Mordo's Teaching

In the early morning, when the first warm ray of sunlight shone through the window onto Li Feng's face as he slept sprawled out like a starfish, he instinctively covered his ears, hoping to block out the "huh-ha" shouts coming from the Mages' morning training outside.

After a long while, Li Feng helplessly sat up in bed, yawning as he grumbled inwardly, Aren't Mages supposed to practice magic quietly? What's with all this chanting and shouting every day? Anyone who knows better would understand that Mages need strong bodies, but anyone who doesn't would think you're a bunch of laborers—laborers who get up at the crack of dawn.

With faint dark circles beneath his eyes, Li Feng held several books on "Alchemy Fundamentals" that Master Hamir had left by his bedside in one hand and a pot of tea heated with Fire Conjuration in the other. Dragging his slippers, he ignored the speechless looks from the apprentice formation and headed straight for the shade beneath a tree in the corner, sipping tea while slowly flipping through the books.

After a long while, Li Feng, who had been reading with his head lowered, suddenly saw a pair of Valtor's Leaping Boots appear before his eyes. He looked up, then lowered his head and continued reading. "Mordo, do you need something?"

Mordo was not particularly familiar with Li Feng, but he knew that Ancient One treated him well. Following the principle that "Ancient One is heaven, Ancient One is earth, Ancient One is god, Ancient One is my everything," Mordo smiled at Li Feng. "Master Ancient One told me you have a talent for spatial spells and specifically asked me to teach you advanced casting techniques for Portals and the Mirror Dimension."

Closing his book, Li Feng stood up and instinctively asked, "Where is Master Ancient One?"

Mordo shrugged. "The Sorcerer Supreme has her own duties. She can't always serve as a little rookie's mentor."

Gesturing for Li Feng to follow him toward a quieter practice field, Mordo said, "I don't know why Ancient One values you but hasn't accepted you into Kamar-Taj. But I do know that she wants you to receive Kamar-Taj's regular magical training. Of course, your main task for now is to quickly master the use of Portals and the Mirror Dimension."

Ancient One went off to fulfill her duties? In other words, some alien creature is invading the Marvel Universe? Which blind world dared invade while Ancient One was still alive and kicking? Aren't they afraid she'll hang them up and beat them until they cry for their mothers?

Li Feng nodded, indicating that he understood Ancient One was busy saving Earth and had no time for him. He looked around and asked uncertainly, "Practice the Mirror Dimension here? Are you sure?"

Although there were not many apprentices in this corner of the training ground to disturb them, Li Feng thought it was indeed a good place to practice Portals. But the Mirror Dimension carried a certain degree of danger. Wasn't Mordo afraid that Li Feng might accidentally drag some unlucky apprentice nearby into the Mirror Dimension while casting it? If that unlucky apprentice ended up caught between reality and the Mirror Dimension, they would be finished—torn apart on the spot by spatial energy.

Mordo looked at Li Feng as if he were an idiot. "What do you think? Of course, I'll teach you how to use Portals first. At the very least, you need to be able to use them flexibly in battle."

As he spoke, Mordo tapped the heel of his left foot with the toe of his right, drew out a baseball-bat-shaped Magic Artifact from behind his back, and paced around Li Feng while tossing a baseball glowing with magical light in his hand. "Actual combat is the best teacher. I'll attack now, and you can only use Portals to send away the baseballs I hit at you."

Li Feng stared blankly at the baseball. I have to strike a pose just to open a Portal right now, and you want me to open one to catch a baseball? You just want to see my handsome face turn into a pig's head.

How about this—we make a deal. Give me a baseball glove, and I guarantee I'll catch your pitches.

Mordo could not care less what Li Feng was thinking. He tossed the baseball high into the air, swung the bat in his hand, and sent it flying toward Li Feng like a cannonball.

Without even hearing the word "start," Li Feng instinctively twisted aside to dodge the baseball.

He turned to look at the ball that had flown off to who knew where, then grinned. "Aha, you knocked the ball away. Does that mean today's training ends early?"

Mordo shrugged, swinging the bat as though preparing to hit again. "If I were you, I'd learn how to use Portals as quickly as possible."

Li Feng saw magical light flare from the bat in Mordo's hand and immediately felt that something was wrong. When he heard a sharp whistle behind him, he dodged the baseball while glaring at Mordo. "Your bat and baseball are a set of Magic Artifacts? The baseball can return to the bat after being hit away?"

Mordo hit another baseball toward Li Feng's face and laughed. "Of course. Otherwise, how could I help you train your Portals with just one ball?"

The baseball always flew in a straight line after being hit, which was good news for Li Feng. At least if he failed to open a Portal, he could still easily dodge the ball and keep his face from turning into a pig's head.

However, Mordo clearly did not want to see Li Feng's handsome little face intact, and the force behind his swings grew stronger and stronger.

As for Li Feng, the baseballs that loved crashing into his face were getting faster and faster. Forget striking a pose to open a Portal—being able to dodge them in a sorry state was already good enough.

