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*****
If he hadn't just obtained Sky Dance, Fini's heart would have been overflowing with jealousy. But even so, he still felt a bit sour. Why was it that something he desperately pursued came naturally to someone else?
Skye's Incursio was drastically different from his own when equipped. Aside from the pair of dragon-like wings, the armor itself was a somewhat sexy female style, primarily protecting several vital parts of the body.
Judging by appearance alone, its defensive power was definitely several times weaker than his own equipment.
Skye, possessing this kind of power for the first time, was also feeling her own changes. Because the visor semi-encapsulated her face, Fini couldn't see her expression, but he knew how excited she was the moment she took off from the spot and charged into the sky.
Worrying that flying would drain too much of Skye's stamina, Fini immediately used Sky Dance to follow her.
Under the sky, Skye soared at high speeds, her silver-white silhouette looking like a shining meteor. As she streaked past Fini, she shouted excitedly, "Fini, this armor is incredible!!!"
Nonsense, who could know better than me whether Incursio is incredible or not!?
Fini rolled his eyes, somewhat speechless at the over-excited Skye, but seeing her so happy, he didn't say much.
Powerful as Incursio was, it was an armor that cost physical stamina to use. Skye, who had barely managed to equip it successfully thanks to the boost from Ars Magna, hadn't even been flying for a few minutes before she dropped down in exhaustion, the equipment deactivating automatically.
Though weak to the point of being barely able to stand, Skye still wore an expression of pure thrill, showing just how much fun she'd had: "Fini, how fast was I going? Did I match a plane?"
Hearing this, Fini gave her a blunt reality check: "What are you dreaming about? You wouldn't even be able to catch a plane's exhaust."
In truth, with the evolutionary capabilities of Incursio, its flight speed might not necessarily be inferior to a plane. Unfortunately, Skye herself was too weak; her flight speed just now was slower than a car, yet she wanted to compare herself to an aircraft.
Skye wasn't unhappy after hearing this; she remained joyful. Then, a pair of watery, amber eyes looked over piteously: "Fini, do you have any spare suits of this armor?"
"No. Just one, I need it for myself, not for rent, thanks!"
Fini cut off Skye's hopes immediately, then added: "And even if I gave it to you now, you couldn't use it. If you want to use it, train your body well from now on. Using it consumes a lot of stamina."
Having experienced it firsthand, Skye understood the meaning of those words. She immediately adopted a determined expression and said, "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to go running and hit the gym."
Having let Skye experience power while also saving her increasingly chubby physique, Fini felt this move was quite cost-effective.
Looking at the weakened Skye, Fini first sent her home to rest before opening a portal back to the mountain to continue testing his abilities.
Under the starry sky of Mount Everest, Fini, clad in Incursio, soared freely using Sky Dance.
Sky Dance is the utilization of Qi, so its speed isn't fixed. Just as even the Sumire Karaage Roll could improve, every skill drawn by the system seemed to have growth potential.
Thus, the speed of Sky Dance primarily stemmed from his mastery of Qi and the limits his body could withstand.
Equipped with Incursio, the limit of speed Fini could endure was hard to say for now, but currently, the top speed Fini could reach through Qi control wasn't particularly fast.
Well, at least it couldn't reach supersonic speeds yet.
Fini felt a bit dejected. He remembered that Iron Man had easily gone supersonic while building the Mark III.
Fortunately, he had only just obtained the Sky Dance skill and hadn't practiced it much. Based on the powerhouses in Dragon Ball, the upper limit was still very high.
Ever since experiencing Incursio, Skye truly did start exercising. Her effort actually made Fini see her in a new light.
This reminded him that if he hadn't arrived, according to Skye's original destiny, she should have become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. It seemed that talent was still there.
Days passed quietly. Since Tony Stark returned and announced the closure of the weapons division, all media had been focused on him, but he had gone into seclusion.
Aside from Fini and Tony's assistant, Pepper Potts, likely no one knew what he was doing.
"It's been almost three months. It should be just about built by now."
In the living room, watching the still-trending Tony Stark on TV, Fini calculated the time in his head. He felt that at this point, the Mark II might have already been completed.
"Should I go scout the situation?"
As soon as the thought popped up, Fini couldn't stop the urge to act.
In fact, over the past two months, Fini had been pondering how to participate in the upcoming battle of the iron men, but he hadn't thought of a way.
The most important point was that he didn't know the exact time the two would clash. If he waited for the news reports to rush over, it might already be over.
So Fini had been hesitating about whether to actively take control of the timing of the battle and intervene.
But this faced a problem: for the Iron Monger to be born, a miniature Arc Reactor was essential. But only Tony knew how to build that thing. How was he supposed to get one of those into the hands of the Iron Monger?
Banking on his invisibility, teleportation, and flight, Fini decided to head to Tony's home to scout the situation and grasp his current progress. If he could use that to pinpoint the likely time the Iron Monger would appear, that would be for the best.
Thinking of this, Fini went into action. Although he really wanted to use the Compass to locate it, he couldn't quite focus his mind entirely on wanting to go to Tony's house. Left with no choice, he had Skye search the internet thoroughly. Finally, they confirmed the location, and he took a taxi according to the map.
Looking at the luxurious seaside villa before him, Fini suddenly felt that having more money was probably a good thing. Since he could open portals now, distance wasn't a concern; buying a big villa to enjoy life seemed like a nice idea.
While letting his thoughts wander, Fini quietly found a deserted spot, equipped Incursio, and entered his invisibility state.
He first tried to enter through the front door, but finding that impossible, he chose to open a portal. Entering the luxurious villa, Fini quietly sneaked toward the underground workshop.
However, having spent a long time at Kamar-Taj, he had somewhat forgotten that while science and magic were different, science still had its own unique strengths. So much so that just as he reached the door of the underground workshop, he faintly heard a voice.
"Sir, an abnormality was detected in your living room just now. Here is the recording. It is theorized that an unknown danger has infiltrated your house."
Then, Fini saw Tony—with part of the armor equipped on his arm—raising the repulsor weapon on his palm toward the door, scanning the area with a look of extreme caution.
At this moment, Fini felt like a complete idiot. Why did he look down on Artificial Intelligence? How could he forget that surveillance existed? Also, why would someone install cameras inside their own home!
Fini felt mentally exhausted. Once again, he had botched his first meeting with a "big shot."
Except, he wondered if it was too late to leave now!
(End of Chapter)