The Mechanical Era

It was a warm afternoon. Light entered the room through the large windows of the master bedroom, with its white curtains out of the way. Kant had moved into the master bedroom quite recently. He hadn't made any noticeable changes. Maybe a change in his wardrobe, bringing over some of his stuff from his room, but that was about it.

Kant himself lay down on the king-sized bed, with only his long black pants, leather belt, and socks on. His Vantablack eyes had completely dissipated, returning back to his normal jet-black eye color. The change started rapidly, just two days before. Kant had made sure to check a mirror every once in a while to know.

He was surrounded by the same physicians that examined him last time. They had all surrounded him, examining every inch of his body, while writing what they think in their little brown books. Frederick, the elder physician that inspected him last week, instructed the others that it was time. This time, however, it was only them and Kant himself.

"Alright, sir. Thank you for your corporation. Now, I am going to ask a question, and you are going to answer me. Alright?" he asked the king, who nodded.

"Alright. Go ahead, doctor."

"Alright. Now sir, can you tell me about your experience? Had anything troubled you in the last week?" he asked.

"No. For the most part, it was about the same. Although, I did have some trouble about 2 days before," Kant responded. This caught their attention, seeing it as a possibility that it could be a symptom.

"What happened on that day?"

"I had what you can call an energy crash of some sort. My energy levels just dropped, and I couldn't do anything that day. I felt sleepy and tired, I am not sure what caused it," Kant answered truthfully.

"I see. Alright." he turned to see whether they had finished writing. Once they were done, he moved on.

"Have you noticed any changes in your appetite, sleep, or mood recently?"

"I eat about the same things. In terms of my sleep, I usually sleep from 11 PM to 7 AM. However, I have started to sometimes wake up in the middle of the night.

In terms of mood, I cannot say. I like to think I have managed to stay calm as usual. Though you might want to ask the others."

"Alright. Next question. Have you experienced any pain or discomfort, particularly in your chest, abdomen, or head?"

"No. None at all. It was just another usual day. No headaches. No pain. Of course, if I still feel pain when I stub my toe or cause harm to myself. That counts, but other than that, no."

"I see. Now, the final question. Are there any other symptoms or concerns you have noticed that you would like to share?" Frederick asked the king. Kant remained silent, thinking about what he is going to say, and how they might read to it.

His eyes were locked on the ceiling, completely focused on it. The room started to be filled with silence, as Kant kept on thinking.

"Your majesty?" Frederick asked. Kant's eyes turned to meet Frederick's own.

"Sorry. I was just thinking. To answer your question, yes, I have. However, I do not consider them to be negative in any regard. I am not sure what to really think about them," Kant retorted. The physicians were a little confused by his answer. What was he trying to say?

"What does that mean, sir? Could you please elaborate?"

"Of course. I think that there is a high probability that the Void crystal has unlocked my power."

"Really? Your power? What is it?" Frederick asked, a little curious, but also worried that it could be a cause of the stone's side effects.

"I think I might have some sort of anti-magical abilities or void abilities. At least, that is the conclusion that I can come up with," Kant answered.

Almost everyone in the room was rather skeptical of his claim. Void abilities? Was that even possible? Still, it was better to hear the king out. Maybe he might have a good reason for why he thinks so.

"Why do you think that, sir?"

"Well, I have done some tests on myself."

"Tests?"

"Yes. I took an hourglass, a healing potion, and a knife. A made a small cut on my palm, put drops of healing potion on the wound, and focused on the wound till the hourglass ran out.

Then I would turn the hourglass upside down, and focus on it. Once it runs out, I look at my cut to see if it has healed already.

From my experimentations, I discovered that as long as I was concentrating on the wound, the healing potion didn't work. However, when I concentrated on the hourglass, it healed just fine.

I even tried drinking it, and the test was the same. When I focused on the wound, it didn't heal. When I focused on the hourglass, it did heal. From my observations, test results, and data collected, I came to that conclusion," Kant explained.

"You cut yourself, sir?"

"Only a little. Not too much. I didn't want to cause a serious injury."

"I see..." Frederick replied.

Frederick then thought about Kant's explanation for a minute and thought it made a lot of sense. However, there might still be a chance that he might not be in the best state of mind, considering he went on to injure himself. So, to make sure that Kant was speaking with his rational mind, Frederick questioned the theory further.

"That is a very interesting hypothesis, sir. However, if that is the case, why couldn't you use your abilities beforehand? Shouldn't they have detected your void reserves?" he asked.

"No. There was a reason why I didn't have any anti-mana reserves in the beginning. For someone to fill up their mana reserves, they need to draw mana from somewhere. Normally, people took in mana from the air around them, or through mana crystals.

I assume that these principles were the same to me. Considering I was isolated away from any source of Void energy because of its rarity, I could not fill up my reserves.

Anti-mana, or void energy, cannot be found in the air, It is only been found in rare crystals buried deep underground, for as long as we know. That is the best hypothesis I can come up with with my limited piece of information,"

Frederick slightly smiled at his response. He appeared to have done some research on the topic and seemed to be in a clear state of mind. With that, he asks one last question.

"That is a good explanation. Say, sir, how do you feel that you finally found out the answer?" he asks. Kant lay in silence again, before responding. Kant's eyes moved to the ceiling before he began to talk.

"I have always asked myself a question. Why? Why wasn't I born with magic? It was a question that everyone had asked.

They were all confused about how two of the most potent mana users came together to make a kid that does not have any powers. Some people thought it was partly due to the other birth complications, and that my mother couldn't give birth to a powerful child, like Reena.

However, that could not have been the case. Because if so, Edward, Sofia, and Lisa wouldn't have been born. Their existence refutes that hypothesis. No, there was something else, and I couldn't figure out what.

But now, I know. Just like that, I got an answer to what I was looking for. Though, instead of satisfying my curiosity, it just fueled it even more. I have a lot more questions about myself than before, and I need to know the answers to them.

With this discovery, comes potential. Now I am not sure what the boundaries of this ability are, and how it fully works. The only way to know for certain is to conduct more research, more tests, and collect data."

Kant's head then turned towards Frederick. His eyes maintain eye contact with the man again.

"However, to conduct more experiments, I will need to interact with the void crystals again, and in larger doses. Considering that this matter could have dramatic consequences on my life and health, I would like to know your opinion on the matter."

"My opinion?"

"Yes. From the reports I have gathered, this is the first time in history that a human possessed weird abilities since all those millennia ago. This means I am traveling in uncharted waters, which could mean danger.

So what do you think doctor? Do you think I should continue to learn about myself? About this power I have? It could save my life one day, or it could end it. Do you think that it would be safe to do so, or is too risky to be done?"  Kant questioned Frederick.

He thought about it for a minute. He looks through the books, the observations they made, and the answers they got, before coming to a verdict.

"Well sir, from what I have gathered, there doesn't seem to be any harm so far. I recommend taking it in small doses, to allow your body to handle its power slowly."

"Hm... Alright. Thank you, Doctor."