Zara finished the sentence without hesitation.
"Not even those so called Shadow Elves can match your mother, Vespera Abyss’s level of power and shadow control,"
"At least that is what I have heard from everyone who has ever spoken about her with any real knowledge,"
"People who have actually seen her work, not the ones who only repeat second-hand rumors in taverns."
Alex felt a quiet spark of pride settle in his chest.
He had always known his mother was strong.
Living under the same roof for years made the fact obvious in a hundred small ways.
The way the palace staff bowed and went rigid when she walked past.
The way even high ranking guests lowered their voices without being told.
Hearing it stated so plainly by someone who actually understood shadow, however, still landed differently.
’Mom really is that far ahead, huh.’
’Even the Shadow Elves cannot touch her.’
He looked at Zara and let the bragging start without any attempt at modesty.
"Hey, have you ever thought how many people can actually claim they are the child of the best shadow user on the entire continent, Zara? Vespera Abyss,"
"And on top of that, the prince of a whole kingdom at the same time,"
"That combination does not exactly grow on trees,"
"Most people would kill for either one of those titles alone,"
"I get both handed to me at birth!"
’This little brat...’, Zara snorted.
The sound was short, dry, and completely unimpressed.
She folded her arms and tilted her head just enough to look down at him with that familiar expression that said she had already decided he was being an idiot.
"Do not get high and full of yourself," she said.
"None of those things will give you any real advantage the moment a blade or a skill is coming at your head,"
"Being the son of Vespera Abyss will not make your Shadow Element move faster or hit harder,"
"Being the son of Alessio von WinterFang will not stop an attack that is already in motion,"
"In an actual battle the only things that matter are what you can do with your own hands, your own control, and your own power,"
"Titles do not block strikes,"
"Bloodlines do not aim for you,"
"So buckle up and start trying to do what I just showed you with the Shadow Element before I decide the lesson is over for today."
Alex exhaled through his nose, half a laugh and half genuine acceptance.
"Well, you are right,"
"Status will not help me in a fight,"
"I know that already,"
"If someone is trying to put a hole through my chest, ’prince’ is not going to make them hesitate for long,"
"But Zara, you have to agree that it is still cool to be me, you know,"
"I am allowed to enjoy that part at least a little!"
Zara ignored the last sentence completely.
She had already decided the conversation about bloodline prestige and royal titles was finished and had no interest in letting him drag it out.
"Focus," she said, voice turning flat and instructional again.
"Begin following the exact process I demonstrated,"
"No shortcuts or trying to look impressive,"
"Just follow the same steps I used, in the same order,"
"Gather it first,"
"Then stabilize it near the core,"
"Then move it down, nothing more."
Alex nodded once and turned his attention fully inward.
’Let’s start then...’
He reached for the familiar place near his chest where the Mana Heart sat, dense and steady, still carrying the quiet vitality it had held since the day he forced it into existence through pure stubborn refusal to accept a normal navel core.
The same method he had used when learning to settle the element behind his eyes came back easily now.
He called for the Shadow Element the way Zara had taught him earlier, searching for that specific cold, empty, silent signature that lived at the edge of his perception.
Adaptation was already active.
It had been running quietly since the moment she began the earlier demonstration, recording every shift in sensation and every small adjustment in control.
Alex kept it locked on the element as he gathered it, refusing to let his attention wander toward the trees, the residual crater still sitting a few steps away, or the faint amusement he could still feel from Zara through the bond.
The cold answered first.
It was thinner than when Zara moved her own element, less dense and less absolute, but it was unmistakably there.
The emptiness followed a heartbeat later, the strange sensation of space being occupied without anything solid filling it.
Then the silence arrived, the quiet that somehow pressed against the edges of his awareness without making a sound.
He held the three sensations carefully, the same way he had learned to hold them when sending the element upward toward his eyes for the first time.
’Hmm... he is learning to sense it in the right way, good.’, Zara watched him without speaking.
Her eyes tracked the small changes in his posture, the way his breathing slowed, the slight tension that still sat in his shoulders.
Through the open bond she could feel the exact moment the element responded to his call, the careful way he stabilized the cold filament near the Mana Heart, and the faint strain that came from trying to keep it coherent without rushing.
She did not interrupt him, the first attempt at a new direction always needed uninterrupted focus, and she had already seen what happened when he tried to force speed too early.
Alex kept the element near the Mana Heart for another full breath, confirming the connection was solid before he even thought about moving it.
The memory of the downward path Zara had shown him was still clear in his mind.
Navel region to pelvis, then the split along both thighs, across the knees, through the lower legs, and finally into the soles of the feet.
He would follow that route exactly.
No improvisation or trying to skip steps just because the upward path to the eyes had started to feel familiar.
The forest around them stayed quiet.
Thick shade pressed in from every side.
Somewhere far above the canopy a thin band of sunlight tried and failed to reach the ground.
Alex barely noticed any of it.
All of his attention stayed on the cold filament waiting inside his chest and the woman standing a few steps away who had already proven how far this element could go when it was used with real control and years of practice.
He drew in a slow breath, locked Adaptation on the sensation one more time, and began the first careful attempt to send the Shadow Element downward along the path she had mapped for him.
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End of Chapter 118: Your Mother
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