CHAPTER 2: Birth!

Inside a medieval-looking room, a beautiful woman was half-lying down, her legs spread apart, letting out moans and grunts. Even though her dress was simple and plain, it did nothing to suppress her beauty. Beside her stood a young man in his twenties, holding her hand and offering words of comfort. His appearance was average, his build strong, with some defined muscles—signs of his hard work in the fields. He had dark brown hair and black eyes. Overall, one could say he had a reasonably good appearance. 

His heart was pounding like war drums. It wasn't his first time experiencing such a situation, and even though he wasn't the one giving birth, his heart was filled with emotions. Love, nervousness, fear, and happiness were the most prominent. Seeing his beloved wife in such agony made him pray to the gods. 

Taking a deep breath, Raaz knew he had to stay calm—not just for himself but also for his wife. 

Turning his gaze toward the midwife, he noticed signs of concern on her face. 

"Miss Nana, is something wrong? Is it the babies? My wife?" His voice radiated worry. 

"Calm down, boy. This isn't the first time I've helped bring children into the world, and it definitely won't be the last. Focus on taking care of your wife and let me do my job." Though her words aimed to ease his concerns, the focused look in her eyes made him doubt. 

Normally, Raaz wouldn't notice such signs, but this was about his wife's and children's lives. 

'She must be trying to keep me and Elina from panicking, but I can see in her eyes that something is wrong!' 

What he actually said was, "You heard her, didn't you, my love? You and our babies are going to be fine, just keep pushing." Elina's grip on his hand tightened. 

"What do you think I'm doing? ARGHHH!" Normally, Elina's tone would be loving, but the pain and intense emotions of childbirth had overwhelmed her. 

"I can see a head, keep going!" 

The grunts turned into screams. 

With one final push, a baby was born. But Nana immediately noticed a problem. 

The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby boy's neck. As soon as she cut and removed the cord, she handed the boy to her assistant. After casting her best healing spells, the baby remained still for a full minute. Fearing the worst, Nana was already thinking about how to break the news to the parents.

To his relief, the boy opened his eyes. 

"Arghhh!" Elina began screaming even louder. Another baby was coming! 

Nana had no time to bask in her own success. The second boy was born much more easily than the first and without any complications. 

Nana's eyes widened in surprise. She had helped dozens of mothers give birth and had seen dozens of babies. But the little boy before her was special. 

Holding the child in her arms, Nana's entire perception shifted. The world became blurry—her vision focused solely on the baby. 

The boy was incredibly adorable, with large eyes whose irises were a deep red, almost black. But what caught her attention the most was his hair. It was light brown, bordering on blonde, with several colorful streaks in shades of blue, red, yellow, orange, silver, and black. 

Just being exposed to the baby's aura slightly elevated Nana's magical comprehension. 

But it didn't last long, and soon her senses returned to normal. 

"They're alive! I did it!" 

Nana triumphantly held up both boys. 

The room erupted in applause and joyful tears. The people in the room embraced each other and the mother in turns. 

Cheonma took a quick look around and realized his situation. There was nothing he could do at the moment, so he decided to take a good look at himself. 

He closed his eyes and then 'opened' them. Cheonma was no longer seeing his body from a third-person perspective. The whole world went dark, with only one thing shining like a red sun. Ignoring the red light, Cheonma beheld a breathtaking sight. 

Countless magical markings emitted a white glow. These marks were all interconnected by red threads. Where his forehead would be, several magical markings stood out, forming the outline of an eye that radiated a pale blue aura. 

'So this is my true form? I knew that the progenitor body of a new human race, one that doesn't descend from Ren Zu, would be special, but I severely underestimated it. The supernatural dao marks of the Blood and Soul Path have influenced it in ways I can't even begin to understand.'

(The following explanation is purely fictional.)

After understanding Ren Zu's dream realm and how he created humans, Cheonma began preparing to create the perfect physique for his path.

To begin refining the Supernatural Physique of the Pure Blood Demon, Cheonma had to discover the answers to his most fundamental questions.

What are dao marks? How do they arise? Why can't they coexist in harmony? Among other inquiries. This led Cheonma to research the Original Path, the Path of Heaven.

Dao marks, in their essence, are energetic representations of a path. They originate from tiny accumulated particles, smaller than atoms, which Cheonma called the "Essence of All Things" or "Heavenly Dao Marks."

