BOOOM!
Mordo slid back while using the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr, one of his personal relics, to stabilize himself midair.
"You've become terrifying in your mastery of the arts. But you still have a long way to go." He swung his staff while elongated and collided with the staff held by Draul.
Twisting the short staff in one hand, Mordo used his other hand to conjure a transfiguration circle on the ground making gnomes come out of it and surround Draul who showcased his brilliance in the arts by using the remnant energy of the circle Mordo used for his transfiguration and melded it with his own circle, casting a restraining spell that shot out eldritch ropes that bound them and with a change of motions of his hands, the ropes seemed to drill into the earthen gnomes and destroyed them.
Mordo, expecting such a move, and taking a page from Draul's use of remnant energy, which he still couldn't tell how he did it, used the fading energy in the earthen gnomes to form a circumference of quicksand around Draul while he continued forward by running a few centimeters above the sand to Draul, seemingly wanting to motion a two pronged attack and clinch the win of this duel to the numerous ones they've had.
Unfazed by the two-way attack from his opponent, Draul formed a circle which did something that surprised the incoming Mordo. The quicksand swallowed him whole in one swift moment which stunned Mordo for the consequent second which a reappearing Draul used as an opening to slam his staff into the back of the Mystic Master.
"That was… uncalled for." Morod readied himself for the second chance confrontation which Draul commenced with a higher level spell.
Draul had set a countdown circle when he went under the sand which Mordo immediately understood as six huge serpents burst out from the now hardened ground and attacked Mordo with jaws ajar.
Flexing a greater range of mobility with his boots, Mordo kicked into the air opening a portal quickly behind his heels for the incoming serpent to pass through before he closed it, rendering a clean slash of one of the negative effects of spatial magic to cut through the neck of the serpent.
The others, seeing their comrade dead, rushed at him with frenzy from different angles where Mordo showed a glimpse of his mastery in the arts as he conjured many magical circles which sent out construct weapons that pierced through the hides of the serpents.
Not taking his focus off Draul as that would spell his doom, pun not intended, he found his troublesome opponent smiling at him while making a gesture with his eyes for Mordo to look around.
Unfortunately he was too late to realize that the motes of residual energy, instead of dissipating, formed a circle in front of him which conjured a huge fist that punched him hard, sending him careening into the floor only for him to feel the blunt end of a staff against his chest.
"Your loss. That brings the tally to 17-14. In my favor obviously." Mordo rolled his eyes at the smugness emanating from his opponent and grabbed the outstretched hand held out to him to help him up.
"For one – your so-called 'energy assimilation' is bullshit. How do you take control of the residual energy of a failed or completed spell and use it to make a layer for a new one. That's genius, and also normally impossible unless it is to a higher degree of mastery."
"And for another, how strong would you be if you used your meta powers?" Mordo questioned, which wasn't the first time he'd done so.
"Firstly, energy assimilation is a meta ability of mine which enables me to take in, absorb and assimilate and redirect any form of energy my body has sufficiently adapted to. And since magic is a part of the universal energy constant, it falls under the same criteria."
"… And secondly, you would be dead in the first ten seconds if this wasn't a magic-only duel." Both men, one in red robes while the other in green made way to the Ancient One's abode.
"I see you've finished your duel, congratulations Mr. Cross. Your advancement in the arts are astonishing. Now if only someone else knew the meaning of restraint and wouldn't spend most of his time breaking into and stealing books from the library." The Ancient One congratulated Draul while serving tea for the two Masters. Though not official, and might never be due to Draul's nature, she along with the other masters were already made privy to the fact that Draul could fight any Master in Kamar-Taj on equal grounds and running most of the gauntlet.
Then there was Strange, though he and Draul, rather than say reconcile since there was no enmity between them, had varying differences and thought processes, had far more magical potential than anyone she'd ever seen, even eclipsing what she could 'see' from Draul. Though the man was a monster, when in or taken out of context, Strange eclipsed him in magic due to his unending thirst for knowledge, not power but raw knowledge.
