Chapter 39: Begin! The Path of the Mage God (God of War)

Even so, Mei Mumu was already quite satisfied.

The young lady suddenly reminded him, "Oh, by the way, you’ve gained 5 points of Destiny Divergence and 150 shards of Fate."

"Huh…? What’s going on?" Mei Mumu was utterly dazed by this sudden wave of bliss.

"Hehe, don’t forget, you’re also on the path of a Marvel superhero! Even if Doctor Strange’s fate diverges, you can still earn Destiny Divergence Points. As for the Fate Shards, just take a look yourself."

Only then did Mei Mumu notice the system prompts:

"Congratulations, Host, for slaying a Lesser Eye Demon of the Eyedemon Clan, you have gained 148 Fate Shards."

"Congratulations, Host, for obliterating the Fallen Magic Apprentice Amdav, you have gained 2 Fate Shards."

Value often reflects strength; a magic apprentice whom Kaecilius largely disdains is, indeed, worth little. But that Lesser Eye Demon—that gave Mei Mumu a bone-chilling feeling.

He didn’t know if this little monster was connected to the Eye Demon from the Marvel universe. If so, that spelled serious trouble.

For Shuma-Gorath, the Eye Demon, is said to be one of the Old Ones. In ancient times, it was summoned to Earth and ruled supreme in the Jurassic Era.

This creature is absolutely a top-tier super boss—there are records in parallel universes of it having slain both the Ancient One and Doctor Strange.

If he had provoked that being, Mei Mumu might as well wash his neck and wait for the slaughter. After all, even the Ancient One couldn’t withstand such a monster.

Whether by destiny or some other reason, it seemed that in this world, the Eye Demon and Mei Mumu—who had inherited Doctor Strange’s fate—were once again intertwined.

"Damn it! I don’t care anymore. Let the water come and I’ll block it with earth; let the soldiers come and I’ll meet them with generals!" With a venting curse, Mei Mumu cheerily started the lottery draw.

Previously, with no other options, he had used three points of Divergence for a big chance, and was lucky to draw the "Apprentice Mage Khadgar" card.

Now, with resources to spare, and especially after the young lady told him even Fate Shards could be used for draws, he was feeling much better.

Of course, as mere shards, the rewards wouldn’t be anything outstanding. It was certain that anything drawn with shards from the scales would be magical items or special spells that the Ancient One did not possess.

Subtracting the 20 shards he had to spend for the mental potion the young lady had stealthily loaned him in advance, Mei Mumu kept 30 shards on hand.

The 100 remaining Fate Shards could get him two magic draws.

Mei Mumu watched the Wheel of Destiny spin with delight.

Since he didn’t specify a draw, the prizes were no longer limited to magic from the World of Warcraft game.

When the pointer finally stopped, the prize was a magic bundle.

"Congratulations, Host, on receiving the Level 1 Spell Collection from Dungeons & Dragons. You have automatically acquired the spells: Chromatic Spray, Disguise Self, Shadow Web, Silent Image, and Ventriloquism."

It was pure rote learning. Instantly, Mei Mumu felt five strange spells appear from the void and brand themselves into his mind. Since these were all beginner-level spells, casting time was very short; with the proper gestures, they could be performed in less than a second.

These were formal spells, a notch above simple cantrips.

If Mei Mumu could master ambidextrous casting, he might shorten the casting time even further, making it almost instantaneous.

The next draw, however, left Mei Mumu rather exasperated: he had received the "Druidic Meditation" spell.

What the hell, he was a mage, not a druid! He had no desire to be one of those druids with the greenest meadows sprouting from their heads!

Nine out of ten druids go around with leaves on their heads—how was that any way to live?

As for the five-point draw, the young lady encouraged him to go big.

"The five-point-level draw is the highest tier you can access right now. At this level, you’re guaranteed at least an epic-level item, or, if you’re lucky, something legendary—though the chances are slim. Of course, your current strength limits the high-level items you might get."

"Alright! Fortune favors the bold! I’m in!"

The previous two three-point draws had been rather generous, helping Mei Mumu through the toughest starting phase.

Especially the Khadgar Apprentice card. As his mental strength soared, its negative effects had greatly diminished—from a 21-hour debuff down to just 1 hour, and he could even delay the onset of its weakened state for up to 24 hours.

It was a phenomenal bargain.

Thus, Mei Mumu’s expectations soared for his next draw.

A quick glance at the wheel showed that the prizes had all leveled up dramatically.

Unlike the earlier draws, where he couldn’t even glimpse the better prizes, this time the rewards were dazzling.

There was a veritable arsenal of epic and even legendary staves: the Warlock’s Twisted Hand, the Phantom Wand, the Pterrordrake’s Wrath…

And then a host of other glittering treasures, like the Red Dragon Scale…

Mei Mumu, heart pounding, watched as the wheel sped up, reached its peak, then slowed, and finally came to a stop.

While it couldn’t be called unreliable, when he saw where the pointer landed, Mei Mumu wasn’t just exasperated—he was truly in pain.

"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the Character Growth Template: 'The Archmage (Berserker) Path of Gandalf the White Robe' (Epic)!"

At that moment, Mei Mumu felt that all lotteries were a sham.

Could it be any more ridiculous?

Gandalf, of course, was the mighty wizard from the movie The Lord of the Rings.

He trained as a mage, with spellcasting as his primary focus. Gandalf’s brand of wizardry…

There’s a joke that sums him up perfectly:

“How should a mage allocate skill points? Waiting online for answers, urgent!”

“Put everything into Health and Stamina. Skills: one-handed sword, dual-wielding two-handed weapons, blocking, critical strikes, charge, whirlwind slash, armor break, decapitate—max them all. As for magic, just put a point in Holy Light.”

“Thanks, mate!”

For a moment, Mei Mumu wanted to throw the thing away.

But this was a premium prize, won with five points of Divergence! The most infuriating part was that, compared with the Kamar-Taj’s path of magic, the compatibility rate was actually 95%!

Damn it!

How was he supposed to live like this?

The next day, Mei Mumu’s mental strength still hadn’t recovered.

With the Ancient One solemnly forbidding him from casting spells, Mei Mumu could only train martial arts with Mordo.

"This is the Staff of the Living Tribunal!" Mordo introduced gravely. "And this is—"

"I know, that’s the Wand of Watoomb."

"How do you know that…?" Mordo was momentarily stunned, then shrugged. "Well then, you must try on the Vaultor’s Leaping Boots!"

After the introductions, Mordo struck without warning. In just a second, he executed a series of leaps no ordinary human could imagine: a backflip, his body parallel in midair, the golden boots flashing as if he’d stepped on solid ground in the void, instantly rebounding. He leapt from in front of Mei Mumu, to the blind spot at the edge of his right eye, then behind him.

Just as he was about to land a not-so-heavy punch, he was suddenly struck with a force even faster than his own attack and sent flying.

He did two full somersaults before landing steadily, his face startled. "What… did you just do?"