The Ancient One sat down, and a glass of wine suddenly appeared before her.
"A secret brew from Asgard. It seems I am in luck."
She picked up the glass and drank it down. "It's very mellow, with a familiarity that is close to nature."
"Is the raw material for this secret brew the work of the Light Elves?"
Aaron looked up at her and asked, "Don't you already know?"
The Ancient One's expression remained unchanged. "I know nothing."
Pretending.
Aaron naturally did not believe such nonsense.
Who didn't know that the Ancient One constantly peeked into the future, reviewed the past, occasionally traveled to parallel Universes to consult with her other selves, or drew energy from the Dark Dimension?
Possessing the Time Stone, it was very difficult for anyone to truly kill her, unless she herself wished to die.
Seeing the empty glass instantly refill with the secret brew, the Ancient One didn't stand on ceremony and drank it down again.
"Seeing how much you enjoy drinking, why don't you represent Earth and attend the banquet in Asgard? There are countless secret brews there, specialties from the Dwarves, the Light Elves, the Frost Giants, and many other races." Aaron shook his head with a laugh.
The Ancient One displayed an expression that didn't seem feigned. "The Frost Giants also attended the banquet? I thought Asgard and the Frost Giants were still incompatible."
Aaron let out a soft "hmm" and leaned slightly forward.
The Ancient One's unusual behavior made him momentarily unable to figure her out.
The Ancient One didn't know about the banquet? And didn't know Laufey was in Asgard?
Could he have guessed wrong? Had the Ancient One not been on Earth for the past month, but traveling on other Planets or worlds?
After pondering for a moment, Aaron drank the glass of wine that had been transmitted in real-time from the banquet, and then said straightforwardly, "Let's cut the pleasantries. What did you come here for?"
The Ancient One shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know what I want to do."
"Hmm?"
The Ancient One looked up. "Because I don't know what you ultimately want to do."
"I saw you resting these past few days, so I came to check on you."
That's crazy!
Don't tell me you've fallen for me.
Aaron shuddered with disgust.
At this point in the conversation, Aaron vaguely realized why the Ancient One was acting so strangely.
Excluding the possibility that she was a fake Ancient One, there was only one possibility.
The Ancient One wasn't lying. She genuinely didn't know about some of the events that had transpired this past month.
Or rather, she had lost the ability to peek into the future.
"What have you been doing this month?" Aaron changed the question.
The Ancient One's answer was direct. "Watching you, and watching the future."
"But I found that in the countless possible futures I saw, you did not exist."
"I saw Tony snap his fingers and meet death, I saw Hulk snap his fingers and resurrect everyone, I saw Mutants being annihilated, and I saw a Celestial awaken and Earth perish."
"But I did not see you, specifically."
"Or perhaps, the timeline concerning you has vanished."
The Ancient One's expression remained calm, but the words she spoke now, if heard by outsiders, would be enough to cause a huge uproar.
"It is as if our world only has a past and a present, but no future."
"I have been watching you and comparing it to the future. I tried to capture your information, but every time, it vanished without a trace."
Speaking up to this point, the Ancient One couldn't maintain her composure and asked, "What exactly is your origin? How did you manage to do that?"
Although the Ancient One was a human, her thinking had transcended mortal beings, reaching a godly level, even surpassing Gods like Thor.
This was the rich experience accumulated over many years, allowing her to face everything calmly, even death.
The Ancient One had always believed that she would not be shocked by anything.
Until she saw Aaron.
After that, everything changed.
All the trajectories she was familiar with vanished.
The timeline she had originally chosen was derailed by Aaron's arrival, heading toward a different fork.
What was even stranger was that the future timeline of this Universe was gone.
Or rather, it had been hidden by some great power, and no one could find that timeline.
Of course, there was an even more terrifying possibility.
Aaron had reached a level, where past, present, and future were united. He was unique, yet he simultaneously existed at all points in time. But the versions of him at all these time points were the current him.
The Ancient One had to consider this possibility.
There was something she hadn't said: this world only had a past and a present.
However, the past Aaron and the timeline could not be changed nor could it be undone.
After trying many possibilities, the Ancient One came. She wanted to meet the current Aaron and see if he was still untouchable.
Fortunately, Aaron was easier to deal with than she had imagined.
How was it done?
Aaron thought for a moment.
It was likely one of two possibilities.
One was that his future self had transcended everything, thus uniting past, present, and future, making him immune to Karma and unbound by time.
The second possibility was that he currently had no future, but the nature of the Primordial Furnace ensured that he existed uniquely.
After all, the Primordial Furnace came from beyond the true fourth wall, even transcending the narrative level, with theoretically infinite potential.
If such an item existed at different points in time, then all the worlds would instantly explode with a bang.
Seeing Aaron remain silent, the Ancient One wasn't surprised. She had already anticipated this.
Even she herself had many things she wouldn't tell others, didn't she?
The Ancient One smiled knowingly. "Alright, I was presumptuous this time. I shall punish myself with three drinks."
The Ancient One consecutively drank three cups of the secret brew, showing a look of enjoyment.
Seeing this, Aaron was highly suspicious that the Ancient One was rewarding herself, and even 'rewarding' herself three times right in front of him.
"Since you clearly enjoy the Light Elves' secret brew so much, perhaps you can try the Ice and Fire Liquor, as well as the Dwarves' secret delicacy."
Aaron raised his hand, and the wine glass in front of the Ancient One silently disappeared. Simultaneously, three other glass goblets appeared.
Seeing this, the Ancient One didn't hesitate and began tasting them one by one.