Let me show you a new way Chapter 012

At the Kamar-Taj training grounds, the famous Tony Stark was squatting on the ground, using magic to repair it.

He pressed his hands to the ground, using his mind to change the form of matter. The originally solid ground began to soften, eventually melting like a candle, gradually turning into a wax-like substance. The shattered stone slabs sank into it, creating ripples.

Then, Tony Stark used his mind to guide the melted earth, forming the patterns of stone slabs, slowly restoring their shape, and finally repairing the ground to its original state.

“Cool!” A magic apprentice exclaimed. This was a sight they had never seen before.

Tony Stark stood up, clapped his hands, and coughed awkwardly. “Done, good as new.” Behind him, the ground was spotless and beautifully repaired.

“Very good.” Lin Dong nodded, then with a flicker of light and shadow in his right palm, a small box appeared. “Distribute the temporary rings inside the box.”

Tony Stark opened the box, revealing neatly arranged rings. They all had the same silver metal band, encasing a colorless, transparent crystal.

Lin Dong had urgently crafted these rings during his lesson preparation days. Their effectiveness was far inferior to formal rings, and their magical power was also weaker. Their advantages were that they were cheaper and easy to mass-produce. They were perfect for interns.

The apprentices held their rings, curiously examining the crystals on them.

“Ahem, although there were some minor incidents, the teaching must continue.” Lin Dong coughed twice, drawing the attention of all the apprentices.

“The rings in your hands are the hubs of Merlin’s magic. Through the conversion of the ring, we can be freed from complex movements and directly cast spells with our minds.” Lin Dong explained his understanding of Kamar-Taj magic during this period, and combined with his own magic, he began to teach more content.

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Unbeknownst to them, Lin Dong had been at Kamar-Taj for about a month. In this month, Tony Stark learned to create space gates, which led to him frequently returning to New York. On one hand, it was to reunite with Pepper, and on the other, it was for his research on new suits.

As Lin Dong’s research into Kamar-Taj magic deepened, his teaching curriculum also began to diverge.

New spells began to be taught to the apprentices. Some could pick them up quickly, while others struggled to adapt.

Merlin’s magic and Kamar-Taj magic, at the basic stage, were fundamentally incompatible. Only when one type of magic was understood to a certain extent could one draw inferences from it and learn other types more quickly.

Therefore, Lin Dong, based on the apprentices’ individual talents and interests, divided the original team. Those with a talent for Merlin’s magic were basically taught by Tony Stark. He had almost learned all of Lin Dong’s spells and was more than capable of teaching.

“Use your mind, not your body,” Tony Stark told an apprentice.

“Be faster. If there’s an enemy, he’ll have already rushed up and killed you while you’re preparing your spell.”

Tony Stark really enjoyed watching others practice and then pointing out their flaws. Of course, this was mainly because his critiques were well-founded and genuinely helped the apprentices feel their improvement.

As for those apprentices who hadn’t changed their path and continued to walk the Kamar-Taj road, Lin Dong had a better teaching method.

“Shoulder and hip align, elbow and knee align, hand and foot align.” Lin Dong walked around the formation, correcting the apprentices’ boxing mistakes.

Kamar-Taj magic, at its basic level, required coordinated movements to be cast. If the movements couldn’t be eliminated, then it was better to make them more than just casting wind-ups, but rather a more aggressive and defensive boxing style.

Lin Dong had studied all the casting movements of basic spells and, based on these movements, specifically developed a set of boxing techniques so that the caster would not be completely defenseless during preparation.

Although Lin Dong had been playing with magic all this time, he was actually a master of boxing.

The first world he entered was Drunken Master II. In that world, he learned Drunken Fist from Wong Fei-hung. Not the Wong Fei-hung with a pigtail, but the short-haired, big-nosed Wong Fei-hung.

The second world was “Kung Fu Jungle,” starring Donnie Yen and Wang Baoqiang. In that world, his boxing skills became even more refined, and he could be called a master of his generation, capable of being a boss in ordinary martial arts dramas.

Unfortunately, in the third world, he tragically drew “Man of Steel” and directly entered the scene where General Zod destroyed Earth’s gravity with his spaceship. His martial arts were useless, and he could only struggle to survive in the aftermath of the two Supermen’s battle.

