Feeney wasn’t the type to give up eating for fear of choking, but neither did he want to be controlled by his own power.
Otherwise, a future where he couldn’t even indulge in his fantasies would be far too terrifying.
After all, some things were only suitable for imagining.
If they actually became reality, he might not be willing to accept them either.
Like, for example, what it would be like to wear women’s clothes!?
Back at the new apartment, the television was broadcasting report after report about Tony Stark’s attack and disappearance.
A week had already passed, and most people were speculating that Stark was dead.
The situation had also caused Stark Industries’ stock price to plummet.
Feeney had originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and buy some shares, only to discover that he couldn’t buy any.
Apparently, someone had already been secretly acquiring them.
That made sense, too.
The attack had been planned by Obadiah Stane.
Before making his move, he should have already considered the consequences of Tony’s death, so the decline in the stock price must have been within his expectations.
It wouldn’t be that easy to swoop in and pick up a bargain.
The real opportunity would come after Tony unexpectedly returned and, to everyone’s surprise, announced that he was shutting down the weapons division.
That would be the perfect time to buy the stock at a bargain.
Of course, with Feeney’s current funds, he probably wouldn’t be able to buy very many shares.
There was no chance he’d become a major shareholder or anything like a board member.
Still, holding onto the shares and selling them after their value increased would be a pretty good choice.
Feeney silently thought about this while watching the television.
As for rescuing Tony Stark now and making him owe him a favor, Feeney hadn’t really considered it.
If he wanted to do it, it wasn’t necessarily impossible with the Jack Sparrow Compass.
But there was no point.
Without his interference, Tony Stark would become Iron Man, a true hero.
He might be arrogant, conceited, and full of himself, but there was no doubt that his heart was in the right place.
Feeney didn’t want to change that.
Having more good people in the world could never be a bad thing.
Besides, he’d already latched onto the biggest thigh of them all—the Ancient One.
There was no need for him to deliberately curry favor with Tony Stark as well.
After all, in his impression, the scientific and magical sides were fundamentally opposed!
Although Feeney didn’t want to alter Tony’s path of growth, that didn’t mean he planned to do nothing.
At the very least, Obadiah—the Iron Monger—should make a very good experience point dispenser.
What he needed to consider now was how to defeat him with as close to a hundred percent certainty as possible.
Ghost Rider was powerful, but compared with Iron Man, it currently had two rather serious shortcomings.
The first was that its offensive power wasn’t quite enough, while Feeney’s magic was still immature.
The second was its poor ability against airborne targets.
And he couldn’t open portals yet.
That was truly troublesome.
Thinking about it this way, Feeney suddenly realized that he really was quite weak.
He couldn’t help sighing in frustration.
But in reality, things weren’t quite that bad.
Although he didn’t know exactly how strong the metal armor Iron Man used was, unless it was made entirely of vibranium, it should still be inferior to Ghost Rider.
Furthermore, Ghost Rider provided Feeney with a far greater enhancement to his physical abilities than Iron Man’s armor did—things like strength, agility, and so on.
If aerial combat wasn’t taken into consideration, then in close-quarters combat, with nearly a year’s worth of combat experience, plus the current level of artificial intelligence and Tony’s own abilities, Feeney should be more than capable of beating him senseless.
Besides, the most difficult part of opening a portal was actually channeling the energy.
After the stimulation he had received last time, he’d already managed to produce sparks.
That meant he wasn’t far from successfully opening a portal.
With the full enhancement provided by Ghost Rider, it shouldn’t take too long before he could finally open one.
At that point, he’d at least have some means of dealing with aerial targets.
Thinking about it this way, Feeney regained some of his confidence.
In the living room, Skye came out of her room and saw Feeney sitting on the sofa, completely absorbed in the television.
She was especially surprised to see that he was paying such close attention to the news about Tony Stark.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been paying a lot of attention to this guy’s news lately.”
“Of course. My future wallet is going to depend on him.”
Feeney stood up and stretched.
He’d been keeping an eye on Tony Stark these past few days because he was worried that his existence might cause some kind of butterfly effect.
But so far, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.
Hearing Feeney’s answer, Skye immediately became curious.
“What do you mean? Besides, aren’t they all saying that Tony Stark was attacked by terrorists and has already died?”
“How could that be possible?”
Feeney glanced at the television, where the host was solemnly listing Tony Stark’s various achievements with a mournful expression.
He curled his lips.
“That guy is tougher than you think. Right now, he’s probably sweating buckets with the most important man in his life while doing the most important thing of his life!”
Ethan had sacrificed himself to save him, so he should count as the most important man in Tony’s life.
As for building Mark One, they had to work with metal, so it would definitely be hot.
And if they failed to build it, they would die.
Therefore, it was obviously the most important thing.
“???”
Little Skye now had a lot of question marks.
But Feeney, who had always avoided spoilers, ignored Skye’s questioning gaze.
He straightened his clothes and said, “I’m heading back. I might be pretty busy over the next few days, so stay home and keep Mom and Dad company for now.” This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
Because they had taken Feeney’s advice, his parents had retired from the law firm.
Suddenly finding themselves with nothing to do, they were having a hard time adjusting.
And Kamar-Taj was a holy land of cultivation for sorcerers.
It wasn’t suitable for ordinary people to visit or stay for long.
As for having the two of them learn magic…
If magic were really that easy to learn, there would have been sorcerers all over the streets long ago.
So Feeney had always been thinking about arranging a trip for them.
As long as they weren’t in New York, the safety level in other places seemed fairly high.
Right now, Feeney’s most urgent task was to learn how to open portals and then complete his fourth extraction as soon as possible.
If he hadn’t drawn Ghost Rider during his third extraction, his progress would never have been this fast.
Afterward, Feeney thought about it for a long time before first sending his parents to London and Hong Kong for an extended vacation.
There were Sanctums in both places, so if anything happened, he could rush over immediately.
Days passed one after another.
More than two months flew by in the blink of an eye.
News concerning Tony Stark gradually died down as well.
Almost everyone believed that he was already dead.
All that remained was to find his body and officially announce it.
Except for Obadiah, who was being blackmailed by the terrorists, Tony’s friend in the military, and perhaps a certain one-eyed, bald director.
Kamar-Taj.
Night.
In the training grounds, Feeney was practicing alone.
With a Sling Ring on his finger and Ghost Rider covering his body, he worked tirelessly.
In the darkness, sparks of energy erupted and flashed through the air.
“Portal!”
Inside the armor, Feeney focused his mind and called out in a low voice.
Following the movements of his hands, a circular portal resembling a ring of fire finally began to appear slowly in front of him.
On the other side was the apartment he had rented in New York.
Feeney immediately stepped through the portal.
Looking at the familiar surroundings, his heart filled with excitement.
He had finally succeeded!
With the combined assistance of the Golden Great Evolution Technique and Ghost Rider, he had finally mastered this long-dreamed-of spell after a year of cultivation.
Although the range he could teleport was currently limited, and the speed at which he could open a portal wasn’t very fast, he’d succeeded regardless.
Next, as long as he learned the Mirror Dimension, his path as a sorcerer would temporarily have no regrets.
(End of Chapter)