The Speed of Learning

In a grand throne room, purple banners hung from the stone wall, a man is sitting on a grand throne. His white hair flows gracefully past his shoulders. As the moon comes over a window behind his throne, the light glints through his throne that's made of pure glass. A young woman appears in front of the throne seemingly out of nowhere. The man speaks in a raspy voice,

"Ah, Veronica. Why are you here? I told you to keep an eye on that barony, right?"

The young woman kneels in front of the man,

"Yes my liege, I'm here to report that the baroness attempted to read her son's class, and believed it to be called 'Grand Archmagus General'."

The man ponders for a second,

"Hmm… I'll have some research done on the classes. I've never heard of this one before. I can only assume that it's higher grade than Legendary. I'll have someone spread rumors that I'm looking for an assassin… Head back to the barony and keep an eye on them. I know you can't kill them, but I'll still need you to update me on them."

Veronica frowns silently,

"I'm afraid I may have been compromised my liege. I was following the baron and I guess he felt the breeze and slashed at me. He missed, but I wasn't able to follow him after that."

"Very well, I still want you to go back, but don't worry about following them everywhere, just keep an ear out for any rumors spreading."

Veronica doesn't speak and instead nods her head, disappearing in a gust of wind.

The man hangs his head and stands up, walking towards the window,

"I will not lose my empire. I am sorry for the children of that barony, but I cannot allow them to grow in power. Heltanis knows how much trouble your grandfather caused me."

Just as the man sits back on the throne, a younger man comes running in,

"MY LIEGE, EMPEROR EDGAR TRANIA, THE SAA'LEI HAS FORETOLD A PROPHECY!"

Emperor Trania feels a headache start welling up,

"Very well, tell me the content of this prophecy."

—---------------

The word of the saintess spread far and wide. Every country very quickly learned of the Goddesses message. Some were excited, some were fearful, and some were angry. One thing was made very clear, turbulent times were on their way.

Some people who heard this had an idea of who the prophesized 'King of Kings' was.

—---------------

After those chaotic days where Karina discovered Atlas' class, the days turned back to normal. Heath's plan to ambush any attempted assassins hadn't occurred just yet. Him and Julien were still spreading the rumor that it would take place next month.

Karina and Atlas were in her study, finally taking the lessons she promised him.

"So, based on your class, you should be taught both magic and strategy. Let's start off with this."

She walks over to her book case and pulls off a blue leather book with white fur around a yellow gem in the center. She hands the book to Atlas and sits down beside him on the couch. Atlas strokes the fur on the book and feels something well up in his heart. Something tells him that he needs this book. His mom notices this, as it seems like his eyes slightly change color.

"It seems you resonate with the magic in the book. The cover is made of the leather and fur of an Ice Dragon. The gem in the center is the core of the same dragon. The book is preserved, cleans itself, and helps to clean corruption. Your grandfather had these books commissioned after a hunt was called where he slayed an enraged adolescent Ice Dragon."

Atlas stares into the core on the front. An Invisible yellow line starts to form from the core, headed towards Atlas' forehead. As it touches, an invisible yellow light starts spreading throughout his head, following the veins in his head. After a few seconds where Karina starts to get worried at how diligently Atlas is studying the cover, the light coalesces in his brain. After another second, Atlas sharply inhales and clutches his head in pain.

"Are you okay?"

Karina speaks up with worry.

Atlas looks down and doesn't respond for a few seconds,

"I-I think I know the whole book already…"

Karina tilts her head in confusion.

"Son, you haven't even opened the book yet. I thought you wanted to study?"

Atlas looks at her with confusion,

"I do! But when I looked at the gem in the center of the book, it felt like all the knowledge in the book went into my head! Watch!"

Atlas lifted up his little hands as a glowing red light started to emit out of them. As the light leaves his hands, it ignites, turning into a glowing red ball of fire about the size of a baseball. This causes Karina to blink rapidly in shock. She quickly takes the book from Atlas and looks into the gem as well. After a few seconds of not feeling anything, she hands Atlas the next book in the series.

"T-try this one as well!"

Atlas does the same thing where he studies the gem, the same invisible line spreads out from the gem. As it reaches his head, he feels nearly double the amount of pain from before. He clutches his head and starts crying. He jumps to Karina and hugs her.

"There, there. It's okay, I'm here."

She rings the small bell on the table beside the two. A brown-haired young servant comes in with her hands behind her back.

"Yes, milady?"

Karina strokes Atlas' hair as he nuzzles into her chest.

"Cana, can you bring some headache tea for little Atlas?"

The young lady nods her head,

"Yes, milady."

Atlas stops crying and says,

"Mom, is learning supposed to hurt this bad?"

Karina rubs his head of cabbage and assures him,

"No. At least not if you learn normally. You seem to have a special way of learning. If you learn like everyone else, you shouldn't feel any pain. It will just go by slower."

Karina kisses him on the head and wipes the tears from his smooth face,

"Can you show me what that book taught you?"

Atlas nods his head and wipes the rest of the tears off his face. He stands in the center of the room and starts meditating. Light particles start gathering around him, shooting towards him at… Well… The speed of light. As they impact his body, they start burrowing in towards his forehead. The rune circle on his forehead starts to glow as the light fills it. The runes become more clear as the mana starts solidifying the circle. The mana finishes strengthening the circle and with a bright light, the circle is fully complete. It starts to gain color, first glowing green, then red, then blue, then white, then purple. It all comes together to create a color-changing circle. However, the mana doesn't stop there. It starts going around in the center, creating another circle. After a few seconds, the second circle finishes and glows with a rainbow light before dimming down. And Atlas opens his eyes.