Chapter 130: CHAPTER 128

[Draul St. Cross POV]

That staff was something crazy.

The moment I held it, it was like someone just fed caffeine to my anger and violent impulses. The thoughts that dominated my mind was to smash something, anything. There was also a deep rooted fear and insecurity that what I had would be taken from me and I needed to squash all those who wanted to take it before I could finally be free. 

I was able to snuff it out and keep the voices at bay while I focused on the weapon. 

The weapon worked as a conduit for negative emotions to fuel the physical parameters of the wielders. Which meant that to be able to bring out the might of the staff, one needed to succumb to it while simultaneously having a degree of control over it. 

It was a very strong weapon but not one I had much use for except for the runes etched into it. 

The runes etched into it were; Inspire, War, Rage and Power. 

Each had a neatly intricate spell woven into it. 

The user of the staff was a warrior which meant the weapon was made for war and there was no better place to make someone feel unbounded rage than on the battlefield. These two abstract concepts were the focus of the runes. They amplified what the wielder already felt, the negative aspect, and turned it into strength. 

It was an arduous circle of rage and torment that it was bound to leave even the most battle tempered soldier mentally weakened or sometimes negativity affected. If it wasn't for the runes and the way the magic was inlayed into it, then I would have called it a curse object. 

The concept around the weapon, if it was ever mass-produced, was to create unfeeling soldiers who could only rain down unbridled rage on their enemies without caring for themselves. 

Even studying it this close still gave me phantom chills – a very sinister weapon it was. 

I created a ward around my lab because of the staff because, hello? Home full of mentally unstable people? Ring any bells? 

Yeah. I was not going to let anyone under my roof go all murder hobo because of a stupid magical stick. 

What I wanted to learn was exactly what was in abundance in this staff. How were they able, the rune masters of Asgard I mean, to make such a weapon with such ability with few runes. The magic circuit in it was something I wanted to unravel so badly that I was determined to spend a few days inside my lab trying to make heads meet with it.

Maybe I should bring this to the Ancient One and have her decode it for me. Nah, all she would do is point out whatever it was that I was doing wrong and leave me all to myself to figure it out.

My fascination with runes aside, Ororo called me to ask if I wanted to hang out with her next week and since I had nothing on my plate, I told her yes. 

It was a healthy break anyway and since it was a week away, it gave me enough time to clear out any schedule I might have for the day. My first satellite was due to launch this week and with Marky overseeing everything, there was no need for me to be there. 

While to the public Facebook was the first media company to launch a satellite into space, only a few people knew that said satellite was privately owned by me. Meaning that Facebook was paying me rental fees for exclusive use of my satellite. 

The best way to make money was giving quality service and charging for every goddamned thing. 

So while Marky was riding on glory and having his name etched in the history books, I was raking in all the money and putting earth under bird's eye. 

'And they called me a madman.'

I also had a talk with Fury, well he had a talk with me rather, on the issue of partnering of some sorts with S.H.I.E.L.D. I flat out refused any sort of job as a 'Consultant' that he offered. I was in no way interested in playing hot potato of power with the government. 

Fury was the only man on earth, apart from those at home who would have an access to the satellite. It was something I decided later on after the talk we had that day. 

I wasn't worried about what he would do with it since I would know every click he ever made with my satellite. 

Satellites aside, the time spent outside of my lab working on magic or my research were boring. Sure the occasional bicker and laughs we shared daily was still going on, but apart from that, my days were pretty boring. I wasn't complaining much since I don't spend much of it on anything anyway. 

On second thought, how about I bring this staff up to the Ancient One, see how Strange and Mordo were doing. 

One portal later and I was standing in front of the New York Sanctum. I later found out that the Ancient One had hid it from me which was the reason why I couldn't find it and had to take a trip to Nepal in the first place. 

"And I wondered who walked in." Strange came down the stairs. "What brings you here?"

"Do I need a reason before coming to the Sanctum?" Strange had been pretty chill to everything else and even me after our fight with Dormammu and Kaecilius. I would say he grew up and stopped being a dick. 

"As a matter of fact, yes you do?" He stated factly. 

"Does being bored count? No? How about I wanted to pick either your nerdy brain or that of the Ancient One in understanding this beaut right here." I brought out the staff and didn't miss the slight twitch in his brows as his gaze landed on it. 

"Is that some cursed weapon?" He didn't sound as interested, which I could understand since living in Kamar-Taj tend to do that to you. I doubt there are things that could faze you after you spend more than six months in Kamar-Taj. 

"Not cursed, but it might as well be. It was forged in Asgard." I threw the staff to him because compared to me, Strange was more versed in the arts, though not as much as me when it came to runes, Strange still bested me in spell casting and magical knowledge. 

The staff floated in front of him as he casted a scanning spell on it. 

