"Are these the books I was looking for?" Noah asked, approaching the table and gesturing towards the ancient tomes resting upon it.
Dieter carefully arranged the heavy volumes beside him, and Noah picked up the topmost book.
"The Gate of Secrets."
Intricate designs, resembling a cryptic painting, were etched into the aged parchment cover. Geometric shapes and patterns intertwined in a complex spiral, mirroring the book's title.
Its appearance clearly indicated a focus on spatial magic. Opening it, Noah saw yellowed pages filled with handwritten text, emanating a faint magical energy. The contents spoke of the connection between magic and space, offering practical advice on manipulating portals.
After skimming a few pages, Noah closed the book. He wasn't going to read it here; the atmosphere at home was far more conducive to focused study. Placing the book back on the table, he gathered the entire stack using magic and stored them within his inventory.
Dieter watched him with a look of astonishment.
"Lee, your command of magic is truly impressive! These books are the result of my research today. As you requested, they contain spells for tracking individuals. I hope you find them useful."
"Thank you, Dieter. I owe you one," Noah said gratefully, making a mental note to repay the favor. He still didn't know when the traitorous Kaecilius would strike Kamar-Taj, so it was worth investigating in his free time.
"Don't mention it, Lee. It was nothing," Dieter smiled.
"I'll be going then," Noah said with a wave, opening a portal. Although he had intended to visit the Ancient One, he decided against disturbing her at night. He would return in the morning, at a more appropriate time.
Under Dieter's watchful gaze, the blue portal slowly closed.
Instead of returning to the island, Noah went straight home. Approaching the sofa, he retrieved the books from his inventory and placed them on the table. A small cloud of dust rose from the stack, then coalesced into a tiny ball and zipped out the window.
Blitzcrank smoothly rolled closer. Small wheels had emerged from its legs, allowing its massive body to move effortlessly across the room. It held a teapot in its hands. Stopping before Noah, Blitzcrank carefully poured tea into the cup on the table. The sound of the pouring liquid resembled a gentle stream, and the aroma of tea began to fill the room. The teapot filled the cup to the brim with precision.
"Thank you, Blitzcrank," Noah smiled.
This had become a tradition. While studying magic, he always brought books from the library home and read them with a cup of hot tea. It had become his favorite ritual.
Blitzcrank blinked its eyes, and a smiling emoticon appeared on its chest.
Noah opened one of the books and began to read. It was written in Chinese, a language he was fluent in. The author was an ancient sorcerer, a former Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj.
"Portals... This book is about portal magic," he realized after flipping through a few pages.
The book described how this Sorcerer Supreme was a true master of portal magic. He could open portals without using his hands and travel to any location in the world. It reminded Noah of the future Wong—he had surely read this book.
The text detailed the sorcerer's impressive abilities: he could use portals to travel not only across the world, but also between dimensions. Once, he even opened a portal to a world entirely composed of fire.
"Fire? Is that Hell? Or Muspelheim?" Noah wondered, reading the next line. A world of fire immediately brought to mind Hell, as well as Muspelheim, one of the Nine Realms and the home of fire giants, ruled by Surtur.
However, the following lines clarified everything. The Sorcerer Supreme described how a red demon, one of his sworn enemies, the ruler of Hell, Mephisto, appeared before him in the fiery realm.
Unfortunately, the book didn't mention what happened after the encounter with Mephisto. Noah assumed the Sorcerer Supreme likely didn't escape unscathed. In Hell, where Mephisto's power was at its peak, any encounter with him could have dire consequences. The Sorcerers Supreme always protected Earth from beings like Mephisto, and this one, apparently, stumbled into Hell by accident, likely paying the price for his recklessness.
Yes, "accident" was the appropriate word. In his writings, the Sorcerer Supreme admitted to his fondness for opening portals at random, exploring different worlds and dimensions.
Flipping through the book further, Noah stumbled upon another interesting story. The Sorcerer Supreme once opened a portal to a world that was both familiar and foreign. It was very similar to his own, but with subtle differences. He traveled to the Kamar-Taj of this world and encountered another Sorcerer Supreme. After conversing with him, the sorcerer realized he had stumbled into a parallel universe. This event shocked him so much that he described it in his memoirs. However, the local Sorcerer Supreme scolded him, warning that careless travel between universes could cause temporal anomalies and chaos.
This story reminded Noah of the plot of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," where Ned opened portals to other universes, leading to temporal disruptions. It all started because Peter Parker asked Doctor Strange to use a time spell to undo the consequences of his identity being revealed.
"Maybe I could also open a portal and, like Ned, simply call out the name of the person I need while drawing a circle?" he wondered, recalling the movie.
"Well, I'd better finish reading the other books for now," he decided.
Noah understood that such experiments could have unpredictable consequences. Although Doctor Strange didn't exist yet in this timeline, and no one was manipulating time, the world had still changed. Entities like the Void existed, and no one could predict the consequences of careless magic. He didn't want to accidentally summon the ruler of some other universe—for example, from the comic book world. With his current power, he definitely wouldn't be able to handle such an opponent.
"Rustle... rustle..."
With these thoughts, he continued to read. The spells and advice described in the book proved to be extremely helpful, allowing him to better understand and control portal magic.
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