Altos Dimension

A circular spell formation emerged from the tip of the Mind Stone Scepter, recklessly unleashing thick bolts of lightning at Mordo.

Shimizu discovered that he had quite a talent for magic.

It was one thing that he could quickly learn most conventional spells through his formidable Mental Power and excellent comprehension, but when it came to spells involving wind and lightning in their manifestations, he was absolutely a genius among geniuses.

Besides his incarnation in the Marvel World, both his main body and the Shimizu in the DC World were studying magic as well.

Since they were not within the Marvel multiverse system, they could not cast certain spells that required borrowing power from specific Dimensional Demon Gods. But fundamentally, magic and ninjutsu were both ways of utilizing energy, and much of it was interconnected. Most things magic could do could also be performed with Chakra; it was simply that the quality of Chakra was not as high as the energy of multiversal-level beings.

If quality was lacking, quantity would make up for it.

Others had to carefully calculate every bit of borrowed power when casting spells, but Shimizu did not—his energy belonged to himself, and with the Mind Stone’s enhancement, one unit of Chakra could produce the force of ten.

A vast expanse of lightning poured from the Mind Stone Scepter, genuinely startling Mordo.

Balthazar’s Thunder was no easy spell. It was typically a high-windup, high-power spell, yet here was a mage who had studied magic for only a month, casting it instantly—and with even greater power than anyone else?

Could it be the scepter’s power?

Mordo was quite experienced in battle. He knew this move was difficult to block and even harder to evade. The Boots of Valtorr beneath his feet stepped repeatedly through the air; with every step, a miniature circular shield formation appeared beneath him, lending him force and accelerating his retreat.

At the same time, as he formed a hand seal, the Staff of Watoomb in Mordo’s hand lit up. He pointed it forward.

"Watoom’s Wind."

This was an extremely practical spell. It could use the power of wind to form a protective barrier around the caster, or directly send that wind barrier blasting toward the enemy.

Enhanced by the Staff of Watoomb, a violent gale suddenly swept through the Mirror Dimension, making the mage apprentices watching from afar stagger unsteadily.

Only when several mages who had learned the Galadorgel Ring stepped forward and jointly raised a shield did they block the aftershock.

The gale roared, lightning crisscrossing through it.

Several golden-rimmed portals appeared in succession above Shimizu. Magical missiles shot from the Staff of Watoomb in Mordo’s hand, firing continuously at Shimizu.

Shimizu hurriedly drew a portal above his head as well, returning every single missile.

But in the next instant, mist rose.

Shimizu recognized this spell too, though he had not learned it yet.

Valtor’s Mist!

It seemed Mordo knew quite a few spells related to the neutral Dimensional Demon Gods associated with the equipment he carried.

Valtorr represented secrecy and protection. This mist, cast by borrowing Valtorr’s power, did far more than obscure vision. The power of Valtorr contained within it could suppress every means of perception.

At the very least, Shimizu’s Transparent World, which normally covered a range of a thousand meters, had now been suppressed to barely more than ten.

"First a feint, then blocking the opponent’s vision. So next…"

A golden chain appeared some distance away and coiled toward Shimizu.

Krakken’s Chain. Its effect was similar to Cyttorak’s Crimson Chains, though less powerful. However, the price it required was much lower as well.

"I knew it."

Shimizu shook his head.

He also knew this was definitely just another feint.

If it failed, Mordo certainly had another move prepared.

But Shimizu had more or less figured out Mordo’s methods and level of strength.

Given Mordo’s extreme pursuit of order and nature, he certainly would not learn those Forbidden Jutsu that were immensely powerful but demanded enormous prices and violated the laws of nature.

In other words, Mordo’s strength was roughly what he had displayed so far.

He might have a few other formidable spells as Trump cards, but his overall strength was around this level.

Quite strong, but a little weak for Shimizu.

After all, he had only used Taijutsu and magic he had learned for a month to fight Mordo. He had not used the ninjutsu and Puppet Technique he truly excelled at.

With magic alone, he could probably fight a mage of Mordo’s first-rate caliber to a six-four split, with no worries about self-preservation. But gaining the upper hand or defeating his opponent would be somewhat difficult.

With a stomp, Shimizu activated the Body Flicker Technique. His figure vanished instantly, causing Mordo’s golden chain to close around empty air.