While Strange once pursued fame and acknowledgement, the current Strange however only pursued knowledge far above anything else. She was surprised at this turn of events, how things could vastly change due to little differences… Though not everything changed…
"Is someone talking about me? I knew Wong was a tattletale. His face tells that a lot." A man in black sorcerer robes walked in with flare, a tome in hand.
"Mr. Strange, so nice of you to join us for tea today." One would be bewildered how little she cared for formalities given her title and esteem but that was how she has always been. She served the newcomer tea and took a second when none of their attention was on her to take in the picture. She daresay they, the three of them in the room, were her best students through her forgotten centuries.
Mordo with his uprightness and rigidity. A beacon of righteousness for all to see. But she feared it would also be his shortcoming. The best heroes made the most evil of villains after all.
Strange with his keen eyes to see the bigger picture, not afraid of blurring the lines for the ideal goal but never for personal gain. Along with his knowledge of the arts, he had the making of being one of the most strongest sorcerers in history long past, reaching heights that only the fathers of sorcery ever did. But his pride and arrogance had always being his shortcoming. Though not as it was before, it still was there, fueling his thirst and ego to surpass the raised bar.
Draul with his eccentricity. But unlike the other two, he perceived morality as something he decided. Was it due to his connection with whatever that being was? She didn't know. He didn't have the rigidity of Mordo or the thirst for knowledge like Strange. Not the righteousness or the care for the bigger picture. He was the most free of the three of them and with that she was glad. Glad that such bright lights were nurtured by her and she lived long enough to see them grow and she was fine with it. She'd seen her time. Even now, she could feel the draw from the other side.
"I heard that their spar had concluded so I just made my way here. Oh, and there were some questions that I would love to ask you." Strange took his tea and sat down by Mordo's side.
"I believe that was the main reason you came here. Am I wrong?" She asked the most eccentric sorcerer in the room.
"Well you certainly aren't right to expose it that way." Strange chuckled before he turned to the last man in the room.
"Cross."
"Strange."
The simple getting was the only thing they shared as there was a bit of bad blood between the two of them, well only from Strange as Draul just straight out ignored the man for most of the time.
The Ancient One smiled a bit seeing the two of them trying to move past their enmity which was a glad decision on Strange's part since from his point of view, Draul was the reason why he lost everything. From his fame, wealth and renown to the woman he loved. She was glad at the small steps the man was taking but looking at Draul, she almost burst out into full laughter and risk ruining her sagely image as she knew for a sure fact that the coolly looking man just didn't care. It was impressive how someone that caring could also be indifferent to such a degree. He had sympathized once and that was it.
Mordo was the only one who looked like the awkwardness of the room was getting to. The Ancient One had her calm smile on her face while Strange was focused on the time he was reading, sometimes needing the elder's clearance. While Draul… Draul had his full focus on the tea. Seriously considering whether to remove whiskey and add tea to liquid holy grail.
"Is it a plant?" The bizarre question brought everyone to Draul's focus.
"What is?" Mordo was confused.
"The tea. Is it a plant or some kind of rare ingredient mixture or natural resource?" The man clarified while at the same time was able to make it sound like a serious question worthy of debate between Masters.
"I'm afraid that's a secret." The Ancient One said.
"I'm willing to bargain. Name your price."
"Are you now?"
"Try me. I need it. Recipes and all, down to the last minute details."
The two other occupants in the room watched as the Ancient One and Draul haggled for the secret of her tea until Draul bought it for 5% of Facebook. Needless to say, the two men were shocked not at the price of the tea, which was outright ridiculous, but the look of triumph on Draul's face.
'Did he just take that as a victory? Almost ten million dollars in worth just for the recipe and ingredients for tea?'
Regardless of how they felt, Draul basked in the knowledge that he had been able to acquire such treasure for cheap. Haha, in their faces. He enjoyed the look of shock and envy on Strange and Mordo's face until the voice of the Ancient One brought him back to the table.
"I believe you started learning runes after your transfiguration studies, where are you with it?"
"While the standard languages for spells in Kamar-Taj are based on Sanskrit, somehow, Greek, Norse and even some obscure ones like Yoruba have more stronger rune systems so I focused on those more. Unfortunately, our library seems to lack a lot of books concerning most foreign pantheons, so it isn't coming as fast as I would like it." Draul sighed, knowing why books on those runic systems were hard to find.
