Only Magic Could Defeat Magic

Feeney had imagined what it would be like to meet The Ancient One. After drawing "Sumire's Fried Chicken Roll," he had worried about it and considered whether he should seek her out and ask her to teach him magic.

But he had been too young at the time, and Skye had just come to live with him, so he had never acted on the idea. Later, when he discovered that "Golden Great Deduction Technique" could be trained and improved, he put the thought aside for the time being.

As Iron Man's big debut drew closer and his own strength continued to grow slowly, Feeney had started thinking about asking her to take him on as a student again. He had planned that if his third draw turned out badly, he would go to Kamar-Taj to find The Ancient One and, ideally, figure out a way to settle there.

In Feeney's mind, there was no place on Earth safer than at The Ancient One's side.

Aliens, Hulk—she could thrash them all with one hand and leave them unable to fight back. That was the might of a Ceiling Power. The entire Earth was protected by Master Ancient One alone.

So, in Feeney's imagination, he would approach her with a reverent heart, take each step as if on a pilgrimage, and greet her with a respectful expression. It would be a beautiful scene.

But now...

He was lying on the ground, filthy from head to toe, with no shred of dignity, talking behind someone's back—and the most embarrassing part was that she had heard him right there.

His dream was shattered!

Feeney figured that if he knew how to use the Time Stone, he would rewind time to before The Ancient One arrived and seal his mouth shut with tape.

"You... you..."

The Ancient One's sudden appearance left Feeney too shocked to speak. He couldn't understand why she was there!

"Hello, Mr. Helsay. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

The Ancient One smiled down at Feeney as he lay on the ground. Her smile was warm and kind, but Feeney felt a chill run through him.

Feeney struggled to sit up and did his best to calm down. Then he pretended not to recognize her and asked, somewhat nervously, "Who are you?"

"Oh? Am I not the Bald Man you were talking about?"

The Ancient One put on a puzzled expression, still looking at Feeney with a smile. The amusement in her eyes only made him more nervous.

"..."

Feeney didn't know how to answer. As far as he knew, The Ancient One was firmly on the Good Faction. With the Time Stone, not only was she among the strongest, she also had unparalleled control over the past and future.

The future!?

Feeney suddenly felt that he understood something. He stared at The Ancient One before him, lost in thought for a moment, then finally sighed and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Ancient One!"

Judging by her attitude, Feeney figured that if The Ancient One knew about his future, then the two of them must have a fairly close relationship. Besides, he had already intended to latch onto her, so it made sense that he would have a good relationship with this Sorcerer Supreme in the future.

The Ancient One nodded with a smile and said nothing. She didn't seem surprised that Feeney recognized her.

"Um... Master Ancient One..."

The Ancient One remained silent, but Feeney couldn't hold back. He didn't have the Time Stone and couldn't get a preview of the future plot, so he really wanted to know why she had suddenly appeared.

"Is there something you need from me?"

At his question, The Ancient One immediately shook her head and replied nonchalantly, "Nothing in particular. I was just a little bored, so I thought I'd come see you."

You're the Sorcerer Supreme! You're supposed to be protecting Earth. If you're this idle all the time, Dormammu will be heartbroken.

Feeney silently grumbled to himself. Though this was technically their first meeting, neither of them seemed at all like strangers to the other.

With things having come this far, Feeney figured there was no need to worry about it. After a moment's thought, he asked her outright, "Master Ancient One, how do you know about me?"

"Just what you're thinking!"

The Ancient One sat down beside Feeney without minding the dirt. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest by his deeply constipated expression after hearing her answer.

What the hell was that supposed to mean...

Feeney didn't even know what he was thinking. There were too many possibilities for how The Ancient One might know about him, and he couldn't guess which one was right. So he simply asked again, "Is it because we meet in the future?"

The Ancient One looked at Feeney with her deep eyes. Neither nodding nor shaking her head, she replied, "Perhaps."

Feeney was exhausted. It was hard to deal with the feeling that she might know everything about him while he knew so little about her. So he decided to set aside the question of how she had come to know him.

The Ancient One was Earth's most powerful person and a major figure on the Magic Side. Now that he had met her, not trying to latch onto her and get some benefits would be a disservice to himself.

He did what he'd decided, putting on a sincere expression as he said, "Master Ancient One, I've admired you for a long time. I've always wanted to learn magic from you. Could you take a look at my aptitude?"

The Ancient One pondered the question briefly before nodding and replying, "It's about average."

Feeney's heart sank. It was like wanting to praise someone, only to find that they weren't handsome or smart, leaving you with nothing to say except that they were pretty tall.

Though he absolutely refused to accept The Ancient One's assessment of his aptitude, Feeney didn't argue. Instead, he quickly seized the opportunity and asked, "So I do have a talent for magic! Can I study magic under you?"

The Ancient One didn't refuse. Instead, she looked at Feeney curiously and asked, "Why do you want to learn magic?"

"I want to protect the universe!"

Feeney immediately answered with righteous conviction. It wasn't a lie. He wanted to become stronger so he could stop Thanos's "Family Planning"—it threatened half of all life in the universe. If he stopped the Snap Fingers, he would absolutely count as a Cosmic Level protector.

A flicker of surprise seemed to cross The Ancient One's eyes. She gave a silent smile, then changed the subject. "How has your sister been all these years?"

Feeney found it strange that The Ancient One would ask about Skye, but he answered honestly. "She's doing well."

Then he asked the question on his mind. "Master Ancient One, is something wrong with my sister?"

"Nothing." The Ancient One shook her head and said with a hint of emotion, "I just remembered that someone once changed the rules of the world because he wanted a big sister."

"..."

In that instant, Feeney suddenly understood a lot. He thought he knew why the first time he had used "Golden Great Deduction Technique" had succeeded, and why it had gained so much experience.

Perhaps—no, it had to be—The Ancient One had done something behind the scenes that had allowed him to use "Golden Great Deduction Technique" so successfully and with such powerful results.

Feeney didn't know exactly how powerful The Ancient One was. He only knew that she was very powerful, so it wasn't impossible that she could detect him using "Golden Great Deduction Technique."

A novel kind of magic, and a goal that wasn't harmful. It was entirely within The Ancient One's abilities to give him a subtle push for the sake of understanding and analyzing it.

But if The Ancient One could secretly help him, she could just as easily sabotage him. The invincibility of "Golden Great Deduction Technique" vanished from Feeney's mind.

At that moment, Feeney suddenly remembered something a certain old man had once said:

Only magic could defeat magic!