"This… This… What's going on?"
Elizabeth muttered in shock as she stared at the newly formed Mana Pathways and Mana Core in her unborn child.
"Why does my baby have a Mana Circuit already? What happened? Did she form them on her own?" Elizabeth questioned, but nobody was there to answer her.
She examined her baby's Mana Circuit more in-depth and gasped, "How beautiful!"
Elizabeth had never seen someone with such a beautiful Mana Circuit in terms of functionality before.
Even her own Mana Circuit could only be described as trash in front of her unborn child, and she was one of the strongest beings in the country!
Naturally, Elizabeth knew what this meant. Her child was a genius and not just an ordinary genius!
One's Mana Circuit determines one's potential, and any small mistake during this process can decrease that potential.
Not only that, but Mana Pathways also determine the speed at which one can cultivate, cast spells, and many other factors.
A Mana Circuit might be a major factor in determining one's potential, but only some of it. It was more like one's Mana Circuit was the tool required to realize one's potential. It's just that these tools, once created, can't be changed.
Another incredibly important fact is that one's Mana Pathways and Core actually grow along with the host.
Once one's Mana Pathways and Core are formed, they are engraved into one's genetic code and force the human body on the path of evolution. The body needs some time to adapt to this, and a child's or a teenager's body can adapt much quicker than an adult's.
So, it goes without saying that the earlier one forms their Mana Pathways and Core, the better.
However, children under 10 often make too many mistakes during this process and ruin their potential.
This process is complicated as even being a few microns off can produce flaws that can ruin one's potential. How can such a thing possibly be left in the hands of a young child?
Therefore, children usually don't start cultivating until their teens, as that's proven to be the optimal time for one to form their Mana Pathways and Core.
However, what about a child who formed such an outstanding Mana Circuit while still in the womb?
The potential of such a child could only be described in a single word: Monstrous.
Although Elizabeth would never call her children monsters, she wasn't so naive to think others would feel the same.
Elizabeth knew that most humans are inherently selfish and would choose themselves over their race if given a choice. She knew because she was the exact same.
If she were forced to choose between this country and her family, she wouldn't hesitate to choose her family.
So, in a Universe where power reigns supreme, if her unborn child's talent is exposed before it gets a chance to bloom, then its life would be over before it even begins.
The best case in that scenario would be if her child is killed.
Worst case scenario, she is used as some sort of lab rat, and when it has served its purpose, she will either be imprisoned, crippled, killed, or turned into a mindless drone used for war.
'I will never let my child face such an ending!'
Elizabeth's blood chilled when she thought of all those possibilities.
Her eyes narrowed and turned ice-cold, and a bloody pressure exuded around her, starkly contrasting her cheery and loving appearance.
Cain, who was in the middle of cooking food for his pregnant wife, suddenly jumped when he felt the bloodlust coming from her. He immediately stopped what he was doing and rushed to her side. He was strong enough that such an action didn't even take a second before he was by his wife's side.
"Honey, what's wrong?! Are you okay?! Why are you so mad?!"
Cain asked, worry visible in his eyes.
Elizabeth calmed down at the sight of her husband and was about to start telling him what she saw, but she immediately stopped. She didn't know who might be listening and didn't want to take any chances.
She took out several noise-cancellation devices and used her mana to cover the area as an added layer of protection. Cain did the same, despite the serious look in his wife's eyes. Although he didn't know what was happening, he trusted her.
Once Elizabeth felt they were safe from prying eyes, she… didn't even start talking. Instead, she released a wisp of mana from her forehead and injected it into Cain's, forming a mental connection with Cain as the last layer of protection.
Normally, one can't hear a mental conversation between two people, but both know people with such an ability.
Also, if one is strong enough, one can listen in on their conversation without having to do anything.
Though Cain and Elizabeth are strong enough that only a select few people in the country can do such a thing to them.
Only when the mental connection was formed did Elizabeth start to speak.
"Alright, now that we're safe from any unwanted listeners, let me tell you what I found. So it all started when I felt something was happening to the child in my belly…."
Elizabeth then replayed everything she had just witnessed to Cain. Although there wasn't a change in his outward expression, Elizabeth knew him long enough to know what he was feeling.
"As expected of my child!" Cain nodded with a proud smile, hearing Elizabeth describe how talented their unborn child was.
However, it was when Elizabeth explained the severity of the situation that he finally understood her concerns.
It's not that he didn't understand human emotions.
How can the head of a Duke's Household possibly be so naive?
In fact, most of his work deals with the dark underbelly of humanity, so he knows what could happen to those who stick out from the rest.
While his other children were undoubtedly talents that could grow up to be even stronger than him, they weren't the kind of people who could shake the foundation of humanity or even the Universe.
"If what you're saying is true, and I don't doubt you for even a second, we need to start planning now. We need to prepare tools that can hide her Core and Pathways. Having something that can hide her cultivation level wouldn't hurt either. We might also need to find or create an item that will show a fake set of Mana Pathways and Core, so nobody will get suspicious of her."
Elizabeth nodded as she was thinking the same thing.
"We'd also have to educate our child never to share these things with people other than us. Not even her older siblings should know about this until she reaches a certain level of power. It's not that I don't trust them. We just can't take any risks here. I hate doing this to my little baby, but unfortunately, sometimes being too talented is more of a curse than a blessing," Elizabeth said with a forlorn expression.
Cain nodded at his wife's words, and although he understood the reason why it still pained him to know that his baby won't be able to grow up like every other child. Still, it's better than just imprisoning his child inside the estate. Not only would that be more suspicious to those around him, but it might also cause his child to resent him in the future.
The two soon finished up their mental conversation, took down all sound suppression devices, and returned to their normal loving selves.
Cain returned to cooking a meal for his wife while Elizabeth went back to observing her child. She didn't want to reveal her baby's gender, so she avoided anything that might indicate that.
Suddenly, she felt her mana slowly drain after a few minutes, and her baby seemed to consume more of her nutrients than before.
Luckily, she was a high-level cultivator and always ate highly-nutritious food, or else she might shrivel up in just a few hours at her child's newfound appetite!
She immediately began meditating so her baby could take as much mana as she needed to grow, but before getting too engrossed in her meditation, she yelled to her husband.
"Hubby, you might want to make a few extra servings. It seems like the baby is hungry."
"Will do!"
Little did they know that their child was currently undergoing an evolution to enter the 1st Realm of a Unique Body Cultivation Path and was devouring the necessary resources from Elizabeth to sustain this evolution.
Fortunately, Elizabeth was a high-level cultivator and part of a household that could provide the necessary nutrients needed to sustain her unborn child.
If Mika knew what was happening, she would be thanking the System for picking such a strong mother to give birth to her. An average woman or family wouldn't be able to provide the necessary nutrients needed to birth such an irregularity.