By the time Tony finally fixed the system reboot bug caused by freezing mid-air, he had already fallen to just above the ground, completely powerless.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Jarvis finally restarted. Otherwise, he would have turned into a puddle of meat the next second.
Mixed with metal.
"Wahoo!" Tony let out a string of primal cackles, flew the Mark II around for a few more laps, then returned to hover above his villa.
"Alright," Tony said with confidence. "Now I can fly."
The universe immediately enforced the law of "never cool for more than three seconds."
The reactionless thrusters in his feet sputtered twice.
Then went on strike.
"Ah-!"
Tony dropped.
The pulse devices in his arms still worked, but their thrust was nowhere near enough to keep the Mark II airborne. In his panic, he also failed to adjust his posture.
Luckily, he wasn't hovering very high, so he wouldn't die from the fall.
Unfortunately, given the weight of the Mark II, the garage ceiling absolutely could not handle it.
He punched straight through.
Tony landed on a car, instantly converting an obviously expensive luxury vehicle into scrap.
Dummy rolled over and instinctively sprayed him with coolant.
"Sir, you have received an email with an attached video file from Mr. Morin," Jarvis reported.
"What kind of bizarre video has our photographer cooked up this time?" Tony muttered.
"The subject reads: 'Shocking: Trillionaire's First Flight Ends in Disastrous Fall.'"
"...What?"
Tony froze.
He lifted his right hand with effort and flipped open the faceplate, revealing a face full of disbelief. Then he was immediately choked by the carbon dioxide coolant Dummy had sprayed directly into his helmet.
"Cough-cough-stop! Stop it!"
Dummy, also known as Artificial Stupidity or Constant Anti-Tony No.1, earned its name through a simple structure, limited movement, and an AI Tony never bothered to refine.
In the original story, it once saved Tony's life.
But when there was no danger-
Dummy was the danger.
Before he fully stopped coughing, Tony said, "Cough... Jarvis... cough... play it."
"As you wish, sir."
A 3D projection appeared.
"What the-cough-the hell?"
Tony watched the entire video, his expression locked between shock and confusion.
The quality was exactly what he'd come to expect.
Perfect camera control. Ideal framing. Crisp audio. Smooth motion. Subtitles included.
It felt like being there.
Because it was there.
The video showed Tony's test flight.
The successful parts were all present. Clean. Impressive. Tony felt a brief surge of satisfaction.
He looked good.
The armor looked even better.
And then-
The failure.
The freeze.
The fall.
The thruster malfunction.
All of it.
Captured clearly.
Painfully clearly.
Why record that part?
Why not edit it out?
Tony's irritation lasted half a second before a worse thought surfaced.
How was this filmed?
He was flying.
High altitude. Extreme speed.
Multiple angles.
Crystal clear.
If it were zoom-
What kind of lens could zoom in from tens of thousands of meters?
An astronomical telescope?
Even then-
What about the shots from directly overhead?
Tony instantly ruled out the possibility of a camera hidden in the suit. He had personally designed and inspected every component. He hadn't forgotten anything.
And even if there were one, it couldn't have filmed from those angles.
So...
What the hell?
"Call Morin," Tony said, climbing out of the Mark II while clutching his injured left hand. His eyes flicked to a nearby gold-and-red sports car that had narrowly escaped destruction. "Paint the Mark II that color."
"I am dialing Mr. Morin," Jarvis replied.
"Hey, boss. Hello!"
Morin's voice came through after a short wait.
Tony also heard the sound of pages flipping.
"This time you can't tell me it's just 'filming techniques,' can you?" Tony said while applying medicine to his hand.
"How is this not filming technique?" Morin shot back. "You're questioning my professional ethics and skills as a photographer, boss. That hurts. Truly."
"Your tone's a bit dramatic," Tony sighed. "No ordinary person could film that. I detected no tracking drones or devices. Or did you get your hands on some alien tech I don't know about?"
"Alien tech?" Morin chuckled. "Good guess. But no."
"As for ordinary people... I never said I was one. As a photographer, appearing anywhere, anytime, to capture what I want is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"
"I'm not joking," Tony frowned. "Are you?"
"I'm an honest photographer. I always tell the truth to my boss," Morin replied calmly. "That's how I get repeat business."
