Two months had passed since Fini arrived at Kamar-Taj when Skye called to inform him that it was time for school to start.
Before coming to Kamar-Taj, he had applied to Columbia University in New York.
With his outstanding grades, he had been accepted without any surprises, and now it was time for him to report to the university.
Not only that, but after being away from home for a full two months, his parents had been worried sick.
If they hadn’t kept in touch every few days, with Skye helping him cover for things on the side, he would have been forced to return long ago.
The pace of life at Kamar-Taj made Fini reluctant to leave.
More importantly, he couldn’t bear to part with his little experience babies.
The experience he had gained here in a single month was enough to surpass what he had accumulated over the entire previous year.
Fini had even begun considering taking a year off from school to focus entirely on studying magic here.
But to his surprise, when he told the Ancient One about this idea, she rejected it without hesitation.
“Fini, don’t forget what I told you. Don’t let power control you. You should have a life of your own. Go back. Kamar-Taj will always welcome you whenever you wish to return.”
Fini lowered his head and fell into thought.
Then he suddenly realized that the Ancient One was right.
During this period, he had become somewhat obsessed with gaining experience.
If one day he discovered a more effective method of increasing his experience, would he go to any lengths to achieve it!?
Fini slowly let out a breath.
The pressure of the dangers ahead made him desperately want to increase his strength, but he couldn’t ignore the people around him because of that.
After coming to terms with it, Fini suddenly felt as though his entire body had become much lighter.
If it were expressed in terms of game data, it was probably something like Mental Power +1.
Of course, it was still nowhere near enough for him to open a portal.
Seriously, just how absurd was Doctor Strange’s talent for magic!?
“Thank you, Master!”
After thanking the Ancient One, Fini decided to return to school.
That didn’t mean he was giving up on farming experience, though.
With the New York Sanctum serving as a transit point, returning to Kamar-Taj wouldn’t be particularly difficult.
Besides, because of the time difference, when he came to Kamar-Taj at night, it would happen to be morning here.
Most of the Kamar-Taj mages were reluctant to see Fini leave.
After all, they couldn’t bear to part with his delicious Jinji Fried Chicken Wraps.
This included Mordo, who had spent the most time with him during these past two months.
“By the way, where did you learn this spell?”
Watching Fini skillfully summon a Jinji Fried Chicken Wrap and hand it over, Mordo accepted it with mixed feelings.
This junior disciple was still young, didn’t seem to have much talent, yet somehow enjoyed their master’s special favor.
There was always an air of mystery surrounding him.
“This is an innate magic spell, you know? The kind of skill you’re born with. It’s exclusive to me. Other people can’t learn it. I’m not bragging, but even Master Ancient One herself wouldn’t be able to learn this.”
More than one person had asked him about the Jinji Fried Chicken Wrap before.
If they meant the ordinary method of preparing it with their own ingredients, Fini would have been more than happy to teach them.
But if they were asking how to use the skill the way he did, then there was simply no way to teach it.
The Jinji Fried Chicken Wrap was simply unreasonable in that way.
Although he had once thought the skill was completely useless, it had now become the key to managing his interpersonal relationships.
During these two months, who in the entirety of Kamar-Taj hadn’t eaten one of Fini’s exclusive Jinji Fried Chicken Wraps?
Even many of those assigned to guard the Sanctums would deliberately return every day just to ask for several to take away.
If they went a single day without eating one, they felt uncomfortable all over.
He had practically become the food provider of the Kamar-Taj mages.
“I’m leaving first, Senior Brother. Though I’ll probably be back again soon. If anything comes up, you can come find me in New York.”
In the courtyard, Fini said goodbye to Mordo.
Since he couldn’t open portals himself yet, he had to ask someone else to open one for him, or use the transit portal in the library.
“Goodbye. Don’t neglect your training.”
Although they had only known each other for two months, Mordo unexpectedly felt a slight sense of reluctance as he watched Fini prepare to leave.
