Dark Dimension

The New York Sanctum's doorbell rang.

It was not an ordinary doorbell—it was a magical one, and it rarely rang, because it usually meant a sorcerer was visiting. Usually, only sorcerers could see the spell formations carved into the door.

Rather than a normal "ding-dong," it gave a long, bell-like resonance that slowly spread through the entire building, its echoes lingering.

Chen Xiao was lying on the living room sofa with a bottle of cola in hand, staring at the ceiling. He had been lying there for nearly half an hour, thinking about nothing, yet somehow thinking about a great many things.

When the bell rang, he froze for a moment.

"Daniel," Chen Xiao called upstairs, "someone's ringing the doorbell."

"I'm repairing an artifact. My hands are full." Daniel's voice drifted from his workshop. "Senior Brother, do some work for once."

Chen Xiao sighed, climbed off the sofa, set the cola on the coffee table, and shuffled toward the front door in his slippers.

The door opened.

A middle-aged man stood outside, dressed in dark gray training robes. His cuffs and collar bore signs of wear, and fine dust clung to the fabric. He stood straight, like a pine tree grown in the wind. His face was stern, with high brow ridges, slightly deep-set eyes, and lips pressed into a thin line. His hair was impeccably combed, though several strands at his temples had turned white. Standing there, he resembled a blade still sheathed.

In his left hand, he carried a dark canvas bag, bulging with several hard objects faintly visible inside. In his right was a metal case covered in protective runes. A faint blue glow flowed slowly through the runic lines, like some sleeping creature breathing.

Kaecilius.

"Senior Brother." Kaecilius dipped his head slightly. His voice was low but clear. There was a natural respect in his tone, neither forced nor perfunctory, as though it had long become a habit carved into his bones during his years of training at Kamar-Taj.

"Sorcerer Kaecilius." Chen Xiao nodded and stepped aside. "Come in."

Kaecilius crossed the threshold. As he entered, he habitually pressed his right hand lightly against the doorframe—an ancient tradition. When entering a Sanctum, Kamar-Taj sorcerers made a brief hand sign to show respect for its guardian. Chen Xiao noticed the detail, and something stirred faintly in his heart.

This man still followed the rules deep down.

"Just got back?" Chen Xiao asked casually as he closed the door.

"Yes." Kaecilius set the canvas bag on the floor and placed the metal case beside it. "I made a trip to Northern Europe to investigate a possible dimensional rift. It turned out to be nothing. I happened to pass through New York afterward. I have several artifacts that Master Drumm needs to repair, and I also need to use a portal back to Kamar-Taj."

Chen Xiao nodded. Beneath every Sanctum was a fixed teleportation array connected to Kamar-Taj. It was not used often, but it made it convenient for sorcerers to return quickly after missions around the world. Kaecilius had clearly completed his mission and was taking care of a few things along the way.

"What kind of rift?"

"A false alarm." Kaecilius's tone was calm. "The abnormal energy signal came from an underground relic from an earlier era, not a dimensional incursion. I marked it already. Someone will go clear it out later."

"Good work."

Kaecilius gave a slight shake of his head. "It was my duty."

Chen Xiao looked down at the canvas bag on the floor. "Come on. I'll take you to Master Drumm."

Kaecilius bent down, picked up the bag and case, and followed behind Chen Xiao.

They crossed the living room and climbed the stairs. The wooden steps gave soft thumps beneath their feet, one after the other, their rhythm distinct. Several magical wall lamps hung along the corridor, their golden light spilling gently across the dark wooden floor and stretching the two men's shadows long behind them.

Walking ahead, Chen Xiao could feel the gaze behind him—not scrutiny, not hostility, but a quiet watchfulness. Kaecilius was not the type to look around idly. His eyes remained fixed on the back of Chen Xiao's head or the path ahead, his stride steady and his breathing even.

Daniel's workshop was at the end of the second-floor corridor. Its heavy wooden door was carved with dense protective spell formations, their lines interwoven like an intricate geometric pattern. Chen Xiao pressed his hand against the center of the door. The formation lit with golden light, its patterns spreading outward from the center like ripples over water. The lock clicked open.

Inside was a small room with a high ceiling that made it feel spacious. Shelves lined the walls, filled with all kinds of artifacts, stretching from floor to ceiling. Some glimmered faintly, some were dull and dark, some looked completely intact, and some were missing a corner. The air carried a faint metallic scent mixed with old paper and some unnamed spice.

Several wooden crates were piled in the corner, labeled "To Repair," "To Inspect," and "To Return." Daniel's toolbox lay open on the table in the center of the room, packed with all manner of delicate tools—tweezers, files, magnifying glasses, and a small bottle of golden restoration fluid.

