Someone actually dared to discuss evil magic at his uncle's memorial service, which made Lux, even in her grief, frown.
The gentle and kind Crownguard little princess, who was usually so, wiped away her tears and then lifted her head: "Who's there?"
Everyone attending the service was startled by Lux's sudden shout.
They all turned their gaze to the little girl with tears still on her cheeks.
Undoubtedly, Lux's rash behavior was completely impolite; making a loud noise at her uncle's funeral was not something a noble lady should do—however, no one would blame the little girl for it.
Demacia and Noxus have been constantly clashing recently, and even though the two sides haven't directly gone to war like many years ago, in the back-and-forth confrontations, many people have still died in small-scale conflicts and assassinations.
It's normal for children who have lost loved ones to be a bit nervous; everyone understands this.
Therefore, seeing Lux in this state, most guests would only feel pity, not disgust.
Lux, who had involuntarily cried out, immediately realized that although the voice seemed to be next to her, there was no one beside her at all!
What on earth was going on?
Lux thought of magic.
But Mom said that as long as she held this short stick, she wouldn't be affected by magic anymore…
Lowering her head slightly, Lux reached out to touch the sword hanging at her waist, and then, the voice became even clearer.
"It seems I've come at a rather inconvenient time, little girl.
You guessed right, it's me."
Hearing the voice again, Lux almost threw her sword away—however, just as she had that thought, an invisible force seemed to completely control her body, making her stiffen in place, unable to move.
"Demacia's Petricite is really troublesome; my reputation starts at disgust… I apologize, little girl, I need to temporarily control you so you don't move, so I can have a proper chat with you—let me introduce myself first, my name is Klein, and you?"
"…"
Lux did not respond, because she couldn't make a sound at all at this moment.
"Oh, your name is Lux, uh, Lux of the Crownguard Family?"
"…"
"It really is the little girl from the Crownguard Family—ah?
You ask how I know what you're thinking?
It's simple, your feeble mind has almost no defenses.
Since you are willing to interact with me, I can naturally read your thoughts.
I know this is a bit impolite, but unfortunately, it's a necessary part of communication."
"…"
"How to avoid this situation?
As long as you are willing to communicate with me actively, I will gladly stop this mind-reading.
After all, I'm not good at thought-stealing, and it's uncomfortable for you too.
The way to communicate with me actively is very simple: just attach a small amount of magic to me, and we can talk!"
"…"
"You don't know how to call upon magic yet?
It seems you've only just awakened your spellcasting talent.
This is also very simple.
I'll control you to do it once, remember this feeling, and you'll get it very quickly.
Magic should inherently be rooted in instinct, like eating and drinking—come, follow my control, feel the magic flowing through your body, yes, just like that, do you feel it?"
"I… feel it!" Lux experienced this subtle sensation, "Is this how it is?"
"Very good, very correct, it seems our Miss Lux is a true genius."
"I don't want to be a genius in your words.
Now, let me go, you evil stick!"
"Let me emphasize again, I am not some evil stick, I am Klein.
If you must say, I should be called the Void Staff, eight inches, twisted flesh material, Void energy staff core.
To put it bluntly, if I were to appear in Noxus now, countless warlords and nobles would spend a fortune to gain my favor.
Little girl, it's your good fortune to hold me in your hand!"
"This isn't good fortune!
You evil stick!
Only equally evil Noxians would like you, an out-and-out villain—"
"Stop, stop, Miss Lux, if you continue to describe me with such impolite words, I'm afraid I'll have to retaliate in kind.
I imagine you wouldn't want to be singing and dancing at a funeral, right, because for a noble lady, that would truly be too dreadful…"
The villain's threat was quite effective.
Lux felt the stiffness in her body and didn't dare to bet whether the other party had the ability to control her body and make her dance at her uncle's memorial service.
So she could only let out a cold snort: "Then how can you let me go?"
"Why do you dislike me so much, Miss Lux?" Klein retorted with an innocent tone, "I haven't done anything wrong, I even helped you, when you couldn't control your own magic, to actively conceal the fact that you became a Deamonsworn.
Yet you speak ill of me.
I think such ingratitude should not conform to Demacia's noble virtues, right?"
