Zaun - Viktor

As he spoke, the corners of Ryan's lips curled upward slightly. With a flick of his hand, a dark blue crystal orb appeared in his palm.

"Hex Crystal? How is that possible!?" Viktor cried out, looking as though he had seen something that should never have appeared.

"There's nothing surprising about it. Hex Crystals were never creations of yours and Jayce's. Though you've gone further down this path, you still can't control them," Ryan said meaningfully.

"But... the Council should have already controlled the production and use of all crystals." Viktor hesitated.

Ryan casually handed the crystal to Viktor, a smile on his lips. "That's why you're a scientist."

He pointed at the nobles singing, dancing, drinking, and toasting nearby. "They're politicians."

"And I..." Finally, he pointed a finger at himself.

Seeing that Ryan said nothing more, Viktor cautiously guessed, "A mage?"

"No." Ryan shook his head and answered with a smile, "A Noxian!"

"It seems Lord Ryan has a strong sense of belonging to the Noxus Empire." Viktor thought of Zaun, and could not help feeling a little sorrowful.

"It isn't merely belonging. The Empire gives me the confidence to speak. To be honest, I don't possess General Darius's exceptional martial strength, nor can I match Professor Heimerdinger's technological accomplishments, much less Karma the Enlightened's magical power. Yet when I stand on Piltover soil, no one can tell me no," Ryan said calmly.

Viktor stared deeply at Ryan, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his words.

Noxus was indeed powerful, but it was powerful precisely because it had gathered talents as formidable as Ryan. Ryan could represent Noxus because he was already one of its strongest people.

He, however, was different. He cared for Zaun and wanted to change it. Yet he was merely a research assistant, with a reputation and prestige far inferior to Jayce's.

If this continued, how could he ever transform Zaun?

Viktor fell silent, and some thoughts he should not have had suddenly began to stir within him.

After pondering for a while, he glanced around. Aside from Katarina, whose wandering gaze made her seem idle and bored, no one else was paying attention to them.

He hesitated for a long time before finally asking with a lost expression:

"Lord Ryan, I would like to ask you something."

He did not know why he was seeking advice from the man before him. They were clearly around the same age, yet he felt as though he had nowhere to hide in front of him.

"I'd be happy to clear up your doubts." Ryan revealed a warm smile.

He was pleased to see this genius before him open his heart to him. Noxus's doors would always remain open to Viktor.

Viktor looked troubled. "You said earlier that we cannot control Hex Crystals. In fact, Professor Heimerdinger said something similar a few hours ago. But I could hear the difference between the two of you. The professor believes further development of Hextech will lead to extremely serious consequences. Yet I heard something else in your tone."

"I agree with Heimerdinger's view, but where I stand gives me a somewhat different perspective from his," Ryan said.

"We only want to apply it to people's livelihoods. Then the lives of Zaun's people could become much better." Viktor grew slightly agitated.

"I understand how you feel. It's the same as my feelings toward Noxus." Ryan reached out and patted Viktor on the shoulder, then changed the subject. "But have you considered whether you can control it?"

"They're already very stable. They basically won't cause accidental damage." When it came to his field of expertise, Viktor's face filled with confidence.

Ryan shook his head. "No, no, no. I'm not Heimerdinger. I'm not considering the harm caused by accidents. What I'm asking is this: if the people of Zaun mastered Hextech, what would they do with it?"

"They would..."

Viktor had wanted to talk about how they could use technology to save labor, then elaborate on a future where Zaun's people escaped poverty.

But when he saw Ryan's faintly smiling expression, he realized that was not what Ryan seemed to want to hear.

Ryan suddenly turned his head toward Katarina and asked casually, "If one hundred Reaver Guard soldiers faced one thousand ordinary tribal warriors from Freljord, with no leaders intervening, what would be the outcome of that battle?"

The Reaver Guard were the most elite troops under the Noxus emperor, while Freljord lay in the far north of the Valoran Continent, where mostly uncivilized tribes lived.

Katarina sneered. "Forget one hundred. Just ten Reaver Guard could slaughter every last one of them."

"And why is that?" Ryan asked with a smile.

"The equipment gap is far too great. Even if Freljord's stone spears broke from stabbing, they still couldn't pierce Reaver Guard armor, not to mention that the Reaver Guard have quite a few special alchemical devices." Katarina curled her lip. "If you really wanted an evenly matched fight, they'd have to face warriors from the Avarosan Tribe, and there would need to be five times as many of them as Reaver Guard."

Ryan turned his gaze back to Viktor and said earnestly:

"I think that analogy should answer the doubts in your heart, scientist!"

He stressed the final word, as if deliberately trying to awaken Viktor from his naivety.

Viktor gave a bitter smile, lowered his head, and struggled to explain:

"As long as restrictions are imposed, Hextech can be kept from being used in war."

The moment he said it, even he felt how weak and powerless those words sounded. Just as Ryan had been able to obtain a Hex Crystal, mere researchers from Piltover like them would have little way to impose restrictions.

"I always thought those words would come from Jayce," Ryan said, somewhat surprised. "Do you remember the environment you were born into?"

"Vividly."

A nostalgic look appeared on Viktor's face. How could he possibly forget all that he had seen and heard in Zaun? It was precisely because of that that he wanted to use technology to change Zaun.

"Think about your original aspirations. Think about why you stayed in Piltover. You're a smart man. You've simply spent a little too long in Piltover's environment."

Catching sight of Mel and Jayce emerging from somewhere out of the corner of his eye, Ryan stood and said with a smile:

"I enjoyed our conversation today. If you ever need help with anything, you can come find me at the Noxus Embassy."

"You were the one who cleared the doubts in my heart today. I should be thanking you." Viktor looked somewhat embarrassed.

The instant Ryan finished that final sentence, Viktor had already understood everything.

Ryan was right. He had stayed in Piltover for too long and forgotten that he was a Zaunite.

Watching Ryan's departing back, Viktor's gaze held a trace of gratitude, along with the resolve to accomplish something.

At night, the most important moment of Piltover's Progress Day arrived.

The Progress Day speech. Today's speaker was Piltover's most renowned figure of the moment, Jayce Talis.

Inside the Piltover Lecture Hall, everyone watched expectantly as the tall young man stepped onto the stage, waiting to hear what great new invention Piltover had produced this year.