Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

Elise chuckled as she looked down at the radio in her arms, "It's a new device from the Ambur kingdom, it's called a radio."

Elise then handed him the radio.

Lance accepted the radio, he began to study its buttons and dials, "interesting, I'm assuming it's something Alex made you get?"

Lance glanced at Alexander with a smirk.

"It's pretty useful father, you'd be surprised with how much you can do with it."

Lance nodded and handed the radio back to Elise, "Well, have fun you three, Olivia and I will take a night out on the town."

Lance grinned as she glanced back at Olivia.

Is he going to dress like that?

"Are you going to change clothes, my lord?"

Elise took the words right out of Alexander's mouth, her expression was one of uncertainty.

Lance looked down at his clothes, he was wearing a gray shirt and jacket, with black pants and black boots.

"I see nothing wrong with this, besides it's what I always wear." He said looking up and shrugging.

Olivia, who was wearing a simple white dress and slippers, chuckled. "It doesn't matter, he won't be in those clothes for long anyway."

Olivia licked her lips seductively.

Alexander's face scrunched up as he gave a side eye to Olivia. "Alright… I think it's time we head into the mansion." He said with a sigh, shaking his head as he walked towards the door.

He was followed by Elise and Marcus, while Olivia joined his father as they headed towards the gate.

Alexander shuddered at the thought of what those two were about to do.

As Alexander and company entered the mansion, Elise quickly took the lead.

With the radio still in hand she looked at Alexander with an exhausted expression, "My lord, do you have a place in mind for this radio, your room perhaps?"

I guess she's eager to get that thing out of her hands.

Alexander nodded, "My room is perfect, also when you're finished with that, can you deal with Marcus, I don't want him looking like a street goblin forever."

"Right away," Elise said, shifting her gaze towards Marcus, "if you'd just follow me, I'll get you properly groomed."

"Ok," Marcus said, jogging up behind Elise, Alexander watched as they began to walk up the stairs.

Marcus looked back down at him one last time and waved.

Alex smiled and waved back.

When they finally disappeared upstairs, Alexander began to walk towards the kitchen.

Skipping breakfast, definitely wasn't the brightest idea.

As he entered the kitchen he was greeted by a servant who was washing the dishes.

She didn't seem to notice Alexander, so he decided not to bother her, instead, he began to look around the kitchen to find any tools to create his sandwich.

Let's see, I'll need a knife, some bread, and something to go in the middle.

As Alexander quickly scanned around the kitchen, he noticed a knife sitting on the counter.

It was used and had some kind of jelly on it.

Eh, a little jelly hasn't hurt anyone….

He headed towards the counter to grab the knife, after securing it, he began to look around for the bread box.

Abruptly, the servant who was washing dishes turned around and shouted, "My lord, you mustn't hold that!"

She rushed towards Alex and attempted to take the knife from him.

Frightened, Alexander dropped the knife and stumbled backward.

Unfortunately, Alexander's footing wasn't stable and he fell alongside the knife.

His hand was cut badly by the knife, his blood dripping slowly onto the white tile floor.

Everything went quiet as a palpable tension fell between Alexander and the servant.

The servant stared at Alexander's hand, her body trembling at the sight of the blood dripping onto the pristine white floor.

Alex looked down at his hand, the pain began pouring out of the wound like an intense heat.

His fingers twitched.

The blood dripped.

And his body trembled.

Alexander opened his hand wide, causing the blood to flow down all the crevices in his hands like a diverging river.

The servant took a step back and fainted at the sight.

Alexander began to study the wound on his hand, his gaze drawn in by his crimson red blood.

The pain was excruciating, but it was also magical to a certain extent.

Suddenly the blood stopped dripping and the wound on his hand was illuminated by a faint white glow.

The wound on his hand quickly began to close, leaving the blood behind as the only reminder of what had transpired.

What the hell did I just do…..

Another servant walked into the kitchen, her eyes widened as she saw the blood and the collapsed servant on the ground.

"M-my lord, what happened?" She asked as she took a few steps closer to study the scene that had unfolded.

I don't even know what happened myself….

Alexander shifted his gaze towards the maid.

"I wanted to make a sandwich, and then the servant startled me, and I cut myself….. then the cut just… went away." Alexander's voice was soft and full of disbelief.

He couldn't even comprehend what just happened, or why it felt so natural…..

The servant quickly oriented herself.

Then with a look of determination on her face, she approached Alexander, while retrieving a napkin from her apron.

She began to wipe his hand gently, "My lord, if what you say is true, then that is called world energy, it's something all people use, but typically most Hakshi children only use this ability at five."

The servant's voice was gentle, but her hands still trembled.

Alexander had far too many questions.

Magic is real, And it's a common thing.

How come he's never seen anyone use it?

What the hell is a Hakshi?

His mind began to swirl with confusion and fear, for the first time since he'd been reincarnated, something truly terrifying had happened, and he didn't understand it at all.

"I-I'm confused," Alexander whispered to the servant.

The servant smiled as she continued to wipe his hand, "It's ok my lord, this is something everyone can do," the servant outstretched her hand in front of Alex.

Three orbs of light began to form in her hand, she made the light move in all orders of magnitude, from making the orbs jump through each other, to juggling them in one hand.

"But, most Hakshi have low essence, which is why we don't use it for everyday tasks."

The servant then closed her hand and stood up, walking over to check on her colleague.

"What are Hakshi?" Alex asked as he continued to study his hand.

