Although Blaine had never personally witnessed Kaecilius's level, he knew that someone ruthless enough to have studied magic under the Ancient One for many years, and who had also been corrupted by Dormammu's dark power, definitely possessed extremely high-level magic.
Sure enough, this group had not fought for more than a few rounds, and none of them had even broken the skin, let alone drawn blood. Blaine felt that this was no longer a question of whether someone was holding back or not. The Ancient One simply could not bring herself to do it.
A Sorcerer Supreme who had lived for hundreds of years, experienced countless changes over time, and had even seen the cosmic entity Eternity—Blaine did not believe that the Ancient One had never killed anyone or that her hands were completely clean of blood. When she had fought Blaine earlier, Blaine had not noticed the slightest weakness in her.
Thinking about it, though, Kaecilius had been the Ancient One's disciple for many years. No matter how rebellious he became, he was still her disciple, so it was normal for the Ancient One to hesitate. Who could have imagined that a Sorcerer Supreme, after practicing for hundreds of years, would end up with a heart as soft as an ascetic monk's?
No matter how fast a treadmill moved, athletes running on it could still step across it. Even ordinary people could do it without much difficulty, let alone sorcerers with magic. So, not long after, Kaecilius sacrificed one of his followers, using him as a shield, then quickly opened another magical portal and escaped with the rest of his men.
Seeing this, Blaine no longer needed to keep watching. The main character, Kaecilius, had run away, so what else was there to see? Originally, he had thought the Ancient One and Kaecilius would fight fiercely, but in the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a small skirmish.
He had also thought that the Ancient One would never return, and that before she died, she would use some kind of magic that would make Blaine's eyes light up. Even if he could not copy it, it would at least broaden his horizons and give him a lot of insight. But what was this? Other than wasting half an hour of Blaine's time, was it just to show him a scene of a mentor-student relationship?
When he came back to his senses, Blaine stopped thinking about them. He should hurry up and read the Book of Cagliostro in his hand. Otherwise, when Wong or Mordo returned, something might happen again.
After about half an hour, Blaine finally managed to read through the entire Book of Cagliostro from beginning to end.
It was just that he read it quickly and forgot it just as quickly. Basically, he did not remember much. The main reason was that although the white magic recorded in it was comprehensive, most of the spells included were minor magic, and not many were truly useful.
What was more, the Book of Cagliostro could be regarded as an encyclopedia, and its thickness was almost equal to two Oxford dictionaries stacked together. It was already good enough that Blaine had finished reading it in half an hour. It was impossible for him to memorize everything. He could only pick out the key points.
But now that he had finished reading the magic book, why had the people from Kamar-Taj not returned yet? Had they gone directly to call on Dormammu?
In any case, Blaine had no reason to stay here anymore. So, Blaine was just about to leave Kamar-Taj and return to his villa in Queens. However, just as Blaine stood up, he heard several thuds coming from behind him.
Looking back, wasn't that the secret room deep inside the library? Blaine walked in curiously. Hey, what kind of treasure could it be? He had just been talking about the Ancient One and Stephen Strange, but now they were all back...
"Mr. Hunter, are you still here?"
Looking up, Blaine saw the Ancient One, and the Ancient One also noticed Blaine. However, the Ancient One did not think too much about it. After all, it was only a library. Whatever Blaine had done, aside from these books being worth a little money, the other dilapidated houses and broken tiles did not seem to be anything worth worrying about.
"Uh, well..."
"I saw that no one was here."
"So I stayed to help you watch the place, in case Kaecilius came all the way here."
"If he destroyed this place, you wouldn't even have a place to stay anymore..."
Fortunately, Blaine's mind turned quickly, and he suddenly came up with such an excuse. He could not very well say in front of Mordo and the Ancient One, "While you were gone, I was stealing your forbidden books and practicing the forbidden magic of Kamar-Taj. Yes, that's right, I was also studying how to summon Dormammu."
If Blaine really said that, then not to mention the Ancient One, even Mordo beside her would probably teach Blaine a lesson. And with the Ancient One around, it would be the kind of lesson where Blaine could not do anything in return.
Fortunately, Blaine knew that the Ancient One could not see through his thoughts. And under the hood of the Hunter suit, Blaine's facial expressions were completely hidden, so when Blaine lied, his face did not turn red and his heart did not even beat faster.
"Thank you very much, then."
"Oh, yes. Mr. Hunter, please come with me."
"I have something to tell you."
"And Stephen Strange."
"Wait for me in the living room."
For some unknown reason, the Ancient One suddenly changed from her usual smiling expression. At this moment, she was unexpectedly serious. She spoke solemnly to Blaine and Stephen Strange.
After speaking, the Ancient One took the lead and walked out. Stephen Strange also obeyed the Ancient One's arrangement without saying a word and went to the living room. From this point of view, Stephen Strange had changed from the original materialist and atheist who refused to accept anything, into the current spiritualist who believed in magic. To be precise, he had become a young student who believed in magic and respected the Ancient One.
Perhaps a few hours ago, Stephen Strange had only been an ordinary person who wanted to heal his hands, but after the fall of the London Sanctum and witnessing Kaecilius's evil, Stephen Strange should have realized his own responsibility.
"What do you want to say to me alone?"
In the dark room of the library, the Ancient One faced the door that had been blown to pieces, looking out at the ruins of the London Sanctum. Blaine did not care what the Ancient One wanted to do, so he asked directly.
"I need your help with something."
The Ancient One did not look back, nor did she beat around the bush. She went straight to the point.
"You need my help?"
"You know what I do."
Help? Well, what did Blaine do? Bounty hunters accepted commissions. As long as the money was right, let alone helping, even if Blaine were asked to destroy the world, he would do it.
"I know."
"A fifth-level star core."
"That should be enough."
"What, what?"
"What? What level?"
Blaine did not know whether the Ancient One had spoken too quickly or whether he had truly not heard clearly, but he suddenly became somewhat incoherent from excitement.
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