Columbia University.
Feeney’s enrollment didn’t cause much of a stir.
Everything was fairly ordinary, much like it was for everyone else.
Although the Ancient One had once told him that he could have a tremendous impact on this world.
Since he hadn’t planned on living on campus, he wasn’t assigned a dorm room in the first place.
However, the university wasn’t exactly close to home, so he decided to rent a place.
“You really don’t want me to drive you to school?”
In the new apartment, Skye looked around at the facilities before asking Feeney.
“No. I might still need to go to the Sanctum quite often, so it’ll be more convenient to live out here.”
Feeney shook his head, turning down Skye’s suggestion.
Skye didn’t insist.
She nodded, then unexpectedly said, “Fine. Then I’ll move here too.”
Since money wasn’t an issue, the apartment Feeney rented was fairly spacious, and there was indeed another empty room.
But he hadn’t expected Skye to say that, so he couldn’t help staring at her in surprise.
“What are you coming over here for?”
“It’s comfortable here.”
Skye looked at Feeney strangely before replying, “People at the shop are always coming around asking when you’re coming back. It’s too noisy. And staying at home all the time feels a little awkward. Since you have to go to school every day anyway, I can use the Internet here without anyone bothering me.”
Hearing her answer, Feeney became depressed.
After scratching his head, he carefully suggested, “By the way, you’re already an adult, you know. You’re not that young anymore either. Haven’t you considered becoming independent?”
As soon as he said that, Skye’s face flushed bright red.
She immediately snapped angrily, “I… I can pay rent, can’t I? Just think of it as the two of us renting the place together.”
Then, as if she’d suddenly thought of another excuse, she added righteously, “If Mom and Dad weren’t worried that you wouldn’t be able to take care of yourself, I wouldn’t even come over. Do you think I actually want to live with you?!”
“Hmph!”
After giving a long, dissatisfied huff, Skye immediately went upstairs to tidy up her room, leaving Feeney standing there in complete disarray.
As for this older sister whom he’d practically spoiled rotten, Feeney didn’t have much to say.
Living together was probably better anyway.
New York was such a chaotic place, and sometimes it really wasn’t safe for a pretty girl like her to be alone.
College life was much easier than Feeney had imagined.
The major he’d chosen was also considered a rather obscure field, so he didn’t have many classes and had plenty of free time every day.
At school, he was mainly studying Ancient Sanskrit.
He actually hadn’t read most of the books at Kamar-Taj yet, because the translation software available at the moment wasn’t mature enough.
He had also tried getting Skye to help research and develop one, but because they lacked sufficient data and knowledge, the translation results were still very poor. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
As a result, whenever he wanted to study the books before, he had to ask someone else to translate them for him.
He couldn’t keep imposing on others, so his efficiency had been very low.
Another beautiful afternoon.
With no classes that day, Feeney sat in the living room, seriously studying a textbook he’d borrowed from the university.
Beside him, Skye was flipping through a fashion magazine with an utterly bored expression.
Before long, however, she tossed the magazine aside and lay down on the soft sofa, nudging Feeney with her little foot as she complained, “It’s Tony Stark again. This guy is practically everywhere.”
“You’ve been reading that book for almost a month. Aren’t you bored? Also, I think the weather’s getting colder again lately. Come on, I’ll go buy some clothes with you!”
Listening to Skye chatter away beside him like a sparrow, Feeney helplessly closed his book and glared at her.
“I really shouldn’t have agreed to let you move in. And besides, don’t you already have enough clothes?”
“I’m buying clothes for you.”
Skye first tried her best to straighten her little face as she corrected him, then immediately grinned.
“At most, I’ll just pick out a few things for myself while we’re there.”
Feeney sighed and glanced at the sky outside.
Ever since November arrived, weather this nice really was becoming rare.
He turned his gaze back to Skye’s expectant face and reluctantly nodded.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the fashion magazine she’d thrown aside.
The cover featured Stark dressed in a sharp suit, so he couldn’t help asking:
“I remember you used to really like Tony Stark, didn’t you?”
Following Feeney’s gaze toward the magazine, Skye curled her lips disdainfully.
“I admired his technology and inventions. But I’ve realized that this guy is actually nothing more than a playboy!”
“You can’t say that for sure!”
Looking at Tony Stark, who appeared full of energy on the magazine cover, Feeney sighed with emotion and said, “He should become a hero.”
“A hero?!”
Skye looked over with a strange expression.
Tony Stark had many titles: billionaire, scientific genius, playboy… but almost no one had ever associated him with the word hero.
“He really loves peace.”
Feeney shrugged.
Following his master’s example, he wasn’t particularly interested in giving away too many spoilers.
“He runs an arms company!”
Skye replied somewhat speechlessly, then didn’t continue discussing the matter.
After spending the entire afternoon shopping with Skye, Feeney arrived at the New York Sanctum in the evening and opened a portal to Kamar-Taj.
The slightly chilly air of early morning instantly refreshed him.
During these past few months at Kamar-Taj, his experience had increased by as much as it had during the several years before.
The experience bar, which had been completely emptied after drawing the Ghost Rider, had unknowingly filled more than halfway again.
However, his rate of progress had slowed recently.
One reason was that he didn’t have enough talent or time, as he had to devote a great deal of energy to translating and studying books.
The other was that he couldn’t find enough people to farm experience from.
There weren’t actually many sorcerers who enjoyed fighting.
Mordo had his own affairs to deal with recently and couldn’t keep sparring with him all the time, so Feeney often found himself unable to find anyone to practice against.
While thinking about how to solve this problem, Feeney headed toward the training grounds.
Along the way, he encountered a slightly chubby figure and greeted him.
“Good morning, Wong. You’re here today too!”
At this point, Wong wasn’t yet the librarian he would later become when Doctor Strange arrived.
He was currently one of the guardians of the Hong Kong Sanctum and didn’t often appear at Kamar-Taj.
“Good morning, Mage Feeney.”
Wong politely returned the greeting, then walked over to Feeney and quietly asked, “Do you have any fried chicken rolls?”
“Uh… isn’t it a little greasy to eat that in the morning?”
Although he said that, Feeney still skillfully summoned a Jinji Fried Chicken Roll and handed it over.
Wong took it, gave it a sniff, and revealed an intoxicated expression before saying without the slightest concern, “It’s fine. I’ve already eaten breakfast. It won’t affect anything.”
“…”
Feeney was speechless.
The moment he encountered Wong, he knew that today’s experience was secured.
Wong’s strength was slightly inferior to Mordo’s, but he was still one of the better opponents available to him, especially because Wong’s fighting style wasn’t as agile as Mordo’s.
After several months of training, Feeney’s growth had actually been considerable.
Of course, this wasn’t referring to his magical abilities.
With his combat experience greatly enriched, and while equipped with the Ghost Rider, Feeney could now be considered one of the stronger fighters at Kamar-Taj.
Well, specifically when it came to combat power.
(End of Chapter)