The expressionless Mordo turned to Nolan and bowed slightly, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Then, without another word, he turned and his footsteps padded quietly back toward the stone stairs, disappearing from view.
Nolan, squinting his eyes, hesitated. The air felt charged, different. He still stepped forward.
He gently pushed the heavy wooden door with a huge glove covered in red armor. The metal of his gauntlet scraped softly on the ancient, carved wood. With a low groan of the door's axis turning, the heavy wooden door slowly swung open, revealing a large, quiet room.
Nolan looked through the open doorway. At a glance, he saw a figure sitting in the middle of the room. Next to a low, dark wooden table, a tall, thin figure was methodically washing and steeping tea sets. The movements were fluid and precise.
At this time, a faint, soft light penetrated the gap in a window, hitting the opponent's perfectly round, bald head diagonally, illuminating a few dust motes dancing in the air. Above her almost reflective, fair skin and high, straight bridge of nose, a pair of dark eyes, as deep and bright as stars, showed no fluctuation at Nolan's arrival. They just watched him calmly.
"Coffee? Tea? Or just hot water?"
The tall, thin figure raised her chin, asking Nolan in a gentle, clear tone.
Nolan's expression became much stiffer. He took a deep breath, the sound of his armored suit's ventilation a low hiss in the quiet room. He slowly went inside. His heavy, armored boots clanked softly on the stone floor, the sound seeming impossibly loud.
He stopped while still ten meters away from her.
Nolan, blinking, suddenly stopped and said respectfully to the tall, thin figure, his voice slightly metallic through the armor's external speaker, "Hello, Master Ancient One. Why did you ask to see me?"
Master Ancient One smiled. It was a small, knowing smile that reached her eyes. She gently picked up an empty, delicate porcelain tea cup with her slender fingers.
She said softly to the solemn-faced Nolan, "Young man, you can come closer. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj are not cannibals. I will not eat you."
Perhaps it was the Ancient One's sense of humor, or perhaps his keen animal instinct simply sensed her completely non-threatening, friendly attitude. The tension that had locked Nolan's muscles since he arrived, coiling them tight, suddenly relaxed.
He slowly let out a breath, the hiss from his armor evening out.
Piloting the Hunting Lord armor, he stepped forward. The servos in his suit whined quietly with each step. Then, Nolan carefully, almost awkwardly, sat on the cushion opposite the low wooden table and looked at Master Ancient One. The armor scraped as he settled.
At this moment, the smiling Master Ancient One turned her head to look at Nolan. Her gaze was direct and unnerving. She casually placed the teacup in front of him.
She repeated the previous question: "Coffee, tea? Or hot water?"
Nolan, sitting upright, replied quickly, his voice still filtered. "Tea. Thank you."
The smiling Master Ancient One nodded slightly. She raised two slender white fingers and snapped them skillfully. The sound was sharp and clear in the room.
The next second, the empty teacup in front of Nolan was suddenly filled, from scratch, with steaming, pale green tea. The aroma instantly hit him.
Nolan's eyes widened slightly, but this didn't surprise him much. Because the bald woman opposite was the famous Sorcerer Supreme.
"Even though I am older, I still like to show off in front of young people," Master Ancient One slowly lowered her white palm and blinked her deep black eyes. She said to Nolan with a smile.
"Master Ancient One... why are you looking for me?" Nolan swallowed, the sound dry. He reached out with his gauntlet to hold the hot teacup. He could feel the intense heat even through the armored glove. He had no intention of drinking it.
"Nolan, right? You don't need to be too nervous. I'm not interested in what you do in the mortal world. And personally, I also appreciate what you do."
She paused, her gaze distant. "Everyone's destiny will change, or it may not change. Maybe change is better than staying the same."
"Of course," she added, her eyes focusing on him again, "you have to learn to stop killing and anger occasionally. If you want to learn, I can have someone teach you a simple method of meditation. This is not a sorcerer's secret, so ordinary people can master it quickly."
Master Ancient One casually picked up her own tea cup. She took a delicate sip of the hot tea and whispered to the expressionless Nolan.
Nolan narrowed his eyes and forced a smile, breaking the stiff muscles on his face. It felt unnatural.
He said to Master Ancient One with a serious expression, "Thank you for your understanding, and thank you for your kindness. If Kamar-Taj needs me, you can ask whatever you want."
"Young man, maybe you are still confused, and you are on guard, thinking that I must want you to do something." She set her cup down with a soft click. "But you guessed wrong. In fact, it is not me who wants to see you, but your 'brother' who repeatedly asked Kamar-Taj to look for you."
"This is one of the reasons why I had to use divination to find you," Master Ancient One said to Nolan with a gentle expression.
However, hearing the Ancient One's words, Nolan, squinting his eyes, frowned slightly. The armor's joints creaked as he shifted. He said, his eyes hesitant, "Brother? Master Ancient One, I don't have any brothers."
"That friend from Asgard, the heir to Asgard, Thor, doesn't think so. He said that you are the bravest mortal agent he has ever seen, and you saved his life, so you are his mortal brother."
Master Ancient One suddenly blinked her dark, bright eyes at Nolan in a playful manner.
The next moment, he opened and closed his mouth several times, but Nolan, still unable to utter a complete sentence, finally let out a deep, heavy sigh from inside his helmet.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he stared at Master Ancient One and asked, "Since Thor has found Kamar-Taj, even if there is a problem inside Asgard, can't you solve any problem by taking action yourself?"
"I am just an ordinary mortal. I am afraid I can't help much, right?"
However, Nolan's voice had not finished.
A delicate, small white folding fan suddenly appeared out of thin air in Master Ancient One's slightly raised palm. Her slender white fingertips played with the wooden handle of the fan.
A pair of deep eyes looked at the frowning Nolan, and she said lightly, "Perhaps you can't understand, but as the Sorcerer Supreme, my duty does not allow me to stay away from the Earth. The relationship between Asgard and Earth is much closer than you think. Most of my apprentices are not very capable, and Thor always looks down on them as mages, so I have to find you, a mortal friend who is truly recognized by Thor."
"Nolan, you will help Thor, the heir of Asgard, return to his country as an envoy of Midgrad. In this way, it will be a great thing for both you and the Earth."
Nolan, grinning, took a deep breath. The grin was tight, humorless.
He asked Master Ancient One, "And if I refuse?"
The Ancient One's expression gradually became serious. The light, gentle atmosphere in the room vanished.
"Of course you can. But when the Asgardian invasion army, with a new ruler, arrives on Earth, you and your friends will have to pay a more tragic price to resist a terrifying army that has conquered the Nine Realms. And according to the ancient covenant, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj cannot intervene in this war."
"That means... I don't have the right to refuse at all, right?"
After a moment of silence, Nolan slowly opened his cyan wolf eyes.
He grinned at Master Ancient One, and this time, the fangs he usually tried to hide were exposed.
"Master Ancient One, where is Thor?"
"I think I need to teach him some manner as his 'brother' !"