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"Welcome back!"
Ancient One opened her eyes and looked at Fini.
"Morning, Teacher!" Fini hurriedly nodded in greeting.
"You weren't injured in yesterday's battle, were you?" Ancient One continued. Her question made Fini pause for a moment; he realized she had indeed been keeping a close eye on the Battle of New York.
"No!" Fini shook his head. After a brief hesitation, he decided to bring up the Space Stone directly. "Teacher, the Asgardians asked me for the Tesseract yesterday, but I didn't give it to them."
"Mhm." Ancient One nodded, her expression unchanged. She walked over to the table and began boiling water for tea. "And why is that?"
"Why should I give it to them?" Fini countered with a question of his own.
Ancient One's hand paused slightly as she prepared the tea. She turned to give Fini a long, searching look. "Fini, each of the six Infinity Stones possesses immense power."
"I know!" Fini nodded. He knew more than most—he knew that if all six were gathered and placed on a certain glove, half the universe could be wiped out in a snap.
"As long as you understand." Ancient One sighed. "I only hope you remember this: you must master the power, not let the power master you."
"I will!" Fini nodded seriously. Then, hesitating, he asked, "Did Asgard suddenly agree to let me keep the Tesseract because of you?"
"Not entirely." While she didn't take full credit, she didn't deny it either. "Odin himself felt you were qualified to hold the Cube; he merely consulted me on the matter."
"Thank you, Teacher!" Fini sighed inwardly. Even if she said it wasn't all her doing, he was certain Odin's compromise was largely due to her influence.
"It's alright. I hope you don't betray the trust I've placed in you. And remember: be extremely careful with the power of those two items." Ancient One warned him once more.
With his doubts cleared, Fini felt much lighter. He spent some time consulting her on spellcasting, shared some tea, and then bid her farewell.
Back at the training grounds, news of Fini's return had spread to almost every sorcerer in Kamar-Taj. Beyond the usual chatter among peers, the impact of the New York incident was beginning to show.
"Sorcerer Fini, what was the deal with those aliens in New York?" one sorcerer asked curiously while coming over for his fried chicken roll. Sorcerers were human, after all; though they wielded supernatural power, they were just as inquisitive as anyone else—they simply had a higher threshold for accepting the extraordinary.
"An alien wanted to rule the Earth, so he opened a space portal to bring his army through. I just went to help stop him," Fini replied casually. He left out Loki's name; since Odin had let him keep the Cube, there was no need to keep dragging Asgard's name through the mud.
"What about that silver dragon?" another sorcerer chimed in, holding a tablet. "I saw the videos. You were riding a massive white dragon!"
The man scrolled through the comments on the tablet and laughed. "You've got a new nickname now: the Silver Dragon Knight. Haha! They're calling you a knight again!"
Fini glanced at the sorcerer and silently memorized his face. The next time they sparred, he'd make sure the man got a very personal taste of his magic!
"That's my family's heirloom, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Summoning it isn't easy," Fini answered dismissively. He had no intention of summoning it just for them to gawk at.
The sorcerers were already used to Fini's "heirlooms." Between his heirloom armor, his heirloom fried chicken roll summoning art, and his heirloom flight technique, what was one more dragon? Some even whispered that Fini's ancestors must have been an ancient family of knights.
After restocking the fried chicken rolls in the Kamar-Taj freezers, Fini tracked down Mordo, who was training with Kaecilius.
After more than six months, Kaecilius had changed significantly. The sharp look in his eyes held none of the despondency from years ago. He was currently locked in a fierce sparring match with Mordo, moving with impressive agility.
Fini watched with interest. He had to admit Mordo was right—Kaecilius had improved tremendously. His spells were cast with rapid-fire precision, his movements were fluid, and his strikes were decisive. At moments, he even seemed to have the upper hand against Mordo.
Fortunately, Mordo was no slouch. As the Senior Disciple of Kamar-Taj, he rarely lost face—except when facing Fini. Mordo intentionally left an opening, then seized the opportunity to end the fight with a quick combo.
"You shouldn't have thrown that punch just now." Mordo pulled Kaecilius up from the ground, pointing out the tactical error.
Fini, walking toward them, smirked and interjected, "No, he should have thrown it. He just didn't put enough weight behind it. If it were me, I guarantee you'd be the one on the ground, Mordo."
Mordo turned at the sound of Fini's voice. He hadn't noticed him during the heat of the fight. His face darkened slightly as he struggled for a retort. Sparring with Fini was a completely different beast than sparring with Kaecilius—mostly because Fini cheated with that armor.
What Mordo didn't know was that Fini now possessed "Breathing Techniques." Even without Incursio, Fini's physical fitness far surpassed his previous limits.
"You're back!" Mordo said, helping Kaecilius up. He looked at Fini, then glanced worriedly at Kaecilius. He knew their relationship wasn't great—or rather, that Fini seemed to have a one-sided distaste for the man.
"Not bad. It's only been a few months and you're already close to beating Senior Mordo!" Surprisingly, Fini didn't give Kaecilius the cold shoulder. He actually offered a rare word of praise.
"Though, you're still a bit behind me. I could beat him not long after I arrived. If I had thrown that punch earlier, we'd see who was eating dirt."
Just as Mordo began to hope their relationship was improving, the second half of Fini's sentence made his face stiffen. "That's only because you wear that armor!" Mordo barked.
"Then next time, I'll fight you without it!" Fini raised an eyebrow defiantly. Having spent five months honing his combat skills under Red Skull, and with "Breathing Techniques" and Gilded Manifestation in his pocket, he didn't see how he could lose.
"It's a deal!" Mordo became excited, sensing an opportunity for revenge. He wanted to show Fini the proper way a Kamar-Taj sorcerer fights—and remind him who the real Senior Disciple was!
Kaecilius watched the two of them with a strange expression. He could feel Fini's dislike for him, so he usually kept his distance. After being away for half a year, he was probably the one person in Kamar-Taj who had missed Fini the least.
(End of Chapter)