Khun Phaen was born a warrior and was brave like his father. When he grew up, he became a novice in a temple and learned everything that the abbot could teach him. He was then sent to Wat Lelai in Supanburi to further his studies with a highly learned abbot of the time. From this abbot Khun Phaen leaned not only the ordinary arts, but also all the magic ones, such as the ability to make himself invisible, invulnerable and the power to transform himself into various forms; he could even create living soldiers from leaves and wasps from tamarind seeds and so on