Fortunately, he later learned magic and had excellent talent in this area. So from then on, he abandoned martial arts for magic and became a sorcerer.

However, after entering this world of melee mages, he picked up his forgotten fighting skills again.

But Lin Dong felt that ever since he arrived, the style of Kamar-Taj apprentices had become increasingly bizarre. It seemed that due to his guidance, Kamar-Taj magic was going further and further down the path of melee mages.

He read many books in the library but also gave the library some of his own magic books. He even wrote many new magic fighting techniques based on his own combat skills. For example, in the book “Crimson Bands of Cyttorak: Combat Details” alone, he recorded seven types of whip techniques from the wuxia world.

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In the Kamar-Taj square, on one side were muscular mages (monks) grunting and practicing their punches, while on the other side was Tony Stark leading the Merlin magic legion, concentrating their minds on their rings to fire fireballs. Lin Dong always felt that this scene was a bit strange.

“Who cares, getting stronger is never a bad thing.” Lin Dong shook his head. In the square, Tony Stark waved to the apprentices, signaling the end of class. Then he stood in the courtyard, his hand with the Sling Ring motionless, while his other hand drew a circle, silently thinking of his destination. The circle slowly expanded, eventually becoming a portal to Stark Tower.

“He’s a genius.” The Ancient One appeared beside Lin Dong at some point, watching Tony step through the portal.

“Yes, he is.” Lin Dong sat on the ground, flipping through a book on astral projection. There were some soul-related spells in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” but most of them were sealing spells, soul exchange, fusion, or possession. He had never learned safe astral projection like this.

“Master Lin Dong, do you have any plans for the future?” The Ancient One asked.

“I told you, I’m leaving in two months,” Lin Dong replied without looking up.

“I know, but you’ll come back, right? You’re a powerful sorcerer, and this world needs protection…”

“What? You want to retire?” Lin Dong finally looked up at the Ancient One.

The Ancient One sighed, then pointed to her forehead. A bright red mark slowly appeared. “I really… don’t know how much longer I can last.”

“The Mark of Dormammu?” Lin Dong said in a surprised tone. He hadn’t expected the Ancient One to be so frank, directly revealing her biggest secret. “You’re using the Dark Dimension to extend your life?”

“Yes, I had to. Without me, they couldn’t withstand the invasion from other dimensions. So I need a successor, a new Sorcerer Supreme to take over my work. To protect this world.” The Ancient One said eagerly, as if eager to die.

“I’m sorry, I can’t take over your work.” Lin Dong shook his head. “I’m not a guardian. You can try giving this job to Stark or someone else.”

“But…” The Ancient One seemed about to say something, but at that moment, a portal opened in front of her, and Tony rushed out of it. The Ancient One sighed and left helplessly.

“What were you talking about?” Tony asked curiously.

“Tony Stark, do you want to become the Sorcerer Supreme?” Lin Dong asked.

Tony froze, seemingly not expecting the question.

“I… I never thought about it. In that dream, I was indeed the Sorcerer Supreme, but now I understand the weight of that responsibility. I’m not sure I can really bear it.” Tony replied hesitantly. He was no longer the person who knew nothing about magic. He had read many magic books in the library, including magic history, so he now deeply understood the heavy responsibility that the title of Sorcerer Supreme entailed.

“Then suit yourself!” Lin Dong said indifferently. If not, then just wait for the future Doctor Strange!

“Speaking of which, you never told me about those dreams. How did you know about those worlds? Are they real?” Tony seemed to recall the scenes he saw when Lin Dong first cast magic on him.

“I can see a person’s journey in parallel worlds.” Lin Dong pointed to his eyes, acting mysterious.

“So, in some world, I’m a dictator who kills all enemies, or a woman who marries a guy cosplaying as Captain America, or… hmm, Sherlock Holmes?” Tony recalled the images he had seen.

“That wasn’t cosplay, that really was Captain America. You’ll meet him later,” Lin Dong shrugged and explained.

“Alright… then what about the Ancient One? What is she like in parallel worlds?” Tony asked curiously.

“Hmm, a witch, a very powerful witch, a White Witch trying to freeze the world. ①” Lin Dong shrugged and replied.