Marvel: The Ultimate Superman-Chapter 145. Your Method Only Suits Ordinary People

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The third day had finally arrived.

Normally, it would be just another routine day of morning classes and magical practice for the apprentices of Kamar-Taj.

But today was different.

Today was the day of the wager between Mordo and Nolan. A challenge to master the Mirror Dimension in just three days.

It sounded almost unmagical in nature. But it certainly added some spice to the usually monotonous training routine.

In the square, Master Mordo stood silently, watching the gathering students without saying a word. He was simply waiting for Nolan to show up.

"Why isn't he here yet? Did he bail?"

"No way. Everyone knows about this. If he runs now, he'll never be able to show his face here again."

"Or maybe... he realized there's no way he could learn the Mirror Dimension in three days and is too embarrassed to come."

...

Mordo, hearing the whispers, shouted:

"Silence!"

At his words, the previously chattering students instantly quieted, shrinking together like startled quail.

Mordo kept waiting. If Nolan didn't show up, he'd be thoroughly disappointed. Losing was one thing, but avoiding the outcome was entirely another.

Off in the distance, the Ancient One and Wong were observing as well.

Wong asked, "Why hasn't Nolan shown up yet? Even if he has mastered the Mirror Dimension, he still needs to show up and prove it."

"Perhaps he's just preoccupied with something... and forgot the wager," the Ancient One replied calmly.

Wong frowned and tore open a portal on the other side was Nolan's lab.

Inside, Nolan was tying down a girl to an operating table. Streams of demonic energy were being siphoned from her body.

That's right, it was Beast again.

The same demon who had become the core power cell of the Oscorp Demon Army.

But this time, Nolan was trying to experiment; he wanted to see if Beast could serve as one of his personal magic power sources. Just as he was about to begin...

A space portal opened behind him. Wong stood there.

"Nolan, the wager has begun. What are you doing here?"

"Huh? It's the third day already?"

Nolan glanced at the display screen controlled by A.I. Apparently, his deep dive into magical energy research had made him lose track of time.

Research knows no hours.

"Alright, I'll head over."

Nolan casually opened a portal and stepped through.

Wong muttered to himself, "This guy's mastery of spatial magic is way too fast."

The Ancient One chuckled, "This is what I meant, just guide his interests in the right direction, and he's the best candidate for Sorcerer Supreme."

Wong remained silent. After all, a mediocre man has no business judging a genius.

Back at the square, Mordo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the portal open.

He had truly thought Nolan might be avoiding the challenge. Nolan, still in his lab coat, stepped out.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of an experiment and almost forgot," Nolan apologized lightly. When he gets absorbed in his work, he dislikes interruptions. To him, this wager wasn't even a big deal.

Mordo's face hardened. "So? Are you ready now?"

"It's just a Mirror Dimension. No need to be so tense."

Nolan's hands moved rapidly through complex gestures. Orange energy flared at his wrists, and in a blink, he locked onto a budding dimensional node. The power of the Vishanti surged into him, expanding the microscopic dimensional shell at that node.

A split second later, countless glowing fragments exploded outward, centered around Nolan.

In the eyes of the surrounding sorcerers, these shards seemed to reshape reality as they spread.

Mordo could no longer maintain his composure; his lips went dry, and he subconsciously licked them.

He had done it.

A true magical genius was standing before him.

Nolan turned to the speechless Mordo and asked, "Is that enough?"

The apprentices stared in awe at the shard-like formation that surrounded them like the walls of a dimensional world, but they hadn't even noticed when it appeared.

"I've lost," Mordo finally broke the silence, his voice laced with bitter resignation.

"I'll resign from teaching you. I don't have the qualifications. You're a true genius."

In that fleeting moment, Mordo had clearly felt Nolan instantly locate a dimensional node, slice it open with precision, and use the Vishanti's power to stabilize a new dimension.

His technique was flawless, almost effortless.

Even Mordo and Wong were only just barely capable of such a featcand yet Nolan, who three days ago didn't even know what the Mirror Dimension was, had just done it like child's play.

Nolan snapped his fingers. The fragmented world around them shattered, the dimension collapsing back into the node it had emerged from.

Only now did the apprentices feel something was off. Reality around them seemed to flow in reverse, rewinding back to the moment Nolan had snapped his fingers.

And yet... nothing had actually changed.

"It's not that your teaching is bad," Nolan said with a smile. "It's just that your method suits ordinary people, and I'm not exactly ordinary."

With that, he casually opened a portal and returned to his lab.

To him, this had just been a brief intermission.

What followed was stunned silence across the plaza.

That expression Nolan had before leaving it was like he'd just eaten lunch.

He hadn't taken the wager seriously at all.

But maybe... There wasn't any need for him to.

"He actually did it... Three days to master the Mirror Dimension? Is there any magic in this world he can't learn?"

"'Your method is for ordinary people, but I'm not ordinary.' Damn, I wish I could say something like that with that kind of composure."

"Keep dreaming. Mordo himself admitted Nolan had the talent to be arrogant.

Do you?"

...

Suddenly, Mordo laughed softly.

The surrounding apprentices jumped. Was he... mentally broken?

"No wonder the Ancient One favors him. She was right. My teaching really only suits ordinary people."

He quickly let go of the frustration in his heart. His years of training weren't for nothing; he wouldn't let this get to him.

In fact, if the next Sorcerer Supreme needed him to teach them, then... maybe they weren't worthy of the title.

From a distance, the Ancient One and Wong watched in silence.

Wong asked, "Should I call Mordo over?"

"No need," the Ancient One replied. "He'll work through it himself. If this breaks him, then he's not the Mordo I know."

She looked up at the sky, her gaze focusing far into the distance.

"How's Dormammu?"

"He's still probing the Sanctum's defenses. We're still tracking Kaecilius's whereabouts."

"Hmm. Since Nolan has now mastered the Mirror Dimension, let's give him the New York Sanctum."

"So soon? You want him handling dimensional threats already?"

"He's already eager to."

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