The Ancient One, this world's mysterious guardian, the Sorcerer Supreme.
The information John could remember flashed through his mind. Many people considered her the pinnacle of combat power.
He studied her, and the Ancient One also observed the man who had changed the wizarding world.
Magic existed in this world, and it came in two forms.
One was practiced by sorcerers such as those of Kamar-Taj, where the Ancient One belonged. They absorbed energy and wielded it through rituals and mental focus.
They could draw energy from dimensions beyond this world, harnessing higher-order ambient energy to perform more advanced rituals.
It was something like a transaction, obtaining energy from gods such as the Vishanti.
That allowed them to teleport and summon attacks from other dimensions.
The other kind was practiced by wizards. Unlike sorcerers, their magic relied more heavily on the power of the mind.
Sorcerers had fixed formulas and paid a price for what they expended. Wizards' magic depended on mental power and was stranger and more wondrous.
Their wands, like sorcerers' Sling Rings, served as conduits for stable spellcasting.
Wizards cast all sorts of bizarre spells, from making people vomit slugs to evil magic that could snuff out a life in an instant.
Between sorcerers' teleportation and wizards' Apparition, one was more stable, while the other offered greater mobility.
There was the Disarming Charm, which stripped away weapons; Legilimency, which could read minds; and Transfiguration, which altered physical forms.
Wizards could even accomplish certain things that sorcerers needed powerful magic to achieve.
They were different, yet alike.
The advantage sorcerers held over wizards was probably the strength of mind they forged in those snowy mountains.
Wizards' emotions were far richer and more extreme than ordinary people's, and their energy could grow stronger with those fluctuations.
Long ago, when young wizards were unable to release their power, the dark emotions within them could take the form of a powerful, terrifying monster.
An Obscurus.
Those who became hosts to such a monster were called Obscurials.
That dark power was an existence akin to the Dark Dimension.
Sorcerers and wizards were both mysterious presences in the magical world.
Sorcerers bore the duty of resisting invasions from the Dark Dimension, because wizards were easily assimilated by it.
It was both protection and a precaution.
Wizards had the potential to generate dark energy themselves, and their sensitive emotions made them easier to beguile and transform.
Sorcerers and wizards shared a tacit understanding to leave each other alone.
Apart from a select few, not many still remembered those other mysterious practitioners of magic.
That understanding had endured for a long time, until the twenty-first century arrived and she began to lose some of her control.
Among the causes was an unpredictable factor in the wizarding world that she could not observe.
In the Ancient One's observations, certain changes had made her unsure whether her plans could proceed smoothly.
There were five years left before the next Sorcerer Supreme appeared.
She needed someone powerful to help her get through that period.
And that kind of strength was hard to find in Kamar-Taj.
Although its sorcerers were capable fighters, they could not meet the Ancient One's requirements.
She needed someone powerful and firm of mind to resist beings from beyond this world.
The Ancient One chose to visit the wizarding world, with which she had long had no contact, and seek out the wizard she considered the strongest.
Albus Dumbledore.
The former headmaster of Hogwarts, a wizard of wisdom and love.
No one was more suitable than him. His resolve was firm, and he possessed the most powerful wand in wizardkind.
But things did not go as expected.
"My friend Dumbledore recommended you to me." The Ancient One wore an inscrutable smile, as though it held countless secrets. "The young Wizard King, John Wick."
Her gaze was probing.
That powerful, wise wizard had actually been exiled to drift at sea.
And the man who had defeated him stood right before her.
The Wizard King.
A title as revered as the sorcerers' Sorcerer Supreme, the leader of all wizards.
His youth was astonishing.
The Ancient One sensed something within this Wizard King's body that was difficult to observe.
"Dumbledore?"
At the mention of his former headmaster, a hint of wariness entered John's scrutiny of the Ancient One.
Still...
The corners of John's lips lifted, and he said meaningfully, "State your purpose, Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One."
One good turn deserved another.
If you act mysterious, I'll do the same.
The Sorcerer Supreme?
John's gaze lingered briefly on the eye-shaped necklace she wore.
That was the Eye of Agamotto, which contained a treasure capable of seeing the future and controlling time.
It's only the future.
Who can't predict that?
Among the long string of titles preceding "Wizard King," prophet was merely one, and he had even defeated another prophet.
"I have come to seek help." The Ancient One smiled faintly. Falling out with the ruler of the wizarding world would be a foolish choice, and in her wisdom, she chose to show him ample respect.
