Next, the Ancient One still tried to persuade Luke to take over her duties.
But Luke ultimately refused without mercy.
The secret arts of Kamar-Taj were indeed tempting, but he was someone with a cheat like system.
As long as he advanced step by step, he would eventually become the supreme ruler.
All he wanted was to take care of his own small family.
As for the greater collective?
He would consider that once he became invincible.
Going to Kamar-Taj meant charging straight onto the front lines of the battlefield.
He had no intention of becoming a kidney-deficient sorcerer.
What? The Ancient One was about to mutate?
Hadn't she already changed? She had shone brilliantly before her death, and now that she was gone, the forces of justice would lose yet another fighter.
Even if he wanted to obtain the Ancient One's template, he could simply wait until she fully mutated before making a move.
Although the Ancient One's visit had only earned Luke 200 Anomaly Points—including those from discovering the Ancient One herself and the Time Stone—it had allowed him to understand the true background of this universe.
The situation was worse than he had imagined.
However, it also instilled Luke with a sense of urgency.
First, set a small goal: acquire the ability to traverse the multiverse as soon as possible.
It's never a bad idea to consider failure before thinking about victory.
In the end, Luke introduced the Ancient One to another potential "Sorcerer Supreme" candidate: Crazy Dave.
Yes—that Dave, the protagonist from The Sorcerer's Apprentice who had obtained Merlin's dragon ring.
If Merlin the sorcerer had been able to protect a pure land a thousand years ago,
then a thousand years later, Dave—recognized by Merlin's dragon ring—was naturally the next candidate to inherit Merlin's legacy.
His talent certainly wouldn't be lacking.
He might not even be inferior to Stephen.
Originally, Luke had only mentioned it in passing.
However, when he went to school on Monday, he discovered that Dave had truly been taken by the Ancient One to Kamar-Taj for advanced training.
Luke and Madison walked to the classroom together.
On the way, they ran into Lily and her boyfriend, Sean.
When the two of them saw Luke and Madison, it was as if they had seen the plague god—one covered his face, the other covered her arm, and they hurriedly ran off.
Not far away were the three members of the school bully Mike's group.
What happened last weekend had completely humiliated these bullies, who used to run rampant among the sophomores.
Now, upon seeing Luke, they were filled with resentment, yet instinctively covered their faces and fled as well.
Luke didn't spare these small fry a second glance.
Then he saw Maria—an entirely different Maria. [img]
She had completely shed her former timid appearance, dressed in a fitted blazer, high heels, and especially eye-catching black silk stockings that accentuated her straight, long legs.
Her chestnut-colored long hair lay casually over her shoulders.
Her poised and confident demeanor made it feel as though she were a completely different person.
When she spotted Luke and Madison, this mature girl—who had transformed from an insecure, adorable duckling into a proud hot chick—lit up with delight.
"Hi, Luke, Madison. Good morning!"
"Maria, you look…"
Madison stared at Maria in surprise, unable to understand how she had changed so much in just a single day.
"Isn't the change huge?" Maria smiled and spun around.
Her long hair swayed lightly, carrying a faint fragrance.
Looking at those long legs clad in black stockings, Luke silently gave her a perfect score.
Black silk was the best.
"I heard that changing into a suitable outfit and putting on a bit of light makeup can make a person look much more energetic."
"Judging by your reactions now, it seems pretty effective?" Maria said with a smile.
Maria felt even more satisfied when she noticed Luke's unmistakably heated gaze.
For today, she had deliberately chosen this outfit—beautiful yet elegant.
As long as Luke liked it, everything was worth it.
"More than good. It's absolutely excellent," Luke praised, nodding.
Maria winked playfully. "So—was I prettier before, or am I prettier now?"
As Maria asked that, her heart tightened clearly.
In the glass window not far from the three of them, a reflection appeared.
It wasn't the Maria standing before them now, but her former self—the timid, withdrawn Maria of the past.
Yes. The current Maria was shaped by the personality of her twin sister, Airam—a shadow personality whose temperament was the complete opposite of Maria's.
The vacation had dealt Maria a tremendous shock. In her insecurity, she had once questioned whether she was truly worthy of Luke.
She had even cried silently while showering.
