Fini smiled bitterly inwardly.
In his opinion, his most invincible and powerful ability was the “Golden Dayan Art.” It was the foundation that gave him the confidence to fear no one in the future.
But at this moment, Ancient One had shattered that belief.
However, almost immediately, Fini felt that he was overthinking things.
How much power could seven-year-old him possibly have had?
Even now, he still couldn’t imagine the upper limit of what the “Golden Dayan Art” could achieve.
Comparing his current strength to that of the Ancient One, who had lived for nearly a thousand years and possessed one of the Infinity Stones, was fundamentally unfair.
So the “Golden Dayan Art” was still invincible.
It was just that I am too weak right now.
Fini corrected his belief inwardly, and his confidence in becoming invincible in the future returned.
Looking at the Ancient One, he calmly nodded and said, “Thank you for helping me back then, Ancient One.”
The Ancient One had no idea that Fini had already thought through so much in the blink of an eye.
Hearing this, she smiled modestly and replied, “It was originally something I did on my own initiative. Fortunately, it didn’t affect you.”
After that, the atmosphere gradually fell silent.
After the Ancient One had brought up this matter, Fini didn’t dare continue talking about learning magic.
He was worried that the Ancient One might demand the “Golden Dayan Art” as an exchange for teaching him magic.
Although the Ancient One didn’t seem like that kind of person, Fini’s understanding of her was nowhere near deep enough.
The “Golden Dayan Art” was itself classified as magic in the system’s description.
Trying to claim it was some kind of superpower in front of a master of the mystic arts wasn’t exactly convincing.
Especially since she had personally helped him use it before.
Most importantly, this power had been obtained through the system’s skill draw.
If the Ancient One really asked him to teach it to her, he simply couldn’t do it.
The “Jin Ji Fried Chicken Wrap,” on the other hand, could actually be taught to someone.
After all, there was a recipe.
With the ingredients prepared and the steps followed one by one, at worst, the taste would be somewhat inferior.
Just as Fini was wondering what he should do, the Ancient One patted her clothes and stood up.
She casually drew a circle in the air.
Immediately, a magical ring appeared before them, sparks flying around its edges.
Through the other side, Fini could vaguely see an antique-looking room.
A portal!
Fini’s eyes lit up.
This was one of the two spells he wanted to learn the most.
Actually, Fini didn’t think very highly of the close-combat magic used by the mystic arts practitioners of Marvel.
But there were two spells he absolutely loved.
The first was the portal in front of him, whose upper limit could even allow travel across star systems.
The second was the Mirror Dimension, which didn’t affect the material world.
One portal meant that if he encountered someone he couldn’t defeat, he could escape.
One Mirror Dimension meant that if he could defeat someone, they couldn’t run away.
“I’m very glad to have met you today, Mr. Halsey.”
While Fini was greedily staring at the portal, the Ancient One walked over to him and said this, seemingly preparing to leave.
Seeing that the Ancient One was about to step through the portal, he quickly came back to his senses and shouted, “Wait!”
But the Ancient One didn’t stop.
She continued walking straight toward the portal.
Seeing this, Fini didn’t have time to worry about anything else and immediately shouted again,
“Master, I want to learn magic from you!”
Only then did the Ancient One glance back.
She revealed a meaningful smile before stepping through the portal and disappearing.
Inside the abandoned factory, Fini stood there with a frown.
Even now, he still couldn’t understand why the Ancient One had come, or what she had meant by saying those few words to him.
“Could it be because of the Evil Ghost Entanglement!?”
If there was anything unusual about today, it was definitely the “Evil Ghost Entanglement.”
And the Ancient One had arrived immediately after he had just dispelled the skill.
If someone told him that was merely a coincidence, Fini absolutely wouldn’t believe it.
There was no such thing as coincidence in the Ancient One’s dictionary!
“Could it be that there’s a possibility I’ll become corrupted in the future!? So she came in advance to give me a warning!?”
Fini’s thoughts ran wild.
