Being pulled into the Mirror Dimension by the Ancient One finally allowed Luke to exhale in relief. He really didn't want to be violently dogpiled by a courtyard full of muscle-bound battlemages.
He scratched his head, looking at the Sorcerer Supreme's utterly unbothered expression. "You knew all of this was going to happen, and you were watching from the shadows the whole time, right?"
The Ancient One nodded. She had indeed foreseen these events and actively attempted to guide the timeline toward a future more favorable for Earth.
"Then why did you let my dark energy be exposed like that?" Luke had already pieced it together—the bizarre, compliant power he could manipulate was undeniably dark energy.
But to the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, dark energy was a massive trigger. After all, the greatest looming threat to Earth was Dormammu, the Lord of the Dark Dimension.
"Because my time is running out," she replied quietly, speaking of her impending death as if it were simply a change in the weather.
"How is that possible? Haven't you been constantly siphoning Dormammu's dark energy?" Luke blurted in shock. Back in his original world, the running joke was that the Sorcerer Supreme died because her CGI was too expensive, not because of old age.
"I have been secretly drawing upon his power, yes. But Dormammu is not entirely blind to this." The Ancient One allowed the dark sigil to flare on her forehead once more. "He permits me to draw his energy because he has corrupted it with a bewitching, homing property. As long as I absorb and wield his power, he can use me as a beacon to lock onto Earth and drag our world directly into the Dark Dimension."
"I have been fighting against the corruptive nature of his energy for centuries, but I am nearing my limit. If I continue to absorb it, I will eventually condemn Earth to be devoured."
Now Luke finally understood why she had been so eager to embrace death once she found a suitable successor in the movies. Otherwise, it would have been an absolute joke. The Sorcerer Supreme, who single-handedly barricaded Earth against Dormammu and countless other cosmic entities, dying to a mid-boss lackey like Kaecilius? That would have made the other dimensional demons laugh their heads off.
Following her logic, Luke slowly voiced his realization. "And the only way to prevent Earth from being targeted is to stop drawing Dormammu's power. But without it, your life force will give out, and you'll die. You were originally planning to fall in battle, but my arrival presented a new variable: I have my own source of dark energy."
"Exactly."
"But what makes you think I'll just hand my energy over to you? Are you going to force me?"
"I have no intention of forcing you. However, establishing a pact with me will offer you significant benefits."
"Like what?"
"For one, you will no longer be hunted down by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj."
"You have my attention," Luke nodded immediately. Having just narrowly escaped a mob of angry magicians, this was incredibly relevant to his interests.
"Secondly, by forging a pact, I will become your protector—a shield to shelter you until your power fully matures."
'Wait, I get a free, overpowered bodyguard?'
Luke's heart leaped. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was notoriously lethal. Danger lurked around every corner. If he could genuinely secure the Ancient One as his personal bodyguard, he wouldn't have to worry about randomly dying in the early stages of his growth.
"Lastly, I can accelerate your development."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Look at your... mysterious artifact."
'Mysterious artifact? She means my System?'
"What about it?"
"Your artifact only contains a minuscule fragment of dark energy crystals. Once you exhaust them, you will have to scour other dark dimensions to plunder their crystals. But without coordinates to other realities, you could wander the multiverse for years without ever finding a suitable dimension."
"And you have coordinates?"
Luke stroked his chin thoughtfully as the Ancient One nodded.
"Kamar-Taj has always kept a close watch on these extradimensional realms. We possess a vast array of coordinates. If you forge a pact with me, I will supply you with these locations, ensuring your growth never stagnates before you are capable of fending for yourself."
"That sounds great, but there's one major issue. How do I know you're telling the truth? If we sign a pact and you immediately backstab me, what am I supposed to do?"
The Ancient One gazed at him evenly. "I can weave a condition into the contract: you may terminate the pact unilaterally at any given moment. Doing so would sever my lifeline, resulting in my immediate death. Is that agreeable?"
Luke stepped closer. "Deal. How do we do this?"
The Ancient One hovered her hand over Luke's head. She closed her eyes for a moment before a glowing magical mandala bloomed from her palm.
