"WHAT?" Terax shouted.

"Ops, this is what happens when you think out loud. I should quit this bad habit."

"Why have not you told us about it?" Dragoona complained. "I thought you were a nice skeleton."

"I told you before. I have to make compromises between you and my master's wishes."

"You keep saying compromises," Terax said. "But in the end, you don't follow what your master tells you."

"Fuck this master of mine. He threw me naked, homeless, and bored."

O boy, I feel like I touched a very hot lid.

Daskeleton tapped the ground with his scythe. "So there used to be this person with a very long white beard who unlocked a door sealed by the necromancer. I never thought this was possible, but this man did it. I also thought Master would get angry, but no. He thanked this man because he said this would help him make a stronger seal."

"A man with a long beard… Where does he live?"

We will end up wasting months if we travel to any of the other three kingdoms.

"Fortunately, this incident happened ten years ago in this kingdom, so he should still be in it. Thin old men don't travel much."

There are only four remaining human kingdoms. They are Green, Fire, and Water Kingdoms, with the Waterfall kingdom being the fourth one. Because the Waterfall Kingdom contains the dungeon and is the one responsible for fighting the monsters, it is called the offensive kingdom. The remaining three kingdoms, on the other hand, provide extensive support of food, armor, and weaponry whenever needed, which is why they are called the defensive kingdoms. This relation has caused fiery complaints from those living in the Waterfall Kingdom; that they are fighting and dying while the defensive kingdoms are snoring and laughing.

"So you are saying that this person can help us unlock the door. But can he still do it even after ten years?"

"There is a possibility that Master had become much better in sealing doors. But this could apply to both of them. I know this is not a perfect plan, but this is the only way I could think of to break the necromancer's lock."

I can't complain much about that. Daskeleton seems to be trying his best to help us.

"So we've got no better lead but to search for this person. Terax want to try it out?"

Terax looked anxious. He had been troubled by one problem after another ever since the death of his father. A dragon tried to eat him, and then ghosts and guards were following him. The necromancer he wanted to meet locked the door on himself. Because of all of these incidents, he felt that searching for this person would surely dump piles of new problems at him.

But I have got no other choice but to search for him.

"Fine, so what do you know about this person other than his long beard? We need more clues."

"If I am not mistaken, he used to call himself a lockmaster."

Lockmasters experts in opening locked doors. It is more like a passion for them. They are capable, based on rumors, to open up any locked door no matter how complex it is. But their biggest problem used to be thieves and gangsters. They used to harass the lockmasters until they forced the lockmaster to join their side. This is why lockmasters have developed ways to protect themselves using the skills they have learned from their profession. Thus lockmasters eventually became a respectable line of adventures for the dungeon, capable of opening locked doors and treasures.

"If you tell me this lockmaster is very rare to find like a necromancer, I will beat you up."

"Sadly, I know nothing about that because Master never lets me leave this place. He could be really tough to find, or he could be just beside your house."

"So we will basically have to search the whole kingdom for him," Terax sighed. "Just how much do I have to suffer to talk to my father once again?"

"You should be the last one to complain Terax," said Daskeleton. "Miracles are not cheap, yet you are about to receive one almost for free. Do you how much effort it takes for the necromancer to reincarnate a dead person? Why do you think he keeps locking the door like that? It is because he is recuperating all the lost energy and mana he had used up from his recent resurrection. Well, he sometimes locks the door for researching and reading books. But it is tough to resurrect anything, so do not just slack off after just a day's work."

"I agree. This is what happens when you work with kids," said Dragoona.

"I am fine hearing a lecture from Daskeleton, but I do not want to hear that from a mad lady like you."

"You keep calling me names, like mad and sick, while all that I want from you is just to eat you. What is wrong with that?"

"Did you notice how ugly this woman is Daskeleton?"

"She is not ugly. I mean, a dragon is helping a being that is like an ant to her. I think that is quite generous and romantic."

"…I think I asked the wrong person."

"At any rate, we cannot leave this area to search for the lockmaster. The guards will be waiting for us as soon as we open up the door of the secret passage."

"Oh, I forgot about them," said Terax.

Getting captured by the guards, especially after running from them, can put anyone in a very miserable position. First, their reputation will sink deep underground. Second, they will beat him up so much that he will confess whatever claim they applied to him. And after leaving jail, this arrested person will be so rejected by the society that he will end up getting verbally and physically abused by everyone, even kids. Eventually, he will leave the kingdom depressed and start a new life elsewhere.

As for Terax, the matter is even worse. Since his father is Arexus, the legendary treasure hunter, the guards will do everything they can to squeeze the location of the legendary items from him. And Terax cannot help them with that because his father did not tell him where he had hidden his legendaries.

"And the guards will probably be camping beside the door for at least a week or so."

"If that is troubling you two, then I have a quick fix for it."

"Oh, you will send the skull ghosts to scare them?"

"No, these petty tricks won't work on trained soldiers. I only use them to scare kids like you two."

"Suddenly, you are starting to get on my nerves Daskeleton," said Dragoona.

"Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean to offend you two. I was just trying to stay the truth."

"That is even worse," Dragoona sighed.

Since Daskeleton is the servant of the mighty necromancer, he should have a lot more tricks up his sleeve.

"Oh, I apologize again. I usually use tougher spells to scare stronger people like those guards. Because if I used the skull ghosts, they will laugh them off with a simple spell and make them even more curious about what is behind the wall. That would only make things worse. Instead, it is always better to do something that will terrify them and force them never to come back again."

"I am suddenly starting to feel sorry for what will happen to the guards," Terax said.

It seems we are talking to a really powerful skeleton. Come to think of it, he did say he is a walking miracle.