“And that wraps up the story of Claire Renner. I became part of the village and everything was peaceful. The only notable events were what happened to Jill, the peca pen cake incident, and the two letters from Clive’s father. So, do you have any questions Kan?”

The story Kan just heard from Claire was just too shocking for him. Claire had been through so much and was carrying so many burdens. The emotions within Kan were swirling wildly within him. He felt sadness, anger, happiness, and so many more emotions during her story. But now there was a glint of determination within his eyes.

“Mommy, have you given up on being the Princess of our country.”

Claire was shocked at Kan’s eyes. He was staring straight at her with so much emotions in his eyes. The only thing she could do was answer him truthfully.

“Of course I haven’t given up on returning to the throne. No matter how many years pass by, I am always ready to stay as the Princess of our country. One day, I will return and dethrone Lance and Phillis.”

“Ok Mommy. I promise you right here and now that I will do whatever I can to make you the Princess of our kingdom. No, I will make you into the Queen of the Kingdom of Key. I will bring back everything that belongs to you!”

“Hahaha, thank you Kan. I appreciate your feelings. Let’s get out, we’ve been in the bath long enough.”

“No matter how long it takes, no matter how much hardships I have to face, I will make you into the Queen of this Kingdom.”

Claire had gotten out first and had not heard what Kan muttered to himself. She had thought that Kan was just trying to be nice and comfort her, but she had overlooked his determination. He was all to serious when he promised her that she will become the Queen of the Kingdom of Key one day.

……

‘What can I do to make Mommy into the Queen?’ Kan began pondering this question as he walked out of the house. He thought about how to expose Phillis’ deceitful acts to the public, he thought about how to defeat the kingdom’s army, he thought about how to deal with the other nations, but he couldn’t come up with a single decent plan.

‘I’m too weak right now.’ That was the conclusion that Kan had come upon after thinking about the many problems he faced. He was always too weak to deal with any of them. What he needed the most was power. The power to change people’s lives.

Kan shook his head and slapped his face to concentrate on the problem at hand. He couldn’t be thinking about future problems if he isn’t able to overcome the immediate crisis. He only had 5 days left until the disaster and he needed to do whatever he could to further prepare.

The first thing Kan planned to do was challenge the villagers to battle. He wanted to see how strong he was and how strong the villagers were.

……

By the time Kan was done challenging the villagers, it was already night time. He had spent most of his time battling the strongest villagers, and he learned a lot from his fights. The first few people he challenged were the men who boasted about their strength. They weren’t locksmiths but they had built muscles over the years of hard labor. Out of the 5 men he fought, he had won 4 of them. The 4 matches he won was relatively easy because none of the men trained fighting techniques, but his opponent during the last match had trained in close quarter combat. Kan had thought that he would be able to win against him because he was a combat and mage locksmith, but it was an overwhelming defeat. The opponent had not given him any chance to retaliate at all, and before he knew it, he lost.

The next group he decided to challenge was the patrol group. The patrol group consisted of men and women who would patrol the outskirts of the town. They would fight off monsters, beasts, and even bandits, so Kan already knew they were relatively strong. But this time it was an outcome that Kan had not even expected. He had lost all his matches against the patrol group. He had challenged 5 of them and had lost all of the matches. 4 of them were men and one of them was a woman.

2 of the 4 men wielded swords and Kan was confident he was able to defeat them because he was used to fighting opponents with swords, but he was wrong. He was so used to the style of swordplay that Leo and Dylan used that he had expected the 2 men to use a similar style. That was Kan’s first major error since their sword style was different. It wasn’t as strong or polished as Dylan’s swordplay, but the 2 Kan fought against were well trained in that style.

Kan’s next opponent used a greatsword. This was the first time he had ever fought someone with a greatsword and it was a good learning experience for him. Kan had expected his opponent to be slow but that was not the case. Every time his opponent swung his greatsword, Kan was able to dodge it since it wasn’t that fast. What Kan had not expected was his opponent’s foot techniques. When Kan dodged a sword attack, the next moment he would be met with a strong kick from his opponent. His opponent was riding on the momentum of the greatsword’s swing to bring in kicks. Kan was unprepared and lost that battle.

