Jarvan III and a group of advisors and generals finally reached a consensus on the Ionia War.
Meanwhile, Lux and Sona's studies continued as usual.
And studying—even for straight-A students like Lux and Sona—was never an easy or pleasant task.
Especially after Klein realized what would happen if he controlled Lux's body, and stopped doing "experimental demonstrations."
It was thanks to Lux and Sona's mutual support that they were able to maintain a decent enthusiasm for studying under such astonishing pressure.
When the new year arrived, and Lux and Sona successfully entered their tenth year of life, Klein announced news that made both of them overjoyed and Inspire.
"Considering your passable learning ability, in the new year, I can finally teach you something practical—but don't get complacent, you're still the worst class I've ever taught."
Practical things!
Hearing this, Lux and Sona both ignored the latter half of the sentence and became excited in unison—after half a year of study, they already had a tendency to develop into "Magic Wang Yuyan," with theoretical knowledge accumulating bit by bit, but their Spellcasters ability still close to zero.
Under these circumstances, hearing that they could learn something practical, even Lux, who was still wary of magic, felt a subtle sense of sweet relief after suffering through hardship.
It was so difficult!
Then, the next day, when the two excitedly gathered, ready for something real, Klein finally announced the theme for this year's study.
"This year, your main focus of study will be on Petricite."
Petricite?!
Hearing Klein say this, Lux and Sona were both stunned; the two young girls looked at each other, suspecting they were hallucinating.
Petricite... isn't it a device that suppresses Spellcasters' casting and imprisons their magic?
What does it mean to study Petricite?
Are they going to learn how to counter Petricite's magic-suppressing effect?
Why learn this stuff?
Fortunately, Klein didn't keep them in suspense. Amidst their confusion, he got straight to the point, revealing Petricite's unknown true nature from the beginning.
"Lux, you've read the legend of the Winged Sisters. Does the legend mention the origin of Petricite?"
"...No." Lux thought for a moment, then silently shook her head. "But why would the Winged Sisters legend talk about the origin of Petricite?"
"Because the Winged Sisters legend and the discovery and utilization of Petricite occurred in the same era—but since it's not in the legend, then Demacia consciously shielded that part of the information," Klein said knowingly. "So I'll start by explaining that part. First, Petricite is not a natural stone."
"I know that," Lux nodded, adding, "Petricite seems to be a composite material, like it's made by burning lime with some mysterious material, and Demacian steel is the same, with this material added to the steel."
"Very well said," Klein affirmed Lux's statement. "Petricite comes from the fossilized Rune Tree, discovered when those who fled the disaster of the Rune Wars came here before Demacia was founded. And these people are the thirteen noble families that Lux knows."
"Rune Tree?" Lux blinked strangely. "Are you saying that mysterious material is actually a fossilized tree?"
"That's right, you Demacians call it the Rune Tree," Klein affirmed again. "However, I actually prefer to call it the Rune Tree—as for Petricite, its name should also be Rune Stones."
"Rune Stones?!" Lux and Sona's eyes widened in unison. "How is that possible?"
Lux and Sona both knew about Runes; they were the representative marks of magical energy, and also the origin of Runeterra's name, as Klein once mentioned, embodying high-purity magic.
But Petricite was clearly a stone that suppressed magic; the relationship between the two could not be described as superficially similar, only as completely different!
"Sounds strange, doesn't it?" Klein seemed quite pleased with their surprise, and his tone gradually became more cheerful. "But that's the truth—what you perceive as suppression is actually absorption!"
Absorption?
This statement surprised both Lux and Sona considerably. They simply couldn't believe that Petricite, which protected Demacia's birth and rise, didn't suppress magic, but merely absorbed it.
"Isn't this conclusion incredibly hard to believe?" Klein continued his explanation. "But unfortunately, it's the truth—and for so many years, Demacia has been relentlessly charging the Rune Stones. To be honest, I don't know when these Rune Stones will be fully charged, but what's certain is that once they are, that magic-less Petricite nation will transform into a magic kingdom overnight."
Lux was completely dumbfounded. She had come today happily expecting to learn something practical, but right from the start, she heard such shocking news, and for a moment, she felt a bit disoriented.
However, even so, she still tried hard to calm herself down, and then, full of anticipation, raised a question: "Is this your conjecture? Or do you have evidence?"
"Of course, there's evidence." Klein's answer crushed her last hope. "And what you'll be learning this year is how to extract and master the power within Petricite."
"Comparatively, I'm more concerned with how to solve this huge problem!" Lux suddenly stood up. "No, I need to tell my father—"
"Tell him what?" Klein countered. "Tell him that Petricite is Rune Stones? And then reveal everything I've told you to him?"
"This concerns all of Demacia!"
Unfortunately, before Lux could take a step, her entire body stiffened in place.
"And then what? How do you know all of this?" Klein casually restrained Lux while continuing his soul-searching questions. "Go tell Mr. Petricite that his good daughter got this sensational news from a villain?"
"No, it's not like that, Klein... Please, let me tell my father this news!" Lux, unable to break free, had red eyes. "Please—I won't reveal anything about you, and I'm very grateful for your teaching, but I can't sit by and watch my country stay in a supposedly safe position on a volcano about to erupt!"
"So, you plan to tell your father that you accidentally discovered this, that the essence of Petricite is actually to absorb magic, not to suppress it, right?" Klein hardened his heart. "But, use your brain, Lux, will that really work? I can prove all of this, but can you prove it?"
