“Kan are you ready to become a mage locksmith today?”

It was the morning after the meeting about the Dragon’s Den and Kan was faced with a dilemma. He was not expecting his mother to train him in being a mage locksmith on this day. Kan had planned to follow his father and the mayor to the location of the Dragon’s Den but now he had to choose to follow them or learn from his mother.

Kan didn’t want to refuse his mother but he also wanted to find out where the Dragon’s Den was. After thinking and looking at his mother’s eyes, he no longer hesitated.

“Yeah, I want to become a mage locksmith!”

Claire smiled at Kan’s enthusiastic response. She felt sad that she couldn’t do anything to help the mayor prepare the formation but was energized from Kan’s response. Even if she couldn’t help them she could help train Kan.

Kan noticed the change in Claire’s mood and was happy that she was energized again. Even if he followed his father it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t get caught by them. His father and the mayor were both combat locksmiths and would surely be wary of their surroundings when going to the Dragon’s Den. So Kan decided to just train with his mother and make her happy since she was feeling down.

“Ok, let's head to the backyard then.”

The place they had prepared to train at was the same spot where Clive taught Kan how to become a combat locksmith for the first time. They were in the backyard of the clinic but this time Kan was learning how to become a mage locksmith.

“Ok Kan, let Mommy explain to you what a mage locksmith is. You know the three types of locksmiths right.”

“Yeah. There are the regular locksmith who creates locks, the combat locksmiths who are able to open up and lock hidden strength in the body, and the mage locksmith who is able to manipulate the mana around the world.”

“Good, it seems you know your three types of locksmiths. Your definition of what a mage locksmith is able to do is slightly incorrect though. Unlike magicians who can conjure the mana into elements to their will through chants, mage locksmiths use their own mana to lock down mana. For example if a magician wanted to use water magic, all they have to do is chant a spell that will summon water and depending on the spell the power will be different. Now a mage locksmith can’t just summon water as simple as a magician can. All we can do is lock down the mana and mold it into the shape we want it to be.”

As Claire stopped talking, she raised her hand and in front of her was a spear made out of water. It had suddenly appeared and Kan was surprised.

“How did you do that Mommy, that spear appeared out of nowhere.”

“That is where you are wrong Kan. This water spear didn’t appear out of nowhere, I used my own mana to mold it into this shape.”

“But where did the water come from?”

Claire was happy at Kan’s curiosity. This meant that he was analyzing and looking at what was happening. This trait would help him as he grew as a mage locksmith.

“Good question Kan. When you start training in controlling mana you will eventually be able to sense the type of mana in your surroundings. You just can’t see it right now because you haven’t felt what mana is yet. The water from my spear was created from the water mana floating in the air. The air is full of different types of mana and all I did was use my own mana to locked the water type mana into the shape of a spear. Do you understand Kan?”

Hearing Claire’s explanation and presentation of what a mage locksmith could do made him excited. Many ideas and questions were flashing through his mind. He was thinking of the possibilities of what he could do as a mage locksmith and the restrictions he would face. He wanted to become a mage locksmith even more now.

“Mommy can you can the shape into anything? Can it be a sword, shield, bow, or even an animal!? Can I make it really big!? What if I put 2 types of mana or even 3 into a single mold!?”

Claire could only smile wryly as Kan bombarded her with questions. He wasn’t even giving her enough time to respond to his questions before he asked another one. Claire was extremely happy at Kan’s curiosity.

“Ok. Ok. Let me answer your questions one at a time.”

Kan became silent and his eyes were shining as he waited for Claire to start answering his questions.

“For your first question, the answer is yes. The shape of the mold you create depends on your creativity. It can be any shape or size you want it to be. What I am teaching you right now is only to make simple molds to contain mana but it can get more complex. For example you can even create formations like the one in the Dragon’s Den depending on how you mold it. You can determine its size, its attributes its activation sequence, and even its purpose. All of this depends on the mage locksmith’s imagination.”

“Now onto the question about putting multiple types of mana into one mold, the answer is also yes. There are many types of mana in the world but the main 6 elements are fire, earth, air, water, light, and darkness. You can combine multiple types of elements to create a new fusion of mana. For example if you combine fire and earth you can create many types of spells from it. You can create magma but depended on how you mold these two element you can also create molten spikes. But molding two elements is a difficult skill to accomplish so most mage locksmiths only focus on perfecting their strongest element. Once again all of this depend on the user’s imagination.”

Kan was in awe and was digesting all the information he was just told. More and more ideas flowed through his head as he sat there. No longer able to hold himself back he asked Claire to teach him how to become a mage locksmith.

