Finney had imagined meeting the Ancient One. After drawing the 'Violet Chicken Wrap,' he worriedly considered becoming her apprentice and learning magic.
However, he was too young at the time, and Skye had just come to his house, so he never did it. Later, he discovered that the 'Golden Grand Magic' could be trained and improved, so he temporarily abandoned the idea.
With Iron Man's debut drawing closer and his strength increasing slowly, Finney had already rekindled the idea of becoming her apprentice. He had planned that if he didn't draw well the third time, he would go to Kamar-Taj to find the Ancient One, and ideally, settle there.
In Finney's mind, there was no safer place on Earth than near the Ancient One.
Aliens, Hulk—she could easily defeat them with one hand. That's the power of top-tier combat strength; the entire Earth was protected by the Ancient One alone.
So, in Finney's imagination, he should have been approaching the Ancient One with a devout heart, taking pilgrimage-like steps, and displaying a respectful expression—it would have been a beautiful scene.
But now…he was lying on the ground, disheveled and filthy, gossiping about others behind their backs, and to make matters worse, he'd been overheard.
His dream was shattered!
Finney thought that if he could use the Time Stone, he would definitely turn back time to before the Ancient One arrived and tape his mouth shut.
"You…you…"
The Ancient One's sudden appearance left Finney speechless with shock. He couldn't understand why the Ancient One was here!
"Hello, nice to meet you, Mr. Helsey!"
The Ancient One smiled and looked down at Finney lying on the ground. Although her smile was kind and friendly, Finney felt a chill run down his spine.
Finney struggled to sit up, trying to calm himself down, then pretended not to recognize the Ancient One and asked somewhat fearfully, "Who are you?"
"Huh? Aren't I the bald guy you were talking about?"
Ancient One feigned confusion, still looking at Finney with a smiling gaze. The amusement in her eyes made Finney even more nervous.
"..."
Finney didn't know how to answer. In his memory, Ancient One was definitely on the good side. Possessing the Time Stone, she was not only top-tier in strength, but also had unparalleled control over the future and the past.
The future!?
Finney suddenly felt he understood something. Looking at Ancient One in front of him, he pondered for a moment before finally sighing and saying, "Nice to meet you, Master Ancient One!"
Judging from Ancient One's attitude, Finney felt that if Ancient One knew his future, their relationship must be quite special. Moreover, he had always planned to curry favor with Ancient One, so it was normal for him to have a good relationship with this Sorcerer Supreme in the future.
Ancient One smiled and nodded, remaining silent. Her face showed no surprise that Finney recognized her.
"Um… Master Ancient One…"
Ancient One remained silent, but Finney couldn't hold back any longer. He didn't have the Time Stone to spoil future plots, so he was eager to know why Ancient One had suddenly appeared.
"Is there something you need?"
Hearing Finney's question, Ancient One immediately shook her head, saying nonchalantly, "Nothing much, just a bit bored, so I thought I'd come see you."
You're the Sorcerer Supreme, you should protect Earth properly. Dormammu would be sad if he knew you were so idle all the time.
Finney silently complained in his heart. Although this was their first real meeting, they didn't seem to feel any awkwardness towards each other.
Things had progressed to this point, and Finney felt there was nothing to worry about. After thinking for a moment, he asked directly, "Master Ancient One, how do you know me?"
"It's what you think!"
Ancient One sat down next to Finney without caring about the mess, completely unconcerned about Finney's constipated expression after hearing her answer.
"It's all nonsense..."
Finney himself didn't know what he was thinking. The Ancient One probably knew him in countless ways, far beyond his comprehension. So he asked again, "Is it because we met in the future?"
The Ancient One's deep eyes stared at Finney for a moment, then replied without nodding or shaking her head, "Maybe!"
Finney felt exhausted. This feeling of "you might know everything about me, but I only know a little about you" was truly unbearable. Therefore, he decided to temporarily ignore the question of how the Ancient One knew him.
As the strongest being on Earth, a super-powerful figure in magic, now that he had met her, it would be a waste not to quickly find a way to curry favor and gain some benefits.
Without hesitation, Finney put on a sincere expression and said, "Master Ancient One, I've admired you for a long time and always wanted to learn magic from you. Could you take a look at my aptitude?"
The Ancient One pondered for a moment before nodding and replying, "Just so-so."
Finney felt a chill. It was like wanting to compliment someone but finding they weren't handsome or intelligent, only able to say they were quite tall.
Although he firmly disagreed with the Ancient One's assessment, Finney didn't argue. Instead, he quickly seized the opportunity, saying, "So you have a talent for magic? Can I learn magic from you?"
The Ancient One didn't refuse but looked at Finney with curiosity and asked, "Why do you want to learn magic?"
"To protect the universe!"
Finney immediately declared righteously. This wasn't a lie; he wanted to become stronger to stop Thanos's 'family planning,' which affected half of all life in the universe. If he could stop the snap, he would definitely be a cosmic protector.
A flicker of surprise seemed to cross Ancient One's eyes. She silently forced a smile before changing the subject, asking, "How has your sister been these past few years?"
Hearing Ancient One ask about Skye, Finney felt a little strange, but still honestly replied, "She's doing well."
Then he asked the question that had been bothering him: "Master Ancient One, is there anything wrong with my sister?"
"Nothing," Ancient One shook her head, seemingly with a slight sigh, "I just remembered that someone actually changed the rules of the world just to have a sister."
"..."
In that instant, Finney suddenly understood a lot. He seemed to know why his first use of the 'Golden Evolution Technique' had succeeded, and why he had gained so much experience.
Perhaps, no, it must be that Ancient One had done something in secret to ultimately succeed in using the 'Golden Evolution Technique' with such a powerful effect.
Finney didn't know exactly how strong Ancient One was, but he knew she was very strong, so it was definitely not impossible for her to have a way of sensing his use of the 'Golden Evolution Technique'.
A novel magic he had never seen before, coupled with something that wasn't bad, and secretly helping to analyze it for the purpose of understanding—this was entirely within the Ancient One's capabilities.
However, if the Ancient One could secretly help, she could certainly sabotage it; the invincible effect of the 'Golden Grand Evolution Technique' in Phineas's mind was gone.
At this moment, Phineas suddenly remembered something his father had once said:Only magic can defeat magic!
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