With so little information, there were simply too many possibilities.
Unfortunately, every generation of Sorcerer Supreme seemed to be extremely tight-lipped.
Trying to get information out of them was probably even less reliable than simply guessing.
And then there was that final smile.
Did she actually want to teach him magic or not!?
Fini developed a headache.
The Ancient One’s sudden appearance had disrupted his relatively peaceful life.
Especially since he couldn’t figure out her intentions, he had no idea what he should do next.
“Whatever. I’ll go find her and ask her directly.”
Fini finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
Since she could come looking for him, why couldn’t he go looking for her?
Kamar-Taj might be far away, but he hadn’t forgotten that there was a shortcut from New York.
He could go directly through the New York Sanctum.
After making up his mind, Fini didn’t stay at the secret base any longer.
Once he had recovered his strength, he returned home.
The moment he entered the house, Skye, who had been keeping an eye out for him, noticed him.
Seeing him covered in dirt and looking exhausted, she was immediately horrified.
She hurried over and anxiously asked,
“What happened? Did those two tell someone?”
“Should we run away first? But how are we supposed to explain it to Mom and Dad? I know a few people online who make fake documents. Maybe we should get fake IDs first. Oh, right, I have a few friends in the Netherlands. We should be able to hide there…”
He reached out with his dust-covered hand and gently pinched her delicate cheek, successfully drawing her attention back.
Then he comforted her, saying,
“It’s fine. I just fell off my bike. Nobody saw anything. And don’t make such a big deal out of it. Even if someone really did find out, I have a way to deal with it. Don’t worry.”
If S.H.I.E.L.D. had discovered him before today, Fini really wouldn’t have had any particularly good way of dealing with it.
The most likely possibility would have been to reluctantly find a way to join them.
But after today, things were different.
When in doubt, find the Ancient One!
And when the Ancient One had left, he had called her “Master.”
She hadn’t directly rejected him.
That meant he now had an organization behind him as well.
It was also the reason he dared to go looking for the Ancient One.
Seeing that Fini’s expression didn’t look fake, Skye finally relaxed.
Then she narrowed her eyes and interrogated him.
“Where exactly did you go today? I don’t believe for a second that you fell off your bike.”
“I’ll take a shower first!”
Seeing that Skye had calmed down, Fini grinned and changed the subject.
Before she could respond, he immediately dashed toward the bathroom, leaving Skye sitting there with an unhappy expression.
After showering and getting cleaned up, Fini came out and saw that Skye was still angry.
He knew that, more than anything, Skye was simply worried about him.
Considering his plans for the near future, Fini thought for a moment before walking over and sitting beside her.
“I really wasn’t doing anything. I just went out to train for a bit.”
Fini didn’t make the explanation too explicit.
He knew Skye would understand.
Having just experienced the bizarre events of the previous day, Skye obviously wouldn’t misunderstand “training” as something as ordinary as jogging.
Instead, she immediately became worried.
“How did you train? Weren’t you afraid someone would discover you? Why didn’t you let me come with you? At the very least, I could have kept watch for you.”
“Next time, for sure. Next time, for sure.”
Fini solemnly employed the ancient art of procrastination.
As for Skye, Fini was actually somewhat troubled.
When she had first arrived in his household, he hadn’t thought much of it.
But later, Skye refused to change her name, and the name “Skye” had always felt strangely familiar to him.
Little by little, he began remembering that when he had previously learned about the Marvel movies, there had been a spin-off series with a girl who seemed to have that exact name.
He had once wondered whether it was simply a coincidence.
But as Skye became increasingly obsessed with finding her parents, he had more or less confirmed that this girl really was that girl—the one who carried alien genes.
He vaguely remembered that her parents hadn’t exactly been in good shape in that series.
Eventually, because of some kind of “Obelisk,” she obtained the ability to create vibrations.
But he didn’t remember much more than that.
That series was simply too long, and he had never finished watching it.
(End of Chapter)