Strange’s Happy Life (Part 2)

Schiller sat in his office, flipping through reports as he dialed a number on his phone. After dialing, he put it to his ear. The busy signal rang for a long time before someone finally answered. First came a string of explosions from the other end, then the sound of something falling over, followed by Strange’s startled cry.

"Hello? Stephen, what are you doing? Why haven’t you sent over the two medical records I asked for last night?"

"Oh, wait! I forgot!" Before Strange could finish speaking, he let out a pained cry. "Ow!"

He tore the silk ribbon wrapped around his face and looked at the person across from him. "Wong, I said wait a second. I need to answer the phone, I…"

Before he could explain, Schiller’s roar came through the phone. "You forgot?! You’ve forgotten four times this week already! Yesterday, you said you forgot the three medical records I asked for too. I pay you that much, can’t you…"

Just as Strange was about to explain, the ribbon flying through the air slapped him across the face again, making him shout. Wong, the mage across from him, said, "You need to focus. Otherwise, magical power will not obey your command."

"I want to focus too!" Strange shouted. He said into the phone, "There’s nothing worth looking at in that patient’s record from Room Two! Didn’t I tell you yesterday? He made up all his symptoms to hit on the nurse named Fina…"

Strange dodged left and spoke quickly into the phone. "I’ve got a bit of trouble here. Oh, damn it! Move…"

As he spoke, he bent down again and dodged the ribbon sweeping toward him. Then he switched the phone to his other hand, shielded his face with his free right hand, and said, "I’ll give you those two records tonight when I get back. Right now, I need to…"

With a savage swing of his arm, he finally caught the wildly flying ribbon. He let out a breath of relief and said, "…deal with a little trouble."

The moment he finished speaking, the ribbon in his hand shot out of his palm with a whoosh. It made a wide loop around the chandelier, then launched into a Catapult Start, dragging the chandelier down onto Strange.

Strange screamed and flew backward with his head in his arms. When the phone hit the floor, Schiller’s threatening voice came through it. "Listen, I don’t care how badly your hobby class is going. You still have to finish your work on time, or I’ll dock your pay!"

Listening to the busy signal from the phone, Strange covered his eyes helplessly and said, "I regret this. Can I drop out now?"

He lay on the floor like his soul had left his body. "This thing is impossible for a human being to learn. How am I supposed to explain to a ribbon that it needs to listen to me?"

Wong remained calm as ever. "The power of magic lies in conviction. You must learn persistence."

The following afternoon, Strange was bent over writing something when Schiller came in from outside with a cup of coffee. "You’ve been taking classes for a week now. How’s it going?"

Strange said nothing at first. He let out a deep sigh, then looked up and gave Schiller a long once-over with his eyes. Schiller followed his gaze and looked down at himself. "What is it? Is there something wrong with me?"

"You know magic too, right? Can I ask how long you studied it?"

"Who told you what I use is magic?" Schiller asked. Seeing Strange glare at him, he said, "I’m a Mutant. This ability is innate. I don’t need to learn it."

Strange’s eyes widened further. He said in shock and fury, "Then you made me learn magic! You actually… you damned…"

Schiller shrugged. This had always been his line. Around ordinary people and Mutants, he was a magician; around magicians, he was an ordinary person and a Mutant. In any case, those two sides could not exactly compare notes.

Strange held his forehead. "I should have realized it sooner. How could such a powerful ability possibly be that easy to learn?"

"Can you believe it? For this entire week, I’ve been fighting a floating ribbon!"

Strange was so angry he laughed. "I really have to thank that damned ribbon. It makes the patients here seem pretty easy to handle!"

"A ribbon?" Schiller asked in some confusion. "Didn’t they teach you to draw circles or something?"

"Draw circles? What’s that?"

"Magic portals."

Strange snorted. "Who knows how many years it’ll take before I get there? Right now, that ribbon is beating me up one-sidedly. Forget controlling it—I can barely catch it."

"I really hope you learn that magic portal technique soon."

"Why?"

"Then you can just throw your completed medical records to me through a portal."

Strange rolled his eyes and continued, "That fat mage said the Sorcerer Supreme thinks I’m talented. What the hell does it take to fight a ribbon?"

"Didn’t he tell you any tricks? Like calming down and concentrating on controlling it…"

"Of course he did, but how am I supposed to calm down when a ribbon slaps me twice a second? Is that somehow my fault?"

"So you’re just going to keep grinding it out with that thing? With a ribbon?"

"What else can I do? Wong told me that every novice mage who wants to train their concentration has to go through this."

Strange picked up his pen and began writing again. As he wrote, he said, "According to him, magic doesn’t come from nowhere. It borrows the power of certain higher-level forces, so every mage apprentice has to train control first to keep the borrowed power from going out of control."

"So what’s the principle behind that ribbon?"

Strange’s pen paused. "I heard it’s borrowed power too, just weaker. It’s specifically used to train beginners."

"I’ve actually been thinking. Since this ability can be learned, that proves it isn’t fundamentally different from the medical knowledge I studied before. It should also be possible to use methods like induction, summary, and refinement…"

There was no doubt that Strange was a top student. After suffering for a few days, he had already started thinking of ways to improve efficiency.

The Ancient One had judged him accurately as well. Strange’s talent lay in his exceptional ability to learn and his high receptiveness to magic. He quickly accepted his identity as a mage apprentice and intended to make progress in his magical career.

Schiller rested his chin on his hand. "In that case, have you considered a more convenient method?"

"A more convenient method? What do you mean?"