“I’m happy that your so eager to learn but remember this Kan. Even if you want to put your imagination to the test, remember your limits. Just like a combat locksmith, a mage locksmith also has their own limits. Unlike a combat locksmith who uses their bodies to determine their limits, a mage locksmith uses mana to determine their limits. If you ever feel sick or feel like you are going to pass out, immediately stop using your mana. When that feeling occurs that means that you are running out of mana and if you do decide to continue using mana it could result in you losing the ability to mentally function. Do you understand?”

Hearing Claire warn him about the effects of mana exhaustion, Kan thought back to the time he had passed out during the third set of memories. He had tried to control and sense the mana around him and eventually passed out. ‘So I did successfully control the mana.’ He took Claire’s warning to his heart because when he first experienced mana exhaustion everything felt distant and his body felt sluggish like he was walking through a swamp. In general it was a terrible feeling.

“Ok Kan. Come sit down and close your eyes. I’m going to move the mana around you so it is easier for you to feel. Don’t use your eyes to try and feel the mana, use your entire body. Mana is like the ocean and we are like fishes. Every breeze you feel is mana, every piece of dirt has mana, and even the body has mana in it. You just have to feel it, don’t force anything. Let it all come naturally.”

Claire’s explanation was exactly the same as the Claire from the third set of memories that Kan had been in. This time Kan was determine to feel the mana and not pass out. Since he knew the basic concept of mana this time around it didn’t take long for him to feel the mana circulating around his body.

“I can feel it Mommy.”

“Good job Kan. I thought it would have taken you longer to sense mana but this is also good. Now try and feel your own mana within your body.”

Just like the times he was training with Clive, Kan began to sense his body. Since he was already used to sensing energy flowing through his body from his combat locksmith training, it only took a little bit before he was able to feel the sense of mana.

“Mommy I can feel my mana. It’s faint but I can feel it coursing through my body.”

“Good. Now try and control the mana into one location and make it go outside of your body. When you do this remember to mold your own mana into any shape. I recommend molding it into a hand. Control it like you would control your own hands and brace yourself when it starts to come outside your body. As soon as it comes out, the mana in the world will try to invade yours, so keep a solid mold of your hand.”

Kan followed Claire’s instructions and concentrated all of his mana into his right hand. Claire had recommended him to mold his mana into a hand, so Kan decided to release it from his right hand. The mana was now concentrated on his right hand and now all he had to do was push it out from his body. The first parts of his mana hand to go out into the world was the fingertips.

As his right thumb was the first to go out, Kan felt a different type of mana suppress his own. It was the mana from the world. Kan had braced himself but the mana in the world was more intense than he thought. He couldn’t move his thumb any further, it was like his entire hand was trying to push against a mountain and it wouldn’t budge. Sweat dripped down his head and his face was scrunched as he tried to fight against this pressure.

Claire watched as Kan struggled against the pressure from the world’s mana. She could sense that Kan was fiercely fighting against it and was waiting for him to give up. She wanted him to feel the difficulty of trying to become a mage locksmith early so he would know his limits. More time passed and Claire was surprised at Kan’s determination. She had expected him to give up after getting two fingertips out into the world but currently the fingertips of all five of his fingers were outside.

‘Good job Kan. At this rate you will be even stronger than Mommy when she was at your age.’

Claire rejoiced at Kan’s strength but as more time passed Kan surprised her even more. All five of his fingers were now outside and the only part left was his palm. ‘Is he really 5 years old?’ Claire was seriously questioning Kan’s strength. When she was his age it had taken her a day for her fingertips to come out and another day for her fingers to be outside. But it currently took Kan 30 minutes to do all this. ‘He couldn’t possibly get his whole hand out by today, can he?’ She was in disbelief but soon angry.

“KAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!”

Claire immediately locked the world’s mana around Kan and then pushed his mana back inside of him. She was furious. When Kan was stuck in between the fingers and his palm, he had started to exert his mana to get his whole hand outside.

“I told you already Kan! Never go past your limits unless you are in a life and death crisis!! You know what could have happened. You could have lost all ability to think or even worse you could have died. Why are you and your father always so reckless!! Do you know how painful it is to never be able to see your loved ones again!!!”

“I’m sorry Mommy. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Kan tiredly spoke and Claire calmed down. She didn’t realize that Kan was pushing himself to meet her expectations. She had put to much pressure on him to do good as a mage locksmith.

“It’s ok Kan. Just close your eyes and rest up for now. We’ll continue our training tomorrow.”

Kan closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep. Kan was now asleep but he had just taken the first step into becoming one of the best mage locksmith to ever exist.