These particles of Heaven do not belong to a specific path; they are easily influenced by their surroundings to acquire a particular characteristic. For example: Have you ever wondered why humans, derived from Ren Zu's children, are not born with innate dao marks of a particular path like the original ten children? Cheonma discovered that this was always Ren Zu's intention.

In his quest to break free from Fate, Ren Zu understood that limiting his children to a single path, like his original ten children, was not the answer. He needed diversity, and above all, evolution. Ren Zu realized that, to defeat Fate, his descendants would need many tools at their disposal. This is why humans do not have long lifespans—they must learn to understand and fight against this limitation. Making them strive for self-improvement was the key.

This raises other questions: Did variant humans exist before Ren Zu? Why did the Heavens make them stronger and longer-lived than regular humans? But Cheonma did not delve too deeply into these matters.

Ren Zu understood that Heaven already knew all paths through the Heavenly Dao and that dao marks, in their essence, are transformed marks of Heaven.

(N/A: Fang Yuan discovered that Heavenly Dao marks can only be obtained through calamities and tribulations sent by the Will of Heaven. He also realized that Heavenly Dao marks are not high in quantity, but their quality surpasses any other path. For example, 100 Heavenly Dao marks could be converted into over 1,000 dao marks of other paths.)

Cheonma did not have the necessary resources to create a physique on the level of an Immortal Sovereign, but he had the next best thing: The Blue Sea of Life, an isolated domain of Heaven and Earth of the Heavenly Path.

(N/A: I assume it belongs to the Heavenly Path because all forms of life, from all paths, originated from it.)

With this isolated domain, Cheonma was able to accumulate Heavenly Dao Marks without any external influence.

He used only three resources to refine the Supernatural Fetus: his body, soul, and blood.

In his last battle, Cheonma used the combined power of all Venerables to cause as many deaths as possible. Human souls, beasts, variant humans, and plants—none were spared.

When he 'died,' his body was actually transformed into multiple fragments of Heavenly Dao Marks. Even the Dao Marks in his aperture were not spared (among them were his Otherworldly Dao Marks).

In the end, Cheonma used his body and the bodies and souls of his clones to nourish the Supernatural Fetus.

He did not know exactly what powers this supernatural Gu would have, but he knew that its potential could not be limited, not by Heaven, nor by Ren Zu.