The next second, Shimizu’s figure disappeared from where he had been.

Mordo, who had been preparing to use the mist as cover for a sneak attack, froze. Then he looked into the distance in shock.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Shimizu watched the white mist stir, a trace of surprise flashing across his face. Then he clapped his hands together and increased his output.

"Wind Style: Tornado Hurricane!"

Valtor’s Mist had an extremely high-level power at its core. A single Wind Release: Great Breakthrough was not quite enough to blow it away.

Fortunately, Shimizu’s mastery of Wind Release was extraordinarily high.

Even without counting the boost from Airflow Manipulation, in the ninja world he could already be considered one of the very best masters of Wind Release, perhaps not much weaker than Danzo from the neighboring village.

Mordo was stunned. He looked at the colossal storm ahead, then at the Staff of Watoomb in his hand.

Whose hands was the Staff of Watoomb supposed to be in when it came to this kind of terrifying storm power?

Brother, didn’t you only learn magic for a month? I’ve never even seen this spell. Are you Watoomb’s illegitimate son or something?

Mordo gritted his teeth, then poured more mystic energy into the Staff of Watoomb. He first laid down a Seraphim Shield in front of himself to buy time, then began chanting.

He could cast a storm on this scale too!

An even stronger one!

As long as he was willing to pay Watoomb a greater price through the Staff of Watoomb.

"Smack!"

Mordo had barely uttered two words when he suddenly felt someone slap his forehead.

"Are you insane, you little brat?!"

Ancient One had appeared behind Mordo at some point, grumbling furiously, looking like someone who had been driven into a raging meltdown after losing too many games in a row.

Then he smacked Mordo on the head twice more. With his other hand, he casually opened a portal and reached through to slap the back of Shimizu’s head.

Shimizu dodged it.

The old Ancient One blew his beard and glared. Annoyed, he gave Mordo another flick on the forehead.

Mordo: …

"My apologies, Ancient One. Wade and I were merely sparring."

Mordo bowed deeply to Ancient One at a full ninety degrees, looking ashamed.

When he thought of how Ancient One had just risked his life to deal with those enemies, only to come back now and clean up his mess, Mordo wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the ground.

"You call this sparring? If you’d continued just now, you’d have been lying in bed for the next month."

Ancient One pointed at Mordo and scolded him.

If you, my experienced and capable fighter, end up bedridden, how am I supposed to slack off next month?

"My apologies, Ancient One. I was reckless."

Mordo spoke softly, his eyes unable to stop themselves from sneaking glances at Shimizu, who was walking over while patting dust off his backside.

You used such a powerful spell. Why are you completely fine?

We learned the same kind of magic, didn’t we?

Could you really be Watoomb’s biological son?

The mage apprentices who had followed into the Mirror Dimension to watch the excitement also lowered their heads one by one and came forward to pay respects to the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Ancient One."

Shimizu shamelessly flashed Ancient One a brilliant smile.

Ancient One rolled his eyes at Shimizu.

"You’re quite something. Even Mordo isn’t your match."

"Ahem, Ancient One taught me well. What skills could I possibly have that you don’t already know about?"

With the Time Stone, Ancient One surely knew what he was capable of.

"Cut the crap. You know perfectly well how much of your ability you learned at Kamar-Taj. Since you’re both so capable, do some more proper work for me."

"Ancient One, please give your orders!"

Mordo immediately straightened up and said.

Shimizu: …

I knew this old man was here to find laborers.

"Mm, very good. Then we’ll let this matter go for now. Mordo, Wade, get yourselves ready in a bit and take some people to New York. Coordinate with the mages at the New York Sanctum. They’ve detected spatial fluctuations from a hell-like dimension there. Demons may have descended there. Go deal with it."

Ancient One yawned and waved them off, then suddenly paused.

"Oh, right. Wade, come here for a moment!"

"What is it?"

Ancient One brought his mouth close to Shimizu’s ear and whispered:

"Have you considered acquiring Blizzard Entertainment? If you do, can you let me beat up their planning team?"

"I’d like to beat them up too, but Blizzard Entertainment has merged with another company now. If I want to buy it, I’d have to bleed a fortune, and that’d be a terrible deal. How about we wait a couple of years? My personal assets are growing quickly right now."

"A couple of years?"

