Chapter 116: Accelerated Learning

In contrast to several other influential individuals in the industry, Murray wasn’t the kind of man who practiced nepotism.

If he had, if he hadn’t given people whom he believed were genuinely worthy of certain opportunities and awards, there was no way he’d have such strong backers in the industry right now.

It was also why his deliberation over which supporting actor’s name he would drop for the Emmie Award Nominations didn’t even last a minute.

Colonel Roberts already had a couple under his belt, though that wasn’t to say the man wasn’t worth the consideration.

It was just that his role, for as perfectly as he’d played it, didn’t make for the most memorable performance.

Louis Hoffman too, despite his questionable attitude and general haughtiness, was equally just as much of a great actor when he was forced to bring his A-game.

Yet, both of their performances had paled in comparison to Niall’s... which was saying a lot considering they both had years of polishing their craft under their belt.

Topping all that off, was his complete dedication to bringing his character to life in a way that impressed even Murray... a man that was rarely--if ever--impressed.

It was also why, in addition to Matthew’s name for lead actor award, he casually inputted Niall’s name into the supporting actor award on the online portal and locked it in.

Now, his hands were tied.

Whether his nominated actors came out on top, well that would be dependent on several factors leading up to the 2019 Emmie Award Nominations set to happen next year.

Meanwhile, Niall whom couldn’t even be bothered to obsess over awards as it was as important to him as a white crayon, arrived back home after his meeting with Paul an hour later.

Having discussed the terms of contract, the young star had plans to send it to him early next week and have him resume upper week--which also happened to be the very week pre-production for [A Maddened Wonderland] was set to begin.

Without fanfare though, Niall had changed into his casuals as headed over to the room he intended to use for his study and kept practicing his dance moves.

Now he only had two and a half weeks to get his dancing skills from a half-silver, half-bronze, to a solid gold at the very least.

To that effect, Niall had tried experimenting with something.

Considering dancing allowed a faster avenue to master several moves within a short span of time provided you had the talent for it--as opposed to other crafts that required far more nuance, time and experience--Niall figured he could abuse his Gifts to accelerate his learning curve even further.

Having made a long one-hour track that was essentially a collage of various songs across different genres that would force him to switch dance moves on the fly, Niall was essentially speedrunning through several moves he had memorized at this point with his Gift of Recollection.

That, in addition to his Gift of True Aptitude, fed into it in a way that perpetually put him in that constant, extraordinary flow state where he could blitz through what would take a genius days to learn in just an hour.

The music suddenly flipped into a fast-paced hip-hop beat, and Niall’s chest followed with a series of sharp chest pops, his shoulders snapping in rhythm as his feet rapidly shuffled beneath him.

Then, as the beat gradually transitioned into something funkier, his movements followed suit, softening into looser grooves as his shoulders rolled more naturally and a two-step carried him across the room.

From there, he executed a skillful heel spin, then killed his momentum almost instantaneously as a Latin rhythm took over, his feet evenly spaced, as were his arms.

Rather than breaking his momentum, the pause actually carried him straight into a series of salsa-inspired steps, his footwork becoming quicker and more deliberate as he moved with the rhythm.

Literally a couple seconds after, the Latin rhythm died, gradually giving way back to a pop beat.

With a light snap of his fingers that was right on beat, he executed a neat but still amateurish moonwalk, his form gliding across the room nonetheless.

Without hesitation, and without a single moment wasted, each style flowed into the next, forcing Niall to constantly adapt without ever truly stopping.

Thankfully, he had The Gift of Vitality to stack such strenuous physical work atop as the music changed over and over again.

Yet his grin only widened as his movements, most of which had initially felt somewhat clunky and foreign, slowly began to smooth out as they became more and more instinctive.

By the time the track finally ended, Niall was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving, but his body nowhere near fatigued.

Then the music started over again and Niall promptly followed, pulling off a backflip this time as he keyed it into a jittery, robotic dance the moment his feet had hit the ground.

As a result, when the other half of the week came around, Niall had pushed his dancing icon into a solid silver frame.

By the time the first week actually landed, he had evolved it into a half-silver, half-gold frame.

And when the second week arrived, Niall had successfully pushed his dancing skill into a gold-frame.

Even now, as he lay on the floor, the familiar tingling sensation washing over him, he couldn’t help but laugh with a hint of prideful bliss on his features.

He was probably the only person who could get up to such madness in the world and he knew it. At the same time, he was just as immensely grateful for his Gifts.

Now, he could finally dedicate all of his resources in the coming months to the pre-production of [A Maddened Wonderland] which was set to begin tomorrow.

Rising up from the floor, Niall made his way over to the bathroom to freshen up.

About an hour later, he was dressed in his casual wears, reading through the script of a [A Maddened Wonderland] yet again whilst tossing a grape into his mouth.

To say Alistair Hatter was mad... well, it was quite the understatement--enough that it made his father’s feats look cute in comparison.

Even in a fictional world filled to the brim with eccentrically chaotic individuals like Wonderland, he still stood out like a bright beacon.

Because of this, there were certain abilities he’d developed, all of which were just as flashy as they were skillfully dangerous.

It was also why, Niall found himself calling his new manager a few minutes later.

Having exchanged a few pleasantries with him, he then requested;

"Say, could you, perhaps, grab a deck of cards for me when you’re coming over today?"

"Sure, why not?" Paul replied from the other end of the line, though his voice did carry the slightest hint of curiosity.

"Thank you." Niall replied with a thin smile, then hung up on the call.

Paul was to resume his managerial duties today.

At the same time, Niall also planned to introduce him to his closest industry peers, hence why Victor, Henry and Mark were also coming over today as well.

It was also why he wasn’t particularly surprised when he heard a horn honking in front of his gate.

Casually viewing through the security camera and seeing that it was Henry, Niall simply hit a button that opened the gates from his living room.

Naturally, the man’s vehicle rolled into the driveway and he promptly got out.

Then he looked around the environment and remarked with an impressed nod as Niall arrived at the balcony of his house;

"Nice house you got here, Niall. Must’ve cost you a pretty sum."

"Thank you, though I’d reckon that little condo of yours up in Beverly Hills probably costs way more." Niall replied with a light smile, earning a slight chuckle from Henry as he walked into the building.

A couple minutes after, Victor arrived, as did Mark himself, followed by Paul half an hour later.

If not for taking a detour to get Niall what he wanted though, perhaps he’d have long arrived before the agent and the fledgling director.

Having introduced all three to his new manager--much to the relief of Victor whom had been hoping for it--Niall then brought Paul up to speed on what his schedule was set to be in the coming months.

The more Paul listened though, the more he couldn’t help but realize that although he might have some more flexibility to his time now that he wasn’t working under someone he constantly needed to be monitoring, his actual workload wouldn’t be diminishing in the slightest.

Not that he’d hoped for it in the first place anyway.

He was just surprised that Niall already had so much on his plate despite all the things he’d been involved in in recent memory.

In any case,

"Here you go." Paul handed over the packaged deck of cards to Niall.

"Thanks, Paul." Niall replied in appreciation, his eyes glimmering with interest as he stared at it.

"Don’t mention it." the man simply nodded in response.

Mark on the other hand, upon laying eyes on it, gave the young star a look of concerned resignation as he spoke;

"Don’t tell me you’re also planning to also master--"

"Yep." Niall replied before he could finish the sentence, an excited grin spreading across his features.

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/Caer07