A Deal for Next Time

Fanny smiled bitterly in his heart. He had believed that 'Ars Magna' was his own ultimate skill, enough to let him fear no one. But Ancient One had just broken that belief.

However, he immediately realized he was too hasty to reach this conclusion.

How much strength could he have back when he was seven? Even now, the upper limit of 'Ars Magna' was still unimaginable. Compared to Ancient One, who had lived for nearly a thousand years and wielded one of the Infinity Stones, Fanny was clearly out of his depth.

Therefore, my 'Ars Magna' is still omnipotent; the current me is just too weak.

Fanny corrected the belief in his heart, and his confidence returned. He looked at Ancient One and nodded calmly. "Thank you for your help back then, Master Ancient One."

Ancient One didn't seem to realize or care about how many thoughts had passed through Fanny's head in the blink of an eye. She smiled kindly, "I made that decision on my own. It is fortunate that you seem to be unaffected."

Silence descended.

Fanny didn't dare to talk about learning magic anymore. He was worried that Ancient One would ask for 'Ars Magna' in exchange for teaching him magic. Although Ancient One did not look like that kind of person, he didn't know enough about her to know for sure.

The system had described Ars Magna as magic. It would be hard to fool a magic expert by saying it was a superpower or something, especially since that expert had helped him to use the skill. Most importantly, this power was extracted from the system. He wouldn't be able to teach Ancient One about it even if he wanted.

He could teach people about the Sumire Karaage Rolls. After all, it is possible to replicate it normally with the proper steps and ingredients. It would only taste slightly worse than what he makes.

While Fanny was busy thinking about his next actions, Ancient One stood up and patted her clothes. She casually drew a circle in the air with her hand, and a magic circle made of spinning orange sparks appeared in front of her. An old room could be vaguely seen on the other side of the circle.

A portal!

Fanny's eyes lit up. This was one of the two spells he wanted to learn the most.

Fanny had secretly looked down on most combat magic in the Marvel universe, but there are two spells that he liked very much. The first was the portal in front of him that allowed instantaneous travel even across the galaxy. The second was the spell to connect the mirror dimension and the real world.

The portal would allow him to escape enemies he couldn't defeat, while the mirror dimension would allow him to trap enemies he could defeat.

"It has been a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Helsed!"

Ancient One walked to the portal that Fanny enviously stared at, preparing to leave.

Realizing that Ancient One was about to step into the portal, Fanny quickly came back to his senses and shouted, "Wait a minute!"

But Ancient One didn't wait and walked straight to the portal. Fanny ignored all his careful thought and consideration and shouted, "Master, I want to learn magic from you!"

Ancient One gave him one last smile and disappeared into the portal.

Fanny stood alone in the abandoned factory, frowning. In the end, he couldn't understand why Ancient One visited him and the meaning of her words.

"Is it because of Demon Armor Incursio?!" If anything different occurred today, it was definitely his testing of 'Demon Armor Incursio.' He had just released the skill when Ancient One arrived; it couldn't have been a coincidence.

There was no coincidence in Ancient One's dictionary!

"Could it be that one of my possible future turned evil?! Is that why she visited me in advance?!" Fanny speculated wildly. With so little information on hand, there were too many possible futures. However, the Sorcerer Supremes were all so tight-lipped to the point that blind speculation was almost better than trying to wring the information out of them.

Also, that last smile…does that mean she agreed to teach him magic?

Fanny felt a headache. Ancient One's sudden appearance shattered his calm life, especially since he couldn't understand her objective. He did not know what to do next.

"I don't care anymore. Let's go find her and ask directly," Fanny decided, gritting his teeth.

There's no reason why Fanny couldn't go find Ancient One instead. Kamar-Taj was a little far, but there's a closer place to find her here in New York; the New York Sanctuary.

Having made up his mind, Fanny didn't waste any more time in his secret base. He returned home after recovering his strength.

Skye greeted him at the doorstep, having waited for him. Her face turned pale with fear when he saw Fanny's dirty and tired face. She immediately rushed to his side.

"What happened? Did those two tell anyone?" She asked anxiously, "Should we escape? But how should we tell Mom and Dad? I know some people who make fake IDs on the internet; should I contact them? Oh right, I have a few friends in the Netherlands; we should be able to hide there…."

Fanny didn't know if he should laugh or cry seeing Skye panicking to run away. He pinched her delicate face with his dirty hand.

"It's okay. I just fell on my bike. No one noticed, so don't make a fuss. Don't worry, I have my own way to deal with it even if I was discovered."

Fanny didn't really have any good plan to deal with SHIELD or Hydra. He could only think of joining them somehow. But today's events changed that.

If he was in trouble, he could go find Ancient One!

Fanny called Ancient One his "master" when she left, yet she didn't reject him. He presumed that this meant she accepted him into her ranks—and that it would be fine to go find her.

Skye sighed in relief when she saw Fanny's sincere confidence. She then frowned coldly, "Where did you go today? I don't believe that you fell."

"I'll go take a bath first!" Fanny quickly changed the topic with a smile and ran away to the bathroom without waiting for a reply. He left Skye alone with her annoyance.

Skye was still angry when Fanny got out of the bathroom. Fanny knew that she was just worried about him, so after thinking a bit about his recent plans, he walked to sit beside her.

"I honestly didn't do anything. I just went out to exercise," Fanny spoke carefully, knowing that Skye would definitely understand.

Having witnessed the bizarre event yesterday, Skye obviously wouldn't mistake his 'exercise' as weight training or something. Worries again filled her face.

"What kind of exercise did you do? Aren't you afraid of being discovered? Why don't you let me go with you? At the very least, I could help with keeping watch around."

"Next time, definitely next time."

Fanny used the stalling tactic with a solemn face.

In truth, Fanny was also a little worried about Skye. He didn't particularly feel anything on their first meeting, but Skye's stubborn insistence against changing her name made him almost recall something about that name.

He gradually remembered that there was a spin-off TV series related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a girl with that name was present in it. He initially thought that the similar name was just a coincidence, but as Skye's obsession with her parents grew, he was almost certain that she was the girl with alien genes.

Fanny vaguely remembered that her parents were not exactly healthy in that series. She would also gain a special ability related to waves and vibration because of an 'obelisk.'

He couldn't recall much else. The series was incredibly long, so he never finished watching it.