"Of course, but we not without the permission and supervision of the council. If they'll be investigated right now, the public and those loyal to their family would notice. It will only harm the reputation of nobles, so although that's what I want too, we need to know the council's plan. I suggested in my note to investigate them secretly, I hope the elders will do the right thing."
Zeke, who was currently looking at his parents' expressions, felt that something's wrong. He'd never seen his mother's angry expression before, but after coming close to the man killed by Sanjay, his mother's expression instantly turned into anger. He knew that his mother would never be angry for simple reasons, so what they saw should be big or severe.
He then surveyed the aftermath of the battle. Aside from the man Sanjay killed, the other dozen assassins who were fighting the adventurers also laid dead. When Zeke looked at the corpses as well as a detached head far away from the battle, he felt the need to vomit. He hurriedly looked away from the dead.
Zeke didn't think he'd vomit from seeing that. He didn't know if it as a psychological reaction or his body's. He then realized that it was his first time seeing dead people but he wondered why he didn't have a strong reaction towards that. If it were him back on Earth, he'll surely freak out and scream like a little girl. But now, even when there's multiple dead bodies as well as a lot of blood, he didn't feel the need to scream anymore. Although there's still the need to vomit, it was considered very light compared to what Zeke might feel if he saw it on Earth.
"Catherine, go back and make sure Charles never sees this. Let's make sure not traumatize the boy, eh?"
"Traumatize? Don't you think it's good for him to see reality at a young age?"
"Cath, he's not even a year old! I agree that he should see it at a young age, but not as young as this!"
"Hmmm... I see. I'm sorry for snapping. I'll make sure he won't go out."
"Thanks for understanding, Cath." Charles smiled.
'Don't worry mother, I see it well enough. This life, I won't die easily!'
Instead of being down, Zeke seems much more pumped up now as his desire to get strong became stronger too.
Back in the caravan, Zeke didn't bother about it anymore and started meditating.
Out of his excitement, he decided to try absorbing the other colored mana particles.
He once heard from his father that trying to absorb the colored mana particles while not having a mana core is tantamount to wasting time. His father said that these colored mana particles are supposed to be absorbed by magicians who already have their mana core as these particles vary by element. Each color represents an element, so trying to absorb them while not having a mana core is pointless and impossible, as certain colored particles are only absorbed by people with matching elements. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt so Zeke tried it.
He saw a small red mana particle lying near him and willed it to go to him. An unthinkable event happened.
The red mana particle actually went close to Zeke! But before entering Zeke's body, he saw the red mana particle slowly turn into white and made its way towards Zeke's abdomen. Zeke was surprised and a bit worried. He didn't know what happened because he didn't even feel much exhaustion after absorbing it, so his worries are valid. Normally, he would feel his mind get tired after a single mana particle, but absorbing the red one not only reduced his mind's burden, it was also significantly faster to absorb than white ones.
He then tried to absorb the other mana particles one by one. He found out that he was actually capable of absorbing every mana particle and it is significantly faster than absorbing the white ones. He didn't think about any repercussions as he noticed that every mana particle got converted into white before they enter his body. He also guessed that this should normally be impossible since even his father didn't know about this. He decided to keep it a secret first to not alarm his father about it. He worried his father will prohibit him from meditating if he knew this seemingly impossible way of absorbing mana.
'This is almost 5x the speed than by absorbing the white ones. Sweet!'
Zeke noticed that although the colored particles were faster to absorb, he felt that the quantity of mana is also lesser than that of the white ones. Nevertheless, since he can absorb lots of it in a short amount of time, the quantity of mana in a white particle got beaten by the lesser but more in quantity colored particles.
When Catherine got inside, she saw her son sitting cross-legged in his seat. She thought Zeke didn't see nor mind the commotion outside and just decided to meditate, so she felt relieved knowing her son didn't witness a gruesome scene.
Their trip then continued but with the new addition of Sanjay's squad nearby. Charles offered to let them join in their trip as 'adventurers' but Sanjay insisted to guard in the shadows. He only picked two of his men to take the place of the two deceased adventurers in the meantime.
Along the way, Zeke meditated only for an hour to prevent his parents from suspecting something. When he had nothing to do, he would pick up a book from the shop and read it. It could be said that no time was wasted by Zeke. If their group didn't travel, he'd meditate and absorb mana, and if his parents knew an hour was up, he would go inside the tent and read some books.
After a few days of absorbing the elemental mana particles, Zeke felt some progress in his mana core. Albeit minuscule, it increased his confidence in completing his progression quest.
After a few more days, the caravan arrived outside a city covered with high walls and a big arch door. There was a line of people waiting outside the big door in front of what seem to be guards. Above the arch door lay a big iron sign coated with mana.
"Dragonsoar City"