Klein didn't give Lux much time to prepare, quickly starting the training—of course, it's also possible he deliberately changed the subject because he didn't want Lux to scrutinize his appearance too much.
In any case, the battle had already begun by the time Lux had just figured out the training requirements.
Facing the dense swarm of Beetles, Lux reacted in a way quite befitting her age—a twelve-year-old girl seeing so many bugs would instinctively shriek.
However, unlike a typical delicate noble young lady, Lux shrieked while raising the longsword in her hand.
Even though the sword wasn't very comfortable to grip and its weight distribution was strange, she still swung it forward in a standard basic sword-fighting stance, sweeping across the Beetles rushing towards her.
It was muscle memory.
Lux's sword skills were solid, but she clearly lacked rational judgment when facing sudden situations.
It seemed that because she was worried about the overwhelming number of Beetles, Lux immediately chose the widest sweeping attack, trying to clear the enemies in front of her and give herself some breathing room.
Unfortunately, while this sweeping attack had a large range, it was difficult to inflict effective damage directly on the Beetles—with their carapaces providing protection, Lux's attacks could only sweep the Beetles away, not truly kill them.
This meant that even if Lux temporarily cleared them, the Beetles would crawl back later and continue their assault.
Under rational circumstances, Lux should have quickly realized this and swiftly changed her attack choices.
But unfortunately, this was Lux's first real combat training in her life.
Facing the incredibly realistic Beetles, her mind was completely blank at this moment!
Magic, models, sword skills, adaptability—all of these were thrown to the winds.
In this situation, Lux almost entirely followed her instincts, swinging her sword again and again with all her might, leaving no room for thought whatsoever.
Thus, with such a terrible performance, the Beetles around her grew more numerous, and her own stamina deteriorated rapidly; in less than three minutes, the speed of her sword swings noticeably decreased, and then two Beetles broke through her defense, pouncing on her arm and opening their mandibles…
As a sensation of tangible pain struck, Lux felt her vision go black—the next moment, when she regained consciousness, she had already left the simulated training scenario.
The training required her to last ten minutes to pass, but Lux only lasted three minutes.
Leaning weakly against the city wall, Lux's forehead and temples were completely soaked; the young girl looked as if she had just been pulled from water, even her dazzling golden hair was plastered to her head in strands, utterly dishevelled.
However, Lux could no longer concern herself with that.
She immediately raised her arm and carefully examined it under the sunlight.
Thank goodness.
Her pale arm was still as flawless as Ionia's porcelain, with no wounds or scars.
Lux hadn't been bitten by the Beetles; everything that had just happened was indeed an illusion.
It was just that the illusion was so real that Lux felt as if she had truly experienced being gnawed by mandibles, making her feel somewhat dazed for a moment…
"An utterly terrible performance," Klein's voice finally sounded again just as Lux breathed a sigh of relief, "My assessment is that you very well maintained the proper reserve and politeness of a noble young lady, even when facing enemies, remaining full of kindness and gentleness."
"I—"
Lux wanted to retort something, but after regaining her senses, and thinking about her recent performance, she could only gape in silence.
Retort… retort what?
Recalling it now, Lux herself felt her face flush!
Her recent behavior could be called a "textbook example of mistakes"; Lux had made almost every mistake possible in combat!
"I just wasn't used to it!" Lux gritted her teeth for a long time before finally managing to find an excuse, "I was just curious about your appearance at the time; I was distracted, that's why!"
"Your skill at making excuses is on par with your combat ability," Klein continued to give his assessment in his unique objective manner, "In any case, reflect on yourself for a bit, and also help Sona keep an eye on the surroundings. Next up—Sona, it's your turn."
...
Unlike Lux, who was full of curiosity and eagerness when she first entered the simulated training state, Sona appeared undoubtedly calmer when she arrived on this dune.
However, like Lux, Sona was also very curious about Klein's appearance; she too tried to see Klein's face clearly.
Thus, she was also thrown down the dune by Klein.
Then, at the bottom of the dune, Sona didn't receive a sword—when the training began, etwahl floated before her.
