Chapter 312: Chapter 312
Chapter 312: Chapter 312
"Uh, I mean, how do I go from a novice to a master?"
The Ancient One smiled and asked, "How did you restore damaged nerves and piece together a fractured spine, step by step, back to their original state?"
"Through diligent study and relentless practice, year after year?" Stephen Strange answered instinctively.
The Ancient One nodded.
After explaining a bit more about the principles of magic, the Ancient One directed Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj's courtyard to observe how others were learning.
Soon enough, guided by other apprentices, he began delving into various books on magical theory.
While Doctor Strange was diligently studying magic, elsewhere, Syd had already taken note of the events unfolding at Kamar-Taj.
"Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange?"
Hearing Kaecilius's report, Syd raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
He had some regard for Stephen Strange.
As the Sorcerer Supreme who succeeded the Ancient One in the original timeline, his talent and power were undeniable.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Of course, it wasn't just that which caught Syd's attention-it was Stephen Strange's potential for catastrophic consequences if misled.
Compared to the destruction wrought by other Avengers, this master of magic posed the greatest hidden danger. A single misstep with the Time Stone, and he could disrupt the entire universe.
Syd had no desire to wake up one day to find the universe in chaos.
If the universe collapsed, his current power, which had yet to reach a universal scale, might not guarantee his survival outside of it.
For this reason, Syd approved of Kaecilius's efforts to influence Doctor Strange.
At the same time, he was contemplating how to further explore the depths of his divinity.
"Is there something flawed about the way I've been granting abilities?"
When he casually bestowed powers like optical invisibility or holographic illusions, he couldn't help but feel something was missing.
"Is it the lack of dependency on me?" Syd pondered.
"When I grant abilities, I leave it at that. The energy required to use light-based abilities is drawn from their own reserves."
"This not only makes their powers weak and limits their usage but also reduces their reliance on me..."
Syd began brainstorming solutions.
As someone who had read countless novels, he quickly devised a potential approach.
"Perhaps I could establish divine spells?"
"But most importantly, I need to supply energy-providing believers with the power to cast divine spells and magic..."
Syd had long since discovered that he could transfer his internal light energy to Kaecilius.
At the time, however, his light energy was insufficient, so he refrained from granting it to others.
Now, with his divine core capable of converting faith into light energy, he saw an opportunity. "Maybe I can create a light-energy lending system?"
Believers could offer up their faith in full, from which Syd would consume ninety percent and convert the remaining ten percent into light-energy divine power for their use.
This would establish a virtuous cycle of dependency.
The stronger their faith, the more energy they could receive, making them stronger in turn. Less devout individuals, seeing the power of the devout, might grow envious and become more fervent in their worship.
Should a believer lose faith one day, the lack of light-energy replenishment would cause their powers to wane, eliminating any risk of empowering an enemy.
The more Syd considered this, the more his eyes lit up with excitement.
The only question now was whether this system could be implemented.
Closing his eyes, Syd focused on his radiant divine core.
In his perception, countless threads of faith connected to the divine core. Each thread
represented a believer, with threads varying in size.
Larger threads conveyed more faith, smaller ones less.
The disparity clearly reflected the degree of devotion.
At that moment, a vast amount of faith was accumulating outside his core, waiting to be absorbed.
This surplus of faith energy was enough to level up his divine core.
After some thought, Syd decided to hold off on leveling up. The accumulated faith could serve
as a backup supply of light energy if his reserves ran dry, so there was no urgency.
Instead, he focused on the dense web of faith threads, initiating an experiment.
As soon as he willed it, Syd was astonished.
The moment the thought occurred, his divinely imbued core responded like an advanced AI, immediately executing his intentions.
In an instant, the transformation occurred. With a mere thought, the divine core could now allocate light energy-or rather, divine power of light-automatically.
Witnessing how easily his vision became reality, with almost no effort on his part, Syd couldn't help but marvel.
"Gods truly are the embodiment of the unscientific, the world's darlings, and avatars of universal rules. Their feats are utterly extraordinary..."
"Or perhaps this ability was innate to gods all along, only hidden because I hadn't explored it yet..."
This realization prompted deeper introspection.
"Maybe I've underestimated the potential of my abilities. Each one might have depths I haven't yet discovered..."
"If I can delve into these powers, I might achieve something even more extraordinary..."
As Syd pondered this, a mix of anticipation and frustration arose.
The sheer number of his abilities was overwhelming, leaving him little time to thoroughly
research any of them.
Moreover, the constant growth of his powers and acquisition of new abilities left him with little incentive to sit down and study.
Why bother researching when practice alone would make him stronger?
The fast track to power was far more appealing than taking a slow, methodical approach.
"Sometimes, having too much talent can be a burden," Syd sighed.
That didn't mean he would completely abandon research, though. Occasionally, when he had
time, he could delve into his abilities-like today.
Returning his focus to his divine core, Syd considered when to activate the new system.
"Let's wait until Doctor Strange is on board," he decided.
With that, his attention shifted to Kaecilius and his group.
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit location, a group of sorcerers was conducting a dark magical ritual.
(End of Chapter)
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