[Starting as a Class 5 Mutant] Chapter 309/310 (Patreon)

Sunset, Kamar-Taj.

"This is my master's sanctum. Her name is the Ancient One," Mordo said, leading Stephen Strange into the sacred hall, its interior illuminated by the warm glow of the setting sun.

"'Ancient One'? Is that her real name?" Strange asked skeptically.

Mordo remained silent, merely casting a calm glance his way.

Strange sighed, recalling the rules Mordo had explained earlier. "Fine, I'll forget everything I think I know. My apologies."

As they walked, Strange noticed other individuals in the sanctum, exuding an air of quiet discipline. Soon, they arrived before a serene figure clad in white robes, her bald head catching the fading sunlight.

"Mr. Strange," the Ancient One greeted with a smile, offering him a cup of tea. "Relax. You don't need to be so tense."

"It's Doctor," Strange corrected, sipping the tea.

"You were a doctor," the Ancient One said gently. "And that's why you're here."

After brief pleasantries, Strange asked the burning question on his mind:

"You once helped a man named Jonathan Pangborn—a paraplegic walk again. How did you do it?"

The Ancient One nodded. "Yes, I guided him."

Strange leaned forward, his voice tinged with hope. "You restored his severed spinal cord? His C7 and C8 vertebrae?"

"I didn't heal him," she replied, shaking her head. "I convinced him he could heal himself."

"What? Is this… some kind of placebo?" Strange asked, disappointment clear in his tone.

The Ancient One explained calmly, "When you reconnect a damaged nerve, is it the surgeon who heals it, or the body?"

Strange frowned. "Cells heal the nerve."

"But cells only heal in the way they know how. What if I told you that your body could convince itself to heal in ways you've never imagined?"

Strange's mind raced, grasping at scientific explanations. "Are you talking about cellular regeneration? Some kind of advanced biotechnology?"

The Ancient One shook her head, dismissing his theory. "We use no such technology here. What we know is how to channel the mind to heal the body."

"Mind over matter?" Strange scoffed, his initial curiosity turning into frustration.

The Ancient One remained patient. "You've spent your life pushing boundaries, yearning to see and understand more. But now, when faced with a truth beyond your comprehension, you refuse to accept it?"

"I refuse because it's absurd!" Strange snapped, his voice rising. "There's no mystical 'mind healing' nonsense! No spirits, no soul, just neurons firing in the brain! Humans are nothing more than matter!"

"You think you understand the universe, Dr. Strange?" the Ancient One asked, her tone calm yet firm. "What about Messiah and the White Knight? Surely you've heard of them."

Strange froze.

The names struck a chord. He had read about their exploits—their powers defied explanation.

"They're just genetic anomalies," he muttered. "Alien technology, perhaps, but nothing mystical."

The Ancient One smiled knowingly. "You truly believe their power is simply genetic mutation?"

"Of course! What else could it be?" Strange's frustration boiled over.

The Ancient One said no more. Instead, she reached out, placing her palm against Strange's chest.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Strange's spirit was expelled from his body. He looked down at himself, translucent and glowing. His physical form sat lifeless in the chair.

"What… What's happening?" he stammered, staring at his ethereal hands.

The Ancient One gestured, and Strange's spirit snapped back into his body.

"What did you just do to me?!" he demanded.

"I separated your astral form from your physical body," she explained matter-of-factly.

"You drugged me! That tea—what did you put in it? Psychedelics?"

"Just tea. With a bit of honey," she replied, unfazed.

"What… What did I just experience?"

"You glimpsed the Astral Plane—a dimension where the soul can exist outside the body."

The Ancient One began explaining: "Human perception is limited to three dimensions, but there are countless others beyond our understanding. The place you visited is known as the Astral Dimension, or the Plane of Souls. Without guidance, one could easily become lost there."

Strange struggled to process her words, his scientific mind at odds with what he had just experienced. "Why would you do this to me?"

"To open your eyes," she replied. "You know so little of the universe, yet you presume to understand its limits."

She placed her thumb on Strange's forehead. "Let me show you the truth. Open your eyes."

Whoosh!

Strange's body shot backward, breaking through the roof of the sanctum and soaring into the sky.

"What… What is happening?! This isn't real!"

He rocketed past Earth's atmosphere, glimpsing the vast expanse of space before colliding with a butterfly larger than a planet.

As he touched its iridescent wings, he was propelled into a kaleidoscopic wormhole, a twisting tunnel of vibrant colors and incomprehensible shapes.