Most of the runic text here, he presumed, were from time long past, ancient Norse, dating as far back as before Odin ascended as king of Asgard. Odin with his paranoia won't leave a sizeable amount of his traditions and teachings of his people in Midgard. First step of safeguarding one's history is safeguarding the culture. Spread too wide and people won't take it seriously anymore.
"Unfortunately I can't help you with those as their circulation is… dutifully guarded."
'Thought so.'
"Why are you so focused on runes anyway?" Mordo was curious.
"For my weapon."
"Your staff? It's already imbued with runes, why want to add more? It wouldn't hold if you did." Mordo didn't bother about saying the negative effects as Draul with his expertise would surely know that.
"Not the staff. It's a more personal weapon. A few actually." Draul explained.
"What kind of rune are you thinking of?" The Ancient One asked intrigued.
"Something to do with space-time manipulation." His words chilled everyone, even the ever eccentric Strange, more so Mordo.
"You know that tampering with the space-time continuum is one of the few things forbidden in Kamar-Taj. Why would you need such forbidden practices for a weapon?!" Mordo stood up in reprimand.
"Chill dude. I was only thinking of a return or rather 'call' complex runic array. Not something as banal and dangerous as messing with the time stream. And after all this time I'd thought you'd be chill. It's like a second Bucky all over again." Draul waved the man's worry off.
"Why 'call' though? If it's a weapon you'd be using, a simple return rune would be enough….Unless you are thinking of 'calling' it to you disregarding space, time and matter from anywhere within the constellations. But that'd be impossible. Time spells are seriously forbidden for practice, not to mention the workings of such runes. I think I understand why you'd be going for the Norse rune system. The stories and text told stories of Odin and Borr traveling through the stars to the heart of their enemies. We don't know if the fabled Bifrost even exists nor do we if the gods do. Unless you are thinking of crafting your own runic system, what you are currently looking for is impossible, definitely so in the short term." Strange analyzed while the Ancient One's and Mordo's face formed a frown.
"Always the Magical Wikipedia, ain't ya? That reminds me, I would be gone from Kamar-Taj for a while. Is that okay?"
[Draul St. Cross POV]
I've been gone for almost six months, although I'd learned how to make a portal early enough, I still postponed coming home. Not for anything else other than the fact that the Ancient One told me I needed discipline.
And given the fact that I talk with those at home almost every week, I saw no reason to portal there. Which was also the reason why I was currently on my plane going home instead of just ripping a hole in space and going through to land on my couch.
'I hope Yelena hasn't wrecked my car or else I'm taking Bucky's.'
The flight back home was quiet as I enjoyed my tea which I sold for 5% of my Facebook stock. It was definitely worth it.
'I always win.'
I didn't bring anything with me of worth to Nepal and the only thing I took with me was my sorcerers' robe which I transfigured into my tie.
'She got lucky.'
I saw my car exactly at the hangar I left it when I took the plane to Nepal months ago with no sign of scratch or damage repair.
The ride back home was quick, which between my weaving through traffic and driving at 150 mph was a piece of cake.
I got home and the first thing I smelled was blood but I wasn't panicked as I could clearly feel everyone at home and they were alive with no limbs missing so that was good.
"You all look like crap."
"Draul!"
"Oof!" Yelena crashed into me with a hug which I returned before I went to the others.
Everyone was suddenly all hugey so I just went along with it before I told them of most of the things I did. Granted they already knew a lot about what I was learning since I talked to them every week.
"Sabretooth and a guy who could make things explode and also a dude who could shapeshift? Sounds like you guys had a rough week." I said after listening to the group they had been fighting.
Sabretooth I understood as he could give any of these enhanced super soldiers a fight, not in pure physical strength but a no-holds barred fight. But Gambit and Mystique? How the hell were they able to fight off Steve?
Steve saw the blatant incomprehension on my face and scratched his head in embarrassment. "The dude turned into a nude woman okay? How the hell was I supposed to fight a nude woman and then be ambushed by a dude who can make things explode?"