"Daniel," Chen Xiao called, "Kaecilius is here."

Daniel poked his head out from behind a shelf, holding a short blade with a thin coating of restoration fluid on its edge. He nodded to Kaecilius. "Sorcerer Kaecilius."

"Master Drumm." Kaecilius returned the gesture.

Daniel ducked behind the shelf again and resumed his work. He was not a talkative person and sometimes did not care for pleasantries.

Chen Xiao pointed to a wooden crate in the corner. "Those are the repaired artifacts that need to be sent back to Kamar-Taj. That crate over there has five in total. Daniel already sorted them out. Take them with you when you leave."

"Alright." Kaecilius set the metal case on the table and opened it.

Three artifacts lay inside.

The first was a palm-sized compass. Its bronze frame had oxidized green, while one of the needles had snapped and become stuck at a certain marking. The underside was etched with a dense star map, parts of which had worn away beyond recognition.

"A navigation compass," Kaecilius said. "I found it in the ruins. It no longer works, and I don't know its destination."

Chen Xiao picked up the compass and examined its back. A Sanskrit rune was carved there, meaning "guidance." He nodded and placed it on the shelf.

The second was a silver chain, every link engraved with fine protective runes. But the chain had broken into three pieces, and the runes had lost their luster.

"A protective chain," Kaecilius said. "It can resist low-level curses. Its owner is already... gone. He hoped it could be repaired and left for someone else who needs it."

Chen Xiao picked up the chain and inspected it under the light. The broken links were blackened, as if some kind of energy had burned through them. He carefully placed the chain onto a velvet tray.

The third was a ring. Its face held a dark red gemstone webbed with fine cracks. Tiny writing had been engraved inside the band. Chen Xiao leaned closer, but it was a string of characters he could not understand.

"What is this?"

"A memory ring." Kaecilius's voice was lower than before. "It can store the wearer's memories. The gemstone has cracked, and the memories inside are about to leak away. It needs to be repaired as soon as possible."

Chen Xiao glanced at him.

Kaecilius's expression did not change, but Chen Xiao noticed that when he took the ring from the case, the corners of his brows had drooped.

"You knew the owner of this ring?" Chen Xiao asked.

Kaecilius fell silent for a second.

"His final wish was for the memories in the ring to return to his family."

Chen Xiao did not ask further. He placed the ring beside the velvet tray and covered it with a soft cloth.

"Alright. Master Drumm has been a little overwhelmed lately. If you don't mind, I'll repair the memory ring as soon as I can."

Kaecilius nodded, placed the artifacts meant for Kamar-Taj into the empty case, then picked up the canvas bag to leave.

But he did not leave immediately.

He stood beside the table, his gaze resting on the ring covered by the cloth, silent for several seconds.

Chen Xiao leaned against the doorframe and watched him.

"Something else?"

Kaecilius looked up at Chen Xiao. His expression was no different from before—stern, restrained, emotionless. But his eyes were different.

There was something in them Chen Xiao had never seen before.

Not hostility. Not suspicion.

It was some kind of... longing.

"Senior Brother," Kaecilius said, his voice lower than before, "may I ask you something?"

Chen Xiao pushed himself off the doorframe, walked to the table, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

"Ask."

Kaecilius set the wooden crate on the floor and sat opposite him. His posture was impeccable, back straight and hands resting on his knees, like a student before a teacher.

"I have trained at Kamar-Taj for several years," he said. "I have learned many spells. The Mirror Dimension, portals, Cyttorak's Crimson Bands, the Bolt of Balthakk... I am not particularly poor at any of them."

Chen Xiao nodded. That was true. Kaecilius's talent ranked among the best at Kamar-Taj, second only to Strange, though Strange had not arrived yet.

"But I have always had one question." Kaecilius lowered his gaze to the table, as if looking at the artifacts, or perhaps something much farther away. "The source of Kamar-Taj's magical system is the Vishanti. The Vishanti are a supreme trinity whose power encompasses the known and unknown. We borrow power from them to protect this world."

He paused.

"But to what extent can the Vishanti's power truly go?"

Chen Xiao said nothing.

"I have read most of the texts in the Scripture Pavilion," Kaecilius continued, speaking slowly, as though every word had been carefully weighed. "They record methods for practicing various spells, their uses, and precautions. But when it comes to the limits of that power—what the Vishanti's power can and cannot do—the texts are vague."

He looked at Chen Xiao.

"Senior Brother, you are the Sorcerer Supreme's chief disciple. You should have a deeper understanding of the Vishanti's power."

Chen Xiao leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach.

"What do you want to ask?"

Kaecilius was silent for a moment.

"I want to know," he said, "whether Kamar-Taj's magic could possibly... transcend the boundary between life and death."

