Chapter 211 Marvel Dishonest Personnel
"Katum..."
Bruce's voice was suddenly filled with sadness.
"When did you die? Tell me, and I'll avenge you when I have the chance."
"Unlucky guy."
The owl said disdainfully, "Stop pretending to be so sad."
"You have to be polite at least!"
Bruce put away his pretended sadness. Of course he couldn't think that Katum was really dead.
But the owl's current spiritual state did make him curious.
"Is this some kind of out-of-body magic?"
Bruce asked, "Are you like a ghost in Hogwarts Castle right now?"
"That's about right." Katum smiled, "You'll experience this feeling soon."
After saying that, he suddenly flew in front of Bruce, stretched out his wings, and slapped Bruce's chest hard.
"what!"
The owl hooted strangely, gaining momentum.
Strange things happened.
Bruce felt a painful sense of detachment, and for a moment he was outside his own body, looking at his body from across the room.
He raised his hands and saw a strange halo emanating from around his hands, flashing with rays of light.
Katoom held his position, then hooked his wings inward.
Bruce felt a pull, and a moment later, the illusion was gone.
He twitched and his body regained feeling.
"What did you just do to me?"
"I beat your soul out of your body," Katum said, as if he were describing something extremely common.
“It’s not a very good feeling.”
Bruce recalled the experience he had just had, the feeling of detachment and drifting, as if he had lost contact with the world.
"For a moment, you enter the spirit world," Katoum explained. "Through the secrets of Kamar-Taj, the spirit can survive outside the body."
"Kama Taj?"
"Yes, you can think of it as Marvel's Hogwarts, except that most of the students are adults. Sit down Bruce, I'm going to teach you a lesson."
The purpose of tonight is to study.
Bruce sat at his desk, looking at Katoom floating in the air.
The owl is now in a soul state and can float in the air without flapping its wings.
It just seemed like it was floating around without any mass, a bit like a balloon.
"In this world, magic is released not through a wand, but through a corresponding ritual. This ritual is often simplified to a certain gesture."
Katoom flapped his wings, drawing a bright orange line of energy that flashed with light.
The energy line rotated and turned into a circle.
He fluttered his wings slightly, and a square appeared outside the circle, with small circles on each of the four corners.
"Mystics draw energy from other dimensions in the multiverse, chant spells, summon shields and weapons, and perform magic."
The center of the circle began to rotate, as if the entire pattern was not just a symbol, but a magic machine.
Katum gently pushed his hand forward, and the pattern floating in the air was divided into three spaces, slowly extending towards Bruce.
Bruce raised his eyebrows and became very interested in this new kind of magic.
Then, Katum waved his hand and the pattern disappeared.
Bruce thought about what the owl had just said and asked a question.
"What is this dimensional space you just mentioned?"
"You can think of it as a separate universe. The most powerful being that controls that universe is the Dimensional Demon God."
Katum explained, "The source of magic in this world comes from the dimensional demon god. All forms of magic are borrowing power from the demon god."
The reason why Ancient One is so powerful is because he borrowed enough.
Later, as the debt to the demon god could not be repaid, Ancient One simply died and fled to the land of eternity to avoid his debts.
This is also the reason why Katum passionately recommended Marvel magic to Bruce.
They are not from this place, so they can borrow power unscrupulously, and when the time comes to repay the debt, they will leave the Marvel Universe.
No matter how powerful those dimensional demons are, it is impossible for them to cross the heavens to collect debts from them.
Katum has tried it for Bruce, the power is really easy to borrow!
"Like something similar to the Speed Force."
Bruce is considered to be well-informed. It sounds like this kind of power can only be used in Marvel. Outside of Marvel, no one will lend them power.
“It’s a little different.”
"You borrow the powers, and until they run out, you can still use them even if you leave the Marvel Universe," Katoum said.
Bruce nodded, understanding what Katoom meant.
"You mean, before we leave Marvel, we have to make a lot of money first?"
"Ruzi can be taught."
Katum said, "As long as we master the corresponding rituals, we can borrow the power of any demon god. We have to leave in the end anyway, so it doesn't matter if we are labeled as a dishonest person."
“That sounds really good.”
Bruce thought that Katum was the one with more clever ideas.
With Owl's words, he can confidently borrow the power. Even if the creditors come to him in the future, he can put all the blame on Katum.
It was the evil owl who instigated him to do this, even though Bruce himself borrowed power from everywhere and did not return it, and even wanted to run away.
But at the end of the day, he's still a good kid.
"Then I'm ready!"
Bruce said, "When do we start studying?"
"Don't worry."
Katum signaled Bruce to calm down. "Today I mainly want to open your eyes. As for truly starting to draw power from the Dimensional Demon, you still need to lay a good theoretical foundation in advance."
After saying that, he waved his hand, and four thick books stacked together appeared in front of Bruce.
There are symbols on each book, shining with energy.
Bruce flipped through these books, "The Invisible Sun", "New Astronomy", "Authoritative Code", and "Key of Solomon", all of which contained some mysterious words.
In comparison, the names of Hogwarts textbooks such as "Elementary Spells" and "Intermediate Spells" seem less mysterious.
"These are the originals I borrowed from Kamar-Taj."
Katum said, "I will bring you four books every day from now on. You must finish reading them within one day and remember all the contents. We are already behind schedule and must catch up with them as much as possible."
If he proceeds at the rate of four books a day, Bruce will be able to master Marvel's spellcasting system in about half a month.
"no problem."
Bruce held the thick tome in his hands and felt no pressure.
He has always had a photographic memory. As long as he remembers first and then understands, no knowledge can keep him out.
