บท 641: Avengers' Training: Hulk
"I am," she nodded her head slowly. Edward did not say anything more. In this timeline, it's not feasible for Steve to travel back in time to retroactively become her husband. Meanwhile, Peggy had another husband, but they divorced after a few years, probably because she could not forgive her first love.
Edward released a white light from his palm into her body, changing his Life Code on a genetic level, thus increasing her lifespan by a thousand years. He also strengthened her physical abilities, given her stats similar to those of the former Captain America before becoming the Universe Guardian. He also left an Aura Training Method in her mind, just in case.
In a matter of seconds, Peggy returned to her younger self and a physical shape unlike anything else. She looked at her smooth skin and touched her young face. Then, smiling, she looked at him," Steve."
"Peggy."
They hugged each other before starting to kiss passionately. Edward was fine at first, but when these two did not stop after more than thirty seconds, he had to cough to remind them they were not alone.
"Sorry about that," Peggy apologized.
"My bad," Steve said.
Edward controlled his jealousy. "I've increased her constitution, so she might have to take a few days adapting to her newfound strength."
"Is this why I feel I can crush a boulder or run a marathon like it was nothing?" Peggy commented. At first, she thought these thoughts were because she had regained her youthful vigor.
"Use the training I left in your mind to adapt to your strength quickly," Edward said before looking at Steve. "Don't you have something to do?"
"Oh, right." Steve flew in the air before disappearing.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"He should be fine."
"You don't sound too certain," Peggy stated worriedly. They had just reunited, and she did not want to experience another separation.
"His life is not in danger, but there are more important things at stake."
Peggy was briefly quiet. "He told me about everything. Is there anything I can do?"
Edward looked at her: "You're on the list for the secondary training group. Use the method I left in your mind to save me time and effort." After training the Avengers, Edward will take a long break before training the Defenders, and Peggy is part of that training group, along with the younger members of the Avengers, like Spider-Man, the Marvels, and maybe Scarlet Witch and her brother, if he can save them from Hydra's clutches.
"I'll do my best," Peggy nodded. Oh, and could you please unseal my strength and memories?"
'That bastard Steve really told her everything,' Edward complained. He then removed the seal from her memories. "Adapt to your current strength first before getting more of it."
Peggy was fine after seeing how she killed another version of herself. After all, she was in the army and one of the founders of SHIElD; she has killed plenty of people. However, there was still an odd feeling after killing someone that looked exactly like herself.
Steve appeared in the sky a few minutes later, releasing a potent aura and palpitating cosmic enemy.
"Tier 9, not bad," Edward commented. Although this strength was not his but the universe, it was still valuable. "How is it?" he asked.
"Bucky is still my flaw," Steve admitted with a sigh.
"Do you know where he is?"
"No."
Edward was not surprised. It's simple for a Tier 10 Entity like Mephisto to hide from the Universe Will— especially a devil like him who likes to hide behind the scenes and use tricks.
"In that case, we can only wait," Edward uttered. "There is one more thing." He told Steve about acquiring another set of strengths in case he loses his status as the Universe Guardian.
"Is this really necessary?"
"The Universe Will is limited by rules," Edward calmly explained. "If one day you have to make a choice that saves the universe but breaks the rules, it will have no choice but to remove your status as a Guardian. We must prepare for such a possibility."
Edward did not even mention the fact that once people discover the source of his power, they will try to deal with the Universe's Will. No, they don't even need such a reason as eliminating their timeline's will, which is one of the most direct and efficient ways to destroy them.
"I understand," Steve nodded.
"By the way, have you contacted Sam?"
"I've met him.
"And?"
"A great guy," Steve commented. He understood why the future him he saw got along so well with the latter.
"Have you told him the current situation?"
"No, that's confidential information."
Edward resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Tell him since he's on the training list for this round."
"Is that so? Alright."
The two chatted briefly before Steve left with Peggy. The two lovebirds have a lot to catch up with.
"It might be in our interest to study the source of his power," Morgan suddenly said.
"I've already put a mark on him to gather data."
"Good. You should also talk to Tony about his parents. We don't want that to become another one of his flaws."
"I'm on it." Edward hid that Bucky had killed Howard when he showed the Avengers the future, but this fact would become a problem that he needed to address eventually.
He summoned Banner for training, and as soon as the latter arrived, he could tell he was nervous.
"Banner, what's on your mind?" Edward asked, trying to appease him before things started.
"I'm a little jiffy about this training."
