Chapter 25: The Eccentric Student

Almost at the very moment he recognized Khadgar, the card in his spiritual sea underwent a silent transformation.

The card, once crowded with countless apprentices, now depicted a young man with an unremarkable face but brimming with confidence. What had originally been a card of "Excellent" quality skipped straight past "Superior" and leaped instantly to "Epic." Even the card's attributes and description changed before his eyes.

"Congratulations, Host. You have discovered the hidden secret within the special character possession card [Dalaran Magic Apprentice]. The card has now advanced to [Khadgar the Apprentice Mage] (Initial Epic Level)!"

"Khadgar—one of the most formidable mages in the world of Warcraft, disciple of the demigod mage Medivh. He would later master all three schools of Arcane, Frost, and Fire, challenging the heavens and the earth, defeating countless villains and corrupted fiends, a supreme archmage. Yet when he first appeared, he was nothing more than a humble apprentice of Dalaran. Every great figure was once a novice. Even as a newcomer, Khadgar’s sharpness and talent were unmatched."

"Card Special Effect [Khadgar’s Determination]: When the host uses this character possession card, they will automatically gain the special abilities of [Photographic Memory], [Speed Reading], [Perfect Imitation], [Mental Focus], and [Intermediate Elemental Affinity] for three hours, with two opportunities for a total of up to five minutes of pause allowed during use."

"Given the host’s poor physique and mental aptitude, each use will result in a 21-hour period of weakness, during which the host will suffer the negative effects of [Forgetting Words While Writing], [Skimming Without Absorbing], [Habitual Daydreaming], and [Elemental Rejection]."

"The card requires no charging and may be used an unlimited number of times, so long as the host is not in a weakened state. If damaged, it must be repaired using a Fragment of Fate."

The card’s positive and negative effects were equally striking.

In a sense, it was a double-edged sword.

Unfortunately, even knowing the side effects, Meimu had no choice but to use it.

Time waits for no one!

To become a competent mage, years of relentless training were essential. Unless one possessed a prodigious memory and extraordinary talent like Doctor Strange, it was impossible to be trained in less than three to five years.

Meimu was well aware of his own lackluster aptitude.

And time was desperately short. Even if Kaecilius somehow got himself incapacitated by Vision’s laser and Dormammu’s invasion was averted, in at most two years, Thanos would arrive on Earth to snap his fingers!

Thus, a strange spectacle appeared at Kamar-Taj.

As a world-class mage organization, Kamar-Taj was even grander than portrayed in the films. Training combat mages, it placed equal emphasis on martial arts and theoretical study. In a training field the size of two football pitches, every few steps one would find an apprentice practicing.

Amid the watchful eyes of a thousand, a peculiar figure perpetually shuttled between the dormitories and the library, each time clutching a stack of magical tomes as tall as a small hill.

Often, he made the round trip in just ten minutes.

Once or twice might be overlooked, but as it happened again and again, everyone had only one thought:

Just how long are you going to keep this up?

A thousand-page tome—can you really finish it in ten minutes? You can hardly even flip through it, let alone read! Are you showing off, or are you just showing off?

Meimu suffered in silence.

When he returned to the library once more, a burly, slightly plump, middle-aged Chinese man was still guarding the entrance. With a round head and kindly appearance, his dignified demeanor was often at odds with his comical looks.

He was "Wong."

Though Meimu’s first impression was to label him as “the old guy next door,” he quickly realized the error of his ways. There are ninety million people surnamed Wong in the Celestial Empire—odds are, your neighbor is a Wong! Besides, this Wong was anything but old.

At their first meeting, awkwardness ensued.

"Mr. Mei."

"Hello, Brother Wong!"

"Uh, I’m eighteen this year!"

"..."

Eighteen.

Eighteen!

Eighteen—

Looking at the buzz cut, the greasy, chubby face, the air of a wealthy playboy keeping models on the side, Meimu was at a loss for words.

This was a topic impossible to approach.

Yes, in this world, “Wong” was only eighteen.

After the library suffered an attack, security was heightened to its peak. No one expected the new guardian of the library to be the eighteen-year-old Wong.

He might have been young in age, but his experience was ancient. Born to a family of mages, he was sent to Kamar-Taj at three, receiving the Ancient One’s personal tutelage. In strength, seniority, judgment, and character, he had won the Ancient One’s complete trust.

"Back again? What for?"

For some reason, today the boy Meimu had gained the Ancient One’s trust and was personally granted extra privileges in the library. Yet this seemingly steady fellow was clearly a clueless rookie. Who borrows books the way he did? Checking out the maximum of ten massive tomes at once, then returning in less than ten minutes claiming to have read them all.

Ten minutes—he couldn’t possibly finish even the table of contents!

Meimu’s attention-seeking, ostentatious behavior was already grating. His haphazard flipping through books only deepened Wong’s dislike. Seeing Meimu return yet again in under ten minutes, Wong couldn’t help but frown.

"I’m here to return books," Meimu bowed.

Wong pulled the stack over and read aloud, "[Book of Sight], [New Chapters of the Cosmos], [Supreme Codex], [Solomon’s Key]... You’ve finished all these?"

Feeling a bit awkward, Meimu still answered truthfully, "Yes."

Pressing his hand on the tomes, Wong’s gaze grew stern. "Though I am younger than you, I have studied the art of the mage for fifteen years and am your senior. As your elder, I must offer some advice—foundational knowledge is the bedrock of magical training. Without a firm grasp of the basics, your future studies will be fraught with difficulty."

You make a good point, but I have my own troubles!