As for some magic books written in ancient languages, it is not a problem for Bruce. He can summon the illusion of Diana to read with him. Miss Wonder Woman knows all the languages and characters on earth and is an all-purpose translator.
"Okay, let's put these books away first."
Katum commanded, "Next, I'll show you something good!"
Hearing this, Bruce put the magic books under the bed and turned to look at Katum.
"Now, I will take your soul into a special space!"
Katum stretched out his wings and flapped them gently, and the air in the middle of the room seemed to shatter into thousands of pieces, hanging in the air with a jingling sound.
Each fragment reflects a part of reality from a different angle.
Katum slapped Bruce's soul out again and took him into the mirror wall.
“This is the mirror space,” he said. “It exists, but it cannot be detected.”
Outside the space, Katum and Bruce were floating in the air. They passed through the wall to leave the room and came above the city.
It is already two o'clock in the morning, but New York will not fall into silence. This largest city that never sleeps in the world is still flashing neon lights.
Bruce looked down. He could see vehicles passing by on the street, gang members gathered in groups of three or five on the roadside, and cattle and horses still working overtime in some buildings.
“They can’t see us.”
Katum took Bruce into a lighted building where a team of programmers were working late into the night.
They kept drinking coffee to keep themselves awake, and the team leader was keeping an eye on them to ensure their efficiency.
Katoom flew close to the person in charge and slapped him.
The slap missed, and the owl's wing went straight through the man's head.
"The real world is not going to change because of what happens here."
He said, "The mystics of Kamar-Taj use the mirror space for training, surveillance, and sometimes to contain threats within this space. We can freely enter and exit this world through the hanging ring."
Katoom pushed his wings downward, and the entire sky folded up, forming a transparent concentric pattern with a black opening in the center.
At this moment, Bruce seemed to be able to feel the existence of other dimensions, as if Katoom had folded reality up, making room for...something else.
"Looks like you feel it."
Katum said, "Contacting the dimensional demons here will not affect the real world. I will take you to see them first so that you can recognize their faces. It will be easier for you to ask them for power in the future."
After saying this, the owl restored the folded world to its original state, and then he took Bruce out of the mirror world and back to reality.
Of course, they are still in soul state.
"what?"
After returning to reality, Bruce suddenly saw something.
Some white, indistinct things were floating in the sky. They didn't dare to approach Bruce. As soon as they noticed Bruce's presence, they would quickly float away.
"This is……"
"Ghosts," said Katum. "These are the ghosts of the recently dead. They are formless and will soon go to the world of the dead."
"The world of the dead?" Bruce asked. "Is it a place like hell?"
"That's probably it, but I think it's more likely to be Helheim," said the Owl.
Helheim, the kingdom of the dead in Norse mythology, was once ruled by Odin's eldest daughter Hela.
Since Asgard exists and the Earth is one of the Nine Realms, it is reasonable for the souls of the dead to go to the underworld of Helheim.
“Is this what other people’s souls look like?”
Bruce looked at the white shadows that were drifting away, deep in thought.
"Most people are like this. Unless they have a very strong obsession or were very powerful in their lifetime, they will remain in human form."
Katum said, "Our soul leaving the body now does not need to follow this rule."
They are not dead yet.
"I see."
Bruce nodded, his horizons broadened a little.
He knew that people would have souls after death, and there were a lot of them in Hogwarts, but it required extremely harsh conditions to produce them, and not everyone could leave behind regrets.
As for whether the soul exists in more forms, Bruce did not continue to study it in depth.
At least he hadn't seen it.
And now, these white spirits floating and wandering in the air show the most common form of the soul, but also the most difficult to observe by humans.
They will soon leave here and go to the world that belongs to them.
“I wonder if mom and dad have souls?”
Bruce suddenly had an idea that perhaps in Gotham City, the souls of Martha and Thomas were also wandering.
They are worried about themselves and cannot find themselves, so they can only wander aimlessly, unwilling to rest.
"I have to pay attention and observe it when I go home next time."
Bruce thought to himself, "If Mom and Dad really can't rest in peace, I'll help them to be liberated!"
Before he knew it, Katum's performance was over.
He brought Bruce's soul back to the room and back to his body, and Bruce opened his eyes and felt grounded again.
"That's it for today."
Katum said, "Hurry up and finish reading the book. I will replace it with a new one for you tomorrow."
After saying that, the owl's spirit left here, and Bruce lay back on the bed. He kept thinking about the experience just now in his mind, and fell into a deep sleep unknowingly.
……
The next day, when Bruce got up, he was not in a good condition.
Severe lack of sleep.
He got up yawning and walked into the living room where Mrs. Hall had already prepared breakfast and was just waiting for the children to wake up.
Wanda also walked out of her room at this time.
She was still in a trance, and even when she walked past Bruce, she acted as if she didn't see him.
Bruce was already used to Wanda's appearance. He said good morning casually and prepared to go wash up.
Then, at this moment——
When Bruce and Wanda passed each other, two blurry figures followed and passed by Bruce.
The chilly feeling suddenly made Bruce's whole spirit surge, and his original tiredness disappeared instantly.
He turned around in surprise and looked behind Wanda, totally unable to believe his eyes.
Bruce saw a transparent couple following Wanda closely.
Their eyes were full of love and regret as they stared at the red-haired girl silently, refusing to take their eyes off her.
Bruce suddenly thought of a classic novel called "A Space Odyssey".
His preface begins with the following words: "Behind every person alive today, there are thirty ghosts - thirty to one, the exact ratio of the dead to the living. Since the beginning of the world, there have been about one hundred billion people who have lived on the earth."
Thirty people might be an exaggeration.
But Bruce did see at this moment that there were two ghosts standing behind Wanda.
Not surprisingly, it was her parents.
(End of this chapter)