"By punching the 'supposedly' naked 'woman' in the face. Bucky would have done that." Steve lowered his head in perverse shame.
"Yeah, I would." And trust Bucky to bring the pain.
"So have you guys managed to figure out who these guys were working for?" 'Because there's no way Sabretooth, Gambit and Mystique were working together without someone at the helm. Well it's their problem now.'
"Not yet. We've been able to identify the Sabretooth and Gambit's profiles but the shape shifter is an almost impossible task and they are good. Being able to somehow keep up with Steve's strength is proof of that." Nat said.
"Her name is Mystique, probably." 'She was the only shapeshifter who I could remember that Gambit had some history with.'
"Who's Mystique? It is a somewhat apt name by the way."
"She used to work with Magneto and given that she knows he's dead, I think she allied herself with someone else. Who that is, is the real question." I stopped there and dropped the garbage on them. It was their mess so as the responsible adults they were, they should fix it.
Why not me? Whoever said I was the Sanitary Prefect of the Marvel-verse? As long as it had nothing to do with me, they could bomb America for all I care.
The injuries Steve had were mostly on his lips which were almost healed since his cowl didn't protect it like Bucky's did.
I had a feeling that I should look into this matter more but I snuffed it out knowing fully well that it was the hero-syndrome taking rise, so I delegated it to the real heroes.
I had gods and shit to worry about since it was an inevitability that I would fight them later on the line and I couldn't involve myself with every meta or enhanced case now, could I?
"So why are you back? You said you weren't finished with your magical training so why come back now?" Steve asked.
"Well other than the fact that Obadiah Stane is trying to buy the stocks of my company and Marky is being tempted and my personal weapons are here, I figured a change of pace was needed." I sipped from my tea and noticed the suddenly quiet room. "What?"
"Where did that tea come from?"
"The kitchen."
"But that's hot tea. No one made tea."
"I know. I was making it while we were talking." Magic was bullshit like that.
"And I thought you being almost unkillable was ridiculous, and now there's this." Yelena was disgruntled.
I wanted to work some runes inside my weapons, basic runes for now and also on Steve's shield. Nothing like Thor's Mjolnïr but a simple 'come' would suffice to make his shield come back even when it's knocked off course.
I shelved that for later and spent the rest of the day chatting with everyone about what had happened when I was gone. It was a fuckfest and boy was I glad I was gone.
First of all was the Fantastic Four going public and stopping crimes and newly termed 'villains' and all that comic bullshit. Then there was the X-Men who were doing the same but for some fucked up reason, the had more hate than the FF group. Maybe it was the publicity?
The Fantastic Four were very transparent about what they did, even going as far as showing their abilities in public, which could be unavoidable in Ben's case and Johnny being as flameboyant as ever.
Maybe that was the reason why the Fantastic Four could go in and swoop a police case and then get thanked but when the X-Men do it, they get the mouth of a gun pointed at them.
If I had to choose between the two groups then I'd go for the X-Men for the simple reason that they go for the bad guys, as in mutants who want to cause trouble and wreck the planet while the Fantastic Four were poster boys. For now at least.
That reminds me, I have to meet Ororo. Apparently Charles wanted to speak with me and he used Ororo as a medium so I'll have to go and see what the baldy is up to.
After our little get together, I went to my workshop and immediately got started on my weapon.
It was hard carving a rune into an Adamantium-Vibranium weapon.
The axe was segmented into two parts – the skeletal segment and the outer skin. The skeleton of the axe was mostly Adamantium, from the head down to halfway through the handle which I made from pure Vibranium so as to absorb whatever shock would travel through it to my hands.
The outer layer consisted of the head being part Adamantium and part Vibranium. While I wasn't able to make Proto-adamantium, I was however able to synthesize the two ores in a way that didn't neglect their special properties.
This weapon was a masterpiece and while I could not find the cheating ore known as Anti-Metal, I believe that my axe was easily in the top three weapons made by humans. I don't even know the limits of the axe but I would have to find that out. Unfortunately, it wasn't something I could use every time as it would just cleave through most people and while I enjoyed splitting God's children in two, it would make most fights boring.
