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*****
In truth, with his current strength, Fini didn't need to worry all that much. After all, now that he possessed the 'Evil King's True Eye,' he wouldn't even hesitate to juggle nuclear warheads by hand, so long as he was within his own dimensional space.
More importantly, ever since obtaining the 'Evil King's True Eye,' he felt that he could finally cast the Mirror Dimension spell.
Even though he hadn't actually attempted it a single time yet, he simply possessed that kind of absolute confidence.
Ever since becoming a Dimension Lord, his sensitivity to and control over dimensions had drastically improved. It was like going from a primary school student who only knew single-digit addition and subtraction to one who had at least mastered multiplication and division.
The only reason he still considered himself a primary schooler was because he had no one to compare himself to. The only other Dimension Lord he had ever encountered was that giant tigress, and all he had seen of her might was a single swipe of her paw.
Aside from being worried that something might go wrong with Wanda and Pietro, the reason Fini had come to the laboratory first was to test whether this sudden intuition of his was merely an illusion.
---
"The absolute priority right now is to help you two master your powers. We can worry about everything else once you can actually control yourselves!"
Hearing Fini's words, Pietro gave a bitter smile and replied, "I want to master it too, but it feels like the moment I move even an inch, my body just completely stops listening to me."
Fini looked at Pietro, who was sitting perfectly rigid on the hospital bed, and said, "It's fine. I'm going to help you guys with that right now."
Upon hearing his reassurance, the siblings temporarily cast aside the heavy burden of saving their country. They stared at Fini with expressions full of curiosity.
Wanda asked, "How are you going to help us?"
Fini didn't explain right away. He was still a bit worried that his ability to use the 'Mirror Dimension' might just be a figment of his imagination. It would be better to explain after he successfully opened it; if it failed, he would just have to pivot to another method.
Taking a deep breath, Fini recalled the casting techniques he had learned back at Kamar-Taj. Sensing the dimensional energies vibrating around him, he slowly extended his palm.
Crack!
The moment a crisp, glass-shattering sound echoed through the room, a surge of joy washed over Fini's heart. Staring at the bizarre, fragmented spatial layers manifesting right before his eyes, he knew his intuition hadn't played him for a fool.
"Come on, I'm a Dimension Lord now. Opening a mere Mirror Dimension is nothing to get worked up about. Calm down, stay calm, there's absolutely nothing to be arrogant about."
Although he chanted these thoughts like a mantra in his mind, the sheer delight on Fini's face was impossible to conceal. His sudden, goofy grin left Wanda and Pietro looking at him with utter bewilderment.
"What... What is that?"
Wanda was no longer an ordinary human at this point. Looking at the transparent, refracting spatial gateway that resembled shattered glass, she could actually feel that the other side seemed to lead to an entirely different world.
"Step inside and you'll see."
Fini smiled faintly and took a step forward, crossing the threshold into the Mirror Dimension. Although he had experienced the Mirror Dimension when the Ancient One cast it, this was the very first time he had conjured one himself.
Watching Fini's body pass through that bizarre mirror-like membrane and vanish entirely, both Pietro and Wanda were struck with immense astonishment.
Wanda hesitated for only a fraction of a second before immediately following behind Fini, stepping straight through the crystalline rift. This left Pietro completely stunned, frozen flat on his hospital bed.
"Hey, what about me?! Wait for me, I haven't gone in yet!"
In his sheer panic, he scrambled out of the hospital bed. A blur of residual afterimages flashed across the room, and he, too, plunged headfirst into the Mirror Dimension.
---
Inside the Mirror Dimension.
Fini felt a subtle thrumming from the Evil King's True Eye, and a sudden spark of realization entered his mind. However, before he could delve deeper into the thought, Wanda and Pietro materialized right behind him.
"Wait, aren't we still in the exact same room?"
Pietro, who was the last to enter, looked around at the medical equipment in complete confusion. They were clearly still inside the hospital ward, even if everything looked a little... surreal.
"Are we in another space entirely?"
While Pietro could only register a vague sense of strangeness and anomaly, Wanda was a completely different story. Her newly awakened abilities allowed her to perceive far more, a fact that caught Fini slightly off guard.
"Exactly!"
Fini temporarily shelved his train of thought, looking at Wanda with a nod of approval. "This is the Mirror Dimension. Any destruction caused in here will have absolutely zero impact on the real world. Because of that, you two can let loose and practice your abilities to your heart's content."