"…This is different." Klein subtly shifted the core of the conflict, and a nine-year-old girl like Lux obviously couldn't easily discern the key point.
Lux even felt a subtle shame for a moment, as ingratitude was indeed a mistake, but soon, she realized the other party was confusing right and wrong, "For a Demacian noble, when facing evil magical artifacts, one naturally must draw a clear line."
"Ha, so you're convinced I'm evil?
You clearly don't understand magic, so why do you put on such a confident facade?" Klein seemed to be asking a rhetorical question, but in fact, it carried a clear intention to elicit information, "What, has magic brought you some profound disaster?"
"My uncle died because of you despicable mages!" When this topic came up, Lux finally couldn't control her emotions, "Vicious curses… Wuwuwu…"
Although her body was stiff and motionless, Lux's tears once again wet her golden eyelashes, slowly flowing down her cheeks.
And this scene, to the other guests, appeared as "Miss Luxanna crying like a zombie."
They all instinctively moved a distance away from Lux, tacitly giving the little girl who had lost a loved one some space.
"Is the 'uncle' you mentioned the one in the coffin in front of you?" Klein's tone was a bit puzzled, "To be precise, he's not dead yet."
"Not dead yet?" Lux was stunned, "My uncle isn't dead yet?!"
"Indeed, not dead." Klein affirmed again, "This curse has some skill.
His soul is being Consume by the Shadow Realm.
Although it looks no different from being dead, as long as you retrieve his soul from the Shadow Realm, he might still be able to live."
"Then how can I retrieve uncle's soul?" Lux's response was tense and hopeful, "Sorry, I've never heard of the Shadow Realm, Klein… Sir, do you know?"
"No longer a villain, but Mr. Klein?"
"...Sorry."
"Haha, the magnanimous Klein won't mind your minor offense, after all, Demacia's customs are like this—however, wanting to retrieve his soul from the Shadow Realm is no simple matter." Klein's tone finally gradually became cheerful, "Of course, for the omnipotent Klein, this is not a big problem."
"Please, Mr. Klein, you must help me!"
"Reason?" Klein asked back with a slightly puzzled tone, "Tell me, Madam Lux of the Crownguard Family, what reason do I have to definitely help you?"
"I—"
At this moment, Lux was speechless.
Although she was the little princess of the Crownguard Family, Lux did not have a princess complex.
So, even when facing an "evil magical artifact," she still couldn't bring herself to say words like "you should help me."
Klein clearly sensed this.
"It seems you've also realized the problem.
Our relationship should be that you have a request of me, not that I have a request of you, right?"
"Right." Lux finally admitted, "Mr. Klein, I want to know, how can I get you to help me enter the Shadow Realm and retrieve my uncle's soul—as long as it's not an evil deed, and doesn't violate laws and morals, I can agree!"
"It's very simple." Klein's tone became cheerful, "Learn magic with me, accept my trials, and you'll soon be able to personally enter the Shadow Realm and retrieve your uncle's soul."
Learn magic?
Hearing this unexpected answer, Lux hesitated.
In all her upbringing, magic represented evil—in Petricite Demacia, awakening magical talent was called being a Deamonsworn, and Deamonsworn were, by law, to be exiled outside of Demacia.
Lux could accept suppressing her magical talent with a sword, because this was a kind of "purification," a turning over a new leaf; but at least for now, she couldn't accept actively learning magic.
In her mind, that was considered a fall.
"It seems Miss Lux is very hesitant and believes I harbor ill intentions." As Lux pondered, Klein's voice once again sounded in her ear, "But it doesn't matter, as an amiable mentor, I always respect my students' opinions.
You can take your time to think…"
However, to Klein's surprise, before he could even utter the next half-sentence, "It's just a pity your uncle won't last much longer," Lux already had her answer.
"I agree." The little girl gritted her teeth, her voice incredibly firm, "If one day I truly fall into darkness, then I will exile myself, and leave Demacia forever!"
"Very good, little girl." Klein seemed very pleased, "You see, I have full trust in you.
Even if you simply agreed to my suggestion, I'm willing to help—now, continue attending this funeral of someone who isn't dead yet.
