Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Michael took a second to truly understand what Huntrax said.

‘Magic is gone,’ he said. But how could it be gone, when the very fabric of this world was interwoven with the 8 basic elements of mana? Saying mana was gone was like saying that air didn’t exist. It simply didn’t make sense.

And perhaps, most importantly, he could still sense the mana in the air. His Supreme Talent still lets him peer through the magical fabric of reality and see them as individual motes of light.

“They’ve done it,” Huntrax said. He had sat down on a piece of rubble, holding his head in his hand. “They’ve ruined the world.”

“Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean magic is gone?”

“It means it’s gone. Nobody can use it anymore. We’ve entered the dark ages.”

Michael almost laughed at his words, when it was so obvious to see the Air mana created a small gale that passed in front of Huntrax.

But it was then that he saw something different. The Air mana passed through Huntrax’s body like it was nothing. It was as if the Heavenly Knight was nothing more than a projection in reality.

He couldn’t believe it. And that wasn’t all. Huntrax’s body was actually devoid of mana. His skin, the organs inside him, his muscles, which all used to be filled and made out of mana, were now completely empty.

A Heavenly Knight didn’t specialize in magic, but his mere power allowed him to be attractive to the mana of the world. They should be overwhelming him. In fact, it was the very reason Michael was able to track him to this island in the middle of nowhere. Huntrax used to emit such a powerful pillar of Light mana that Michael saw him a good few kilometers away from his actual position.

But now, it was gone. The Heavenly Knight was simply a shell of himself.

It was as if Michael had been transported to a different world. One in which magic didn’t exist at all.

“How is this even possible…”

Then, he remembered. That Nascent Influence. The one that had permeated through everything in the world, the one that affected even Michael.

Was it because of that?

“The Grandmaster succeeded in his plans,” said Huntrax. “He enveloped the world in a place that is free from the past. He used his Nascent Influence to erase the very existence of mana.”

Michael shook his head. “But he didn’t erase mana from the world.”

Huntrax looked at him with a self-deprecating look. The Heavenly Knight then raised his hand, revolving it as if he was trying to create a simple magic circle. It didn’t work.

“I’m no slouch in magic, but even I could summon a simple water ball. But now, magic is gone. I can’t see it, I can’t sense it, I can’t use it.”

But that’s the thing. Magic was not gone. Michael could see it clearly in the air.

It was only now that he realized how powerful Nascent Influence truly was when used by someone with tremendous power.

The Grandmaster was able to change everyone’s reality, making them believe that magic had disappeared. Even a Heavenly Knight was affected. In his and everyone’s eyes, magic had disappeared completely.

Michael was only safe because of ChatJK6. She was able to protect him from the Nascent Influence through some kind of protocol.

How did you save me?

ChatJK6 didn’t respond. It seemed that the backlash from the Nascent Influence caused her to temporarily go offline.

“What are we going to do,” Huntrax asked, completely overwhelmed by this new, unfamiliar environment.

Michael was clueless as well. But in the back of his mind, he tried to use a simple Wind Spell. And surprisingly, the Air mana started to gather at his fingertips, just like a normal spell would.

He quickly stopped it. If what Huntrax said was true, and that the entire world was affected by this Nascent Influence, then this would mean that he was the only magic user left alive.

If he was the only superpowered human left, then he would have told everyone that he was still able to use magic.

But in this world, Aubility Power still existed. Maugnetics were left alone and were allowed to keep their powers.

So, things didn’t look to be as gloomy as Huntrax was pointing it out to be.

“But things could get worse,” Michael said. “They could have taken the GodForge pieces from us.”

Huntrax looked at him and shook his head. “You don’t understand, young man. It would have been better if they had also taken Maugnetic powers from the world. But they didn’t. That way, everyone would be equal. We’d all be left powerless. But now…”

Michael’s eyes widened as he realized what Huntrax was implying.

If Aubility Power was the only thing left in the world, this meant that the divide between elite and normal would grow even wider.

Strife, turmoil, war. Everything would happen.

After all, GodForge pieces were hoarded by the elites. Which meant that only they could have the powers in the world. The mortals and the Lower Echelons would not have anything to defend themselves with.

Of course, since the majority of the population in this world was mortal, they wouldn’t want the elites to keep all the GodForge pieces to themselves.

This would lead to more conflict. Rich versus the poor. A class divide that could destroy the very world itself and cause global extinction.

“This… we need to go back to New Sparta immediately,” Huntrax urged. “We need to deal with this before the repercussions of Ersatz fully come and destroy us all. Hang on.”

Huntrax grips Michael’s shoulders, and suddenly a huge force propels them forward, launching them towards New Sparta at the speed of a falling star.

And as Michael and Huntrax shot through the clouds, Michael couldn’t help but look down at the territories they were passing.

He saw villages, towns, with people going outside with their heads in their hands, confused as to what was happening.

Michael felt extremely bad for them. But it was in that instant that he heard something that he hadn’t heard in a long time.

[Golden Nose detects multiple SSS talents in the vicinity.]