(End of Chapter)

Kamar-Taj – Sunset.

Amid the golden hues of dusk, Mordo and the Ancient One exchanged serious glances as Stephen Strange's consciousness hurtled through dimensions at incomprehensible speeds.

"His body won't hold up if this continues!" Mordo warned, visibly concerned.

The Ancient One, however, remained unperturbed. "He's fine."

In the whirlwind of interdimensional travel, Strange found himself immersed in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of vibrant lights and surreal landscapes.

"You think you know the rules of reality," the Ancient One's voice echoed, her tone calm yet haunting. "You think the material universe is all there is…"

"Do you understand truth?"

"What lies beyond your comprehension, beyond the veil of the known universe?"

Her words reverberated as Strange's body twisted through the impossible. The boundaries of his understanding were stretched thin as he glimpsed worlds filled with unthinkable beauty and realms consumed by chaos.

"This universe is but one of countless others," the Ancient One's voice continued.

Strange tumbled through an obsidian void, where crystalline structures radiated with an otherworldly glow.

"Some are filled with life and hope," she explained. "Others, consumed by darkness and destruction, their shadows hungering for opportunity."

In one harrowing instant, Strange came face-to-face with Dormammu, the malevolent ruler of the Dark Dimension, a towering entity composed of pure, writhing energy.

"No… this isn't real!" Strange cried out, his voice a mere whisper against the deafening silence of the void.

Abruptly, he was propelled through galaxies, stars flashing past him in streaks of light until he found himself floating in a tranquil, cosmic expanse.

"In the vast multiverse, who are you, Dr. Strange?"

Crash!

Strange's spirit snapped back into his physical body, and he tumbled unceremoniously to the floor of the sanctum.

Panting, disoriented, and visibly shaken, he looked up at the Ancient One.

"Have you ever seen that in a gift shop?" she asked with a faint smirk.

Strange remained on the ground, struggling to process what he had just witnessed. His worldview, his belief in science, and his understanding of reality—all shattered in moments.

"What… what was that?" Strange stammered, his voice trembling.

The Ancient One smiled, sensing the cracks in his skepticism.

Finally, Strange spoke, his voice filled with desperation. "Teach me. Please… teach me!"

But instead of the acceptance he had expected, the Ancient One's reply was curt and absolute.

"No."

And with that, he was escorted out of Kamar-Taj.

Outside the Gates of Kamar-Taj – Hours Later.

"Please! Don't shut me out!" Strange shouted, pounding on the heavy wooden doors. "I have nowhere else to go!"

As dusk turned to night, he slumped against the cold stone steps, his hope dwindling with each passing moment.

Inside Kamar-Taj.

"You think I shouldn't have turned him away?" the Ancient One asked, gazing calmly at Mordo.

Mordo chuckled. "It's been five hours, and he's still outside. He's persistent."

The Ancient One's expression softened briefly, though her tone remained wary. "Stubbornness, arrogance, ambition… I've seen these traits before."

Mordo's brow furrowed. "You mean Kaecilius?"

The Ancient One remained silent for a moment, her gaze distant. Kaecilius had once been a trusted disciple, but she had seen a future in which darkness consumed him.

Now, the future felt more uncertain than ever.

Kaecilius had not yet fallen to Dormammu's influence, and though his allegiances were suspect, the Ancient One had chosen to monitor him rather than act prematurely.

Still, not all disciples had resisted the call of the Dark Dimension. In their stead, new adherents to darkness had risen—inevitabilities of the multiverse's shifting balance.

Mordo broke the silence. "The missing pages from the forbidden texts—they contain dangerous knowledge. If someone deciphers them…"

"They could destroy us all," Mordo said gravely.

The Ancient One nodded but remained silent.

Outside Kamar-Taj.

Unbeknownst to Strange, a group of robed figures watched him from the shadows.

"Kaecilius," whispered one of the disciples, "why don't we approach him now? He's desperate. Vulnerable."

Kaecilius smiled, a glint of cunning in his eyes. "Patience. Desperation must fully take root. Only then will he truly appreciate the gift we offer."

His disciples nodded in unison, their expressions admiring.

Kaecilius stepped forward, his voice smooth and assured. "It is through suffering that he will find faith in our master. Only in his lowest moment will he see the light of our Father and Savior."

The disciples murmured in agreement, their reverence palpable.

Kaecilius turned, his eyes fixed on Strange. "Come," he said, leading the way. "It's time we introduced him to true power."

(End of Chapter)

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