"How's it going?"
"I don't know. I don't know what to think," Loki replied. All this information was too much for him to digest.
"Tell me your first instinct—your first thought."
"Yes... all of this was caused by me. If it hadn't been for my selfish behavior, maybe my mother could have been saved. My father wouldn't have died so early before Thor was ready to inherit the throne. I was the reason why Thor finally gave up on helping - and the reason why Asgard was destroyed."
"You think too highly of yourself. Most of the tragedies that happened were caused by your father's actions and fate. However, you are responsible for the deterioration of your relationship with your family and countless other atrocities," Ian calmly pointed out.
Loki was silent for a few seconds, "Then what should I do?"
"Go see a psychiatrist."
"What did you say?"
"I don't stutter. No matter what deep psychological problem you have, it's impossible to solve it in one day. So, you need a psychiatrist."
"Are you serious? You expect a god like me to see a psychiatrist?"
"Why not? I've seen it, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ian replied. "If you're worried about a 'mortal' being your doctor, I know an AI that specializes in mental health issues. I can let you use it."
"Absolutely not. I would never do such a thing."
Ian shrugged. "I just want to give you the illusion that you still have a choice. It seems that this is not necessary now."
"You!"
"Follow me for the next step of training," Ian ordered, and at the same time opened a portal leading to Mirror Dimension.
Loki was shocked by what he saw in Mirror Dimension - a huge tower that reached into the sky.
This thing was so magnificent that for a moment he thought he was back in the palace. However, this was not the main reason for his shock.
"What is this?"
"My magic tower. This is my laboratory. Unfortunately, it's not up to par yet."
"Are you serious?" Loki could feel the extremely huge energy surging in this tower. He had only seen this level of energy once in his life, and that was when his father was studying Odinforce and showing it to him and Thor.
Ian wasn't bragging. He built this tower to replace his Floating City. However, while he had spare parts for all the machines in his interdimensional personal ring, the tower was unable to replicate the energy availability of Netheril without access to Mana Network.
He tried different methods, looking for sources of energy in many dimensions, but they all paled in comparison to the Infinity energy of Mana Network.
Ian brought Loki to an empty room filled with magic circles. "What are we doing here?"
"I'm going to show you what real power is, and it doesn't have to be destructive," Ian explained. "Morgana, let's do it." The enchantment was activated, forming a Cosmic Cube body in the center of the room.
"What do you think this is?"
"A cub? A Tesseract?"
"A new universe," Ian replied, and before Loki could recover from the shock, he took him in. As Ian said, this is a vast and empty universe.
"Is this what the universe looked like at the beginning of time?" Loki asked.
"Probably, but Celestials was present at the time and shaped it into what it is today."
"Is Celestials true?" He had heard related rumors and stories from his parents when he was a child.
"Morgana, start the next step."
Loki watched in shock as matter began to appear in this new universe, quickly forming a coherent cosmic system composed of planets, stars, galaxy groups, galaxies, etc.
Loki felt that his senses were heightened to a level he had never experienced before, allowing him to observe the entire process of the formation of the universe with terrifying sensitivity.
"How is this possible?" He had just watched a complete universe form before his eyes in what felt like only a few minutes.
"Magic is beautiful and fascinating, isn't it?"
"How can this be magic? You have just re-created our universe - including the laws of nature and physics! This is the power of True God, the power of a creator god."
"God is just a person with abilities that cannot be understood or measured by ordinary people's minds," Ian replied calmly. "And, the matter is not over yet."
Subsequently, Loki's senses detected a hidden layer or dimension in the universe, where there was a pool of white liquid. A phantom suddenly emerged from the pool, and a magic circle above it was activated, turning it into a physical body.
"Life--you create life."
"Once you successfully decode the genetic code of any life form, the physical part is easy to create. The tricky part is condensing the soul - that requires real skill."
Loki watched in horror as batches of individuals were created in that pool and then sent to different planets in this vast universe. What is interesting is that they are not all humans, but a variety of different creatures, including non-carbon-based and plant-based life forms.
After exactly 100 trillion life forms were created, the process stopped. Loki and Ian watched as these ignorant creatures tried to survive in their chosen habitats throughout the universe.
"Morgana, don't forget to select some planets for natural evolution," Ian ordered. He obtained data from Destiny Universe on the evolution of the Earth - including how single-cell organisms evolved into multi-cell organisms, and then the precise conditions for modern humans (Homo sapiens). Therefore, there will be no difficulty in reproducing these conditions.
At this point, Loki was completely speechless. However, Ian's attention is now focused on this experiment.
"Is everything done?"
"Yes," Morgana replied.
"No problem, right?"
"No problem."
Ian nodded. This experiment was not to show off in front of Loki. On the contrary, he had two main goals. First, this was his way to achieve Tier 10's willpower, because he felt that Chris's method was too slow.
Every individual in this world contains the imprint of his soul, which they will pass on to their offspring. When the time comes, Ian can relive the life of every individual in this universe as a way to hone his willpower.
The secondary purpose of this experiment is to determine how to reach Tier 11 and the study of Cosmic Will. Morgana is currently the will of this universe and is responsible for controlling or regulating everything.
Then, when the time is right, they will branch out and create more universes using Law of Time; in other words, they will create their own miniature Multiverse, with Morgana as their primary will.
"This thing doesn't take up too much of your processing power, does it?"
"No, but if you add a few more universes, we'll be in trouble."
"We can wait until Speed Force is created."
Ian finally turned his attention back to Loki and took him out. "What do you think?"
"How can I feel about that?"
"You sound shaken."
Loki didn't answer. He originally thought he could come here to steal the source of the mage's power, but now he realized how ridiculous his plan was. In the face of this huge power, all his conspiracies seemed very funny.
"How would you feel if I said you had the potential to achieve this level of power?"
"I'll tell you, I'm not as easy to fool as my brother."
"Then see for yourself."
Ian pointed at Loki's head, then sent his spirit on a voyage through Multiverse to experience the power of many of his most powerful transformations. He even saw one of his own transformations, using Illusion Magic to create an entire universe to deceive one of his opponents.
"Are those really me?"
"Yes, they have different life experiences and choices, but essentially they are all you."
He has always felt that he is not as good as Thor and feels inferior, but now, he realizes his hidden potential.
"Please teach me," Loki said.
"No."
"What?"
"Just kidding," Ian chuckled. "I will teach you, but you are not ready yet."
"What do you mean I'm not ready?"
"You crave power but have no respect for it. This is a dangerous combination."
"So, you want me to learn how to fear power?"
"That's right."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Let you really work hard for it. Come, follow me."