Magic (Creatures), Legal Principles

Since Salomon had become capable of using a little magic power, the Sorcerer Supreme had him join Kamar-Taj's magical training.

Kamar-Taj's magical system, which drew power from otherworldly masters, was equivalent to the warlocks of the Torruel Crystal Wall System. They were also called Pact Mages or Archmages.

This was a legitimate magical profession. In addition to basic Hellfire Magic, Dimensional Magic from the Vishanti lineage was also required study for Kamar-Taj sorcerers. Moreover, the occult works the Sorcerer Supreme had collected from around the world allowed apprentices who had yet to successfully form a pact to refine their life force and cast certain spells outside the Vishanti lineage.

Because Salomon had not yet formed a pact, and because the Sorcerer Supreme did not want him to come into contact with the Vishanti too early, coupled with his young age—refining too much life force would affect his development—he could only take another required course for Kamar-Taj sorcerers: martial arts.

"The body is the vessel of magic power. Only a sufficiently strong body can contain more magic and cast more spells." That was what the Venerable One said, and everyone followed her instruction.

Many spellcasters in Kamar-Taj had lived there for generations, so there was no shortage of children of the appropriate age. Whether they had grown up in Kamar-Taj or come from elsewhere to study, they all had to undergo martial arts training.

"This kind of magic has to be trained from childhood. Train your tendons, bones, and skin on the outside; cultivate a breath of qi within. Only if your punches are fast can your magic hit someone, hear me? Two Forms Stance, ready!" Master Zhang, who had come from the Hong Kong Sanctum, was in charge of Kamar-Taj's physical training. When demonstrating boxing techniques, he occasionally blurted out Cantonese phrases, yet it seemed that everyone except Salomon understood him.

Salomon had barely copied the stance when Master Zhang suddenly smacked the back of his head. "Hey, don't freeze into a pose! You little brat, you can't even throw a punch! Your backhand lacks force, your lead hand lacks precision—what Baji are you trying to practice? Go on, go play somewhere else."

Salomon, having been dismissed, pouted and walked off to one side.

"The Hong Kong Sanctum cares most about physical techniques. Practice however he tells you to." At some point, Master Gu Yi had put on sunglasses and sat to one side. Her authentic Hong Kong accent nearly made Salomon's eyes pop out, but she seemed entirely unaware of it. Since no one but Salomon could see her, she had already cast the Mirror Dimension Spell. "What, you don't want to practice Baji? Then go learn Wing Chun."

"Master, I can't understand you when you talk like that." Salomon replied with a dark look on his face. His entire impression of Cantonese amounted to "what?" and "what?" He could not understand a single other sentence.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young people need to learn more!" Master Gu Yi shook her head. "Tomorrow, your senior brother will take you to find a master."

"Learn what?"

"I already told you, Wing Chun!"

The next day, the sorcerer taking Salomon to find a master was the son of Master Hamir, a highly respected Kamar-Taj sorcerer. Salomon's senior brother had a round face and did not seem fond of smiling, which made Salomon somewhat nervous around him.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, but..." Salomon shook his head at a poster by the roadside. His senior brother was trying to give him a toy suited to his age. "I don't like Captain America... right, I don't like any superheroes. No Superman, no Batman, no toys at all. Thank you."

In truth, Master Wong was also extremely nervous. The night before, his father had specifically told him to keep a close eye on Salomon and never let anything happen to him. This was the Sorcerer Supreme's treasured disciple—though, technically speaking, all the Kamar-Taj sorcerers were Master Gu Yi's disciples. Still, everyone started at a different point. A sorcerer capable of casting magic independently was naturally a rank above the others.

Although Master Hamir did not understand what a saint was, it would not change the fact that the Sorcerer Supreme valued Salomon. In some people's eyes, Salomon was the candidate for the next Sorcerer Supreme.

So when Salomon fixed his gaze on a stall outside the Hong Kong Sanctum, Master Wong could only take out his meager worldly funds and buy him a bowl of Wonton Noodles. Salomon picked up his chopsticks again without the slightest awkwardness, and Master Wong did not mind. The food at Kamar-Taj was a hodgepodge, with dishes from everywhere.

"Senior Brother, is Kamar-Taj really this poor?" Salomon asked innocently, pointing at the odds and ends on Master Wong's clothes.

"It's not Kamar-Taj that's poor. I'm poor." Master Wong rolled his eyes.

Kamar-Taj had stood for a thousand years, so naturally it did not lack connections in the mundane world. It also had a business: drawing terminally ill patients to Kamar-Taj for treatment. Though Master Gu Yi treated rich and poor, noble and lowly alike, wealthy people always came seeking help. The money and connections they left behind were important sources of income for Kamar-Taj. Then there was the matter of fighting Dark Creatures, such as vampires and Black Warlocks. The wealth those people left behind naturally belonged to Kamar-Taj.

After all, sorcerers had to eat too. It was said that Master Gu Yi even held shares in several listed companies. During the development of the American West, she bought land there in exchange for money and land in New York. Without exaggeration, Kamar-Taj and Kamar-Taj's The Hand might have been New York's largest landowners—Kamar-Taj simply emphasized ascetic practice and had little use for so much wealth.

After hearing all this, Salomon asked, "Then why are you so poor, Senior Brother?"

Master Wong let out a long sigh, covered his chest, and began recounting the past—his father, Master Hamir, had taken away all the living expenses Kamar-Taj issued to him, saying he would save it for him and buy him a house when he got married.

"After all, not everyone lives in a Sanctum," Master Wong said with a melancholy expression. But after discovering that his father had lost all his living expenses playing mahjong with the Guardian of the Hong Kong Sanctum, Wu Guiyue of Coral Bay, he never believed Master Hamir's words again. As for how Hamir played mahjong with only one hand, that was another matter entirely.

"So, where are we going?" Salomon asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"The place we're going only started openly accepting disciples a few years ago. If Kamar-Taj didn't have some connections in the Hongmen, we wouldn't even know whether they'd take a foreigner like you." Unable to resist, Master Wong ordered himself a bowl of noodles as well. "If it doesn't work out, just study Baji properly at Kamar-Taj. You can't beat Kamar-Taj's enemies with that refined kind of boxing."

Salomon curled his lips disdainfully.

It was not as though he failed to understand Master Gu Yi's intentions. She wanted Salomon to form bonds with this world, to love it. That was why she had told him Jezebel's story and encouraged him to interact more with the Kamar-Taj sorcerers, so that he would understand this world's beauty.

It could not really be said to have worked. Though he had adopted a go-with-the-flow attitude, he was an adult with his own independent thoughts. He did like this world, since it was more interesting than his former life, but the interesting part was magic, not anything else. He had been a man who dreamed of entering Hogwarts since childhood—while as for everything else... as an adult with his own worldview, he had always believed that if others did not offend him, he would not offend them. Even if Master Gu Yi called him a saint or something, Salomon would certainly refuse if asked to become a hero.

He firmly believed every problem in the world could be solved with two sentences. The first was, "What the hell does it have to do with you?" The second was, "What the hell does it have to do with me?"

Of course, it could not be said that the Sorcerer Supreme was wrong to place her hopes on him. After all, there would always be idiots in this world who disrupted other people's peaceful lives. When that time came, Salomon, who stood on humanity's side, would have no choice but to fight to save humanity.

The Sorcerer Supreme had planned everything long ago.

This isn't a wish-fulfillment novel, it isn't a wish-fulfillment novel, QAQ