Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4564 - 3646: Encountering Magic Academy Again (Part 1)

With a "pop," champagne foam sprayed from the bottle, followed by falling streamers. The crowd erupted with cheers.

Standing in the center, Shiller clapped along with everyone, reaching up to remove the streamers from his hair, then said, "Thank you all for your help, the second phase of Arkham Sanatorium's renovation is complete!"

Once again, there was a burst of enthusiastic applause. All the doctors, nurses, patients, and Shiller's friends cheered.

"Thank you, thank you very much!" Shiller shook hands with everyone, weaving through the crowd, smiling and greeting those further away.

When it was Stark's turn, he made exaggerated facial expressions on the side. Shiller walked over, and Stark snorted, saying, "I've been calling your office these days, and no one ever answers. I thought you had already forgotten about Little Morgan's birthday party."

"How could I!" Shiller said, "I specifically marked it as a priority on all my calendar apps, there's no way I'd forget. Aren't you going to check out the new renovation style of the sanatorium?"

"Nah, what's there to see at a sanatorium. I came to you for a minor issue, but Steven went to the clinic twice and couldn't find you. It seems he has something urgent. You'd better ask him."

"Alright, hope it's not another problem with the magical defense network."

Shiller glanced at the lawn outside. Strange was holding a wine glass, talking to Peter.

Today, New York's sunshine was excellent, the lawn lush and soft. As the wind blew, the newly laid ground emitted a fragrant scent of soil.

The renovation work at Arkham Sanatorium was complete. Most areas were redesigned, though the overall structure remained unchanged. The interior's hard and soft furnishings had altered styles, correcting some flaws from the previous design.

In recent years, the design industry has embraced naturalism. Compared to the modernist style when the sanatorium was first built, more natural elements were used, such as additional flower beds, plant walls, and hanging plants, along with wooden panels, vine patterns, and fabric crafts.

To help adjust patients' moods, the community room was specially altered to have red earth walls paired with wooden furniture and lots of plants, creating a naturally relaxing atmosphere.

Shiller's office layout remained unchanged, still split into two levels. However, instead of using marble and metal, the first floor now has wood flooring, and the bookshelves and furniture are all wooden. Although the second floor still has many metal decorations, they were altered from modern geometric shapes to soft, curved patterns.

Additionally, most of the stone-paved outdoor area was replaced with lawns. The small plaza in the courtyard gained a fountain, and a children's pool was added to the spa area, all redecorated with a tropical style.

Now, the sanatorium resembles a resort more than a hospital, aligning with its original purpose, but it doesn't lack therapeutic benefits. Besides offering placebo Eternal Life Factors, most emotional issues can be alleviated by being in a good environment.

Currently, the main guests at Arkham Sanatorium are actually the children of the first batch of guests. As the years pass, most children of the originally settled-in guests have reached adolescence.

Adolescence is a high-incidence period for emotional problems, even for those from affluent families. Academic pressure, social interactions, and parental relationships can cause various emotional issues.

Shiller is an expert in treating such issues. When communicating with patients, he often articulately discusses family relationships and adolescent psychology. Clients are also happy to have him mediate their family dynamics.

Currently, Arkham Sanatorium accepts teenagers with more severe symptoms, such as those suffering depression from being ostracized at school or anxiety from high parental expectations and academic pressure, and even those who have attempted suicide.

After spending some time here, their conditions have generally improved. Besides Shiller's regular dedicated treatment, the secluded environment of the sanatorium is an essential condition for recovery.

The new renovation style of the sanatorium was decided based on these factors. The initial modernist mansion style was mainly for selling the placebo Eternal Life Factors, but now that it's become a real sanatorium, it leans more towards a natural ambiance. The natural style effectively reduces psychological stress and appeals to teenagers. The newly renovated sanatorium has received unanimous praise from all guests.

Actually, it's mainly Shiller who has received acclaim from most of the teenage patients here. The sanatorium is quite expensive, and most parents sending their children here are paying a hefty price. This has made Shiller quite accommodating.

Not only does he bring gaming consoles into their rooms, buy comic books, modify cars, or listen to punk bands, but Shiller also cooks for them and even helps them with essays.

When their parents question whether these actions are necessary, Shiller can persuade them with his professional psychology knowledge. Seeing that the children are indeed recovering quickly, clients have a high satisfaction rate.

After exchanging pleasantries with everyone inside, Shiller headed towards the door. Peter was the first to see him coming, raising his glass to him. Shiller walked over and patted his shoulder.

"How have you been lately? I heard from Gwen that you went to the Andromeda Galaxy again."

"Yes, just went to check it out," Peter smiled and said, "Mostly wanted to see that huge Cerebro."

"How did it go? Is it cool?"

