A year passed.
Was it a year?
Truthfully, Ezekiel didn't know what a year was in the outside world's time.
The hidden manor didn't allow its students to keep track of time, nor did it teach them how to.
Ezekiel figured out the units of measure by eavesdropping on the instructors, but he could only assume how long each unit actually was.
Nevertheless, a year in his time had passed.
It was enough time for the talents to cycle. New ones entered and old ones left. As for those who remained through the transition, a large number of them disappeared mysteriously.
They'd been deemed unfit, so they'd been killed.
'This isn't the first time, so it's not like it's surprising.'
Life was mundane in the hidden manor.
Sure, there was a lot going on. Every day was filled with trials and tribulations that tested one's grit and forced one to grow stronger.
However, even that became mundane after it was done for decades.
The children here were made to start training the moment they started walking. From that moment on, they were raised so they wouldn't be fazed by anything they encountered.
Ezekiel had been through every form of torture that existed in this world, and even some that didn't. He had been killed over and over again only to be brought back to life for more training.
His body was practically indestructible at this point. That was why he allowed people to beat him up when they decided they felt the need to.
He'd heal from any wounds with just a night of sleep, and if he really got pissed off, it didn't take much to kill his peers.
'It's mostly just annoying because I have to hide.'
He had to hide his strength, he had to hide his ability to think and process information freely, and he had to hide his emotions and capability to learn.
Ezekiel was a talent beyond talent. He'd mastered the skills others were being taught with only a single glance.
But if he wanted to survive in this place that raised talents, he ironically had no choice but to hide his own.
He didn't feel burdened by his life. Despite his independent mind, the teachings of the Straea Clan were quite effective.
Those kinds of negative emotions couldn't affect his mental state.
It was just tiresome.
'When can I escape?'
He'd schemed all he needed to, but he needed both an opportunity and a whole lot of luck if he wanted to pull anything off.
'But I think I can do it now. The past year made me stronger than the instructors, didn't it?'
Their skills, their movements, their experience.
He'd copied it all.
In a case where he happened to make it to the outside world…
He truly did have the capability to become the bane of the Straea Clan.
'Haa, but it's pointless to think about it.'
There was nothing he could do.
Life was bleak.
He was stronger than the instructors, but he'd learned about the clan that was waiting for him outside. No matter whether he escaped or not, wouldn't he still die at the hands of those stronger experts of the clan?
'I'm not enough by myself, and it's not like I can convince these mindless rats to help me.'
Even he didn't know how he'd managed to develop a brain like his. Everyone around him was without a brain at all, only able to act on orders they'd been given.
Hell, even the boys who usually came to beat him up were the same.
They "acted" like they had personalities. To someone unaware, they would seem like regular stuck-up children from a major clan.
But it was all an act in the end.
The behaviors they showcased were learned and mimicked; never internalized.
'It's boring.'
That was the conclusion Ezekiel came to.
'Life is boring.'
That was why he always craved the outside world.
Would there be fun things to do there?
If he made it there, would he find a way to make this bleak life less bleak?
He really didn't know, but he really wanted to find out.
And as if he hadn't had the exact same thought every single day for the past who knows how long, as if this wasn't the only thought allowing him to maintain a little bit of sanity in this insane place, he entertained it for hours on end.
While he was tortured by the instructors, while he was beaten by his peers, while he beat his peers into the ground, and while he suffered endlessly, he thought about what was happening in the outside world.
Still, life remained mundane.
Another year passed in Ezekiel time.
He wasn't too far off in his measurement. His years were roughly six months in normal time. In the two years since his first introduction, only a single year had passed.
Ezekiel's mindset never changed. It was hard to speak about him as a person, since his thoughts and actions were monotonous like a robot.
He had free will, but he didn't know how to use it.
He had never been given the opportunity.
So another day began, and another day passed.
Another day of suffering, another day of pain.
Another day that Ezekiel spent staring at the ceiling, dreaming of the outside–
BOOOOOOOOOM!
"What?!" Ezekiel exclaimed.
He was so confused that he forgot to muffle his voice.
A massive explosion shook the hidden manor.
It was a building built so that no outside forces could interfere with what was happening inside, yet, somehow, an explosion rocked it to its very foundation.
Ezekiel leapt out of his bed, well, he did the best he could considering that his bed was just a wooden floor, and rushed out of his room.
The other talents had done the same. There was chaos in the hidden manor, but the instructors were moving through the halls and making sure everyone retained order.
They were being raised as tools. They were not allowed to be surprised by a surprise attack.
Ezekiel gritted his teeth.
'Something big is happening.'
He didn't know what it was.
But there was one thing he gathered from that single explosion alone.
'This might be my chance.'
The outside world was being shaken by an immense force.
The hidden manor was shaken in kind.
With the instructors busy trying to control the young talents they were in charge of…
'...I can find an opening.'
It was the exact thing he'd been trained to do for so long.
Observe the enemy. Find an opening. Exploit it and accomplish the given mission in the least amount of time and effort possible.
The current mission:
'Escape this hellhole.'
It locked into Ezekiel's mind.
The instincts he'd trained throughout his life roared to life.
His feet pressed into the ground.
And he made a run for it.
This perfect opportunity wouldn't be allowed to slide.
This time, he would finally…!
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
"ARGH!"
Another explosion rocked the hidden manor, ripping an entire outer wall to shreds.
Ezekiel was thrown back by the force. He raises his arms to absorb the shrapnel headed towards his face.
THUD!
He slammed against another wall and lowered his arms.
His eyes widened.
He could see it only a few meters away.
Sunlight.
A sight he'd never seen before.
