Kamar-Taj's Greatest Genius!

Kamar-Taj.

In a quiet, out-of-the-way cobblestone alley, the door of an unassuming tavern stood half-open.

At this hour, the tavern was usually deserted.

But today, two prominent guests sat in its darkest corner booth.

Wong and Hamir.

The two masters, usually so lofty and imposing before their apprentices, now looked like middle-aged men who had just lost their jobs.

Empty bottles covered the table.

They drank one miserable glass after another, their eyes unfocused and their faces full of gloom.

If not for their finely tailored sorcerer robes, they would have looked right at home among the vagrants on the street.

Across the entire Earth, only Raine could reduce two of Kamar-Taj's leading figures to such a sorry state.

"Wong..."

Hamir hiccuped and peered blearily at his old friend across the table.

"Tell me... how can someone so absurd even exist?"

"The magic theory we spent half our lives studying looks like a child's scribbles next to him!"

Wong silently raised his glass and drained it.

He was less worked up than Hamir. Raine had already stunned him into numbness.

But watching Raine conjure a Chaos Orb with one hand today had still pushed him past his limit.

A Chaos Orb!

A fusion of the opposing powers of the Vishanti and Chthon!

Wong was a master seasoned in combat, yet drawing on even a trace of those powers would leave him battered by the backlash.

Raine was only an apprentice, but he kneaded them together as casually as clay.

How could the gap between two people be wider than the gap between a man and a pig?

"Don't think about it."

Wong set his glass down hard, his voice hoarse. "The facts are right in front of us. That kid isn't a genius. He's a Dimensional Entity wearing human skin!"

Hamir gave a rueful smile. "Yeah. It's unbelievable."

"I even suspect he can cast a Chaos Orb by himself faster than the two of us can together!"

"I can't imagine what kind of devastation he'll unleash once he's grown."

Wong nodded in complete agreement.

The past few days teaching Raine had been the wildest emotional ride of his life.

Surprise, shock, self-doubt, even the urge to retire.

Every day, he swung back and forth between them.

Wong figured that if he hadn't been in such good shape as a sorcerer, he would have dropped dead of a heart attack by now.

"All right, stop worrying."

Hamir patted Wong's shoulder. "That kid's a ticking time bomb. We can't teach him."

"When the Ancient One returns, we'll hand him straight over to her."

"Let her deal with the headache!"

Wong nodded. "Right. Only the Sorcerer Supreme is qualified to mentor him."

"But before we hand him over, there's one spell we need to teach him as soon as possible."

Wong's expression turned serious.

"The Mirror Dimension."

Hamir understood at once.

It was time.

Raine had mastered a weapon as devastating as the Chaos Orb, and he could cast it instantly on his own.

If they didn't teach him to contain the damage in the Mirror Dimension,

one day the kid might accidentally conjure one in his dorm room.

Then all of Kamar-Taj would go up with it!

"We do need to teach him, but I'm afraid our command of the Mirror Dimension won't impress Raine."

Hamir rubbed his chin, his eyes glinting. "I think we should have Kaecilius teach him instead."

At the name, Wong frowned despite himself.

Kaecilius was Kamar-Taj's notorious leader of the radicals.

Aloof and arrogant, he never gave their conservative faction a second glance.

Still, Wong had to admit Hamir had a point.

When it came to wielding the Mirror Dimension, Kaecilius was an undeniable genius.

He could not only manipulate space but also fold and compress its barriers into an incomparably sharp Space Blade!

Even the Ancient One had praised that particular feat, saying the student had surpassed his teacher.

"Kaecilius may be extreme, but he really is the best person to teach the Mirror Dimension." Wong nodded his agreement.

Hamir suddenly grinned like a mischievous old man.

"Don't you think it'll be fun?"

"Kaecilius has always called himself Kamar-Taj's greatest genius. He looks at everyone else like they're trash."

"Just imagine him meeting a monster like Raine and watching his pride get ground into the dirt..."

"Ha! Just thinking about it feels good!"

Wong paused and pictured Kaecilius's haughty face twisting as he began to question everything.

At last, the man whose face was usually carved from ice let out a wicked little smile.

"He can take over when he gets back from clearing the outer regions," Wong decided.

Meanwhile,

in a rift between dimensions far from Earth,

gray mist shrouded a vast, barren land.

Several fierce demons wreathed in hellfire roared deafeningly as they charged a group of gray-robed sorcerers.

Yet

Kaecilius, at the front of the sorcerers' ranks, did not so much as blink.

His face was cold. In his right hand, he held a transparent blade that looked as though it had been pieced together from shards of glass.

Whoosh!

Kaecilius shot forward like lightning to meet the demons.

The transparent Space Blade traced a cold arc, slicing through their tough scales as effortlessly as tofu.

Slash!

Foul blood sprayed. Several high-ranking demons lost their heads in an instant and crashed to the ground.

"Master Kaecilius, we've eliminated every demon in this group that tried to invade our dimension!"

A blood-covered battle sorcerer stepped forward and reported respectfully.

Kaecilius dismissed the Space Blade with a flick of his hand, contempt crossing his cold face.

"A pack of worthless trash."

He raised his head and gazed toward Earth as though he could see through the barriers between dimensions.

"The mission is over. Everyone, rest up and prepare to return to Kamar-Taj."

Kaecilius brushed the dust from his robe, his gaze distant.

I've been away so long.

I wonder what tedious nonsense those hidebound fools at Kamar-Taj have been up to.

Hopefully there'll be something interesting when I get back.

Meanwhile,

at Kamar-Taj,

Chaos Orb: Level 2 (21%)

Raine looked at the system panel that appeared before his eyes and raised an eyebrow in satisfaction.

It was the most destructive skill he had mastered so far.

In the movie's original plot, Kaecilius and a handful of followers had flattened half the London Sanctum with a single blast of combined magical energy.

The thing was practically a low-yield nuke for sorcerers.

Ding!

Your Rings of Raggadorr sensed the host's fondness for the Chaos Orb and was consumed with jealousy!

Rings of Raggadorr's training speed has plummeted!

Your Magic Weapon Construction sensed the host's approval, and its competitive drive has gone through the roof!

Magic Weapon Construction's training speed has doubled!

Raine watched the messages flood his mind and rubbed his forehead.

These little workers were far too competitive.

It was great that his skills had personalities, but their constant jealousy made it feel as though he was managing a court of rivals vying for his favor.

Every day, Raine had to spar with them and keep the peace, soothing each skill's feelings.

He felt more emotionally drained than a therapist.

Still,

compared to all the power he was getting for free, that small hassle was nothing.

Knock, knock, knock.

A steady knock sounded at the door.

Raine quickly dropped his stance and went to open it.

Grand Mage Wong stood outside, his face as impassive as ever.

These days, that face was a welcome sight to Raine. Wong was his best source of experience.