Psionic Billionaire c1 (Patreon)

Alex walked out from the underground station and turned around. His eyes ended up on the enormous St. Paul's Cathedral.

This thing was massive and no matter the time of the year there are always a bunch of people around this building.

Though, this was not Alex's destination. Instead, he looked at the main street which connects Bank and St. Paul's. This was one of the richer roads surrounded by banking and investment companies, from all over the world. Though mostly connected to the Commonwealth countries.

As he was walking there he could see how everything was pretty much the same as he remembers, which is strange!

All the shops are how he remembers! This IS freaking strange! He can see a huge Hugo Boss shop, Starbucks, Costa, a branch office of Nationwide Bank, 'Artisan du Chocolat' the chocolate shop which makes him for a second drool from all the different chocolates there are!

Though he skipped it and instead walked to the shop next door which is a bookshop.

He could read online but it would be better to read a book written by an author who knows what he is talking about.

Like that book by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, that stuff is great. 

As Alex walked in his nose was assaulted by the smell of paper. His eyes wandered for a bit. Until he found something of interest. He walked there and started to inspect the book.

'Hmm, nope, this is fiction…next section it is then…'

His eyes wandered into another section where he saw something interesting.

'Oh…learning to boss around people… I remember this was quite popular before the economic crisis of 2008… will this even happen in this… Supernatural world/place?'

For a second he frowned before taking it, he then proceeded to look for basics on body language and psychology. Well, it's not some sort of bland book. It says 'Understanding the Psychology of Fellow Office Workers.' So, it's more like a book for a supervisor or something like that for the office.

But it will be good for him after picking up a few other books he walked past quite a curious section…

"Hmm… Stock Market for Beginners…" 

'Oh…'

'... Oh…'

'...OH…'

At that moment Alex was pulled out of his mind as he saw imaginations, maths, statistics, and money calculations done in milliseconds.

'This could work…a cheat…a hack to get myself rich… this way I would have enough time to practise my Psionic Powers!'

Without thinking much he grabbed the book and the other which is written by a famous Stock Market tycoon.

'I love how Capitalists don't mind selling their experience for a quick buck.' 

After bringing all the books to the cashier Alex only spent less than £30!

'The inflation! But of course! Before 2008, the UK was a Goldmine for immigrants!' He shook his head remembering that he bought five books which normally would have cost him over £50 in his previous time! Now he only spends £30 on these books!

Once he got the books he went back home, he still has his projects for Economic studies to finish!

'Meh… I might as well drop out. No… first let's see if I can earn money the way I want. Only then I can start dropping out from the courses and the work entirely.'

