Chapter 660: College Nostalgia


    "Hmm," Strange nodded seriously, "The proposal is enticing enough but... Kamar-Taj has its rules. I don''t think I can..." he furrowed deeply. Once again, Nik sat in front of him. From the moment the young man appeared in Strange''s vision, he couldn''t help but feel troubled. First, Nik would manipte spatial integrity and revealed traces of the mirror dimension, which Strange had a responsibility to fix immediately. However, in a mere month, from an amateur Spatial Maniptor, Nik''s abilities grew mysteriously, nearing the realm of mastery. Even Strange wasn''t higher than that particr realm. He was deeply informed and knowledgeable so he knew, that the mastery realm of a concept is consistent for all lifeforms in the reality.


    Ordinary, Master, Grandmaster, Great-Grandmaster, and Supreme Grandmaster.


    These realms were absolute and even in differentnguages and cultures, these realms meant the same. While he preached about rules, Strange was definitely hungry for such knowledge and methods. But after bing a Supreme Sorcerer, he was heavily restricted. These restrictions were the price of his power and inheriting the deep foundations of Kamar-Taj, which Nik was interested in.


    Strange''s brows locked harder. He didn''t know what to do. ''No... the fact that I''m hesitating shows that I know what to do.''


    "Rules?" Nik suddenly chuckled and looked collected. "Rules are created to keep people in line. The ordinary ones. You are the head of your organization. If you really believe that these rules cannot be changed then there might not be a reason to co-operate after all."


    "This isn''t simple. The followers of Kamar-Taj are mobilized and sent to various parts of the to protect various seals and heritages that once targeted, can lead to disastrous consequences. This was built with various deities as a patron. Instead of a sole authority, think of me as a part of a council. Just that you are unable to see the other members," Strange replied. Previously, he was eager to ept Nik but when he revealed that it was the trade of information only and not responsibilities that came together with such knowledge, Strange held second thoughts.


    "Oh," Nik hummed in deep thought. When the situation calls for it, even he had to consider the situation carefully. If what Strange said is true then these restrictions must be heavy. Nik couldn''t help but recall Newton. He had a ''beyonder'' bloodline. This was something Nik wished to investigate in Kamar-Taj but he wouldn''t reveal it Strange. For the sake of peaceful growth, Newton eagerly let himself die and continued to live spiritually, affirming that a bloodline is indeed mixed with the physical and spiritual nature of a person. But that wasn''t all. Instead of waiting for the perfect girl who might have an affinity with the temporal abilities, he might as well get ahead of this shoring and make effort from his side.


    "I cannot force you," Nik suddenly smiled with an easygoing expression on his face, "I''ve got knowledge on differents with different sources of energies. Their method of training, their weapons, and various other supportive items." His words making Strange nod. "I may even find a method for others to travel different worlds temporarily," his words making Strange sigh as he held the deepest attraction towards this possibility, "But I will only reveal them at an appropriate price."


    Nik wasn''t afraid of being attacked by Strange. Despite their usual nature, his spirits were his trump cards. They taught him, they yed with him, and they tested him. Out of all, Pure was a rank six being, same as Strange. In fact, her real body had the strength belonging to a rank 6 being. This easily ced her value above Ang''s, whose bloodline came with the added benefit of five locks unshackled.


    As Nik left after making his sales pitch, he began thinking about Shield. This body wasn''t his real body so he had made things clear that while he could surely i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.e, he would rather not. After all, his current form had already gone through various mutations and it might bring unwanted changes to his future generation. Who would want that? Instead, Nik was now thinking of going extreme. Johnny Storm radiated the same energy waves that caused the fantastic four''s mutation. Since the Phantom physique held no shackles, he could easily gain more power quickly and find more beneficial things for his main body.


    In essence, his current physique was a test temte. The changes here, and in the future phantom physique whenever he travels, would be used as an observation for the benefit of his real physical body slumbering in the Transmigration Heart. "A body made of fire, a body made of a strange form of stic material, an invisible booty, and rocks that have the function of the flesh," Nik muttered to himself. He shifted and stood in front of the Baxter Building. During the shift, Pickle reached out and covered Nik''s body as his arrival attracted a lot of civilians when he entered the lobby of the Baxter Building.


    "Oh my god! Is that Vanish?!"


    "He looks freaking cool! Straight out of a death metal poster!" Nik heard a young voice eximing this particrment.


