The Ancient One had lived for an unknown number of years, and there was naturally no way she couldn't sense what Ethan Blake was thinking. Despite that, she showed no sign of anger. Instead, she simply smiled calmly and reached into her sleeve before taking out a small ring.
It was a Sling Ring.
She handed it to Ethan as if the gesture carried no special meaning at all.
"This will serve as your voucher," the Ancient One said gently. "Take it to the Sanctum in New York. A sorcerer named Daniel will bring you to see me."
Ethan hesitated slightly before answering.
"Uh… but I couldn't find the Sanctum in New York."
Back when he had searched for Kamar-Taj, Kathmandu had not even been his first stop. The very first place he had tried to locate was 177A Bleecker Street, but no matter how he searched, he had found nothing unusual there.
The Ancient One smiled faintly.
"Aren't you capable of casting manifestation spells?"
As she spoke, she casually opened a shimmering portal in the air. Without waiting for a response, she stepped through it and disappeared.
Ethan stood there, momentarily stunned.
Manifestation spells?
In a hurry?
That was when a realization suddenly struck him.
When he had been fighting Loki earlier, the Ancient One must have been watching nearby the entire time.
So she had been observing everything.
Could it be that the Sorcerer Supreme had secretly been watching the battle from the sidelines like some kind of spectator?
After silently assigning the Ancient One the label of "voyeur" in his mind, Ethan also vanished from the spot in an instant.
Although the incident with Thor hadn't generated any summoning energy for him, he still gained quite a lot from the encounter.
First, there was the wand he had obtained earlier.
Second—and far more important—was the divine power baptism from Odin. That alone was worth far more than a typical summoning opportunity.
When Ethan returned home, the first thing he saw was Wanda standing beside Pietro while holding a wooden teaching ruler.
Pietro sat at the table with a miserable expression while working through a stack of exam papers.
Wanda stood beside him like a strict instructor, clearly supervising his work.
Ethan couldn't help laughing.
This girl had truly taken a small bit of authority and turned it into a full command.
"Ethan, you're back!"
The moment she saw him, Wanda's eyes immediately lit up.
She tossed the ruler aside without a second thought, completely ignoring Pietro. Then she ran over and hugged Ethan's arm while acting like a spoiled child.
Ethan rubbed her head with a smile.
"Come with me tomorrow. I've found a teacher for you."
"A teacher?" Wanda blinked in surprise before nodding slowly. "Oh… okay."
However, her eyes soon drifted toward Pietro, who was still suffering through his test papers.
Would she end up as miserable as him?
The thought caused her small face to collapse into a worried expression.
Ethan immediately understood what she was thinking. Smiling reassuringly, he said, "Don't worry. It won't be like Pietro."
Hearing that, Wanda visibly relaxed and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Pietro—who had been secretly eavesdropping nearby—felt an overwhelming sense of injustice.
In his heart, he wailed silently.
Why is it always me who suffers?
Ethan, you can't treat me like this. I'm your uncle!
...
The next day, Wanda carefully dressed herself before heading out with Ethan.
Together, they arrived on Bleecker Street.
177A Bleecker Street was an old church building. People occasionally entered and left through the front door, though the crowd wasn't particularly large.
Wanda looked around curiously.
"Ethan… the teacher you found for me… could it be a priest? Or a pastor?"
"Neither."
As he spoke, Ethan raised his hand and cast a spell.
"Manifest."
Magic flowed outward from him.
In the next moment, the ordinary church door in front of them shifted and transformed into a completely different entrance. What appeared now was an ancient-looking door carved with intricate designs.
"Come on," Ethan said, gently patting Wanda's stunned head. "Let's go inside."
Wanda pouted slightly as she followed him.
"Ethan, you know magic? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I only started learning it a few days ago," Ethan explained.
"Then you have to teach me magic too," Wanda insisted immediately.
After inheriting Dumbledore's magical knowledge earlier, Ethan had actually tried teaching magic to both Wanda and Pietro. Unfortunately, Pietro turned out to be a complete Squib with no magical potential whatsoever.
Wanda, on the other hand, had the exact opposite problem.
Inside her body was a magical force countless times greater than Ethan's own power.
The moment Ethan tried planting the seed of his magic into her body, it was instantly swallowed by that enormous magical energy.
He had been completely helpless.
Ethan could already guess the origin of the immense magical power inside Wanda.
"The teacher I found for you is a sorcerer far stronger than I am," Ethan said. "Let's go inside."
The two of them stepped through the door and entered the Sanctum.
Inside the spacious hall stood a dark-skinned sorcerer dressed in traditional robes.
"Hello, Sorcerer Daniel," Ethan greeted first.
Daniel smiled politely.
"His Holiness asked me to wait here for you. Please follow me."
With that, he turned and walked toward a staircase nearby.
Ethan and Wanda followed behind him.
They soon passed through a chamber filled with strange and powerful relics. Ethan's eyes immediately lit up as he looked around.
Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation.
The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.
The Wand of Watoomb.
All of them were incredible treasures.
It was a shame he couldn't defeat the Ancient One.
Otherwise, he would have been tempted to take everything here.
After a short walk, Daniel led them to a wooden door.
"Go on," Daniel said calmly. "Someone inside will receive you."
"Thank you, Sorcerer Daniel."
After expressing his gratitude, Ethan pushed open the door and entered with Wanda.
On the other side stood a pale-skinned sorcerer dressed in white robes.
Ethan didn't exchange many words with him.
The white-robed sorcerer silently guided them down a quiet hallway before stopping at a dimly lit room.
Inside, the Ancient One sat cross-legged while calmly drinking tea.
The white-robed sorcerer bowed slightly toward her before quietly leaving the room.
"Please sit," the Ancient One said, gesturing to the seats in front of her.
Ethan sat down, and Wanda followed suit.
The Ancient One poured tea into the cups placed before them.
"Thank you."
Ethan lifted the cup and took a small sip.
The tea was excellent, but there was nothing particularly special about it. Ethan felt a faint disappointment.
Everyone here was supposed to be a major figure, yet Odin had been far more generous during their first meeting by giving him a baptism of divine power.
At that moment, the Ancient One suddenly spoke.
"The sorcerer who guided you in earlier is named Kaecilius. He became my apprentice this year. What do you think of him?"
Ethan froze slightly when he heard the name.
Earlier, he hadn't paid much attention to the white-robed sorcerer's appearance.
But Kaecilius?
Of course he knew that name.
Wasn't that the apprentice who would eventually stab the Ancient One to death?
But why would she ask him such a question?
Was this some kind of test?
Ethan thought carefully for a moment before making a decision.
He would tell the truth.
Pretending ignorance would be pointless. The Ancient One possessed the Time Stone and could observe past events freely.
Besides, he had already fooled Nick Fury and Tony Stark earlier by claiming he could see fragments of the future.
And when he tricked Thor earlier, the Ancient One might have been watching from the sidelines the entire time.
Sure enough, acting cool for a moment always led to trouble later.
....
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