The Components of the Mystic Order (Please Invest!)

Salomon's course of study was far longer than that of other sorcerers—not merely because he was the Sorcerer Supreme's disciple, but more importantly because of his age.

No matter what, Kamar-Taj would not allow a minor to hold a position in a Sanctum. No matter how skilled Salomon was at magic, everyone believed he still needed to study.

Thus, he had no intention of rushing for quick results. Day after day, he followed the curriculum arranged by the Sorcerer Supreme and Athena. This was important. The accumulation of foundational knowledge would be of enormous help to Salomon in the future. If Salomon were like Strange, using translation software to read already-deciphered Grimoires, then if he encountered a Grimoire that needed interpreting in some ruin without internet access, he would be utterly helpless.

Knowing languages did not allow one to decode secret messages hidden within words or symbols, such as magical runes. Such codes were not part of written language, and Grimoires needed to be deciphered to be read. The same went for sorcerers' spellbooks and scrolls, and even copying them had a chance of failure.

Therefore, The Venerable One attached great importance to Salomon's linguistic education. To ensure that he understood modern society as well—in The Venerable One's view, Salomon understood magic but not science—Master Gu Yi had even arranged for the London Sanctum to enroll him in a school. Once Salomon was old enough, he would take the exams.

He had already taken the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 exams when he was seven. With those SATs results, Salomon could naturally sit the secondary school entrance exam he had to take at thirteen—though he had never attended school even once, the London Sanctum solved that problem with money. This was the first time Kamar-Taj had done something like this. Children of the appropriate age at Kamar-Taj at most practiced martial arts before attending ordinary schools, like Alice Gulliver, the daughter of Wu Guiyue, guardian of the Hong Kong Sanctum. Even she only came to Kamar-Taj headquarters to learn self-defense techniques.

No minor had ever devoted themselves to studying magic as completely as Salomon. Although Salomon seemed perfectly comfortable with this nearly isolated life and even enjoyed it, Master Gu Yi still worried that living disconnected from ordinary society would make him withdrawn. At times, The Venerable One even suspected that she had passed her overly detached temperament on to Salomon.

That would not do. Such a personality could never intimidate those Extra-dimensional Beings trying to invade Earth.

The joy of a shut-in was beyond other people's imagination. Salomon even changed the posters in his bedroom every three months. Thanks to his command of languages, he could watch newly aired anime at the fastest possible speed without needing subtitles. Others found it hard to understand Salomon's happiness. As long as he had internet and food, he could remain shut in forever. Other than Mount Athena, he had no need to leave the house at all.

This month, his waifu was Holo, a girl with wolf ears and a wolf tail. No arguments allowed. (New anime of January 2008.)

Outsiders considered this life extremely abnormal. Countless times, Master Wong had tried to drag Salomon out of his room to take him for a walk around the streets. Salomon refused every time. London's rainy weather made him uncomfortable. If he wanted fish and chips or wished to visit the British Museum, he would go by himself. As for New York, it was better not to show his face there. Who knew when some huge green brute might suddenly appear and start smashing things—perhaps there might even be two of them. He did visit Hong Kong often, though. He was a regular at the snack street outside the Sanctum, and Salomon could now chat fluently with the stall owners in Cantonese.

As for entertainment? What entertainment could compare to magic? My friend, was the most wondrous thing in the world not interesting enough? The only thing that made Salomon somewhat uncomfortable was having to face the Dark Dimension from time to time.

"When I was your age, I had already met my wife, Adria." Cassilius was very friendly toward Salomon. Though he often struck heavily during self-defense training, he never grew impatient when instructing Salomon.

He said to the Salomon who stayed shut in his room, "You should go out more instead of constantly burying yourself in books. Kamar-Taj's work is not so heavy that it needs you to share the burden. You should go to school and meet some girls. Staying in Kamar-Taj all the time will turn you into a decrepit old man.

"If my child were still alive, he would probably be about your age. Perhaps I would even risk being sued to let him taste beer... In any case, staying in your room all the time is no good. If you want some exercise, come find me."

Cassilius kept his head lowered as he spoke, and Salomon could not see his expression. Was it grief? Or nostalgia? Yet when Salomon recalled it years later, all he could remember was the icy scent of cold wind blowing from the Himalayan Mountains mixed with stale dust in the room, and the gray-haired man standing before him, a man who had lost everything.

It was said that Cassilius had been brought in by Baron Mordo. Kamar-Taj's principle had always been to extend a helping hand to those in need, though such people had to possess magical talent.

Apart from those personally recruited by The Venerable One, such as Salomon and Strange, nearly every sorcerer had entered this way. Kamar-Taj itself had initially been established by Master Gu Yi through this method.

The Venerable One's idea resembled renouncing the secular world, because only those who had nearly lost everything would be drawn to Kamar-Taj's purpose of protecting Earth. Only they could resist the temptations of worldly wealth and honor and wholeheartedly shoulder the responsibility of fighting the Outer Dimensions. That was why Kamar-Taj emphasized ascetic practice: to calm the tormented souls of its practitioners.

It could not be said that this idea was bad. Master Gu Yi's selection criteria had endured for more than a thousand years, and the system had stood the test of time. Yet there were still many disciples like Cassilius. Not everyone was willing to immerse themselves in the world of magic as Salomon did.

Some were drawn by Kamar-Taj's ideals, like Mordo. He had been attracted by the Mystic Order's ideal of protecting Earth and voluntarily became a sorcerer who resisted the Outer Dimensions. He held Master Gu Yi, who had devoted herself to fighting the Outer Dimensions for over a thousand years, in the highest reverence.

There was also a group made up of sorcerer families. These people were descended from the sorcerers who had first trained at Kamar-Taj, descendants of The Venerable One's earliest disciples. The King and Wu Guiyue were examples. This group was also an important component of Kamar-Taj. They spent their entire lives there, and generation after generation received The Venerable One's teachings. A few members of these families had once come infinitely close to the position of Sorcerer Supreme, only to be outlived by The Venerable One, batch after batch.

Even so, they remained important supporters of Master Gu Yi.

The practitioners recruited from the secular world were often less pure. They still had regrets in the ordinary world. Cassilius, for example, sought to see his wife again. Others studied magic merely to seek a way out. Once they achieved their goals, some entered the secular world after learning magic to become tyrants or commit evil deeds, enjoying material luxuries beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Although The Venerable One held no prejudice against material enjoyment, Master Gu Yi had once dealt with those who abused magic with bloody force.

By modern times, Master Gu Yi did this far less often. The reason was simple—with the advancement of the era, modern people received far more information in a single day than people of the past. If sorcerers were truly required to be free of all distracting thoughts, Kamar-Taj might well have no one left. The Venerable One understood perfectly that water too pure bred no fish, so she relaxed Kamar-Taj's standards for selecting new members. It did not matter if someone came to Kamar-Taj with an ulterior motive. So long as they did not use magic to commit evil and bore the responsibility of protecting Earth, anything was acceptable. Only worshipping Dormammu was absolutely intolerable to Master Gu Yi.

Now, it seemed that Salomon's soul was a little too calm.

So Master Gu Yi planned to give Salomon something to do.

P.S. This was basically some setting exposition, combining the comic and movie settings. The next chapter would bring a new event.

Bonus chapters for tips, and bonus chapters for investments too! It was really annoying that Long Kong did not allow self-recommendations.