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"Ancient One, since this guy's decided to stay and study magic, I'll take my leave."
Having confirmed the system had marked Tony's destiny as initially altered, Peter wasn't planning to hang around.
"Want me to send someone to escort you?"
The Ancient One kept her gentle smile the whole time.
"No need. I got this."
Peter stood up without hesitation. Accompanied by the Ancient One, he stepped out of the hall and shot straight into the sky.
Though this place existed outside the real world in a special magic dimension, Peter felt no obstacles at all.
"Ancient One, the new arrival has been settled in."
Just as the Ancient One looked up to watch Peter's figure vanish into the clouds, the cold-faced wizard who brought Tony earlier returned after making sure Tony was comfortably settled.
"Thanks for your help, Master Cassilius."
The Ancient One turned to the wizard, her expression calm but appreciative.
"Ancient One, what exactly brought Mr. Superman here this time...?"
Cassilius hesitated, then couldn't help but ask, curious as ever.
After all, until now, the wizarding world had never crossed paths with Superman.
"He came here just to confirm a few things."
The Ancient One's gaze drifted toward where Peter had disappeared, and she said quietly.
"Alright, enough about him. Master Cassilius, if I'm not mistaken, you've been here at Kamar-Taj for two years now, right?"
The Ancient One's eyes held a hint of memory.
"That's right, revered one. And I'm grateful to you for taking in a lost soul like me two years ago, introducing me to the mysteries of magic, and opening the door to another world."
Though Cassilius's face remained cold and stern, deep respect shone clearly in his eyes.
His wife and child had died in an accident, and he had fallen into despair for a long time—until he met the Ancient One.
"So, have you finally found the answer you were desperately searching for back then?"
Ancient One gazed at Cassilius with a strange emotion in her eyes.
"Sorry, Ancient One. Back then, I was overwhelmed with extreme grief, which is why I was so desperate to find a way to bring my loved ones back."
Cassilius's expression was surprisingly calm now, as if the immense sadness over his family's death no longer consumed him.
"But thanks to your teachings, I've come to accept it. Magic isn't all-powerful. Even if there were a way to resurrect my loved ones, it would come at an unimaginable cost."
"The death of my family, though an accident, was also fate. In the end, no individual can defy the laws that govern the universe."
"From now on, I will dedicate my entire life to Karmatheji, protecting Earth's reality forever, ensuring no beings from other dimensions can harm it."
As he spoke, there was no trace of pretension—only genuine acceptance on Cassilius's face. Though he still mourned his lost loved ones, he would never break natural laws or use forbidden magic to bring them back.
He even vowed to guard Karmatheji and Earth's reality for life.
"Alright then, Mage Cassilius. Since that's the case, it's time for you to teach that new mage who just arrived," Ancient One said with a flicker in her eyes.
She turned and slowly walked back into the great hall.
Up in the air, Peter, who had just left Karmatheji, slowed his flight.
His mind was absorbed in the system, reviewing his recent gains.
He had just completed the mission to change Tony's fate, earning him over ten thousand points.
And the system store had just opened.
"Let's see what kind of cool stuff is in the store."
Peter was curious what was inside. He remembered it had all kinds of Superman templates.
[Golden Superman Template, Supreme Superman Template, Mind Superman Template, Silver Superman Template, Doomsday Superman Template...]
"Holy crap, the system store is this awesome? Almost every template from the comics is here!"
Just one glance and Peter was dazzled by the many different Superman templates.
"Too bad they all cost way too many points!"
Despite how tempting those powerful templates were, their prices ranged in the millions—even tens of millions of points.
Far beyond what he could afford right now.
Of course, besides those comic-level godlike templates, there were some cheaper ones like...
[Willing Superman Template, Reef Superman Template, Brandon Superman Template, Cage Superman Template, Middle-aged Superman Template (from Superman and Lois), and the weakest Henry Superman Template...]
Well, these weren't as expensive as the comic ones.
But still, their prices ranged from hundreds of thousands to over a million points.
Especially the Reef Superman Template, which was nearly as pricey as the comic templates—probably because it could reverse Earth's time at superluminal speed.
There was also a special one called the Middle-aged Superman Template, which came in two versions: a regular one that was more affordable, and a pseudo-golden Superman Template, which cost about the same as the Reef template. (The regular template could evolve into the pseudo-golden form too, but only by absorbing energy at the sun's core, and there was a chance of failure.)
"The expensive one must be the stage where it gains the power to split two universe-level forces after entering the sun's core."
"Alright, is the system store just telling me I'm a broke nobody who can't buy anything yet?"
Peter felt a little disappointed staring at so many universe-shattering templates he couldn't even afford—a kind of torture.
But thankfully, he could still buy some stuff with his points.
Besides the powerful Superman templates, the system store also sold many items from the Marvel universe.
Special materials like Vibranium, Adamantium, Uru metal, World Tree branches, and Aegis metal were all for sale.
Surprisingly, their prices were ridiculously cheap—comparable to gold or sand, costing just a few points per kilogram.
Other special items—like Vibranium shields, Iron Man suits, Thor's hammer, Stormbreaker, the Eternal Spear... even Infinity Stones, the Heart of the Universe, and Reality Modifiers—were available too.
Unfortunately, since these were one-of-a-kind items, their prices were much higher.
One Thor's hammer cost 50,000 points, and Infinity Stones required over 100 million points—not worth it at all.
However, with the store open, points could now be earned in more ways than just completing missions or changing people's fates.
Saving disasters like floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions would grant points.
Even causing disasters could earn points.
"Alright, if I start collecting Infinity Stones like Thanos to destroy the entire universe, then..."
Peter didn't dare think further. He was afraid he might actually go through with it.
Pulling his focus away from the system store, Peter suddenly remembered he hadn't turned in his armor-making mission yet.
"Submit armor creation mission."
Without hesitation, Peter submitted the task.
[Congratulations, Host. Armor creation mission completed. Reward: Middle-aged Superman Template (regular version)... Note: Templates will only merge, not replace.]
"Damn, why is it just the normal version? If it was the pseudo-golden Superman template, I'd be off flying right now."
Peter was feeling a bit conflicted. If the reward was the pseudo-golden Superman, he could've saved himself millions of points and just taken off.
"But whatever, a mosquito is still meat — let's fuse it!"
As Peter chose to fuse the template, a massive surge of power suddenly erupted inside him.
The terrifying energy boosted his original power nearly a hundredfold.
"No way, a normal template is this strong? Could it be because he's middle-aged now, soaked up decades more sunlight?"
Peter hadn't expected this outcome. His flight speed, which had just barely surpassed the speed of sound, shot up to nearly a hundred times the speed of sound after the power surge.
"If I were in space... wouldn't I be able to go faster than light?"
Without hesitation, Peter changed direction and blasted straight into space.
"The sun?"
Once he reached space, Peter looked at that blazing, radiant star, and a thought he'd been holding back suddenly burst out.
He accelerated in space, turning into a dazzling streak of light, heading straight for the sun!
"….."