Ezra had to escape, and this time, he had to do better. He couldn’t be spotted by anyone, anyone at all. He’d messed up when he did his plan, it was impulsive, hasty, stupid. He shouldn’t have gone during the day, for one. He should’ve gone during the night. Luckily, his current position would help because this was near the front gates, not like the dorms where he’d been before. He had a few options for his grand plan. He could tunnel out, or perhaps simply leverage his [Stealth] skill and grind that up while he’s trapped here. That might’ve been what Synica meant.
Speaking of Synica, she’d become more of a mystery to Ezra. It seemed as if she was on his side from the start. But then, why not do something more obvious? Was it just that she was politically constrained? Hell, Ezra was probably overthinking things. Maybe she was helpful, but that didn’t mean she was allied to him. Any pity that he might’ve gotten from her has probably been long spent.
Then, there was what he’d learned about the queen. That was a piece of evidence gone from the ‘Demon Lord being the error’ box. Unless, of course, the Demon Lord had interfered with his summoning. Too many theories, but not enough facts.
He was certain of what he’d do once he got out, that bonus skill from the first boss was his. He looked down at his hands. Around his wrists was a pair of manacles. How could he get his hands out? He didn’t have access to his needle for all the good that would do. No, he’d have to make use of his ingenuity and [Skills]. If he had some oil, this would be so much easier. He gave an experimental tug, stretching the chains out and making a clinking noise.
It was sturdy. Well made. Probably magic, too, given how it stopped him from recalling his spirit weapon. No, he’d need much higher Strength if he wanted to simply break the manacles off. Could he pick the lock? Ezra had never picked a lock before, but it was worth a shot, right? He’d seen YouTube videos, and those were basically the same thing, right? Um, what could he use? If he had his needle…
He glanced around. There had to be something. Some kind of thin piece of metal or—
Ezra’s eyes narrowed in on the bucket in the corner of the room. There was a metal wire acting as a handhold.
Ezra flipped on [Calm]. He’d need it.
After five minutes in close contact with substances that need not be named, Ezra had ripped off the wire from his bucket. He twisted the wire apart and split it into two pieces.
Right then, if he remembered how to do this right, one piece of metal had to keep tension on the lock while the other was used for pushing the pins into place, right?
Ezra shaped both the pieces of wire into a wave-like pattern.
He got to work.
The angle at which the keys were made it difficult to move his wrists. He dropped one of his tools to the ground and cussed. He leaned down and picked it up, then got back to work.
[Skill “Lockpicking” Unlocked!]
Ezra popped open the skill description.
[Lockpicking] - Lv. 1
[Allows the user to pick locks.]
Chance of success: 1% (depends on lock)
Ezra lips curved into a thin line.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Ezra was willing to bet that the lock on his shackles was of higher quality than your average household lock. That brought down the chances by a bit. Sure, he could just grind for ages. And ages… and ages, just to escape… but Ezra didn’t want to do that!
Could he somehow swipe the jailer’s keys?
Ezra looked down the hallway.
It wasn’t like the movies where the jailer was a scant two or three feet away from the bars of the cell. He was around the corner, ages away. The jailer might as well have been miles gone for how little access Ezra had to the guy.
No, he’d have to make use of the tools he had here.
There was nothing to do but try.
He continued picking at his lock. After a while, he decided to start walking around the cell, quieting his footsteps as much as possible. Seconds stretched out into minutes. Minutes stretched into hours. Each time he tried, after a few seconds, he’d feel the pins click back into place. On the plus side…
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
[Stealth leveled up!]
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
[Stealth leveled up!]
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
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[Lockpicking leveled up!]
[Stealth leveled up!]
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
[Lockpicking leveled up!]
And so on and so forth. His lockpicking skill was now level 21, and his stealth skill was 15. His lock still hadn’t been taken off.
A new plan began to form. Perhaps he didn’t need to take the manacles off?
He marched over to the cell door. The cell lock seemed of much lower quality. He reached his makeshift tools around to the front of the cell door. He started attempting to unlock the cell door. At first, nothing happened, then—
The door clicked, and the cell door swiveled. He slowly pushed open the cell door. It squeaked loudly.
“What the hell was that?” a voice said
Ezra darted forward and put his back against the wall.
The jailer stepped forward, and then his footsteps sped into a run. He stopped in front of the cell. Right behind him, Ezra was attached to the wall.
“H-He’s gone!”
Ezra jumped forward and wrapped his chains around the jailer’s neck. The jailer gasped and tried to let out a cry, but all that came out were gurgles and hisses. The jailer moved his arm, then slammed his elbow into Ezra’s ribs. Ezra grunted but continued pulling, using every bit of Strength he had to keep his grip. After 30 more seconds, the man went limp.
Ezra glanced at the man’s health bar.
303/400
The number was rapidly going down. Ezra pulled the shackles off, and the number froze. Ezra let out a sigh of relief. Synica probably would’ve hunted him down if he’d killed the jailer. Ezra fished around for the man’s keys and found it, then put the keys into his manacles. They fell to the ground with a clang. Ezra clenched his hands into fists, then unwrapped them.
“Recall.”
