American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

"Are there no other areas?" After touring Ancient One's library, Strange looked eagerly at Wong, his eyes hinting that he wanted Wong to take him to the next area he was anticipating.

"Only the restricted section remains, but it's not open to the public," Wong said, understanding Strange's look, but firmly shaking his head in refusal. He knew Strange's insatiable curiosity and lack of boundaries all too well. When he had first arrived at Kamar-Taj to study magic, he hadn't been there long before he dared to secretly browse the restricted books in the library. It was only because of his extraordinary magical talent that he hadn't run into trouble sooner.

But the restricted section here was different from the previous one. The forbidden knowledge recorded within, such as in the Darkhold, was as numerous as hairs on an ox. Compared to it, the Book of Cagliostro that Strange had read before was considered mild.

"I advise you not to get any ideas. Kamar-Taj has more people now, and more rules. The library is also under monitoring and protective magic cast by the Ancient One. Your old tricks won't work here, except to activate the alarm," Wong added, worried that Strange would relapse and become unwilling.

"You might have a bit of a misunderstanding about me," Strange said with an awkward smile.

Remember the domain name of the website where this was first published, 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞.

"No misunderstanding, Doctor Strange. I don't want to have to throw you into the detention room amidst the sound of alarms. It's not a good place," Wong said with a smile.

"Alright, let's be frank! Since there's a restricted section, there must be qualification conditions for reading it, right? Otherwise, you could just make it disappear. Don't tell me you can't do that. You've been setting this up for so long, there must be conditions coming up, right? What do I need to do to get that qualification?" Strange really liked the novel magic in Ancient One's library, which made him even more interested in the last restricted section. After all, the best things are always last!

If the other party really understood Strange's personality, then if they really didn't want him to access the restricted section, they would have hidden it, as he said. But since they let him know about it, and then dropped the ball at a crucial moment, it was clear that the other party had some plans at this stage, and only after he won would he be able to continue.

"As sensitive as ever," Wong said, unsurprised by Strange's keen perception, as it was originally intended for him to notice and discover.

"Take a look at the conditions," Wong said, reaching out and opening a portal in the air. With a solemn expression, he carefully took out a parchment contract from it. He almost felt like it was burning his hand, throwing it to Strange beside him as soon as he took it out.

Strange felt the ominous power contained in the parchment, which made his heart palpitate, and looked at Wong with suspicion. As a former Sorcerer Supreme, he was wondering if he had ever offended Wong, otherwise, how could he take out such a contract for him to sign? The power swirling on it made him not even want to take the parchment scroll. The moment he took it, he even felt that the parchment was a living thing! It had its own will! Its own thoughts!

"Don't look at me. This is a standardized Abyssal Contract constraint from the Energy Bank, generally used against dimensional demons," Wong said, seeing Strange's suspicious look and proactively shifting the blame: "Only shareholders of the Energy Bank and a few qualified applicants can issue this kind of contract. This is the instruction of the Sorcerer Supreme. I'm just responsible for handing it over to you."

"Stephen?" Strange thought of his counterpart in this universe.

"Obviously," Wong decisively chose to sell him out.

"If I sign it, what are the consequences of violating it? I don't see any related clauses on it," Strange endured the throbbing in his heart, opened the parchment contract, and the content on it automatically transformed into information flow that he understood. With his intelligence and knowledge, it was not difficult to understand whether there were any traps in it, and he could also see that his counterpart in this universe had not played any word games on it. What he couldn't determine now was the consequences of violating the contract.

Generally, contracts would have clauses such as breach of contract compensation, but there was no relevant prompt or information here. But holding the contract in his hand, feeling the obvious fatal malice from the contract like a light bulb, for the sake of his life and safety, he had to carefully and meticulously ask clearly.

"This kind of contract generally doesn't have breach of contract clauses, because its breach of contract clause is only one, that is, establishing a connection with the Abyss, being noticed and locked onto by it," Wong explained. "But rest assured, under normal circumstances, as long as you do what is required in the contract, then the power on it will not erupt."

"What is the Abyss?" When Strange mentioned this word, which he wouldn't have felt strange about in the past, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

"You better not know what it is. What I can tell you is that the binding force of this contract will take effect even on dimensional demons. At least they don't want to see any power related to the Abyss appear in their dimensions. You can think about it more before deciding whether to sign this contract," Wong did not give a corresponding answer this time, avoiding the important and dwelling on the trivial, hinting at the power attached to this contract.

"Okay, I will consider it carefully when signing," Strange focused his attention on the parchment in his hand, and he became a little interested in the contract in his hand: "This shouldn't be a creation of Kamar-Taj, right? Is it related to the Energy Bank you mentioned?"

"To be precise, it's related to Mephisto, the director of the Energy Bank. This is His masterpiece," Wong said as he led Strange out.

"Mephisto?" Strange's mouth twitched. This familiar name made him feel a bad premonition in his heart.

"It's the one you're thinking of, the great lord of the Hell dimension, Mephisto," Wong confirmed Strange's guess. Mephisto put everything into creating the [Source Contract], and it was almost impossible to exploit its loopholes. Not to mention that Mephisto was constantly patching it up. Under the various patches and fillings of Mephisto and other shareholder banks, the position of the Source Contract had far exceeded its original setting, becoming a manifestation of rules similar to the Infinity Stones and the Cosmic Heart.

The one in Strange's hand was like a shadow imprint of the Source Contract. All signed contracts would appear on the Source Contract. And the stronger the signer, the more special the attribute, the more feedback the Source Contract would receive. (End of chapter)