Marvel: I'm a Symbiote-Symbiote 0332: Study Time (1/3)

More than an hour passed before Doctor Strange opened his eyes, releasing a tired sigh as he did so. He stood up, waving his arm and instantly dispelling the magic circle that had taken him more than a few minutes to draw on the ground. He turned around to look at Laura and Peter, who, in their boredom, were currently playing poker and hadn’t even noticed that he had concluded his meditation.

Peter pushed forward the makeshift chips that Laura had conjured and called. “All in. Show.”

Laura’s eyes narrowed before she placed her three cards on the table.

Peter suddenly smiled widely, “I win,” he placed his cards on the table and pulled the entire pot toward himself.

“Ahem,” Doctor Strange spent a few seconds waiting, hoping that they would see him, but seeing Peter shuffling their cards, he knew he needed to get their attention.

“Sir, you’re awake.” Peter seemed a little startled and quickly stood up, looking a little guilty.

“What did you talk to them about?” Laura seemed nonchalant, as if she’d already noticed him and just hadn’t bothered addressing his presence.

“They will meet us here tomorrow morning. It would be better if you could tell them what you told us,” he responded to Laura’s query. “They would’ve come here now, but ever since portal travel started being monitored, things have gotten very inconvenient.”

“Understandable,” Laura nodded. “Magik probably needs to pick both Kitty and Erik, right?”

“It’s not that simple. They have duties within their respective sanctums, and their absence needs to be justified.” He shook his head. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter for the time being. Peter, we should continue your training.”

“Sure,” he nodded. “Laura asked if she could join in as well. Would you mind?”

“Not particularly,” Doctor Strange frowned. “But does she even need training? I’m teaching you the basic stuff for the time being, and from what I’ve observed since she ran into you, the spells used by her were very high grade. Complex enough that the only worthwhile knowledge she can gain is from ancient tomes.”

“Yeah, about that,” Laura said. “That’s actually my friend. I’m pretty shit at magic. I’m mostly a hand-to-hand combatant.”

“Oh …” Doctor Strange was equal parts surprised and skeptical. “Your friend … they can cast magic remotely and make it seem as if you’re the one casting it?”

“It’s a complicated situation,” Laura didn’t seem like she was going to elaborate. “My point is that I am curious about magic and want to learn it from you.”

“No, you cannot simply leave things to the air and follow it up by telling me you want me to teach you. I still don’t trust you, and you need to play in good faith if you want the same from me,” he responded.

“…” Laura seemed to think for a few seconds. “How about this? I’ll tell you everything regarding my situation when your friends arrive, so I don’t have to repeat things. But I will tell you right now that I am on your side in this conflict. While my original mission on this planet had been a simple probe, you can be sure I won’t leave you hanging if you get into a full-blown conflict. My friend will help as well.”

With a scrutinizing expression, the man gave a faint nod. “Fine. What do you know about magic?”

“Oh, we’re starting, all right,” Laura seemed a little surprised, but recovered quickly. “I know that we have internal magic and external magic. Internal magic is —“

“No,” Doctor Strange shook his head. “We’ll get into the intricacies later. I want you to tell me what you think magic is. What is its purpose? How is it objectively different from science?”

“Okay.” Laura thought for a few seconds back to Alex’s words to her.

“At its core, magic is about taking a thought and making it real. Taking a lie and making the universe itself believe that it is the truth. To do that, we use energies and extra-dimensional forces to manipulate reality. While science is based on logic and a defined set of rules, magic works around those rules to bring about the outcome directly with the use of magical energies.”

She repeated Alex’s words as best as she recalled them.

“So you have had a formal education in magic,” Doctor Strange nodded. “Now tell me what you know about the schools of magic.”

“I know about there being three forms. The first is based on one’s own self. Egocentric Magic — where the user learns to manipulate their own spiritual energy to bring about effects related to the self. Things like astral projection, telepathy, illusions, and more. Then we have Ecocentric magic — where the user harnesses external energy and the environment. Finally, Exocentric magic — where we have some other-dimensional sources of energy. That’s all I know.”

