"You're not lying to me, are you? Did you really turn into a god?"
The Ancient One looked suspiciously at Alaric.
Aren't the Vishanti the gods of magic? Haven't I heard they possess such power?
Or is it because you're special?
"I'm not lying to you. The flame that Hoggoth gave me burned my human body, and then through Oshtur's tears, I gained her power and obtained the body of a god."
Alaric explained.
"Wait… I remember in the legends of the Vishanti that Agamotto was born from Oshtur's tears, meaning, aren't you also…?"
The Ancient One looked at Alaric in surprise; this kid was truly the favored one of the Vishanti.
Earlier, it could be said that Alaric was gifted in magic, but now, Alaric could actually be considered the child of Oshtur!!!
The child of the goddess of magic!
Who could have imagined that?
"What are you talking about! You don't even know where I really come from."
Alaric looked at her displeased.
"Hey, kid, do you even realize what kind of recognition that is?"
"That doesn't change anything! At best, the Vishanti and I are in a cooperative relationship, allies!"
"Cooperation? Allies?" The Ancient One froze for a moment.
"Nothing, nothing, in short, our relationship is purely professional!"
"Alright, I can't be bothered to ask further; in any case, with the Vishanti watching over you, I don't have to worry."
The Ancient One said she could finally breathe easy and no longer needed to constantly monitor Alaric, fearing he'd stir up trouble.
Although Alaric wasn't literally Oshtur's child, his divine body was indeed obtained through Oshtur's power; with such a connection, the Vishanti couldn't turn a blind eye to him.
"Since you're doing fine, I'll go back." The Ancient One stood up to leave.
"Wait a moment."
...
In the following days, Alaric continued his seclusion.
During this time, through the All-Seeing Eye, Alaric occasionally checked what Jane was doing and discovered that, for the sake of writing her paper and proving her theories, Jane had taken off with Professor Erik and Darcy.
Because of that, Alaric didn't want to disturb her work.
And since Jane was blessed with Alaric's magic, she was full of energy, doing the work of three people by herself, without exhaustion!
Because of this, Professor Erik and Darcy suffered, envious and jealous.
Since Alaric couldn't visit Jane, he could only continue interpreting magical knowledge.
Also, after Fury returned last time, he called Coulson and ordered him to contact Alaric.
And Fury carefully instructed Coulson to be polite and never, under any circumstances, break in.
That puzzled Coulson, he'd always been a very polite man; how could anyone think he'd break into someone's house?
Then Coulson and several agents assigned to contact Alaric hung around outside for days, without ever getting a chance to meet him.
From the lights in the temple, they knew someone was inside, but Alaric completely ignored their visits.
That was awkward for both Coulson and Fury.
They could only interpret it as the temperament of mages, who love solitude and dislike being disturbed.
But Fury didn't want to give up on Alaric!
Coulson therefore continued to persist; as for Tony's side, Coulson didn't bother and left everything to Natasha.
As for Alaric, as long as they didn't break into the temple, those agents could do whatever they wanted.
And S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't they protect the world without Alaric joining the Avengers?
After all, during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hydra was completely exposed, which directly caused S.H.I.E.L.D. to go "offline" and retreat into the shadows.
That later led to Captain America: Civil War, where Ross became the government's overseer of the Avengers and launched the Sokovia Accords, sparking the civil war.
The future of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a pile of problems, and Alaric had no interest in dealing with it.
Still, Alaric respected Coulson an excellent agent with a strong sense of duty and mission, who finally managed to find a chance to meet with Alaric.
That day, Tony drove his sports car to 177A Bleecker Street.
At that moment, his dark eye bags were especially visible; though his suit was expensive, it was messy.
Unshaven, he looked worn out.
"177A… Alaric…"
Tony stepped out of the car, looked at the villa, and nodded, he liked the style.
Just as he was about to knock, someone approached him from behind.
"Mr. Stark, please, a moment!" Coulson ran up.
"You again? You've been following me a bit too faithfully, huh?"
Tony turned and saw another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and immediately got annoyed.
These guys, like flies, constantly buzzing around him and even trying to restrict his movements!
"You misunderstood, Mr. Stark, I just happened to meet you here by coincidence." Coulson explained.
"Coincidence? You also came to see Alaric?" Tony immediately looked at the closed door, realizing everything.
"Yes. Could you, Mr. Stark, help me and recommend me to Mr. Alaric?"
"What? You still haven't met him? Isn't it your 'specialty' to break into other people's houses?"
Tony was irritated that S.H.I.E.L.D. had broken into his home several times before, so he jabbed sarcastically.
"Sorry, Director Fury gave the order, we must act politely…" Coulson's face remained calm.
"Heh! You can follow me, but I can't guarantee how Alaric will react."
Tony sneered, but didn't chase Coulson away.
"Thank you!"
...
Knock, knock!
Tony knocked and waited calmly.
Soon, the door opened.
That made Coulson happy: he was finally going to meet this mysterious and powerful mage!
When they entered, they saw Alaric slowly descending from the air.
"Alaric! Here I am."
"Mm, long time no see, you look exhausted, Tony." Alaric sized him up and nodded.
"By the way, this is Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D.; he wants to talk to you." Tony introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Alaric, it's an honor to finally meet you!"
"I know who you are. Tell Fury: don't disturb me. If the Earth faces a crisis, I'll act, but I don't like being ordered around.
If he doesn't take the advice, next time it won't just be a small punishment."
When Alaric said that, he snapped his fingers and at once, a portal opened beneath Coulson's feet.
"Punishment?" Coulson was turning over the words in his mind, and then suddenly felt his body lighten, the ground vanish beneath him and he fell.
"Mr. Alaric—"
On the street in front of the entrance, Coulson suddenly appeared.
After collecting himself, he realized he'd been expelled and the gate had already closed.
"This… is that magic?" Coulson exclaimed.
Then he sighed, took out his phone, called Fury, and filed his report.
"If that's the case, return for now." Fury also sighed.
He thought: this Alaric, who isn't afraid to reveal his identity, should have been easy to contact.
But it turned out, the man was so powerful that he didn't care that they knew.
That made it even harder for Fury to win Alaric over.
Fury had already experienced that mysterious magic firsthand and knew that this kind of contact would only make Alaric more resistant, fortunately, they pulled Coulson back.
"Understood, Director!" Coulson nodded.
"By the way, boss… what did Mr. Alaric mean by 'punishment'?"
"Nothing, you misheard."
Fury's expression darkened, and he ended the call.
The truth was that another reason he pulled Coulson back was that he never wanted to experience that nightmarish feeling again!
He was genuinely terrified!