Strange came to Kamar-Taj clinging to a last sliver of hope.
He followed Karl into the reception room.
He had only just picked up the tea Karl had prepared when he impatiently asked,
"I heard you cured someone's disability."
"I didn't do that myself," Karl said with a smile.
"But he was indeed healed here at Kamar-Taj."
"Then can you help me?"
Strange sounded anxious.
"Dr. Strange, you need to understand one thing.
I have never personally healed anyone.
He healed himself."
Karl took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.
"That's absurd.
How could an injury like that possibly heal on its own?"
Strange looked completely incredulous.
"Why not?
You're a doctor, so you should understand this.
Up to now, only a small number of illnesses can truly be cured by direct human intervention.
For most illnesses, what we really rely on is the body's own ability to heal.
So why can't he heal himself?"
Karl looked at Strange.
That confident gaze made Strange start doubting his own understanding.
"That's different."
Strange was still refusing to budge.
"How is it different?
The human body contains countless secrets. At our current technological level, there's no way to fully understand all of them.
Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
Karl explained patiently.
"If something can't be proven to exist, then for all practical purposes, it doesn't exist."
Strange remained firm.
"Then why did you come here?
Why not keep asking hospitals for help?
It's not as though this world lacks technology capable of healing your injury."
Karl smiled as he spoke.
On this Earth, technology was extremely advanced.
Many illnesses that had been incurable on his old Earth were no problem here.
A hand injury like Strange's was hardly some impossible condition.
S.H.I.E.L.D. could even use alien genes to carry out an imperfect resurrection on a human.
Strange had come here only because ordinary medicine could no longer heal him.
"Strange, you came here because you still had hope.
So why are you unwilling to believe?"
Karl said.
"Show me clearer proof."
Strange spoke at once.
A smile tugged at Karl's lips.
He reached out and slapped Strange on the shoulder.
In an instant, Karl knocked Strange's soul straight out of his body.
Strange stared in shock at his own hands.
Before he could even react, Karl struck again.
Strange's soul was sent flying.
In a flash, his soul shot beyond Earth and saw the planet from outside.
The next moment, his soul began passing through dimensions.
Hell, the Dark Dimension, and all kinds of terrifying realms.
Strange drifted through them one after another.
All kinds of information poured into his mind, and all kinds of sensations leapt through his soul.
"Strange, what I'm showing you is painful, but you need to know it.
The moment aliens appeared in New York, you should have understood.
This world changed long ago.
As someone so intelligent, you shouldn't let your own knowledge shackle you.
Look carefully. The vastness of this world is far beyond your imagination."
Karl's voice echoed directly inside Strange's mind.
Strange looked at everything around him.
His mind was filled with nothing but shock.
Everything around him was challenging his understanding of science.
With all the knowledge he had accumulated over the years, he still could not understand what any of it really was.
Did the world truly contain so many things?
Did so many different universes really exist?
Was this world really so unfathomable?
Shock, disbelief, and countless other emotions collided within Strange, and for a moment he even lost the ability to think.
"Karl, can his soul really handle this?"
Mordo asked hesitantly.
"Senior Mordo, you're underestimating Mr. Strange.
His talent is in no way inferior to the Ancient One's.
This is nothing."
Karl smiled.
His power continued carrying Strange's soul, making it roam through one dimension after another.
He even took him on a full circuit through the deep-layer dimensional spaces around Earth.
"Dr. Strange,
you need to understand that this world is real.
Even I wouldn't dare say I fully understand it.
So why are you so confident that your understanding of the entire world is complete?
Humility is a fine virtue."
Karl's warm voice continued to ring out.
Strange's brain could barely function anymore.
Being exposed to so much information in such a short instant had practically made his mind shut down.
When Karl saw that, he knew it was about enough.
He withdrew his power.
Strange's soul sped back across an unknown number of deep-layer dimensions and returned to his body.
Once his soul reentered him, Strange still looked uneasy and uncertain.
But he was Stephen Strange, after all—the future Doctor Strange.
The only successor once chosen by the Ancient One.
He recovered very quickly.
"Teach me."
Strange spoke without the slightest hesitation.
Karl's lips curved upward.
"No."
"Why?"
Strange asked in confusion.
"Why?
Dr. Strange, the better question is: why should we teach you?
Would you hand over your own skills for free, with no conditions?"
Karl asked in return.
Strange froze.
Of course he would not. Something that valuable...
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he fell silent.
He would not even teach his medical skills away for free, much less something like this.
"What do you want? I don't have any money left now."
Strange spoke in despair.
"In truth, money has no meaning at all in Kamar-Taj.
You only need to understand one thing:
are you truly prepared to learn magic?"
Karl said.
"Of course I'm ready.
I'll definitely study with everything I have."
Strange answered anxiously.
"No, you haven't thought it through.
You don't understand what we despise most.
The moment you learn this kind of power, you automatically take on the duties and responsibilities that come with it.
You'll have to face enemies ordinary people cannot even imagine.
One day, you may pay a terrible price—be wounded, or even lose everything.
Your fate could be far more miserable than what you're suffering now.
Are you sure you've really thought it through?"
Karl said with a smile.
The moment Strange saw that warm smile, he could not help shivering.
(End of Chapter)
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