First Encounter with the Dark Dimension (Please Invest!)

No one knew when humanity invented its first mirror. At first, people merely gazed into the water, and just as Narcissus of Ancient Greece saw his own reflection, humanity came to recognize its own image. In many ancient cultures, reflections in water were often believed to house a person's soul, and seeing one's own reflection was considered highly dangerous. Thus, when the first mirror was made, people naturally regarded it as an object imbued with magical power.

And that was indeed the case. Mirrors were humanity's earliest tools for peering into other worlds. Though the scenes reflected in a mirror were not necessarily real, mirrors could resonate with what they reflected—environments, reality, or people. Thus, many legends spoke of another world existing within mirrors.

When Salomon was about to practice magic, The Venerable One provided him with a safer place: the Mirror Dimension. And the simplest way to enter the Mirror Dimension was to wear Kamar-Taj's Sling Ring.

In Salomon's eyes, the Sling Ring was nothing more than a shortcut The Venerable One had prepared for Kamar-Taj's sorcerers. She had inscribed spells onto the rings, allowing Kamar-Taj's sorcerers to easily use such advanced magic as portals. The Sorcerer Supreme tied the range of portals and the size of the Mirror Dimension to a sorcerer's magical power rather than their mastery of spells. This lazy approach did save a great deal of trouble, while also granting Kamar-Taj's sorcerers unparalleled mobility. Even the Sorcerer Supreme used a Sling Ring from time to time.

The reason the Sorcerer Supreme had deliberately chosen the Mirror Dimension for today's lesson was not merely because practicing magic there would not damage reality. It was also because The Venerable One did not want the other sorcerers of Kamar-Taj to learn things they should not know.

"Salomon, your Holy Marks are proof of a wise man, proof that you possess the qualifications to attain true wisdom. And the Holy Marks have also brought you knowledge." The Venerable One stood before Salomon in a black Mystic Robe. "But this universe holds endless dangers, dangers you have never witnessed. You must experience them firsthand."

"Danger?" Salomon lowered his head and looked at his hands. He wore a black Mystic Robe identical in style to The Venerable One's, but over it was a coat made from red Holy Shroud. The coat had tails that reached his calves and was fastened to his body with seven silver chain clasps. After the previous Holy Shroud had been burned, The Venerable One had taken out another piece to make his garment and added protective spells to it.

Although Salomon could already control the power of his Holy Marks to some extent, The Venerable One still believed that he needed restraint. Otherwise, the powerful Holy Marks would endlessly refine his life force.

After undergoing treatment, Salomon had grown much thinner. He had also cut his hair short, and his entire bearing had become far colder.

"Yes." The Venerable One nodded. "For instance, Dormammu. He watches this planet at every moment, seeking to swallow Earth into his Dark Dimension. Only a few senior sorcerers in Kamar-Taj have heard that name, but they have never experienced this lesson. Yet I have chosen for you to learn it."

"Learn what?"

"Balance."

The Venerable One placed her hand against Salomon's brow and activated the Astral Body projection spell. This was Salomon's first time undergoing astral projection. The spell was an expression of the soul and mind, and his astral form was no different from his physical body. Then, without another word, the Sorcerer Supreme forcefully shoved Salomon's astral form.

Salomon felt himself plummeting at tremendous speed, falling into a kaleidoscopic tunnel. Everything around him—whether starlight or scenery—twisted wildly. The rapid shifts in color nearly gave his astral form a violent urge to vomit. Salomon felt so small, utterly helpless, as he sped past one dimension and space after another.

But he was soon freed. The moment he passed through a pitch-black curtain, he stopped falling and saw a dark, dead expanse. Countless shattered planets here had been dyed black, sprouting grotesque, malformed limbs like disgusting flesh tumors. Every object in that starry void was covered in thick, black energy, while nauseating streams of colored light spread across them. Salomon widened his eyes to look, but he could not retain any of the sights. Those bizarre colors in the darkness flooded his pupils, and endless whispers rang in his ears, enough to drive anyone mad.

