Two months had passed since Fini arrived at Kamar-Taj when Skye called to inform him that school was about to start.
Before coming to Kamar-Taj, he had applied to Columbia University in New York.
Thanks to his excellent grades, he had been accepted without any surprises, and now it was time for him to report to the university.
Moreover, after being away from home for two whole months, his parents had been worried sick.
If he hadn’t kept in touch every few days, with Skye helping to reassure them from the side, they would have made him come home long ago.
The pace of life at Kamar-Taj made Fini reluctant to leave.
More importantly, he couldn’t bear to part with his experience-giving monsters.
The experience he had gained during the past two months was enough to rival everything he had accumulated over the previous year.
Fini had even begun considering taking a year off from school to focus entirely on learning magic here.
But unexpectedly, 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 return.”
Fini lowered his head and fell into thought.
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 way to increase his experience, would he do whatever it took to achieve it!?
Fini let out a soft breath.
The dangerous pressure he felt made him desperately want to increase his strength, but he couldn’t neglect the people around him either.
After figuring things out, Fini suddenly felt his entire body become much more relaxed.
If it were represented numerically, it was probably something like Mental Power +1.
Of course, it still wasn’t enough to open a portal.
So just how absurd was Doctor Strange’s magical talent!?
“Thank you, Master!”
After thanking the Ancient One, Fini decided to return to school.
But that didn’t mean he was giving up on grinding experience.
After all, with the New York Sanctum available as a transit point, coming to Kamar-Taj wasn’t particularly difficult.
Besides, thanks to the time difference, when Fini came to Kamar-Taj at night, it would happen to be morning here.
Most of the mages at Kamar-Taj were reluctant to see Fini leave because they couldn’t bear to part with his delicious Jinji Fried Chicken Rolls.
That included Mordo, who had spent the most time with him during this period.
“By the way, where did you learn this spell?”
Watching Fini skillfully summon a ‘Jinji Fried Chicken Roll’ and hand it over, Mordo accepted it with complicated feelings.
This junior disciple, who wasn’t very old, didn’t have particularly outstanding talent, yet enjoyed the Master’s special favor, always seemed to carry an air of mystery.
“This is an innate spell. You know, the kind of skill you’re born with. It’s exclusive to me, and nobody else can learn it. I’m not bragging, but even Ancient One can’t learn this.”
In fact, more than one person had asked about the ‘Jinji Fried Chicken Roll.’
If it were simply a matter of preparing the ingredients, Fini would have been happy to teach them.
But if they wanted to know how to summon it through a skill like he did, there was nothing he could do.
The ‘Jinji Fried Chicken Roll’ was simply pure, unreasonable nonsense.
Although Fini had once considered it a useless ability, it had now become the key to maintaining his relationships with everyone around him.
Over the course of two months, who in all of Kamar-Taj hadn’t eaten Fini’s exclusive ‘Jinji Fried Chicken Roll’?
Even many of the people guarding the Sanctums had to make a special trip back every day to ask for several to take away.
If they went a day without eating one, they felt uncomfortable all over.
He had practically become the feeder of Kamar-Taj’s mages.
“I’m leaving now, Senior Brother. Though I might be back again very soon. If anything happens, you can come find me in New York.”
In the courtyard, Fini said goodbye to Mordo.
Since he couldn’t open portals himself, he could only 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 spent two months together, Mordo unexpectedly felt a little reluctant to see Fini leave.
Perhaps it was because Fini’s arrival had brought a different atmosphere to the peaceful and serene sanctuary.
Watching Fini’s smiling figure wave before disappearing, Mordo silently thought to himself.
…
Although he had technically gone on a trip, Fini actually brought nothing back with him when he returned.
Kamar-Taj might be going back in a few days anyway, so there was nothing worth bringing.
As for the things from the nearby town, Skye had already brought back a batch as gifts before.
He didn’t want to buy a bunch of useless junk.
Therefore, when Fini returned home empty-handed, his parents were somewhat puzzled.
If he hadn’t genuinely been gone for two months, and if his skin and body didn’t clearly show signs of having gotten tanner and stronger, they might have thought he had merely gone out for a walk.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back?”
Although Fini’s outfit upon returning made his mother feel somewhat awkward, she immediately came over, concerned and complaining at the same time.
“Nothing happened while you were out there, right? Why didn’t you come back with your sister back then? You’ve gotten so tanned.”
Fini chuckled several times and didn’t argue with his parents.
Afterward, the whole family happily had dinner together.
Just as they were preparing to rest, Skye dragged him into her room.
“So? Did you learn it after I left?”
As soon as they entered the room, Skye eagerly asked out of curiosity.
Although she could see the other mages casting spells at Kamar-Taj, they had all practiced for years.
Watching Fini learn and improve alongside her was much more interesting.
Fini said nothing.
He simply condensed his flickering Rings of Raggadorr in his right hand.
“You succeeded!?”
Skye’s feelings were somewhat complicated.
On one hand, she was naturally happy for him.
On the other, she felt a little disappointed that she couldn’t learn it herself.
“All right, you’re still far from learning it yourself. My talent isn’t good enough. I’ll probably only be able to stubbornly grind away at two spells for the rest of my life at most.”
“With you like this, you still say your talent isn’t good enough?”
Skye became even more depressed.
Then what did that make her?
Someone with absolutely no talent at all?
“Still far from it!”
Fini thought of Doctor Strange.
Now that was what you called good talent.
If his mental power hadn’t broken through earlier, he still wouldn’t have been able to condense the Rings of Raggadorr.
For a moment, neither of them felt particularly good.
But Fini quickly adjusted his mood.
He still had the system.
In the future, he wouldn’t necessarily have to devote himself entirely to the path of a mage.
Moreover, with ‘Evil Ghost’s Haunt’ alone, he was already stronger than most mages.
However, seeing Skye’s dejected expression, Fini thought about it and decided to remind her.
“Actually, don’t be too disappointed. Master once told me that there might be another kind of power inside you. It’s just that it hasn’t been awakened yet.”
Of course, the Ancient One had never said anything like that.
But wasn’t that what a master was for—an excuse to use?
Just like before with ‘Evil Ghost’s Haunt.’ After claiming that the Ancient One had given it to him, aside from the jealous Mordo, how many people would actually dare go to the Ancient One to verify it?
“Really?”
Skye raised her head in surprise, then grabbed Fini’s arm and pressed him for answers.
“What kind of power is it? How do I awaken it?”
“The time isn’t right yet.”
Fini shook his head without saying much.
But after thinking for a moment, he added:
“It might have something to do with vibration?”
“Huh!?”
This wasn’t the first time Fini had mentioned vibration abilities.
He had brought it up several times before, but Skye had never paid much attention to it.
Now, she finally understood.
“Why would it be vibration!?”
Skye asked, utterly baffled.
“How would I know?”
Fini rolled his eyes inwardly.
You should be asking about your alien genes.
“Anyway, when you have nothing to do, you can study some knowledge related to this. You might need it in the future.”
After giving her one last reminder, Fini returned to his room to rest.