"Make good use of your magic," Klein added, "Now, training officially begins."
The next moment, as the Desert once again began to churn as if boiling, and a large number of dog-sized Beetles surged from beneath the yellow sand, Sona quickly strummed her strings!
Magic gathered on the strings, then transformed into a tangible sound blade, which, with a piercing burst, Rend the Beetle closest to Sona.
The solidified sound completely cut open its carapace, causing it to fall headfirst onto the sand, clearly no longer moving.
Clearly, in terms of attack effectiveness, Sona was significantly stronger than Lux; her resonance with etwahl was innate, and even without practical experience in playing the zither with magic, her first attempt yielded remarkable results.
With initial success, Sona strummed the strings again, and with the burst of the next note, another Beetle was cut open, and Sona achieved a double kill!
Unfortunately, this was not a bug-extermination game.
Sound dissipates in the Desert wind, and etwahl's sound blade attack range is quite limited.
When Sona's strumming speed couldn't keep up with the Beetles' encirclement speed, even if every strike could accurately Headshot and eliminate one Beetle, Sona quickly fell into a disadvantage.
She simply couldn't handle so many Beetles.
Unlike Lux, who mindlessly swung her sword and eventually ran out of stamina, leading to defensive vulnerabilities, Sona's problem was focusing on the front while neglecting her back, and in less than two minutes, a Beetle pounced on her back.
As the sharp pain struck, Sona's first training session also ended.
Sona, who had regained consciousness, tightly hugged etwahl, and she and Lux leaned back-to-back, both gasping for breath.
Playing such a high-stakes game for the first time was truly exhilarating.
"Sona can barely be considered calm," Klein also gave his merciless assessment, "It's a pity you seem to be unable to let loose at all. The way you pluck the strings one note at a time is exactly like a fool holding a sharp blade but only daring to hit people's heads with the hilt."
"…"
Klein's peculiar analogy left Sona speechless—just as Klein said, she was too restrained during the training, not daring to attempt anything she hadn't fully mastered. Facing a large number of Beetles, she could only single-target Headshot them one by one, leading to a combat result even worse than Lux's.
"It's because you won't let us train together!" Facing Klein's criticism, although Sona humbly accepted it, seeing her friend's still-shaken appearance, Lux still stepped forward to complain, "If we were together, we could easily deal with those annoying bugs!"
"If it were joint training, the enemies wouldn't be bugs!" Klein snorted, "Now, take a fifteen-minute break, then continue training—just holding out for ten minutes against a swarm of Beetles; even the magic-less scavengers of Shurima could do this with a mere stick!"
"You're just lying to me!" Hearing Klein say that, Lux pouted indignantly, "You keep saying I'm the worst batch, and now you're saying even Shurima's scavengers can do it. What a big liar!"
"I'm not lying to you," Klein chuckled at her words, "How about this: if you successfully pass this training, I'll show you how my good students passed, and I can also let you see how Shurima's scavengers face Beetles. How does that sound?"
"Alright!" Lux immediately nodded, "If I find out you're lying… then you take off your hood and let me see what you look like!"
"If I'm not lying to you, then don't dwell on that point," Klein took the opportunity to state his condition, "When it's time for you to know, you will naturally know!"
"It's a deal!"
"It's a deal!"
With the bet made, Lux stood up confidently, thinking about how to deal with those annoying bugs while letting out a chuckle.
Playing mysterious, huh?
I'm the worst batch, huh?
This young lady will expose all your lies sooner or later!
As long as I see your face…
I promise to draw you as a clown in a story, making you known to everyone in Demacia Capital!
I am a great artist!
What Lux didn't know was that while she was rubbing her fists and full of confidence, Klein was also silently smiling.
You think I don't know your little schemes?
Showing my face is impossible; I can't leave any leverage for you to threaten me with!
As for whether I lied about "you are the worst batch I've ever taught"…
Of course, I didn't.
Don't forget, Klein's previous students were all Ascended from Shurima!
Compared to those exceptionally talented powerhouses, these two little girls, Lux and Sona… truly are the worst batch!