Like an ant, Salomon drifted slowly between those planets. He did not know how long he had remained there. Time had lost all meaning, and he was continuously bombarded by those mad words. Just as Salomon thought he was about to lose his mind, he saw an enormous face. That incomparably vast face seemed to be composed of the viscous black energy, and a single eye was as large as a planet. When the owner of that face saw Salomon, it let out a deafening roar. The sound made Salomon's astral form tremble and caused the malformed planets to crack. Even when Salomon covered his ears, he could not stop the sound from entering his soul.

It seemed like cursing, or perhaps a curse. Salomon could not make out a single word. A gigantic hand rose from the darkness and slammed toward him. Salomon felt as though he stood beneath a collapsing mountain. The hand came with violent winds and meteors, and when he looked up, all he could see was a shadow large enough to cover an entire planet pressing down on him. The terror of such a colossal thing descending from the heavens made him tremble uncontrollably.

When Salomon jolted awake, he discovered that he was still in Kamar-Taj's Mirror Dimension. The Venerable One sat across from him. Salomon was seated cross-legged on the ground, his face pale and his body drenched in cold sweat. His mind was muddled, and those chaotic whispers and the dizzying sensation still lingered in his head. Right now, all he wanted was to empty everything from his stomach and then sleep properly.

"That was..." He forced himself to focus and asked The Venerable One.

"Dormammu, lord of the Dark Dimension." The Venerable One's expression did not change. "I believe you have already seen him."

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Salomon nodded.

In truth, the Sorcerer Supreme's education of Salomon was completely different from her future instruction of Strange. Master Gu Yi had merely given Strange a general impression of the Dark Dimension so that he would not fall into Dormammu's trap. Thus, Strange had only caught a fleeting glimpse of the Dark Dimension at first. But for Salomon, Master Gu Yi chose to make him confront the Dark Dimension directly. The Venerable One intended to teach Salomon everything she knew about it.

The Venerable One had different expectations for the two of them because she intended to place a heavier burden upon Salomon. The Sorcerer Supreme knew that Salomon possessed knowledge granted by talent. Even if he had never entered Kamar-Taj, he would still become a sufficiently powerful sorcerer in the future. Therefore, this burden was one she had forcibly placed upon him.

Within a sect, if someone served as its public face, someone else had to serve behind the scenes. The face could not be stained by even a speck of dust. If blood had to be spilled, the one behind the scenes had to contain it. If they failed and it stained the public face, it would become a disaster capable of destroying the sect. The public face might offer someone a cigarette, while the one behind the scenes might have to eliminate a person.

If the future Strange was to be Kamar-Taj's public face, then The Venerable One intended for Salomon to be the one behind the scenes. Master Gu Yi did not merely draw upon the power of the Vishanti. Part of the reason she was so powerful was that she had drawn enough magic from the Dark Dimension. That magic made her far stronger than ordinary sorcerers, stronger even than many demon gods, and even allowed her to contend with Odin, the All-Father, in her human body.

Salomon did not know this, but even if he had, he would not have resented the Sorcerer Supreme in the slightest. He was not the protagonist of some power-fantasy novel, where everyone had to treat him well for nothing. That was impossible. Salomon had never considered himself particularly important, and he certainly did not possess any domineering protagonist aura. He knew exactly how lazy he was—if he could lie down, he would never sit.

And Salomon understood perfectly well that The Venerable One had her own plans when she raised an orphaned child with no family.

In fact, even if the Sorcerer Supreme had not guided Salomon to explore the Dark Dimension, his pursuit of knowledge and curiosity toward magic would have led him to explore it on his own sooner or later. Having an experienced mentor now was a good thing.

Thus, Salomon nodded to indicate that he was very interested in the Dark Dimension.

Even so, The Venerable One still felt a trace of guilt. She knew how dangerous the Dark Dimension was, yet she had pushed Salomon into it. Perhaps that was why she unconsciously treated him with special favor.

"Balance and restraint are what you need to learn, Salomon." The Venerable One lowered her head and picked up her teacup, unwilling to let Salomon see her expression. "This is your first lesson."

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