Ezekiel was a quick learner. He'd spent his entire childhood learning how to adapt and problem-solve so he could survive. Even if the environment had changed, his behaviors didn't.
Once he'd taken a step back and understood the problem, Ezekiel immediately acted to solve it.
First, he worked on the more baseline problems. He spent a year learning how to read and write properly, while also focusing on comprehension, understanding the complexity that language could hold.
By the time that year was over, not only had Ezekiel learned to read the manual Damien gave him, he'd also corrected many critical flaws that had formed due to his past environment.
His sense of time was one of these. He was now able to follow the time flow as everyone else did, which was not only a matter of convenience, but one of vital importance.
After all, for a practitioner to tell time meant reading and feeling the law of Time. As Ezekiel familiarized himself with the process, something that could be done with mana and perception rather than Law itself, Ezekiel finally sensed the energy for the first time.
That was extremely helpful for him. Since Worldly Force felt somewhere in between Law and Mana, it gave him somewhere to start.
In just four seasons, Ezekiel had built a foundation for himself to stand on.
All he needed to do was utilize it.
He finally delved into the manual Damien gave him.
He learned the method to move his mana, the method to feel the environment around him, and the method to connect it all together.
The first steps of the manual only allowed Ezekiel to obtain Worldly Force.
As for his training beyond that…
Well, while Damien highlighted some key things he needed to pay attention to, the majority of his development would depend on his own creativity.
Worldly Force was versatile beyond all else. It didn't necessarily have a specific set of uses, which meant it could mimic the uses of many laws at once.
Of course, until Ezekiel reached a very high level, it would be difficult to incorporate too many properties into the force, so he needed to pick the best properties to stick with as his base combination.
This was entirely up to him, and based on what he chose, his future would change immensely.
That wasn't just in terms of the potential height he could reach, but also in the path he could take.
In a sense, he was given the freedom to choose anything.
Because in a sense, he had an affinity for everything.
Damien couldn't get too deeply involved in the process precisely because of how much it relied on individuality.
He wanted to help Ezekiel and see the boy thrive in this niche concept that nobody else could touch.
He wanted to see someone in the generation after him who could create feats like he and his father had.
Ezekiel had that potential, and as he adapted more and more to life outside of the Straea Clan's hidden manor, he started to reveal more and more potential like a blossoming butterfly.
It was wonderful. Such talents came once every few generations, people who could become main characters in their own stories.
And if Ezekiel did as he always did, if he fulfilled and exceeded the expectations set for him…
Damien already had plans in mind that he was excited to execute.
Ezekiel's legacy surely wouldn't end somewhere average.
Nevertheless, the more Ezekiel progressed, the less Damien paid constant attention to him.
He would make visits to the military city as he always did, and whenever he was there, he would check on the boy.
Like that, Ezekiel slowly became comfortable around Damien, but never enough to erase the status gap between them.
It seemed he was aware of his post and had no desire to overstep his bounds.
Damien didn't mind that either. He was at a stage in his life where he wasn't in a hurry to form relationships with others.
What others wanted, he would entertain if he felt it appropriate.
He wouldn't reject a good friend.
However, nor would he reject a good subordinate or an unfortunate enemy.
Damien was still young. To many of those around him, he was young enough to still be called a boy.
However, Damien was from Earth. By his standards, he'd already lived enough to fill two lifetimes.
Relationships were important, but he already had enough of them to satisfy him for eternity. Whether it be his wives or his newfound family, they'd be with him for the rest of time. He wasn't hurrying to make friends and find people to spend that same eternity with.
Though, there was one relationship he was itching to recover.
The problem was that it wasn't up to him whether it could be recovered or not.
Damien walked through the halls of the palace, arriving in front of a room that only he and a select few others had access to.
Pushing open the large, ornate doors, he was welcomed by darkness.
It wasn't a bad thing. This was merely how the room was designed. The darkness was a product of the technology keeping the man within comfortable.
Damien made his way through the room until he reached a large bed, the only real piece of furniture here.
That was where Dante Void lay.
Despite the passing of time, nothing had particularly changed on Dante's side. His body was starting to look better, since he was constantly being nourished by the machines around him, but the strange condition that kept him asleep never diminished.
At first, Damien thought it was caused by the foreign energy that was in his system, however, that was incorrect.
Damien had removed that foreign energy, yet Dante was still like this.
It wasn't soul damage, since Damien healed his soul personally.
It could've been something in his spiritual world, but if that was the case, it would have been more obvious.
'His spiritual intent is still relatively normal, and there's definitely activity inside of his brain.'
It wasn't as if Dante's mind didn't work.
It was just that, for some reason, his mind couldn't connect with reality, like there was a rift between them keeping him away.
'A rift…can I fix it with the concept of order…?'
Damien placed his hand on his father's forehead and attempted to send the energy of Existence into his body.
Bzzt!
"Tch."
Damien pulled his hand away quickly with a disgruntled expression.
'Same as always.'
This wasn't the first time he'd tried. Existence was something of an end-all-be-all cure, so it was obviously Damien's first choice when it came to treatment.
The problem was…comically ironic.
'Since he has also reached this level to an extent, his Existence is repelling mine.'
Damien couldn't use Existence on Dante without express consent. Even then, the two of them would probably have to maneuver their energies so they didn't make contact.
Existence was always meant to be a whole.
When two different strains of it met, they would obviously reject each other, as each believed itself the true manifestation of Existence.
Unless one had control over True Existence, there was no way to suppress another partially formed strain of Existence.
"Haa…"
Damien sighed.
'All of these specificities are annoying. The universe is pretty simple at a glance, but I guess the complexity is in the fine details.'
Damien couldn't get past this problem with brute force.
'Another method…'
When he started looking for it, it was only natural for him to find it.
'It exists.'
He didn't know what it was.
But he was sure it existed.
In order to turn his assumptions into a reality, he rushed to find a certain book.
Persia's Encyclopedia.
The answer would be there.