After making up his mind he went to the Bank's Underground Station which was closer to him than the St. Paul's by this point.

~~~~~~Later, Back at Alex's Flat~~~~~~

After a quick shower and food, Alex proceeded to start reading. This was where his 'Hyper Analysis' passively kicked in as he started 'adding' new information into his mind instead of just reading!

Almost like his mind was scanning like a scanner and then analysing pages and cross-referencing them with the rest of his knowledge! It was an incredible process to simply learn what is written and then compare it with the knowledge he already has!

Once he finished one book he proceeded to the next one and then the next one. It only took him a few hours to finish everything!

"This is exciting! Now, let's test this!" Alex got up from his bed and turned on the PC, then he got into his seat and waited for the windows to boot up. 

Once that was done he started the web browser and went to Google. In the search bar, he typed London's Stock Market.

As usual, he needed to sign up. Though the sign-up form was much more extensive and annoying. From home address to age, even details on his passport… It was quite a long process.

But once he was done… he gulped down when he saw statistics, numbers, and arrows going up and down… he would be over his head if not for those two books!

While his savings are only £300 after buying PS5… which morphed into PS3… while his PS4 morphed into PS2… well… it won't be coming back, so there is no point in crying.

For this trial, he only transferred £100. It will be enough to check if he can use his Computer like power to get rich. 

As he was surfing through the Stock Market he recalled that one movie about accessing 100% of one's mind and how behind all these fancy numbers lies people. 

So he then started research… a very long research, research in which a second monitor would be very useful…

Surfing and figuring out the situation of the company, their products and things like those. There were some big shots like the construction companies which are rapidly gaining value, so Alex decided to spread that hundred on these stocks. The buy worth of these stocks wasn't that big like certain carmakers or the elephant in the room… Microsoft… even here in the UK.

'Wait a sec… Apple! Of course! Fuck! It's still shit at this moment!' 

A quick search later he found it! It was shit! They don't have their iPhones yet! So, the stock is almost worthless, though… he needed to check Wall Street as there is no Stock here in the UK.

'I will buy these off as much as I can! Later that is!' Alex thought with a grin as he proceeded to do more research before retiring to his sleep.

For a few moments, he thought to train his Psionic Powers but he was tired, the whole Hyper Analysis usage over and over made him mentally tired.

As he lay in his bed he released a satisfying sigh and felt like releasing all that tension from his body. Though he didn't realize that mixing this much excitement with muscle action could result in certain actions he didn't expect.

The moment he opened his eyes he realized that something was wrong.

He swiftly looked around and saw…himself laying in the bed! From the looks of it, he was asleep!

"The fuck!" 

"Whoa… I sound weird!" Alex exclaimed as he looked at his hands, they were ghostly! He was a ghost!? 

"... Wait, I think it's called astral projection," Alex said with a thoughtful look. He tried to touch his chin in this form but nothing was working. His hand simply went through! 

After thinking for a bit he tried to move, and he was able to move similarly as if he was in water. It's a weird experience of floating and not feeling any sort of gravity effects.

Not only that but the world, his room looked… strange… almost like a mirror or echo, as the sound of cars outside his room made it sound strange, almost like there was a lag for the sound. 

Sound travels fast but in this form, it is quite slow!

As his eyes went to the window he floated over there and passed through the glass into the outside. 

His eyes bulged out as he saw the neighbourhood in a completely new way! The sky was purple and pinkish while the road and the house were bright yet at the same time hiding in black mist. 

It's a weird horror-like setting of some dystopian future. 

After looking around Alex floated forward and directly on the road. He could see cars moving… but they were moving slowly… like super slow…  Snail speed while they usually should be around 30 miles per hour.

As he looked around he noticed something weird… one of the street light poles is in a chaotic order. Like it's shattered into several pieces, and just mixed up! Like a puzzle which needs to be solved!

Curious, he floated over there.

The moment he was close to the light pole, a Rubik's cube flashed into existence right in front of him. Spinning, solving itself right in front of his eyes.

The moment it happened the area around the chaotic light pole glowed.

'Solve it and you will be rewarded for it! Fail it, and you shall feel disappointment.' Alex mumbled to himself when he said that, he got the message across. It's one of his powers…solving puzzles? Well, he did pick Rubik's cube.

'So, Psionic powers, puzzles in the astral realm? What else is there? What about the third object I picked?' 

Thinking for a bit, dreams are weird, especially that one. Though he stopped thinking and instead started to think about how to solve this 'puzzle'.

He can't touch the light pole but what about his mental powers? Focusing on one of the pieces, it started to glow purple and he was able to pull.

His eyes widened a bit as he felt how it is to use this power in the Astral Plane! It felt like a paperweight instead of metal! Regardless he started to solve this. 

It was not hard as it was only like 4 pieces, the moment he arranged it properly the light pole glowed white and rearranged itself and fixed in a place! Looking as if it was brand new!

The moment he was done, purple energy surged at him from the light pole! 

Filling him up with power! 

"Is that my reward!? I gain more psionic power!?" Alex looked at his hand, there was a layer of purple energy around him. It appears it's not disappearing after entering him!

"Fascinating…" A small smirk appeared on his face, it's time to look for more things to fix!

He then started to look for more. He floated past the small supermarket which was just three minutes away from his house.

"Wait a second…" He turned around and looked at the fixed light pole in the distance. It was barely visible with the black mist making it only partially visible.

A realization hit that moment, it was the very same light pole which was bent weirdly! In the physical plane! 

'I see… so that's how it works! I fixed a broken construct! Is it somehow connected to the perception of how people look at things? Or…something like that. As in light poles are supposed to be straight, otherwise people will see it as weird!

If I am to follow such a train of thought then there is another bent light pole in the opposite direction where the crossroads are.' 

Alex tried to cross his arms which… actually worked!

'Oh? So this works now? Oh… I see… I am more powerful now…'

As he thought to himself, he proceeded to float in the other direction.

Though he realized quickly that his floating is more like flying now… he was moving quicker towards his destination.  

As he passed a slightly elevated pedestrian crossing and looked forward, he quickly stopped in his tracks as he saw a person standing in the middle of the road!