Just as Luke started worrying that the golden sparks might ignite his hair, a System notification abruptly popped into his vision.
[Notice: Entity 'Ancient One' is attempting to forge a pact with you. Host is currently incapable of manually accepting magical contracts. The System will assist in finalizing the pact.]
[Contract Terms: 'Ancient One' will be granted access to your generated Dark Energy. You retain the right to unilaterally terminate this pact at any time.]
[Accept? Yes / No]
'So the System isn't just a glorified idle mining app; it actually functions as a personal assistant?'
Luke mentally clicked Yes. A sudden influx of knowledge regarding portal magic flooded his brain, while his newly regenerated energy bar instantly plummeted to zero.
"Your dark energy is astonishingly pure, but the volume is far too low," the Ancient One noted. Upon finalizing the pact, she had gained automatic withdrawal rights to his dark energy, which meant Luke's current balance would continuously be drained to zero.
"I can't help that!" Luke complained helplessly. "I literally just got this power. Give me some time!"
Staring at his empty dark energy tracker, Luke suddenly had an idea. If the Ancient One wanted more energy, why not borrow the Time Stone to speed things up?
The Ancient One hadn't anticipated that the power of the Dark Dimension would actually scale over time within the mundane world. After all, dark energy traditionally defied time entirely; the two forces were considered equals. Still, she waved a hand, summoning the Eye of Agamotto and offering the Time Stone to Luke.
The moment Luke touched the glowing emerald gem, another System prompt chimed.
[Would you like to watch an ad to accelerate the game?]
'Wait, what? I can watch ads here?!'
Stunned, Luke immediately clicked Yes, expecting some bizarre cosmic revelation. Instead...
[Ad Space Available for Rent.]
'Are you kidding me?! Even this works?!'
After staring blankly at a literal static billboard for exactly one minute, Luke finally received his reward.
The ad equated to a one-hour time skip, netting him 6.0 points of dark energy. Added to his previous balance, he now had a total of 12 points.
Stolen novel; please report.
Noticing an [Ads Remaining: 2/3] counter in the top-left corner of his vision, Luke happily handed the Time Stone back to the Sorcerer Supreme. The ad counter didn't disappear, which made him sigh in relief.
Still, he couldn't help but look at the glowing green gem with a bit of disappointment. While holding the Time Stone, he had quickly realized he couldn't actually use it to manipulate time. It was incredibly depressing.
'I literally held the Time Stone in my hands, and I couldn't do a thing with it. It's like spending the night with the bride on your wedding day, only to get blackout drunk and sleep on the floor doing absolutely nothing.'
It was a tragedy he actively forced himself to forget.
"You cannot wield the Time Stone?" The Ancient One looked at him curiously, surprised he had returned it so readily.
When Luke first arrived in this world as an anomaly, she had sensed his presence immediately. His very existence had forcefully spawned countless branching timelines. But whatever he had just done to tether himself to the dark energy of this reality, it firmly anchored him to the main universe, causing all those unstable branching timelines to collapse and vanish.
She had also sensed several entities from beyond time attempting to lock onto Luke's location, but the moment he fully assimilated into this reality, they lost his trail and gave up.
Still, the fact that he was completely incapable of using the Time Stone genuinely surprised her.
Luke remained silently depressed. He had noticed that the moment his dark energy touched the relic, his System had forcefully extracted something from the gem to unlock the ad feature. In response, the Time Stone seemed almost offended, actively rejecting his attempts to use its temporal powers.
'Is it... throwing a tantrum?'
Luke stared hard at the Time Stone, hoping it would react.
Noticing his intense gaze, the Ancient One quietly tucked the relic back into the Eye of Agamotto. "It seems your abilities have undergone a change?"
Dragging his attention back to the System interface, Luke looked at his 12 points and immediately purchased another Shadow Ninja.
He then quickly "watched" the remaining two ads. With his new balance, he bought two more. He summoned all four ninjas at once. Even inside the Mirror Dimension, the four pitch-black figures materialized flawlessly around him, radiating an incredible sense of security.
Checking his interface, the cost for the next ninja was now 10.4 points. At his current generation rate, he could buy another one in just three minutes.
