Henry nervously swallowed, forcing back the strange trepidation he felt. It was a strange sensation he was experiencing, figuring out that everything he had ever known about the world was a lie, it felt like he was having a bad dream, and he was unsure why. He had learned things in the past, which shaped his worldview easily enough, so why was he so nervous and conflicted now? Thinking about it like that made Henry calm down a bit, and after taking a deep breath to himself, he slowly lifted the book from his master’s desk, and started to read it.

“Go. The book is luckily broken up into chapters for you. Mark down any words you don’t understand and we will review them later. For now, try to read and understand the first chapter. It may be difficult at first to wrap your head around this new information as fact, but try your best.” Nicolas then waved Henry away, before thinking that it was time for the next phase of training as well. There was no use in just throwing rocks at him now, as Henry had learned to swat them away, even if they were coming from different directions.

For now, Nicolas was content with Henry slowly learning the information that was presented to him, without the threat of violence. This information could not be rushed, as it was integral to form the foundation of Henry’s magic. Henry went back to his room, and engrossed himself in learning. There were a few words he simply didn’t know what they meant, or even if he was reading them correctly, but he made sure to keep notes about that in a small separate page on the side. Soon, that page had quite a few things on it, and it was getting a bit confusing, but the more Henry read, the more interested he became.

There were simple things, such as fire needing some sort of fuel to burn to keep going, and that most fires require oxygen to burn, which was all around them in the air, but he couldn’t see it directly. There was an entire world so small that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, and required either specialized tools, or the use of a special spell. Henry was fascinated, and when one is truly invested in something they care about, they learn quite quickly. Pair that with Henry’s natural persistence and inability to truly complain, and he was lost within the book. Soon, the first chapter was over, and Henry decided to re-read it.

He remembered most of it right off the bat, but wondered if the information would stick. Nicolas came to look for him after not seeing him for dinner, and opened the door to see him studying diligently, not knowing that this was the second time he was reading the chapter. “Come on Henry, take a break. The brain needs nutrients to work at maximum efficiency, come eat.” Nicolas felt the need to forcibly close the book so that Henry would get up. ‘Well at least the kid’s interested, that makes it easier’ Nicolas thought, before the two had dinner together.

Once finished, Henry rapidly excused himself, rushing back to his room to read more of the book. He knew that his master told him to focus on the first chapter, but no matter how hard he tried, he felt the need to keep turning the pages after the first. The first chapter was a simple overview that set up the rest of the world. Henry learned that there was a force called gravity preventing him from floating, what a planet was, how plants grew, and more. Everything one would need to then go and focus on a particular aspect of the world, but that was not enough.

The second chapter noted what the scientific method was, the basics of mathematics, and finally, the basics of physics. Henry spent so long reading, that he also finished the second chapter, and the page of words he wanted to ask his master about grew threefold from the previous day, and was essentially filled. Henry was working by candlelight, and noticed that a lot of the wax was gone, and light was creeping in through his window from the morning sunrise. Henry’s eyes widened, before he looked back at the book, wondering if it was cursed to somehow keep him reading, disregarding his own health.

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He had gone without sleep before, so when he met up with his master for breakfast, his master seemed to not notice the slight bags under his eyes. “Alright, give me what you wrote about that you didn’t understand, and we can go through the concepts and words together.” Nicolas was then floored at how large the number of things were, thinking for a moment that Henry was a complete idiot, but then he read some of the words. “You read ahead. Don’t read ahead without figuring out the previous material thoroughly. This is the very foundation of your future, so it can’t be squandered.” Nicolas tried to warn him, wondering how he suddenly turned so impatient.

“I know the first chapter, backwards and forwards. I just don’t know what a few of the words mean, honestly master.” Henry pleaded his case, and his master simply started quizzing him on the subjects of the first chapter. They were simple questions, but Henry barely learned how to read recently, so Nicolas was sure that he wouldn’t get most of them right, but the more he asked, the more he was pleasantly surprised. From surprise to shock, and then from shock to incredulousness. Nicolas started to get angry, thinking that Henry somehow cheated, but couldn’t figure out how, before something came to his mind.

“Wait, Henry. Think hard about the third page. Can you tell me what the forty-third word is?” Nicolas thought that this was a shot in the dark, but there were so few other explanations on why Henry was illiterate a month ago but was suddenly memorizing and understanding the concepts of something completely earth-shattering in a single night. Henry thought hard, his brows furrowing in thought, before the words seemed to pop up in front of his closed eyes, as if he was reading it again. Counting the words, he suddenly fell upon the word that he thought was the correct one. “Verified?” Henry asked, and Nicolas dropped the book.

‘No fucking way.’ Nicolas thought, almost cursing aloud as he stared at Henry, with Henry’s confused face staring right back at him. Nicolas had the urge to strike him in the face, but restrained. He had hit the damned lottery with this kid! He had some form of photographic memory, which was going to make learning the magic ten times easier. ‘What a cheating little bastard!’ Nicolas was nearly grinding his teeth. If he had photographic memory, he would be triple S ranked and be rolling in people willing to be his student, and could simply pick and choose from the best of the best.

Henry looked at his master’s face turning from sour to hate-filled, and trepidatiously asked “Um, Master, I’m sorry for reading ahead, is it truly that unwise? I’ll follow your instructions exactly this time, I swear!” Henry bowed his head deeply to his master, swearing to listen next time, thinking that maybe he had ruined something and was going to be kicked out, but after a few moments of thinking he was going to get smacked, or at least hear some sort of curse words and insults thrown at him, he heard silence instead. Slowly looking up, he noticed his master seemed to have aged a bit more in a second, before simply taking a deep breath and sighing.

“There’s no point. Study at your own pace, and I’ll set up various tests for you. Make sure not to rush, and do NOT go to the next chapter before being absolutely sure of understanding the materials. For now, let’s give you the understanding of the words you wrote.” Nicolas then went through everything that Henry didn’t know about, which included some words such as efficiency, vacuum, and pressure. Things that normal people in their day and age never said, especially not in casual conversation, and extra especially not in lower class circles. Henry learned quickly though, and the missing puzzle pieces in his mind were found.

The next few months or so were simply filled with Nicolas getting angry at the completely unfair advantage Henry had, and then going through the five stages of grief before Henry learned the next chapter. Soon, the entire book was completed, and the final test was aced, even though Nicolas tried to use the hardest questions he could. He could conclude that Henry was actually a genius, as you could only get so far on memorization alone, Henry could use the information memorized to formulate his own ideas, and proved that he thoroughly understood the material. What took Nicolas a year took Henry two months, and it seemed that it was time to learn the real stuff properly.

“Alright Henry, let’s talk about utilizing your Mana.”