In an era increasingly accustomed to supernatural phenomena, people quickly understood that this was a test for extraordinary power. If one passed the test, they would gain supernatural abilities! Soon, individuals, organizations, and government agencies with an interest in such powers sprang into action, hoping to seize this opportunity for themselves.
The key factor here was that this type of transferable power seemed potentially replicable. As such, government agencies showed unprecedented levels of interest. Despite their efforts, however, neither agencies nor any determined individuals or groups managed to locate the old wizard's testing ground. Meanwhile, reports of children mysteriously disappearing continued unabated.
Officials soon realized that it appeared only children could participate in this supernatural test; adults seemed ineligible. This presented a problem for these agencies. Although some might engage in morally ambiguous activities, recruiting children was beyond their standard operating practices. Even in some clandestine circles where young operatives existed, these children lacked the loyalty or discipline of trained agents.
The fear was that if any of these children gained supernatural powers, the first to suffer might be the agencies themselves. Therefore, using unknown children was ruled out. Similarly, trying to send in the children of officials or agents proved just as futile, given the risks of unpredictable behavior in children, especially after gaining extraordinary abilities.
Finally, after much discussion, the agencies concluded that this was a rare chance for a supernatural test that they simply could not control. Their best option was to closely monitor Fawcett City, hoping they could identify a successful test candidate as soon as one emerged.
Naturally, the Avengers also received news of the wizard's supernatural test. Like the official agencies, they had no suitable candidate of the required age. Miss Martian wasn't on Earth, and while Brian technically qualified in age, his adult appearance made it impossible for him to pass as a child.
As a result, Barry Allen and Reed Richards reached out to Kamar-Taj. In their view, even if "wizard" was an old-fashioned term, it likely related to sorcery, a field where Kamar-Taj excelled as Earth's foremost mystical organization. Unfortunately, Kamar-Taj had no information on the old wizard, and even Wong, their well-read librarian, found no record of him.
However, Kamar-Taj did offer a lead. Upon receiving Barry Allen and Reed Richards' message, Wong sensed a trace of divine power in the direction of the old wizard, giving him a rough idea of where to look.
"Divine power? What kind of divine power?" Barry and Reed were taken aback by Wong's assessment. On Earth, the only beings the Avengers considered truly divine were the Celestials, and those were hardly allies.
"I'm referring to an old pantheon—power belonging to the gods," Wong clarified, adding that this divine energy bore similarities to the power of Wonder Woman.
"Oh, that divine power!" Reed Richards, who had access to much Avengers intel, quickly caught on. "Are you saying the old wizard is from the Olympian pantheon and is trying to pass on his power?"
"I can't say for sure," Wong replied, shrugging. "Theoretically, today's gods no longer need belief-based power, so it's unclear what's happening here. And I've never heard of an Olympian wizard. You might want to ask Wonder Woman."
Exchanging a look, Reed and Barry agreed. With the Avengers' main forces busy off-world, Wonder Woman remained one of Earth's strongest defenders. While Fawcett City's events hadn't yet caused harm, prudence was always best with supernatural events.
"Olympian power?" Diana murmured, surprised upon receiving the message. She hadn't known there were other beings wielding Olympian power on Earth—this was new even to her.
Diana came from Themyscira, which wasn't strictly an Olympian subject, and even if it were, the Olympians didn't share all their secrets with Themyscira. While Diana had inherited power from Zeus, hers was derived from his bloodline, not as a god-made entity, and as a demigod, she hadn't truly ascended to divine status despite her strength being near that of top-tier gods.
In fact, Diana had rarely met any Olympians, and her supposed father, Zeus, hadn't been seen by her in over a thousand years. Such a span was trivial to gods, but Zeus's countless divine and mortal offspring were likely a factor in his emotional distance.
Diana wondered if this meant Zeus had another child, sealed away on Earth and now attempting to pass down their power—perhaps as a means to defy Zeus.
With this thought, Diana wasted no time heading toward Fawcett City, determined to uncover the truth behind this event.
"Divine power? Do you think it's possible that the old wizard is like me, someone blessed by a god, and that's why he can wield divine power?" Moon Knight asked Barry Allen and Reed Richards when he heard about the supernatural events in Fawcett City and their connection to divine power.
"It's possible, though no matter," Barry said confidently. "Wonder Woman's on her way. If anyone can get to the bottom of a divine mystery, it's her."
"No, that's wrong!" Moon Knight quickly countered his own theory. "It doesn't make sense. The Moon God has already aligned with the Saiyan and granted me additional power, even stealing a trace of energy from the Dark Dimension's eternal moon. As his chosen one, I should be at the pinnacle of god-blessed individuals…"
"Yet I still can't transfer my divine power to others. This means one of two things: either the Moon God held back some of his power, or this old wizard is using the guise of a test to conceal an ulterior motive!"
Since strengthening his connection with the Moon God, Moon Knight's power had grown significantly. However, even now, he couldn't share this divine power with others—not unless the Moon God himself directly intervened.
Hearing Moon Knight's reasoning, Reed Richards frowned. "Then this old wizard might be up to no good after all. We should let Wonder Woman know right away."
Meanwhile, Diana had reached the area Wong mentioned, sensing the Olympian power within it. However, her abilities were mostly combat-oriented, and besides her gear, she lacked mystical tools to further investigate.
Diana channeled her power, attempting to project her voice in hopes of establishing contact with the old wizard. Unfortunately, though her call went out, the wizard was unable to respond.
In the mysterious realm, the old wizard lay frail and injured, almost at the end of his life. He had barely any power left and couldn't afford to waste it communicating with Diana.
And though the wizard wielded divine power, he was no god himself, so he couldn't sense Diana's connection to Zeus.
"I must find an heir… or the Seven Deadly Sins will be unstoppable…" the wizard muttered in despair. "That child… how dangerous he's become. Thank goodness I didn't pass my power to him…"
As it turned out, this wasn't the wizard's first attempt to find an heir; he'd been conducting tests for years. However, being younger and healthier then, he hadn't needed to conduct tests as frequently, so his actions went unnoticed.
But recently, a former candidate who had failed the test as a child—Thaddeus Sivana—had found a way to return to the wizard's realm.
The wizard had no idea how Sivana had managed it, but the fact that he had returned proved his unsuitability for the wizard's power. When Sivana learned he was still unworthy, his gaze shifted to the sealed creatures around the wizard, releasing them in his rage. These creatures were known as the Seven Deadly Sins.
After being possessed by the Seven Deadly Sins, Sivana had attacked the wizard, severely wounding him. Only through desperate effort had the wizard managed to teleport Sivana away. Now, lying injured and frail beyond words, the old wizard knew his time was nearly up.
But at the brink of death, he finally saw a glimmer of hope—a new candidate who might be the perfect heir.
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