Above Dormammu

Following Mordo out of the tea room, without the big shot's gaze on him, Lu Qi finally relaxed.

Seriously, he had almost thought he was done for.

"The Ancient One treats you very differently." Mordo slowed down to wait for him, looking at him strangely.

Lu Qi felt awkward. How could she not? Both he and The Ancient One carried Dark Energy.

"We all came here to study on our own, but you're different. The Ancient One personally brought you back." Mordo recalled how The Ancient One had been instructing two sorcerers sparring when she suddenly left and brought Lu Qi over.

Lu Qi grew even more embarrassed. Could that be called bringing him back? He had been dragged here!

"Perhaps you have great talent for magic," Mordo said slowly.

Lu Qi thought about his Multiverse journey, during which he had only remembered growing hands all over his body. He remembered nothing else.

"I don't think so." Lu Qi's expression became even more awkward, and he could only cut Mordo off.

Seeing Lu Qi like this, Mordo shrugged. "But the Sorcerer Supreme seems to think highly of you."

"The Sorcerer Supreme is a very wise person. She must have noticed your great talent." Mordo was still a diehard fan of The Ancient One. In his eyes, she was practically a god.

True enough. I had a system and Dark Energy in my body, yet I got invited for tea the moment I transmigrated. Even I'm starting to wonder what talents I have. Lu Qi looked up at the sky, on the verge of tears.

"Want to try magic?" Mordo asked, looking at him.

That could work!

Remembering the portal from before, Lu Qi became interested. At the very least, if he learned that trick, he would never have to worry about not making it to the bathroom in time.

Seeing that Lu Qi had finally reacted, Mordo quickly said, "I'll show you your room first, then we'll go to the training grounds and give it a try. Since the Sorcerer Supreme thinks you're talented, you'll surely master the spells here easily."

When they arrived at a dim room, Lu Qi felt as though he had entered a prison cell.

"Don't you have light bulbs here?" Lu Qi looked around at the gloomy atmosphere. They would not even need to draw the curtains to film a scene in broad daylight. When he turned to look at Mordo, he could barely find him.

Mordo shrugged and said, "Keeping the sorcerers supplied in their daily lives already costs quite a bit. Kamar-Taj doesn't have any businesses in the ordinary world."

Having finally located Mordo, Lu Qi took the small card he handed over. By the sunlight streaming in through the little window, he saw the word "shamballa" on it and suddenly remembered something. Fuck, where's my phone?!

Seeing him suddenly freeze, Mordo smiled and explained, "That's the Wi-Fi password. We're not primitives."

"No." Lu Qi gave a bitter smile. "I don't have a phone."

"What kind of primitive are you?" Mordo said, staring at him in shock.

After finally getting settled, Lu Qi followed Mordo to the training grounds where the sorcerers practiced.

Mordo put the Sling Ring on his hand. "Want to try a portal first? Beginners usually love this." He drew a circle with his hand, and a Spark Door opened.

"Convenient, easy to learn, useful, and most importantly, it looks amazing. A lot of beginners love this spell." Mordo stepped through the portal and appeared behind Lu Qi.

Lu Qi took the Sling Ring. Under Mordo's guidance, he imagined an unoccupied spot in the plaza ahead and began drawing.

Yet the portal he expected never opened, causing Lu Qi to frown.

Sure enough, his talent for magic was nothing special. He could not even use the beginner-level portal spell.

Seeing Lu Qi's bitter expression, Mordo comforted him. "Don't worry. This is normal. Who can cast magic the moment they arrive? You need to keep trying."

After Mordo's reassurance, Lu Qi regained his confidence. Right, even Stephen had nearly died in the snowy mountains before he managed to open a portal. How could Lu Qi possibly do it in one go?

He still had to leave some dignity for the future Sorcerer Supreme.

After resting for a while, Mordo began teaching Lu Qi how to cast spells.

"Actually, the spells used by sorcerers are not much different from technology in the ordinary world. They are simply different ways of applying energy. Sorcerers control energy through the mind, while technology uses matter to drive energy. If you want to cast a spell, you need to use your mental power to sense and control the energy around you. Give it a try."

Lu Qi nodded and assumed the stance again. To better sense the energy, he closed his eyes and explored seriously.

Suddenly, Lu Qi discovered a strange energy within his body. To his surprise, it was extremely obedient and could be directed as he pleased.

Then take me to that place!

Lu Qi imagined the target from before, and the energy immediately began to surge.

Lu Qi delightedly sensed the disturbance in the energy, but his expression soon changed.

Why wasn't this energy flowing toward the Sling Ring? Instead, it was...

