The Sorcerer Supreme was quite helpless regarding Salomon's unpromising performance. When faced with Athena's request, the Sorcerer Supreme could only reluctantly agree.
The Sorcerer Supreme also felt that young people should learn more while they are young, no matter in what aspect, as long as Salomon's magic lessons were not neglected.
The Ancient One had to admit that in Kamar-Taj Headquarters in the Himalayas, almost no one possessed much taste for high art. At least compared to Athena, everyone else paled in comparison, even the Sorcerer Supreme, who had lived for over a thousand years, was no exception.
Apart from the collections from around the world accumulated over the years, there was almost nothing in the Headquarters that could demonstrate Kamar-Taj's long history and cultural heritage.
Even though the bowl Salomon ate from was a Tang Dynasty tea bowl, it couldn't change the fact that Kamar-Taj's aesthetic sense, from top to bottom, was extremely poor.
Kamar-Taj emphasized asceticism; clothes were simple dark linen and cotton, and even the food in the cafeteria was plain boiled cabbage. Did the Sorcerer Supreme truly not know why so many people went to the Hong Kong Sanctum to join the fun during meal times?
Moreover, the gifts Athena sent were very sincere. Either Pegasus or Aegis alone could benefit a person for a lifetime.
Now all those things were given to Salomon, which showed that Athena cared deeply for him, and this also made the Ancient One feel a little relieved. At least she wasn't worried that Athena would lead Salomon astray.
However, for Salomon, learning how to fight with a shield and spear was of no interest to him whatsoever.
In his opinion, the greatest use of Aegis was to defend against attacks that the Seraphim Shield and Rings of Raggadorr could not block. He also didn't need to throw the shield like Captain America. After the Sorcerer Supreme's modifications, the Raggadorr Rings spell had already become a magic that was both offensive and defensive. Using another shield would be redundant.
Furthermore, Salomon had great concerns about the safety of Pegasus. If he were to ride on Pegasus's back, he would definitely be constantly preparing a feather fall spell to prevent accidents.
Athena's beauty was naturally extreme, but for Salomon, it was a bit difficult to endure.
This was not to say that he had any special thoughts about Athena; it was simply because these goddesses from Ancient Greece seemed to pay little attention to privacy, with almost no distinction between male and female. And because of Salomon's physical development, he often had to use the "Mechanized Mind" spell on himself to calm down and listen to lectures.
Every month, he had to take time to go to Athena Mountain in New York to study sculpture and art appreciation, perform magic tricks for the children in the orphanage opened by Athena, and also study subjects like mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics, which are mandatory for secular students.
The Sorcerer Supreme was also very pleased that Salomon found a professor of science.
Adding to the Sorcerer Supreme's assignments of minor language linguistics, alchemy, and potionology, and having to wake up early every morning to practice self-defense arts and the endless white magic from the Book of Vishanti, Salomon felt that he was never so busy even during his college entrance exams.
He also believed that he might have richer knowledge than a seventh-year student preparing for N.E.W.T.s at Hogwarts—if Hogwarts existed in this world.
Under such a large volume of coursework, if he couldn't instantly read a book with the Scholar's Touch spell, he might be too busy to eat.
Now Salomon had experienced the hardships of those great mages studying as apprentices.
Current Salomon possesses two spellcasting systems: one is naturally the Vishanti spellcasting system, and the other is the Toril Crystal Wall system driven by Vishanti's magic. The two spellcasting systems complement each other, allowing Salomon to progress rapidly at the low-level mage stage.
Sometimes when he looked at the three rings on his right hand, he would feel a bit incredulous. Logically, Vishanti should not easily forgive a spellcaster like him who steals magic, but the Trinity Vishanti let him go—Salomon could only guess that this was due to the liberated Holy Mark, and that Holy Mark had some inexplicable connection with the kabbalah tree of life he saw in his dreams. The secrets within could only be discovered by himself.
For this, he dug out the modern Golden Dawn's research on the kabbalah tree of life from the library, trying to find some basis, which added to Salomon's burden.
If he weren't still young, he would be very worried about his hairline. However, fortunately, the Sorcerer Supreme also understood the necessity of balancing work and rest, giving Salomon one day off every week. On that day, Salomon not only didn't need to face the Dark Dimension, but also didn't need to practice alchemy and potionology. He could lie in bed and sleep all day, and no one would disturb him.
Salomon's efforts were naturally noticed by others in Kamar-Taj, so when Salomon took out the dimensional bag he made, no one was surprised—although this magic was different, it wasn't black magic. It was just that no one bothered to learn this magic that couldn't enhance combat power; to retrieve things, one just needed to wear the Sling Ring and cast a portal.
The Sorcerer Supreme, however, was very satisfied with Salomon's achievement, not only because Salomon embroidered exquisite patterns on this leather satchel, but also because Salomon did not focus on magic that could cause destruction or self-defense. He was interested in magic as a whole, not in fighting with magic.
These are two different attitudes. For the mages of Kamar-Taj, magic that cannot be used in combat has little necessity for learning; learning one or two is enough. Salomon's attitude, on the other hand, is—whether good or bad, useful or useless, he wants to learn it all, as long as it's interesting enough.
With these two completely different attitudes towards learning magic, the achievements are naturally different.
In Salomon's view, a mage should be a versatile character who can handle all situations, capable of pulling out the appropriate magic at any time, rather than becoming a battlefield turret—that's what warlocks and psionics should do, and has nothing to do with a mage.
If you want to gain a foothold on the battlefield, modern technology can do it, why bother learning magic?
The winter of 2007, Salomon spent it in arduous study until the time came to the Spring Festival. This day held no special meaning for non-Chinese people, and Kamar-Taj Headquarters would not choose to celebrate, but the Sorcerer Supreme would still give the Hong Kong Sanctum a holiday, allowing everyone to celebrate the festival.
Salomon thus received an extra holiday on Saturday. Wong specifically came to find him that day, saying he wanted to take him to visit Chinatown in New York.
Wong lowered his voice and quietly said to Salomon, "It's not good to just study magic all the time. You're still too young, and the Sorcerer Supreme's tasks for you are too heavy. You should get more exposure to secular society. I'm not speaking ill of the Sorcerer Supreme, okay! I just don't want you to become a bookworm."
After the mission in Salem, Wong successfully signed the Vishanti contract. Now Wong had become more confident, and no one said he couldn't be a mage anymore.
And after he signed the contract, his magic attainments improved by leaps and bounds. He is now a low-level deacon in the Hong Kong Sanctum. One of the important reasons he came to Salomon this time was that he wanted Salomon to see how powerful he had become.
Salomon grinned and threw a satchel to Wong. This was the gift he had prepared for Wong. He had prepared several dimensional bags before, and besides the Sorcerer Supreme, Mordo, and himself each having one, the others had been given away. The remaining one was specifically for Wong; as Salomon's adventure partner, he was naturally qualified to receive a gift.
Wong was also very satisfied with this gift—now he had a surplus in his living expenses, so he could naturally buy some small snacks to put inside. This dimensional bag would allow him to get food anytime, anywhere.
"Let's go," Salomon said, "I still need you to lead the way. I can't wait to eat some Sichuan cuisine."