The servant, who was still checking on her colleague, turned to Alex with a smile, "It's what we are, your mother, your father, me, the boy you brought with you, all of us are Hakshi"

So that's what I am, I thought the nonhuman appearance was strange, but now I've confirmed it.

Alex needed more answers.

He had tapped into an ability that he wasn't even supposed to have access to yet.

He slowly stood to his feet, before walking over to the servant and her colleague, "S-so, where can I get more information on this?"

The servant looked at Alex with a warm smile.

"Your mother, lady Erica, has several books on the subject, perhaps you should talk to her."

His mother, Alexander had barely ever spoken to her, yet they share the same roof.

She was an elusive woman, spending the majority of her time in her study.

"M-My mother, I'll go see her… thank you." Alexander nodded towards the servant, before quickly running out of the kitchen.

His mind was completely scrambled and scattered, how could so much information just have been sitting right in front of him?

He's been complaining about being bored when there was a massive secret hidden in plain sight.

He raced through the halls he'd seen so many times before.

When he finally reached the door of his mother's study, he stopped and took a deep breath.

He fixed his clothes and hair, and finally, with bated breath, knocked on the door.

"It's open."

His mother's voice was warm and welcoming as always, but just because a door was open, doesn't mean he knew what was on the other side.

As Alexander slowly pushed the door open, he was greeted by a dimly lit room that smelled of candles and ink.

The walls were lined with shelves, and the shelves were filled with books and scrolls, and in the center of it was his mother, her golden eyes scanning the page of a large hardcover book.

His mother placed the book down, looking down at him, a small smile forming on her face, "Well this is a first, what brings you here Alex?"

His mother stood up from her desk to approach him.

"Mother, I..." he paused and looked down at his hand.

How the hell do I even explain my situation to her?

"Yes, Alex?" His mother's voice was warm, as she reached down to scoop him into her arms.

"You've gotten big." She chuckled.

"Well, that tends to happen when you grow up," he replied nervously.

His mother pouted as she adjusted him in her arms, "Well now you make me feel bad."

She smiled as she began to kiss his cheek.

"Now, what is it you wanted to speak about, or did you come for more kisses?"

His mother gently placed him back down and took a step back.

Here goes nothing.

"Mother… I had an accident in the kitchen, a knife cut my hand and there was blood everywhere, but then my mind became hyper-focused, and the wound began to heal all by itself."

Alexander showed His mother his hand, she then leaned closer to observe it, a curious expression on her face.

"Interesting," she mused as she wrapped her hands around his own.

Suddenly, a faint white light began to emerge from her hands enveloping both his and hers, "did it look like that?" She asked inquisitively.

The warm light then faded as quickly as it had appeared, and his mother released her grasp.

"Yes, it looked just like that, what is it?" Alexander confirmed with a nod.

His mother's expression grew serious, "It's essence-based healing, which makes it hard to believe you pulled off such a feat, even the most basic of essence abilities require great focus and training." Her tone was withdrawn, her eyes darting around as she tapped her finger on her chin.

"Alex," his mother spoke firmly as she shifted her gaze towards him, "you've shown great intelligence, especially for a three-year-old, is… is there something I'm missing?"

She was speaking to Alexander, but it seemed she was asking herself as well.

Yeah, it's probably because I've been reincarnated, but I don't know if I should tell her that….

"Like what mother?" Alexander asked as innocently as he could muster.

His mother shook her head and chuckled to herself, "Perhaps I am just overthinking this, anyway let's focus on what comes next."

His mother turned around and walked to one of the many rows of books in her study.

She eventually grabbed the spine of a thick tome, and using both her hands, she slid the book out of place.

Woah, that's like twice the size of the books I had back in college.

She then walked over to her desk and placed the book down with a loud thud.

Then she shifted her gaze towards Alexander, "Usually, children unlock their essence at 5 or so, then further develop their skills in adolescence, but I guess we're skipping that."

His mother chuckled as she gestured for him to come closer.

He approached her desk, his curiosity at its highest peak.

Alexander was ready to get answers.

When he finally reached her desk, she picked him up and placed him on top of the desk along with the massive book.

His mother opened the book, its pages filled with diagrams and paragraphs of text that were handwritten.

The pages were torn, and the ink was a little faded.

"So, I guess we should delve into the basics," his mother grabbed her chair and sat down, and her gaze shifted to meet Alexander's.

"our people, our essence, is completely different from every other species on the continent, for starters we have extremely small essence pools, meaning we have to be careful when we decide to use our essence as if you run out, you'll have to get a full day worth of rest to replenish it."

His mother tapped her chest, before pointing at his, "but, what we lack in abundance, we Excel in the manipulation of our essence."

"Unlike other species especially the Jafren who use something called essence expulsion, meaning they can create blasts of ether, like a sort of gun, us Hakshi use something called ether enhancement, meaning we can use it to increase reaction speed, healing, and strengthening our bodies."

I see, so that explains why I haven't seen anyone using magic, it's because it would be a waste and because most of it is internal, this is….. interesting.

As the lesson continued, his mother went through more of the small details about world energy.

The ins and outs were pretty grounded in reality, there were no inanimate objects that contained essence, meaning no wands and magic scrolls.

There were also only two types of essence, light and dark, there were no fire, water, or other variants.

There were also a lot of restrictions on world energy.

You couldn't teleport with it, or use it to cook, or any convenience, as it was more like an extension of your physical being and less like a tool.

As the lesson continued, there was a sudden knock at the door, both Alexander and his mother were startled.

"It's open." His mother stammered with a wry smile.

The door slowly creaked open, revealing Marcus and Elise.