**The Atlas of Knowledge**
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Viktor felt his mind bubbling. He felt strange, as if forced to recall everything he had ever learned in his lives in a single instant. It seemed as though something was dissecting his memories little by little, extracting what it deemed valuable and moving on to the next.
The process was incredibly painful, and at some point, Viktor lost all sense of time. When he woke up, he realized it was already night. Everything seemed somewhat blurred, and his vision was hazy.
"Water," he managed to say with difficulty.
"The young master is awake!" a maid's voice rang out loudly, and soon the water he had asked for was poured over his lips. Viktor felt like a man in the desert who hadn't drunk for days, and after emptying several cups of water, he finally felt satisfied.
He soon noticed the family physician, Doctor Garles, was there. Dressed in his black robes, he was observing him with clear concern. "Tell me, do you feel anything strange? Tell me what happened," Garles said, trying to get Viktor's attention.
"I'm not sure either, Doctor. Right now, I just feel tired with a slight headache," Viktor replied. The physician took out a small notebook and began making notes while assessing Viktor's physical condition.
At some point, Viktor noticed something unusual in his vision. On the palm of his right hand was a kind of golden, human-shaped sprite, the size of a finger, waving at him.
*Am I hallucinating?* Viktor thought and ignored the little spirit for a while, until he was left alone again in the room. "Rest for now. I will speak with your father and then conduct a few more tests with you," the doctor said and closed the door, leaving him alone.
At that moment, Viktor's drowsy look vanished, and he eyed the little sprite on his hand with suspicion. "Who are you?" he asked the little spirit, which opened a smile that deformed its own form before starting to laugh.
"Hahaha! Who would have thought a reincarnated soul would be so afraid of a simple book, hahaha!" The spirit laughed freely and began to fly right in front of Viktor. "One, I know about your past. Two, I am reading your mind. And three, I am not a malevolent spirit. I am the Atlas of Knowledge," the little sprite said, surprising Viktor.
"How do you..."
"We are connected. Don't worry, I will explain my history to you properly," the spirit said. With a small flash of light, the golden book reappeared in front of Viktor, and its pages opened.
"A very, very long time ago, when this land was ruled by Titans and Dragons, an ambitious Dragon gathered a group of the finest smiths and mages on the continent to create a book that could contain all existing knowledge. Over decades, they failed until I was born—the Atlas of Knowledge. A book that bonds to its bearer and absorbs every single grain of knowledge they possess, storing it so the next bearer can access it," the spirit spoke animatedly, and the book's pages turned as it told the story.
"Throughout the ages, I have had 22 bearers, who were the sages of their eras. And you, Viktor Vance Graves, are the 23rd bearer of the Atlas of Knowledge and the second to provide the greatest amount of information I have ever received, surpassed only by my first bearer, the great Elder Dragon Vanúr, who lived for five thousand years." The little spirit paused before bowing.
"On behalf of all the others—the ancient sages who saw through me—I thank you. Now, feel free to ask, and I shall answer you." The little spirit of Light bowed, and for a moment, silence reigned.
Viktor's mind took a while to process everything he had heard. What was happening before him was simply too magical; it went far beyond his usual logic. It was almost... divine.
Soon, he took a deep breath, calming himself, and began to ask questions. The pieces quickly fell into place. As he imagined, the book held vast knowledge. Having recorded the lives of 22 great researchers of various races, it contained almost all the knowledge one could imagine. And having been refined by Earth's modern knowledge, it became even more complete.
Many things Viktor didn't even remember, the Book had extracted from his memories: small readings on scientific topics, complex theories of social behavior, biology, sociology, chemistry, even magic. Everything was properly organized and recorded in the book.
Of course, not everything was rosy. Just as a man cannot build a skyscraper by merely looking at a theoretical blueprint, Viktor could not magically comprehend almost any of the subjects listed there.
He felt like he was opening a book of mathematical formulas for the first time, where numbers and symbols he had never seen made no sense to him whatsoever. But even knowing this, a great smile spread across Viktor's face, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
As the moderns used to say, knowledge is power. The more you know, the more control you have, and the more options open up to achieve your goals.
Soon, plans on how to use all that knowledge began to flow in Viktor's mind. His briefly suppressed ambitions grew rapidly. But despite this, he hit a snag before continuing.
"I need power and influence," he whispered quietly. Viktor had already been crushed for trying to change the world without power. Not anymore. With the knowledge in hand, he could revolutionize not only his current kingdom but the entire world. But if he didn't have the power to defend himself, what was his would be taken. He himself would be killed, or worse, enslaved.
Soon, an ambitious plan formed in his mind.
From this day on, the world would change.