It turned out that Sona was indeed more reliable than Lux at times.
Because after half a month of deliberation, her eighth training session was finally successful!
When Klein announced Sona had successfully passed the training, Lux immediately jumped up and excitedly hugged her good friend: "Oh my god, Sona, you really did it! Tell me, how did you succeed?"
"I… etwahl helped me." Sona, who was being hugged by Lux and almost thrown, held her instrument and shyly pressed down her skirt. "Last time, I noticed that the Beetles' chirping seemed to have a pattern, so I thought of using sound to influence them…"
"Ah? You can do that?" Lux surprisingly put Sona down. "You play a song for them, and they stop moving?"
"How is that possible?" Klein was quite helpless upon hearing this. "Sona used music to disrupt their coordination, and with a large-scale indiscriminate attack, the Beetles were scattered, which allowed Sona to successfully last ten minutes."
"How did you come up with this idea?" Lux quickly began to ask Sona for advice. "Make them fight each other?"
"I just thought of it occasionally…" Sona's face was flushed. After being put down, she adjusted her skirt and repeatedly waved her hands, "Lux, you don't need to learn from me; you can definitely do it too—"
"That's right, I can do it too!" Lux nodded. "Again, again! I refuse to believe I can't deal with these annoying Beetles!"
After a fifteen-minute rest, Lux, full of confidence, began her training again.
And this time, she lasted nine minutes.
The method was also very simple: although the dazzling light sword display was cool, it would consume unnecessary magic, leading to a loss of stamina. Lux attached a small amount of light magic to her longsword, and then, relying solely on the most basic horizontal sweeps, she successfully eliminated a large number of Beetles.
If she hadn't accidentally increased her magic input out of a sense of frustration at the end, she would have smoothly passed this training session too!
It was precisely because of her emotional nature that Klein once again mocked her after the training failure.
However, this time Lux didn't feel embarrassed. Facing Klein's sarcasm, she simply said, "It's fine; say whatever you want. Anyway, next time you'll reveal your true colors."
And the next time, Lux indeed passed the training.
In her tenth training session, she not only successfully lasted ten minutes but also killed a large number of Beetles, almost turning the defensive battle into an annihilation battle!
"Hehehe!" After Klein announced her success, Lux put her hands on her hips. "I passed the training! Come on, Klein, let me see how those scavengers can last ten minutes with a wooden stick!"
"Alright." Klein didn't hesitate. Instead, he waved his hand. "Then you can watch. This is a real memory of mine."
The sand dunes in front of them blurred, and soon, a dark-skinned scavenger, dressed in rags and carrying a large sack on his back, appeared not far away.
He held a long wooden stick, at least nine feet long. Narrow wooden planks were tied to each of his feet; these were sandboards commonly used by scavengers when traversing the Desert and climbing over sand dunes.
"Watch closely." Klein's voice was unhurried. "Didn't you disbelieve that scavengers could easily last ten minutes among a group of Beetles? Then pay close attention!"
The next moment, the sand dunes began to boil, and a large number of Beetles emerged from the sand, swarming towards the scavenger.
However, the scavenger calmly took off one sandboard, hooked and fastened it to the top of the wooden stick.
The wooden stick and the sandboard thus combined to form the shape of a hoe.
Then, the scavenger swung the hoe and dug it down hard—the wooden stick, along with the sandboard, was easily fixed by him beneath the sand.
Without even needing to remove the other sandboard, the scavenger swung his pack to hang on the end of the wooden stick, and with a clamp of his legs, he agilely leaped onto the upright stick like a monkey.
Although the aggressive Beetles could jump, they had no flying ability. Because the wooden stick was too long, even though they squeaked, they couldn't reach the scavenger, who was nearly eight feet off the ground, and eventually, they could only leave dejectedly.
"How is this possible!" Lux exclaimed, jumping up and down in disbelief at this scene. "Those cunning bugs were so smart when they fought me! Why didn't they bite through his stick when they saw the scavenger? You're cheating!"
