Strange, Roggers, and Maximov stood in the courtyard of Kamar Taj, as Kaecilius suddenly fell out of a Mirror Dimension Portal.
"Kaecilius, what happened?" asked Wanda with A worried gaze. But not at his Arm, instead at his surroundings, clearly searching for someone.
"I'm fine, Wanda, thank you for asking," he said sarcastically, as he took the bandage from a student who came running the second he saw his Arm.
He placed it on his limb, and it automatically bandaged itself around the Arm as it began to glow in a slight green light from within.
"You can stop looking for him, he is not in danger," Kaecilius begrudgingly admitted.
"I got pulled out by my emergency belt. He won and is unharmed."
Shock took over the whole courtyard. Everyone in it had witnessed a Master as proud as Kaecilius openly declare his defeat.
Even worse, the adversary was unharmed.
A lot of brains couldn't fathom the implications, while others stopped working altogether.
Then all heads turned in unison, as a Sling portal opened on the other side of the courtyard, from which Tenno stepped out of, and to everyone's surprise, truly completely unharmed, not even a scratch.
Kaecilius looked down at his Arm and began to smile.
"You have my acknowledgement, young one, even though you don't need it anymore, you shall have it as you have earned it," He said, standing proudly, before walking into the halls, clearly on his way to the healing rooms.
After a short while of silence, Strange finally couldn't hold it in anymore, as his curiosity took over.
"How did you defeat him? You must have finished the Spell you were working on, show me," he nearly commanded, as his voice cracked a bit from excitement.
He and Kaecilius were rivals since early on in their careers. He really wanted to know what kind of Spell defeat this Tank of a Sorcerer.
"As you wish, I call it Mirror force, have a good look as I can't stabilize it for long at the moment," Tenno said with a smile, while weaving his hands, creating complicated eldrich patterns and hand signs, as the sling ring on his fingers began to glow in a deep orange.
After a few seconds of chanting, his movements suddenly stopped as a circular silver Mirror expanded from within his palms, reaching the size of a sling portal.
Strange analyzed it in amazement, while reaching for it and touching the surface.
He abruptly pulled back, clearly confused about what had happened.
Then the spell collapsed, and Tenno set down on the ground to catch his breath.
"You felt it, didn't you?" he asked Strange with a smirk. Strange just looked at him in total amazement and nodded.
"That's why you called it Mirror force," he said after a second, his scrawny face changing into one of understanding.
"I'm glad you like it, I thought it would be poetic," Tenno answered, while standing up, brushing his Knee.
"What… I don't understand, what do you mean by that's why? Can someone please explain what is happening?" Wanda asked, slightly taken aback by the situation.
"I felt myself," Strange answered, Wanda, seemingly still not getting it.
"It's a Portal that leads into itself. A mirror without Glass, where whatever touches the surface, instead touches itself. Perfect defense, as everything touching it, fights against itself and ultimately also negates itself" He explained, as all the faces simultaneously went through the emotion of understanding and then complete horror, realizing the implications of this spell.
This Spell would probably change the game completely once it was understood and refined. They were witnessing history unfolding right before their eyes.
As Tenno looked around, his gaze fell on Strange, who obviously had already begun to analyze and optimize the spell he had just witnessed. With his photographic memory he was probably the only one except for him, who knew how to cast the spell, as he witnessed the casting in the first row, after all.
"Come into my office when I call for you, we have to record this and create your Grimoire. This needs to be recorded for posterity," he said silently, still in thought, as he left the courtyard.
Everyone again turned their heads in amazement, even though it was nearly whispered, he was the only one making any noise, so everyone still heard it.
Being a Sorcerer who made his own spell, as fast as him after enlisting was unheard of, but the spell was so special that it needed a Grimoire, so the knowledge about it would not be lost under any circumstances.
Something special enough that only Masters who were incredibly old and knowledgeable in their field would usually receive such an honor and acknowledgement of their own achievement.
And today, a young Boy, not even a Master yet, had shown them a spell that they would probably read about in the Library's history books.
Before he finally left for his preparations, Strange stopped for a last second.
"And just so you know, this is enough for your Master's thesis, so congratulations on completing all the criteria of becoming a Master."
Tenno smiled and watched Strange walk out of sight as he went over to Wanda.
The fight today was solely to test his Ability to create Eldritch constructs, which were good enough for a battle against a Master.
That was one of the criteria to become a Master. But it escalated a bit.
The second one was acknowledgment from three Masters or beating one in combat, another one having control of the Mirror dimension, while the last one was creating one's own spell.
It took some time for the crowd to realize the implications of what was stated, but as they realized that a new Master was in the Making, they wanted to congratulate him, but he was already gone, taken to Wanda's office, where she promised to show him a present for becoming a Master of the Mystic arts.
"So what do you want to show me, Wanda? To be so secretive is definitely not like you."
Tenno said as they walked side by side as he nudged her shoulder.
"As I said, it's a secret, and we are nearly there, so be patient. Or do you want to ruin the surprise?"
She retorted while smiling.
After some time, they reached the room, and she began to open a drawer.
She reached into it, and out she came with an amulet. It had the form of a little star, the same one the Nova empire used.
"I hope you like it. After you told me of your predicament with your looks, I thought this might help you in the future," She said with a bright smile as she witnessed his surprised face.
For a long time, she had the habit of treating him like a little child. First, he went with it to get intel more easily, but once he had what he wanted, it became more of a bother than helpful.
So he told her how his Body worked. The Tenno didn't age like normal humans after all.
Their bodies were stuck in time, from the moment they took the Offer from the Man in the Wall. That's not what he told her though, she knew about his age stagnating, but how and why he didn't tell.
