Chapter 274: The Top Supporter Drops Equipment Again—the Book of Vishanti
Kamar-Taj.
Matthew was consulting the Ancient One on questions regarding magic.
It had to be said—the Ancient One was a true master of magic. She had started as an ordinary human, yet after centuries of accumulation, she had reached the very top tier among Skyfathers. One could imagine how high her talent and insight were.
If the ancient gods were excluded, then among humans in the Marvel Universe, the Ancient One was absolutely Tier 1 in terms of magical talent. Her understanding was far deeper, and she could see much farther.
The future Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, was indeed an outstanding troublemaker with great talent, but the Ancient One was not much inferior to him.
And when it came to accumulation in the field of magic, the Ancient One was undoubtedly number one.
Even the witch Agatha could not compare to her.
Matthew would never become arrogant just because he had founded a nation, sat on a golden throne, and worn a crown.
The system had given him endless possibilities, but without his own effort—and without humility and diligence on the path of learning—he would never have reached his current height.
He was still a student. On this road, Matthew always kept a humble attitude.
He treated "those who have achieved mastery are teachers" as one of his mottos.
Of course, it was not his only motto.
Whenever the Ancient One had free time, Matthew would shamelessly come to ask for advice. Since both sides were willing and had a tacit understanding, why would he waste such a master of magic by not using her?
The Ancient One was naturally happy to see Matthew seek guidance. The timeline had become a complete mess, and even she, who held the Eye of Agamotto—the Time Stone—could no longer see where the future was heading. She hoped Matthew could grow as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, Matthew did not disappoint her.
The Ancient One taught him without holding anything back, and Matthew's super brain played its role, recording everything and quickly breaking down its essence.
Whenever he did not understand something, he asked the Ancient One openly.
And to be fair, this bald female sorcerer truly did not use obscure, philosophical language when teaching magic. Her words were concise and went straight to the core.
She was a sage; many of her deeply meaningful words might seem obscure on the surface, but they placed great demand on one's innate comprehension.
To understand meant making a leap forward; to fail to grasp them meant remaining stuck in a fog of partial understanding.
Matthew spent several hours gaining valuable experience at the Ancient One's side.
By evening, he even shared a dinner with her.
After the meal, Matthew showed no haste to depart, lingering instead to sip tea with the Ancient One.
He could tell she had something to say to him.
"The girl you took in recently has caused quite a stir," the Ancient One said, lifting her teacup and glancing outside, as if she could see the girl standing with her brother before a tombstone in Terra's capital cemetery, silently praying.
Matthew knew who she was talking about.
"Some hatred needs to be washed away with blood. She represents not only herself, but also decades of Sokovia's history."
The Ancient One agreed deeply, then sighed softly. "But many people spend their whole lives unable to do that. They can only sink into pain and torment until they die in misery. She is lucky."
"Not just her. Many others too."
The Ancient One turned back to Matthew with a smile.
What satisfied her most was Matthew's nature. In truth, back when she first sensed that Matthew was the source changing the Sacred Timeline, she could have chosen to correct it. But a faint pressure from somewhere unseen changed her mind, and she chose to observe instead.
She was curious about what that hidden force was, and what Matthew's appearance as a reasonable variable represented.
What truly surprised and pleased the Ancient One, however, was the boy's maturity and values.
Was Matthew a perfectly righteous person?
Not really.
The Ancient One could tell that Matthew was someone who deeply desired power.
But those who pursued power too much often had their thinking unknowingly twisted and influenced, eventually falling into corruption. She had seen far too many people like that.
Very few could truly hold on to their heart and original intent.
Kaecilius in recent years was like that.
The future Mordo would be the same.
Matthew was one of the rare few.
The difference was that Matthew had a line he would not easily cross. Because that line existed, his thinking could stay flexible without causing real harm to the world.
On the contrary, countless people who should have met tragic fates had been changed because of him.
As for some of his ideas seeming a little extreme by comparison—such as how strict he was when judging criminals, or how he usually dealt with a criminal's family all at once—ordinary people might think that was too much, but the Ancient One did not care.
The Sorcerer Supreme was no soft-hearted saint, either.
When she chose to be ruthless, she could be every bit as brutal.
Could the Sorcerer Supreme ever be a mere pushover?
"There are too many tragedies in this world, and I dislike them," Matthew said, not caring much. "Within my ability, I prefer making regrets disappear before they happen."
He disliked being sentimental. He preferred a cheerful, lively, and happy atmosphere.
After all, his senses had already reached a terrifying level—especially his Observation Haki when sensing emotions.
If he sensed too many negative emotions over a large area, it was easy to make himself feel down.
Melancholy and the like really did not suit him.
"What a pity. You should have been born a few years earlier." the Ancient One burst into laughter.
Was this not also a kind of great character?
After her laughter faded, she fell silent for a moment before continuing. "She may become the most outstanding sorcerer in history."
