Ancient One, the mysterious guardian of this world, the Supreme Mage.
Information John could remember flashed through his mind; this was an existence many called the ceiling of combat strength.
He sized up the person opposite him; Ancient One was also observing this existence who had changed the Magic World.
This world has Magic, and Magic is divided into two types.
One type is mages like those at Kamar-Taj, where Ancient One resides, who absorb energy and use it through rituals and spirit.
They can absorb energy from dimensions beyond this world, using higher-level environmental energy for more advanced rituals.
It's similar to a transaction, obtaining energy from gods like the Vishanti.
Thus, they can perform teleportation and summon attacks from outer dimensions.
The other type is Wizards; unlike mages, the Magic they use is more based on subjective power.
Mages have fixed calculations and costs for what they expend, while Wizard Magic relies on subjective power, making it stranger and more wondrous.
Their wands are like the mages' sling rings, used as mediums to stabilize spellcasting.
Wizard spellcasting is bizarre; there's Magic that makes people vomit slugs, and also evil Magic that can instantly strip away life.
The mages' teleportation and the Wizards' Apparition: one is more stable, the other has stronger mobility.
The Disarming Charm that takes away weapons, the Mind-Reading Spell that can read minds, Transfiguration that changes form.
Some things that even mages require powerful Magic to accomplish can be done by Wizards.
They are different from each other, yet similar.
The strength of mages compared to Wizards probably lies in the powerful inner hearts forged on those snowy mountains.
And Wizards' emotions are far richer and more extreme than ordinary people's; their energy also becomes stronger with fluctuations.
A long time ago, young Wizards who couldn't release their power could have the dark emotions generated within them transform into a powerful and terrifying monster.
An Obscurus.
Those parasitized by this kind of monster are called Obscurials.
That kind of dark power is an existence similar to the Dark Dimension.
Both mages and Wizards are mysterious existences in the Magic World.
Mages bear the mission of resisting the invasion of the Dark Dimension because Wizards are easily assimilated by the Dark Dimension.
This is both a protection and a precaution.
Wizards have the potential to generate Dark Energy themselves, and sensitive emotions are more likely to become the basis for being tempted and transformed.
Mages and Wizards have a tacit understanding not to interact with each other.
Except for a few people, not many remember the mysterious existences who also use Magic.
This tacit understanding was maintained for a long time, until the arrival of the 21st century, after which she began to lose some control.
This included variables in the Magic World that could not be observed.
In Ancient One's observations, some changes made her unable to confirm if her plans could proceed smoothly.
There were five years until the appearance of the next Supreme Mage.
She needed some powerful existences to help her get through this period.
And this kind of power was hard to find in Kamar-Taj.
Although those mages had decent combat power, they could not meet Ancient One's requirements.
She needed an existence with powerful strength and a firm heart to resist existences from beyond this world.
Ancient One chose to go to the Magic World, where they had not interacted for a long time, to find the Wizard she believed to be the most powerful.
Albus Dumbledore.
The former Principal of Hogwarts, a wise and loving Wizard.
No one was more suitable than him; his heart was firm, and he possessed the Wizard's most powerful wand.
The result deviated.
"My friend Dumbledore recommended you to me." Ancient One revealed a mysterious smile, as if carrying many secrets. She said, "Young Wizard King, John Wick."
Her eyes held scrutiny.
That powerful and wise Wizard was actually banished to drift at sea.
And the one who defeated him was the person before her eyes.
The Wizard King.
A title as noble as the mages' Supreme Mage, the leader of all Wizards.
His youth was surprising.
Ancient One perceived that within the Wizard King's body, there was something difficult to observe.
"Dumbledore?"
Mentioning his former Principal, John's scrutiny of Ancient One also gained vigilance.
However...
John's lips curved into a meaningful smile. He said, "State your purpose, Supreme Mage, Ancient One."
Tit for tat.
You act mysterious, so I'll act mysterious back.
Supreme Mage?
John's gaze paused slightly on the eye-shaped necklace the other person wore.
That was the Eye of Agamotto; inside it was a treasure capable of seeing the future and manipulating time.
Just the future.
Who can't predict the future?
Among the string of prefixes to the name Wizard King, Prophet was just one, and he had even defeated another Prophet.
"I've come to seek help." Ancient One smiled slightly; alienating the ruler of the Magic World was a foolish choice, and the wise her chose to give enough respect.