Ancient One stroked his beard.

By then, Strange would practically be taking over! And he himself would be about ready to meet Vishanti and Eternity!

"Could you hurry it up a little? How about this: I’ll use the Time Stone later to see when it would be best for you to buy it. Please, I really want to beat them up before I die!"

"Then beg me properly. I’d be spending so much money, so you have to give me something in return, right?"

"Mm…"

Ancient One rested his chin on his hand and began thinking.

"I can let you choose one item from the artifact vault, but only one!"

"No. At least five."

How could one possibly be enough?

Old man, you’re dreaming if you think that’s enough.

"Five? You little brat, you may not be as handsome as me, but you sure dream big."

Ancient One tugged at his beard. He wanted to refuse, but recalling how disgusted he had been while gaming just now, he could not bring himself to let it go.

"How about this? Two. No more than that. I’ll also tell you the location of a treasure. What do you say?"

"You can’t just give it to me? You’re only telling me where it is?"

Shimizu looked at Ancient One disdainfully.

"I can’t get it."

Ancient One shook his head and answered bluntly.

"Old man, if even you can’t get it, why would I be able to? I’m not as good at fighting as you."

Ancient One rubbed his nose.

"That thing isn’t inside this universe. You have to go outside it. If I leave, who will protect Earth from the Dimensional Demon Gods’ interference?"

"So you’re saying that without using the Time Stone, you can’t handle those dangers. That’s why you’re telling me this. Which means that without the Time Stone, you’re not even stronger than me?"

"Heh, you really know how to dream. How about we find a time to test that?"

Ancient One grinned at Shimizu.

"Forget it. I respect the old and cherish the young. Generally speaking, I don’t hold grudges against old things over five hundred years old. I accept."

Shimizu decided to first hear what Ancient One had to say.

At worst, he would treat it as spending money to buy two magical artifacts.

But it was not entirely spending money either. If he truly acquired it, the money he spent would still remain in his hands in the form of other assets, with two magical artifacts included on top.

Besides, he wanted to beat up the planners behind certain games too.

"Fine. I’ll open the artifact vault for you later."

Ancient One grinned and waved to Mordo and the others, calling out loudly:

"Mordo, take the others to investigate New York first. Wade and I have a few matters to discuss."

"Yes, Ancient One."

Mordo glanced at Ancient One, then gave Shimizu a deep look. He bowed, opened a portal, and led the mage apprentices out of the Mirror Dimension.

Ancient One, meanwhile, waved one hand and began using illusion magic to create a holographic slideshow.

In an instant, Shimizu seemed to be standing amid the stars. Then his viewpoint suddenly rose, and the entire universe compressed into a single point. That point then became a line.

It represented a timeline.

One timeline after another twisted and intertwined, yet remained clearly distinct from one another.

"The multiverse is vast and boundless. Not every dimension is centered on humans, nor is every dimension as colorful as the universe we live in. Take Dormammu, the current ruler of the Dark Dimension. He was born in a dimension related to flame and was one of the energy-based Fardeen lifeforms. Only after nature expelled and exiled him did he enter the Dark Dimension and take control of it."

Ancient One used his illusion to display the appearance of the Fardeen race before Shimizu.

(Dormammu’s mother, Sinifer)

"The treasure I want to tell you about lies in a dimension called Antuach. However, people now tend to call it the Altos Dimension, because of a man named Altos."

"A million years ago, Antuach was a dimension with highly advanced technological and magical civilizations. Its people were skilled at summarizing the laws of nature, and from them they comprehended the Antuach Rune, which contained the mysteries of nature. It was a type of writing similar to Asgard’s Rune script, capable of carrying power."

"Until one day, Antuach produced a great mage named Altos. He desired to use runes to contain the mysteries of all knowledge, so he wrote the Book of Altos. He hoped to use it to grasp everything in the world, including the secrets of time and space, thereby control the dimension, ascend the divine ladder, and become a god of the multiverse."

Shimizu watched Ancient One’s slideshow, his forehead covered in black lines.

At first, the scenes Ancient One displayed had been grand and magnificent, but when he introduced the Altos Dimension, they became abstract.

They were being played in the style of a cartoon.

Ancient One seemed to understand Shimizu’s look.

"I’ve never been to that dimension. How would I know what it looks like?"