Edward glanced at him: "Are you afraid of being used as a weapon?"
Banner suddenly paused: "Something like that."
"Unfortunately, that is exactly what fate awaits you," Edward said, not mincing his words. "While you have reservations, some variants of yourself do not. When these monsters encounter our timeline and want nothing more than to eradicate it, we need someone to restrain them."
Banner was quiet. His life has been so peaceful ever since he found that meditation technique. With absolute control over his mind and soul, he easily suppresses the other Hulk and can control his transformation at will. However, he had never lost his fear of losing control, of being manipulated and turned into a weapon of destruction.
"You are a monster, Banner," Edward said calmly. "And that's coming from another monster who can recognize his own kind. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing — as long as you keep that sliver of humanity that allows you to use that monstrous power for something good."
"I…never thought of it that way," Banner uttered. "But what if I can't preserve that humanity?"
"That's why you need other people, other closed ones, to keep you grounded," Edward explained.
"I understand."
Banner proceeded with his test, and the test result was abnormal yet predictable.
"An abnormal affinity with Gamma Energy," Morgana reported. "We only need to strengthen his soul and pump him with enough Gamma Energy, and he'll become a rampaging monster that is the embodiment of strength and rage."
"So?" Banner asked.
"You'll need to start practicing an advanced version of your meditation technique to increase your soul. Then, you can start absorbing Gamma Energy from other dimensions," Edward explained.
"Advance meditation technique?" Banner muttered as something dawned on him. "Of course, that meditation scroll was so effective; it had to be magically related." He thought he was lucky enough to find something so mystical, but now he knew no luck was involved.
Banner shook his head, deciding not to overthink it, and started training. Despite how uncomplicated Hulk's training was, Edward still allowed him access to this Time Acceleration Room. He also added other training for Banner, including hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and, more importantly, soul defense.
Banner had a unique soul that was divided into two. The Banner Soul was previously weak before this training, but now, there is no issue. Meanwhile, the Hulk Soul is powerful, but it is easily influenced. Edward tried to teach that soul how to defend itself, but this thing was too stupid to learn anything too complex, so it was now the Banner Soul's task to protect it in case he met an opponent who was an expert at Spiritual/Soul Magic.
Edward even created a Soul Defense Artifact for them.
บท 642: Avengers' Training: Iron Man
"Stark, it's your turn."
"What an invasion of privacy," Tony complained. "Give me a moment." A few minutes later, Stark walked through the portal into the white room. He looked around: "So, this is the Potential Room the others were discussing." He observed and discovered there was nothing but an orb at the center.
"How does this work exactly?" Tony asked.
"The orb will first scan your body to see if you have any hidden bloodline talent or if your genetic makeup is predisposed for certain tasks," Edward explained. "Then, it will use your memories to understand your life and create a character model for yourself. Once that is done, it will generate billions of possibilities/alternate timelines from that model to determine in which field you would excel the most. Lastly, it will use Fate/Divination Magic to compensate for what it previously failed to see."
Tony thought momentarily: "So, Data-gathering that involves Genetic Information and Memories, Multiverse Variant Deduction, Quantum Probability, and Causality Manipulation?"
"In the scientific terms — yes," Edward nodded, silencing Tony. He knew his knowledge in these fields was subpar as some of them were considered science-fiction even by him. He sighed before saying: "Let's get this over with."
Tony's test was quick, and Edward did not even double-check after the abnormal results.
"So, he's basically you, excerpts his talent is geared toward technology instead of magic," Morgana commented.
'Just so you know, I'm one of a kind,' Edward retorted. However, despite his words, he must admit that Tony's talent was indeed on his level.
"You have four options," Edward said to Tony.
"A pure technology path, a pure magic path, technology, and magic combined with technology as the main, or a combination path with magic as the main."
"What do you mean by pure technology?" Tony asked in confusion.
Edward looked at him with a frown, "I'm confused why you're confused."
"I thought magic was just a more advanced form of technology, but due to the culture difference from your dimension, you called it magic instead of technology," Tony explained. "Now, your words insinuate that's not true."
"You're not completely wrong," Edward explained. "At a high level, these two paths are more similar than different. However, they are still two distinctive paths, each with their own rules and regulations by which they function."
"I see," Tony nodded before asking: "If I chose the pure technology path, how advanced are you talking about?"
"Advance enough to grant you power on par with the creatures I have shown you from the Convergence or even to build a Potential Room without using magic," Edward replied, making Tony squint.