The air in the artifact room seemed to freeze for a moment.

The artifacts on the shelves flickered with faint, uneven light, like stars on the verge of going out.

Behind the shelves, Daniel stopped working. He did not stick his head out, merely stood there quietly like a silent backdrop.

Chen Xiao looked at Kaecilius without changing expression.

"Why are you asking that?"

Kaecilius did not avoid his gaze.

"I simply want to know," he said, "whether such a possibility exists within Kamar-Taj's magical system."

"You didn't answer my question."

Kaecilius lowered his eyes and stayed silent for several seconds.

"I have a friend," he said. "He lost someone very important. He has been searching for a way... to bring them back. I'm asking for him."

Chen Xiao knew what "I have a friend" meant.

He did not expose him.

"Kaecilius," Chen Xiao said quietly but clearly, "do you know how Kamar-Taj's magic works?"

Kaecilius looked up.

"We borrow power from dimensional lords," Chen Xiao said. "But we do not borrow it for free. Every spell is an interaction with a dimensional lord. We offer focus, will, mental strength, our bodies, even our souls, in exchange for the ability to affect reality. There is one fundamental principle in this process—we cannot violate the laws of nature."

"The laws of nature?"

"Birth, aging, illness, death. Karma and reincarnation. Time cannot be reversed." Chen Xiao raised three fingers and lowered them one by one. "The Vishanti will not touch these things, nor will they allow their sorcerers to touch them."

Kaecilius's brow furrowed slightly.

"What about the Dark Dimension?"

Chen Xiao did not answer directly.

"Can the Dark Dimension's power twist life and death, freeze time, and reshape reality?" Kaecilius clenched the hands resting on his knees.

"I admit that the Dark Dimension's power can accomplish such things." Chen Xiao's tone grew heavier. "But the price of the Dark Dimension's power is often greater, and what it takes from you is often more than what you give."

He paused and looked into Kaecilius's eyes.

"Some paths have no turning back once you set foot on them."

Kaecilius was silent for a long time.

"Senior Brother," Kaecilius finally said, his voice softer than before, "have you ever lost someone?"

Chen Xiao froze.

He had not expected Kaecilius to ask that.

"No," Chen Xiao said.

"Then you wouldn't understand."

When Kaecilius said it, his tone held no mockery, no attack. It was a... calm despair, as though he were stating the most ordinary fact in the world.

Chen Xiao opened his mouth, wanting to say something. But he found that he truly had nothing to say.

He had never lost someone close to him. When he crossed into this universe, Ancient One had taken him under her protection and was still helping him find a way back to reality. Though he could not return home for now, his parents were still alive in his original world. He did not know what it felt like to be obsessed with trading everything to bring one person back.

"I don't understand," Chen Xiao said. "But I know some things are not about whether they can be done. They are about whether they should be done."

Kaecilius looked at him in silence for several seconds.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

When he said thank you, his tone was flat. Chen Xiao could not tell whether he had truly taken the words to heart or was merely ending the subject politely.

Kaecilius stood, bent down, and picked up the wooden crate filled with artifacts awaiting repair.

"I should go. Baron Mordo is waiting for me."

Chen Xiao stood as well and saw him downstairs.

They crossed the corridor and descended the stairs. Their footsteps echoed one after another through the empty stairwell like a dull rhythm. Chen Xiao walked ahead, Kaecilius followed behind, and their shadows overlapped and separated beneath the wall lamps, then overlapped and separated again.

"Farewell."

Chen Xiao stood at the door, watching Kaecilius's back vanish into the portal.

Daniel walked over beside him and looked in the same direction.

"Perhaps you should have told him that pursuing the Dark Dimension's power will destroy him."

Chen Xiao did not answer.

"Daniel."

"Yeah?"

"Tony's treating us to hotpot tonight. Want to come?"

Daniel froze for a moment.

"Tony Stark?"

"Yeah."

"Why is he treating me?"

"He's treating me. I'm bringing you along for a free meal."

Daniel considered it.

"Sure. Where?"

"The place we went to last time."

Daniel's expression changed slightly.

"...Then mild spice this time?"

"This time, we're having insane spice."

Daniel was silent for three seconds.

"Senior Brother, are you serious?"

"It's time Tony learned of the mysterious power of the East."

Daniel stared at Chen Xiao for two seconds, then sighed and turned toward the stairs.

"I'll go change clothes."

Chen Xiao leaned against the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. Sunset streamed through the window, casting a patch of warm golden light overhead. It slowly shifted, like something slow and unstoppable.

He remembered Kaecilius's question.

"Have you ever lost someone?"

He had not. But he had seen what countless people became after losing something.

Kaecilius was only one of them.