Kan’s 4th opponent used a sword and a shield. This was the opponent Kan was most worried about. Having a sword and shield meant that this person had both offense and defense. But once again his views were once turned upside down. His opponent did not use his shield for defense at all. He was using both the shield and sword as offensive weapons. Kan was continuously bashed and pushed back by the shield while a sword was also being swung at him. Kan’s inability to deal with both weapons made him lose.

His last opponent from the patrol group was a woman who use a rapier. From looking at her short a thin stature, Kan thought that his opponent would depend on their speed to overwhelm their enemy. This time he was correct and she did depend on her speed. But who in the world said that if you depended on speed, you couldn’t also have power. Her rapier thrusts were so strong that the wind pressure from each attack was leaving cut marks on Kan’s body. Kan was so concentrated on the rapier in her right hand that he totally forgot about her left hand. What ended the match was a left hook punch that sent him flying

After being beaten black and blue by the patrol group, Kan said his goodbyes and left for his next challenge. The next group he was going to challenge were the hardest group to fight. It was the locksmith group. Besides his parents, the mayor, Dylan, and Leo, there were about 20 other locksmiths. This time he was going to challenge the strongest 5.

Kan’s first opponent was a combat locksmith named Carl. Carl had once helped hold down Clive when his body was breaking down because of going over his limits. Clive had even once praised Carl as a combat locksmith: “He doesn’t have the strongest potential as a combat locksmith but he knows how to make use of what he has. You should try fighting him.” This is why Kan had decided to fight Carl as his first opponent.

……

“Are you ready, Kan.”

“Yes sir, I’m ready to go at anytime.”

“Ok, let’s begin then.”

The moment Carl signalled the start of the battle Kan combined water and fire magic to create a mist to hide his presence. From what Kan could see, Carl had not moved at all from his position. Kan was suspicious of what Carl was up too, so Kan decided to stay his distance and shoot ice magic at him. Kan created 2 ice spears and sent them flying to Carl and when they were about to reach him, Kan had to immediately duck down. His own ice spears were sent back to him at twice the speed.

‘Is he also a mage locksmith?’ Kan could only think of this as the possible solution because only mage locksmith could control magic. ‘If so, he can’t be that strong in combat locksmith and mage locksmith.’ Kan learned from his parents that most locksmiths focused on one aspect, but there were also those who learned other types of locksmithing as an auxiliary skill. Even if they focus in combat locksmith and is a mage locksmith as an auxiliary, one should still be weaker than the other.

Kan continued to send out ice spears, but each one was sent back at twice the speed. He was wasting mana sending out ice spears, so Kan decided to close in the distance. Since the beginning, Carl had still not moved at all, he was like a statue.

Kan closed in and launched out a flurry of punches, but it didn’t feel like he was doing any damage. The moment he hits Carl’s body it feels like all the force behind his attacks disappears. ‘What’s happening?’

Carl began to move and punched his fist towards Kan’s stomach. Kan could only look at the attack and couldn’t dodge it. It was coming towards him too fast, so he brought his arms together to block the area of impact. ‘Aaghh, why is it so strong?’

Kan was sent flying back and he tried to recover his stance, but the momentum was too strong and he fell onto his back. His arms were throbbing with pain and he gasped for air.

“W-what happened?”

“Kan, let me give you a word of advice. Not all combat locksmiths fight the same. The power to lock and unlock our bodies can be used more than just to strengthen our bodies. Think about what you can lock and unlock. Like a mage locksmith, everything depends on your imagination”

“What can I lock and unlock?”

“Ok, that’s enough. You have lost this battle. Go home and think about what I said today.”

“Thank you very much for accepting my challenge today.”

Kan stood up and bowed his head to Carl. Carl’s question still perplexed him, but he needed to go onto his next challenge. It was slowly getting closer to sunset so he had to hurry.

……

His next opponent was Stan, a combat locksmith. From the stories Kan had heard, Stan was also known as Death Grip Stan. It was said that as a combat locksmith, he focused on strengthening nothing but his hands. He could strengthen his body like any other combat locksmith, but his strongest parts were his hands.

Because Kan knew of Stan’s nickname, he was wary of Stan’s hands, but it was futile. When the battle first started, Kan used magic and stayed far away, but magic was useless. Unlike Carl who deflected Kan’s magic, Stan crushed them with his hands. Eventually Stan closed the distance and began attacking. Stan used his hands like claw and had ripped away some of Kan’s clothes. Fighting against Stan, Kan was reminded of how the Three Horned Bone Bear fought. The attacks were relentless and ferocious, and Kan could barely dodge it. Finally Stan got a grip on Kan’s arm and Kan had lost. No matter what he did, he could not get away from Stan’s grip.

