"Oh, it's kind of cute!"
After receiving the card, Artoria immediately tried to use it. It went surprisingly smoothly, but the sight nearly made Artoria bleed from cuteness: a palm-sized little colt, fluttering unsteadily in the air using tiny wings like marshmallows. With her extraordinary vision, Artoria immediately saw a bump on the colt's cute little head, which looked like a horn that hadn't grown out yet. This was a huge contrast to the tall and handsome image Artoria had imagined, but it was undeniably adorable.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Instead of being afraid, the little colt was very happy to see Artoria. It landed on her shoulder and rubbed against her cheek.
"How am I supposed to ride this cute thing?"
Although it was very cute, Artoria's first thought was how to use it. How could this tiny thing carry a person? Even if she raised it, she didn't know how long it would take. If it took thousands of years, everything would be over.
"Keeping it as a pet wouldn't be bad."
She gently stroked its cute little head with her finger, making it very happy. But the moment her finger touched it, a milky white light appeared on the colt's head, and the back of Artoria's hand warmed up. A mysterious pattern appeared on the back of Artoria's hand. Artoria inexplicably felt a connection with the Little guy, and she could sense the joy the Little guy was expressing.
"Alright! I'll call you Touka then!"
This Little guy reminded Artoria that she couldn't find her special mount, 'Dong', so she would have to use this Little guy as a substitute! It seemed that using her Noble Phantasm required a mount—that was Artoria's guess. But for now, it looked like she would have to wait for this Little guy to grow up before trying. The Little guy gently rubbed against Artoria, then transformed into a beam of light and entered the pattern on the back of Artoria's hand. Through the connection established just now, Artoria knew that the Little guy hadn't disappeared but had entered a contract space. Artoria wasn't sure if she needed to prepare food for the Little guy.
Before Artoria could rest, she received a call from Tony asking her to come over.
"Why did you ask me to come over, Bro?"
Artoria didn't think too much of it and came to Tony's seaside Villa. She saw Tony lying there, preparing to replace his Arc Reactor. Wasn't this Pepper's job? What happened? Where was Pepper?
"Artoria, come over and help me."
After seeing Artoria arrive, Tony, holding a new Arc Reactor, spoke to her.
"Alright! I'll do it."
"Oh my god, Bro, you really handed me a tough job."
She had intended to help her relative, but as she stepped forward and looked at the large hole in Tony's chest, Artoria got goosebumps. Her germophobia had flared up.
"I'm sorry, but I think right now, I can only rely on you and her for this."
Tony said apologetically. He knew about Artoria's 'germophobia,' but there were only a few people he trusted now, so he could only call Artoria and Pepper. It was just that Artoria arrived quickly, and Pepper was a little slow.
"Jarvis, get me gloves, thick ones."
"Yes, Miss."
A minute later, Artoria, wearing sterilized rubber gloves, stood before Tony.
"Be gentle, Sis! My life is in your hands."
Tony handed the new Arc Reactor to Artoria and cautioned her. After nodding to show she understood, Artoria quickly reached into the hole, pulled out the Electromagnet, swiftly extracted the old Arc Reactor, and installed the new one. The whole process took only about twenty seconds. With Artoria's full concentration and her amazing intuition, the operation was completed quickly.
"Don't close your eyes (Sir, your gender reassignment surgery) is complete."
Quickly peeling off the gloves, Artoria started wiping her hands with disinfectant again. She had desperately suppressed her germophobia to complete the operation. Now that it was done, Artoria's entire back was soaked in sweat.
"How do you feel?"
Seeing Tony's scared expression, Artoria teased him.
"I'm great, Sis. Right now, I feel like partying for days and nights."
Tony responded humorously to Artoria's comment, standing up and striking a few bodybuilder poses.
"But there's a problem, Bro. Are you really not afraid of death? You dare to install this thing in your body."
After washing her hands, Artoria came over to Tony and pointed at the new reactor on his chest.
"You noticed? I thought you wouldn't ask."
Tony understood Artoria's implication: the reactor could potentially kill him.
"Be careful lately. Someone might be trying to harm you. Your itinerary this time was confidential, yet someone precisely located you for an ambush. You should realize there's an inside man."
Ignoring Tony's expression, Artoria exposed his wishful thinking, confirming that someone he knew was trying to harm him.
"I won't let my family die, Bro. Don't worry, I will find a solution."
Artoria interrupted what Tony was about to say and spoke with immense forcefulness. This made Tony, who had extended his right hand to try and hold her back, lower his arm. His eyes were slightly red, and he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.
"Saturday, tell Maya to officially activate the Extremis virus research. Even if it requires starting human trials, we must perfect the virus."
"Yes, master."
Leaving Tony's Villa directly, Artoria spoke into her headset, giving instructions to Saturday.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.