Near noon, Li Feng, drenched in sweat, dodged another baseball and let it fly past him. He quickly turned around, stretched out his left hand toward the returning ball, and circled his right hand while clearly picturing Mordo's face in his mind. He was preparing to open a Portal and send the baseball straight into Mordo's face.

As an experienced Mage, Mordo understood what Li Feng intended the moment orange sparks appeared before him.

Using Valtor's Leaping Boots to leap into the air, Mordo seemed to step on invisible stairs. After taking several steps, he twisted sideways to Li Feng's flank. As he hit the baseball that had passed through the Portal back toward Li Feng, the corner of his mouth curled upward. "Now I believe Master Ancient One's assessment of you. Your grasp of spatial spells is indeed quite good. At least I didn't wear these boots for nothing today."

When the baseball flew in a straight line, it was fairly easy for Li Feng to calculate the timing and open a Portal. But with Valtor's Leaping Boots, Mordo could appear at angles Li Feng never expected. The baseball was attracted to the bat, after all. Once Mordo shifted his position while holding it, the ball's flight path changed as well. So straight-flying baseballs? Not a chance.

Li Feng had not expected Mordo, who had always hit from in front of or behind him, to suddenly appear above his side and swing. To keep the baseball from kissing his handsome face, he could only focus and quickly extend his hand toward it.

In such a short time and at such a close distance, opening a Portal large enough for a person to pass through was difficult. But how big was a baseball? It was only the size of a fist.

After practicing nonstop all morning, Li Feng successfully opened a fist-sized Portal and sent the baseball before him behind Mordo's head.

When he saw Mordo smiling as he reached out and caught the baseball that had attacked him from behind, Li Feng secretly let out a breath. Success. Damn, that wasn't easy. If wearing the Sling Ring didn't save Mana when using Portals, I'd have run dry if this kept going.

Tossing the baseball, Mordo thought back on how long it had taken him to become proficient with Portals. He was astonished that Li Feng had mastered opening them in only half a day, and he smiled. "One success is just coincidence, so—"

Before he could finish, Mordo tossed the baseball again and swung his bat at Li Feng.

"Damn it!" Li Feng dodged the baseball to the side and cast a Portal at the ball behind him. "Bro, I've been busy all morning. Let me take a sip of water and rest, okay?"

Mordo shifted above Li Feng, moving to the left one moment and the right the next, seemingly intending to make Li Feng dizzy. "Since you're calling me bro, of course I have to teach you the advanced techniques of using Portals even more seriously. Opening a Portal proficiently is only the first step. What you need to do now is make the Portal move after opening it and send away the high-speed baseball."

"As for resting, do you want me to arrange a masseur for you too, so you can relax your whole body and have a proper rest?" Mordo mocked as he hit the baseball away again. "Or do you think your enemies will give you time to rest and recover your Mana in the future?"

A masseur? Kamar-Taj has that kind of service? I want two master masseurs.

As for enemies, sure, they won't give me time to rest—but can't I just run?

Helpless, Li Feng could only reach out and open a Portal. While maintaining its stability, he continuously adjusted its angle, keeping it aimed at the baseball flying toward him.

He understood Mordo's attitude toward Ancient One. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mordo treated every word Ancient One said as an imperial decree. As long as Ancient One had personally told him to teach Li Feng well, Mordo would never be perfunctory. He would definitely train Li Feng half to death—no, he would train Li Feng until he became proficient in using Portals and the Mirror Dimension.

Thus, over the next few days, Li Feng stopped complaining. It was because he did not even have time to complain.

Every day, aside from resting briefly during meals, Mordo dragged him out of his room and used baseballs to train his Portal skills. As for sleeping at night, his physical body slept while his Astral Body read books. That probably did not count as normal rest, right?

Several days later, Li Feng felt that aside from making Portals dance, he had already invented every possible trick with them. Opening a palm-sized Portal in front of him to catch a high-speed baseball was child's play by then.

Mordo was also satisfied with the training over that period. He had no choice but to be satisfied, because the last time Li Feng faced a baseball he had hit, Li Feng directly teleported it into the sky above the Atlantic Ocean. Although the baseball would automatically sense the bat and fly back, the return journey would take time. Besides, Mordo did not know whether the baseball above the Atlantic Ocean could still sense the bat in Kamar-Taj.

If it could, that would be interesting. He wondered what kind of reaction S.H.I.E.L.D. would have when it detected a baseball radiating energy as it flew straight from the Atlantic Ocean toward the Himalayas. But Mordo did not care. So what if they detected it? Was he afraid of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Opening a random Portal would be enough to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. searching for him for quite some time. Besides, within Kamar-Taj, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites truly could not find him.

Did they think the magical barrier enveloping Kamar-Taj's skies was just for show? Unless S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites were magically modified to see through the Magic Array, S.H.I.E.L.D. would not only have no idea where Kamar-Taj was—they probably had never even heard the name Kamar-Taj.