“Hm …” He thought to himself. “Do you know how to project your spiritual energy to create physical constructs?”

“Yeah, but they are as thin as paper and not particularly strong,” Laura responded by extending her arm as a shimmering barrier made of bluish energy formed in front of her.

“It’s impressive,” Doctor Strange raised a brow. “Your control is better than most newbies. How long have you been practicing?”

“Like an hour or two every week … over the span of six months,” Laura said after some thought.

Peter gawked at her response while Doctor Strange was unresponsive for a few seconds.

“Let us move on to the training …” The man decided to simply indulge the hobbyist. He understood that she didn’t care and was just doing this to pass the time.

“I will first introduce the fourth school of magic to you,” he said. “If we are to go against Agatha, that information is integral.”

“There’s a fourth school?” Laura asked while Peter looked like he was already aware.

“Yes. Necromancy,” Doctor Strange said. “That is the harnessing of Death energy. When a person dies, their latent spiritual energy becomes Death energy, which is the source of Necromancy and what makes it an entirely separate school. Unlike relying on the Environment or extra-dimensional entities for magic, when you rely on Death energy, it forms a completely different school. That is what the current Sorceress Supreme specializes in. You must’ve noticed how not a single applicant to Kamar Taj is ever seen or heard from again. That’s because she kills them to harness their residual death energy.”

Laura instinctively winced at the image that formed in her head. “I guess my decision to join you guys was correct after all,” her words were more for Alex than Doctor Strange.

“Now then, walk with me,” Doctor Strange said. “I shall tell you some of the basics while we reach a more suitable location to help you feel the flow of natural energy.”

“Shouldn’t natural energy exist everywhere?” Peter asked, hurriedly following Doctor Strange as the man exited their hidden room, emerging in a narrow alley with an open gutter on one side of the alley that emanated a foul smell despite looking like it had been out of commission for a long time.

“It does, but there is an influence in any place where people gather, faint, but it is ever-present. It makes nature chaotic and hard to detect and manipulate. You must start by manipulating nature in its purest form before trying more complex things.”

“Isn’t Kamar-Taj also a place of gathering?” Laura asked. “Do the apprentices leave the temple to learn this stuff?” Laura asked while navigating through the occasional pile of cattle shit and wrinkling her nose. “And couldn’t you guys pick even a slightly cleaner place? Couldn’t you establish an anti-detection ward or something?”

“I am not an eternally running machine, kid. Such a system requires the spiritual energy of a ley line, which we don’t have access to. The only alternative is for me to perpetually maintain it, which is impractical. We are in such a place to lay low while still being close enough to Kamar-Taj.”

“My bad …” Laura realized that Alex indeed did these things like a perpetually moving machine that never got tired.

[Are you still alive?] She asked in her head, having expected a quip about how grateful she should be to him.

[Yes. I am just a little occupied with other matters at the moment, not related to yours. And yes, you should be grateful to me for all that I do for you.]

Laura rolled her eyes at Alex and continued moving with Doctor Strange under the mage’s camouflage spell.

“You didn’t answer my other question,” she said. “About Kamar Taj also being a place of gathering. How do you all learn Ecocentric magic in there?”

“As the world’s foremost magical sanctuary, there are many unexplainable things in Kamar-Taj. There are specially designated areas with higher concentrations of natural energy that enhance the effects of learning Ecocentric magic. The talented ones can sense the frequency of nature almost instantly, while most learn it within an hour. In nature, you will need at least a few hours to get a hang of things.”

“Are we going to meditate under a waterfall?” Laura asked. “I’ve always wanted to meditate under a waterfall.”

“We are not meditating under a waterfall,” Doctor Strange said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Ecocentric magic requires more complicated things.”

“We’re going to a river.” Doctor Strange’s words put a damper on Peter’s assumptions.