Marvel's master of cosmic magic

Chapter 548

"That used to be true," Rowan said with an easy smile. "But after a great deal of research, I’ve found a way for every human to learn magic."

For Rowan, this wasn’t just about war.

If his inner world was ever going to mature into a true reality, he had to master creation on every level. Not just life, but mountains, oceans, ecosystems, entire natural systems.

The Valar excelled at that. Ilúvatar had created the universe itself, but it was the Valar who shaped Middle-earth’s details, piece by piece.

If Rowan could reach Valinor and learn directly from them, completing his inner world would become vastly easier.

But walking into Valinor openly and asking for guidance required leverage.

That leverage was Morgoth.

The most powerful of the Valar. Even after pouring most of his power into corrupting Middle-earth, he remained unimaginably dangerous.

Still, Rowan believed he could defeat him.

The problem wasn’t strength.

It was capture.

Morgoth was cunning. If he sensed true danger, he might simply vanish and hide. That was one reason the Valar rarely intervened unless absolutely forced.

History proved it. In the original timeline, it was humanity that first revealed Morgoth’s atrocities to Valinor. Only then did the Valar mobilize together. The resulting war shattered Beleriand itself, and even then, Morgoth wasn’t killed. Only exiled into the Void.

Rowan needed a similar outcome.

But he couldn’t reveal all his power at once. If Morgoth became cautious, the hunt would become nearly impossible.

So Rowan built a two-stage plan.

First: continue increasing his own strength.

The stronger he became, the harder it would be for Morgoth to escape.

He had already consumed Sauron’s sealed soul using his spirit-binding technique. Originally, he had planned to keep it for later use. It had turned out to be extremely useful.

Once he fully digested Sauron’s essence, and then the Archangel’s, he expected to surpass Morgoth significantly.

His other-world counterparts were growing stronger too.

If he could push himself to universal-tier strength, even Morgoth at full power might not match him.

That breakthrough wouldn’t come quickly. It would take more accumulation.

Which led to phase two.

Strengthen the elves and humans. Systematically destroy Morgoth’s servants and armies.

Morgoth’s dark legions weren’t just soldiers. They were extensions of his power. Destroy them, and he weakened.

Once Morgoth was sufficiently diminished, Rowan would strike with overwhelming force, coordinating elves, humans, and dwarves to corner and seal him, then drag him to Valinor for judgment.

After months of observation, Rowan understood the three races far better.

Elves were hopeless for rapid magical militarization.

Their natural magical affinity was unmatched, but their nature worked against disciplined large-scale magical study. Training them into mass light-magic specialists would take centuries.

Dwarves were even less viable. Even when gifted, they preferred smithing. Magic simply didn’t interest them.

And forcing it wouldn’t work.

Fortunately, Rowan had already changed history enough that the First Age wasn’t as desperate as before. That meant even less incentive for elves and dwarves to grind magical study.

So instead, Rowan shifted strategy.

External empowerment.

He would teach both races his evolving artifact-forging methods.

Mass production of tailored magical equipment.

Blades infused with destructive spellwork. Armor resistant to flame, poison, and corruption. Guided long-range arrows. Magical siege engines.

Elves and dwarves were natural craftsmen. They would master this quickly.

Humans, however...

Humans had the fastest path to real magical combat power.

Even though magical talent was rare among them, those who possessed it trained obsessively. They experimented. They innovated.

Humans lagged behind elves and dwarves in many areas.

But in some areas, they surpassed both.

Their lack of widespread magical talent had always been their greatest weakness.

Rowan had solved that.

He had studied ancient cultivation diagrams and spiritual inheritance systems from other worlds. Systems capable of awakening potential even in creatures that had none.

If even animals could be awakened...

Humans were trivial.

Especially First Age humans. Spiritually pure. Uncomplicated. Exceptionally receptive.

"Director... this is incredible!"

Bregolas nearly ran out of the chamber.

"I’ll notify every human tribe immediately!"

Among the three races, elves held the highest status. Dwarves followed. Humans were last.

They were the youngest. Their civilizations were built largely with elven help. Their numbers were small. Individually, they were weaker than either of the elder races.

Without Rowan... and without their bravery against Morgoth’s invasion... they might never have been taken seriously.

Once, elves had viewed humans with mild curiosity. Not quite equals. Something... adjacent.

Now that was changing.

And if humans gained magic on a wide scale...

They would stand as equals.

"Rowan," a voice called.

Before Bregolas even returned, Lúthien, Galadriel, and several elven princes arrived together.

"Is it true?" Galadriel asked. "You’ve found a way for all humans to learn magic?"

Rowan nodded.

Relief spread across every face.

The war situation was fragile.

They had held the northern and western lines. They had killed Sauron.

But the eastern front had collapsed. Gothmog’s balrog legions ravaged the east, and could launch another major offensive at any time.

If humans could field more light mages...

The balance would shift dramatically.

If even a few more human mages reached Rowan’s level...

Angband itself could be attacked directly.