The rune I etched into the axe was a simple 'come' rune. 'Come' as in walk back or fly towards me and not the 'defy space and sometimes time' rune.
With that done, I transfigured the axe into a red tie. Transfiguration magic was weird. Weird in the fact that with enough magical power and understanding, you could transfigure anything even living things and the soul, but that part of transfiguration was branched as Necromancy and while there were some books and spells on it back in Kamar-Taj, the practice of it was one that was strictly forbidden unless you wanted to be cast out or hunted and killed.
For the most part, Kamar-Taj was a pretty easily chilled place. The constricting rules there were pretty nonexistent and even the sparse few that were were actually implemented for the benefits of those studying the arts. Heck there was a library full of time spells that although the practice was forbidden due to the valid fear of messing with the time streams and creating paradoxes and time loops, the knowledge of it was freely given.
And while I was as much of a Magic Encyclopedia as much as Strange was, I wasn't interested in being the second Reed Richards of magic.
I practiced what I wanted and what I felt I needed, not like Strange who actually experimented with the Eye of Agamotto AND the Time Stone just because he saw a spell in one of the books.
One thing I also avoided doing partly due to an advice from the Ancient One was that I should in no way practice dark arts and practicing such arts usually creates a link to the being under which that arts was schooled.
It was something I had considered when I remembered characters like Wanda and Strange from the older day comics who sometimes used dark arts from beings like Chthon, Cytorrak, Dormammu etc. She was pretty skeptical of me after our first spar, which was our only spar, when something attacked her from outside of the mirror dimension. According to her, it was more like a warning than an attack and even she couldn't tell what it was.
So with that warning and my cautiousness in play, I steered clear of any dark arts, not that I didn't read, but I didn't as much as weaved a spark of energy in that direction.
Talking about dark energy, that dude, Master Kaecilius, had been getting pretty sketchy with his movements lately. I wasn't sure if I was the only one who noticed but lately I've been seeing most of his students in the library skimming through texts with forbidden practices. I didn't bother with them as by the books and Stan Lee's words, that was Strange's problem to deal with.
There were a lot of things on my plate and one of them was finally launching my satellite after the big break of the company. I had thought that Facebook would be more popular but I severely underestimated the might of an app that was the combination of YouTube and TikTok.
I needed multiple satellites to further progress the data traffic on those apps and not to mention the things that I would be having Nat and the others do with it. I had talked to Fury a while back and he had given me word that the government wouldn't shoot down any of my satellites and I couldn't help but laugh at that ridiculous poorly veiled threat. The moment, the second, I had a satellite up in the sky was the moment I won earth's networking and digital warfare.
I could hack into S.H.I.E.L.D and the Pentagon in less than ten minutes and they thought that they would have some kind of sway over me when I could finally control the network of over three continents. If I was the typical megalomaniac who was obsessed with conquering the earth then I would be laughing my ass out, but the reason I wanted my satellite up there was for a few things:
25% - my company.
30% - to propagate memes.
30% - access to any digital information I wanted.
15% - because Steve and the others would need it.
So with that okay from Fury, I had called my team of engineers who would be responsible for building it.
Sure I could build the damn thing, but that was three satellites and not to mention that I had other things on my plate and they were equally important. I had given them the blueprints and the money was there so all I had to do was wait for the launch. Whoever said having money can't solve all your problems? That was pure cap.
As long as it wasn't a time or health problem, money was sure to solve it. And if it can't solve it, then you simply don't have enough of it.
Since my weapon was good to go, I focused on Steve, Bucky and Nat's combat suit. What I wanted to experiment was if I could somehow etch in a bioelectricity-to-magic rune on their transfigured super suit. It would save them the awkward moment of being someplace bad by chance and not bringing their suit or weapons. It was an idea that was inspired by the Flash's ring that stored his suit, but with magic in the mix.
I think I could use a belt as Steve's item as that would be inconspicuous given the way he dressed while Bucky would be a simple compartment on his arm. Nat would be a piece of jewelry if she wore any, or something else. I would need to ask her about that.
All work and no play makes Draul a… magician?
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Read up to 30 chapters ahead at pa*treon /Draul_TheOminous.