Shadow Weaver: Sole Heir Of The Night

"Ahhhh"

Out in the snow, two figures ran across the front yard of a small cabin trying to dodge a slow-moving individual.

"Hold on brother, I'm coming." Behind the individual, Roddy, Enzo's younger brother, pulled a finely sharpened wooden sword from the ground and launched himself at Raven.

"You guys don't learn, huh?" Raven noticed this through the corner of her eye and sneered. Reaching forward as if space distorted, she appeared beside Roddy and grabbed the wooden knife, effectively raising him into the air.

"You're taking that bath whether you like it or not," Raven spoke sternly, driving Roddy into the snowy floor.

The Northern Isles were incredibly cold, and the kids weren't used to it. So taking a bath had been a problem for the longest time. Enzo's mother tried over and over again, but these little demons were annoyingly unagreeable.

"Hehe, she's feisty," Enzo's mother commented in a tempered tone as she watched Raven and the kids struggle in the front yard.

Mister White's house was a cozy environment that really touched the heart. It felt like a home with memories; they were able to seamlessly meld into this place.

"You don't know the half of it," Enzo smiled slowly.

He could vividly remember this innocent-looking cold queen smashing an exalted weaver directly into a wall, crushing his bones.

Feisty was an understatement.

"Hmm." Hearing that, she smiled to Enzo's words then went silent for a few seconds as they watched what was happening outside in silence.

These kinds of moments were a rare bonding experience between mother and son, ones that even before this whole drama were seldom seen.

"Have you decided whether to send them somewhere in the institute temporarily? Or maybe somewhere in the plains?" Enzo suddenly spoke, grabbing a hot cup of tea.

Enzo had started taking weave jobs since he was 13. He was forced to do so, but Roddy and Carlos didn't have to follow in his footsteps.

At least not right now. Right now what should be on their radar should be a federal school education.

This would not only help them in understanding the world much better, the qualifications would help them scale higher in the world.

After all, not everyone was lucky enough to gain the bloodline of the Night, receive a great star, and undergo a voyage at the age of 16.

"Somewhere in the settlement is good. Roddy is already speaking of joining the institute in the future." Enzo's mother understood her kids, what their minds had been primed to do. Whether they said it or not, she could feel the resolve to stand firmly against those who would seek to oppress them.

Seeing one's father murdered in cold blood would do that to you.

"The only problem is Carlos…." She spoke, also taking a sip of the tea before her.

"He won't let go of the weaver thing…" she added.

Carlos was the older brother. He had watched Enzo take on the mantle of freelance weaver at a young age… he understood the reasons, their family situation, and wanted to walk that same path.

But now, she was afraid that his reasoning had shifted. He didn't want to join a school; he wanted to go weaving from the bat. His reason: he wanted to be strong enough to avenge his father.

The only problem was, Enzo had already done that. He had killed those who tried to kill his father.

So what did he want?

"Don't worry about him, I'll give him a good talking to," Enzo nodded his head in understanding.

Truth was, he couldn't blame the kid. He still hated Weavetech to this day, even after killing two important members.

What could he say realistically?

-boom

The door slammed open suddenly, a wave of cold invading the sitting room as Raven walked in with both Roddy and Carlos in her arms.

"Mom help, she wants to freeze us to death," Roddy screamed in a haphazard way, the childishness in his antics evident, meanwhile Carlos just sneered in indignation.

Without paying the two any mind, Raven marched them to the bathroom and slammed the door from the inside.

Later that day,

Enzo walked down the staircase leading to the underground complex.

From the outside, Mister White's house seemed like a modest cottage with little spacing made for a certain ambience.

But this wasn't the case, as it was a cultural norm in the Northern Isles to have an underground area in every sole house.

This cottage in particular had a space that extended 20 meters behind the actual structure.

In there were a plethora of rooms that were locked with strange passcodes and fingerprint sensors.

Amongst them were only three sections allowed for them to access.

The library

The hot pool

And a state-of-the-art training room

Enzo right now was heading to the training area, his gym clothes on, whistling.

These few days after the whole incident at Astoria had him feeling robust. For Star Weavers, they could absorb star essence light through meditation or just passively.

It also depended on the grade of one's star core, and as someone with a great star it made sense that he was improving fast.

However, two months after the first voyage was not normal to advance in. Enzo knew this even for a great star wielder. There was definitely something else leading to this.

"Hmm." Opening the doors to the training room, Enzo noticed Raven already inside at the very back.

She was much more diligent than him in this regard. Maybe it had something to do with her family, but she was obsessed with becoming more powerful.

'Maximum effort.'

Not thinking too much about it, Enzo broke into a series of fighting movements, building up tension in his body as his body became hot and he broke into a sweat.

The first step of meditation was to activate all the cells in the body. This was why it was recommended to meditate in the old days to calm oneself; it allowed one to enter a state of unity with one's inner power.

After that, the next step was to fill the stomach with air. This was a supplementary practice that further invigorates the body, creating an atmosphere of constant work.

Then complete silence.

A cross-legged position followed, and a state of tranquility would be achieved, allowing one to sense their inner star and filter energy through it.

This was the meditation method Enzo had learned in school.

It was called the stress-catalyzed meditation method.

While meditating, Enzo felt his body nourished quickly, his sweating at a constant pace, wetting the carpet and increasing his cell activity.

The energy welled up slowly as seconds passed, turning into minutes, counting 1 to 30.

On the 35-minute mark, Enzo suddenly felt all the energy that was clustered around his spirit get sucked away into the void. Then a sense of heat spread through his chest.

Before he knew it, his body calmed down.

"That's one revolution," Enzo muttered, then stood up once again to repeat his movement exercise.

No one said growing stronger was easy. Enzo felt his speed was abnormal, but to say he wasn't working for it would be a disservice to how much work Enzo put into being strong.

He continued the meditation process for about four hours, achieving eight sets in one sitting before finally falling on his back in exhaustion.

To put this into perspective, the average Star Weaver at stage one would struggle to get in one set in a day, as the process had serious tolls on the body. People typically couldn't handle it.

Enzo, however, was different.

But even he had his limits.

"Are you okay?" Suddenly Raven's voice resounded next to Enzo as her figure stood over him, looking down.

"Just a bit tired, nothing serious," Enzo commented with a laugh.

Raven was sitting right behind him the whole time doing the exact same exercise… however, she wasn't as tired as he was.

Mainly, of course, because she had entered stage two about a day ago and could now take more pressure than he could.

Hearing Enzo's confirmation, Raven laid down next to him and stared at the ceiling also.

A brief moment of silence filled the air, then Raven asked a question that had been on her mind for a very long time.

"I was meaning to ask a while ago, but how do you know icebreaker Eliza?" Raven asked with a calm sudden expression on her face.

Enzo, however, felt a deep frown slowly form on his face when he heard that, forcing him to look to the left directly at her.

"Eliza? What do you…." Enzo raised his eyebrow, confused, so before he could say another word she lifted up a necklace in the air and showed it to Enzo.

It was the exact thing he had on his neck.

Raven was talking about that Eliza, the one that had saved him from the demon of the Night.