I'm willing to share what I know about magic—some of it, anyway—as long as it's fair." Abel said, trying not to sound like he was giving a lecture.
The Ancient One picked up her teacup and nodded. "A fair approach. So what would you require, Sorcerer Abel, in exchange for sharing information about your magic with me?"
"Something simple to start," Abel replied. "Feathers, hair, nerve tissue—from a magical creature, obviously. Just... something I can actually use."
He wasn't going to dump everything he knew in the first transaction. That would be stupid and dangerous. Even if the Ancient One wasn't planning to screw him over, she had disciples like Casillas and Mordo hanging around. Who knew what those guys would do with information about his magic system? Keeping things small and vague was definitely the smarter play.
Besides, if he could get the materials for a working wand core, he'd have actual defensive magic. Real power, not just wandless stuff that barely worked. Then later, when he had some actual backup, he could talk about bigger things.
Though honestly? This world's magic seemed way more intense than anything he'd learned before. It made sense that people who'd trained their whole lives in a magical world would know more advanced stuff.
The Ancient One nodded thoughtfully. "Kamar-Taj once possessed many such items, but they're not ideal for long-term storage. Most of what we had was converted into combat weapons. Nerve tissue, particularly, deteriorates and damages easily." She paused. "At present, I have three items that meet your requirements. There's the mane of a Nightmare Beast, a feather from a Pegasus—a creature from Asgard—and the fangs of a Hell Hound. I'm not certain which you need, and we can negotiate what would be fair payment."
Abel thought about it for maybe three seconds.
Hell Hound fangs? Nope. That felt wrong—like channeling pure demon energy or something. Hard pass.
Nightmare Beast mane? That was actually tempting. Powerful material, sure. But nightmare creatures were basically chaos incarnate, which meant a wand made from that would probably be chaos incarnate too. Which meant unpredictable and uncontrollable. And he really didn't need more chaos in his life right now. Maybe in a few years when he could actually handle that kind of mess. But not today.
That left the Pegasus feather. Asgardian, divine, magical—without the psychotic demon vibes. Yeah, that worked.
"Ancient One," Abel said, "I want the Pegasus feather."
"Then, in exchange, I would like you to provide an introduction to the magical system you've learned," the Ancient One replied. "Would that be acceptable?"
Wait, she wasn't asking for a specific spell? Just... an overview of his whole system?
That was weird. Abel had expected her to want to know exactly how his Levitation Charm worked or how he was pulling off Petrification without a wand. But instead she wanted the big picture.
Oh. He got it now. She wasn't trying to milk one transaction for everything. She wanted to understand how his magic worked so future deals would make sense. Long-term thinking. Smart.
Abel actually respected that. He wasn't the type to hoard knowledge anyway. Magic wasn't supposed to be some secret thing you keep locked up. People needed to talk, share stuff, figure things out together. And yeah, you needed resources—they didn't just appear—so fair trades made sense.
"Ancient One, I'm willing to write it all out," Abel said. "Though it's gonna take a while. Magic systems aren't exactly quick to explain."
"Of course," the Ancient One said. "Take your time. Once you've got it organized, just send it to Daniel."
She raised her hand, and light gathered in her palm, forming into this sleek wooden box. She set it on the table.
"This is the Pegasus feather. Hope it works out for you."
Abel took the box without overthinking it. He put it carefully in his backpack and nodded. "I'll get the stuff written up and bring it Wednesday after school. That cool?"
"Perfect," the Ancient One said. "Then we're done with business. Might as well enjoy the tea now."
She smiled, like she was actually just a normal person having tea, not the most powerful sorcerer on the planet.
Abel smiled back and tried the tea. It was actually really good—not too strong, just... right.
Under the quiet guidance of Daniel Drumm, the guardian of the New York Sanctuary, Abel said his goodbyes with a respectful nod and walked out of the sacred building. He recognized the location immediately—Brick Street. He oriented himself quickly and made his way to the nearest subway station, taking the train home.
Standing at the entrance of the Sanctuary, Daniel watched Abel disappear into the crowd. He turned to where the Ancient One remained seated with her tea.
"Master, he's gone," Daniel said.
"Yes, Daniel," the Ancient One replied calmly. "Please maintain frequent contact with him in the future. Try to cooperate with him when the opportunity arises. If you ever feel hesitant or unable to make a decision regarding him, contact me directly."
Daniel paused. That was actually a good question. "Ancient One, why are you being so... nice to him? You don't usually treat people like this when you first meet them."
The Ancient One thought for a second, her expression getting distant. "I've seen some things through the Eyes of Agamotto. Some sorcerers need to join Kamar-Taj. Some people... well, they need us to be the ones to reach out." She glanced at Daniel. "You'll understand why I'm doing this. Eventually."
Daniel knew better than to push. When the Ancient One got that look, she wasn't going to explain more. So he just bowed to show he got it.
The Ancient One nodded.
What she wasn't telling him was the whole thing. The Eyes of Agamotto—the Time Gem inside them—let her see further ahead than most people could imagine. And what she'd seen about Sorcerer Abel Shaw was... complicated.
Yeah, Abel would get something out of knowing Daniel. A contact at Kamar-Taj, someone to talk to, that kind of thing. But the Ancient One had her own reasons for pushing them together.
Because Daniel was heading toward a really bad situation. And in the future, he was going to need help from someone with Abel's kind of power.
By making sure they knew each other now, by getting Daniel to work with the kid, the Ancient One was basically setting things up so that when the crisis came, Abel would be there. Would be willing to help.
It wasn't messing with fate or anything. The future was going to happen the way it was going to happen. But having the right people in the right places? That always helped.
The Ancient One went back to her tea, satisfied that things were falling into place.
END CHAPTER 11