"To be honest, I can't really understand it. The design is pretty cool, it feels about the size of the Moon, and the internal structure is very complex. I really don't know how Erik managed to build it all by himself."

"The power of love is great," Shiller said with a smile.

Then he turned to Strange and said, "Tony mentioned you've been to the clinic several times these past few days. Is there something important?"

"It's not really that important," Strange sighed lightly and said, "Ever since Battleworld opened, many people from other universes have come to visit our cosmos. Most of them are very interested in the Magical Defense Network. Quite a few want to learn this technology."

"Well, let them learn. After all, if Earths in other universes have Magical Defense Networks, it doesn't affect us."

"It's not that easy," Strange slightly rolled his eyes and said, "What do you think a Magical Defense Network is? A chocolate crisp ball? It's a mature magical system and the best, most technologically advanced thing we can produce. Not just anyone can mimic it."

"So what do you plan to do?" Shiller asked.

"In fact, the people who come to me are of two kinds: those who want to learn and those who want us to directly help them build it. But essentially they're the same, because later maintenance requires their local magicians. But they simply don't have enough professional magicians, I mean the kind who can understand the defense network."

"In most universes... it's the same even in those with Batman. Their magicians have all sorts of strange skills, but most can only cause destruction, which has nothing to do with the Magical Defense Network. The knowledge they've acquired is of no use in maintaining the defense network, and it actually hinders learning new knowledge."

"You mean..."

"For them to have a Magical Defense Network as good as ours, they'd have to train a new batch of mages from scratch. But their local magicians don't even understand what magic is, let alone train a large number of talents." frёewebηovel.cѳm

Strange shook his head and said, "My idea is that we can let them send a group of children over to learn magic. Once they've completed their studies, they can naturally build a Magical Defense Network for their homeland."

"That's great, isn't this what we were doing before?" Shiller said, "You previously worked as a professor at Gotham Magic Academy for a while, and people from over there also came to study. I saw that their Magical Defense Network was running pretty well."

"The problem is exactly here. Many people, just Batman alone, have come to find me. Maybe they saw the Magical Defense Network in that universe and traced it back to us."

"If you ask me, it's the same. Even though their Magical Defense Network is maintained well, when it comes to theoretical level and innovation, our origin is certainly more impressive."

Shiller nodded in agreement with Strange's point. Even though Gotham Magic Academy is already considered the most advanced magical education system over there, it still pales in comparison to Marvel.

The fundamental reason might be that DC's magic requirements are more stringent, and overall energy levels are relatively low, and their development started late. Even though there have been recent improvements, it's still no match for Kamar-Taj, led by The Ancient One, a long-time cosmic evil force.

Moreover, in terms of control and innovation over the Magical Defense Network, they're not on par with Strange. If Constantine still had his magical abilities, he might catch up theoretically, but now that he's switched fields, their Magical Defense Network remains at a usable stage.

But Marvel is different. Strange's mastery and utilization of the Magical Defense Network have reached a profound level. In addition to defending Earth from all sorts of ill-intentioned entities both inside and outside, it can even further inspect all energy fluctuations within Earth. Even human technological artifacts at work cannot escape his watchful eyes.

It's not surprising that many people would want to have this technology. Strange is also generous in sharing it, but to truly reach this level, it's incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, it's not necessary to have Strange's level to use it. Just putting a protective shell around Earth would exponentially increase the security level, which is particularly suitable for paranoia and suspicious individuals, a typical representative being Batman.

Actually, it's not that they're being overly worried. After all, in any universe, Earth is fraught with disasters. They're simply terrified of the chaos. They don't expect the shell to withstand huge disasters, but if it can keep minor troubles out, it's already a big help.

However, what Shiller finds a bit puzzling is that Kamar-Taj's recruitment of students from various universes is their own business. With Strange around, Shiller hardly needs to worry about matters in the magic realm. The two reached a tacit understanding long ago, what belongs to Strange belongs to Strange, and unless there are major changes, Shiller would not intervene.

"What I mean is Kamar-Taj can't accommodate that many students," Strange gently touched his cheek and said, "We've already pushed spatial expansion magic to its limits, but even accommodating the current students is a bit of a stretch."

"Can't you just accept fewer students?... Okay, I get it, convincing Batman to let go is hard. So what do you plan to do?"

"I think we should establish a specialized magical school like Gotham," Strange said, "Let's not do it in the Himalayan Mountains; the high-altitude sickness is too severe. Let's find a place in America and build a real Magic Academy that can accommodate multiverse students."

"That's a pretty good idea," Shiller nodded and said, "Did you come to me to help you choose a location?"

"I came to you mainly to ask for your investment," Strange spread his hands and said, "Building such a large academy in the real world requires a lot of money. I'm here seeking sponsorship."