Marvel Reborn: Gems Of Infinite Potential

I tried to listen to the Ancient One, I really did, but magic was just too f.u.c.k.i.n.g cool, and so I found myself going through what appeared to be unarmed combat drills in the courtyard with the other initiates while having been awake for twenty or so hours.

The books had explained the fundamentals of how magic worked, and it was interesting. Power was drawn from whatever reality best served a given spell, channeled through the body, and directed by the mind. Raw power was something that everyone was equal in as a general rule. You needed to do something like cut a deal with the god of a given realm if you wanted to draw more than a b.a.r.e fraction of power from it, but how much power could be thrown into a given spell relied on how much power you could channel through your body. A stronger, tougher, more durable body could handle more power, and so a Sorcerer needed to be in good shape. How that power was then expressed and directed was the realm of the mind. So a strong body and a strong mind were required if one wanted to be a strong Sorcerer.

After several hours of exercise, the Ancient One came and got me. "I told you to get some rest. Hopefully, you will listen in the future."

I replied as we walked, "I'll try, but magic is simply interesting."

"Well then, let's start you off with one of the first pieces of magic that I teach. How would you like to learn to teleport?" she asked as we reached a side chamber with what appeared to be random objects strewn about.

"Teleportation seems cool, although one would suppose that teleportation would be pretty advanced," I offered as she dug out a small object that looked like two rings joined on top by a piece of metal.

"It is, and it isn't. Teleportation without a sling ring is far beyond your capabilities. With a sling ring, it is incredibly simple." She tossed me the ring as she spoke. "Put it on."

I examined the ring for a moment before sliding it on. "What is it, and how does it work?"

"Physically, it is nothing but a bit of bronze. Mystically though, it is a direct link to the Time Stone. The link doesn't provide the required power, but it does handle the vast majority of the spell direction. With the ring, you can effectively step through space."

I was stunned and said, "Wait, how does that work? I mean, wouldn't that be the power of the Space Stone?"

"You know that Time and Space are linked, right?" the Ancient One snarkily asked. "I assume that you are aware of Einstein's work."

"Sure, but I don't quite get how the Time Stone is allowing teleportation through space. And can a sling ring let you step through time?" I asked.

"As I said, go back in time far enough, and every space is in the same place. The sling ring uses the power you provide to open the most minuscule portal back to the instance of creation, and then uses the energy present to create a much larger portal between two locations in the same time. It's effectively a wormhole. As for stepping through time, no, that is beyond the power of a sling ring. Existing outside of your time makes you a walking paradox, and only with the full power of the Time Stone can you overcome the issues inherent in being a walking paradox. You can use the ring to accelerate or decelerate time in a limited area for a small duration, however, if you know what you are doing."

She held out her right hand, her own sling ring extended forward. Holding her right hand still before her, she started waving her left in a circle. In a few moments, a flaming circle appeared in the air, and on the other side of it was a snowy mountain cliff. "Since the sling rings are designed for this, all you need to do is concentrate on a detailed mental picture of your d.e.s.i.r.ed location and will the portal to open."

It was two weeks before I managed my first portal, and a month more before I learned that you could effectively "store" locations in a ring. If both you and that specific ring were at a location, then with a very minor exertion of power, you could effectively fix that exact location into the ring, so that you could return to that exact location without the need for a clear image of your destination.

I was a full-time student of the Ancient One for nearly two years, not that I lived in Kamar-Taj the whole time. With the ring, I was never more than a step away from the place, and so I was much like a college student who lived off-campus. Could I have progressed faster if I dedicated all day, every day to learning magic? Yes. Could I dedicate that kind of time and keep my other plans on track? No.

Still, relatively little of note happened during those two years beyond relocating my research facilities to under the surface of Mars. Magic was a hell of a tool. With some high-quality pictures courtesy of NASA, I became the first human, to my knowledge at least, to walk on the red planet. More magic opened up a nice, large, hole in the ground and reshaped steel into my d.e.s.i.r.ed structure before the surface was returned to its natural state. No one, not even the people working there, needed to know that facility's actual location.

Kilgrave's parents spent their days locked up under effective house arrest in my hidden lab, while they worked on understanding Kilgrave's mind control virus. Maya Hansen was chugging along with Extremis and making slow but steady progress. Considering that I don't think it was seeing human testing until around 2010 in canon, I had no complaints on that front. All in all, I was fairly confident in my security arrangements given that people only got to or from the facility when I chose to open a portal.

On the business front, things had been progressing nicely. With sixteen years worth of future memories to draw on for ideas and a Black Widow to create less than legal advantages, it wasn't hard to build up Raith Industries. Our current moneymaker was Netflix, but the various patents that had been the result of telling the scientists and engineers under my employ what I wanted to be developed also brought in a nice chunk of change. I had thought about bringing out the iPhone under my own brand, but the infrastructure costs were just too high, and so I had licensed the patents to Stark instead.

Now though, well, it was time to advance my more important plans. Natasha had finally tracked down Ulysses Klaue, and it was time to make all of that nice shiny vibranium disappear into the black hole that was Mars Base.