Quirks and magic

Chapter 10: Test of Heart

Casey Kinmont let out a groan as she stretched her limbs out, forcing herself to resist the sweet temptations of her wool bed. But the morning cold swept into her barrack and nipped her into alertness, and so she grudgingly slipped into her crimson robes as she freshened up for the day. She tried patting down several sprigs of cowlicks jutting out of her blue hair before giving up; she would just have to tolerate Master Wong's derision if he'd found her not properly presentable for training today. Fixing her glasses on her face, she strutted out of her barrack right as another female companion of hers exited as well.

"Morning Zelma," Casey grumbled as politely as she could. No amount of time spent here at Kamar-Taj was going to make her a morning person, but she did her best not to impose her moodiness onto others. What kind of sorcerer would she be if she did that?

The darker-skinned gal turned and flashed a friendly smile at Casey, flipping her smooth black hair out of her face. "Morning Casey! You look a bit worse for wear!"

"How could I sleep when I all have to look forward to today is another grueling studying session?" Casey grumbled as she slowly pulled the front barrack door open, shielding her face momentarily as the full Himalayan breeze swept down the stone corridor. "I'm no good with books!"

"I wouldn't be too worried about that," Zelma said knowingly as they stepped out of the barrack and into the courtyard only to find it practically barren aside from a handful of fellow apprentices making their way toward the great library. "Master Wong departed not too long ago."

Casey turned toward her friend in surprise. "Master Wong left? He almost never leaves the compound when there's training scheduled! Do you know where he went?"

"He went to check on Master Strange, I believe," Zelma replied.

"Ah...guess that's as good a reason as any," Casey said glumly as she looked around the nearly empty training courtyard. Daily lessons were only postponed under rare circumstances. "Master Strange has been away for well over a year. What do you suppose he's been doing?"

Zelma shrugged. "We're just apprentices, we're not exactly privy to the responsibilities Master Strange has as the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. We should merely have faith in his abilities and carry out our training dutifully if we wish to do right by him."

The entire compound suddenly shook; the vibrations seemed to come from outside the compound as Casey and Zelma looked in the direction of a faraway mountainside that was still in view.

"See, Rintrah's got the right idea!" Zelma exclaimed as she waved her hands and opened a portal to said mountainside. "Let's go spectate while we have some time to ourselves!"

"Yeah...right behind you," Casey muttered softly as she followed her friend through the portal. She would enjoy her time off today, though she remained eager for her Master Strange's return.

Izuku slowly flexed his arms, trying to gauge how strong this Master Wong's ethereal bonds were as said Master approached him carefully and cautiously down the stairs, like a hunter about to ensure his prey's demise.

"Y-you've got it all wrong!" Izuku tried to say as calmly as he could. "I'm not an intruder! I'm a student of Doctor Strange!"

"A likely story," Wong responded, wrapping the fizzling rope tightly around one hand to keep it taut as his other hand shimmered. The energy he summoned forth took the shape of a Tao mandala.

Izuku recognized it-Strange had shown it to him many times and he had practiced shaping mandalas and using them as basic shields enough to be somewhat competent at it. But what unnerved Izuku was the edge of Wong's mandala: it was spinning rapidly, sending bright orange sparks flipping through the air as Wong raised his hand threateningly. It gave Izuku the impression that the edge of his magical shield was sharp. Like, a 'cut-off-Izuku's-head-cleanly' kind of sharp.