It was… a thing… ghostly… black greyish wild and very long hair, dressed in white ghostly dress… it was just standing there.

Until it spotted a very slowly moving car!

This thing was not far from the light pole he was thinking to 'fix'.

'Fuck… is that a real ghost? Or something else entirely?' 

Since he was on the road the cars were still moving… and from the looks of it, this ghost-like thing is trying to do something to the cars and people inside! Not that it's working… or is it? Can one even interact with the physical world in this place!?

'...hold on… is this like that superstition how a place of accident has a chance of another accident happening? 

Whole thing about negative energies affecting a certain place, increasing the chance of another incident happening…'

Though… is it? He does remember one section of road where several incidents happened, but one could always say that this happened because of shitty road design.

For now, Alex decides to watch this from some distance.

He didn't need to wait for long before he was able to see the face of this thing. 

The moment he saw it was the moment he turned around and left!

From the looks of it… it was one of those crazy evil-like ghosts. With a pale ashen face, pitch-black eyes…there was even some ghostly blood on that thing's lips!

'Do ghosts even have blood? Or is it the looks of a person and how it died?' 

As he thought about it, he returned to his flat and got back into his body.

The moment he opened his eyes he saw the world how he was used to seeing it. Though… he noticed a small change to himself…

There was that small…new feeling to himself as he looked around. A certain sharpness… to test this he tried out his psionic powers…

It was much easier to make items float on the table. He made all the small things just start floating with minimal effort on his part.

'Could I use my Psionic powers to deal with that thing?' Alex thought with a frown as he made all the items land back on the table.

'Maybe after some more practice. I don't even have any idea how powerful or ferocious that thing is…' After thinking about this a little bit more it was time to hit the sack for real this time!

"Hmm…what is the time?" 

Alex asked himself as he realized that he didn't check how long he was away!

"... No way! Ten minutes!? Are you for real!?" 

It felt like several hours! If this is true… if the time gets warped when one is in the Astral Plane… then that thing he saw in the crossroad could be old or even ancient! 

~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~

The first thing in the morning Alex did, was to check the Stock Market!

A quick check later there was a small smirk on his lips as the stocks he bought now are worth around £156!

It was not bad, but it will take ages for him to get rich. Though he is in no hurry. After dressing up and getting his breakfast he went to his work.

As he was walking on the pavement his eyes went to the light pole… to his surprise it was straight and not bent in any sort of way!

'Strange… I was sure this thing was bent! Did they fix it over the night?

They usually do all the road works over the night in London.'

With a thoughtful look, he proceeded to walk towards the bus stop.

As he was walking he noticed people standing and waiting for the bus. This was where he noticed something peculiar.

He could 'read' the mood of the people, like he could see one guy was nervous. From the way he was dressed he was late to work or meetings. Doesn't matter, what matters is that he could tell such things from a simple gaze. Like the woman sitting on the bus stop bench was annoyed. From the looks of it, she didn't want to be here. 

All of these things were interesting to observe for Alex. His power started to show their 'fangs'.

Once he was in the bus, the upper deck, that is, it's the way to travel when you live in London.

He started to think about how to progress from here. The obvious thing is to train Psionic powers, the fastest way for him is that Rubik's cube thing in the Astral Plane. Though the Astral Plane from the looks of it is very dangerous.

Just remembering that thing sent a few goosebumps through Alex's back. 

"Hmm?"

His eyes went to the side where he saw the local library getting its renovation, on the way.

'Hoh… I wonder… '

That moment Alex repeated the same feeling he did in his bed, when he opened his eyes he was in the Astral Plane, his gaze went to the Library.

"Bingo… I see… so it is related to things which need some sort of maintenance. Is it related to people's perception though?" 

In the Astral Plane the very same library was all over the place… the doors were floating away, and the Greek-style columns which look quite nice were shattered and in need of being collected like lego pieces.

Though… finishing such a 'puzzle' is going to take ages for Alex as it's a building with hundreds of pieces, unlike the light pole he fixed.

Once inspecting the library in the Astral Plane he swiftly returned to his body. 

The amount of time that passed was not even a single second. Which is quite surreal as he realized that he could use the Astral Plane to his advantage.

He still needs to see how this works with living people around. If he interacts with them? Will he interfere somehow? Will he be able to possess someone? Or punch out from their physical bodies?

'Hmm… no, not punching out… that's too extreme… At least I could cheat in poker or something like that…' For a second Alex grinned, he could use this in casinos and gambling places!

Though it's a little bit dangerous since he needs to relax, like truly relax before he could leave the body.

As he was arriving at the bus station, Alex's attention went to another light pole which was pushed inwards!

His eyes for a second glimmered before he gulped down.

'It is a gamble, is this a crash site or just a stupid bus driver high on weed who had a blurry vision and thought that the road is too small and decided to 'expand' it? 

One thing for sure is that people in this country are way too relaxed, on pretty much everything. Work ethics are lacking, the discipline is not existing.

While he was internally ranting about this his eyes never left that light pole, he wanted to check it out, to test it, to make sure his idea is true.

So, he walked over and took a seat in the bus waiting area and closed his eyes and relaxed in the seat.

The moment he opened his eyes he was out of his body. He swiftly floated outside and looked around.

The Daytime Astral plane was less spooky. Though the mist was still there, this time it was not black but whitish-grey, not that it improved the visible radius. Most of the surroundings were still not visible.

Not that he paid too much attention here, instead he went to the area close to the bent light pole.

A smirk appeared on Alex's face when he saw several floating pieces of the light pole. The moment he was close the same Rubik's cube appeared in front of him. It spun and rotated until all the colours aligned, at that moment he had the very same feeling as before!

'Solve it and you will be rewarded for it. Fail it, and you shall feel disappointment.' Internally he said to himself.

This time he could do the 'puzzle' in just a few seconds as it was just to arrange four pieces. 

The moment he was done the light pole glowed and emitted purple energy which entered into Alex's body. Once again, it didn't subside as the purple layer around his being got slightly thicker.

'Oh… not bad… it feels nice to see one's progress like this.'

Once he dealt with the light pole he returned to his body.

