Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

So what if they’re exposed? Clarea wondered.

Within Kamar-Taj, even apprentices knew the Three Sanctums stood atop Earth’s greatest magical nexuses. Their locations had never been secret. The New York Sanctum was in New York. The Hong Kong Sanctum stood in Hong Kong. Their names alone gave that away.

Nor was it a mystery that the Sanctums drew power from those nexuses. Every sorcerer accepted it as common knowledge.

If the outside world learned the same thing... what was the problem?

Olivan seemed to read her expression.

"To us, magical nexuses are ordinary. We’ve lived with them our entire lives." He looked at her steadily. "But would the rest of humanity treat them the same way? We may be ready to reveal them. That doesn’t mean the world is ready to receive them."

"I’m not sure I follow." Clarea frowned. "Only a tiny fraction of humanity can even perceive magical energy, let alone become sorcerers. Most people can’t sense it at all. What exactly would they be accepting?"

A faint smile crossed Olivan’s face.

"Why would they need to sense it?"

He gestured toward the city below.

"Can ordinary people perceive electricity with their own senses? Nuclear energy? Electromagnetic radiation? Gravity? They cannot. Yet they have learned to harness all of them."

"Through technology," Clarea countered. "Science created the tools that let them use those forces."

"And does that distinction matter?"

Olivan spread his hands.

"Whether they use their own bodies or machines is irrelevant. The result is the same. Those forces now serve humanity."

Understanding dawned on her.

"You’re worried they’ll study magical energy the same way. That science will eventually explain it... and learn to control it."

"Exactly."

He nodded.

"Are magic and science truly separate paths that can never intersect?"

Without waiting for an answer, he continued.

"No."

"They are both attempts to understand reality. Truth doesn’t belong exclusively to either one."

"If the existence of magical nexuses became public knowledge, scientists would begin studying them immediately. Before long, they would understand the underlying principles well enough to build machines that collect, store, and manipulate magical energy."

Clarea considered the possibility.

It wasn’t as absurd as it first sounded.

Humanity had unraveled the atom, reached the moon, and created computers capable of reshaping civilization. Given enough time, why couldn’t they decipher magic as well?

She could already imagine technology powered by arcane energy, something straight out of a comic book.

Still...

Was that really a bad thing?

The magical nexuses held nearly limitless energy.

Wouldn’t another clean power source benefit the world?

"The nexuses contain more magical energy than anyone could ever use," she said. "There should be enough for everyone."

In other words, there was no reason to hoard it.

"You’re right."

Olivan nodded.

"The energy they produce is effectively inexhaustible. Sharing it with the world sounds admirable."

Then his tone hardened.

"But how do you think humanity would choose to share it?"

"Would they build arcane-powered cities?"

"Magical transportation?"

"Or magical firearms?"

He paused.

"Arcane nuclear weapons?"

Clarea almost smiled at the thought of enchanted vehicles.

The smile vanished the instant he finished speaking.

Her imagination immediately supplied the rest.

A revolutionary new energy source.

Governments racing to control it.

Military laboratories competing to weaponize it.

Superweapons capable of annihilating entire nations.

It sounded less like fantasy and more like the premise of a Marvel event.

"...Is that really possible?"

"More than possible."

Olivan’s answer came without hesitation.

"The moment magical energy becomes technologically accessible, every nation on Earth will compete to control it."

"But magical energy is abundant..."

She stopped as he raised a hand.

"Abundant, yes."

"Even so, magical nexuses are not evenly distributed."

He pointed toward Manhattan beneath them.

"This country is fortunate enough to possess one of Earth’s three greatest nexuses."

"Many nations have only minor nexuses."

"Some have none at all."

His voice grew heavier with each sentence.

"What happens then?"

"Countries with nothing will covet those with something."

"Those with small nexuses will seek larger ones."

"And those blessed with the greatest sources will eventually convince themselves they deserve every source on Earth."

"War follows naturally."

Clarea fell silent.

She wasn’t naïve enough to dismiss the idea.

History was full of wars fought over valuable resources.

Oil alone had reshaped entire regions of the world.

Compared to oil, magical energy would be priceless.

"And once war begins," Olivan continued, "it develops a momentum of its own."

"Every side seeks victory."

"Every side searches for stronger weapons."

"Magic would become another instrument of slaughter."

He looked out over New York.

"We have spent centuries protecting this world from demons beyond reality."

"It would be a bitter irony if humanity destroyed itself instead."

He turned back to her.

"That is why the magical nexuses must remain hidden until humanity is ready."

His words echoed the Order’s sacred mission: defending Earth from invasions originating beyond the known universe.

That responsibility had inspired countless acts of sacrifice.

It had also fostered an uncomfortable sense of superiority.

Some sorcerers had forgotten a simple truth.

They were not the only people protecting the world.

"I understand now, Master."

Clarea accepted his reasoning.

After a brief pause, however, she asked another question.

"Then how do we know when humanity is ready?"

"There has to be a standard."

Olivan answered without hesitation.

"When they earn our approval."

His certainty struck her harder than any lecture.

In other words...

Whether ordinary people were worthy of wielding magical power was a decision reserved for Kamar-Taj alone.

Silence settled between them.

Several long moments passed before Clarea spoke again.

"Master..."

"I’d like to leave Kamar-Taj for a time."

"I want to travel."

Olivan blinked.

"...What?"

He hadn’t expected that request.

Among Kamar-Taj’s oldest traditions, apprentices were required to spend time living among ordinary people before completing their training. The Ancient One had established the practice personally, though its purpose had long been debated.

The more arrogant faction believed it demonstrated the ignorance and inferiority of ordinary humanity, reinforcing a sorcerer’s sense of superiority.

Ironically, many of those apprentices returned home battered and humiliated after discovering the outside world had little interest in indulging their egos.

Others interpreted the journey very differently.

To them, living among ordinary people was a reminder of one’s own origins, a safeguard against pride, and a lesson in humility.

But Clarea was already a full-fledged sorcerer.

Because of her unusual circumstances, she had never taken that journey, and no one had suggested she needed to.

So why was she asking now?

...

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