On the first day, Esteban toured them around the palace where Charles ended up having a drink with his three sworn brothers at night along with the wives discussing motherly things. The three daughters accompanied their mother and sat on their lap while Zeke, being a rebellious kid that he is, asked his parents to let him sleep early and not accompany them. Of course, Zeke didn't sleep but instead meditated. After an hour of absorbing mana, he went on to read books from the System's shop.
A quick 2 years have passed since Zeke and his family moved to the Dragonsoar Palace.
Zeke spent most of the time meditating and reading books. He practically didn't care about going out much as he already had himself a room after turning a year old. After waking up, he would go to his father after breakfast to ask him about the world and about mana absorbing.
He also asked his father about certain standards of the world. His father said vague words but he learned that forming someone's mana core usually starts at 3 years old. Some Nobilities and Royalties sometimes start forming their own at 2 or even a year old sometimes. This is to have a headstart and also because the 3-years-old measure only applied to the common folk. As nobilities and royalties, they possess deep knowledge and resources and add to that an inborn physique that's naturally much better at storing mana than normal people.
Actually, the reason some people and family are called nobilities is that their mana capacity exceeds others by a high degree. As for the dragon nobilities like Zeke, their mana cores can hold the same amount of body as human and demon nobles, but as soon as their mana core transforms into a dragon core, their mana pool will become bigger but their elemental affinities will also trigger. This means that although Dragonborns have higher mana capacity than all others, their affinity with elements will also narrow down. This means that if a person's natural affinity is Water, he/she would have a harder time to conjure spells of other elements. Humans and Demons also have these restrictions, but they're to as strict as that of Dragonborns.
His father also told him that after people usually successfully form their mana core at around the age of 7 or 8. Zeke asked why it takes so long but his father only said that forming the mana core is much much harder than just absorbing mana as the body is still free of mana and thus, forming a mana core to a body who originally doesn't have mana takes time. Besides, they also need to only absorb the white mana particles or particles that have no element. Their body would reject the elemental mana particles as magicians will only know their affinity after forming their core.
As Zeke all heard these words, he naturally became excited but slightly disappointed. He didn't want to only have a single element to focus on because for him, having only one element presents flaws on their combat power. He didn't want to become a fire magician only to get bodied by a water magician.
He put all his worries aside as he realized he still has a lot of time. He started forming his core at a young age of less than a year old when even nobilities at that age are still learning how to walk, so he should be in a very big headstart now. He decided to deal with his worries when they come to them in the future instead of mulling over it now.
At the end of the 2 years, Zeke was now 2 and 3/4 years old. His hair grew quite a bit, two small horn protruded on the sides of his head just like his father, and his physique is mysteriously different from his view of 3-year-olds. He noticed that his body seemed like he's already 4 to 5 years old. He compared his height with his three childhood friends and noticed that their bodies are also unfit for their age.
He asked his father about it and it turns out Dragonborns mature faster than others while also living longer than other species besides the Elves. As for the other information he wants, he decided not to ask more as his father might get suspicious of him asking too much.
Today, Zeke was doing his usual routine of meditating before breakfast. As he was guiding a mana particle to his abdomen, he suddenly felt his abdomen heat up. It wasn't a painful heat, but it definitely alerted Zeke. He shouted his Father's name in panic as he didn't know why this is happening. He thought it was a repercussion for him absorbing the wrong mana particles.
Since Charles didn't have any work, he lived a peaceful life inside the palace. He was also casually drinking with his fellow brothers who also had nothing much to do. At this very morning, he was practicing a set of fist techniques outside when he heard his son scream his name. He didn't know what happened but he could feel the panic in his son's voice. He didn't hesitate and ran towards Zeke's room. Catherine was tending their garden in the front of the palace so she didn't hear Zeke's scream.
Charles barged in Zeke's room and when he saw Zeke, he heaved a sigh of relief.
"What happened, son? Why are you screaming this early? Also, shouldn't you be sleeping right now?"
"Dad, I'll explain later. I was meditating this morning when suddenly after I managed to guide in a mana particle, my stomach suddenly went hot. It's not painful Dad, but it's definitely uncomfortable! Dad, do you know anything about this?"
Hearing Zeke's reply, Charles was deeply shocked. He could only think of one thing about Zeke's current situation, and that is the mana core's final forming phase. He was so shocked that he didn't realize his jaw dropped.
Actually, anyone who heard this would basically be shocked stiff. There was never a case in the annals of history that Charles read about someone forming a core at this young age. People at this age are expected to only barely start forming their core, while his son's already on the verge of forming one!
Charles lightly coughed to hide his shock.
"A-are you sure, son? Do you really feel that way?"
"Why would I be joking with you about this, Father?! I really don't know what's happening, is this bad?"
Zeke noticed the change of expression of his father wasn't that of the negative side. His father's surprise even came with a bit of excitement, so he realized that this phenomenon shouldn't be harmful to his body but instead is beneficial to him. Although he knew about it, he feigned ignorance to perfectly act like someone panicking.
"Well, this is unprecedented. Son, what you are experiencing right now is the slight discomfort of your core forming. This means that what you're experiencing should be the final stage of mana core forming. Your abdomen is too saturated with mana that it needs to do something to store all these. Your body's reaction is then to form a core made of mana not only to calm the mana but to also have a storage for the future mana particles. Son, you are the very first person in history to have a mana core this early in your life!"
"Really?"
Although Zeke knew about it a while ago, he still feigned his surprise and joy.
"Am I a genius now, Father? How am I compared to others?" Zeke smiled while enduring the heat in his stomach.
"Silly kid! You even joked about this! I must admit, you really are the only person I know who achieved this. Even the daughters of my buddies weren't capable of this feat even if they had the guidance of their parents. I don't know how you did it, but I'm proud of you son. Don't worry, I'll guard outside and calm the others." Charles smiled, stood, and then walked to the door.
"What? Calm the others? What's going to happen?"
Zeke, although still excited, felt slight fear for his life.