n

n

nCRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Mira shook the door’s handle, glaring at it with a sweaty face, “MOM! I know you’re there. Open the door!” she waited a few seconds, but no one replied.

n“Did she lock the door?” Arad asked with an exhausted face. Aella giggled, “Do you have a key around here?”

nMira looked back at them, “I don’t have a key, but I could do something,” She rushed to her cabinet, pulling metal junk from it as if it was nothing.

n“This is too big,” She threw a crowbar, “This won’t fit,” she threw a small nail. “And this is too crooked!” She threw a crescent metal decoration.

n“What are you looking for?” Arad asked, wondering how she could fit that junk inside the small cabinet.

n“I’m looking for something to use as a lockpick, or at least a wretch so I can tear the lock off the door,” She put the box back inside the cabinet and sighed, “It’s not here. Can you move a bit?” she rushed to the bed.

nMira grabbed the bed’s edge with one hand, lifting it and looking underneath. “Let’s see.” She pulled out a large box.

n“How much junk do you have hidden around here?” Arad asked, staring inside the box with her.

n“People call them junk. I call them treasures.” Mira smiled, pulling a weirdly shaped wrench.

n“What is that?” Aella asked, weirded out by the strange-looking object.

n“A special wrench I made. It should help me tear that stupid lock off.”

nMira stood and approached the door, tightening the wrench to the handle. “Ok, I need something to stick inside. Hold the chamber down.” She mumbled.

n“Will this work?” Arad lifted a tiny rusted metal rod from the box and showed it to Mira.

n“Yeah! That’s perfect, give it to me and come here. I will need your help.” Mira waved her hand to him with a smile, “Come!”

nArad stood, giving her the rod and asking, “What do I need to do?”

n“I will hold the rod inside the lock. I want you to turn the wrench clockwise,” Mira smiled, jamming the rod inside the keyhole and wiggling it deeper.

n“I bet the rod is stuck. Can’t you turn the trench yourself?” Arad asked, looking at her holding the rod with two fingers.

nMira stared at him, “I can, but it’s exhausting. The last time I tried it, I had to strain myself enough that I fell after the lock opened.”

nArad grabbed the wrench, “Fine,”

n“You’re the bone cracker. A mere lock can’t be a problem for you.” Mira patted his back, “Give it you all,”

nArad smiled, turning the wrench in the wrong direction. CRACK! He almost broke it.

n“I said clockwise, idiot!” Mira cried, hearing the painful crack.

nArad quickly turned in the opposite direction, and the lock took the strain. ^What is a clock even? I thought she meant a click. The direction in the handle clicked when turned.^

nA clock is a device used to decern time. The guild had one in the main hall,

n^Ah, that weird thing! Wasn’t it a decoration?^

nI can’t deny they might have used it for decoration as well,

nArad started putting a lot of force, “This thing is stuck!”

n“You tightened it earlier. But don’t worry. Use enough force, and you can sever the main pin.” Mira said with a smile, glaring at the lock.

n“What is a main pin?”

n“A part of the lock’s structure, it’s hard to explain, so just pull harder.” Mira patted his thigh, “Use your legs.

nCRACK! Suddenly, the handle cracked and fell to the ground.

nArad smiled, “It worked!”

nMira grabbed her head, shaking her head, “AHHH! It broke!”

nAella stared at her, “That’s what you wanted, right?”

nMira stared back at her, almost crying, “No! What I wanted to break was the pin inside. And now the handle broke. We have no way of applying enough force on the lock.”

nArad put the wrench down, “Well, your plan failed.”

nMira glared at him, “Who’s fault do you think it is? You damaged it at the start,” She stared at the ground, shuffling her hair, “That was it! That crack I heard when you twisted, I should have guessed.”

nArad looked back at Aella and then at the door. There was a short metal rod in the handle place.

n“I might be able to turn it,” Arad said, pushing Mira to the side and grabbing the metal rod.