    But before they could flock and crowd, the security detail of the building hurried forth and stopped the situation from getting out of control while the head of the team inquired the reason for Nik''s arrival. With a wide smile that sent shivers down the man''s spine, Nik raised therge stic box in his hand. Tapping it, he chuckled, "I brought them lunch, of course. I''m sure they won''t say no to it."


    The guard pursed his lips before contacting and instantly brought Nik to the living quarters of the building. There, three of them were already present. Reed looked haggard and was still in hisb coat. Meanwhile, Johnny and Susan kept ring at each other.


    "As promised, I brought you dino meat!" Nik chortled and much to their surprise, Pickle changed into casual clothes, revealing Nik''s figure to them for the first time.


    Seeing a young man with short dark hair, tanned skin, perfect body, violet eyes, and enchanting smile, Johnny couldn''t help but mutter under his breath, "Damn, it was better when he was in that costume..."


    ---


    The mor in the hearts of the trio from the fantastic four soon settled as they had to invite Nik to join for the lunch. Nik, of course, joined. The food was absolutely delicious and Ang wasn''t here to steal it again. Soon, the re-cooked meat was presented to the four without any special condiments but instead of eating, Reed, Susan, and Johnny looked towards Nik. Their nces were noted quite easily but with a better deal on his te, Nik chose to focus on the dish while smiling.


    "Thank you for the lunch. In reality, I couldn''t eat much of this yesterday. Hah, anyway, I''d really like to purchase more of the meat so if you could point me towards this Dr. Trix, I''ll be really grateful..."


    His words caused the trio to feel slightly stifled.


    "You want to eat more dinosaurs?" Susan inquired dubiously as Nik nodded while beginning to feast upon his lunch. His actions made Johnny follow the suit as he instantly m.o.a.ned, "Ohhh, this is goood!" He mumbled as his expression turned sloppy and pleased.


    "Oh..." Susan''s gaze widened slightly before she softly noted, "With this taste, the dinosaurs would have gone extinct either way..."


    Her words came as a surprise to Reed who finally tasted the dish and descended into silence.


    "Oh, you were asking about Trix, right?"Johnny began as Susan red at him and groaned, "Will you stop talking stupidly? None of it would have happened if you wouldn''t have gone to Dr. Trix''s house... with his daughter!"


    "She invited me!" Johnny groaned, "And if Trix is that much of a madman, CIA shouldn''t have invested that much in him! Oops!" Johnny chuckled and stood up while picking his te, "I talked too much again. Let me take this wonderful moment of my life somece else. I''m sure you three have much to discuss. After all, ''Vanish'' isn''t apletely horrible monster... heh!"


    Nik didn''t mind the awkwardness that Johnny caused. Sometimes, it was the price of pursuing girls. He had yet to have many awkward face-offs against angry fathers, devastated husbands, stupefied sons, and ashamed brothers... probably a few grandfathers, too. So, inparison, just a slightly embarrassed boyfriend was nothing but his apparent age became a barrier this time.


    "You... gave me and Agent Hill your phone number but forgot to inform that you''re a kid?" Susan inquired with a judgemental gaze. Her words made Reed feel even more awkward as he finally couldn''t take it and stood up.


    "I will take this to theb and enjoy it there... you two... uh, bye," He left promptly, leaving a curious Susan. She was used to Reed''s awkwardness. He wasn''t just awkward in rtionsh.i.p.s but in the beginning, he was a wreck in social skills, too. However, after losing the terrifying mask called Pickle who''s been keeping many women from fantasizing about the hero Vanish with that sweetest smile of hers, Susan lost quite a bit of her restraints. He was younger than her. So, clearly, she had the right to know more while he did not have the right to stay silent.


    This how the world works.


    "Agent Hill did not mind it," Nik chortled, stunning Susan who couldn''t help but look suspicious. By every right, Nik was hot. He was the kind of guy Susan would definitely get on top of in her college and university days but she had grown out of them. Quite well at that.


    "You don''t mean..." she left the crucial points unsaid but all it needed was a wink from Nik''s side to make her mind resolute enough to ask Maria about this. After all... if the young boy was asking for practice, and she was avable, she could help him out, right?


    Once Susan had grown slightly fond of the new entity named Nik, they grew slightly closer over an hour-long conversation where Nik still wasn''t able to find out about Dr. Trix, making him sigh and curios enough to determine tounch another attack on a nearby Hydra quarter and ask Natasha to also dig in a little bit.