'Oh, sooner than I imagined,' thought Luke with a faint smile. This means more money for him, as the production company that wants to film Carrie will have to pay for adaptation rights.
"How much will they pay for adaptation rights?" asked Luke. He had no power in this, as with his contract with the publisher, they had the bargaining power. However, his contract explicitly stated that he would retain a portion of the adaptation rights.
"You're quieter than I expected," Josh said, looking strangely at Luke. Any normal person would jump at the news that his movie would be in theaters.
"It was to be expected after Carrie had so many sales. How much?" asked Luke again.
"A million dollars," Josh replied with a slight smile as he saw Luke almost choke on his coffee.
"That much? The book didn't even make it a year," Luke said in surprise, setting the mug down on the table. He thought at most they would have paid half a million, not double.
"It's for that reason. The book isn't even a year old and already has almost a million sales. I'd like to toast with some alcohol, but you're a minor, and it's ten in the morning," Josh said with a smile.
As Luke's publisher, he would take a bonus, which, although it wasn't within the percentage, was still the salary he makes in a full year. Plus, he now had Luke's second full book ready to produce. Which translates into more money for everyone. Everybody wins, and that's why he's so happy since he's been Luke's publisher. A goose that lays golden eggs.
"Let's toast by drinking lots of caffeine," Luke said with a smile, raising his mug. Out of that $1 million, he will get 10%, which is USD 100,000. Even he would have a smile on his face if he got the news that he won 100,000 USD.
"Cheers!" said Josh, raising his cup and clinking it with Luke's.
An hour later, the meeting with Josh ended. They conversed about the new novel and the Carrie movie that is planned to be filmed within the next few months. Payments, etc.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Edgar as Luke left the coffee shop and started walking.
[The day is sunny. We're on the crystal clear beach in Sarasota. I have plenty of money. Of course, training] replied Luke, and Edgar, who was starting to get excited, grimaced.
"How boring... Meet some girl and sleep with her. To stop thinking about your ex-girlfriend," suggested Edgar.
[Sleep with her? I'm fifteen, man] Luke said with a grimace. He can't even do it with Enid, and he'd do it with a girl he barely knows.
"So? I lost my virginity at thirteen. You're already late," Edgar said.
[I'm not late. The average loss of virginity in America is seventeen] said Luke.
"How do you know that?" asked Edgar, raising an eyebrow.
[Photographic memory...] replied Luke without further explanation.
[I'm not sleeping around anyway. I'll just training] added Luke, ordering a cab to go to his rented house.
"Mm, let's see how long you last," said Edgar, leaving the subject aside. His offspring had money, fame, and good looks. He was fifteen years old when hormones were hard to control, and he began to have more sexual desires.
Add to that the fact that he was in Florida in the summer, living alone. The Umbrio don't care what Luke does, as long as he comes back at night and doesn't disappear.
After fifteen minutes, he arrived at his rented house. With the money he had, he rented a very large house in front of the beach. The rent was not cheap, but compared to his capital, it was very little.
It could not be compared to the Umbrio mansion, but ten people could live there comfortably. Luke used it for training and hanging out.
Natasha knew nothing about it. Most likely, she doesn't like him living alone, but that's not entirely true. Since he then goes back to the Umbrio.
'If she finds out, she'll be mad...' thought Luke, entering the house and heading to the gym. Yes, the house had its own gym.
Luke wasn't training to move more weight with his telekinesis. Edgar was teaching him how to fly.
"I'll last more than ten minutes flying today," Luke said with a slight smile. Flying was great, although his flight time was lousy, and he moved at a snail's pace.
Edgar told him that the flying technique is something that telekinetics who are at level 5 begin to learn, while he is at level 4 and has already learned the basics. He can even fly, even if only for a short time.
At first glance, it might seem that lifting your body weight would be much easier than lifting large objects, but flying is a completely different and much more complex task. When you move objects, you have a clear and complete view of what you are manipulating. However, flying involves moving your own body.
When attempting to fly, you do not have a full view of your own body. You can only see it in the first person. Which means you don't have a full perspective of how your body is positioned in space. This greatly complicates the task of controlling telekinetic waves to move in a coordinated and stable manner in the air.
So, to learn to fly, the telekinetic must develop an even deeper connection with his telekinetic waves, and usually, this is achieved when you are at level 5 minimally, or so the empirical evidence shows.
However, this does not apply to Luke. This is thanks to the fact that he possesses a white aura. His extrasensory ability allows him to see his entire body. As if he has a 360-degree view.
This is why the flight ability of someone with telekinesis and clairvoyance will be superior to that of normal telekinetics.
Luke, by seeing his body from an external perspective, can easily observe how his telekinetic waves interact with his body and the surrounding environment. This allows him to adjust and control his telekinetic waves much more precisely and efficiently, greatly facilitating the process of learning to fly.