~~~~~~Physical Plane~~~~~~

As people were walking down the pavement towards the Underground and the Bus station, out of nowhere the light pole which was bent to the side moved on its own and straightened up!

The people who were close moved away as they heard the loud metallic sound of metal bending! Straightening itself up!

"What the fuck!" One guy exclaimed from the frightened look, while one next to him laughed.

Amused Snort

The one who got frightened looked embarrassed for a bit.

Though… weirdly enough they didn't think much about this bizarre accident. Yes, they were confused. Yes, they would like to know what the fuck this just happened. But, then again after a quick check, they continued to walk. Work doesn't wait.

~~~~~~Later~~~~~~

With the Hyper Analysis activated, a trip which lasted around 20 minutes turned into several hours long. This allows Alex to test a few things out with this power.

One thing he noticed is that this power got stronger. The only reason he sees this happening is because of the things he did in the Astral Plane.

But this was good as his processing power is stronger now.

What he wanted to test out is if he has more computer-related powers, not just the analysis. 

First, he tried to select specific memories and store them in a single 'place'. Like, for example, making a sandwich.

And just like that, he sorted out this specific memory over the years. He did this more than several hundred times. Since he was just a kid while making Nutella Sandwiches to the more experimental 'hot' sandwiches. They were all there.

After having them all stored in a single place he decided to 're-analyse' and find out the 'mistakes' in the process of making them.

Since mistakes are decided by his mind and his experiences it's not an absolute improvement. But this is better than nothing. He now has a 'starting' point where to improve. 

After doing this on the sandwiches part he did this on several more, on more important parts like a few works related to this which improved his efficiency. Besides, he will be able to try this if this idea works.

Eventually, he realized that he has several of these 'places' where he compiled these memories.  To make it more presentable for himself he turned them into 'folders'. Then place them into one single folder.

After doing this he realized that he is turning his mind into something similar like a 'system' folder for Windows…

Though he already noticed a slight change in himself. He is having less random thoughts, the mind wanders off much less than it usually is, and it makes him more efficient with his movements!

He noticed that immediately after getting up from his seat.

~~~

Since he was in London's centre it was a good time to check out the city centre in the astral plane.

He has around 10 minutes before he needs to return to his work. So he locked himself up in a toilet and got comfortable in his seat.

A second later he left his body and floated out from the building into the street.

"What the…" He stopped in his tracks as he saw fire… 

Everywhere he looked was fire. Though…since he was high in the air, like the fourth floor high the flames don't reach him. What was weird was that the fire did not burn anything… it was just there!

"Weird…" After looking at the fire for a bit he started to explore the Astral Realm.

Weirdly enough once he passed to the other side of the Thames river there was no fire there. Only at the northern bank of the river there was this fire.

After thinking for a bit the only thing he could place this fire is the Great London Fire which happened in 1666.

'It appears the Astral Realm is some sort of echo of the real world. But how does this flame remain here for so long? It has been close to over 350 years!

Is it related to the fact that people still remember? Or am I just overthinking this?' Alex frowned as he looked at the flames in the distance.

