The Mechanical Era

The cold marble tiled floor tuned to a warm wooden floor as Kant entered the room. The place was lit and warmed by the fireplace, which provided a warm atmosphere. There were lots of redwood bookshelves, with a variety of books arranged by the letter in the alphabet.

Across the room on the red couch sat two people looking straight at him, his loving parents.

His majesty Danial Maybale is a 43-year-old man, with short black hair and ice blue eyes, with sleek cheeks on his face that managed to charm any women he met. He wore his sapphire red renaissance suit with a golden lining like Kant's suit. However, there was a certain pale weak look to him, as the disease remained in him.

The queen, Malinda Maybale, who was and looked similar in age, being only 41, had ice-blonde hair with great glistening blue eyes, amplifying the beauty that made Danial fall for her. She wore a red gown with a large overskirt.

As the couple was blessed with magic, it allowed them to live longer and age better than their non-magical peers. So even if they were in their 40s, they looked rather younger, in their middle 30s.

Kant walks over and drags a chair. He places it right in front of his parents so that they can talk face-to-face. He sits down and holds his head with both his arms, ready to listen to what they have to say.

"So... Prince Kant..." Danial coughs a little. Kant simply stared at him, waiting for his father to find the words to speak.

"I am sure you are aware of my disease, right?" Danial asks.

"Yes, father," he said.

"Well then good! It means that we would have to go to the city of Nexert to get my diagnosis and treatment, which is down South from the city. We are not sure how long we have to stay though."

"How long will the treatment take?" Kant asks.

"It might take a while. Maybe... a month? Maybe two?" he responded.

"Doing this for us would be wonderful darling. If you are successful, you might even be able to get a bride!" the mother added. The father nodded in agreement.

"Yes! A bride! Don't you feel very lonely Kant? I am sure you would feel a lot better!" he said. Kant was silent. His parents were not sure what was going on behind his head when, but they can see he was thinking about their proposal.

"Why can't they come here?" he asked.

"Well, because they specifically requested us to be there at Nexert," Danial responded. He just nodded at their answer, accepting it.

"So... what do you say?" his mother asked. There was a brief silence as his parents both waited for an answer. The only sound that can be heard was the crackling embers of the fire.

"I accept," he said.

"Good. We will make the preparations. You are dismissed."

Kant got up and left the room. As he closed the door on them, the mother rests on her husband's shoulder as he comforts her.

"Do you think he will fair well?" Malinda asks her husband.

"He is a smart child. Smarter than we ever were when we were his age."

"I don't know honey..."

"Darling, this will be good for him. He will... he will get to be a man again."

...

Kant came back to his room. He decides to pick up a canvas and start to paint another picture. This time, however, was a portrait of the man he was in his dreams, Mr. Howard Orwell Bright himself.

Once he finished, he sat in deep thought further. He remembered a bit of Howard's life, of all the hardships, the sufferings, and all the work he had put in to get to the position at the largest space manufacturing company ever seen. The more he thought, the more he started questioning himself.

"The dream. Was it real? Was what saw something I had experienced before, in a form of another man, or just a figment of imagination, made subconsciously by my brain to cope with my failure in life?"

He had a hard time believing in himself. It all felt like déjà vu. He looks at his chair. It was a swivel chair, the ones that can turn with force. Just then in his head, something clicked.

"Wait, the chair!" he said to himself. How did he invent it? Where did that idea come from? He looks around his room, looking for more items that he had brought from the old world with his mind.

His eyes spot his black umbrella. Now, umbrellas have existed forever. No doubt, but this one was an automatic umbrella, invented in the 1920s back in the old world. He looks for more. On the redwood desk, he looks at the black typewriter he also made, using white sheets of paper, a rare sight.

More memories flooded his brain. He remembers playing chess against his parents, and even winning multiple times. There was a time when he used the piano, playing songs old and new. More and more of these examples came to his head. Throughout the day, all his life, all his previous memories, had come back to him.

"If I truly have reincarnated, won't that mean..." Kant smiled for the first time in a long time. The boy has been filled with hope and motivation once again.

With this revelation, Kant, who had just gained a new sense of self-confidence, walked over to the library, to learn of the city he would rule, at least temporarily.

The city was located on an island, that was protected by two other islands, and a natural river called the Pixie river, flowing upstream, which was little as 40 to 50 feet wide to a whole 8km wide, acted as a moat that defended the city against the demonic beings.

The island that the city settled on was called Santo island, which meant something else entirely in an ancient forgotten language. The Pixie river was also connected to a large drainage basin, allowing the city to become a commercial hub.

The city had a rather merchant and artisan economy. It did have an agricultural sector that produced enough food to feed and sustain the city's ~210,000 people, but there were sizable merchant and specialist classes thanks to the city's location.

The city seemed to be pretty stable. But there were some problems, according to Howard's 21st-century mindset. There was not a lot of economic freedom which makes it hard for businesses to operate.

Serfdom is widespread with about 80% of the people living were serfs in one way or another, forced to work to feed the rest of the 20%. Disease and poverty were prevalent, at least according to Howard himself.

Politically, the city, and the rest of the world, had a feudal structure in place that was similar to that of the old world, with monarchs all over the world deriving their political power from their skill and potency in magical ability, which they used to protect the people of the city.

This philosophical outlook that came from the church, was not new, as it had evolved from 'the strongest man shall rule' from the previous cycle. However, it was a problem.

Kant had no magical power, meaning that he was dead last when it came to replacing his father. If he were to rule, he would have to prove himself, to the commoners and royalty alike, that he was not someone to be tossed around.

Gripping his hand, he promises himself one thing. He promises that he, no matter what, will lead this world into a new age, to bring this near primitive world technology and wealth they had never seen before, to lead them into a new age for humanity now and beyond!