Chapter 1610: No Time to Die (Part 9)

The Sanctum Sanctorum was busy as usual today. Strange finished his day's work but was still on his phone talking to a client.

He walked out while on the phone. Just as he pushed open his office door, he saw Schiller outside, about to knock. Strange looked him up and down, hurriedly said a few words to the other end of the line, and then hung up.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Strange asked.

But he saw Schiller take a few steps back, looking him up and down from head to toe. That cold and focused gaze made Strange break out in a cold sweat.

"You're not the doctor. Who are you?"

"You don't look like someone who would notice this problem immediately." Schiller's tone was very slow, the start and end of every word articulated clearly, without a hint of fast-paced busyness, slow like a record player that had just been pressed play.

Strange was stunned. He felt like he had been insulted, but he couldn't be sure. He turned his head to the side, coughed twice, and said: "Regardless of which Schiller you are, what do you want with me?"

"I heard you started a magic school. Can you let me visit it?"

"Kamar-Taj?" Strange frowned and asked with some confusion: "Aren't you not very interested in that? The Ancient One invited you to visit our construction results several times, but you wouldn't go, saying it would delay you from making money."

"I changed my mind." Schiller said in a steady tone, without a hint of unnaturalness or awkwardness.

"Alright, that's not impossible. Do you want to go now? Or wait until I'm done with..."

"Right now."

Strange took a step back. This Schiller's temperament really made him want to keep his distance. To ease the serious atmosphere, he had to open a portal while looking at Schiller.

"I didn't expect a dark suit to suit you so well. Why haven't I seen you wear one before?"

"It's just that you haven't seen it."

Schiller's answer was concise, as if he didn't want to start any topic that could lead to small talk. After the portal opened, Strange led him into it. After landing, they arrived at the main hall of Kamar-Taj.

Strange saw Schiller looking around, but only his head moved; his neck and shoulders remained still, appearing very cautious, yet possessing a steady elegance.

He knew that if it were the original doctor, he might have already darted out of the hall and headed straight for the destination. But this Schiller in the black suit seemed to have leisure and elegance, and most importantly, he looked like he had plenty of time.

Strange never felt that Schiller would have free time. Schiller usually only had two states: either busy with this, or busy with that. If he appeared to be busy with nothing, it proved that others would soon be busy.

Schiller walked slowly to the pillar supporting the Kamar-Taj hall, observing the patterns on it in detail. Strange stood behind him, stomped his feet, and couldn't help but ask: "Um, are we going to the school now?"

"Lead the way." Schiller nodded at him and said.

Strange strode toward the exit of the hall, and Schiller followed closely behind. Two figures in suits strolled through the magic temple. This scene looked strange no matter how you looked at it.

Soon, the two of them arrived at the Kamar-Taj Magic Academy. This was an academy built inside Kamar-Taj. It only occupied one building, but inside there was space-expansion magic. In total, it had eleven floors and over two hundred students, divided into ten groups, each ranging from eighteen to twenty-five people.

The vast majority were disciples Kamar-Taj found all over the world, mostly aged seven to twelve, and some were adopted orphans aged three to five. Usually, the former would become mages, and the latter, if they truly lacked magical talent, would go to the village at the foot of Kamar-Taj mountain to find a job after reaching adulthood, occasionally coming up the mountain to help with work.

"This model has been passed down for a thousand years." Strange introduced: "Magic is an education for geniuses. If we were to carry out universal education like ordinary people, it would not only be a waste of resources but also destroy the lives of ordinary people. So even if we built a larger-scale school, we would only recruit a very limited number of students."

Schiller nodded, indicating he understood, and then he asked: "Then what if there are many geniuses?"

"This number is usually constant." Strange said as he and Schiller walked into the teaching building: "The number of geniuses who can become mages in each generation is fixed. Except for a very small number of people who completely don't want to practice magic, most will learn of the existence of magic at a suitable age. If they don't learn of it, it means they aren't suitable."

"We have specialized mages searching for such geniuses all over the world. We usually use the soul-trace detection method. As long as a person has come into contact with magic, energy will definitely leave traces on their soul. We have specialized magical artifacts to detect the traces in the souls of such people."

"The vast majority of people who can come into contact with magic before the age of seven have very high inspiration and are relatively focused; they are good seedlings for mages. We will try our best to persuade them, and then bring them up the mountain to let them participate in Earth's magical defense work."

Schiller nodded. This time, the nod was more forceful than the last, clearly approving of this method. Then he asked: "So you bring the students over one-on-one?"

"Yes, because we have portals, so it's very simple. Go to the designated location, use the artifact to find the target, open a portal, and send them back."

"Then what if there are no portals? I mean, what if there are places where it's not convenient to open a portal?"

"Mages can open portals under any circumstances." Strange shrugged, his tone firm, and said: "This is the specialty of human mages... Alright, we have indeed encountered situations where the artifact reacts but we can't find the person. We would choose to use a tracking spell to send them a letter..."

