In the Marvel world, the Scarlet Witch was, in every sense, someone fate seemed to favor at every turn.
It wasn't quite as absurd as the protagonists of over-the-top fantasy stories, but extraordinary opportunities still seemed to fall into her lap constantly.
The Elder God Chthon's schemes had ended up benefiting her instead.
When she entered HYDRA while still young, she emerged completely unscathed.
Later, she encountered a witch and even obtained the Darkhold from her.
The Chaos Magic within her was one of the most powerful forces in this world.
If that didn't count as being favored by fate, what did?
Whether in talent or in the opportunities she encountered, Scarlet Witch stood at the very top of the world.
The Scarlet Witch of the Main Universe was especially outstanding.
Compared with the Scarlet Witch from Karl's universe, she was every bit as exceptional, if not more so.
That had also resulted in her extremely proud personality.
Perhaps because of her upbringing, Scarlet Witch was always very polite toward others.
Deep down, however, she was incredibly proud. Even in the Main Universe, there were very few people she genuinely regarded highly.
Karl's sudden rise might not have surprised her so much if he had been using some other kind of power.
But he had mastered Chaos Magic as well.
And he wielded it with such proficiency that it genuinely astonished her.
"Karl, how did you learn Chaos Magic?"
"Why does your Chaos Magic feel even stronger than mine?"
Scarlet Witch looked at Karl as she asked.
"Didn't I already explain it to you?"
"It's not that my Chaos Magic itself is stronger. My will is stronger than yours."
"Naturally, the power it displays is far greater."
"It isn't because my understanding of Chaos Magic is deeper."
Karl gave a wry smile.
In truth, his understanding of Chaos Magic could hardly be considered profound.
The Scarlet Witch in his own universe wasn't particularly powerful yet.
She had only just begun to touch the threshold of the Single-Universe level.
Even with Karl's tremendous talent allowing him to comprehend Chaos Magic, he had merely crossed the threshold himself.
His understanding definitely wasn't as deep as that of the Main Universe's Scarlet Witch.
However—
Karl's will was simply too powerful.
It surpassed Scarlet Witch's by an enormous margin.
Naturally, the power his Chaos Magic displayed was also far beyond hers.
"Then how did you strengthen your will?"
Scarlet Witch froze for a moment before asking.
After all, most powerful beings in the Marvel world didn't really possess systematic methods of training.
For the most part, their power simply increased as they themselves grew stronger.
Kamar-Taj was actually quite unusual in that regard.
Faced with Scarlet Witch's question, Karl gave her an awkward but polite smile.
"Sorry. That's part of Kamar-Taj's teachings. I can't pass it on to outsiders."
"It's not because I'm trying to jealously guard our knowledge."
"It's meant to protect most people."
Karl explained gently.
He genuinely wasn't making an excuse.
The Ancient One was actually quite generous and didn't particularly care about hoarding so-called secret teachings.
Kamar-Taj's library was extremely open.
The Sorcerers could read any of its books.
Its magical texts were never deliberately locked away from them either.
But they wouldn't teach those things to outsiders.
The main concern was that outsiders wouldn't obey Kamar-Taj's rules and might casually pass magic on to ordinary people.
That was extremely dangerous.
Even trained practitioners could be forced to pay enormous prices when dealing with magic.
For ordinary people, the result could very well be death.
People with absolutely no talent weren't the greatest concern.
They might simply be incapable of learning magic in the first place.
The truly dangerous ones were those who possessed a little talent.
In their pursuit of greater power, they might attempt to establish contact with all kinds of Dark Gods.
That was why Kamar-Taj never passed its magic on to outsiders.
They wouldn't even casually teach it to sorcerers from other traditions.
Hearing this, Scarlet Witch was somewhat disappointed.
But a moment later, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Then wouldn't everything be fine if I joined Kamar-Taj?"
"If I became a Kamar-Taj Sorcerer too, then you'd be able to teach me those things, wouldn't you?"
"If that's what you want, I don't see why not."
"I can introduce you to Strange. I doubt he'd object to having someone as powerful as you join Kamar-Taj."
Karl replied.
"Ahem."
"Could I study under you instead?"
"I actually know Strange already. I don't really want him to be my teacher."
Scarlet Witch spoke frankly.
In the Main Universe, Strange wasn't particularly powerful.
Or rather—
He simply wasn't as strong as she was.
Scarlet Witch had no interest in making Strange her teacher.
There would be little point in it.
"Uh..."
"I think you might have the wrong impression of Strange."
"Strange might not be as powerful as you, but his theoretical foundation in magic is extremely solid."
"In only one year, Strange managed to finish reading every text in Kamar-Taj's Great Library."
"Strange really is exceptionally talented."
Karl defended him.
Scarlet Witch stared at Karl with a deeply aggrieved expression.
Did he really think she simply wanted to find herself a teacher?
How could Karl possibly be this oblivious?
Seeing Scarlet Witch's expression, Karl looked thoroughly confused.
"If you're not satisfied with Strange, there are other Sorcerers."
"Kamar-Taj has plenty of powerful Master Sorcerers. Wong, Druul, and several others would all qualify."
"Wong in particular has even served as Sorcerer Supreme before."
Karl said with a smile.
If events had followed their original course, Strange would have been turned to dust by Thanos through the power of the Infinity Stones.
During the five years that Strange was gone, Wong had continuously served as Sorcerer Supreme.
And he had managed Kamar-Taj extremely well.
In some respects, he had even led it a little better than Strange had.
So Wong definitely had tremendous potential.
With his knowledge, teaching Scarlet Witch would be an easy task.
Seeing Karl continue like this, Scarlet Witch stopped beating around the bush.
"Why can't I study under you?"
"I think learning magic from you would be much better."
"Uh..."
"Sorry, but no. I already have students."
Karl shook his head.
He couldn't exactly call himself a good teacher.
Back in his own universe, whether it was Strange or Wanda, they spent most of their time studying by themselves.
Or rather, Shadu handled most of their actual instruction on Karl's behalf.
Karl might enjoy getting the better end of a bargain from time to time, but he wasn't the sort of person who would irresponsibly lead a student astray.
And in this world, there was no one around to handle the teaching for him.
He didn't have the patience to personally instruct a student either.
Naturally, he wasn't going to take on another one.
"Wanda."
"I'm really not a good teacher."
"If you want to learn magic, I can introduce you to Kamar-Taj."
"But as for studying under me, forget about it."
"Don't bring this up again."
Karl's tone was resolute.
After hearing those words, Scarlet Witch wasn't disappointed at all.
Instead, her eyes seemed to shine even brighter.
Karl's refusal only made him seem even more dependable to her.
Unable to restrain herself, she reached out and firmly clasped his hand.
(End of Chapter)
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