n“No, you can’t!” Mira sighed, “The rod is too small to give you a good grip, and even if you could, the strength needed to turn it would be immense,” She scratched her head, “You will only end up breaking a nail if your hand slipped.”

nArad gripped the small rod, standing straight with his back bent backward just a tiny bit. One foot forward and one at the back, the veins on his forearm bulged as Mira heard his toes push on the wooden floor.

nThe door started shaking, and Mira heard Arad’s spine crack. He was fighting against his body’s instinct. You’re body wants to transform. If you keep applying more force, you will soon morph. Mom warned him.

n^I’m good. I can hold it back.^

nIt isn’t good. The humanoid skeletal and musculature structure can’t support a dragon’s might. You don’t have the muscles to do it. Or the bones to lean on.

nArad applied more force. The small rod started to twist.

n“The steel?” Mira gasped, seeing the steel bend between Arad’s fingers. She stood and noticed something strange. Three small bulges appeared on Arad’s back, one at his lower back and two at his shoulder blades.

nMira couldn’t tell what they were as the clothes covered them, and the sudden cracking noise of the door took her attention quickly. BANG! The lock shattered.

nThud! Arad fell on his butt, panting, “It should be open. You are paying for the lock, just so we are clear,”

nMira stared at him for a moment, “What was that?”

n“That what?” Arad looked back at her, “You wanted the small metal thing twisted, and I got it done.”

nMira shook her head, grabbing Arad’s arm and staring closely at it. It was thick and felt more like shoe leather than flesh. The veins and the muscles on it looked strange, twisting in a weird way that felt unnatural.

n“Is there something wrong with my arm?” Arad asked, seeing her glaring so closely at his forearm.

n“Hey! What are you doing!” Aella growled at her, leaping from the bed.

nMira looked back at Aella, “Have you ever noticed this? His arms are strange but powerful.” she said with an excited face, pointing at the twisted lock.

n“He twisted steel. He **ing bent it.” Mira glared at Arad’s finger marks on the small metal rod.

n“Aren’t you getting a bit too excited? I bet most high-rank adventurers can do it,” Aella tried to push her away from Arad, but she couldn’t.

n“No! No! No! No!” Mira shook her head, “They use leverage most of the time with weapons or stances. I might not be an expert, but I know he knows nothing about using his strength. That was just raw power.”

nArad stood, “Please stop. I’m just a bit stronger than normal,”

nMira quickly jumped back at him, “Excuse me for a moment. Can I see your arm again?” Even though she asked for permission, that was after she had started rolling up Arad’s sleeve.

n“Fine,”

nMira’s eyes opened wide, calling Aella to have a closer look. “Look! What the heck is this?” She pointed at his upper arm.

n“There should be four muscles here. You have the triceps, deltoid, biceps, and brachialis.” She started counting, “His biceps alone looks like four muscles! The triceps are six muscles, and his deltoid is over ten muscles!”

n^Ah! Probably to be able to support my weight and move my wings simultaneously. I might look human from the outside, but inside I’m still a dragon.^

n“You said you were a draconic bloodline sorcerer? I bet your blood is far heavier than other people’s. You might even sprout wings at some point,” Mira said, smiling.

nIt’s not a rare case between draconic bloodline holders. Some can grow wings or a tail, but those limbs are usually weak. You can say it shows you’re above average.

nMira looked down, “I see now. No wonder mom got so interested in you. I didn’t realize it at first glance. But you’re built differently.” She smiled, staring at his legs.

n“AHEM!” Arad grabbed her head, “You were trying to open the door for a reason, right?”

nMira snapped back into reality, “Ah! Sorry, I got too excited.” She shook her head, “I was going to see mom for why she locked me here,” She turned around and rushed out. .

n^Well, it serves me better if more people saw me as a bit special. They won’t be as surprised if I brought something crazy,^

nThat’s right,

nArad turned toward Aella, “Sorry about that,”

nAella shook her head, “Let’s sleep,”

n