'Training on a beautiful sunny day at the beach...' Edgar sighed internally. Although he liked Luke's dedication to training and exterminating the Spellmans at times, he was very extreme. He supposed this was because Luke broke up with Enid and had two friends who were far away.
"You won't fly today. You're already moving too fast. I'll teach you a new technique," Edgar said, catching Luke's attention.
"What is it? Go on, say it," said Luke in a rush. Although he didn't like to admit it, he was becoming a training nut.
"Psychic barrier," replied Edgar.
"Oh, I finally have the level to learn it!" said Luke with a smile. His day was only getting better.
He had long ago asked Edgar to teach him how to create a barrier to defend against attacks. A shield. Like Protego from Harry Potter. According to Edgar, it was an advanced technique that he couldn't learn yet.
"Yes," said Edgar, going on to explain the theory of the psychic barrier.
"Go on, give it a try," said Edgar, finishing his explanation. It was shorter and less complex than Luke thought it would be, but he didn't say anything.
Luke concentrated, and within seconds a translucent barrier appeared in front of him. The barrier completely covered Luke. It was a 4x4 frame.
'Just that...?' thought Luke in confusion. He reached out his arm and touched the barrier. It was as solid as a wall.
"Congratulations on your first barrier. Now try to change the shape. Make it cover your body completely, like a half circle, and like that. Bye," said Edgar.
"Wait a minute," said Luke, stopping Edgar.
"What's wrong?" asked Edgar.
"You had told me that creating a simple barrier was difficult, but it's not," said Luke, looking at his barrier, which was still alive. Luke could feel it; even if they shot him with a gun, the bullet wouldn't be able to break the barrier. Even if they emptied the entire magazine.
"Did I say that? I don't remember. Bye!" Edgar said, stepping into the collar quickly.
'This damn ghost!' thought Luke, clenching his fists.
He understood what happened here. His crazy great-great-grandfather always wants him to fight by putting his life on the edge. So, teaching him how to use a barrier would be counterproductive.
Immobilization and flying were much more difficult than achieving a barrier. Luke would have learned it on his own, but he had no idea how to do it. Unlike superpowers, here you need the techniques to accomplish such things. Unless you learn it instinctively, like Luke's telekinesis and psychic punch.
...
A month has passed since the summer vacation began. Luke's routine remained unchanged. Training in his huge rented house near the beach. Eating delicious food every day and then spending as little time as possible at the Umbrio mansion.
Natasha still didn't show up. She sent him a message, telling him she didn't know when she'd be here. She was looking for traces of where Luke's parents left the clues they collected from the Spellmans.
Luke had become obsessed with training. He spent more time training than playing games or watching series, manga, etc. It was a surprise to him, as he had no one forcing him to do such a thing.
This was due to the advances he made in all his abilities. He could fly like Superman, although he was still not as advanced. He was much improved compared to a month ago. He could now go for an hour without touching the ground.
His barriers improved a lot. He even looked for different ways to use them. After all, they were solid structures. He could use them to trap a person or crush them against another solid structure.
The only person he socialized with was Edgar, and he could only spend four hours outside the collar. The rest of the time he trained or, with his photographic memory, searched for techniques from manga or movies from his past life that he could replicate with his three auras.
'I wonder if I can replicate One Piece's vision of the future?' thought Luke, getting excited about having advanced observation haki.
Clairvoyance had many similarities to this haki. It should be possible. He can use his sixth sense to interpret the future, even if only for a brief period. In a battle, it would be broken.
"Yes... it should be possible..." muttered Luke under his breath with a smile as he thought of ways to replicate such an ability.
'He needs to get back to reality...' thought Edgar, looking at Luke with concern. A fifteen-year-old teenager is training in solitary like a Shaolin monk.
"Hey, time to buy breakfast," said Edgar, bringing Luke back to reality.
"Oh, yes, let's," Luke said, feeling his stomach growl. Last night, he didn't eat because he kept thinking of ways to use his powers for a possible battle to the death.
"Go to the cheesecake store. The food looked delicious there," said Edgar.
"Huh? That's a long way away. I'll go to the nearest store," said Luke. He went there once to try different food, it was tasty, but he had to walk more. If he could fly, it would be great, but he didn't want hundreds of normies watching and recording him.
Luke was staying on Lido Key, an island off the coast of Sarasota. To get downtown, he has a 4-mile commute. Thanks to the fact that he bought a bike, he can do it in about 20 minutes. Otherwise, he would have to walk for more than an hour.
"Come on, get some exercise. The food is worth it," Edgar said, continuing to convince Luke to go there.
"Fine. I'll go," Luke said, "Tsch, you can't even eat," he muttered, annoyed, as he walked out of the house.
'Step one complete,' thought Edgar with a faint smile. In that shop, he watched as a pretty girl looked at his grumpy, antisocial great-great-grandson. Although he was antisocial and unfriendly, looking, Luke's looks were very good. Besides, he was famous on social networks, and several people could recognize him.
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