It was then that Airam stepped forward, offering to help Maria win Luke over.
After a fierce struggle within her mind, Maria chose to accept.
The two briefly swapped control of the body, leading to today's encounter.
This was the textbook definition of a deadly question.
No matter how you answered, it spelled doom.
But Luke was different. He was a cheater—someone who already knew the answer and worked backward from it.
Under Maria's excited yet fearful gaze, Luke slowly began to speak.
"The current you has a beauty that's confident and untamed, while the previous you had a beauty that was gentle and refined. In my eyes, both are beautiful—and both are irreplaceable."
Airam in reality and Maria in the reflection smiled at the same time.
They hadn't been wrong. Luke was true love—someone who embraced every part of them.
Airam felt deeply satisfied, and Maria was genuinely happy.
The more brilliant Luke's response was, the more they both wanted to throw themselves into a passionate, all-consuming romance with him.
Even knowing there was fire ahead, they couldn't resist running toward it.
Perhaps… they really needed a child to maintain their relationship as friends...?
Just then, a tall, well-built blonde girl walked over.
"Hey, Maria, good morning!"
Maria looked over in slight confusion. "Mikaela? Hi."
She knew this girl—the acknowledged campus beauty of the junior year.
She'd heard that Mikaela's family background wasn't great, yet she carried herself with confidence and generosity, never feeling inferior because of it.
She was even more famous than Lily, the undisputed star of the junior year.
Before this, Maria and Mikaela had lived in two completely different worlds.
"Oh, isn't this Senior Rowling, who made such a splash last Friday?"
Mikaela acted as if she had only just noticed Luke. Smiling, she extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Maria's classmate, Mikaela. I have to say—you're really handsome."
"Thank you."
[Mikaela IMG]
Damn... Megan Fox.. Gulp. Luke shook her hand. As he withdrew it, he felt a sharp scratch across his palm.
Luke glanced at Mikaela, who behaved as if nothing had happened and simply waved cheerfully. "I'm leaving now!"
It seemed she had only come over to greet them, leaving no room for anyone to pick fault with her behavior.
But neither Madison nor Airam was a naïve white lotus.
Both immediately sensed the intrusion of a third party—or perhaps a fourth.
Airam felt an instinctive sense of rivalry. As the campus beauty, Mikaela was on equal footing with her in terms of appearance.
Madison, on the other hand, remained utterly indifferent.
They already had Jenny at home, and now Maria—so what if there was one more Mikaela?
No matter how many there were, none of them would be a match for Luke anyway.
"Excuse me, please move aside!"
At that moment, two boys around seventeen or eighteen years old suddenly pushed through the crowd.
Luke glanced over and recognized the familiar losing duo—Peter Parker and Sam Witwicky.
Peter and Sam exchanged looks, instantly feeling a sense of mutual understanding.
But when they looked up and saw Luke flanked by three outstanding beauties, envy surfaced on their faces at the same time.
Same school, same age—yet Luke was surrounded by girls, while they were the kind of losers others mocked.
They truly wished they could trade places.
The arrival of the two boys failed to attract any attention from either Airam or Madison.
In their eyes, losers had no sense of presence at all.
Luke, however, suddenly remembered something—Sam seemed to be turning seventeen soon.
Seventeen was a very special age in most of the Hollywood Movies.
Maria's dual personality had awakened at seventeen.
Sam had met Bumblebee at seventeen.
It was the turning point for many protagonists.
Luke wasn't particularly interested in Sam, but he was very interested in the AllSpark.
He remembered that the beginning of the entire Transformers storyline stemmed from Sam uploading his glasses online.
Because Sam wanted to buy a used car, he had put many of his grandfather's belongings up for sale.
Those glasses, among them, recorded the locations of Megatron and the AllSpark.
Sam, you're still young. There are some things you can't handle yet—just leave them to me.
Luke took out his phone and directly snapped a photo of Sam's old glasses.
Everything was ready.
All that was missing now was Bumblebee.
________
Hi guys! I've finally set up a Patreon tier for this fic. "MRE"
Chapter 27 is already there, with a threesome!!! It'll be 12 chapters ahead of Webnovel by the end of tomorrow!!
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