"You know this tracking spell?"

"Of course, this isn't a very difficult spell, it can even be said to be very simple."

"Then what do the students learn here? What is the difficult magic you speak of?"

"Of course, it's magic used for combat." Strange pushed open a classroom door and said: "Might makes right. You can't make them obediently sign a contract favorable to you before fighting any demon god, so we mainly teach them how to fight."

Schiller nodded more forcefully, appearing very satisfied. Then he stood by the podium of the empty classroom and looked at Strange, asking: "Are you the principal of this school?"

"Of course not. The principal is the Ancient One. As the Sorcerer Supreme, I'm already very busy. I don't have time to manage school affairs, but I occasionally come back to teach them."

Schiller raised an eyebrow with interest and asked: "What do you teach?"

"Uh, some common sense about demon gods and techniques for dealing with them." Strange's tone was a bit guilty, but he still explained: "After all, you have to sit down and talk after the fight. Negotiation skills are indispensable."

Schiller seemed a bit disappointed and asked: "Is there nothing else?"

"I sometimes lead meditation classes." Strange didn't seem to care about this point. He rested one hand on the podium and said: "You also know that I'm a surgeon. Most of the achievements I've made in the field of surgery come from my focus."

"Focus is also very important in magic. I will teach students some techniques for calming the mind and sublimating focus. Although this mainly depends on their day-to-day training, some techniques during the novice period can help them enter the state faster."

Schiller nodded thoughtfully and asked again: "What about magic-related animal and plant studies?"

"Not very good at it, but I have dabbled in it." Strange's fingertips tapped lightly on the podium's surface, and then he turned his head strangely to look at Schiller on the other side of the podium: "Aren't you here to visit the school?"

"The school is not bad." Schiller replied, and then he stared at him with that gaze that made Strange's back feel cold.

After a full half-minute, Schiller moved his gaze away and said: "During the time you went to the realm of death, the Sanctum Sanctorum and Kamar-Taj were operating quite well, right?"

"I suppose so. No major disasters occurred. But why are you asking this?"

"Nothing. Do you have time to come to Arkham Asylum tonight? I have some things I want to talk to you about."

"What can't be talked about now?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

Watching Schiller's back, Strange felt inexplicable, but in the evening, he still came to Arkham Asylum, mainly because he was curious about what Schiller wanted to talk to him about.

Just as he arrived at Schiller's office, Strange saw a large black hole appear in the center of the smooth, clean floor.

This hole occupied about one-third of the floor. The interior wasn't entirely black; it was more like a starry sky, with deep blue as the base color, and faint points of light within it.

"What is this?" Strange walked forward a few steps with curiosity, standing at the edge of the hole and looking down into it.

He was observing too intently, so he didn't notice that Schiller had walked from his side to behind him, or that a black umbrella had appeared in his hand at some point.

Schiller slowly spun the umbrella in his hand, gripped the shaft with both hands, and pointed the handle downward like playing golf.

"As you can see, this is a trap."

"This is a tra..."

"Whoosh—Bang!"

The black umbrella swung hard, the handle smashing fiercely into the back of Strange's head. Instantly, he lost his balance, opened his arms, and fell into the large hole in front of him.

Schiller stood sideways at the edge of the hole, turned his head to glance downward. Oblivion's figure appeared beside him. Oblivion sighed, looking very exhausted, and said to Schiller: "I've done my best. Regardless, don't come looking for trouble with me again!"

And Strange, who had fallen down the large hole, only felt that he was constantly falling in an endless void, until his sense of time and space completely disappeared. After an unknown amount of time, he keenly felt that he had broken through some kind of barrier.

He tried hard to concentrate. The moment his focus, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, gathered his thoughts, his feet landed on solid ground. Immediately after, he discovered he couldn't control his body, nor could he wake up.

Sight, hearing, and smell were gradually recovering. It felt as if another long few years had passed. When Strange fully regained consciousness again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling, and then a figure leaning over.

His vision blurred for a moment, then gradually focused. Appearing in Strange's field of vision was a blue-eyed, black-haired young man. He looked at Strange with a gaze that was almost identical to Schiller's, and said in a slightly hoarse, low voice.

"……Is this the new magic professor?"

Strange blinked hard, struggling to crawl up from the ground. Suddenly, the tip of a black umbrella pressed against his chest, forcing him to lie back down on the ground.

Schiller slowly knelt halfway, tilted his head to look at Strange. His gaze first landed on his arm, then turned to his face. Schiller said: "Self-harm, hmm?"

Strange took a deep breath and roared: "Schiller! Is it necessary to be this vindictive! Where did you bring me to?!

Schiller slowly stood up while holding the umbrella, still looking down at Strange with that slightly cold gaze, and then he opened his arms slightly and said.

"This is Cat Getan... Welcome to Cat Getan." ===== CHAPTER 1611 =====