In front of him, a ten-by-ten grid of books floated in the air. Pages flipped rapidly, synchronized like machinery. The scene radiated the oppressive aura of a God of Learning.
They were all spellbooks.
Scanning them with a robot wasn't an option.
So Morin was reading them himself.
And this still wasn't close to his limit.
"Where are you?" Tony asked suspiciously. "I hear a lot of pages."
"The Himalayas," Morin sighed. "Working hard. Studying. Being a responsible working man..."
He paused.
"...Wait."
"What?"
"Well, boss, I should be honest. I'm actually a sorcerer."
"...Go on."
"That's why I could film everything before. Obadiah's video just needed silence and invisibility spells. Today's video needed a clone, teleportation, silence, and invisibility. Simple."
"...So you could appear in front of me right now?" Tony tested.
"Of course."
Morin raised his right hand and drew a circle.
Sparks erupted.
A ring of fire formed in mid-air.
Tony-already in a defensive stance-appeared inside it.
"Good evening, boss," Morin said, waving. "As you can see, I'm studying."
Tony stared at the flaming ring hovering two meters away.
His mind stalled.
This wasn't a trick.
"What is that?" he asked.
"A portal," Morin replied. "You can walk through it. I recommend bringing something-your phone, maybe-to confirm I'm not lying."
"Jarvis?"
"Sir, I am detecting a high-energy phenomenon. This is not a visual illusion."
That was enough.
Tony grabbed his phone and stepped through.
"I have connected to the local network," Jarvis reported after a delay. "We are indeed in the Himalayas."
Tony looked around.
Then noticed the books.
"...What are you doing?"
"Reading," Morin said. "I came here on vacation, got tricked by an unscrupulous landlord, and somehow became a guardian. Now I have to learn spells for the job."
His expression darkened briefly.
Then relaxed.
"As for the principle," Morin continued, "it's spatial control. Creating a small wormhole to overlap two three-dimensional locations."
"I like that explanation," Tony said. "It's not cold here."
"Constant-temperature arrays."
Tony glanced at the books, failed to recognize a single symbol, and immediately gave up.
"So," he said, "what's your goal?"
"Please specify," Morin corrected. "That wording causes misunderstandings."
He closed the books and stacked them aside.
A wave of his hand.
A tea table appeared.
A teapot.
Two cups.
A cushion behind Tony.
"Please sit, boss."
"Do sorcerers lack money?" Tony asked dryly.
"For sorcerers with principles? Yes," Morin replied. "And as a photographer, magic is just a hobby. So per our agreement-if you're satisfied with the video, you still owe one million."
"...I'll have Jarvis wire it when I get back."
"Now," Morin said, lifting his cup, "I checked your physical potential."
Tony remained expressionless.
"You have extremely high aptitude for magic."
"That's good news?"
"For you, yes. You're smart. Curious. Once you know magic exists, you won't be able to resist exploring it."
Tony nodded. "But I need to confirm something first."
"No restrictions on marriage, food, or lifestyle," Morin said. "Only one rule: no using magic on ordinary people."
"Magic is too powerful," he continued. "Allowing it in the secular world would cause irreversible damage. Total restriction is the only solution."
"You can read my mind?" Tony stiffened.
"No. I saw the future," Morin said, smiling as he took the Eye of Agamotto from his chest. "Practiced a bit. Mind-reading is rude. I only use it on enemies."
Tony ignored that.
"If sorcerers don't interfere with the world, what do they do?"
"Look up."
Tony did.
The sky shifted.
Stars flickered, layered, overlapping-beautiful and terrifying.
"That's the Ceiling of Stars," Morin said. "Those are beings from other dimensions trying to enter Earth. If even one succeeds, the world ends."
"Now look here."
A holographic Earth appeared between them, wrapped in a complex shell.
"This is Earth's Great Array," Morin explained. "Three anchors. New York. London. Hong Kong."
"All of this belongs to Kamar-Taj."
"The Sorcerer Supreme protects it."
Tony asked without thinking, "Who is that?"
"It used to be a work-obsessed clock-out enthusiast called the Ancient One," Morin said.
"Now."
"It's me."
Tony stared.
This person...
Protects Earth?
Then Morin spoke again.
"I brought you here because I want you to be the next Sorcerer Supreme."