"Unfortunately, she cannot become the Sorcerer Supreme."
"I'm not surprised. She never needed that title," Matthew said casually.
In some parallel universes, Wanda might become the Sorcerer Supreme.
But the main universe did not need that. In fact, the conditions for Wanda to become the Sorcerer Supreme were extremely harsh and completely different from Strange's.
Because Wanda possessed Chaos Magic. To become the Sorcerer Supreme, she would need the recognition of the Vishanti, the trinity of white magic gods, and focus on white magic.
But Wanda's path would always be Chaos Magic. She could never give up Chaos Magic to focus on a single branch of white magic. Compared with a protector, Wanda was more like a higher being who would break the old order of magic.
To put it simply, it was pure rebellion against the natural order.
Wanda's potential ceiling was higher than the Vishanti, the pinnacle of white magic. Even if she became the Sorcerer Supreme, there would eventually come a day when she surpassed the Vishanti, leaving them in an awkward position.
Most importantly, Wanda was prone to falling into darkness.
It depended on her emotions and experiences. This girl could easily fall into extremes.
Going to extremes was not the real problem. The real fear was someone like Wanda, who possessed multiverse-level threat potential, falling into extremes. If the Vishanti recognized Wanda and she fell into darkness one day, she could make the Vishanti suffer badly in minutes.
So the Ancient One understood very clearly that Wanda's fate had been completely changed because Matthew had prepared anchors for her.
And there were many anchors around her.
Family, comradeship, Terra, and the faith and ideals gradually being carved into her bones—all of these would keep Wanda from turning dark easily.
As for the greatest anchor, it was Matthew.
As long as Matthew, this anchor, did not fall apart, Wanda would not turn dark so easily even if she wanted to.
The Ancient One smiled and gave a light nod.
Her mood had been very good recently. As Matthew gradually grew, she no longer worried about Earth's future. She believed Matthew would do better than her in the future.
As the two talked, the Ancient One suddenly mentioned something else. Her expression turned serious as she put down her teacup.
"Do you know the Book of Vishanti?"
"Yeah."
Matthew was a little surprised that the Ancient One had suddenly brought it up.
The Book of Vishanti—just from the name, it was clear it was connected to the Vishanti.
The book had been jointly written by the three gods Agamotto, Hoggoth, and Oshtur. Its magic could only be used for defense, and it had infinite pages. It was the natural enemy of dark magic.
Because its magical power was too dangerous, inexperienced users could cause serious consequences by using it. Its cover was engraved with the Seal of Vishanti, and it recorded every white magic spell, standing opposite the Darkhold, which recorded black magic.
This book had countless pages and contained the most powerful known white magic and defensive magic in the world.
The spells recorded in it could never be used to attack, only to defend.
It could be said that this was something only the Sorcerer Supreme could guard. Anyone who was not a successor had no right to know of its existence or location.
The book resided not in the library of Kamar-Taj, but was preserved within the Gap Junction, accessible only through a specialized portal.
Though it contained white magic, its power was formidable enough to tear reality apart and warp space-time.
Anyone who lacked the necessary talent to read it would suffer a backlash from the magical power contained within the Book of Vishanti, leaving them crippled if not dead.
"When your magical knowledge reaches a certain level, I want you to go and take a look."
The Ancient One's words struck like a sudden thunderclap, causing Matthew's eyes to widen slightly.
"Surprised?"
"A little. I didn't expect you to be so…"
"So generous?" the Ancient One chimed in.
Matthew nodded. The top supporter had always been generous before, but now "generous" was no longer enough to describe it.
This was basically giving away the family inheritance.
Seeing Matthew's surprise, the Ancient One chuckled and shook her head. "Although history has changed and I can no longer see the future, some things are still bound to happen."
"Some preparations need to be made in advance."
"Because of Wanda?" Matthew suddenly understood. He had wondered why the Ancient One brought up the little witch out of nowhere.
It turned out this was what she had been setting up.
"That's right. Chaos Magic has taken her onto an extraordinary path, but that path was prepared for her by someone else. History cannot repeat itself. She needs a layer of insurance," the Ancient One said with a sigh.
Matthew understood. So the Ancient One had already considered things that far ahead.
She planned to help him eliminate every potential threat before it could emerge.
What else could he say? His top supporter was simply too reliable.
She was betting everything on him without hesitation.
If he ever achieved greatness, at least one-third of the credit would belong to her.
How touching.
And so, Matthew agreed without hesitation.
The top supporter was dropping equipment and experience again—why act reserved?
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Another tacit, under-the-table deal had been struck. The Ancient One had lost nothing at all.
After all, her investment was made entirely with the Vishanti's resources.
When it came to being generous with someone else's assets, she was a true master.
...
Read Advanced Chapters on : /cw/OblivionTL
~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]