Multiverse Drift

Ethan jolted upright, his consciousness snapping back all at once. His first instinct was to check his body. The worn, dirty clothes he had been wearing after days at sea were gone, replaced with a clean set of plain white robes. The fabric wasn't new, but it was fresh and neatly laundered.

He touched his lips, once cracked and dry from lack of water. Now, they felt much better, almost completely healed. His body, too, felt reinvigorated, as though he were brimming with energy. That sleep or rather, coma had been the most restful he'd had in a long time.

"You're recovering well. Much faster than I anticipated."

The unfamiliar voice startled Ethan. He immediately turned his head to see the bald figure he vaguely remembered before passing out. The person—no, the woman was sitting at a table near his bed, calmly brewing tea.

"I gave you some rejuvenation potions while you were unconscious," the woman continued without looking at him. "Still, it's impressive that you've woken up so soon…"

Ethan stayed silent, taking in the sight of the woman busy with her tea. Strangely, though her lips weren't moving, he could still hear her voice clearly. It felt more like the words were echoing directly in his mind.

"Yes," she said as if reading his thoughts. "I'm using magic to establish a direct spiritual connection with you. I assumed you wouldn't understand the language of this world... young man from another world."

At this, she finally raised her head to meet Ethan's gaze, allowing him to get a proper look at her face. The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Where… am I?" Ethan asked, focusing his mental energy to form the thought.

His words caught the woman by surprise. Her eyebrows arched slightly, and a small smile graced her lips. "Ah, you're quite talented. You've grasped the basics of mental communication already. That's convenient."

Carrying a cup of tea, she approached him and handed it over. "This is Earth," she said. "My name is the Ancient One. I'm a mage. Do you know what a mage is?"

Ethan accepted the cup and took a careful sip. "I know."

He didn't just know what a mage was; he also knew about Earth. After all, he had lived on Earth in his previous life, though it wasn't this Earth.

The thought made Ethan's heart race. Wait. A spiritual link… Can she read my thoughts directly?

Glancing at the Ancient One, Ethan tried to gauge her reaction. The enigmatic mage from the Marvel universe showed no sign of having "heard" his stray thoughts. Was she deliberately feigning ignorance, or did she truly lack the ability to read minds?

Ethan decided to test her. He deliberately mixed his mental energy when forming his words, while letting unrelated thoughts wander in his mind. If she reacted to the random thoughts, it would mean she could read his mind.

After a few exchanges, Ethan reached a tentative conclusion: either the Ancient One was pretending not to notice, or she truly could only "hear" messages he consciously projected.

Though he hoped it was the latter, he couldn't dismiss the possibility of the former. Still, her composed demeanor gave him some relief. At least, she hadn't immediately deemed him a threat and eliminated him on the spot.

As the conversation continued, the Ancient One gently probed Ethan's situation. He explained that he came from a world covered in oceans, that he was only seventeen, that his parents were gone, and that his arrival here was purely accidental.

In return, the Ancient One clarified a few things about his current circumstances.

The orb in Ethan's hand, it turned out, had been pointing toward dispersed space-time energy. Once it located the energy, it would absorb it. Ethan, as the host, could then use his mental power to activate a magic circle for teleportation.

After the teleportation, the space-time energy protected the host temporarily until it was depleted. Once exhausted, the energy would automatically send the host back to their original location.

This explanation also clarified why the Ancient One had intervened. The magic circle's intended destination wasn't the Ancient One's home at Kamar-Taj. Instead, as Earth's protector against interdimensional threats, she had intercepted Ethan's arrival the moment his presence registered as an "invasion."

"Of course," Ethan muttered inwardly. "The Ancient One doesn't miss a thing. No wonder she intercepted me mid-teleportation. Makes you wonder how so many other fictional characters manage to slip into Marvel's world unnoticed by someone like her…"

At least he could be thankful this was the movie version of the Ancient One. The comic version? That might have ended very differently. The Marvel comic universe was notorious for being far more chaotic and far less forgiving.

"The energy within you is steadily depleting," the Ancient One continued, "and I estimate it will completely dissipate in about seven days."

Ethan's heart sank. He knew the truth, the space-time energy wouldn't last seven days. It would last six. On the sixth day, when the energy reached its minimum threshold, it would automatically trigger the teleportation circle to return him to his original world.

"It's a shame to come all this way, only to be sent back after a few meals and a nap," Ethan thought, his mood souring. But then an idea occurred to him. Would the Ancient One be willing to teach me magic?

After a brief discussion, Ethan tentatively brought up the subject, only to be gently but firmly dismissed.

"Your mental aptitude is… adequate," the Ancient One said tactfully. "But even with years of effort, you're unlikely to achieve much. It would be a poor use of your life."