We'll talk properly tonight."
Having received the promise, Klein did not continue to pester, but instead released Lux, allowing her to continue attending the entire funeral.
And Lux did not choose to shout or simply throw away her sword.
After regaining control of her body, the little princess of the Crownguard Family let out a long sigh—that feeling of her body being out of her control was simply too uncomfortable, and she didn't want to experience it again.
At this moment, she could only hope that Klein would keep his word and not lie to her.
If the other party was lying, Lux would rather expose her identity as a Deamonsworn and be exiled outside Demacia than destroy this Void Staff!
...
However, on the other side, Klein also let out a sigh of relief.
Don't let his seemingly domineering demeanor fool you, as if everything was under his control, taking over Lux's body at the slightest disagreement, but in reality, his toughness was just an act.
As a Darkin who had been dormant for a long time, Klein's current state was also very poor.
After a long period of dormancy, he was now incredibly weak.
If it weren't for Lux's astonishing magical talent, unconsciously providing him with a huge amount of magic after holding the Void Staff, Klein probably wouldn't have woken up by now.
Moreover, forcibly controlling Lux's body actually had no meaning other than making her stand still.
He could only control the body, not receive sensory signals.
Instead, by following the communication method he taught Lux, Klein could "see" what Lux saw and "hear" what Lux heard through Lux's sensory sharing.
From this perspective, Klein at this time was more like a system that needed Lux as a host—for Klein, Lux was an infinitely potential battery, a mobile vehicle, a small leek with tenacious vitality.
It's truly tragic; other transmigrators have systems, but poor Klein not only doesn't have one, but he has also become someone else's system.
That's right, Klein was a transmigrator.
He came from a beautiful, azure planet, but ended up transmigrating to Runeterra—and to ancient Runeterra at that.
How ancient, you ask?
Let's put it this way, when Klein transmigrated, human civilization on Runeterra was still in a tribal system, and slave-owning regimes were considered quite advanced.
Most people could only spend their days On The Hunt and gathering, and at night, they would huddle around a campfire, watching beasts bare their fangs in the darkness.
Klein, completely in the dark, suddenly arrived in this world with extraordinary power and true deities, and his initial life could be described as quite miserable.
The only fortunate thing was that he knew a Great Leader named Setaka, and this Miss Setaka would later establish a great empire: Shurima.
Although Klein wasn't particularly good at combat, he still became a glorious Ascended, second only to the Warrior Queen, by virtue of his great contributions during the establishment of Shurima.
Hmm, an out-and-out nepotist, a civilian Ascended.
Unfortunately, with the outbreak of the Aramusia War, the Void descended upon Runeterra.
The Warrior Queen died on the battlefield, and in the battle of the Monolith, Klein, who was originally just a logistics officer, also participated in the battle, driving the Monolith fortress.
Although he eventually sealed the Void Rift, he was ultimately infected by the Void energy and became a Darkin.
In the beginning, Klein could still use his seniority to suppress other Darkin, barely maintaining the situation in Shurima.
But as the Void infection intensified and his sanity gradually slipped away, Klein eventually chose to self-seal, becoming a magical staff.
This seal lasted for thousands of years.
During this period, Klein intermittently regained consciousness a few times, but unfortunately, the few people who held the Void Staff were too weak to support a Darkin's consumption; and once Klein chose to seize the staff holder's body, this body would quickly become a Darkin body, and then Klein's will would be eroded by the Void, losing his sanity at light speed.
To avoid becoming a paranoid madman like Aatrox, Klein, caught in a death loop, could only be forced to lie dormant, waiting for a host who could provide him with magic.
Now, Klein met Lux.
Although the little girl was only nine years old, her magic was enough to support Klein's most basic consciousness.
As long as Klein didn't make any big moves, the pressure of maintaining daily consciousness was not great.
Moreover, if the butterfly effect wasn't too outrageous, Demacia should be full of Petricite.
As long as Lux learned to use the magic within the Petricite, Klein could restart!
Now that he had finally woken up in a relatively familiar era, Klein needed to firmly bind Lux, this high-capacity rechargeable battery, all-terrain adaptable vehicle, and super-vigorous leek!
He must train her well!