She said, "Wizard King, this world is being coveted."
"Coveted?"
John did recall some adventures from his school days; having mastered time and soul taboos, he could sometimes encounter places ordinary Wizards wouldn't know about.
Ancient One's attitude surprised him somewhat.
He had thought the title of Supreme Mage would make her react to him, but now it seemed one couldn't underestimate these monsters who had lived for hundreds of years.
"Yes." Ancient One nodded. She extended an arm that was excessively pale even for a white person.
The mages' Magic was displayed in her hand.
First, there was darkness.
Ancient One's voice rang out, full of mystery.
"At the beginning of this Universe, there was chaos."
Suddenly, a blinding white light burst open the darkness.
Infinite light and planets erupted from within, extending outwards without boundaries.
"The Big Bang gave birth to six elemental crystals."
Amidst the explosion, six brilliant gems of different colors slowly landed in various parts of the Universe.
The ground beneath John's feet also changed from darkness to a blue planet.
And this planet was connected to many places.
There were barren, cold planets, and places like a celestial realm.
More places came into view.
One of the green gems slowly settled on the treasure on Ancient One's chest.
Ancient One paced in the living room, pointed a hand casually at the Universe, and black space was born.
"The duty of Kamar-Taj is to protect Earth from being coveted by external mysteries."
"And in this Universe, there are some dimensions that covet this place."
"They long to invade here and swallow this place."
"To resist external coveting, Kamar-Taj has established three Sanctums on this planet."
She raised her hand again and pulled the blue planet from beneath John's feet.
"Hong Kong, London, New York."
Three points on the planet gradually lit up, forming three interconnected golden magic circles that enveloped the entire planet.
"And the Supreme Mage, as the leader of the mages, needs to possess powerful strength to guard all of this."
Her hands crossed into a gesture, and the Eye of Agamotto on her chest slowly opened.
A gem emitting a mysterious green light appeared inside, overlapping with the image of the infinity stones.
John stared at that thing; he could feel a tremor from the time Magic within him.
"Time," he said aloud.
Ancient One was somewhat surprised to hear that he knew, as Wizards didn't have many records about the infinity stones.
She nodded and said, "The Time Stone, one of the six infinity stones in this world."
"It is also the treasure the Supreme Mage uses to protect this place."
The Universe and the darkness vanished, leaving only the beautiful gem-like planet slowly rotating between the two of them.
"A future crisis is approaching, and this stone, along with the next Supreme Mage, will face those."
Ancient One looked at John and said sincerely, "I need your help, Wizard King."
"Me?" John raised his hand somewhat casually, touching the Magic image created by the mage; his finger passed through it. "You are more powerful, aren't you?"
He had only just managed to get free time from the throne and busy governmental affairs of the Magic Kingdom.
"This world is becoming chaotic; it's a crisis," Ancient One looked at John solemnly. "No one can escape."
A crisis?
John raised an eyebrow. Knowing that Tony Stark existed in this world, if he guessed correctly, the Avengers would also appear.
That was an organization of entirely non-human Super Heroes; shouldn't the crisis be solved by them?
"That Supreme Mage can't solve it?" John asked skeptically.
"As I said, this world is becoming chaotic, and some trajectories that should have been set are deviating." Ancient One shook her head and said, "Even I cannot know everything."
"I also cannot be sure whether the Supreme Mage who was originally determined will be changed."
Ancient One, who had always controlled the future, found this situation tricky. Her gaze followed John as she said in a deep voice, "This world has become chaotic since the two Convergences ten years ago."
"A force is dragging the world, making it difficult to observe."
John's hand paused, and his expression became a little strange.
World overlap, Convergence?
Could it be something he had encountered before?
He withdrew his hand from the planet; a black substance flashed on his fingertip, the planet exploded, and finally turned into nothingness and disappeared.
It seemed Magic could also interfere with each other.
Having reached a conclusion, John turned his head to look at Ancient One.
He suppressed the strangeness in his heart.
"Need my help?" he said indifferently. "Is it a request or... an exchange?"
John met Ancient One's slightly startled expression; although it was brief, it was still caught.
He smiled slightly and said, "The law of alchemy: there's no free gold."
"You need insurance to ensure the future Supreme Mage."
"Fair trade, equivalent exchange, right?"