum Hank had developed to make her look normal, and from then on, she would always show her blue-skinned form.

"Is that so? You think I've been wrong too."

Lowering her head, Raven murmured softly. Already wavering, she began to consider whether she should show her true face from now on.

"No, you're not wrong."

He shook his head gently, disagreeing. Raven wasn't wrong either.

"Anyone can talk big. Few can actually live by it.

People are often not as strong as they think they are."

How many people can truly achieve a saint-like state of mind, with an unshakable spirit, indifferent to praise or shame, unbothered by the strange looks of others, living their lives in peace?

Magneto thought he could do it. That was what he thought. He had never truly faced it.

"Copernicus was indeed a pioneer of science, but after he formulated the heliocentric theory, he feared the consequences it would bring. He never published it for thirty years, lived out his days in safety, and died of old age in his bed."

"His student Bruno, on the other hand, vigorously promoted the heliocentric theory after Copernicus's death. The Church denounced him as a heretic, and he was burned alive as the crowd cheered and watched."

Recalling the example Magneto had raised earlier, Ron spoke with gravity.

"Raven, the new era hasn't arrived yet. Those who are too far ahead won't be understood or accepted by the people of the old age!"

People cannot be separated from society; one's choices must consider the tide of the times.

"I... I understand."

Nodding, Raven's eyes grew resolute after hearing this. She hesitated before asking a question that weighed heavily on her mind.

"Ron, to you, how do I look right now?"

"Do you want the truth?"