Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
*****
The success of the portal had Fini flying high with joy. Unfortunately, however, he could only open it while equipped with Incursio; in his normal state, the sparks still just flickered and sputtered.
"Seriously, just how high did Doctor Strange crank his talent points for magic!?"
Fini wept silent tears in his heart. He had specialized in this one spell for a whole year without success, whereas in the future, Doctor Strange seemingly learned it just by taking a casual, freezing stroll around the Himalayas.
Mastering the portal gave Fini significantly more confidence in facing upcoming dangers. If he couldn't win a fight, couldn't he at least run? This one move alone was enough to deal with the vast majority of threats.
Immediately after, Fini turned his gaze toward the system. The nearly full experience bar indicated that he would soon be able to draw his fourth skill.
Drawing one skill a year was something Fini wouldn't have dared to dream of in the past. Remember, aside from the first skill, the second had taken seven years, and the third eight years.
But he had almost scraped together enough for the fourth skill in just one year, though the price paid was acquiring strange titles like "Kamar-Taj Combat Maniac," "Armored Sorcerer," and "Crazy Knight Who Can't Cast Magic."
This frantic rate of improvement was inseparable from Kamar-Taj. He was now incredibly grateful he had come here; otherwise, where else could he find such a safe and efficient "dungeon"?
Fini's only hope now was to draw the fourth skill before Tony Stark returned—it would be even better if he got another powerful combat skill.
"Portal!"
Looking at the fiery red transmission ring before him, Fini felt a wave of satisfaction. Finally, he didn't have to navigate back and forth through the Sanctums or ask others for help opening doors.
"Having to carry a Sling Ring is a bit of a hassle, though."
After returning to Kamar-Taj, Fini mused on the thought. Although it seemed like everyone had a Sling Ring during training, they were actually quite precious and strictly controlled.
However, Fini wasn't without a solution. Just as he had used Ars Magna to grant special properties to a compass, now that he had a Sling Ring in hand, he could similarly craft a ring and imbue it with the Sling Ring's effect.
But a Sling Ring was different from a compass; its power had a much greater impact on reality, so the shaping process would definitely not be as simple as the compass.
Moreover, there was the concern that it might suddenly fail during use.
Fortunately, there was no rush. To facilitate his training, he had previously applied to the Ancient One for long-term use of a Sling Ring, so he didn't need to worry about returning it yet.
Setting the matter of the Sling Ring aside for now, Fini pondered how to extract the fourth skill as quickly as possible. If he followed his daily training routine, it might take another month or two.
While the timing might still align, he felt it was safer to be ahead of schedule.
"Looks like I need to work a bit harder!" Fini gritted his teeth, making a decision.
In truth, the best way to gain maximum experience was to fight the Ancient One, but that required the Ancient One's cooperation. In the beginning, he had approached her under the guise of seeking guidance, hoping to use the battle to farm experience.
But unfortunately, the Ancient One was too strong. He could never last more than a few moves before being defeated, making the experience gain inferior even to his "Experience Farm" Mordo. At least Mordo would hold back, allowing the fight to last longer.
Only if the Ancient One "let a whole ocean in" during a fight would it be possible to farm experience off her, but clearly, the Ancient One wasn't that bored.
Additionally, besides fighting with skills, there was another way to make the experience bar grow faster: making a skill "break through."
After nearly a year of training, although Incursio was still the same Incursio, he was much stronger than he had been a year ago.
One must remember that those at Kamar-Taj were melee sorcerers; how can you fight in close quarters without a good physique? Thus, after a year of cultivation, while Fini hadn't reached the point of making Incursio evolve, he was almost ready to unlock another of its abilities.
An ability many people dreamed of.
Invisibility!
Recently, while equipped with Incursio, he could feel that he was just one step away from unlocking this ability. It only required a bit more effort.
To trigger the draw sooner, Fini decided to double his training plan for the coming week. If that still didn't work, he would just have to find ways to pester the Elite Experience Farm Mordo and the Standard Experience Farm Wong more often.
Unfortunately, surprises often come more suddenly than imagined. The very next day, two pieces of news shook the entire media world and the nation, interrupting Fini's plans.
Tony Stark is back!
He announced the permanent closure of the weapons research and development division!
Looking at the bruised and battered Tony Stark on television, sitting unceremoniously next to the podium announcing he was no longer in the arms business, everyone knew he had changed. He was no longer the peerless, arrogant genius or the self-indulgent playboy.
Aside from Fini, few people knew whether these changes were for better or worse. Of course, for Obadiah Stane, it could only be for the worse.
"What exactly happened to him?"
Beside him, Skye looked at the television and couldn't help but ask Fini. She knew Fini was mysterious and inexplicably knew many things.
"He thought he was maintaining world peace by making weapons, but he realized he was wrong, so he plans to change his method!"
Fini explained, but Skye wore an expression of total disbelief. In fact, anyone would find it hard to believe. The core of Stark Industries was munitions; closing that division was no different from hacking off one's own arms.
Simply finding out he was wrong in the past and then giving up a company worth hundreds of billions—likely no one was willing to believe that reason.
"Alright, stop dazing off and do me a favor."
Seeing Skye standing there like a fool, Fini thought for a moment and said to her, "Help me buy as much Stark Industries stock as possible. Buy as much as you can!"
"Are you sure?"
Skye had an expression that suggested she wanted to say more.
"Don't worry. He's a genius; there's no way he'd give up the weapons division so decisively without having something else up his sleeve. Whether you can become a rich woman depends on this move."
Seeing Skye's expression, Fini laughed and offered an explanation.
This stock sell-off was different from the previous kidnapping by Obadiah. That had been prepared for, but this was without warning. Combined with Tony's current image and the inflammatory rhetoric of rival companies, many people truly believed Stark Industries was finished and began dumping their shares.
Seeing this, Fini couldn't help but sigh once more at the treachery of business wars. In fact, over all these years, the reason he never thought about starting a company to make money was simply because it was too exhausting.
The more money you want to make, the more tiring it is—dealing with various power dynamics, being targeted by rival companies, and even internal conflicts.
The mere thought of starting a company gave him a headache. Ultimately, he felt having enough money was sufficient; there was no need to expand that number to a certain extreme.
Furthermore, if it weren't for the help of Obadiah first and then Pepper Potts in managing the company, Tony could never have afforded to be so idle.
In the near future, after Tony creates the Iron Man suit, some might think his ability to withstand military pressure is solely due to his wealth.
But in reality, the military's hesitation regarding Tony Stark wasn't just because of his wealth or the size of his enterprise; his family connections were also vital. His father was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Additionally, Tony himself was a genius who had developed countless weapons. The military needed to make purchases, which made it impossible to force Tony into submission in the shadows. Pure wealth alone could never have achieved that level of influence.
Of course, after explaining all that, the two most important points remained: one, he wasn't as much of a genius as Tony, and two, his only confidante, Skye, didn't have a talent for management like Pepper.
He was almost turning this sister of his into a shut-in!
Fini thought silently as he looked at Skye, whose weight and face were starting to get rounder by the day.
(End of Chapter)