She said, "Wizard King, this world is coveted."
"Coveted?"
John recalled some of his adventures during his school years. Having mastered the forbidden mysteries of time and souls, he sometimes encountered places ordinary wizards could never know about.
The Ancient One's attitude surprised him somewhat.
He had thought addressing her as the Sorcerer Supreme would provoke some reaction. Apparently, he could not underestimate these monsters who had lived for centuries.
"Yes." The Ancient One nodded and extended an arm that was exceptionally pale even for a white woman.
Sorcerers' magic unfolded in her hands.
First came a stretch of darkness.
The Ancient One's voice rang out, filled with mystery.
"At the beginning of this universe, there was chaos."
Suddenly, a burst of dazzling white light shattered the darkness.
Endless light and planets erupted from within, expanding without boundaries.
"The Big Bang gave birth to six Elemental Crystals."
Amid the explosion, six brilliant gems of different colors slowly descended to scattered locations throughout the universe.
The darkness beneath John's feet also became a blue planet.
And this planet was connected to many other places.
There were barren, frozen planets, as well as a place that resembled a celestial paradise.
More and more places came into view.
One green gem slowly settled into the treasure at the Ancient One's chest.
The Ancient One paced through the living room and casually pointed into the universe. A black region of space emerged.
"Kamar-Taj's duty is to protect Earth from the designs of mystical forces beyond it."
"And within this universe, certain dimensions covet this place."
"They long to invade it and swallow it whole."
"To resist those outside ambitions, Kamar-Taj established three Sanctums on this planet."
She raised her hand again and drew the blue planet up from beneath John's feet.
"Hong Kong, London, New York."
Three points on the planet gradually lit up, forming three interconnected golden magic circles that enveloped the entire planet.
"And the Sorcerer Supreme, as the leader of the sorcerers, must possess great power to protect all of this."
She crossed her hands in a gesture, and the Eye of Agamotto at her chest slowly opened.
A gem radiating a mysterious green light appeared inside, overlapping with the image of that Infinity Stone.
John stared at it. He could feel a stirring in the time magic within his body.
"Time," he said aloud.
The Ancient One was somewhat surprised that he recognized it. Wizards had few records concerning the Infinity Stones.
She nodded. "The Time Stone, one of this world's Six Infinity Stones."
"It is also the treasure the Sorcerer Supreme uses to protect this place."
The universe and the darkness vanished, leaving only the beautiful, jewel-like planet rotating slowly between them.
"A future crisis draws near, and this stone, along with the next Sorcerer Supreme, will have to face it."
The Ancient One looked at John and said earnestly, "I need your help, Wizard King."
"Mine?" John raised his hand rather casually and touched the magical image the sorcerer had created. His fingers passed through it. "You're more powerful, aren't you?"
He had only just managed to gain some respite from the throne of the Wizarding Kingdom and his busy duties of government.
"This world is falling into chaos. It is a crisis," The Ancient One said, looking at John solemnly. "No one can escape it."
A crisis?
John raised an eyebrow. After learning that Tony Stark existed in this world, he suspected the Avengers would appear as well.
That was a superhero organization full of people who were anything but ordinary humans. Shouldn't they be the ones handling a crisis?
"That Sorcerer Supreme can't handle it?" John asked skeptically.
"As I said, this world is falling into chaos. Some paths that should have been fixed have shifted." The Ancient One shook her head. "Even I cannot know everything."
"Nor can I be certain whether the person originally destined to become the Sorcerer Supreme will change."
Having always held the future in her grasp, the Ancient One found this situation difficult to handle. Her gaze followed John as she said gravely, "Ever since the two overlaps between worlds ten years ago, this world has begun to fall into chaos."
"A force is dragging the world along, making it difficult to observe."
John's hand paused, and his expression turned a little strange.
Worlds overlapping? The Conjunction of the Spheres?
Could it be what I encountered before?
He withdrew his hand from the planet. A black substance flashed across his fingertips, and the planet exploded before finally fading into nothingness.
It seemed different kinds of magic could interfere with one another, too.
Only after reaching that conclusion did John turn to look at the Ancient One.
He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart.
"You need my help?" he said evenly. "Is this a request, or... an exchange?"
John met the Ancient One's slightly startled gaze. The reaction was brief, but he caught it nonetheless.
He smiled. "The law of alchemy: no gold comes for free."
"You need insurance to safeguard that future Sorcerer Supreme."
"A fair trade, an equivalent exchange. Right?"
Before you continue