Freedom?

"But I could try." She readily agreed to Frei's request because she pitied and cared for the young boy. "It's my first time so…please be patient."

"Okay…" Frei said, not wanting to rush her nor bother her.

She rolled up her sleeves up to the elbow, and imitated Wall's finger position. She inhaled deeply and began to concentrate, she mustered all her strength and energy into her fingers. Mana started to flow through and out her arm, her arm muscles tensed up at the increase in pressure. Then the mana began to form into the knives. Slowly, the mana broke up into multiple string-like parts and wrapped around her middle and index finger.

"Ugh!" She grunted at the pain and pressure on her fingertips.

Then the sharp tip of the knife began to take shape as the mana wrapped itself seemingly engulfing both of her fingers like a string nest. Once it fully engulfed her fingers that her fingers were no longer visible except for the shape of it, the sharp tip of the knife began to rise from the finger-shaped mana, finally taking the shape of a real sharpened knife. This process took five minutes for her to do and once she did it she gave out a gentle chuckle.

"I…I did it." she said, smiling while sweating profusely from the amount of energy it took her.

"A…Amazing!" Frei exclaimed in awe of her skill. "But it looks different from his." Having experience and seeing the finger-knife Wall conjured first-hand, he'd know, even from a distance, that the knife that she had conjured was completely different, the shape, the size and even the density weren't the same as Wall.

"It s…should be fine." She said, stumbling her words and tripping on her breath. She stood up from the floor she was kneeling on and grabbed a nearby object to elevate herself towards Frei . She leaned in close towards Frei, inching her fingers close to the shackles that were cuffing Frei against the Wall and examined its length,width to find the simplest way to cut it. "I'm going to start now, Is that alright?"

Frei nodded in anticipation.

She slid her fingers all the way to the right shackle's ends and braced herself. She inhaled deeply, then she slash the shackles in one quick succession. It did nothing except for barely scratching the surface of the shackles. She was left bewildered by it that her efforts only amounted to a scratch mark, but she persisted and continued to slash the shackles, slowly chipping the metal away in hopes that she might deepen the scratch mark and eventually cut off a part of it.

The process was slow, and tedious as each time she slashed the shackles, her concentration would diminish and her energy would deteriorate. In the midst of this, Frei admired her readiness and persistence to free him yet at the same time he couldn't help but truly recognized the skill that Wall possessed to smoothly cut metals like it's butter. 

Five to ten minutes passed and "Gloria" finally cut the right shackle into two parts which gave Frei enough room to slide his right hand right through the tight hole of the shackle. With his right hand free, he could stand on the floor while his left hand was still extended on the cuff.

He examined the shackle that had been cut , and like he expected, the severed part wasn't smooth, instead rough and uneven, marred by the numerous bumps on its surface.

Immediately after cutting the right shackle, she moved on to the other, hoping to make enough time for Frei to escape even exhausted. However, she ignored them all, the exhaustion of keeping the mana up and the violent shaking in her hand and her two fingers, causing enough hindrance for her concentration. She grasped her shaking hand with her other hand to control her precision and to prevent hurting Frei.

Frei stood still as she did the process again for his left hand.

*CLANG*

The left shackle popped into two and she immediately collapsed onto the ground, her face red, her breathing unstable and she had a little smirk, joyed at the success. It wasn't a clean job, nor was it smooth but at least, in her mind, she succeeded.

Frei swiftly freed his left hand and knelt down to check up on the collapsed brunette, worried about her because of the sight of slaves collapsing at work ingrained in his brain. He ignored the sudden incoming of wrist pain after being numbed for days to care for her. "A-Are you alright?" He asked, panicking.

"Yeah I'm alright." She said as she calmed herself down. "I-I did it Frei! You're free!"

Frei paused for a moment, trying to comprehend the matter. "R…Really?" He asked doubtfully even though he'd already thought it through about it almost like he'd reverted back to his original self.

"Yeah!" She replied excitedly. "Now go before they come back."

Joy filled his eyes and he smiled. "Thank you! I will go now!" His childlike joy radiated like the sun, warming her heart and reminding her of the joyful past where she didn't feel chained.

"N…Now I'm alone all over again."

Frei dashed up the staircase quietly, out of the basement, and the iron door. During the moment, he had forgotten all the torment he endured in the past days and now there was only the outside world left within his sight. He ran out to the first floor of the estate, the sunlight temporarily blinded him for a few seconds. After he recovered, he looked around him, and just like "Gloria" had said there weren't many attendees and people around, his smile grew wider as he dashed around the estate again, back when he was still navigating the place for Berg. He dashed and dashed, towards the main entrance, a double entry door and a pathway to the gates of freedom. There were no more 'cage' outside, nor were there any chairs, and only the gate of freedom was in sight. 

He ran.

His legs felt faster so he sprinted. He had no idea where all of the energy was coming from, but he felt energized, similar to what he felt back when he was in the basement, brainstorming.

He sprinted and even when the gates were closed, he felt like he could crash into it and create a new human-shaped entry point, so he ran.

Then he felt a distinct sting, something sharp piercing into his calf which made him dropped down in an instant, he looked behind him and saw a man walking up close towards him.

When he did, he said bewildered, "Woah. Father was right to be cautious." He chuckled at the despair on Frei's face. "Nice to see you kid. My name is Haydn Cornwall. First time seeing a Cornwall other than my brother right?" He said, amused.