So I gave in. I submitted. I sent the spaceman back to, presumably doomed, planet. I rejoined Damian in his meditation. And that was the way I spent the last week; completely devoted to meditation. By this point, I've just about mastered self-teleportation.
"Now, listen to me, Damian. I did what you want, I have dedicated all my free time to meditation and training, I've achieved the goal you set out for me. Now, it's time for you to help me achieve my goal."
"Flying, right?"
"Right. You promised me I'd learn how to fly, and now I'm calling in that little I.O.U."
"Fine. You're gonna need a quarter though."
"A quarter?"
"Any coin really. Actually, a dollar coin would be the best, but I don't know if you're gonna find one as easily as a quarter."
"Yeah, I can get one."
I walk over to one of the beaten up old vending machines near the gym and, using my newly improved teleportation power, reached my hand inside the coin box, finding one or two left over quarters.
Damian then waves me into the gym.
"Alright, so, how is a quarter going to help me fly?"
"It's a demonstration. You need to see how it works before you can learn how to do it yourself."
"Alright, teach me, sensei."
"First thing's first, teleport the quarter to about eye level."
I teleport the quarter, then watch it fall back into my hand.
"Yeah, this is definitely a good demonstration of flight."
"That's just the first step. Now, do it again, but this time, keep doing it."
"Keep teleporting the quarter?"
"Yep. Send it to the same spot, and do it slow at first, then ramp up your speed until you can't go any faster."
I teleport the quarter, then again, the again and again and many more against on top of those.
The quarter at first looks like it's trapped in a loop in space. It picks up pace. At first, I could see the quarter fall and reappear, but now it looks like the quarter is flickering around. It reminds me of adjusting the shutter speed on the camera. I saw a video once where they matched the shutter speed to the propellers on a plane, giving the illusion they weren't moving as the plane glided across the sky. That was what was happening. But there was no shutter speed, this was teleport speed. The quarter no longer looked like it was flicking all around the gap between my eye line and my hand, now it was just flickering while maintaining a shaky, yet stable, position in the air.
"I think I get it."
"Don't talk, just focus on going faster."
I keep focusing and the quarter stabilizes further and further. Finally, for a moment, it looks like it's just pinned in the air.
As soon as I saw that, I realized I had reached my limits and allowed the quarter to fall to the ground.
"That is teleportation."
"But I've already pinned things in the air before."
"Unintentionally. You did it without having to think about what you were doing. But, in order for you to reach flight in time, you have to do it purely through thought. Eventually it will come as a second nature, but we don't have time for that."
"So, when can I start trying that on myself?"
"As soon as the quarter doesn't impale itself into the floor."
I look down at the floor and indeed see that the quarter has split right through the wood and was firmly stuck in the floorboards.
"If you can't teleport fast enough to negate gravity, you will become just like that quarter."