Kan’s next opponent was Madam Tres. She was a mage locksmith who focused on seals and had even taught Claire a lot about seals. The moment the battle began, Kan had already lost. He couldn’t move at all from where he was at, every single fiber of his boy was stuck. It was not until Kan looked at the ground did he see the seal. Madam Tres had won before the battle even began.

“Ohoho, you should always be aware even before a battle begins, little Kan.”

“Thank you very much for the lesson, Madam Tres.”

Kan’s next battle was against the mage locksmith, Sil. He specialized in water magic which was one of Kan’s weakest element. Kan was ready to learn a lot from his battle with Sil. Before the battle began, Kan was already wary. After losing to Madam Tres, Kan knew to be ready even before the battle began. Kan observed his surroundings and then the battle began. Kan stared down at Sil, but suddenly his vision was colored in blue. There was a bubble right in front of him and before he recognized what was happening, the bubble exploded. Kan was quickly closed his eyes and was temporarily blinded. The next moment, Kan’s body was frozen and he had lost this battle.

“Kan, if you’re going to be observing your surroundings. Don’t make it to obvious and try to not be tense. You were late to react because your body was to tense.”

“Thank you very much.”

……

Kan’s next opponent was the most mysterious out of everyone he had fought today. He was going to fight Don, a regular locksmith or also known as a material locksmith. Legends passed down through the history of the Kingdom of Key state that the founder first started as a material locksmith. It has also been debated that the founder learned as a combat and mage locksmith before decided to master material locksmithing.

Within the Kingdom of Key, material locksmiths were both a common and a rare thing. Most would want to become a combat locksmith or mage locksmith, but if one has no talent in either of those many would choose to become a material locksmith. But those who can truly become a master material locksmith is even more rare.

Kan was excited, this would be his first look at a material locksmith. He has experience in both combat and mage locksmithing, but a material locksmith is unknown to him. ‘How do they fight? How do they create things? How strong are they?’ These were some questions swimming through his head as he was about to fight.

The battle began and Kan stayed where he was at. He was being cautious and this time he was trying to not show his emotions on his face. Don slow pull out a chain from his bag. Don was an old man so the time he took out the heavy chain was quite a while. Kan didn’t want to rush him and just waited for Don to make the first move. Don then threw the chain forward and it looked like it was going to fall to the ground.

Kan was still wary and kept watch as everything was happening. Before the chain made contact with the ground, it had broken into hundreds of pieces. The chains were no longer linked up and the hundreds of pieces of chains rushed towards Kan at incredible speeds. Kan watched in awe, everything had happened to fast. He tried to dodge the pieces of chains, but there was just to many of them. The ones he couldn’t dodge imbedded into his skin but he didn’t feel any pain. He continued to dodge but every second that passed, it was becoming more difficult. The chains were ricocheting against one another and was gaining speed. Suddenly all the chains stopped and so did Kan. It was voluntarily though, he couldn’t move his body. The chains imbedded in him began to combine again. And finally the chains floating in the air forcibly combined with the chains in his body and dragged him to the ground. Kan was chained to the ground and had lost the battle.

“Mr. Don, what just happened? How were those chains moving by themselves? Can I learn how to do that?”

“Hohoho, is this your first time experiencing the strength of a material locksmith.”

“Yeah. How does it work Mr.Don.”

“Hmm, that is not an easy question to answer, Kan. To sum it up, you must forge what kind of lock you want and you have to engrave it’s properties during the process of creating it. Depending on the material, it can affect the strength and properties of your lock.”

“I don’t quite understand it, but can I come back another day and learn, Mr.Don.”

“Of course. You’re welcome any time.”

……

“Today was a good day. I learned so much and still have so much to learn. Think of what you can lock or can’t lock, the different fighting styles, always be aware even before a battle, the deception your opponent gives you, to focus on one aspect or many, and a material locksmith. How can all of this make me stronger. What did I do wrong or right today.”

Kan began muttering to himself as he walked back home. It was already night time and Kan was absolutely exhausted, but he still had to review his battles. It had already become a habit and most importantly, he could make himself stronger.