School
“Good morning, Luke.”
“Good morning.”
“Morning, Luke.”
“Morning.”
As soon as he entered the school grounds, students greeted Luke wherever he went.
Luke attended Ryden House School, a prestigious school founded in 1827.
Handsome, polite, and consistently at the top of his class, he was one of the school’s most popular students.
Everyone believed he would achieve excellent SATs results in a few years and earn admission to one of the country’s top secondary schools.
“Luke, I bet no one in the entire school is more popular than you.”
A slightly jealous voice came from behind him.
Without even turning around, Luke knew who it was.
Will Johnson, his best friend.
“Will, if you were as handsome and as smart as I am, you’d be just as popular.”
“That’s it. We’re no longer friends.”
Will turned as if to leave.
“Where are you going?” Luke laughed, grabbing him by the shoulder.
“Philosophy class is in the north building. Hurry up, or we’ll be late.”
“By the end of the month, our farm is getting a new batch of animals. Want to come see them?” Will asked.
“You already have enough animals to look after. What are you getting this time?” Luke asked with a smile.
“Owls, alpacas, some rare breeds of goats, two sheepdogs, and… oh right, a python.”
“A python…” Luke thought for a moment before nodding.
“Sure. I’ll ask my parents first. It’ll also be a good excuse to visit Grandpa.”
Luke’s grandfather, Byron Kirk, lived with his grandmother, Isidor Kirk, on a farm in Maidenhead, not far from the Johnson family’s farm.
“Great! I’ll let you know as soon as they arrive.”
“Relax.” Luke smiled.
“It’s only June 4th. We still have a few weeks before the end of the month.”
“I just wish time would pass faster,” Will said excitedly.
Classroom
On the surface, Luke appeared to be listening attentively, occasionally answering the teacher’s questions.
In reality, hidden inside the open backpack beneath his desk, a small lump of modeling clay was silently changing shape.
Luke was manipulating it with his telekinesis.
This was the mental training method he had developed for himself.
At school, he practiced fine control by reshaping modeling clay.
At home, he used wooden building blocks to improve precision.
He also trained with LEGO bricks, manipulating several pieces simultaneously to develop multitasking.
Finally, he practiced lifting objects of different weights to gradually increase his telekinetic strength.
After more than a year of training, his precision, control, and multitasking ability had improved dramatically.
His raw power, however, had barely increased.
This training method was inspired by a movie from his previous life about people with psychic abilities.
While it proved highly effective for improving control, it did little to increase the amount of force he could exert.
At present, he could only manipulate small, lightweight objects.
Because of that, Luke had begun considering another option.
He planned to visit Kamar-Taj in the future and see if he could find a way to learn the Mystic Arts.
As for the powerful beings who protected Earth…
Odin was out of the question.
There was no way someone like Luke could reach the King of Asgard.
In fact, when he was younger, he had even tried shouting Heimdall’s name a few times, only to earn strange looks and a lecture from his parents.
Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.
Besides, judging from what he remembered, Odin wasn’t exactly someone an ordinary person could simply approach.
The other possibility was the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One.
When Luke had first arrived in this world, he had genuinely worried that the Ancient One might sense that he was a transmigrator and come to eliminate him.
As the years passed and nothing happened, those fears gradually disappeared.
From what he remembered, the Ancient One was actually quite open-minded.
If he could become her student and learn magic, his chances of surviving the dangers that awaited this world would improve tremendously.
The school day passed quickly.
Thanks to Britain’s relatively relaxed approach to primary education, classes ended early in the afternoon.
When Luke returned home, he found Anna sitting on the sofa, completely absorbed in a cartoon.
“Anna, where’s Mom?” he asked.
“She’s upstairs cleaning your room,” Anna replied without taking her eyes off the television.
Luke immediately headed upstairs.
As expected, Helen was in his bedroom, putting away the scattered building blocks and LEGO pieces covering the floor.
“Honestly,” Helen said with a sigh, “you’re already seven years old, yet you still play with building blocks and LEGO every day.”
“Mom, don’t clean them up,” Luke said hurriedly.
“I’m using them for an experiment. I’ll put everything away myself when I’m finished.”
“What kind of experiment can you do with these?” Helen asked with a smile.
“Just remember to clean everything up afterward, and don’t leave them on the floor. You might slip on them at night.”
“Okay, I’ll put everything away when I’m done.”
As soon as Helen left, Luke quickly closed the bedroom door.
For now, he had no intention of telling his parents about his abilities.
He didn’t want them worrying over something they couldn’t understand.
He would tell them eventually, but only when the time was right.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Luke began reviewing his training methods.
Since increasing the raw strength of his telekinesis wasn’t working, was there another way to improve his combat ability?
Combat power…
He searched through the memories of his previous life, recalling various ways fictional characters enhanced their fighting strength.
Then an idea struck him.
Speed.
As the saying went, speed is the ultimate weapon.
Even if his telekinetic force remained weak, increasing the velocity of an object could dramatically increase its destructive power.
With a new direction in mind, Luke decided to experiment immediately.
If he wanted to test speed, the first thing that came to mind was using sewing needles as projectiles.
“Mom, where are the sewing needles?” Luke called into the hallway.
“They’re in the top drawer of the shoe cabinet,” Helen answered.
“Be careful. Don’t prick yourself.”
“I’m just using one for an experiment. I’ll put it back afterward.”
Anna immediately looked over with childish curiosity.
“Are you making clothes for your dolls? I want to learn too!”
Luke certainly wasn’t about to let Anna anywhere near this experiment.
If he lost control of a flying needle, she could get hurt.
“No,” he said with a smile.
“Go watch your cartoons. I’m not making doll clothes.”
After returning to his bedroom, Luke locked the door to make sure Anna couldn’t accidentally wander inside.
He then took a hat, a scarf, and a pair of swimming goggles from the wardrobe.
Once he had wrapped himself up and covered the exposed parts of his face, he finally felt safe enough to begin.
At first, he simply guided the sewing needle through the air as slowly as possible.
Controlling such a tiny object proved much harder than moving building blocks or LEGO bricks.
Whenever he tried to increase its speed too quickly, the needle would slip out of his control and clatter onto the floor.
Fortunately, repeated practice gradually improved his precision.
Little by little, the needle began flying faster and faster under his telekinetic control.
“Luke! Dinner’s ready!” Helen called from outside.
Luke guided the needle gently onto his desk before glancing at the clock.
It was already evening.
He had become so absorbed in training that he hadn’t noticed how much time had passed.
“Coming!”
As soon as he came downstairs, James spoke up.
“I met with the publisher this afternoon. Assuming everything goes smoothly, The Lion King should be published sometime next week. The first print run will be fairly small so they can gauge the market. If sales are good, they’ll immediately arrange another printing.”
“That was fast,” Helen said.
“Now hurry up and wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.”
“Dad,” Luke said as he headed toward the sink, “the Johnson family’s farm is getting a new batch of animals at the end of the month. Can I go visit? I’d also like to see Grandpa while I’m there.”
“Of course.” James nodded.
“We’ll visit your grandfather together. It’s been quite a while since we last went.”
He paused before asking, “So, what are you planning to do after The Lion King is published?”
“I’ve already thought of my next story,” Luke replied.
“I’ll start working on it in a few days.”
“Luke! Luke! You have to tell me first!”
Anna bounced excitedly on her chair, startling Helen, who quickly reached over to steady her.
“Sit properly.”
“My son really is extraordinary,” James said proudly.
Luke couldn’t help blushing.
I’m only standing on the shoulders of giants, he thought to himself with a guilty smile.