Chapter 19 – Magic
Thanks to his own prior experience using teleportation techniques countless times before, combined with his extraordinary mental strength and observational ability, Blake Thorne only needed to see the Ancient One demonstrate the technique once.
Just once.
That was all it took for Blake to perfectly replicate the Portal spell.
The result was absolute silence inside Kamar-Taj—followed immediately by collective disbelief.
The sorcerers watching could only gape in shock, eyes wide, jaws practically hitting the floor as if they had all rehearsed the same expression beforehand.
From that day onward, Blake's talent for learning magic—so absurd it was practically cheating—became unmistakably clear.
Disappearance. Cloning. Astral Projection. Energy Manifestation. Phasing through matter. Life Extension. Illusion Creation. Flight. Hypnosis. Protective Barriers. Telekinesis. Super Speed. Weather Control. Illusory World Creation. Spatial Teleportation. Long-Distance Summoning. Telepathy. The Mirror Dimension. Interdimensional Travel. Dimensional Reality Manipulation…
Hundreds of ancient spells recorded within Kamar-Taj's secret library—spells that normally took an entire lifetime just to grasp a fraction of—were all mastered by Blake within a single year.
There was only one exception.
Magic governed by the Laws of Time.
To learn Time Magic, one required direct guidance from the Ancient One herself.
And naturally, Time Magic was the most difficult branch of magic in existence.
Even the Ancient One, without relying on the Eye of Agamotto—the artifact housing the Time Stone—could not fully control it.
That day, the Ancient One removed the Eye of Agamotto that had long rested upon her chest and handed it to Blake, along with two ancient parchment sheets inscribed with the fundamental principles of Time Magic.
"Blake, Kamar-Taj has nothing left to teach you," she said calmly. "Return to New York and help me protect that city. I can only lend you the Eye of Agamotto for one year."
"To prevent dark forces from invading Earth, I must personally guard the Sanctum Sanctorum in London. I hope that within this year, you will come to understand the principles of time contained within the Eye—and master Time Magic as quickly as possible."
After saying this, the Ancient One raised her hand and opened a portal leading directly to the London Sanctum Sanctorum. Without hesitation, she stepped through and vanished.
The Eye of Agamotto was one of the Ancient One's most powerful magical artifacts.
Powered by the Time Stone embedded within it, she had used it to hold back malevolent forces from across the Multiverse—entities that sought to conquer Earth.
Now that the artifact had been entrusted to Blake, the best possible choice to maintain the planet's final line of defense was for the master herself to remain on the front lines.
— — —
London. New York. Hong Kong.
Three locations, three nodes—linking Europe, America, and Asia.
Each housed a Sanctum Sanctorum.
Together, the three Sanctums formed a global defensive network, preserving Earth's stability and balance.
— — —
Holding the Eye of Agamotto in his hand, Blake could only shrug, his expression filled with mild confusion.
"But Earth still has me, doesn't it?" he muttered. "Why worry so much about an invasion by dark forces?"
Thanos? Let him survive a single punch from me—one packed with eighteen years' worth of destructive power—then we'll talk.
Even a ruler of the Dark Dimension like Dormammu failed to inspire the slightest fear in Blake.
With the special power he possessed, the Ancient One might still need to rely on clever manipulation of Time Magic to confront Dormammu. She wouldn't lose—but she couldn't claim an absolute victory either.
Blake, however, was different.
Having fused with two Absolute Principles—Destruction and Order—he was capable of fighting Dormammu head-on, directly and without tricks.
Who would win? Who would lose?
That was something no one could say until the battle truly happened.
And even if he technically wasn't a native of this world, Blake had lived here for over ten years already. There was no way he would just stand by if something happened.
— — —
Three days later.
New York — Midtown School of Science and Technology.
The moment Blake stepped into the classroom, the previously quiet atmosphere exploded into noise.
Seeing so many familiar faces again, Blake couldn't help but smile.
The first voice to break the peace belonged to the class's resident troublemaker—also known as Peter Parker's loudmouthed partner in crime.
"Oooh~ look who finally showed up!"
That was quickly followed by the second loudest commentator—Peter Parker himself.
"So the King of Skipping School has returned at last!"
From the front of the room, the teacher spoke with a sharp, sarcastic tone.
"Mr. Blake Thorne, have you finally remembered that you are, in fact, a student?"
Then came Mary Jane's voice—the girl once known as Spider-Man's dream girl (though she'd already moved on).
"Blake, where have you been all year?"
And finally, the top student of the class. Brave, sharp, and the girl everyone competed over—Gwen Stacy.
"Blake, we're already in twelfth grade. You missed the entire eleventh-grade curriculum. If you want, I can help tutor you."
— — —
Surrounded by voices coming from every direction, Blake simply smiled, gave a casual wave, and walked over to the empty seat beside Peter before sitting down.
The main reason Blake had returned to school was Peter Parker—and Uncle Ben Parker.
In the original Marvel universe, Peter gained his powers during his final year of school. But at the same time, he lost the most important person in his life—his uncle, Ben Parker.
From that moment on, one sentence became an eternal legacy:
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Blake, who had freeloaded meals at their house for several years, couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
He had already made up his mind.
No matter what happened, Ben Parker had to be saved.
More than that, Blake had another plan—one that would ensure that those words truly took shape in Ben's life.
He would give Uncle Ben superpowers.
Or rather…
Extraordinary power.
"With great power comes great responsibility…"
Words that powerful didn't deserve to be spoken by an ordinary man.
However, Blake's newly resumed school life didn't remain peaceful for long.
Trouble began to surface once again.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started paying attention to him.
More precisely, not the real S.H.I.E.L.D.—but HYDRA operatives hiding within its ranks.
Over a year ago, a high-ranking HYDRA figure concealed within the World Security Council's structure—Alexander Pierce—had accidentally uncovered a portion of Blake's classified data while reviewing documents updated by Nick Fury.
The files recorded several incidents from Blake's childhood in Florida, as well as suspicious activity logs from New York—including events where he had displayed extraordinary power.
However, Nick Fury, known for his extreme caution, never recorded that Blake was most likely the mysterious individual who had defeated both the Hulk and Abomination.
This omission led Alexander Pierce to make a fatally flawed assessment of Blake's true strength.
To HYDRA, Blake appeared to be nothing more than a high-level mutant—roughly equivalent to Gamma Level (Tier Three).
Why did they believe that?
Because the first time Blake revealed his power—when he killed the head of the orphanage—it happened during a period when the world was already engulfed in mutant-related conflicts.
From the outside, Blake's experience looked like a textbook case of sudden mutation.
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