Not Embarrassing Himself in the Otherworld

On the first day after he became proficient with Portals, Mordo dragged Li Feng out of bed by the neck like a chick and marched straight to the training room specifically meant for practicing the Mirror Dimension.

With his hands behind his back, Mordo glanced at Li Feng's wide, innocent eyes and muttered through a twitching mouth, "This is the first time I've ever seen such a lazy Mage. Once ordinary people learn they can practice magic, which one of them slacks off?

"And you? I can tolerate the fact that you eat more than a pig, since casting spells consumes a great deal of energy and food restores it well enough. But what does it mean that you go to sleep the moment the sun sets and refuse to get up until it's high in the sky? If you want to waste your talent, just say so.

"If it weren't for Master Ancient One's orders, I wouldn't even bother with you. I have to squeeze time out of my own magic practice to teach you—do you really think I have that much free time?"

The more Mordo thought about it, the angrier he became. His displeasure was obvious as he said, "Finishing Portal training doesn't mean your magical training ends here. Now, cast your Mirror Dimension. Let me see just how much talent this 'some talent' Ancient One mentioned really amounts to."

Li Feng felt utterly wronged. Last night, his Astral Body had become absorbed in reading alchemy books inside Merlin's Ring and lost track of time. It had failed to return to his physical body in time to rest, causing him to oversleep that morning. But that should not have been his fault, right? It was perfectly normal for people to stay up late reading a book they were interested in. Besides, he had not deliberately stayed up late; he had simply lost track of time.

Li Feng stood up listlessly and curled his lip. He knew that no matter how he argued, Mordo would not care. Mordo only cared about when he could turn the Mirror Dimension into something flashy.

If I make the Mirror Dimension as fancy as my Portals, Mordo probably won't care when I sleep anymore, right?

As Li Feng silently imagined how he could fool around once Mordo stopped bothering him, he struck a pose and cast the Mirror Dimension.

"Your casting is slow, and you waste too much Mana. But the size of the space inside your Mirror Dimension..."

Mordo shook his head as he muttered about Li Feng's failures in casting. "You call this a Mirror Dimension? It looks more like a shattered-glass dimension to me. Never mind how it breaks at the slightest touch, isn't the space inside way too large? It's big enough for an ant to jog around it in a minute."

Li Feng leaned in to inspect his Mirror Dimension, silently rolling his eyes as he retorted, It's at least three square meters, okay? What kind of ant can circle three square meters in one minute? Unless you're raising not ants, but Hank Pym's old Ant-Man.

Shrugging, Li Feng said innocently, "You're the boss. I'll practice whatever you say I should practice."

Mordo glanced at Li Feng, flicked his wrist, and a Magic Whip appeared in his hand. "Compared with practicing the Mirror Dimension, you first need to master precise Mana output. The Magic Whip is the best practice tool. You must both transform Mana into a whip and stabilize your Mana output."

He cracked the Magic Whip through the air and continued, "If your Mana is unstable, the whip will disappear. If the Mana sustaining the whip is unstable, the whip will lengthen or shorten."

As though he had long anticipated Li Feng's difficulties, Mordo took a book explaining the Magic Whip in detail from his robes and handed it to him. Then, as he walked to a nearby tea table to make himself some tea, he held a baseball in one hand and said, "I'll watch you learn the Magic Whip. Once you can use it, stand three meters away and knock the baseball out of my hand. Then we'll talk about the Mirror Dimension."

Li Feng looked at the book in his hand, then at the baseball in Mordo's hand. For some reason, he felt that Mordo had a particular obsession with baseballs. He was probably chased around and beaten with baseballs before he became a Mage.

After silently clasping his hands together and saying Amen in his heart, Li Feng sat cross-legged on the floor and began reading. Whenever he encountered a term he did not understand, he turned and asked Mordo about it.

Although Mordo's teaching was somewhat inferior to Ancient One's, it was still above average. At the very least, under Mordo's guidance, Li Feng spent a day understanding the casting process of the Magic Whip. As for actually producing a whip, that was another story of diligent cultivation.

Success was ninety-nine percent sweat, plus the even more important one percent talent. Mordo had no choice but to admire Li Feng's talent in Space Spells. With his constant humble questions about Space Spells and his decent natural talent, Li Feng finally became able to freely cast the Mirror Dimension after playing with the Magic Whip for more than half a month.

Mordo considered himself lucky that he had taken nearly half a year to perfectly cast the Mirror Dimension. After all, not everyone had Doctor Strange's talent to understand spells just by reading and studying on their own.

Li Feng still could not treat the Mirror Dimension like clay in Ancient One's hands, flipping the blue sky overhead down beneath his feet one moment and twisting buildings into kaleidoscopic patterns the next. But he could at least open a Mirror Dimension instantly now, allowing him to hide himself whenever he wished.

A few days later, inside Li Feng's Mirror Dimension.

Mordo watched with a twitching eye as Li Feng copied a mirror from the room and filled the entire space with it. No matter whether he lowered his head, raised it, or turned sideways, he saw his own dark face. Especially after Li Feng made the layers upon layers of mirrors slowly rotate around him, Mordo felt as though his own reflection was spinning him sick.

