A month quietly passed by, no world ending disasters, no crazy mutant coming to existence. Even SHIELD had found themselves following a regular routine once more.
Nick Fury's close subordinates continue to plague the Empire State Building, the news of the attempt of a bombing at the Empire State Building was blamed on the middle eastern group were also blamed with the kidnapping of Tony Stark.
News agencies did not really care much about the crazy stunts done by SHIELD, moreover the people affected by the "Bomb Scare" were all properly compensated.
The media was not focused on Tony Stark, the video of him bloodied and tied to a chair still being circulated. Even when the news seems to have slowly died down, it would constantly be brought back up like a ghost unwilling to leave.
While the whole world was waist deep into the "Tony Conspiracy", the stocks of Stark Industries continued to drop.
Information that Obadiah Stane had decided to throw away his niece had started to come up. He was quick to target these news articles and agencies but like weeds, all it took was a single seed for many more to come up.
Even uprooting the whole controversy did nothing but fuel the spread.
Stark Industries stock was plummeting, news of Obadiah being forced out of management, about how Pepper Potts had suddenly taken control. Amidst these various controversies, Upon taking the position of CEO after Obadaiah was kicked out, she had done plenty of moves.
The current Stark Industries, without Tony, did not show much potential in the military market. WIthout the golden goose, Stark Industries was supposed to fall unless Tony returns by some miracle.
Yet, unexpectedly, Pepper had made Stark Industries make a move on the Biomedical field.
In a month's time, Stark Industries had suddenly come up with various medical products, their efficiency much better and thousands of times more miraculous than any that Oscorp could produce.
Unfortunately, the civilian market was still dominated by Oscorp, though the Military mark had been hijacked by Stark Industries.
After all, only the military was willing to test new drugs and all it took was a few tests to have all the generals come knocking on Pepper's door with contracts.
While all this was going on, Kingpin had slowly and silently transferred all his power to a mysterious man, before he disappeared, appearing a week later in Madripoor.
People say that the underworld's mastermind, the Kingpin, had finally disturbed a sleeping dragon, forcing him to leave New York and the United States with his tail tucked between his legs. What followed was a purge, crime had decreased in Hell's Kitchen as a new company found itself rising from the ashes of destruction.
At Hell's Kitchen, a new security company, whose office looked like a modern castle became the brightest light in this god forsaken area of New York.
Thugs had thinned out as the criminal underworld had been shattered, most of the powerhouses that survived the purge in New York found themselves in Las Vegas, their fate unknown as their powers crumbled and few saw them again.
The world was slowly changing, yet these changes did not cause waves. It all happened silently, unlike what one would expect given the fact that it was the marvel universe.
For some odd reason, the disappearance of certain powers, the creation of new ones had been almost like the changing of seats in congress.
It starts off with a bit of chaos but dies down a few days after the election.
As these things happened, all remained calm and peaceful for the students of the Academy of Modern Magecraft.
The constant chaos caused by Johnny Storm as he challenged Victor had become a daily event for the students.
With Victor and Johnny's friendship, all the other magi in training had found themselves becoming more open to their peers. The usual silent atmosphere had transformed as these students of various ages and demographics started to mingle like normal people.
As the knowledge and understanding of Magecraft became even deeper, they came to realize just how backwards their own ideals were before.
Unlike what they all believed "magic" would be like, Magecraft was more akin to a science. Yet, this did distance itself from the mystics. It was a logical and rational method of controlling the mystics and the methods were as vast as the sea's.
Despite this, the true Magi, like James Barthomeloi and the occasional Enforcer's that come to train them did not look anything like a "mage".
They would appear wearing casual clothes that would make one believe that they were regular office workers. James in particular, his image of wearing a coat and tophat was something all these magi in training were used to yet-
Whenever James actually appeared before them, ever since they became students, his dress code was basically a matter of how he felt. Moreover, he usually wore casual jeans, chelsea boots and a white top underneath a simple jacket or long sleeve.
He had a "country boy aesthetic" minus the cowboy hat, but this made him look less "striking".
His white hair became the best identifier for his appearance since few wanted to make a mistake and anger the individual who was believed to be a "Grand".
On that matter, the more these magi in training learned about magecraft, the more fear and respect they developed for James. Especially with the rumor of his rank being Grand, the more they learn the more they realize how illogically powerful a magus could become.
None of them had even reached the lowest level of Frame yet the power they achieved was far greater than what they had before coming to the academy! Yet, their current ability and achievements did not warrant a "graduation" or the bestowment of even the lowest rank!
Using that as a benchmark, one could only imagine what kind of power official magi with "ranks" had.
James, aware of these rumors, did not even try to correct them. In fact, he even added fuel to the fire by casually showing off some spells of his, further inflating the crazy thoughts of these magi in training.
