5 Years Old

"Master, please eat something," A servant worriedly begged for the hundredth time.

A group of servants looked at the man on a chair. He looked to be in his prime of adulthood, with sharp outlined features. His gaze that usually strong and unyielding now looked worried and weary.

"Any news on my wife?" He asked, his voice uncertain.

"I..." The servant was just about to reply when a young girl rushed in. The expression of this girl was elated with smiles.

"Dad! Mom has already given birth to my brother!" The girl announced. The Marquis finally eased, a wide grin across his face.

Soon after, a carriage slowly arrived in front of the manor. The Marquis stood there with his young daughter, their excitement making them look like little children waiting for their gift.

A gorgeous woman with grace slowly stepped out of the carriage. In her arms was a little wrapped baby.

Rein's eyes continuously scanned his surroundings. His baby perception wasn't as good as his adult perception in his previous life but he could understand some things.

Firstly, this world lacked technology. He was born in a room with no special machines and was transported in a carriage. Second, there was a strange sensation in the air.

He couldn't find the right way to put it but it was very comfortable and relaxing.

He had just gotten off the carriage and still silently pondering this world when a scary big figure suddenly rushed at him. He tried to move but could only squirm helplessly. As a baby, his only option was...

"WAHHH!"

Help me woman!

"Darius, stop it! You're scaring him," She reprimanded.

Damnit. If the military saw me like this, they would probably shit themselves in laughter. Sith thought.

The man, Darius, awkwardly stopped there when he heard that. Seeing the baby's hateful look, he felt a bit bad.

Bullied by my own child...

However when he saw his wife and his son in her arms, he felt blessed. His heir was born and his beautiful wife was safe.

"Prepare a great banquet for tonight!" He instructed in excitement.

_________________

"Magic..." Rein muttered, staring at the wall in front of him. He placed the marking tool to his chin in thought.

From what I've understood, Hades' power was divine but of a chaotic and unstable nature. That's why it detonated without proper control.

He looked to his scribblings on the wall in front of him.

As for why or how I ended up here, I'm not certain. My best guess; Hades' energy of the dead influenced my soul after the detonation.

His understanding of gods and magic was still negligible so he couldn't properly interpret what had happened. Either way, he was now in a world of magic.

"Finally..." He muttered, an evil-like grin appearing on his face.

"Rein." A dangerous voice came from the door. "Are you awake~?"

Rein's devious expression suddenly morphed. He scrambled into his sheets just in time before the door opened. A gorgeous woman with silky black hair and enchanting emerald eyes walked in.

When she saw the 5 year old shaking in the sheets, a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Lucky brat," she commented before leaving.

Rein heaved a sigh of relief but he still felt a pang. He had thought his new mom was kind, gentle and weak but his assumption had been squashed.

Him, a global powerhouse defined by his raw power and unstoppable force was shaking from a mere woman's presence. He wanted to cry.

As he calmed down, he glanced at his inscriptions on the wall once more. Then, he took on a lotus position on his bed and released a light exhale.

With his eyes closed, he mustered every bit of his focus. He slowly observed the feeling of the air around him, the small changes, and the harmonious movement.

Then he felt it. His senses slowly went from the serene air around himself to the tiny strands within the atmosphere. He could sense them but the picture was a bit murky to him. Those strands carried a mysterious, yet resonant feeling as they passed over him.

As they touched him, he tried interacting with them. However, they didn't respond. It was like trying to speak to a dead rock.

However, Rein didn't get impatient. It wasn't his first time trying this. He exhaled once again, cutting off all distractions. As his heart pumped, he listened, syncing his actions to each beat.

His hope in his hypothesis was little, but he still proceeded. He synced the beating with the strands in the air. Every push and pull with the strands resonated with the heart thumps.

At first, the strands still ignored him. But then, one strand slowly got pulled towards him like a magnet. As the thin strand made contact with him, it got pulled into his body and dissolved into an ethereal fluid that merged with him.

The effect was practically negligible but with his mind focused, he sensed it. He was momentarily surprised but that split-second distraction caused his rhythm to go off sync.

He collapsed on his back, sweat trickling down his brows. Indeed, it wasn't as easy as he thought.

He looked at his lean body once more and he frowned. Currently, his peers were much better than him in this, yet he couldn't even do the basics.

After gaining his breath, he wiped his sweat and sat back up. With a burning fire in his eyes, he began the process once again.

However, the door suddenly clicked open, followed by the entrance of a figure. Rein's body shook all over and he almost cried out.

His mother stared at him with a beautiful smile that couldn't look more dangerous. He looked at her hand and saw she was hiding something behind her back.

With an audible gulp, he slowly laid down on the pillow.

"Rein..." She began, smiling. "I have something for you."

"W-What is it?"

She revealed what was in her hand, causing him to jump... but then nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see a thick book in her hand.

 ...What is she doing?

He felt nervous for some reason, a primal reaction that left him uncomfortable. 

"Here. I saw you've been sneaking spell books from your father's library so I got you this one. It's like a magic encyclopedia," she explained.

Rein looked at her in stunned silence for a moment. Her smile was indeed beautiful.

But why is she looking at me like that?

"Uhh. Thanks... Mom," He thanked awkwardly. He never remembered calling anyone mom so this intimacy was unexpected.

What the hell is going on?!

Her smile widened when she heard that. Giving him a light peck, she left.

Rein was dumbfounded at the randomness. Where was her strict love? What was this now? His attention, however, was dragged away when he saw the book's introduction...

Magic 101: Ether, Ren and Ki

_________________

"Celeste..." Darius was sitting in his library with a serious expression when his wife had just walked in. Her expression was also overcast.

When she saw her husband, she couldn't hold it anymore and her eyes began tearing up.

"Dar, he was doing it again when I entered," she choked.

Darius' expression was filled with gloom. His expression kept fluctuating as his mind raced.

Finally, he sighed. "Celeste, we have to tell him. We can't keep letting him have false hopes."

"No! What if he loses all his motivation in life?!" Celeste cried.

"He's just five. If we let him know he can't use magic, I'm sure he'll find another reason to live," Darius consoled.

"No," She refused, "You know very well what living without magic in this type of world means. We can't bring that pain to him."

"I still think it's best we let him know," He suggested again.

Celeste's expression darkened. She wasn't stupid and understood her husband's point but she couldn't bear to see her son's heartbreak and disappointment.

"No." She shook her head. "I'll ask my father again. He might have found a way."

Darius frowned. Her father was a truly unreasonable man. Who knew whether he would kill the doctor instead.

"It might just be ether-numb, you know. There's still Ren and Ki. Similar cases have happened where the person's affinity lied with another." When Celeste heard her husband's words, her eyes brightened in delight.

"Yes, yes. I've been narrow-minded," She nodded, holding his hands.

Darius tried to hide the strain in his smile. The doctors had already confirmed that he was unaffiliated with neither of the three. His current option was only one; to train him in the way of weapons and body combat.

But without Ki, even the chances of him successfully learning that would be miniscule.

Darius sighed. When things were out of your control, you could only leave it to fate.

_____________

"So in summary, Ren is the energy of the mind, Ki is the vitality of the body and Ether is the force of the world," Rein muttered.

He continued, "And the energy used in magic is commonly the world force, Ether. But Ether has a negative counterpart. The negative world force used by devils or devil creatures is called... Nether."

This world was indeed unique. There were more details in the book but his current five year old self had very little knowledge, including language.

However, the book, or what he could read, gave no information on his inability to properly sense and control ether.

Sigh. I'll have to ask mother.