Perhaps it was because Fini’s arrival had brought a different kind of atmosphere to this peaceful and tranquil sanctuary.
Watching Fini’s smiling figure wave goodbye before disappearing, Mordo silently thought to himself.
…
Although he had nominally gone traveling, Fini actually hadn’t brought anything back with him.
He might return to Kamar-Taj again in a few days, so there wasn’t much worth bringing back.
Besides, Skye had already brought back a batch of gifts from the nearby town earlier, and he didn’t want to buy so many useless things.
Therefore, when his parents saw Fini return home completely empty-handed, they both found it rather strange.
If he hadn’t genuinely been gone for two months—and if his skin hadn’t visibly become darker and his body noticeably stronger—they might have thought he had merely gone out for a walk.
“Why didn’t you tell us in advance that you were coming back?”
Although his mother found his appearance after returning somewhat strange, she was still the first to come over.
Half concerned and half complaining, she said, “Nothing happened while you were away, right? Why didn’t you come back with your sister? Look at you, you’ve gotten so tanned.”
Fini chuckled and didn’t argue with his parents about anything.
Afterward, the family happily finished dinner together.
Just as Fini was about to go rest, Skye dragged him into her room.
“So, how was it? Did you learn it after I left?”
The moment they entered, Skye impatiently asked out of curiosity.
Although she could watch the other mages cast spells at Kamar-Taj, they had all been practicing for years.
Watching Fini, who had been learning and growing alongside her, was far more interesting.
Fini didn’t say anything.
Instead, he simply gathered his flickering Ring of Raggadorr in his right hand.
“You succeeded!?”
Skye’s emotions became somewhat complicated.
On one hand, she was naturally happy for him.
On the other, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed that she herself was unable to learn magic.
Noticing the expression on Skye’s face, Fini dismissed the spell and lightly tapped her little head with a finger.
“Alright, I’m still far from actually mastering it. My talent isn’t good enough. In this lifetime, I’ll probably only be able to stubbornly grind away at two spells at most.”
Skye became even more depressed.
Then what did that make someone like her?
Completely talentless!?
“Not even close!”
Fini once again thought of Doctor Strange.
That guy’s talent was what truly deserved to be called exceptional.
If his mental strength hadn’t improved before, he probably still wouldn’t have been able to form the Ring of Raggadorr even now.
For a moment, neither of them was in a particularly good mood.
However, Fini quickly adjusted himself.
He still had the system, after all.
In the future, he wouldn’t need to stubbornly stick to the path of a mage.
Besides, even relying solely on Demon Possession, he was already stronger than most mages.
Still, seeing Skye’s disappointed expression, Fini thought for a moment and decided to comfort her.
“Actually, you don’t need to feel too disappointed. Master once told me that there might be another kind of power inside you. It just hasn’t been developed yet.”
Of course, the Ancient One had never actually said such a thing.
But wasn’t a master supposed to be used as an excuse?
Just like before, with Demon Possession.
After he said that the Ancient One had given it to him, aside from the jealous Mordo, how many people would actually dare to go to the Ancient One and verify it?
“Really?”
Skye raised her head in surprise, grabbed Fini’s arm, and immediately asked, “What kind of power is it? How do I develop it?”
“The time isn’t right yet.”
Fini shook his head and didn’t say much more.
After thinking about it, however, he added:
“Maybe it has something to do with vibrations?”
“Hmm!?”
This wasn’t the first time Fini had mentioned an ability related to vibrations.
He had brought it up several times before, but Skye had never paid much attention to it.
Only now did she finally realize that he might actually mean something.
“Why vibrations!?”
Skye asked, completely unable to understand.
“How would I know?”
Fini rolled his eyes, secretly complaining to himself that she should probably ask her alien genes instead.
“Anyway, when you have nothing else to do, you can study some knowledge related to that. You might need it in the future.”
After giving her one final reminder, Fini returned to his room and went to rest.
(End of Chapter)