Fighting in a Mirror Dimension where even closing one's eyes made it feel as if one's own dark face was swaying before them was indeed troublesome.

And you never knew behind which mirror Li Feng was hiding, peeking at you while you were dizzy and nauseous.

Mordo raised a hand to stop Li Feng. As he opened a Portal, he said, "Stop making the mirrors spin in front of me. I feel like I'm about to fall in love with my own handsome face. You've completed the casting of the Mirror Dimension. I have nothing more to teach you."

Just as he stepped through the Portal, Mordo turned back to Li Feng, who was still hiding behind a mirror, and said, "With your current control over Mana, you can go learn how to forge Magic Artifacts from Master Hamir."

With that, Mordo waved at his Portal and closed it.

Li Feng scratched his head as he emerged from behind the mirror, pondering Mordo's change in attitude over the past few days.

Don't be fooled by how stern Mordo looks whenever he teaches magic. Everything he has taught me is practical. Otherwise, would my magical progress have been this fast? Just because of my talent? What a joke. Without a qualified teacher, even the best talent would be wasted. These are magic tutorials you can't even look up online.

Was it because Ancient One's influence had made Mordo go from ignoring me to treating me well because of her? Or did Mordo think I was a friend worth having? Did he genuinely want to be friends with me?

Rubbing his chin, Li Feng opened a Portal and stepped out of the Mirror Dimension. He did not believe that Ancient One, who was proficient in Time Spells, did not know that after Kaecilius betrayed Kamar-Taj and learned that Ancient One was also using Dark Energy, Mordo would later defect and slaughter Mages in the outside world.

Yet now Ancient One was having Mordo painstakingly teach him?

Does she want someone like me, whose Mana naturally leans toward darkness, to accept Mordo's kindness so that this guy will understand Dark Energy is only energy? That people are good or bad has nothing to do with energy? So that when he learns Ancient One also uses Dark Energy, the shock will be less severe? Or does she simply want me, a Mage aligned with darkness whom he has a good relationship with, to comfort Mordo's fragile little heart?

The problem is, I have no love for Mordo. And who can say what will happen in the future? Even Ancient One, who can see the future, probably can't say for sure. Maybe once Mordo learns I use Mana that leans toward darkness, he'll try to kill me instead.

On his way to Master Hamir's meditation room, Li Feng only shrugged and muttered to himself after knocking on Hamir's door, "Whatever. I'm no match for Mordo anyway. I even have to hide my Mana affinity from him, much less dare to tell him that energy has no good or evil, only its users do."

Hamir had been meditating in the meditation room. Though he was displeased at having his meditation interrupted by the knock, he rose and opened the door without showing any emotion.

Seeing Hamir's expressionless face, Li Feng scratched his brow and said quietly, "Um, Mordo said I could learn how to forge Magic Artifacts from you."

Damn it, looking at that authentic poker face of yours, I feel like you've discovered I stole your materials.

Hamir studied Li Feng seriously, seemingly able to judge his current degree of Mana control with a single glance. After a while, he nodded, stepped aside to let Li Feng into the meditation room, and said, "I know you previously forged a kind of Magic Playing Card. Take one out and let me see it, so I can gain a preliminary understanding of your craftsmanship."

Well, looks like he really did notice I secretly took extra materials.

Scratching his head, Li Feng handed Hamir a Magic Playing Card. When Hamir took it, he glanced at Li Feng and curled his lips in disdain. If Ancient One hadn't known about and approved of you taking magical materials, I'd really want to slap you to death. Materials that could have made five cards, and you turned them into one? Your talent for wasting materials is truly something else.

Hamir casually tossed aside the crudely forged card and walked to his workbench. As he organized it, he said, "Master Ancient One told me you want to forge a suit of magical clothing and modify a longsword?"

Hearing that Hamir only intended to teach him how to forge magical clothing and modify a longsword, with no intention of teaching him further alchemical methods afterward, Li Feng rubbed his hands together. Wearing a slightly embarrassed expression, he leaned forward to watch Hamir skillfully operate the workbench with one hand and said, "If possible, I'd like to learn everything."

Everything? Heh. Once you become a Mage of Kamar-Taj, I'll teach you wholeheartedly, little rookie.

Hamir acted as if he had not heard Li Feng. He picked up a Kree bodysuit and signaled for Li Feng to do it himself, while he would only provide guidance from the side.

As for having Hamir personally demonstrate how to forge magical clothing, that was impossible. Did Li Feng not see that he only had one hand? Making a disabled person work for free was not something a fully able-bodied person should do.

What could Li Feng do about that? Fortunately, his sewing skills were not bad. After several days and Hamir's constant pointers, he finally modified the bright green bodysuit into a pair of black trousers and a sleeveless shirt with a tiny cleaning function.

Looking at his handiwork, Li Feng's lips curled upward as he muttered, At least I won't be a naked man every time I travel to another world anymore. I finally haven't embarrassed myself in the Otherworld.