He told her that he was actually way older than her, though, and after some convincing, and a lot of jokes, she started to treat him like an adult. She was also the only one who knew about it, so it was their little secret.
But that she would gift him with something related to that revelation was surprising, even for him.
"It's an Amulet I created with Witchcraft so it won't interfere with your magic, but you will not be able to repair it if it breaks, so be careful."
She then took his Arm and pulled him over to a table, where a open book laid in place, its pages turned to a section about Transmutation and Illusions.
"The Talisman will allow you to change your looks into someone else's. It's Part Illusion and part Transmutation, so unless it gets destroyed, your Body will really take on a completely different form. I will teach you the binding ritual and the activation chant, the rest is too complicated for the time we have left, though," she said with a smile, but her eyes betrayed her, as he clearly saw how sad she was.
He took the Amulet, and she began to teach him the proper incantations.
After some time and a few drops of his blood, he felt the connection take hold, and the next second, he began to glow.
He knew how he would have looked if he had aged after all, thanks to the Drifter. He imagined his visage in his mind, as his Body began to take shape around him, till the Amulet stopped glowing.
"So you knew already how to use it, you are no fun," Wanda said with a pout.
"No, I just read it in your book as you showed it to me," he explained, watching her pout turn into an annoyed face, as he just smiled at her.
After she was finished with being annoyed, she started to look him up and down, before smiling pleased at her work.
"You look good, proper for a Master of the Mystic arts to be," she teased him, while eyeing him up and down.
He just smiled and turned around, looking at himself, before he went to a mirror to observe his body from a few different angles.
Wanda watched him play around in front of the Mirror while snickering, as she slowly started to realize something.
Over the past few months, they had developed a pretty intense relationship, and she always liked being around him, smiled more, and even laughed sometimes. She also started to feel empty when he wasn't around and always searched for excuses to be near him.
And now that he had a Body, she had to admit was fine to look at, something in her had snapped into place and she realized what it was. She suddenly understood the feeling that started to develop over the last few months and at its revelation hit her like a train.
She was shell-shocked, and before she could act on her revelation even in the slightest, a sudden mental message was transmitted into their room, telling Tenno to get to Strange's office as he finished the preparations.
"Sorry, Wanda, but I have to go. See you later," he said, as he left the room before she could react, destroying the moment.
In Strange's office, he found him meditating, while floating above the ground. His third eye opened, as Tenno stepped into the room.
Strange smiled at his new Body but didn't comment on it.
"Come now, and act fast. We will transfer your progress to memory. I will imprint it on paper for you, you know the technicalities, it's way faster than writing."
Tenno just nodded and also started to meditate. He focused on Strange's Mind and then on his training.
The way he learned the essential spells needed for the new one,he way he first came up with the idea and the way his first tests came out to be. Everything about it that he remembered was slowly translated from memory into text.
And while he did so, he watched the book, lying on the floor between them, in a runic circle, write his memories down just as he thought them.
After a few hours, the book closed itself and the remaining pages, not written on, loosened themself and flew away.
On the front, the Name was written in bold, golden runic letters.
A Thesis on the combination of the sling portal and the Mirror dimension portal spell, from Tenno.
"Now to the most Important part," Strange said as he went to the very last page, which was inscribed with the needed hand signs and Eldridge patterns required for the spell circle.
"Now, cast the spell and force it into the seal."
Strange said.
It would be the last part of the process to create his very own Sorcerer Grimoire, and so he began.
The spell was cast infront of them, and Strange activated the seal as Tenno directed it into it. It started to turn in strange angles and then shrink more and more, until it fit in the middle of the circle, where it turned into Inc, now looking like a drawing of the spell, in the middle of the page.
"Very well done, would you like to sign?"
Strange asked as he closed the book and held it in front of Tenno. He just reached out and burned the Lotus sign into the book cover, with a beam of his own energy.
Now the only thing he would need was to wait for when the preparations of the ceremony were completed, to become a real Master of the Mystic arts.
Strange took the book and put it on a shelf in his office, treating it like a newborn.
"Now, let's see if I can help you with something else," he said, as Strange opened a portal leading to the New York Sanctum.
They went to see if any artifacts responded to him, but it seemed his bands scared them of.
"They were enough anyway," he tried to comfort himself, still envious of the flying cloak that somehow had its own consciousness or something similar.
Finally, after returning, he was called to Steve's Office. On the way there, tough, he met the fully healed Kaecilius.
He bowed down before him, making him stop in his tracks
"Tenno, please allow me to gift this to you, as you beat me fair and square," he said as he tried to hand his knives to him respectfully while straightening.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept that." He refused, for what did he need a Artifact if it wouldn't connect with him.
"Then at least accept these, it would be inappropriate to refuse a gift if the first was already declined, so are the rules," he said, while handing him the Portal counter he used in their duel.
The rule was new to him, but he didn't want to anger the Master, so he accepted the gift, although not willingly.
He wanted to thank him but Kaecilius just excused himself and wished him good luck on his first Mission as he left.
For some time he just stood there and looked at the artifact, he just got. He didn't know if he would ever be able to use it, but he wouldn't throw it away, so he pocketed it and went on his way.
Tenno finally stepped into Steve's office, finding him nose-deep in paperwork.
After some waiting and walking along the bookshelves, browsing with boredom, Steve finally looked up and noticed him.
"Why didn't you say something? I was waiting for you," he said, leaving Tenno perplexed as to how the strongest person he knew couldn't sense his arrival.
"Paperwork had to really be bad", he thought, taking a mentall note for later, so he might avoid that cruel fate as good as possible.