Setting the Board

Level Three Underground, Training Room.

The entire room was like an airtight black iron box. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all cast from a special alloy capable of absorbing energy.

This was a restricted area in the Avengers' new base, built specifically for Wanda alone. After all, no one wanted to be blasted away by a sudden burst of out-of-control red energy while drinking coffee.

Chu Hang and Wanda sat cross-legged facing each other, five meters apart. It was so quiet that they could hear each other breathing.

"Again." Chu Hang's voice was calm, without a trace of emotion, but that very calmness put enormous pressure on Wanda.

Wanda closed her eyes. Her long lashes trembled constantly like the wings of a startled butterfly. Sweat had already soaked the red hair at her forehead, leaving it plastered stickily against her skin. A bead of sweat slid down her pale cheek, dripped onto the floor, and spread into a small dark stain.

She was desperately trying to sense the power within her instead of futilely trying to control it as she had before.

This was what Chu Hang had taught her. He said that power was like a wild horse: the harder you tried to rein it in, the more it wanted to throw you off. First, you had to become its friend and understand its temperament.

In her perception, it was a violent, chaotic ball of scarlet yarn filled with the urge to destroy.

She could not find the loose end at all. All she could do was watch it rampage through her body, ready at any moment to burst out and tear apart everything it saw, including herself.

"I can't..." Wanda's voice carried an uncontrollable sob as her body began to tremble slightly. "It's too chaotic... It only