Now that he thought about this, it is quite warm in Bank, St. Paul's areas. Like slightly warmer than the rest by around 2 degrees. It was especially felt in the Underground stations. The common consensus on this is because of the train movement and large numbers of people contributing to warmer surroundings.

Regardless, he wanted to check out the castle, the Tower of London.

That thing is ancient, more than 500 years old. It should have a strong echo in the Astral Plane! IF it's how the whole thing works!

Flying to the Tower of London took him quite a bit of time. Though he was faster than before, it appears that Psionic output has increased his speed even more. This makes another reason why he needs to find more stuff to 'fix'!

Once there he could see Black energy radiating from the castle. Outside he could see ghostly beings aimlessly floating around. They were dressed in medieval clothes.

Unlike that thing he saw in the crossroad, these… looked extra docile! Almost like they have given up and just float around aimlessly.

Though the castle itself was holding something potent, it's well known to hold torture tools in the basement and other things. Related to Medieval society, it's like a window to those dark times of 12 to 13 centuries… that's how old this thing is.

And it would seem to be by turning this into a tourist destination, allowing people to see and remember about all this only made this potency to stay in this place.

Or at least this is what made sense to him!

'Fascinating, I should return here once I have sufficient power. Who knows what is inside this Castle.'

After inspecting the Tower of London from a distance he turned around and flew back to his body. 

~~~~~~After Work~~~~~~

Alex was back in his Flat as he was contemplating what to do next. At this moment he was thinking simply to train his Psionic powers or proceeding to fix the Library which is around ten minutes drive from his flat in the Astral realm.

He is not that confident that he could fix it. But he has quite a bit of time before he needs to do anything. This means in the Astral Realm he could spend several days or even weeks!

Though could he do it? At this moment he doesn't have that much idea what are the limits of his power. Could he drop it midway and return later? Or it's more lax than that? He doesn't know the extent of 'disappointment' if he fails. Success gives him power. What about disappointment? Will it remove that extra energy he got?

That's why he is this cautious with his next objective. 

Still, though. One needs to be bold to be successful. So after thinking for a bit he decided to try this out. To check if he could fix that thing!

With the speed he could fly there he ended up in front of the library in less than 10 minutes. Though he is still slower than the bus speed when there is no traffic. 

Seconds later the Rubik's Cube appeared in front of him, it started to spin and solve itself, before he felt a familiar feeling by this point.

'Solve it and you will be rewarded for it. Fail it, and you shall feel disappointment.' Internally Alex said to himself.

"Well, let's begin." 

After the second boost in psionic strength, Alex could lift five pieces of a single marble column and arrange it neatly in a single try. However… The issue is that he doesn't truly know the interior of the library!

This means he is doing this without knowing the interior layout of the building!

Though after trying several times he realized that he has his Hyper Analysis! With this power, he started making a mental image of this building while toying around with the pieces!

First, he started with the foundations, and since he was in the Astral Realm where proper physics and gravity is not working, to begin with, he simply made the pieces float away and focus from the bottom and then work up. 

The columns were the easiest part after finishing with the foundations. Though Alex was wondering why there is no basement with this. Is it just because he is working with the part which is getting fixed?

Well, it didn't matter by the time he finished the columns he was on fire and the pieces were starting to slide into places almost by themselves. 

…

…

"Oh, I see so that's how it works, fascinating…"

…

…

"Hmm, I suppose a more classic roof would fit with all this Roman idea these guys were working…"

…

…

"So many books! Why do I have to sort this properly!?"

…

…

After a considerable amount of time had passed, to the point that it was already dark in the Astral Plane, meaning it was dark in the Physical Plane as well.

It was finally done!

As the last piece of this oversized lego sliced into its place the whole building glowed! The 'Earth' shook as a purple blast of energy blasted into the sky!

Thunder crackled in the purple-pinkish clouds before a pillar of purple energy slammed into the shell-shocked Alex!

It was so bright that he had to cover his eyes! A few moments later he opened his eyes and inspected himself. The thin layer of purple energy surrounding him increased considerably; it looked like several inches thick flaming aura was surrounding him!

He was feeling much more powerful than before!

Though this was not the end as the library doors blasted open and hundreds of books flew out and created a storm of books and pages, eventually starting to converge into a single point!

Forming something unique! A small wonderment appeared on Alex's face as he saw Psionic power radiating from the central item!

By the time this was over…

A thick purple and black book descended in front of him! Ready to be claimed!