Chapter 2 - Wishes (Part 1)

"In other words, you can't perform large-scale magic." Alex nodded his head, finally understanding the genie's explanation. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It's indeed a pity, but that's still cool. I guess I'll have to get creative with my wishes."

The genie shrugged nonchalantly, and then his expression became serious. "Yes, as I said before, the magic is very thin, and I can't grant some kind of outrageous wish, so think carefully before making a wish."

"This..." Alex's expression also became serious as he stroked his chin, contemplating what he wanted to do.

His gaze wandered around the room, and then, abruptly, his eyes lit up as they fell upon a poster on the wall. He turned to look back at the genie and said, "I wish to have an infinite number of wishes!"

"..." The genie almost choked in shock; his face twitched several times as he looked at the person before him with disbelief. "Are you serious? Didn't I just say that I can't grant something outrageous?"

"I know," Alex said with a slight tsk sound. "I just tried it. I mean, what if it works?" Blushing in embarrassment, he quickly offered his excuse.

"Had to say that was kind of creative. You're the first master that made such wishes... Sigh, anyway, the number of wishes I can grant is limited to three. Any more than that is impossible, even if I wanted to," he explained helplessly.

"Fine, fine..." Alex sighed, nodding his head in understanding, then asked, "Can I wish for an infinite amount of money?"

"Nope, sigh. Anything that is infinite is outrageous."

".. How about being a billionaire?" Alex asked unsurely.

"That... it can, but I can't directly manifest money in cash. I can only transfer it to your bank account," the genie thought about it before responding affirmatively, much to Alex's amazement.

"If that is so, then my first wish is to become a billionaire!" Alex said excitedly, without a second thought.

Growing up in poverty, Alex encountered various challenges—hunger, financial struggles for education, and even being kicked out from the place he was staying, among others.

These experiences made him aware of how harsh reality can be, and from an early age, he realized a simple truth: What else is more important than money?

"You know..." The genie hesitated. "I usually don't care about my master's wishes, but because I really felt good today, I'll remind you that if I really grant you such a wish... it will alarm various authorities in your country.. The worst outcome is that you will be captured for interrogation."

"T-that.." Hearing what he said, Alex's excited expression vanished instantly. "Can you make the money in my account hidden to everyone except me?"

"I can.. but that would be equivalent to your second wish."

"Hiss... Is that so?" Alex sighed helplessly as he realized that being rich overnight is not possible.

"Fine, then forget about money..." Shaking his head helplessly, knowing that he can't ask for money, he decided to think of something more practical than money—something that was both versatile and had a lot of room for growth.

"I've decided! My first wish is to learn all kinds of magic spells in the world," he declared after a while.

"..." the genie was silent for a moment as if thinking something thoroughly.

"Is it impossible?" Alex asked nervously.

"No, it's possible.."

"But?"

"Well, there are two issues.. First, even I don't know every spell in existence, so I can't guarantee whether you can learn 'all' magic that has existed since ancient times or 'all magic spells that I knew existed'. Also, even if you indeed learned all kinds of magic in the world, in today's world, the most you could achieve is only a low-level mage."

"Is it strong enough?"

"No, it's called low level for a reason... however, it shouldn't be a problem to survive all kinds of mortal danger in today's society.. well, except for nuclear bombs.. But again, today's society was very peaceful, and there shouldn't be a world war in the next few hundreds of years.. so is it really worth it?" the genie said with a tone that low level mages are just so so.

"That's already very strong... Okay, just choose it as my first wish." Alex's eyes brightened in excitement.

The reason he thought of magic in the first place wasn't to fight someone, but because he was always amazed at how conveniently magic was portrayed in movies.

No matter how weak it may be to the genie, the fact that magic could also help him survive almost all mortal dangers in modern times was something he didn't expect, and he felt that it's worth it.

"That.. are you sure?" The genie raised his eyebrow in surprise and asked again.

"Yes, please." Alex nodded affirmatively.

"In that case." Seeing that he had already made up his mind, the genie sighed helplessly." Fine, your wish is my command."

The genie guestures his arms like a maestro, and soon, various light particles pop into existence, forming a small sphere the size of a ping pong ball.

It was bright and mesmerizing, and for a moment, Alex even felt that it looked like a Rasengan, except smaller.

His eyes brightened at its beauty, but before he could appreciate it more, the genie waved his hand, causing the ping-pong ball-sized light particle to enter Alex's body.

"This is.." Alex was surprised; however, he did not resist it.

"Is this magic?" he wondered, feeling a refreshing and cool energy coursing through his body, but before he could confirm it, a sudden click rang in his head, and the world around him froze as if something had broken.

No, time had not stopped. What was happening was simply a phenomenon in which his thoughts were processing information at an incredible speed, causing his perception of time to shift from the usual 1:1 ratio to an astonishing 1:1 billionth.

Hiss.. What is this concept?

One must know that the average human life expectancy is only around 72–73 years, which is roughly equivalent to 2.3 billion seconds when converted.

In other words, 2.3 seconds in the outside world is equivalent to a lifetime of ordinary humans. 

'Wait... How was I able to calculate that?' Alex mused, but before he could find an answer, he suddenly found himself transported into a dark space, making him stunned.

The space is vast, with countless light spots floating and each containing various kinds of knowledge in various fields of magic.

Introduction to Magic, Origin of Magic, Nature of Magic, Sturcture of Magic, Rune Magic, Magic Artifacts, Miscelenous Magic Spells, Attack Spells, Escape Spells, Clones, Ilusion Magic, Alchemy, Astrology, Divination, Nature Energy, and Innate Magic..

Alex's eyes widened at the vast sea of knowledge, and at this moment he was really scared.

"Won't I be braindead after absorbing all of it?" He asked in an unsure tone, but before he could get an answer, the countless light spots began to enter his mind.

Time passed.

Alex didn't know how long had passed; in such a state, he had no concept of time, and even after so long, he didn't feel bored for one bit.

As the vast array of knowledge enters his mind, his understanding increases, and unkowingly, he has learned that the space he is in is something called Akashic Library.

A metalphysical place where all human events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future are recorded..