"I—" Lux stammered, and after a long pause, she finally gave a dejected answer, "I can't."
"I can actually understand the desire of a ten-year-old child to save everything after learning a shocking secret." Klein released his restraint on Lux. "But unfortunately, you have no evidence, and in fact, in Demacia, there are people who know this."
"Who knows this?!" Lux gripped her sword hilt tightly, incredulously. "Why isn't he saying anything?"
"Perhaps he did, but no one cared?" Klein seemed to scoff, or perhaps sigh with resignation. "Sona, if I remember correctly, your mother is a member of the Illuminati, right?"
"That's right."
"I think, in the Illuminati's secret records, there should be research on Petricite." Klein silently dropped another bombshell. "It's just a pity that magical knowledge in Demacia has no systematic inheritance at all, so even if they are researching, it's difficult for them to research anything substantial."
Under the successive impacts of these explosive news, Lux was already somewhat numb. She finally shook her head, then obediently sat back down in her seat: "Klein, I won't act impulsively again—you're right, I can't really do anything right now."
"Very good, Lux." Klein's tone also held a hint of admiration. "Calmness is very important for Spellcasters. Now you finally have a bit of the demeanor of a master magician—next, I'll tell you all about Rune Stones..."
...
Lux, having regained her composure, was still full of worry, but at least she quietly listened to Klein's narration.
And in this part of the narration, besides some hidden history, it can roughly be summarized into two aspects: a good news and a bad news.
The good news is that although Demacia has been founded for over a thousand years, the Petricite here is still a long way from being fully charged and completely transformed into Rune Stones. According to Klein's judgment, even the city walls of Demacia Capital might not have reached more than 30% transformation progress.
The bad news is that the charging speed of Demacia's Petricite is rapidly increasing. In addition to naturally awakened Spellcasters, somewhere else, a more powerful source of magic is charging Demacia's Petricite!
These two pieces of news, one good and one bad, made Lux's mood extremely complex. She remained silent for a long time before once again gripping her sword: "So, Klein, what do you want to teach us?"
"I want to teach you to use the magic stored within Petricite," Klein replied directly. "This magic will be part of my trial, accelerating your growth. If you are truly worried about the safety of Petricite, I promise that before any accident occurs, you will have the ability to handle everything."
Hearing Klein say this, Lux let out a sigh of relief. She leaned against Sona, as if her entire being had been emptied, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Then, just as Sona was softly comforting Lux, Klein spoke again:
"As for Sona... if you can master this power, perhaps one day, you can return to your homeland and use your own strength to end the Noxus expansion plan."
This time, Sona's body also stiffened slightly—a person of her gentle nature found it very difficult to make up her mind to face a War. In a sense, she needed an extra push, and while Lux was in a state of turmoil, Klein happily played the role of the tempter.
Sona hesitated a little.
She didn't like to fight with people, nor did she want to join a War.
But at this moment, she couldn't help but recall her previous promise with Lux—they had pinky-sworn to support each other on the path of magic and the future.
Lux had her own ideals, but what about herself?
Should she silently follow Lux?
Or should she be bold like her, and try to do something for her hometown?
Sona didn't have an answer to this question yet—however, this didn't stop her from deciding to diligently study this knowledge.
Even if it was just to help Lux and protect her parents!
Thinking of this, the gentle Sona finally clenched her fist: Sona, you can do it!
...
Due to the secret of Petricite, Klein did not continue teaching that day, and both Lux and Sona, whose minds were in disarray, chose to rest early.
However, when the night was deep and quiet, Lux quietly climbed out of bed.
This time, she didn't bring her sword, which she had never left without for six months. Instead, she changed her clothes alone and left the bedroom.
The garden in the dark night was not as beautiful as in the daytime. Lux leaned against the Petricite wall of the garden, then barely controlled her magic flow, trying to emit a little light.
However, just as a faint arc of light appeared at Lux's fingertip, the magic she desperately poured out dispersed due to instability—thus, the arc of light flashed and vanished, and an indescribable emptiness made Lux's legs go weak, and she collapsed onto the cold dirt.
The cold beneath her made Lux calm down. She got up clumsily, looked at her hands covered in dirt, and suddenly felt like laughing.
Klein had not deceived her.
Or rather, Klein had never deceived her, nor did he need to deceive her.
He was going to teach her how to use the power of Petricite later. If everything he said was false, just alarmist talk, then what would he teach her then?
Why had she suddenly become like her brother, like a blockhead!
Realizing this, Lux felt a bit amused, and a strange sense of reassurance. The fact that Petricite was Rune Stones was indeed terrible, but at least Teacher Klein was trustworthy; he had never deceived her, and she could always trust him!
Taking a long breath, Lux whistled and walked back to her bedroom with light steps, unladylike. She plunged into the bathroom, took a nice hot bath, and then returned to her bed.
By the bed, her sword still lay quietly.
Lux turned and dove, sinking into the soft large bed. After bouncing twice, she finally grabbed her sword and hugged it to her chest.
"I'm sorry, Teacher, I was too willful today," Lux whispered. "Next time, I promise, it won't happen again!"
Then, before Klein could react, she tossed the sword aside, chose the most comfortable position, and completely sprawled out.
Soon, soft snores began—to Klein's confusion, Lux, exhausted from the day, finally fell into a dream.