Under Mordo's watchful gaze, a mass of black energy suddenly surged from Lu Qi's body, wrapped around him, buried him underground, and caused him to reappear in a shadow some distance away.

Lu Qi, who had just reappeared, turned toward Mordo in confusion. "Did I succeed?"

Seeing the shocked look in Mordo's eyes, Lu Qi thought he had succeeded and excitedly praised himself. "I didn't expect I was actually a genius. I succeeded on my first try."

But when he saw the other sorcerers silently draw their weapons, Lu Qi finally realized something was wrong.

Are they so jealous of my talent that they're going to gang up on me? That's a bit much, isn't it?

He slowly backed against the wall, watching the sorcerers face him as though confronting a great enemy.

"Fuck, you're seriously doing this!" Lu Qi sensed that the atmosphere had turned bad. Even Mordo was walking over with a "whip" in hand.

Are we really playing this rough?

Watching the burly men steadily approach, Lu Qi swallowed.

Something's wrong. Run!

The energy in his body surged out again, wrapping around Lu Qi as he vanished from where he stood.

Lu Qi had intended to head straight for the little pavilion to find The Ancient One, but before he got far, he felt all the energy around his body run dry, and he reappeared in the Material World.

Damn it! I don't have enough energy!

Lu Qi took a deep breath. It was fine. Although he seemed to have reached the end of the road, there was still one way to save himself!

"Big shot, save me!"

Lu Qi shouted at the top of his lungs, but whether because she was too far away or for some other reason, The Ancient One did not appear before him as he had imagined.

No, he had to get closer to The Ancient One.

But with so many people around, how was he supposed to get out?

Looking at the crowd of burly men in front of him, Lu Qi sensed the energy that was recovering at an agonizingly slow pace. It was nowhere near enough to let him escape.

Seeing one burly man step forward and raise his staff, Lu Qi desperately hoped someone would come out and stop him.

The moment that thought arose in Lu Qi's mind, a piece of his shadow suddenly split off and transformed into a black ninja before him.

Holy shit, the Shadow Legion!

Lu Qi remembered what this was. These were the Ninja Soldiers from the Shadow Legion in his childhood memories!

Then Lu Qi remembered the mask in his system. Could it be that the units in this system were Ninja Soldiers, and he could summon them?

Lu Qi immediately became excited. He had never expected to possess the ninja army he had dreamed of having as a child!

But then Lu Qi came to his senses.

Ninja Soldiers could easily deal with ordinary people, but...

Looking at the burly men gradually approaching him, were these people ordinary?

Seeing their powerful builds, Lu Qi even dared to believe that these melee sorcerers could beat the Ninja Soldier flat without using magic.

But when Lu Qi checked his remaining energy, he had only 5.9 energy left. He could not afford another Ninja Soldier.

I'm screwed. This AFK System is complete garbage. I want to apply for a replacement system.

Suppressing the thought in his heart, Lu Qi looked at the Ninja Soldier before him.

"Get up there! Stop them!"

Under Lu Qi's command, the Ninja Soldier charged fearlessly at the group of sorcerers, only to be swiftly taken down by their various melee weapons.

However, thanks to the Shadow Ninja buying him time, Lu Qi slowly recovered some energy and directly used Shadow Form to vanish from the spot.

Using Shadow Form, Lu Qi appeared outside the courtyard and immediately ran toward the exit without stopping.

Mordo and the others were no pushovers. They immediately gave chase.

Lu Qi brought out the speed he normally used when rushing to work and sprinted all the way, somehow leaving behind the sorcerers who trained regularly.

But his luck did not last. Before he got very far, portals opened one after another in front of him, and sorcerers rushed through them.

"You're cheating, aren't you?!"

Lu Qi now understood just how troublesome these sorcerers were. He could not even run away!

Seeing a sorcerer bring down a staff, Lu Qi instinctively used Shadow Form to evade the blow. But seeing this, the other man immediately smashed his staff into the ground. The energy he had traded from the Dimensional Demon God erupted violently, forcing Lu Qi out of Shadow Form.

Lu Qi was greatly startled and hurriedly used Shadow Form to flee in another direction, but the battle-hardened sorcerers had already discovered his weakness.

"Use energy shields to stop him! His ability probably can't pass through barriers made of energy!" one sorcerer shouted. The others did not hesitate, forming spell circles in their hands as they tried to surround Lu Qi.

Seeing the sorcerers closing in around him, Lu Qi became extremely nervous. His energy was nearly exhausted, and now he was surrounded. There was no way he could escape.

Remembering that he still had one Ninja Soldier, Lu Qi tried summoning it again. His shadow split apart once more, and the Ninja Soldier reappeared.

