Fury was left speechless by her retort and could only smile wryly.
Hill and Natasha felt their faces burning with embarrassment too.
After all, the Tesseract had always been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most closely guarded secret, yet they had never even figured out what it truly was.
Meanwhile, Hermione, an "outsider," understood the Infinity Stones more thoroughly than they did as "professionals."
They could not help reflecting on how wise it had been to establish a good relationship with Hermione.
Even Thor, the Thunder God from Asgard, did not know the details of the Infinity Stones.
Yet Hermione could reel them off as though listing her own possessions.
That gave the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents an even deeper reverence for the mysterious Wizardkind.
In their minds, Wizardkind's mystique had even begun to surpass that of the beings from myths and legends.
The feeling left them both excited and worried.
They were excited that Earth possessed such a powerful force, one capable of deterring threats from the depths of the universe.
What worried them was how ordinary people were supposed to deal with Wizards.
What could they use to stand against them?
"So these stones all need a 'nest'?"
Tony rubbed his chin, his gaze moving back and forth over the six illusory gems.
Hermione nodded and explained, "The Infinity Stones are too powerful for ordinary people to wield. Forcing it can leave you seriously injured at best, or reduce you to ashes at worst."
"You need specially made containers to keep their power under control."
She paused, then added, "You've already seen the Tesseract and Loki's Scepter."
"The Reality Stone's vessel is the Aether, which belongs to the Dark Elves."
"Thousands of years ago, the Dark Elves fought Asgard's King Bor-Thor's grandfather. The Aether disappeared afterward."
"The Time Stone's vessel is the Eye of