"Since this power is borrowed, you can have a proper talk with your creditor and ask them not to be so irritable."

Strange said helplessly, "The problem is that I can’t even catch that ribbon. You have to get started first, control the ribbon long enough to make it stop, and only then can you communicate with the power behind it."

"Have you ever considered that there are actually many ways to make that ribbon stop?"

"Like what?"

"Like this." Schiller took a blue gun out of a drawer.

The next day, Wong stood to one side and watched Strange roll up his sleeves. Holding a strange blue pistol in one hand, Strange spoke unhurriedly to a ribbon frozen stiff like an icicle. "Listen, if you keep being this irritable, you’re simply not worth the price…"

Watching Strange act like a mobster collecting protection money, Wong was speechless. He tried to dissuade him. "Stephen, a mage’s concentration is very important. You can’t…"

Before he could finish, The Ancient One appeared behind him. Her tone was rather light, even pleasantly surprised. "It seems he is even more talented than I imagined."

Wong’s eyes widened. The Ancient One stroked her chin and said, "I had worried that his temperament was a little too gentle, that Kamar-Taj and Earth might suffer because of it. But now, it seems rather good."

Wong stared blankly at the Sorcerer Supreme. The Ancient One smiled and said, "Concentration is indeed important, and conviction is important too. But those come later. Before you can control magic, you must first obtain magic. That is the true essence of magic."

After watching Strange play a shooting game with the ribbon using the Freeze Ray for several hours, The Ancient One was even more satisfied. "It seems his patience is good as well. Sometimes, it’s like this. Some miserly fellows are extremely difficult to deal with. Without enough patience, it’s hard to lure them in."

And when the ribbon finally compromised and the two sides began negotiating, The Ancient One became even more convinced that she had chosen correctly. "Clearly, he is experienced. Whether it is raising the price moderately or advancing by retreating, he uses both with great proficiency…"

Indeed, Strange’s social engagements during this period had not been for nothing. Every day, he dealt with important figures from all over the world, chatting and laughing with them in all kinds of settings while quietly closing deals. Even when Stark negotiated with other major powers, he was present.

The great mysterious powers of the universe all had different temperaments. Most were evil, but evil was evil; when it came to scheming and intrigue, humans still had the final word.

For Strange, who had already participated in the highest-level human negotiations, even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. That was enough for him to handle this beginner-level situation.

Wong sighed beside him. He always felt that the next Sorcerer Supreme’s style was going to go spectacularly off the rails.

After using the Freeze Ray to subdue the rampaging beginner ribbon, Strange’s way of thinking changed. He suddenly realized that magic was not above technology. They were simply two different paths.

The two paths overlapped in some areas. For example, both a Freeze Ray and freezing magic could freeze something. But sometimes they countered or complemented each other. For example, the Freeze Ray could subdue a disobedient ribbon, while freezing magic could replenish the Freeze Ray and the Freeze Ray Generator with energy out of thin air.

After these days of observing human economics, a bold idea gradually formed in Strange’s mind.

In the laboratory at Stark Tower, Stark looked Strange up and down and said sarcastically, "Guess what profession is least welcome in my lab?"

Strange paid him no attention at all. With a wave of his hand, a ribbon shot out and circled Stark, nearly tripping him.

"Shit, what is that thing?" Stark turned his head, watching the ribbon dart wildly across the ceiling.

Strange spread his hands. "See? This is my magic."

"Heh." Stark gave him the fakest smile imaginable, then raised a hand. A suit of armor instantly covered his entire body, moving so fast Strange could not even react before a fist stopped between his eyes. Stark’s voice came from the armor.

"See? This is my fist."

Strange pushed his wrist aside and tilted his head away. Then he said, "Listen, I have a plan. It’s like this: someone calling herself the Sorcerer Supreme came to me and told me to study magic with her, but I discovered that magic is actually…"

Half an hour later, the two stood before the workbench. Stark crossed his arms and said, "So you mean you want me to use magical power to modify armor, then turn around and build armor that counters magic, so you can borrow even more magic?"

"So it’s basically…" Stark pressed his hand beneath his nose, his index finger rubbing at it. "If I understand correctly, you want to borrow money from someone, use that money to buy a gun, then point the gun at your creditor and force them to lend you even more money?"

"Putting aside whether it works technically, aren’t you kind of unethical?"

"So, does it work technically?"

Stark turned around and pulled out a stack of documents from nearby. "Actually, it’s strange. The power on this ribbon seems different from the kind Schiller showed me."

"I still haven’t cracked his kind of power, so I can’t fully apply it to my armor. But this…"

Stark frowned in thought. "According to your theory, this power is borrowed from someone. Since they can project it onto a ribbon, can they project it onto my armor too?"

Strange shrugged. "Theoretically, yes. But ordinary people have a hard time controlling this power."

"Then how do you control it?"

"Because I’m not ordinary. I’m a genius."

Stark glared at Strange, and Strange glared back. After a while, Strange said, "All right, actually, I use a Freeze Ray…"

"Use technology to subdue magic, then use magic to modify technology?" Stark stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What if I make a trap? Let it project its power onto my armor, then refuse to pay it back and keep the power for myself?"

"That’s exactly what I mean. Once you turn that portion of power to your own use and build stronger armor, I’ll provide the people, you provide the guns, and we’ll go borrow more money…"

The two looked at each other. Stark looked at Strange with disgust. "You’re unbelievably unethical."

"So are you in?"

"I happen to be unethical too. I’m in."

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