June, under a blazing sun.
Nearly a month had passed since Fini met the Ancient, and he only had a few credits left before he could apply for graduation.
Although universities placed greater emphasis on students’ internship experience and recommendations, Fini’s grades were more than enough to meet the admission requirements, so he had nothing to worry about.
One thing worth mentioning was that Carson had returned to school a few weeks ago.
After coming back, he didn’t cause Fini any trouble, which left Fini rather surprised.
He initially thought Carson was secretly planning something.
But after finding an opportunity to use the excuse of reconciliation and employing the “Golden Dayan Technique” to investigate the matter, Fini finally understood what had happened.
It turned out that Carson had indeed wanted to cause him trouble again while he was on leave.
However, he unexpectedly discovered that Fini’s parents were both well-known lawyers, which made him hesitate.
In this country, lawyers were a rather special profession.
Nobody wanted to offend a powerful lawyer.
Carson might have been reckless, but he wasn’t truly stupid.
After considering the consequences of offending Fini, he ultimately decided to swallow the loss in silence.
More importantly, he would be graduating soon and didn’t want to cause too much trouble at such a time.
After learning the truth, Fini was both amused and speechless.
Still, this outcome was quite good.
After using the “Golden Dayan Technique” to strengthen Carson’s reluctance to cause trouble, Fini stopped paying attention to the matter.
For now, the most important thing to Fini was to finish his remaining credits as quickly as possible, graduate, and then find the location of the New York Sanctum so that he could have a proper talk with the Ancient One.
During this period, he had constantly been thinking about the reason the Ancient One had appeared that day.
Given the information imbalance between them, he ultimately felt that the possibility that she had come because of “Demon Possession” was the most likely.
Therefore, during this period, aside from testing the effects of “Demon Possession” a few more times on weekends, he had never used it again.
Becoming a superhero or debuting before Iron Man had never even crossed his mind.
If he could lie low until he became invincible before revealing himself, that would obviously be ideal.
Unfortunately, judging by his current rate of growth, that was clearly impossible.
To Fini, Kamar-Taj was extremely important.
Even if he couldn’t learn magic from the Ancient One, the place could still allow him to rapidly increase his strength.
The experience bar increased through combat and the use of skills.
Aside from the Snake Shield Bureau and some organizations he couldn’t locate, the mages of Kamar-Taj were among the most powerful groups of people around.
He also wouldn’t have to worry about keeping his abilities hidden from them.
Sparring with them on a regular basis would definitely improve his strength much faster than spending his days in the shop making fried chicken wraps.
Especially now that he had “Demon Possession”—in terms of strength, he might not even be weaker than an ordinary mage.
…
“Congratulations. You’ve graduated.”
Even the sweltering weather seemed to feel cooler.
The next university term was still some time away, so he could finally enjoy a period of freedom.
At the graduation ceremony, looking at the bustling crowd around him and his happy parents and Skye, Fini’s heart was calm and peaceful.
He had wondered before whether, with the world destined to descend into chaos within a few years, continuing to live such a leisurely student life was a little too indulgent.
He had also hesitated over whether he should simply drop out of school and travel around the world searching for ways to increase his strength.
There were many hidden things in this world, and if he seriously searched for them, he would definitely gain something.
But whenever he saw his parents’ slightly aged faces, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He seriously asked himself what he actually wanted in this world.
Returning to his previous world was something he had thought about immediately after being reincarnated, but as he gradually became accustomed to his new life, that thought had slowly faded away.
In this world, he had a pair of parents who doted on him immensely, a cute but not particularly well-behaved older sister, and a special set of abilities.
Although there were dangers around him, his overall life was better than before.
Besides, as long as he continued growing stronger, he still had a chance to become invincible.
After thinking for a long time, Fini felt that what he truly wanted was simply to live freely.
He could have the sense of urgency that came with impending danger, but he didn’t want that sense of urgency to control him.
He could comfortably enjoy a peaceful life, while never forgetting the dangers he might face.
Therefore, he ultimately chose not to pursue strength at all costs.
Instead, he decided to move forward step by step according to his own wishes.
Looking at everything before him, Fini felt that he probably hadn’t made the wrong choice.
Some aspects of life, once missed, might not necessarily be reversible even with the Time Stone.
That evening, Fini’s family was still discussing his graduation.
His parents didn’t care much about the ancient languages major he had chosen.
They were already high-income earners, and Fini himself had made a considerable amount of money from his “Jinji Fried Chicken Wraps” over the past two years, so he didn’t need to choose a major specifically for the sake of finding a job.
The next morning, Fini suddenly woke up early and realized that he no longer had to go to class.
He was a little unaccustomed to it at first, but he soon became happy at the thought of being able to arrange his time freely from now on.
Skye, on the other hand, looked listless during breakfast, which made him curious.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
Skye shook her head, propped her delicate little face up with one hand, and said somewhat dejectedly, “Now that you’re not going to the shop anymore, I suddenly don’t know what to do.”
“You could find a job!”
Fini glanced at the lazy-looking Skye and said helplessly, “Come to think of it, you graduated two years ago, right? And it seems you haven’t had a proper job since then.”
His words made Skye’s face flush red.
She immediately retorted indignantly, “Who says I haven’t? I write software for people online and make money from it!”
“That’s pretty good. Just don’t come asking me for money the next time you upgrade your equipment!”
Fini raised his head, looking as though he was daring her to accept the challenge.
Deep down, she really wanted to stubbornly say, “I won’t borrow it!”
But her honest instincts told her that if she didn’t borrow the money, she probably really wouldn’t be able to afford a new computer.
“Hmph!”
In the end, she could only glare angrily at Fini.
She didn’t even finish breakfast before grabbing her bag and leaving the house.
Having completed his daily routine of teasing his older sister, Fini finished breakfast in a pretty good mood.
But when he thought about the task ahead, his mood immediately became nervous again.
New York was a huge city covering more than 1,200 square kilometers.
Finding a house that was inconspicuous and even hidden somewhere within it was by no means an easy task.
Fini had thought about it for an entire month.
During that time, he had tried searching online maps, wandering around aimlessly, and various other methods.
Eventually, he came up with an idea.
Before leaving the house, Fini took out an old compass that he had spent quite some time searching for at an antique market.
After taking a deep breath and calming his mind, he recalled the relevant details and solemnly commanded:
“Grant this compass a special power. Let it guide its owner to the place they most wish to go!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the compass needle, which had previously been completely still, suddenly began spinning wildly.
After wobbling around several times, it finally stopped and pointed in a particular direction.
“It worked!”
Fini, who was feeling slightly dizzy, suppressed his excitement.
Fortunately, he had something in his mind to use as a reference, so his success rate when using the “Golden Dayan Technique” was considerably higher.
Concentrating his mind also allowed him to make the effect much clearer.
Of course, the most important reason was probably that although this object was special, its function was extremely simple.
It also lacked any factor capable of directly destroying the world, which was likely why he had succeeded.
Thank you, Captain Jack Sparrow!
Fini tightened his grip on the compass and offered a word of praise.
Then, without hesitation, he immediately set off in the direction indicated by the compass.
The power bestowed by the “Golden Dayan Technique” wasn’t permanent, after all.
There was no telling when the compass might stop working.
The “Golden Dayan Technique” was incredibly powerful, but the protagonist was still very weak right now and simply couldn’t accomplish too much with it.
This ability had a lower limit, but its upper limit was extremely high.
It also wouldn’t easily cause the combat power of the story to become unbalanced.
How nice was that?
(End of Chapter)