Mage King in Amalgam-Verse (Marvel) (DC) (HP)

2 - Unlimited Potential

{St. Peter's Orphanage, London}

{2nd August 1986}

When Matteo first learned that he was a mutant, he was worried.

He worried for his future, for his survival, and for his eventual encounters with the threats to mutant-kind. That was why he had immediately sought a weapon to defend himself– Magic.

That was probably the best decision that he would ever make.

Magic was a fickle thing. There were rules to it that Matteo didn't know, laws that he would have to learn and follow, and he didn't even have a single spellbook or manual. It would be difficult for him to start from literally nothing.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

His Mastery transcended that mindset.

Matteo just had to 'throw' his mana outwards with an idea in mind, fail, and then he would instinctively know how to cast something resembling what he just tried. Sometimes he would even successfully cast the spell on his first try, despite not even knowing it beforehand.

It never took him more than two attempts to cast what he desired.

His power was more than just a simple 'mastery of all things–' it was almost as if the world itself was guiding him towards perfection.

And with both Mastery and Magic, Matteo was essentially a reality warper.

Not to mention that Matteo could weaponize mana itself– dawning it as armor, materializing it as a sword, and so on and so forth. He was a bonafide energy manipulator. He could also empower himself with it, bolstering his strength and speed to an exorbitant degree. In just a couple of days, Matteo had gone from a defenseless, albeit smart, child, to a being with... infinite potential.

Well, 'infinite' might be a bit of a stretch, but being able to master any spell, without even knowing the spell beforehand, was an unbelievable powerful ability. Even if his mana wasn't endless, he DID have the ability to rapidly improve and master whatever he practiced. Matteo would quite literally become a veteran at anything he tried within minutes.

The greatest boon, though, was being able to conceal himself from any sort of detection, whether it was magical, psychic, or technological. That had taken a load off of his mind.

'No government organizations, mutant traffickers, or anything of the sort will be finding me anytime soon, no sir.'

Matteo also began constructing the classic 'mind palace,' fortifying his mind, as well as putting in elaborate protections for both his body and soul.

He also put a few 'runes' on Quinn, Sophie, Ryan, and Ms. Myers, which would alert him whenever they were in any sort of trouble. None of them were going to pull an 'Uncle Ben' on him.

As for his birthday, it was a quiet affair. Just a small party with cake at the orphanage. Matteo ended up getting a drawing from Quinn, a hat from Sophie, a comic-book from Ryan, and new clothes from Ms. Myers. Matteo appreciated it, he really did– he knew how hard it was for Ms. Myers to provide for them, and if Matteo was being honest, he had been expecting less.

But now that he had actual, tangible power at his disposal, Matteo felt... dissatisfied.

'Changing my circumstances without drawing too much attention– I can do that much, right?'

There were lots of different ways for Matteo to go about this, and after mulling it over, a semblance of a plan started to form in his mind.

***