16. Senate Armed Services Committee

John focused, activating the metal rune in his spiritual sea. His palm glowed faintly as he extended his energy into Tony's chest. Slowly, he locked onto the tiny shrapnel fragments embedded near Tony's heart.

His magic wrapped around each piece like invisible threads, gently pulling them away from the surrounding tissue. Beads of sweat formed on John's forehead as he guided the sharp, jagged pieces toward the surface. Tony groaned in pain, his body trembling, but he remained still, trusting John completely.

The shrapnel shards floated out one by one, suspended in mid-air by John's magic. Each piece was carefully deposited into a nearby metal tray. As the last fragment left Tony's body, John let out a sigh of relief. But the ordeal wasn't over yet.

Blood began to seep from the internal wounds left by the shrapnel. John placed both hands over Tony's chest and closed his eyes. This time, he activated his wood elemental rune to heal Tony. A soft, green glow emanated from his palms as he sent waves of healing energy into Tony's body. The damaged tissue began to knit itself together, closing the smaller internal wounds and stopping the bleeding. Tony's breathing steadied, and the pain in his expression eased slightly.

However, when John tried to close the open cavity where the arc reactor had been, his energy faltered. The gap was too large, and his abilities as a low-level wizard weren't sufficient to regenerate such extensive damage.

John clenched his fists in frustration. "I've healed most of your internal injuries, but I can't close the hole in your chest. My abilities aren't strong enough yet."

Tony opened his eyes, his face pale but calm. "You did more than enough, John. Thank you. I trust you with my life, and you didn't let me down."

John smiled faintly, exhaustion evident in his posture. "Just... don't push yourself too hard, brother. We'll figure out a permanent solution someday. Until then, promise me you'll be careful."

Tony nodded, placing the arc reactor back into his chest. The faint blue glow returned, casting light over both brothers.

---

That afternoon, John went to the cliff as scheduled to practice elemental control, but today there was something new on his list: developing elemental abilities.

Elemental control was useful, but in John's opinion, it was just basic. Even Tony could control an element now without much practice. Elemental abilities, however, were on a different level. With an elemental ability, you wouldn't need to concentrate so much—just raise your hand, summon a fireball, and hurl it at your enemies.

This also set John's path apart from the wizarding path described in novels. In those stories, wizards constructed spell models in their spiritual seas, which directly became their abilities. John's method was different. With every rune he inscribed into his spiritual sea, he gained the power to manipulate that element. However, developing abilities required extra hard work.

Take fire as an example: an elemental ability could include fireballs, fire arrows, fire beams, or even igniting your body to fight in melee combat. That was what John planned to practice now, alongside elemental control.

After three hours of continuous practice, John returned to his room to rest. As for the Stark Expo, he wasn't particularly interested. He'd just tag along with Tony when the time came.

---

After resting for an hour, John went back to his lab and began brainstorming advanced meditation techniques. An idea struck him, and he started drawing elemental runes in midair. First, the fire rune, then water, and so on. One by one, John reproduced every rune inscribed in his spiritual sea.

In front of him, six colorful runes floated midair, glowing beautifully. But now came the difficult part: fusion. John didn't even know where to start.

After staring at the runes for a while, John thought of something and asked Jarvis, "Jarvis, please scan these runes and try to fuse them as much as possible."

"As you wish, Master John."

A blue beam of light scanned the runes. Just as the runes began to dissipate on their own, the scan was completed.

Looking at the virtual rune symbols displayed by Jarvis, John ordered, "Start the fusion. Try every combination possible."

John could have attempted the fusion within his spiritual sea but feared potential accidents. So, he avoided the risk.

Even after waiting for 30 minutes, there wasn't a single result that met John's expectations. However, he wasn't discouraged. Leaving Jarvis to continue, John began inscribing a new rune he'd acquired from a teleportation circle.

---

Time passed, and the Stark Expo eventually came to an end. After exiting the event, Tony and John ran into a woman.

"Hi. And you are?" Tony asked, intrigued.

John, standing beside him, thought to himself, Here comes trouble.

"Marshal," the woman replied with a smile.

"Irish. I like it," Tony said, clearly impressed.

"Pleased to meet you, Tony."

"I'm on the wheel. Do you mind? Where are you from?"

"Bedford."

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"Yeah? You found me. What are you up to later?"

"All right, that's enough," John interrupted their conversation, turning to Marshal. "What's your business with Tony?"

"Serving subpoenas," Marshal replied with a sly smile, handing Tony a letter.

After reading it, Tony's mood soured. "Yikes."

Hogan, standing beside Tony, took the letter and glanced at Marshal. "He doesn't like to be handed things."

"Yeah, I have a peeve," Tony added seriously.

Marshal straightened, her voice sharp. "Got it. You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 a.m."

"Can I see a badge?" Tony asked, already knowing it was legitimate but wanting proof.

"You want to see the badge?"

"He likes the badge," Hogan chimed in.

Marshal showed her badge. "Still like it?"

"Yep," Tony replied with a single word, starting the car. Turning to Hogan, he asked, "How far are we from D.C.?"

"D.C.? 250 miles," Hogan answered.