"Do you think all scavengers who can safely traverse this Desert are fools?" Klein gave Lux a flick on the forehead, making the little girl crouch down, covering her head. "The sticks they hold are their very lives; they are either animal bones or branches from certain poisonous trees. Beetles won't gnaw on them!"
"This… this isn't just any stick!" Lux remained unconvinced. "And they understand these bugs!"
"Well said." Klein nodded. "Then how about this: I'll show you the performance of the excellent graduates back then? You can see if you are the worst class I've ever taught!"
"I'll watch!" Lux puffed out her chest again. "Who's afraid of whom?!"
"Alright, let me see…" Klein stretched out his hand and stroked his chin. "Who to choose—you, Aatrox!"
...
One minute later, Lux felt her worldview had been shattered.
What kind of monster was this guy named "Aatrox"?
He was clearly just a seemingly not-so-strong young man, yet he wielded a greatsword and effortlessly dealt with all the Beetles in one minute!
And that wasn't even the most outrageous part.
The most outrageous part was that throughout the entire process, Lux had learned every move Aatrox used, and she was confident that if she used them individually, she could achieve a similar level.
But even if Lux were to try to replicate it now, she couldn't achieve Aatrox's flowing, effortless grace!
It was clearly a greatsword, yet in his hands, it was as light as a feather. The man and the sword seemed to be dancing a ballroom dance, with the center of gravity remaining largely unchanged throughout, yet ensuring that every strike included his own strength and the gravity of the downward chop.
Even more outrageous was that almost every one of his swords struck between the Beetles' weakly defended wing casings, and every sword was a clean, decisive two-section cut, never dragging on!
What kind of divine skill was this?
"Training is just this—"
Before Aatrox could finish a complete sentence, Klein waved his hand, ending the memory.
Watching the slender figure vanish, Lux was full of bewilderment, her mouth agape—she had personally witnessed the swordplay performance of Sebastian Laurent, the contemporary head of the Laurent Family.
Their family's inherited Heart-Eye Swordsmanship was the limit of sword-fighting elegance Lux could imagine.
But even the ultimate profoundness of Heart-Eye Swordsmanship, "Sword Dance Waltz," still couldn't compare to the effortless sword-fighting of this guy named Aatrox!
What astonishing talent, what extraordinary natural ability!
It was clearly the simplest smashing, chopping, and stabbing, yet with the fastest efficiency, he effortlessly eliminated all the Beetles…
Lux began to doubt her own existence.
"This… this must be your most outstanding student!" Biting her lip, Lux felt she could still argue. "And, he's clearly a pure sword-trainer—"
"Well said!" Klein seemed to agree with Lux. "You are a born Spellcasters, so we should use a Spellcasters' method to give examples, is that what you mean?"
"Exactly, exactly!" Lux nodded repeatedly. "That's it! That's what I mean!"
"Alright, let's look at Ne'Zuk's performance." Klein nodded. "He's an elemental mage like you—come, let's see Ne'Zuk's performance."
Saying this, Klein waved his hand again, and with a blur, a robed figure appeared below the sand dunes not far away.
The sand boiled, and Beetles emerged.
The next moment, Ne'Zuk raised his hands, allowing the sun's radiance to gather and refract in his palms, then swept it out horizontally.
Wherever the radiance reached, the Beetles were completely incinerated.
At this moment, Lux suddenly recalled a piece of knowledge she had learned earlier: sunlight is not an element, but it can be gathered and refracted.
"How did I not think of that!" Lux was so anxious she almost wanted to roll on the ground. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, I can do that too!"
"Really? Try it here." Klein chuckled. "Right here, let me see if you can easily gather and refract sunlight."
Lux took a deep breath, then tried to gather sunlight in the way Klein had taught her before.
Then, before she could achieve anything, a wave of exhaustion washed over her from deep inside—her stamina was overdrawn again.
