Back on Earth, inside the same New York laboratory Leon had left earlier, two figures suddenly appeared in the quiet room. Nothing in the lab had changed since their departure, and the equipment remained exactly where it had been before. The portal formed by the Cosmic Cube slowly collapsed behind them, the glowing blue vortex shrinking until the last strands of energy faded into the air and everything returned to stillness.
The faint blue glow embedded in the cube still shimmered softly. Light flowed across its surface like slow-moving water, giving the artifact a mysterious, almost sacred presence as it hovered in the room.
Leon reached out calmly, and the cube flew into his palm as if drawn by an invisible force. He held it up to his eyes for a brief moment, studying it with quiet satisfaction. A faint smile appeared on his face before he slowly tightened his grip, and the power of the Phoenix flared within his hand.
The moment that power touched the Cosmic Cube, its form began to distort. The cube's rigid structure seemed to compress inward as if squeezed by invisible pressure, and the once-perfect geometry started shrinking little by little.
A deep humming sound filled the air.
The surrounding space rippled violently, like water disturbed by a massive stone. A thin crack suddenly tore open beside Leon, revealing a glimpse of a chaotic cosmic void beyond it. The fracture connected to countless unknown points across the universe, a doorway to infinite destinations.
Leon, however, remained completely unmoved.
His fingers tightened further.
The Cosmic Cube trembled violently now, struggling against the immense force pressing in from every direction. Its surface flickered with unstable energy while the Phoenix power steadily compressed it further, crushing its outer shell as though it were nothing more than fragile glass.
Then, with a sharp cracking sound—
Snap!
The cube collapsed.
Within a single second, the large blue cube shattered inward and condensed into something entirely different. Floating in Leon's hand now was a tiny gem no larger than a fingernail, glowing with an intense and concentrated blue light.
The color was deeper than before, richer and far more powerful.
This was the true form of the artifact.
The Cosmic Cube had never been the real object at all. It had only been a three-dimensional container for the true treasure inside—the Space Stone.
The moment the transformation completed, the air around Leon exploded with violent spatial turbulence.
The space within the laboratory shook violently like boiling water, twisting and folding as invisible energy waves surged outward from the tiny gem. The walls, floor, and air all trembled under the pressure, as if reality itself might tear apart at any second.
For several tense seconds the distortion grew stronger.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the phenomenon vanished.
Everything returned to silence.
All that remained was the small blue gem resting quietly in Leon's hand, its glow subdued and almost unremarkable.
Leon casually raised his hand toward a nearby workbench. A silver necklace immediately flew across the room toward him, drawn by invisible force. The chain was forged from pure adamantium alloy, its metallic surface gleaming faintly under the laboratory lights.
At the center of the necklace hung a cloud-shaped pendant.
Six small empty sockets were arranged neatly across the pendant's surface, each designed to hold a single stone. Leon had crafted the piece long ago with the Infinity Stones in mind.
With a simple thought, the Space Stone floated upward from his palm.
It drifted slowly through the air before settling perfectly into one of the sockets. The moment the gem touched the pendant, faint blue lines spread across the metal surface like living veins of energy.
The necklace immediately became far more beautiful than before.
Leon placed it around his neck, and the instant it rested against his chest, he could clearly sense the surrounding fabric of space. Every fluctuation, every shift in spatial energy was now completely within his awareness.
Not far away, the small wisp of Eternal Fire continued floating quietly in the air.
Leon glanced at it and released the rune bindings that had been controlling the flame. The moment the restraints disappeared, the tiny spark began to grow.
The fire expanded rapidly, swelling larger and larger until it transformed into a roaring blaze nearly the size of Asgard's treasury chamber. The intense golden flames burned fiercely in the center of the lab, radiating overwhelming heat and power.
Leon watched the fire calmly and nodded with satisfaction.
"This trip was absolutely worth it," he murmured to himself. "Not only did I obtain the Eternal Fire, but I also gained access to Asgardian magic."
He turned and reached out to Jean, taking her hand gently.
"Let's go."
The two of them left the laboratory together and soon returned to the top floor of the S.W.O.R.D. headquarters building in New York. Once they arrived, Leon simply told Jean she was free to move around as she pleased.
Jean didn't say much in response.
