He Was Back!

The successful portal had sent Finis over the moon. Unfortunately, it only worked while he was wearing Possessed by Evil Spirit. In his normal state, it still just sputtered and sparked.

"So just how much talent did Doctor Strange have for sorcery?"

Finis silently wept. He'd spent a whole year focusing on this one spell and still hadn't mastered it. Yet in the future, Doctor Strange seemed to learn it after taking a quick trip to freeze in the Himalayas.

Learning to open portals gave Finis more confidence about facing the dangers ahead. If he couldn't win, couldn't he at least run? This one spell was enough to deal with most people.

Next, Finis turned his attention to the system. His nearly full Experience Bar meant he'd soon be able to draw his Fourth Skill.

Drawing one skill a year was something Finis had never dared imagine before. The second skill had taken him seven years, and the third had taken eight, not counting the first.

But he was nearly ready to draw his fourth after only one year. The price he'd paid was a few strange titles, such as Kamar-Taj Combat Maniac, Armor Mage, and Magic-less Mad Knight.

His incredible rate of progress was thanks to Kamar-Taj. He was now immensely grateful he'd come here in the first place. Where else could he find such a safe and effective "dungeon"?

All Finis hoped now was that he could draw his fourth skill before Tony Stark returned. And, ideally, he'd get another powerful skill.

"Portal!"

As he gazed at the fiery red ring before him, Finis felt a surge of satisfaction. At last, he wouldn't have to detour through the Sanctum every time or ask someone else to open a portal for him.

"But having to wear the Eye of Agamotto is a hassle."

Back at Kamar-Taj, Finis thought about it. The Eye of Agamotto might seem like something every sorcerer had during training, but it was actually quite precious, and its use was strictly controlled.

But Finis did have a solution. Just as he'd once used the Golden Great Deduction Technique to give a Compass special properties, now that he had the Eye of Agamotto, he could fashion a similar ring and imbue it with the same effect.

Unlike the Compass, though, the Eye of Agamotto had a significant impact on reality. Crafting a replacement would certainly be much harder.

Another concern was that it might suddenly stop working after a while.

Fortunately, there was no rush. He'd previously applied to the Ancient One for permission to use an Eye of Agamotto long-term for training, so he didn't need to return it right away.

Setting the Eye of Agamotto aside for the moment, Finis thought about how to draw his Fourth Skill as soon as possible. If he kept training at his usual pace, he might have to wait another month or two.

He should still have enough time, but he thought it would be safer to get it done early.

"Looks like I'll have to work a little harder!" Finis gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

The best way to earn the most experience was to fight the Ancient One—but only if she agreed to spar. At the very beginning, he'd tried asking her for pointers, hoping to use the opportunity to fight and gain experience.

Unfortunately, the Ancient One was too strong. He always lost after just a few moves, earning less experience than from Mordo experience baby. At least Mordo went easy on him and let the fight last longer.

Only when the Ancient One held back could he earn experience from fighting her, and it was obvious she didn't have that kind of time to spare.

Besides, there was another way to boost his experience besides fighting with his skills: breaking through with them.

After nearly a year of training, Possessed by Evil Spirit was still the same as it had been at the start, but Finis was far stronger than he'd been a year ago.

The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were Melee Sorcerers. How could they fight up close without a strong body? So, after a year of training, Finis still hadn't reached the point where Possessed by Evil Spirit could evolve, but he was close to unlocking another of its abilities.

An ability many people dreamed of.

Invisibility!

Lately, whenever he equipped Possessed by Evil Spirit, he could feel that he was just one step away from unlocking the ability. He only needed to push himself a little further.

To draw his next skill sooner, Finis decided to double his training schedule for the coming week. If that still didn't work, he'd have to find more time to spar with elite Experience Baby Mordo and regular Experience Baby Wong.

But events often came far more suddenly than anyone expected. The next day, two pieces of news sent the entire media world—and even the country—into an uproar, disrupting Finis's plans.

Tony Stark was back!

He announced the permanent closure of the Weapons Division!

Watching Tony Stark on television—bruised all over and sitting casually beside the podium as he announced he was quitting the arms business—everyone knew he'd changed. He was no longer the arrogant genius and playboy who'd indulged in a life of excess.

Aside from Finis, probably no one knew whether these changes were for the better or worse. For Obadiah Stane, of course, they could only be bad.

"What happened to him?"

Watching the report on TV, Skye couldn't help asking Finis. She knew he was mysterious and somehow seemed to know a lot of things.

"He thought making weapons would help maintain World Peace, but then he realized he was wrong. So now he's planning to try another way."

Finis explained, but Skye clearly didn't believe him. Honestly, who would? Arms manufacturing was the core of Stark Industries. Shutting down that division was like cutting off its own arms.

No one would believe that just because Tony realized he'd been wrong, he'd give up a company worth hundreds of billions.

"Okay, don't just stand there. Do me a favor."

Seeing Skye standing there dumbfounded, Finis thought for a moment, then said, "Buy as many Stark Industries stocks as you can. Get as much as possible!"

"Are you sure?"

Skye looked like she wanted to say something but held back.

"Don't worry. He's a genius. He must have something up his sleeve to give up the Weapons Division so decisively. Stark Industries stock is only going to get more valuable. Whether you become a rich girl depends on how you play this."

Seeing Skye's expression, Finis smiled and explained.

This stock sell-off was different from when Obadiah had arranged Tony's kidnapping. That had been planned, but this time it had come without warning. Combined with Tony's appearance and the comments stirred up by certain rival companies, many people genuinely believed Stark Industries was finished and began selling their shares.

Seeing it, Finis couldn't help thinking again about how cutthroat business warfare was. In fact, he'd never considered starting a company to make money all these years because it seemed too exhausting.

The more money you wanted to make, the more exhausted you'd be: managing relationships between all kinds of groups, dealing with attacks from rival companies, and even handling internal conflicts.

The thought of all that gave him a headache, so in the end, he'd decided that having enough money was good enough. There was no need to keep pushing the number higher.

Besides, if Obadiah hadn't managed Stark Industries before, and Pepper Potts hadn't helped manage it afterward, Tony could never have afforded to be so carefree.

Maybe, in the not-too-distant future, after Tony made the Iron Man Armor, people would think he could withstand pressure from the military because he had money.

But in reality, the military's reservations about Tony Stark weren't just because he was rich and his company was large. His family connections mattered, too. His father had been one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.

On top of that, Tony was a genius in his own right, and he'd developed countless weapons. The military needed to buy from him, which was why they couldn't force him to back down behind the scenes. Money alone would never have been enough.

Of course, after all that explanation, the two most important points were that he wasn't as much of a genius as Tony, and the only person he trusted, Skye, didn't have the management talent Pepper did.

He'd nearly turned his big sister into a couch potato!

Watching Skye's weight and face grow rounder by the day, Finis thought to himself.

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