"How can this be?" Lux clumsily fell to the ground again. "Shouldn't gathering and refracting abilities be very effortless?"
"That's true when you're familiar with the process," Klein explained. "But if you're not familiar with this casting method, the consumption will be greater…"
"Hmph, it's still because I can't train!" Lux brought out her last bit of stubbornness. "They all trained for so long, and they must have had a lot of practical training."
"That's true." Klein continued to nod, but the amusement in his voice could no longer be hidden. "Then how about this, I'll show you a little girl's training record—that was her first formal spellcasting, and no one had taught her before."
"Good!" Lux sat up. "Come on, let me see! I don't believe it, were all the students you taught before geniuses?"
Klein waved the sleeve of his great cloak, and Ne'Zuk's figure vanished. Immediately after, a very shy-looking little girl appeared below the sand dunes.
She had thick eyebrows, a slightly flat face, and her cheekbones were a bit red, seemingly due to excessive sun exposure. Her entire skin color was also very dark.
After the Beetles appeared, she first pressed her hands down virtually, then tremblingly raised them—and as she did so, beneath the yellow sand, countless massive stones spontaneously gathered together, forming a stone curtain as smooth as a wall.
The little girl, who had succeeded on her first try, looked very tired. She carefully watched the Beetles beneath the stone curtain, and after realizing they couldn't climb up, she excitedly raised her arms.
"Teacher, teacher, did you see? I did it!" she shouted excitedly in accented ancient shurima language. "I really can!"
Waving his hand, Klein dispersed the memory, and a rare smile appeared on his face beneath his hood: "This is a little girl from a weaver family. This was her first time participating in training. Before this, she had always suppressed her talent, fearing that this ability would harm others. So, this was her first time casting a spell."
Lux was already dumbfounded.
"Who are all these people…"
"She indeed has too much talent. If you're not convinced, I also have Nasus's records—Nasus was one of my worst students besides you."
"…"
"This is Renekton; that idiot barely knows how to think."
"…"
"This is Rhaast; he's the trickiest, always likes to take shortcuts—"
"…"
"And Varus, he uses a bow and arrow…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
When Lux had seen enough of those masters' training videos and left the simulated training illusion, returning to reality, she completely collapsed onto Sona.
Holding her best friend's hand, the little girl's voice was tinged with a sob.
"Wuwuwu—Klein didn't lie to me."
"…"
"Wuwuwuwu, I'm useless!"
"…"
Watching Lux, who was crying heartbrokenly, her golden hair seemingly dulled, the usually gentle Sona finally couldn't help it. She helped Lux untie her high ponytail, letting her long hair down, and carefully put on her headband, while also glaring at Klein.
And Klein finally realized he seemed a bit too excited—these records were his most precious memories. Even Klein, upon seeing those familiar figures, couldn't help but get a little lost in thought, so much so that he didn't notice Lux's emotions and hurt the little girl's fragile self-esteem.
"There, there, don't cry, don't cry." Klein said with a rare, incredibly gentle tone. "After all, you are in Demacia and can only learn theoretical knowledge. It's normal to be a bit weak in practical aspects… Trust me, among those people just now, besides Ne'Zuk and Nasus, no one's theoretical knowledge is as solid as yours—"
This was originally meant to be a comforting remark.
However, the thought that those "not-so-solid in theoretical knowledge" guys easily passed the trial, while she, after enduring three years of spoon-fed education, failed eight times in a row, utterly embarrassed…
Lux couldn't help but feel even more wronged and cried even louder.
— — — — — — — —
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Poor Lux, she saw the first lesson records of Aatrox, Ne'Zuk, Great Weaver, Nasus, Renekton, Rhaast, and Varus. She clearly didn't know which masters those names belonged to, which led to her being severely disheartened. To soothe her wounded heart—go to the character section and give her a heart!
Don't cry, Lux, you will be stronger than everyone!
As for Klein…
After many years, he once again secured a prime seat in the pond's muddy bottom. Congratulations!