The message was clear: she didn't think he had the talent for magic.

It wasn't a surprising assessment. In almost every story, becoming a mage required extraordinary aptitude, and Ethan had no delusions about himself. He was an ordinary person both in his past life and in this one.

Still, the Ancient One wasn't entirely dismissive.

"If your goal is simply to solve practical problems, that's achievable."

Ethan had already explained his predicament to her, hoping to earn her sympathy. Though she wasn't one to let emotions sway her, she also wasn't the type to leave someone in a desperate situation without offering some help.

"You have decent control over your mental energy," she said. "That's enough to learn a basic spell. With diligent practice, it should be enough to solve your water problem."

The Ancient One guided him through the basics of the spell using their spiritual connection. This method of teaching was incredibly efficient, allowing complex concepts to be communicated far more clearly than with words alone.

The spell itself was straightforward. It extracted water molecules referred to as "water elements" from the surrounding environment and condensed them into drinkable water. The spell's effectiveness depended heavily on the environment. It wasn't creating water out of thin air or converting magical energy into water; it simply manipulated existing water molecules.

The spell was simple but practical, and Ethan quickly grasped the fundamentals. Now all he needed was practice.

The spell couldn't have been more fitting for the world he came from, a world dominated by endless oceans. Everywhere he looked, there was water, and yet, none of it was drinkable.

The only real challenge was controlling mental energy. Many people possessed strong mental energy but lacked the fine control necessary to use it effectively, which prevented them from becoming mages. Fortunately for Ethan, he had been honing his mental energy for years, ever since he first began using the glowing orb to navigate his world. This constant practice had given him a precision that bypassed what others might find difficult.

Watching the small droplets of water gradually form in his palm, Ethan finally allowed himself a smile. This trip wasn't for nothing.

Even better, the Ancient One had used their spiritual link to teach him a local language, freeing him from the awkward barrier of being unable to communicate with others.

Over the next three days, Ethan explored the area as much as he could. His movements were somewhat restricted, there weren't many places he was allowed to go, and he didn't encounter many people. He didn't even see any of the "familiar faces" he half-expected.

Though the Ancient One didn't harm him, she clearly didn't trust him enough to let him wander freely. Subtle but constant surveillance ensured that if Ethan tried to leave his designated area, someone would promptly stop him.

Other than that, there were no real restrictions. He was free to chat with the apprentices, even discussing their magical studies. One young apprentice, in particular, seemed to delight in showing off. Armed with a smartphone, the apprentice kept flaunting it in front of Ethan, as though bullying an "otherworldly native" who didn't know what it was.

The apprentice's smugness backfired spectacularly. Ethan, who had grown up with smartphones in his previous life, quickly taught him a lesson, particularly after figuring out how to tinker with the phone. Angry Birds, which the apprentice had proudly shown off as the latest craze, was a game Ethan had long grown bored of in his past life.

Still, the apprentice's foolishness had a silver lining. By messing around with the phone, Ethan managed to figure out the timeline of his current location. Based on the apprentice's chatter and the release of the game, Ethan guessed it was sometime between Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2.

"So Doctor Strange won't show up for a few more years…" Ethan muttered to himself. Then, a thought struck him, and he grinned. "Wait, does that make me his senior?"

Perhaps because of Ethan's "good behavior," the Ancient One eventually gave him something unexpected.

When Ethan returned to his room that evening, he found a variety of items waiting for him: packaged food, basic living and sailing tools, a few changes of clothes, and a stack of books.

"The energy in your body will activate tonight, sending you back to your original world," the Ancient One said as she appeared beside him. "These items should be enough to sustain you for a while."

Her precision was nothing short of remarkable. In the few days since meeting Ethan, the Ancient One had not only figured out the exact state of the energy within his body but had also calculated the exact moment of his departure. She had even prepared everything he might need ahead of time. Truly, the title of Supreme Mage wasn't just for show.

"Although the water-gathering spell I taught you is a simple and basic magic," she continued, "practicing it diligently will strengthen your mental energy. You'll likely find it useful in the future."

The Ancient One gestured toward the books on the table. The first was titled Introduction to Spiritual Power Training. Beside it were Explanation of the Use of Basic Spells and several other tomes. One stack caught Ethan's attention, a thick set of Oxford dictionaries, along with French and other language textbooks.

"Don't worry," she added. "As you practice and improve your spiritual power, your memory will also strengthen. You'll find it easier to memorize these books as time goes on."

Ethan scratched the back of his head, puzzled. "But… why give me these?" He glanced at the textbooks.

The Ancient One's expression grew serious. "I have a feeling you'll come back."

"Maybe," she said quietly, "you'll be able to help me solve a great problem when that time comes."