The house being devoid of two people was noticeable immediately, and even though we were all rather happy that both Giovanni and Leo had received these opportunities it still felt so... hollow back here at home.
There wasn't the laughter from Leo as he worked with Mother on this or that, wasn't the quiet conversation between Father and Giovanni as they discussed whatever came to mind; there was minimal bustling in the house, leaving it so... still and quiet, so empty.
It was becoming suffocating for me, and even though I desperately wanted to console the quiet, saddened woman that had raised me, I never could figure out what words to say to her or what I should do.
Father was around too, always right by her side, but his naturally stoic and steady personality meant that he just exuded another form of quiet that I didn't know what to do with either, so I told them that I would be outside most days.
It was for the better anyways since I needed to train more, needed to push myself further to become better, but it still made my heart clench painfully whenever I saw Mother's teary eyes as she waved me away.
I wasn't like Giovanni who was good with words - the right things to say at the right times simply evaded me always, and what I ended up saying only ever seemed to make things worse anyways - nor was I like Leo, who was a bright, happy presence that made everyone feel better.
Even though we weren't related by blood the one I took after the most was Father; I was good with my hands, simple with my thoughts and tried to just do what I knew I could do, because trying something new meant potentially messing up bad.
If I didn't need to do it, there wasn't a need to risk it; sticking to what I knew I could do best had been somewhat drilled into me by my old man from a young age, because operating a mine meant figuring out who could do what optimally.
I hit things hard and I hit them for long periods of time without needing a break; Giovanni was good at 'reading' the stone while Leo was an incredible gardener, so we learned to stick to our strengths and just work together to make things happen how we wanted them.
It was that sort of mentality that had me outside doing pushups in the rain, letting the cool droplets diminish the heat that coiled up in my body naturally; I was pushing myself as much as I could now because I needed to be doing... something.
As I went through each workout I continued to breathe in Qi, cycle it through my body and then press it against my Spirit Root, nurturing it even as I nurtured my body; it wasn't efficient since cycling the Qi meant 'losing' it to my muscles, but it was a price I had long since been willing to pay.
Strengthening my body was what I knew best, and making sure that every single fiber of my being was soaked in Qi helped me push myself even more; that was what I had done for so long, and it was what I was doing now.
The days began to blur as we lived in this somewhat tense quiet, rarely doing anything besides going through the motions of the daily chores we needed to complete; Father was resting when he could or heading into town to do an odd job here or there, bringing back meat whenever he did and quietly telling us what money we had left.
Mother tended to the garden as best she could, but eventually she also began to just sit inside and patch up all of our clothes before taking the time to knit a scarf; for who I never asked, and seeing her through the windows always made my heart pang again and again.
As for me, I just kept doing... something; I worked out, I ran, I took walks to the town and then back, sometimes I even went into the mine and just extracted some fresh stone just because... and I cultivated.
I constantly was pulling in the Qi around me and nourishing the Spirit Root inside of me, bathing it in Qi and shoring up my current Sixth Foundation stage until I could reasonably and safely push forwards into the Seventh Foundation.
That seventh bud was making itself known, informing me that I was getting closer and closer to actually forming it and stepping up into another stage of my cultivation journey, but I needed to keep at it to ensure it happened before the Elder arrived.
When it would happen and how well I could handle it was a different story, but I knew that I needed to keep pushing as much as I could; that was where a small part of me was thankful that Giovanni and Leo were gone, because at dinner it meant more food for me.
Meat every single night was beginning to change my perspective on life, and being able to have quite a lot of it every single time I came in for dinner was just immaculate, but it was also a reminder that I simply HAD to become a Disciple in the Sect.
Otherwise it would put Mother and Father in a difficult situation since their plans to retire and head up into the city would be put on hold... for who knows just how long.
That couldn't happen, so I took the nourishment from the food and cultivated deep into the night, every single night... then I would sleep for a few hours, be roused by Mother, and do everything all over again.
It was of no surprise to me that eventually my body demanded I do something 'relaxing' sometime soon, the pressure, stress and constant grind leading me back into the town with a single goal in mind: to find a woman and breed.