Why did James choose to do this? The answer is quite simple, these acts were nothing more than an elaborate joke. He simply wanted to see the expression on a certain long haired man's face when he arrived in this world!
Unfortunately, James' focus at the moment was to quickly stabilize his own strength. He had to build up his organization and create a power that is capable of answering to the issues that would soon plague this world.
Moreover, although he had yet to receive a visit from a certain bald woman, he did not put it against her to simply wait for the best moment to strike. James knew of his ability and as of now, he was still busy completing his research.
He had to truly understand his own limits, unfortunately, the one man who could have easily given him the answer was quite stubborn in maintaining his "sage" - like appearance as he avoided giving James any "true" answer.
Yet, despite his avoidance of James, the same sage was happily sharing as much knowledge as he could with a certain man.
Afghanistan, a certain cave-
"It's really here huh…"
"Never thought I'd make something this AMAZING in a cave…"
"You mean, WE right?"
Three men stood in front of a huge metal monster. People who are familiar with the iron man would immediately recognize the faceplate but-
"Do you think my original design is bad?"
Tony asked as he marveled at the armor that was made in a cave. Unlike the original plan, this did not look like a walking tin can. Instead, the armor closely resembles the idea he came up with after looking at the initial designs.
That being said, the "tin can" design was actually one he had conceptualized based on the availability of tools and materials.
Moreover, he did not trust himself to create the current design that allowed for flexibility without proper tools.
"Your design was marvelous, a truly magnificent work. If I weren't here, that design would have been the most optimal one to create given the situation but with me here-"
The man who answered Tony, a man with white long white hair smiled, Merlin tossed a miniature arc reactor towards Tony.
"I upgraded the reactor, you've maximized its energy output within the limits of technology. But I've added some bits to it, now, instead of pure electricity it could convert the generated energy to magical energy. In fact, that reactor is a true marvel! It's basically a magical energy reactor! But instead of Od it generates ambient mana. Unfortunately it can't supplement your life force, though it could become your main tool to power this mystic code"
Listening to Merlin's words, Tony picked up on another new term he had heard just today.
"Mystic Code?"
Tony asked, to which Merlin smiled as he began to explain-
"A mystic code is what we magi call items that function as magic tools, there are two main types, the first, your arc reactor as an example would be those that supplement the magic power of a magus. The method by which it supplements magic power could take a variety of forms, so long a it improves the magic power output of a magus it is defined as a such a tool-"
Merlin paused, he turned towards the suit of armor, pointing at it before he continued-
"The second is that, a tool with predetermined functions, taking any form, may it be a sword, a bow or gun, the tool is one which has a function that would activate upon being "used", this use would take different forms. Some of this type of mystic code have their own magical energy reactor, allowing the tool to function after being "activated", though such tools are rare and most of them are considered to be "Supreme Grade Mystic Codes" most of the second type require the magus to infuse them with their magic energy and activate the spell that was engraved on the tool"
Tony was not bored nor did he dismiss Merlin's words, the past month and a half made Tony understand that the thing about magic and mystics? Those were real, he had worked with one such man and they had created this "mystic code".
But what Tony really found interesting was the last note that the man, Merlin, said about mystic codes.
"So I just created a Supreme Grade Mystic Code?"
"Nope~"
"Huh?"
Seeing the confusion in Tony's eyes, Merlin chuckled as he explained.
"As I said, most of them are considered "Supreme Grade", which means, a mystic code that could function on its own doesn't make it "Supreme Grade". Let me give an example, there exists a suitcase that can create any inanimate object.
Now, this code can't just create things out of thin air, it needs materials of "equal mystery", and the blood of the family that owns it. It does not need magic energy to function, but the reason why it's considered a "Supreme Grade" is the nature of "inanimate objects" it could create.
Imagine, if you want to create a gun, all you need to do is provide the raw materials that make up the "gun".Now that sounds simple but think about it-
The weapons of the Gods, Altria's excalibur, the dragon slaying swords of the east- these mythical objects, all of them could be created- IF you have materials of sufficient mystery to create it.
Now, compare that to your own armor, what could it do?"
Listening to the explanation provided by Merlin, Tony felt that he had a good grasp on the type of power a "Supreme Grade Mystic code" has.
Although he did not really grasp the type of power a mystical item such as the weapons of God's and Legend's had, but if mythology was actually true, much like magic…
'I see… that's the kind of power that magic could achieve'
A light of desire flashed in Tony's eyes, his mind had never been stimulated as much as it was in the past month and a half. Every day he was made to experience and learn something new, every day he was made to realize just how little he understood about the world.
But that did not scare him, no, it actually made him desire the power of magic- no magecraft even more!
It was a power that could be tailored for him and him alone.
