Chapter 60 60: The Nature of Magical Energy
The Ancient One had once said that for Matthew to successfully learn magic, the first threshold was learning how to integrate magic with himself.
Other sorcerers needed to meditate, strengthening their spiritual and mental power so they could connect to magical dimensions through incantations, hand seals, and similar methods—drawing energy from those dimensions to cast spells.
Matthew, however, could completely skip the step of connecting to a magical dimension and drawing its energy.
But he still needed to use incantations, hand seals, or even simpler methods to mobilize the energy within his own body and cast magic.
This was not a simple task.
Because the nature of the two energies was different.
They could not be treated as directly interchangeable. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj operated within a mature, proven system—they only needed to focus on how to channel energy from magical dimensions.
Matthew had far more to consider.
In the future, Doctor Strange would be able to abandon dimensional magic energy and instead use other forms of energy to successfully cast spells.
That was because, by then, his mastery of magic had reached an extremely high level.
He had already fully grasped the essence of magic.
Matthew, at present, was still a complete beginner in magic. Naturally, he could not compare to Doctor Strange.
He needed to figure out how to transform, simulate, and integrate the light-based energy within his body—resonating it with incantations, hand seals, runes, and other elements to cast magic.
Over the past few days of studying magic, Matthew had been continuously researching and analyzing its underlying logic and essence. He had already determined a direction.
Next, he needed to test it step by step to verify whether his approach was correct.
He would need to incorporate some scientific principles in advance.
Different dimensional energies had different frequencies and wavelengths. By adjusting his own energy to match those frequencies and wavelengths, he could achieve a simulated effect—or even true conversion.
Once successful, the rest would become much easier.
He would simply have an additional step of simulation and conversion.
With that in mind, Matthew stood up immediately and headed for the library of Kamar-Taj, intending to ask the ever-reliable Wong for some help.
As for the successful development of the Super Soldier serum—and even the fact that a soldier named Gene had already completed the injection and evolved into a super soldier—Matthew had already received the news.
Just as Reacher had anticipated.
Matthew was pleased, but not particularly surprised. To him, it was only natural.
Failure would have been the surprising outcome.
He had already decided on the names for the units to be formed: the Astartes and the Ravens.
It wasn't because he had any particular fondness for playing at being some emperor—it was simply that those two names had come to mind at the time, so he used them. It was that straightforward.
Once the observation period was complete and the units fully formed, their initial strategic goals would be achieved, and the next phase of plans would begin.
Deep in thought, Matthew arrived at the library. But just as he reached the entrance, he paused.
A middle-aged sorcerer with a somewhat gloomy demeanor walked toward him.
The man seemed deep in thought and didn't notice Matthew at all, passing by him in a hurry.
Matthew turned his head slightly to glance at him.
"…That fluctuation of emotions…"
Anger, excitement, joy—like segments of a pie chart.
Matthew was surprised because the man's aura was completely different from the other sorcerers he had seen at Kamar-Taj.
He could vaguely sense a hint of madness in him.
Shrugging it off, Matthew didn't give it much more thought. He entered the library and found the librarian, Wong.
"Matthew?"
"Wong, I need your help."
Having spent quite some time at Kamar-Taj, Matthew had often sought Wong's guidance during his studies while the Ancient One was away. The two had grown fairly familiar with each other.
"Alright."
Wong agreed immediately, without even asking for details.
It wasn't that he was particularly eager to help—rather, the Ancient One had already spoken to him beforehand.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need magical energy from a magical dimension—something that can be maintained over a long period." Matthew asked directly.
"Alright." Wong thought for a moment, then agreed.
It wasn't a difficult request.
Simply borrowing magical energy from a dimension—without actually casting spells—wouldn't cause him much backlash.
Using a magical artifact or a stabilization spell, the energy could be preserved and maintained.
Soon, Wong found a mundane-looking, hexagonal, Rubik's Cube-like magical artifact. He performed a spell to draw magical energy and store it inside.
Having obtained what he wanted, Matthew didn't leave immediately. Instead, he began discussing the nature of magical energy with Wong.
When it came to learning, Matthew remained humble. After all, Wong had studied magic for many years—his expertise far exceeded that of a beginner like him.
As expected, Wong provided several key insights.
"Magical energy has no fixed form. Its essence is 'possibility.' It can be shaped into anything—or nothing at all."
"It has frequency. The magical energy of each dimension vibrates at different frequencies. Incantations and hand seals serve to tune that frequency, allowing the energy to enter a state where it can be shaped."
"Unguided magical energy is chaotic. Without the constraints of incantations, gestures, or symbols, it remains disordered and cannot be controlled or used."
"It exists as the tension between reality and possibility—not entirely real, yet not purely chaotic either. It is the force that emerges when the two collide and can be altered."
"Before being shaped, it exists in a superposed state—present in all possible forms at once. Casting a spell is the act of collapsing it into one of those possibilities."
Though these explanations sounded profound, they became surprisingly straightforward once understood.
Matthew almost immediately grasped the underlying nature of magical energy that Wong described.
Magical energy responded to intent—meaning a sorcerer's will and thoughts directly influenced how the energy manifested. The same incantation could produce different results depending on intent.
This kind of high-level resonance was something Matthew did not lack.
He had an equally strong resonance with the energy of the Glint-Glint Fruit—it was his own power, after all. In fact, his responsiveness to it was even greater than that of sorcerers channeling magical energy.
The characteristics Wong described aligned closely with Matthew's own abilities.
Having confirmed his ideas, Matthew immediately took his leave and returned to his residence. Taking the magical artifact, he focused purely on sensing the magical energy within it.
Then, he attempted to control it as if it were his own.
Since the energy had been borrowed by Wong, the same portion of magical energy could not be borrowed twice.
Therefore, even if he used incantations to manipulate it, it wouldn't establish a connection with the magical dimension.
Matthew had confirmed this point with Wong before proceeding.
Only after personally controlling it and carefully observing its frequency and wavelength did Matthew begin to mobilize his own energy to simulate and match it.
If this step succeeded, then his path in magic would become smooth and unobstructed.
And the results of his experiment left Matthew pleasantly surprised.