"Hurry up and get me out of here!"

This time, Lu Qi did not send the Ninja Soldier on a suicidal attack. Instead, he threw himself onto the Ninja Soldier's back and had him carry him away.

The Ninja Soldier's red eyes widened. He seemed to struggle somewhat, but he still took off running with Lu Qi on his back.

Swaying nimbly from side to side, he actually forced his way out of the encirclement with Lu Qi.

But Lu Qi knew that he was in the sorcerers' home base. He definitely could not escape, so he could only hope that a certain big shot would appear.

Thus, the Ninja Soldier carried Lu Qi around as more and more sorcerers chased and blocked them, while Lu Qi continuously called out The Ancient One's name.

Amid the pursuit and interception of so many sorcerers, it was fortunate that the Ninja Soldier had limitless stamina. Otherwise, the crowd of burly men would have pinned him down long ago.

Before long, Lu Qi was hiding behind the Ninja Soldier's back, cornered against a wall by a huge crowd of sorcerers.

Looking at the sea of people before him, Lu Qi had every reason to believe that every official sorcerer in Kamar-Taj had come here to stop him.

Looking at his completely depleted energy, which could no longer sustain Shadow Form, Lu Qi shook his head. This time, there really was no saving him.

But to his delighted surprise, a portal opened before him, and a yellow-clad figure stepped out of the Mirror Dimension and stood in front of Lu Qi.

A sorcerer in the crowd shouted, "Sorcerer Supreme, the person behind you carries Dark Energy! He is a follower of the Dark Lord!"

Lu Qi looked at the sorcerer who had shouted and found him somewhat familiar. He took a closer look.

Well, if it isn't Kaecilius? You little bastard, you haven't betrayed them yet?

The Ancient One removed her hood, revealing her bald head and silencing everyone.

"Though this person carries Dark Energy, he is not a follower of Dormammu. It would be more accurate to say that he is another Dormammu..."

Fuck, big shot, are you trying to get me killed?

Listening to The Ancient One's words, Lu Qi felt utter despair. Damn, she had directly labeled him the enemy's final boss. Was she about to burn him alive before everyone to reaffirm her teachings?

As the crowd grew even more agitated, The Ancient One continued, "He has the potential to become an existence like Dormammu, yet he is not like Dormammu."

Big shot, not only do you pause at the worst possible moment, you're also talking in riddles!

Lu Qi watched as The Ancient One's words thoroughly confused everyone and could not help tearing up. This big shot was probably trying to protect him. He could live!

"He resembles Dormammu because he can control Dark Power. But he differs from Dormammu because he is not controlled by Dark Power. Rather, he controls Dark Power in turn."

"He is a purer Dark Lord than Dormammu, or rather, the true Dark Lord."

Listening to The Ancient One's words, Lu Qi was directly placed above Dormammu. He looked at his 5.9 energy—oh, it had increased by another 0.1. He now had 6.0 energy.

So I'm actually that awesome?

"But you said that Dark Power is the most evil power. If he is the Dark Lord, shouldn't we kill him even more so, lest he harm Earth in the future?" Kaecilius continued to shout.

You little bastard, if you betray them, I'll eliminate you on The Ancient One's behalf!

Lu Qi glared viciously at Kaecilius, but Kaecilius paid him no attention and merely waited for The Ancient One's response.

"Pure power has no inherent good or evil, just as weapons can protect the world in your hands but harm it in the hands of evildoers." The Ancient One maintained her expressionless demeanor, and that sage-like bearing made her words all the more convincing.

"Moreover, his power comes from the Dark Dimension. The stronger he becomes, the weaker Dormammu will become." The Ancient One added the final straw, completely dispelling the crowd's desire to slay demons and uphold justice. "Furthermore, as long as he remains devoted to goodness, Dark Power will no longer pose a threat. Once Dormammu is eliminated and Dark Power becomes purer, we can also use Dark Power to become stronger and even cast magic without paying a price."

In principle, Kamar-Taj's spells were a matter of barter: they exchanged their own possessions with the demon gods of various dimensions in return for supernatural power. Thus, sorcerers all had the habit of training their bodies to increase their capital.

If they did not need to pay a price, they would become true sorcerers, just like Doctor Strange when he showed off his skills in the final battle. Wait, what was the final battle?

After learning this, the sorcerers all looked at Lu Qi strangely, seemingly hoping that he could immediately kick Dormammu's ass and restore peace to the Shadow World.

In an instant, Lu Qi went from someone everyone wanted to beat up to a precious little treasure who needed careful protection. Still somewhat dazed, he was pulled into the Mirror Dimension by The Ancient One.