She quietly returned to her room without hesitation, her expression as cold and distant as ever. The Dark Phoenix personality dominated her emotions now, and that personality carried very little warmth or outward feeling.
Leon wasn't surprised by this at all.
He had far more important matters to focus on.
The Asgardian magic Odin had given him was an entirely new system of knowledge. Unlike science—with its strict formulas and structured logic—magic was full of abstract and idealistic principles. The power itself came from ancient runes and mystical constructs, each tied deeply to Asgard's cultural and cosmic understanding.
In many ways, the entire system reflected the civilization that created it.
Within the knowledge Odin had passed to him were countless records about the origins of magic and how to use it. The information ranged from the most basic runic constructs to extremely advanced magical techniques.
For Leon, it was essentially a complete magical textbook.
And it filled a gap he had long been missing.
It took him three full days to completely absorb the magical knowledge stored in his mind. During that time he carefully organized the information piece by piece, gradually understanding every rune structure and magical application.
Once he grasped the methods for using the spells themselves, the next step was studying the deeper principles behind them.
Understanding magic, in Leon's view, was similar to understanding fundamental scientific constants. The deeper the principles he mastered, the greater control he would ultimately gain over the forces themselves.
Fortunately for him, analyzing magic was not particularly difficult.
It simply required time.
Compared to the vast complexity of modern science, magic was almost straightforward in its structure.
"The magic of this world is essentially a form of chaotic energy," Leon muttered quietly while reviewing his findings. "By constructing specific rune arrays, that chaos can be separated into distinct types of power."
"Once separated, those powers can produce countless extraordinary effects."
Traditional elements like earth, fire, water, and wind only represented the most basic layers of magic. Beyond those were far more advanced categories—space, mind, soul, and even eternity itself.
Each of those fields represented extremely high-level magical domains.
"The Ancient Ones specialize in the study of earth, fire, water, wind, space, and soul magic," Leon continued thinking aloud. "Their understanding of dimensional energy is extremely deep."
"Asgard, on the other hand, bases its magic on cosmic constants."
Thunder.
Fire.
Ice.
Heat and cold.
Even destructive dark energy.
Both magical traditions had their own advantages and strengths.
Even so, Leon had already come to a clear conclusion.
"Regardless of the differences," he said quietly, "magic is an incredibly useful power."
After analyzing the core principles behind the system, Leon gained a much deeper understanding of how magic truly worked. The knowledge would become another powerful tool for his continued growth.
It was already integrated into his future plans.
Time passed quickly.
Nearly a month went by in the blink of an eye.
On the surface, nothing major seemed to happen during that time. New York remained peaceful, and the world continued moving forward like normal.
Beneath that calm surface, however, powerful currents were beginning to stir.
Leon eventually received news that forced him to leave his research chamber.
"So things are getting chaotic again," he said calmly after hearing the report. "That makes sense. Once I took the Space Stone, S.H.I.E.L.D. was bound to react eventually."
On that day, the information came directly from Svija.
"Sir," she reported, "the upper leadership of the United States government has already begun forming a new special operations unit. The team is called the Punishers."
Leon raised an eyebrow slightly but remained silent as she continued.
"The unit is composed entirely of mutants. They have already recruited more than six hundred members from across the country. The individual leading the organization is Eric—Magneto."
Leon was genuinely surprised this time.
"Magneto is working with the U.S. government?" he said slowly.
The news was completely unexpected.
Still, after a moment of thought, he quickly understood the larger implications.
"It seems my actions triggered a major chain reaction," Leon said thoughtfully. "The future is already diverging from the original storyline."
He leaned back slightly, his expression relaxed.
"But that's fine. I've been prepared for that possibility from the beginning."
After considering the situation, Leon asked another question.
"Do we know what this Punisher unit is planning to do?"
"The group has not yet received any official orders," Svija replied. "However, there is a high probability that they will eventually be deployed against the New Students."
"In that case, I recommend preparing ahead of time."
Leon nodded slightly before asking another question.
"What about S.H.I.E.L.D.? What role are they playing in all this?"
"For the moment, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself has not made any major moves," Svija explained. "However, several agents affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. are already embedded within the Punisher unit."
"Understood."
Leon gave a small nod.
Then, quite suddenly—
He smiled.
.....
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