(N/A: In summary: Heavenly Particles transform into Dao Marks of a specific path when exposed to it. In high quantities, these particles transform into Heavenly Dao Marks, which can create harmony with other paths. We saw this when Fang Yuan combined his 9,000 Heavenly Dao Marks with his killer moves. Cheonma discovered how to create a human body and used his Supernatural Dao Marks, his own body, and a vast amount of Blood Path Dao Marks to create a Gu capable of breaking the restrictions placed by the Will of Heaven and Ren Zu.)

~~~~

Cheonma was pulled from his thoughts when he felt someone poking him.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the old woman had handed him to a man.

The man was shedding tears of joy as he looked at him—it was easy to tell that this was his father.

Cheonma felt extremely exhausted after using his ability, so he did not resist the call of the Dream Realm.

Raaz looked curiously at the boy in his arms. He was extremely cute, clearly inheriting his mother's features. But what intrigued him were the colored streaks in his hair.

His knowledge of magic was nearly zero, but weren't colored streaks supposed to appear only in women? He even double-checked the boy's genitalia just to be sure.

"The mysteries of magic," he thought.

(N/A: Derek (Lith) had already witnessed Nana using Darkness Magic.)

After witnessing magic being used, little Derek's heart was filled with excitement!

'Time for another magic trick? Show me!' he thought as he closely watched Nana's movements.

"Stay still, dear. Let me take care of your bleeding."

Nana first spread the fingers of both hands before moving her arms in a circular motion—starting from her head—then stretching them as far as she could before bringing her hands together, palm against the back of the other hand, and pointing them toward Elina's navel.

"Vinire Lakhat."

Derek, all wrapped up, tried to memorize every single movement, no matter how small.

A translucent sphere covered the lower part of Elina's body, and her pale skin quickly turned a healthy pink, while all signs of pain and fatigue disappeared from her face.

Once again, Derek felt something click inside him. First with darkness magic, and now he could confirm his suspicions. Just by hearing the power word, he felt a connection form between him and light magic. Derek couldn't stop smiling.

"Could this really be a real option?" he thought. "I can become a mage and live freely for the first time in my life! No shackles, no responsibilities! But I better not get too excited. With my luck, I might have poor talent or—"

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he saw the woman holding him handing him over to his mother.

"Nana, are you sure both of them are okay? One fell asleep as soon as he was born, and the other—laughing or not—is way too quiet. After everything that happened, I'm afraid something might be wrong."

Derek didn't understand a single word the woman said, but he could read the somber atmosphere in the room. Fearing the worst, he didn't want to risk his only chance at a good life. Derek immediately began his best baby impression—laughing, gesturing, and cooing.

Nana felt her professional pride wounded by such accusations, but this wasn't the first time she dealt with anxious mothers.

She knew that the twins' birth conditions were peculiar, especially the younger one. She could still remember the strange sensation of holding him.

Nana was sensitive enough to understand that Elina didn't need a logical explanation, just a reassurance about the health of her children.

"Don't worry, dear. I can prove to you that your children are fine."

With a warm smile, she caressed Elina's cheek and took Derek from her arms, removing the cloth as if revealing a treasure.

Nana carefully adjusted Derek into the crook of her left arm, then she circled her open right hand around him and said:

"Vinire Rad Tu!"

A small thread of light emerged from her palm, dancing around the baby before penetrating his chest.

The light spread from his head to his feet, causing him to emit a faint glow.

"See? If there were a scratch on his body, my injury detection spell would have left that area dark. Your little sun is fine."

The energy flowing through his body made Derek feel empowered. In his old life, he'd only felt this way a few times.

When he graduated, when he finally left his parents' house, when he beat up the bullies. But all those times were fleeting emotions, lasting only a few seconds at best.

Now, it was different. It wasn't just adrenaline. The true magic, the true power, was coursing through every fiber of his being, making him feel invincible.

So, when the spell started to fade, he couldn't accept it.

"No! Come back to me! Give me back my power!" Derek screamed inwardly.

He focused on the last threads of energy, wishing they would stay. He couldn't cast the spell on his own, but he could still feel the lingering power and began to feed it with his own.

Derek's light stopped dimming and, instead, grew stronger.

Nana was stunned. She had never seen anything like it before. This wasn't how the spell was supposed to work.

Derek wanted it to last forever, but a second later, he fell asleep due to mana exhaustion, and the light quickly faded.

Nana wrapped the baby again and returned him to his mother's arms.

"Nana, what was that?" Elina asked, full of admiration.

The old healer had no idea how to respond. Many possibilities raced through her mind, and all of them would require lengthy explanations that would cause Elina unnecessary worry and might even force Nana to repeat the spell.

It had been a long day, and she had no intention of prolonging it a second longer than necessary, so she borrowed a phrase from her childhood favorite fairy tale.

"My child, I think the newborn may be blessed by the light. There is no need to worry, only to rejoice."

Nana walked to the other side of the bed and took Cheonma from Raaz's arms.

Sensing a disturbance, Cheonma's eyes trembled before opening.

His vision blurred for a moment before focusing on Nana's aged face. She seemed to be in her 70s, with white-gray hair tied up in a bun. Her eyes were gray, and they radiated a gleam of experience.

'To think that one day I would witness the birth of a child with all six strands of the elements, and a boy no less!'

Placing him in one of her arms, Nana prepared her spell.

"Vinire Lakhat!"

Feeling the light element penetrate his entire body, Cheonma realized something he had previously dismissed. In his solar plexus, he noticed an energy sphere constantly pulsating with energy. It was weak and would normally go unnoticed, but the diagnostic effects led Cheonma's senses directly to the source. The light Nana created circled around his body, using the energy flow emitted by the core as a guide.

It took a few moments for Cheonma to understand what the effects of this magical light were, but once he did, he was able to take control of the spell for himself.

Using magic was a unique sensation for Cheonma. In his old world, the only way humans found to influence the world and understand it was through Gu Worms.

'The possibilities are endless!'

Cheonma was euphoric.

Seeing the smile on the baby's face, Nana's aged heart almost melted to the point where she forgot what had happened. Almost.

It was the second time such strange phenomena had occurred with her! First Lith, the older twin, and now Ramiel, the younger one, showing extraordinary feats! She truly deserved some rest after all this.