Kamar-Taj's Tradition

Fanny didn't expect things to turn out like this. Although he didn't want to befriend Tony, he also didn't want to make an enemy of him. This incident was purely an accident.

He had been with Kamar-Taj mages for too long, which made him negligent. He had come to sneak around Tony's house while only considering the magical side of things, completely forgetting the power of modern science.

He also miscalculated Tony's character, which led to the situation spiraling down for the worse.

"Jarvis, what are you doing?"

There was a flash of shock in Tony's eyes. He had been paying close attention to Fanny's movements with constant vigilance. After confirming that Fanny had not done anything, he turned to Jarvis, his artificial intelligence.

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand what happened just now. The command carried the same priority as yours."

Jarvis' voice sounded very calm. After all, it was only an artificial intelligence with neither thoughts nor emotions, simply following the logic and algorithms of the computer.

"Then do a system check on yourself."

Tony did not vent his anger on the artificial intelligence. He knew the source of the problem, so he suppressed the nervousness in his heart and looked at Fanny with a relaxed expression. "What a brilliant demonstration. Did you hack into Jarvis' system beforehand? Or did you have other companions helping you?"

Fanny didn't continue arguing with Tony Stark, who pretended to be calm and composed. Fanny did break into his home uninvited, so he simply admitted his mistake.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong to come in without permission. As an apology, I can offer you some useful advice about the device you're making. How about it?"

Tony was a prideful man, and the Iron Man armor was his most prized creation. There was simply no way he would accept Fanny's 'guidance.'

"No need, I think I can do it myself," He paused, "I also don't think a little boy in ancient language major could give any meaningful advice."

This mouth of Stark!

Fanny was irritated. The current Tony hadn't tasted any bitter part of society and unleashed his poisonous tongue without restraint. He was in dire need of beating up.

"Are you sure you don't need it?" Fanny asked for the last time. His mood was already terrible.

Tony was about to refuse again, but he recalled the anomaly that just happened, how Fanny appeared out of thin air, and how Fanny made his armor disappear. He turned his head unnaturally and cockily said,

"It would definitely be useless, but you might as well tell me so I can tell you why you're wrong."

"Hehe!" Fanny smugly giggled, "You designed your combat suit to fly, right? Have you considered the problem of freezing when flying high up in the sky?"

"For the freezing problem to happen, it would have to reach 40,000 feet or more…." Tony subconsciously replied, and his expression seemed to suggest that he had not considered this problem.

Mark II hadn't been completed yet, and Mark I was created in a cave. Unlike Fanny, Tony had not seen what his combat suit could do, so he didn't consider such an exaggerated situation.

But that didn't mean Tony couldn't solve it. He immediately turned to Jarvis and ordered, "Jarvis, record this problem, adjust the configuration for additional control surfaces, and look for more suitable shell material. Start with the gold-titanium alloy used on the Seraphim tactical satellite."

"Well... record it after your system check is completed!"

Tony turned his head around and spoke awkwardly at Fanny, "Well... In the current weather, it is not really necessary to consider the freezing issue. So your suggestion is just so-so."

Fanny was fed up with Tony's half-grateful words. He then pointed at the miniaturized ark reactor on Tony's chest. "That thing will poison you. You know that, right?"

Fanny glanced at the green drink on the table not far from Tony. Tony must have known about the palladium poisoning.

This time, Tony's face turned serious. He had only discovered this recently and had never told anyone about it. The ark reactor had to power the electromagnet on his heart, and when the armor put on additional loads to the reactor, the palladium core was sputtered into his body.

This problem would persist unless he stopped drawing more power from the reactor. He had even given up coffee for this reason—the other option was to give up on the armor, but this was obviously impossible.

"Do you have a way to solve it?"

Tony tried his best to keep up his calm pretense, but his involuntary movements betrayed his real concern.

"I didn't!"

"…" Tony felt a lump forming in his throat. This was a matter of his safety, so he didn't appreciate being teased with empty hope. He retorted angrily, "As I thought, a little boy wouldn't have any useful advice. A kid like you should just study hard. Maybe I should donate some money to your school so they could spare more teachers to fill your schedules."

"I don't have the method to fix your problem, but I know someone who does." Fanny held out his arm, silently telling the embarrassed Tony to continue.

"Better yet, I think we should discuss the problem of your trespassing..." Tony continued, ignoring Fanny's bait. He wondered in his heart how much of Fanny's words were true. He still didn't know Fanny's motive nor how Fanny had obtained so much obscure knowledge.

Fanny frowned speechlessly at Tony's shameless attitude and continued, "It is not the time yet. If there is a chance, I will tell you."

As a member of Kamar-Taj, what was the most important thing?!

He definitely could spoil the future just because he knew about it!

Besides, some of the keepsakes of Tony's father were still with the one-eyed bald director. If Fanny couldn't even manage to infiltrate Tony's house stealthily, how could he even hope to breach SHIELD's fortress?!

Although, it would be easy enough to just say "Hail Hydra."

Fanny let his mind wander all over the place and forgot that he was still beside Tony, whom he had irritated beyond reason. Tony thought Fanny was trying to extort him for the clue and asked in a low voice, "What do you want?"

"Money?" The wealthy magnate challenged, "How much? A hundred million?"

Fanny endured the shock and the pain in his heart after hearing Tony's hundred million dollars offer. He shook his head and asked, "This is not about money. Also, aren't you worried that I might be lying to you?"

"Don't lie to me, or you'll face severe consequences!"

Tony emulated Fanny and threw his words right back at him.

Fanny had actually considered using 'Ars Magna' to make Tony forget about the events of today, but he decided against it.

Tony's intelligence was so far beyond ordinary people. Fanny would have to exert far too much effort to erase his memories. In addition, with Tony's paranoia, mysteriously forgetting a day in his life would lead to an extensive investigation that could result in dire consequences.

"In short, it is not the time yet." In the end, Fanny shook his head. Tony's personality would only change after experiencing all sorts of things. If Fanny interfered too much, perhaps he would no longer be the Iron Man he remembered.

This time as well, if he hadn't been lured by Iron Monger's experience value, he wouldn't have come.

Seeing Fanny's determination, Tony relented. He was confident that he could find the solution anyway, and he already had some ideas. "Then you have missed your best opportunity to become a rich man. You will definitely regret it in the future."