POV Leo Cromon
After rubbing the lamp, the Genie was about to deliver her entire monologue, which meant the artifact was working perfectly.
"I am the powerful Genie of the lamp, Mir—"
I didn't waste any time and blurted out my wish. The zombies were closing in, and I needed to survive. I spoke with all the speed I could muster at the moment, specifically intending to be taken near the capital so no one would see the Genie:
"My first wish is to be saved from the zombification, have my wounds healed, and be teleported near the new capital of this country!"
I spoke so fast that the Genie seemed a bit confused at first. However, she snapped her fingers, and in an instant, I found myself teleported to the outskirts of the city. The person I used to call a friend is at least hours of walking away from here. I intended to explain the situation to my father, but it would be best to hide the lamp; it couldn't fall into the wrong hands. My father would probably use it to ask for infinite luck in gambling.
I stretched my arms to test if I was healed. Everything was working normally. I lay down on the ground to map out my next wishes; I decided I needed twice the amount of that entire treasure.
The Genie didn't waste any time and asked:
"What would be your second wish?"
I thought of a way to carry all those riches without drawing attention, and the idea of a magic bag came to mind. I declared my second request:
"A magic bag containing twice the amount of treasure from that vault!"
The Genie looked surprised, but soon snapped her fingers.
A leather bag appeared on the ground right after. I found its size strange and decided to peek inside; it was overflowing with gold. Even the Genie took a look. Man, that would be more than enough. Of course, I would leave most of it with my mother and keep just a little for myself, since I didn't need it all. As for my father... well, my mother would probably argue with him all the time, because he would definitely keep gambling.
Then, the Genie asked:
"What would be your last wish?"
I spoke immediately, without thinking too much, still lying on the ground:
"I wish for advanced knowledge in multiple fields!"
In that exact instant, an excruciating pain hit me. The agony was so intense that I began to lose consciousness; everything around me turned into a blur. Information after information flooded my mind, from the anatomy of the human body to the secrets of magic. Even engineering projects I never imagined creating began to surface, whether magical or not, along with culinary skills and concepts that showed just how primitive our current world actually is.
After what felt like hours, the pain finally subsided. My breathing grew calmer, and the Genie returned to the interior of the lamp, a sign that the process was finished. I looked around. Things that used to seem difficult, like writing or the art of negotiation, now felt extremely simple. I walked toward the city, carrying the bag on my back, and went to the family who had lent me the map.
Analyzing it now, that map contained mana traces very similar to those of the magic lamp itself. Furthermore, it seemed the Genie had also created a magic core inside me. Thanks to the advanced knowledge, I could now easily identify mana trails in objects.
I arrived at the mansion and knocked on the door. I was greeted by the same people who had given me the map. According to them, the item had belonged to their grandfather, a very famous man who always knew exactly where to go, which had guaranteed his success. I began to suspect that he had also used that very same lamp in the past.
"Thank you so much for lending me the magic map. Without it, I never would have made it to where I wanted!"
One of them replied honestly:
"Don't worry about it, that map hadn't been used in years. We're glad it was useful. But wait... weren't there two of you? What happened to your friend?"
I told the truth, without beating around the bush:
"He left me to die. I trusted him for a long time... I got lucky, otherwise, I would be dead right now."
A sincere tear rolled down my eyes.
The two of them realized I was telling the truth, probably noticing the emotion on my face. One of them commented:
"I understand. I won't ask how you escaped or how you got here so fast. If you want, you can keep the map as a consolation."
I refused immediately. I didn't need an item like that anymore; now I had plenty of money and could simply buy another one.
Even so, they insisted and convinced me to accept it. They truly had merchant blood in them; they knew how to persuade someone. Although I had acquired a vast amount of knowledge, it didn't mean I would know how to use it perfectly right away, but I understood their persuasion strategy. Man, it's incredible to comprehend how things work! Since I had already accepted it, I decided not to argue.
I returned home and explained to my family that I had been betrayed, but managed to find a cure, a magic bag full of coins, and a teleportation scroll. That story would help avoid any suspicion regarding the lamp. I handed the money over to my father to pay off his debts, set aside a significant amount for my mother, and decided to keep the rest—which, although a small portion of the total, was still a small fortune.
I thought about who I should pass the lamp to, since I had spent my three wishes. I decided the right thing to do would be to hand it over to someone wise. Before that, I reported my old friend's betrayal to the guards, and he ended up arrested. Next, I used part of the money to locate a mage and ended up finding a royal mage. He possessed years of experience and realized the lamp was magical without me needing to explain a single thing.
He confided in me that he wished to cause a magical revolution, allowing all humans to develop cores and ensuring future generations would be born with them. I agreed with the plan, as I also wanted to see the evolution of this world, and the normalization of magic would be extremely useful for that. Based on his traits and his way of speaking, he genuinely seemed to want to democratize knowledge across the world, which was excellent.
So, I handed the artifact over to him. The mage reached out and rubbed the lamp.