"And you have such advanced technology?"
"Why are you surprised?"
"I figure you're more of a magic guy, so even if your technology is advanced…"
"You assume a lot of things, don't you?" Edward said.
"That's just the logical conclusion after the information you've provided me."
"I have visited plenty of dimensions with advanced technology," Edward explained. "Furthermore, once I accomplished something wonderful with magic, it's easier to deduce its technology counterpart."
"That makes sense," Tony nodded.
"So, what's your choice?"
"I have no interest in magic," Tony said. "However, your words about using magic to develop technology have inspired me, so I guess I'll take the third option."
'His predisposition is toward technology, but it seems he strongly rejects magic because of you,' Morgana commented. 'He probably figured it was too late to compete with you in the field of magic, but since technology is his forte and not your focus, he can one day stand side-by-side with you once he has made sufficient achievements.'
Morgana sighed deeply.
'I truly despise this strong prideful aspect of you, geniuses.'
Edward did not comment, as she perfectly captured Tony's psychology. In fact, he knew there was a high chance he would have made the same choice if he were in Tony's shoes. He summoned a datapad and a scroll, which he handed Tony.
"What are those?"
"The knowledge you want and a contract that states that you must share any new invention you've created from now on."
"What? Are you serious?"
"I'm about to share with you knowledge that human civilization probably won't be able to develop before the next 100,000 years. I got to get something out of it."
"But that's not fair."
"It's not," Edward agreed.
"Why did no one else sign such a contract?" Tony talked to the others, and no one mentioned an unfair contract.
"None of them are Tony Stark," Edward replied.
Tony was speechless. Although such words stroke his ego, he could not be happy or gain any satisfaction from them. He looked at the contract and asked: "What if I don't sign it?"
"That's fine," Edward replied. "I'll just change your training to strength training and build the armor for you. You'll just be a pilot. Anyway, unless something unexpected occurs, that's the plan for your friend, Rodhey."
Just a pilot — these words rubbed Tony the wrong way. People might be able to pilot his suit, but he was Iron Man. He can build the suit anytime and anywhere.
He took out his phone to scan the contract before asking Jarvis to review it and summarize it. Everything was normal since the contract was direct, without any flowery words or hidden clauses, except for one thing.
"Why is there no time limit on this contract duration?"
"We're living in dire times, meaning we could die at any time, so I did not feel the need to add a time limit," Edward explained casually.
"Nice try," Tony sneered. This meant that if they survived, he would have to hand over his innovation for the rest of his life. "Add a time limit. Let's say, about 20 years."
"Keep dreaming," Edward sneered. "With how much I'm investing, don't think about getting from that contract for at least 50,000 years."
Tony wanted to yell that he wouldn't live that long, but then he realized that he was dealing with things on another scale. With this technology, achieving immortality was simple.
"That's too long," he still said. "300 years."
The sneer was even more apparent on Edward's face. Then, the two argued back and forth before compromising to half the time. Tony's heart ached as he signed the contract. For the next 25,000 years, nothing he creates will be his alone.
"Don't exaggerate things. It's not like I'm asking you to share the profit from your work, just the data."
Tony glared at him.
"And, all my investment will go down the drain if you die. I'm the one taking the risk, yet you're acting like you're the one suffering."
Tony looked in disgust, especially after realizing he had said something similar countless times to companies or people he had previously invested in.
"Alright, now that is done, let's move on to the next topic," Edward stated. "It's about your parents." He told him what happened.
"Hydra, Bucky," Tony muttered before saying with gritted teeth. "I'll kill him."
"You can't kill him," Edward said.
"Because of Steve?" he asked while glaring.
"Yes."
Edward's perspective on the movie Civil War is somewhat unique. Back on Primordial Earth, he was on Steve's side, believing the government should have no control over the Avengers. However, he despises Steve's reaction after knowing the truth and going too far to protect Bucky.
However, his current self would totally control the Avengers since, after becoming an Emperor, he is the government. He also appreciated Steve's willingness to go against the world and his comrade for the sake of his former friend. Edward believes he would do the same for his family.
"Don't look me like that," Edward continued. "As a recommendation, I'll help you revive your parents. Or, you can build a time machine and take them to the future. Don't just prevent their deaths, but bring them right before they die to the present time.
"If you just go back and save them, you'll mess up the timeline, and you may not succeed as that would only create another timeline where they were saved."
Tony took a deep breath to calm down. "I understand."
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