[You met A-rank 'hero' Jane Foster. Exploration Points +50.]
[You interrupted the Aether's seepage and slightly changed the world's course. Development Points +200.]
[Special notice: Any change to the world's course may cause unknown butterfly effects and risks. Be careful!]
When the space crack was reopened by the John sub-personality and Thor rushed in first, Raymond switched back for a moment.
Right then, the system messages appeared.
The first message wasn't worth much. Jane might be rated A-rank, but there's not much about her herself—like Pepper, the rank comes from her partner.
The second message was the interesting one.
"Interrupted the Aether's seepage?" Raymond stepped into the pocket space, eyes sharp.
He knew the "Aether" was just another name for the Reality Stone.
From the history that matches this world's MCU very closely: long ago, before Thor was born and while Odin was still young, the king of Asgard was Thor's grandfather, Bor.
Back then, the Nine Realms weren't ruled by Asgard's Aesir, but by the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim.
Their leader was Malekith.
Asgard was famous for its strength, but Malekith became master of the Nine Realms because he used the Reality Stone.
To hide its true source, he renamed it the Aether and claimed it was the Dark Elves' ancestral relic.
Either way, the Reality Stone's power is terrifying.
With only a portion of it, Malekith turned the Nine Realms into eternal night.
The rules of the realms changed—only night, no day.
In that world, the Dark Elves' power grew many times stronger, while other races were weakened.
So even though they were weaker than Asgard before, during that time the Dark Elves were unstoppable across the Nine Realms. Even several realms together couldn't beat them.
Later, Thor's grandfather Bor used a scheme to steal the Reality Stone, broke the eternal night, and beat the Dark Elves. Asgard rose to the top and ruled the Nine Realms.
Other realms fought back several times during Odin's reign, but that is another story.
After overthrowing the Dark Elves and defeating Malekith, Bor sent death-sworn soldiers to seal the Reality Stone in a secret place. Even he did not know where. After sealing it, those soldiers killed themselves, so the secret would stay buried forever.
He did this to stop Malekith from finding it and rising again one day.
But Bor likely didn't know that the "Aether" Malekith spoke of had nothing to do with the Dark Elves. It was not an ancestral relic. Strictly speaking, anyone could use it—if they were strong enough not to be corrupted by it.
In the end, Malekith's choice to call the Reality Stone the "Aether" worked. Otherwise, Bor might not have sealed it away and then waited for Malekith to try a comeback years later.
The Dark Elves do not grow stronger with age like the Aesir, but they live much longer. Malekith is actually older than Bor. He outlived Bor and was about to outlive Odin. If nothing stopped him, he would not die when Odin did, and would keep outlasting even Thor—a real master of staying alive.
"That… is the Reality Stone?"
While Raymond was recalling the history of the Dark Elves and Malekith, he noticed a dark red liquid not far from Jane, quietly inching away from her.
Seeing this, a strange idea hit him—the Reality Stone had grown a mind of its own!
It drew Jane here so it could use her body to leave the sealed place. Jane is just an ordinary person, so she could not control it and become its master. But when Raymond and the others showed up, it likely felt that none of them could be controlled, so it tried to slip away and wait for the next chance.
Clearly, it did not want to be found by someone who could control it, even if it could not use its full power without a "master."
"Could it really have become sentient?" Raymond's face was odd, but he wasn't sure. This was only his guess based on what he knew, though it seemed quite possible.
He looked at the "Reality Stone" creeping along the ground like a caterpillar, and at Thor giving Jane CPR to wake her up.
Raymond noticed Thor didn't sense the Stone. Even if he did, he might not care, because he had no idea that puddle of dark red liquid was the "Aether" that once humiliated Asgard.
Realizing this, Raymond's heart raced.
That was the Reality Stone…
Among the six Infinity Stones, it is one of the most broken. It can turn the impossible into the possible, ignore all rules, and even create new ones.
Of course, it is not easy to control. Even Malekith only used part of its power—yet that was enough to change the basic rules of the Nine Realms and make them lands of eternal night.
Raymond had not planned to collect the Infinity Stones. First, he might not be able to use them. Second, doing so could draw the attention of a certain "population-control fanatic."
But he had already offended Dormammu. Was there still any need to fear that fanatic now?
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