'Hell yeah! We're finally in business!'
If he spent just one full day grinding, wouldn't he have a small army? Okay, maybe not a massive hundred-man legion, but definitely a respectable squad.
Feeling immensely satisfied, he almost forgot about the Ancient One standing next to him. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him—her eyes closed as she focused on something internal—Luke entertained himself by ordering his four ninjas to jump around and spar with each other.
The ninjas didn't hesitate, immediately engaging in a brutal, lightning-fast melee. Watching their terrifying agility, Luke was genuinely amazed. 'How on earth did those sorcerers instantly obliterate my first ninja?'
'Oh, right. They ganged up on him. Never mind.'
Thinking back to the courtyard full of elite battlemages, Luke couldn't help but pity his very first ninja. It had suffered a brutal beatdown at a tragically young age. Considering the sheer physical prowess of Kamar-Taj's elites, a hundred-man ninja squad probably wouldn't even be enough to scratch them. If the sorcerers actually started using offensive magic, he'd probably need an army of a thousand just to stand a chance.
A few minutes later, Luke bought his fifth ninja. Realizing it would take nearly half an hour before he could afford the next one, he decided he needed to go find an actual clock to set an alarm.
However, they were still trapped inside the Mirror Dimension. Even though he had a Sling Ring, he had no idea how to actually use it to escape.
After a short while, the Ancient One finally opened her eyes, looking at Luke with clear astonishment. When she first noticed his energy violently fluctuating, she had been slightly concerned. But then she realized that the dark energy trickling into her body had multiplied significantly. While it still wasn't enough to fuel major spells, it was enough to stave off her death for a little longer.
True, the amount of energy Luke provided was laughably small compared to Dormammu's vast reserves. But it was completely pure, continuously generated, and came with zero risk of corruption. That alone made the Sorcerer Supreme incredibly satisfied.
She reached out, took Luke's Sling Ring, and quickly reconfigured its magical structure.
"There. As long as you channel a fraction of your dark energy into the ring, you can freely open portals. Moving forward, I suggest you focus on your growth. Your current output is... lacking."
With that, she casually announced she was going into seclusion to purge the last remnants of Dormammu's corrupted energy from her body—and promptly booted Luke out of the Mirror Dimension.
Back in reality, Luke could feel that his generated energy was being siphoned away by the pact almost the very second it was produced.
'Damn it, I'm completely drained. Not a single drop left.'
Fortunately, the modified Sling Ring required virtually zero energy to operate. Slipping it onto his fingers, he traced a circle and stepped through, arriving back at the main training courtyard.
Many of the sorcerers were still practicing. The moment he appeared, they all turned to stare at him with the ravenous intensity of starved wolves. However, unlike their previous murderous glares, these looks were purely driven by a desperate, borderline-religious craving for the pure energy he represented.
Feeling severely uncomfortable under the intense stares of a dozen burly men, Luke summoned all five of his Shadow Ninjas to bolster his courage. Scanning the crowd, he finally spotted Mordo in a corner.
'Oh, how the tables have turned. You chased me like a dog earlier, and now it's my turn.'
Using the threat of "if you don't spar with my ninjas, my growth will slow down," Luke easily blackmailed Mordo into a fight. He commanded all five ninjas to swarm the elite sorcerer.
This brutal sparring session really highlighted the sheer gap in skill between regular mages and elites like Mordo. The ninjas didn't stand a chance in a one-on-one fight. If they hadn't relentlessly ganged up on him, Mordo would have effortlessly dispatched them in two strikes.
But the Shadow Ninjas possessed infinite stamina and the incredibly broken ability to infinitely respawn. Their terrifying persistence completely overwhelmed Mordo. Realizing they were outmatched in skill, the five ninjas immediately switched to a suicidal fighting style. They willingly let themselves get cut in half just to land a single scratch on him in return.
By the end of the brawl, Mordo was completely exhausted. He collapsed flat on his back, panting heavily, looking completely resigned to his fate.
'Man, you've got no stamina,' Luke shook his head in disappointment. Leaving the battered elite behind, he went to find an alarm clock and happily sneaked back to his room.