After saying this, Fini quickly appended a caveat: "However, you're strictly limited to the confines of this hospital room!"
After all, he was merely a newborn dimensional demon god. The reservoir of raw energy and mana inside his body was still quite limited. He wasn't like Dormammu, whose leaked power alone could easily engulf the entirety of New York City in a massive Mirror Dimension. The maximum radius Fini could sustain right now was roughly the size of this ward.
But even so, to Wanda and Pietro—who were witnessing this brand of magic for the very first time—it was an existential shock that completely shattered their worldviews and core values.
"Is that true?"
Pietro possessed a naturally impatient temperament. The moment he heard Fini's words, he stopped caring about his inability to control his powers. He kicked off instantly, leaving a flurry of afterimages behind as he began racing around the room.
As the blurred streaks continually crisscrossed the space, Fini observed him intently. Yet, he could only faintly discern a fraction of Pietro's actual physical form and direction. Under normal circumstances, he truly wouldn't be able to keep up with Pietro's raw speed.
However, the Mirror Dimension was classified by Kamar-Taj as one of the hardest and most dangerous spells to master for a reason. It was nowhere near that simple.
When Fini had first sought guidance on this specific spell from the Ancient One, she had warned him repeatedly: whenever he opened the Mirror Dimension, he must absolutely ensure he was wearing a Sling Ring.
Dimensions were incredibly resilient constructs and not easily broken. If someone entered without a Sling Ring, they could easily find themselves trapped inside for eternity, never to return.
Granted, that specific rule didn't strictly apply to the current Fini. He was a full-fledged Dimension Lord now. While his nuanced understanding of dimensional mechanics might not be as deep as the Ancient One's, his raw authority and fundamental privileges in certain aspects were undeniably superior.
But Pietro was a different story. Setting aside the fact that he had just received his powers and couldn't even control them yet, even if he were to achieve flawless mastery over his speed, he still wouldn't be able to breach the dimensional barriers of the Mirror Dimension. His method of attack simply didn't align with spatial manipulation—unless, of course, his velocity reached a point where it could literally tear a rift in space itself.
On the other hand, a Wanda who fully mastered her powers might actually stand a chance. Fini could sense a terrifyingly destructive force latent within the crimson energy swirling inside her body. In the original timeline, she had been capable of obliterating the Mind Stone. Though there were unique circumstances surrounding that feat, her raw potential was undeniably immense.
Thus, no matter what methods Pietro tried, he found himself utterly incapable of breaking past the boundaries of the mirrored hospital ward.
Wanda couldn't resist testing the waters either. However, her current self was far too weak, and her crimson mist failed to leave even a single scratch on the surrounding environment.
---
"Alright, that's enough. Wrap it up. Without my assistance, you two aren't getting out of here."
Seeing Pietro panting heavily from sheer exhaustion but still refusing to give up, Fini called him to a halt. Having been away for so long, he had a mountain of matters waiting for his attention upon his return. He didn't have the luxury of spending all his time playing supervisor here. Thus, he got straight to the point:
"To be perfectly honest, I don't really have any amazing, structured training methods to offer you. My own abilities have always grown stronger through the crucible of actual combat. Therefore, the only thing I can teach you is how to fight."
"From this moment on, your task is to find a way to use your abilities to defeat me right here. Don't pull your punches out of concern for my safety; your current selves aren't even qualified to show me mercy."
Fini spoke these words with complete nonchalance, and it was the objective truth.
Even during his period of bitter cultivation at Kamar-Taj, the vast majority of his progress had been forged step-by-step through grueling battles. It was just that his initial draw, 'Incursio,' happened to be exceptionally powerful right out of the gate, saving him from suffering too many miserable defeats along the way.
Pietro and Wanda exchanged a brief look, nodding in unison. They didn't feel insulted or looked down upon by his blunt words; instead, a fierce wave of eagerness washed over them.
This reaction was likely tied to the overwhelming impression Fini had carved into them, the world, and just about everyone else. In the eyes of the siblings—and indeed the entire world—the name Fini had always been synonymous with absolute mystery and overwhelming power.
Even those who were closest to Fini held this exact sentiment. To this day, there were still sorcerers within Kamar-Taj who stayed up at night wondering exactly how on earth Fini had managed to learn spells like summoning 'Violet's Fried Chicken Chunks' or invoking 'Explosion Magic.'
(End of Chapter)