"Well, you're not wrong about it being a cursed weapon without it being one. The runes?" He asked. 

"The runes."

"Figured." He scoffed but continued doing what he was doing. "Well, I'm sure you know this but this staff is a one way ticket to death if you keep using it. Though I can understand why you want to learn the old way of Asgardian runes, I would advise you not to wield this staff for prolonged use as it slowly corrupted the mind."

"Yeah, I know that. And don't worry, I can easily suppress its effects. What else can you tell about the magic circuitry? Is it something that can be easily replicated with other runic system integrated into it? The runes on their own are easy but it is what lays underneath that's the real prize." I said as I cast my own spell on the staff, enlarging the magic circuit of it. I could have eventually cracked it within the week but… bored. 

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"Replicating it and making it adaptable to other runic systems huh? While the former is fairly easy, the later might take some work though. It should be pretty easy enough." He said and waved the display of magic aside. "Where did you find this?"

"In a crypt, a tree and a monastery."

"I could tell. It's only been recently joined back as a whole. Why come to me with this? You could have easily figured it out by yourself and besides it's not like there are many people who could best you in runes." He asked as he waved the staff back to me which I caught easily with my hands, gaining only a raised brow from Strange. 

"While the latter is arguable, I just wanted to stroll around a bit and poke some heads for ideas. Talking about heads, where's Mordo?"

At my question, Strange sighed and gestured for me to follow him. He went to a door and turned the knob before opening it. The scenery behind the door was vastly different from any part of the building given the clear blue sky that was easily seen above. 

We walked through the fields of Kamar-Taj before Strange began. 

"Mordo left. I tried to convince him to stay but he didn't. He said he couldn't stand us, both of us, behaving like nothing was wrong. Well he called out on our shortsightedness and our ignorance of natural laws, that and a slew of others."

"Sounds like him alright. Have you managed to track him down ever since?" I asked fully knowing the answer that Strange thought to remind me of. 

"Mordo is as much a master of the arts as us both. You really think it's going to be that easy to find him?" The way he asked the question made it seem like he as talking to a stupid person. 

The reason I asked was because I already knew how Mordo turned out in the comics. 

"There however is something I might need your help with."

"What?"

"Dark sorcerers. Some of them were the students of Kaecilius who ran away from Kamar-Taj after they found out he was dead. They seem to be working for someone." Strange explained. 

"And you need my help, why?" I asked. 

"Because I would not be able to take care of all of them, that's why." We arrived in front of a door. "Are you in?" 

"Sure. Just what I needed to kill the boredom." With a shrug, I followed him through the door to arrive at a forest. 

"Where is this?"

"It's where I could track them to. They are using a veil to hide themselves." He spoke as we walked. 

I used my x-ray vision to scan the surroundings and even the ground for a while. 

"I think I found something." I called out to him and pointed in a direction. There were faint trails of a group of people passing there. "What do we have here?" 

They warded the place from any scrying and locator spell. I could see the small runes etched of inconspicuous trees and stones around the place so small that you would need to know their location if you ever hoped to find them. 

I destroyed a few of the runes and then the ground shifted and I could see the rest of the trails. 

I could already see their settlement, a group of almost forty sorcerers. "So how do you want to do this?" I asked as we casually walked to their camp. 

"They would know something is wrong with their barrier any second now." And so we strolled into the middle of the camp. 

The group of rogue sorcerers looked at us for a moment before getting up and erecting magic circles in vigilance. They rushed at us while some remained behind and tried to snipe us from afar. 

The few who tried to open up a portal found themselves dead as they were bombarded with exploding projectiles. 

Seeing this, they put aside their quest of escape and tried to overwhelm us with their sheer numbers which mattered little as a blade of ice appeared in my hand which I used to cleave anyone that got too close. 

I broke the shield of one of them and thrust my sword through his throat which froze his entire neck up. 

Drawing back my sword, I blocked the attack that came to my back along with sending out a frost wave that froze those in its radius before shattering them. 

Seeing as how they quickly died when they came near me, the others opted to attack from afar. 

Their resistance was futile and amusing from my perspective because all I needed to do was stomp on the ground and watch as the ground moved forth as if filling a hole in the center and they were back in front of me. They couldn't react fast enough before they were skewered to death. 

"That was quick." Strange said as he came to my side. 

"Is there a reason you went after them personally?" I asked him. 

"They killed a few members of the Sanctum under my watch." He said. I had to ask, because as far as I was concerned, Strange was a lot like me in the regards that he couldn't care if a bunch of fanatics went murder happy. His moral compass was as skewed as mine. 

"Let's move on. We need to find who was behind them."

Maybe I should use this opportunity to test the Berserker staff. I wonder what effects it'll have on someone during a fight. How will the 'War' and 'Inspire' rune function? 

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