With Merlin's appearance, Tony did not need to worry about dying, he knew he was protected and he treated this time spent in the cave as a "vacation". He could already imagine what kind of chaos his disappearance would cause but the things he learned in this cave was leagues more valuable than whatever it was he could have done if he returned.
The feeling of having his weapons nearly take his life changed Tony, he knew what he wanted to do but he never truly thought about how he would go about doing it.
The time spent making the armor allowed him to contemplate this question. It also helped that Merlin was quite a talkative man. With Merlin constantly talking about philosophical topics to pass time, Tony and Yinsen had found themselves going through various "enlightenments" as they listened to this near immortal man.
One of these enlightenments made Tony understand that his creation of the suit would become the biggest problem in the future.
Although the price of the suit was tremendous, cutting costs could still work and he did have a viable model that could function even without a proper AI control system.
With the opportunity he was given, Tony was able to contemplate his plans. Unlike what he would have initially done, using pure will and desire, starting a conference and declaring the end of weapons development…
When he thought of the idea he had created, he found himself laughing at his past self.
Even Yinsen talked Tony out of doing such a thing, after all, if Stark industries dropped out of the arms race, other people would take the lead.
Unless Tony had a way to control conflict, his actions would end up doing nothing more than changing the demon at the helm.
Moreover, despite Tony's genius, it wasn't like all of Stark Industries developments were his. The army of weapons researchers in Stark Industries would find themselves losing jobs. But that was only momentary as rivals would be quick to act like sharks, poaching the discarded researchers who had with them, not only their own ability but knowledge of Stark Industries.
NDA exists, but who would the government support? The company that chose to pick up where Stark left off or the man who decided to stop supplying weapons?
At first, Tony had the idea of using his armor, but when he actually thought of it, he realized that he would just end up becoming a vigilante…
But as his mind left the purely scientific world and instead delved into the world of mystics, Tony found the key to his developments.
Magecraft, through this, Tony could create an army of suits that could only be used by him.
Especially the recent explanation of Merlin, the mystic code that needed the blood of the owner to function-
'If I could bind the armor to myself… no if I could create a binding that prevents those with "evil" thoughts from using the armor… I could even sell it to the military. If the users cause unnecessary death and destruction, if they targeted civilians if they were used for purposes other than "peacekeeping", they would shut down and become nothing more than a pile of scrap.
The best part of it is the nature of magecraft makes it impossible for reverse engineering! Unless they have a magus in their ranks but- even then, a magus needs to reach a realm on the level of Merlin and he's by no means an "ordinary" magus…'
Tony's thoughts ran wilde as he gazed at the arc reactor in his hand. Unlike before, the reactor was more- circular. It was enclosed in what appears to be a crystal and he could see the true form of the reactor inside this "crystal".
Through his study with Merlin, Tony recognized the crystal as a form of "Jewel Magecraft"- from what he understood, the crystal should contain the magic circuits that he lacked. This would allow the mana generated by the arc reactor to be converted into magic power.
Tony also knew that the reason the Arc reactor could output as much energy as it did was due to the special energy generated through the reactor.
It was not directly generating electricity, in fact, Tony had to convert the blue energy into electricity. The blue energy being a dense form of energy that he had yet to fully study is what allowed Tony to create powerful missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
Now though, Tony knew that the energy was basically a condensed form of mana or naturally generated magical energy.
These various bits of information he had, although not much, allowed Tony to work with Merlin to finish his first suit of armor.
"In any case, since the armor is complete, we need you to make a choice. Do you come with us or do you wish to take this bad boy out and escape yourself?"
While Tony was lost in thought, Merlin decided to ask Tony the most important question. It was the reason why he had stayed here, the main purpose of James creating a complex bounded field that locked them up in this base-
"So Tony, what do you want to do?"
Hearing the question Merlin gave him, Tony smiled, walking towards the armor he inserted the arc reactor at the center of the armor's chest. It was then wrapped up in layers of gems and metal pieces hiding its orb-like form.
The armor lit up, the various metallic pieces shifting as the whole armor opened up as if asking for Tony to enter.
Without any hesitation, Tony walked into the armor, he had a teasing expression on his face as he answered Merlin-
"Why not both?"
Finishing his sentence, the armor covered him up, at that moment Tony felt a surge of power in his body- information was shoved into his brain which allowed him to "connect" to his armor.
If Tony was not someone with a monstrous mental capacity, he would have died. After all, the armor was basically a mystic code, one that had complex functions and spells on it. Even a high ranking magus would need to leverage their own magic circuits to take the burden but Tony used his own human brain.
Merlin was prepared to save Tony but he really did not expect for the man to survive!
'Now this is interesting'
The old magus mused as he watched Tony move about, getting used to his armor.
After a few minutes, Tony turned to Merlin and Yinsen as he asked-
"Shall we?"
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Powerstone Milestone
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 side story
Every 250 Power Stones = 1 main story chapter