With a yellow flash, his needle—no, Filamenta was its name—reappeared in his hand.
“Come on, then. And this time, we won’t be seen by anyone.”
Ezra dashed up the stairs, keeping his ears open for any potential enemies. No one appeared. It was quiet. He stuck to the walls and the dimly lit sections of the corridor instinctively. [Stealth] was probably helping him automatically.
A pair of marching footsteps entered Ezra’s ear and Ezra dived under a table. The metal boots pounded against the ground like war drums. One two, One two, one two. The four feet approached Ezra’s position and then passed by him without a single word.
Ezra’s breathing let off, and he sighed. After a minute of silence, he stepped out and dashed off toward the front gate. The two guards, the two guards. How would he deal with the two guards? There had to be a way out. Think, Ezra, think! Ezra stopped when he turned a corner, then jumped back.
They were right there. They weren’t facing toward him, but still, he had to suppress the urge to jump upward. He glanced back where he’d come from. He was in an open position. All it would take was someone seeing him from behind, and he was toast. He had to decide quickly. Ezra twirled his needle in his hand. How long would it take for two guards to be noticed missing? If he was lucky, probably a good couple of hours. Suppose he was unlucky, mere minutes. Then they’d wake Idia up, and then Ezra would…
Ezra pushed those thoughts down. He didn’t want that image in his mind.
He glanced around their sides. He thought back to his attempt at a distraction when he’d set fire to the hospital wing. It was a good idea; he just went too big.
Ezra picked up a candelabra sitting on a dressing drawer next to him. He threw it as hard as he could toward the opposite end of the hallway, then jumped behind the drawer.
The candelabra slammed into the ground with a clang.
“What was that!?” one guard said.
“Come on, let’s check it out!”
They jogged over in the direction that Ezra had thrown it. Ezra dashed out of his hiding place and toward the gate. He didn’t stop running once he was in the night. He continued running, dashing into alleyways and weaving in and out of the complex street system. After several minutes of running, he collapsed to his knees.
Sweat poured off his brow and onto the ground. His skin felt cold and clammy. He’d pushed himself too hard. A black shadow flickered at the edge of his vision. He sucked in a breath, then pushed himself up. He walked over to where it had been standing.
On the ground was a neatly folded set of clothing, a tunic, some pants, and a dark jacket. To the right, a basic set of leather armor to protect his essentials. Thankfully, none of it was in the puddle to the right.
He looked around.
Up on one of the roofs, he saw the shadow looking down at him. It disappeared. Ezra grunted. Who it could’ve been was outside of his understanding, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t comfortable with the fact that someone knew where he was. He’d have to leave town. Get as far away as possible. The city held far too many ugly memories for him, now, anyway. Ezra changed out of his clothing. Once he was done, he looked around for some flammable material. He searched the ground, ignoring the wet puddles all around.
Finally, he spotted some dry wood, hay, and what looked like flint. He smacked his needle against the flint, and to his relief, sparks flew out and impacted the hay.
The hay lit up the wood.
Ezra chucked his old clothing onto the fire and watched it burn up.
He looked down at the fire with a neutral expression. Was he supposed to say something here? Lament the end of his old life or some bullshit?
The last ashes of the fire burned away, leaving his clothing unrecognizable.
He started to walk away.
Footsteps pounded the ground behind him.
“E-Ezra!”
Ezra turned around.
Yuki stared at him, her eyes wide. She was bright red, sweat all over her body. Her stomach breathed in and out rapidly.
“Ezra, what are you doing!?” she said.
Ezra looked up at the sky and groaned.
“What the hell are you doing here, Yuki?” he said.
Yuki put her hands on her knees. “I could—hah—ask you the same thing!”
“How did you find me, Yuki?”
Yuki stood straight, then wiped the sweat off her brow.
“I saw you sneaking out. So I decided to follow you?”
Ezra slammed his face into his palm.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. This is exactly what I needed.” He turned around. “Look, I’ve got places to be, just pretend you never saw me, and you shouldn’t get in trouble. I’ll see you around. Maybe.”
“W-what!? Is that all the explanation you’ll give me?”
“Yup.”
Yuki dashed forward and put her hand on his shoulder. “Hold on, please.”
Ezra sighed and turned around.
“What?” he said.
Yuki pushed her hand out and the limb disappeared, the space around it rippling. She pulled it back, revealing a loaf of bread.
“I have some food!” she said.
Ezra blinked.
“Wait, what the hell—?“ he said.
“It’s an ability, don’t question it.”
Ezra clenched his jaw and shook his head.
“Yeah, I don’t need any food,” he said. “Thanks for the offer.”
“B-but Ezra! Surely, you could use something to eat on the way to wherever you’re going.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
Yuki reached out and grabbed his shirt. “I’m trying to help you!”
Ezra glared at Yuki. He tore her hand off his shirt and pushed her back. She stumbled backward, fell into a puddle, and water splashed, soaking into her clothes.
“I don’t want your help,” Ezra said. “I don’t need your help. What will it take for you to understand that?”
Yuki clenched her jaw together. She threw the loaf of bread to the ground and stood to her feet. She then turned around without a word.
Ezra watched her walk off, then turned around and faced away.
It was for the best.