Using the excuse of studying art and practicing drawing, Lux and Sona began hands-on practice drawing Magic Circuits.
After actually getting started, the two girls finally understood why Karya had set aside a full six months specifically for their Magic Circuit drawing training.
Magic Circuits... were far too difficult to draw.
Although most of these stripes and patterns consisted of the simplest combinations, and individual functional circuit units could be drawn perfectly with a little practice, once they were combined, the difficulty began increasing exponentially.
Magic Circuits had to be continuous. A complete Magic Circuit might contain as few as a dozen units, or as many as several dozen or even hundreds. These units had specific ways of connecting to one another, and to satisfy those connections, an extra circuit sometimes had to be wired in parallel or in series. Compared with drawing Magic Circuits, drawing electrical schematics was practically child's play.
At least the wires in electrical schematics were straight lines. Within a Magic Circuit, even the simplest connections were made up of a mass of geometric shapes, which had to be linked together end to end in a crooked, winding pattern according to specific rules.
Even more absurdly, to ensure the smooth flow of magic, the entire process had to be completed in a single stroke. Interruptions were absolutely forbidden. Forget correcting a mistake—even stopping was not allowed!
Faced with such astonishing difficulty, Lux and Sona exhausted every trick they had before slowly progressing from "I more or less know how to draw it" to "I know exactly how to draw it, but I can't complete it in one go."
And their progress matched Karya's estimate exactly. The two of them spent a full six months.
When summer finally arrived, on a cool morning, Sona successfully drew a complete single-use circuit for extracting and amplifying magic for the first time.
The two girls cheered with delight.
Then they were told that this was not the end.
"You're using charcoal pencils, which are the easiest tools for drawing, and white paper, which is suitable for drawing." After they finished celebrating excitedly, Karya poured another bucket of cold water over them. "If you want to truly draw Magic Circuits that can assist spellcasting and guide magic, you'll need to use more specialized materials."
Lux and Sona could not help developing an ominous premonition.
Then... that premonition came true.
"Considering that most magical materials are difficult to find in Demacia and tend to attract too much attention, your best option is actually carving. And yes, you guessed it—carving with Nullstone."
After hearing Karya's words, Lux really wanted to throw her sword into the mud at the bottom of the pond. Even the usually gentle Sona was wondering whether the sword was too cold in the middle of summer and whether she should throw it into the furnace to warm it up.
After glaring viciously at Karya, the two of them simultaneously turned their eyes to the freshly drawn sheet of paper, a square one foot on each side, and automatically replaced it in their minds with a Nullstone slab of the same size.
The painstakingly drawn Magic Circuit on top of it was replaced with an engraved relief.
Drawing a Magic Circuit required completing it in one stroke, and carving Nullstone would probably have to be done in a single attempt as well.
In other words...
"Next, we're going to learn carving, right?" Lux's tone was devoid of joy or sorrow, as if she had seen through the world and abandoned all worldly desires. "And you happen to know a little about relief carving."
"Congratulations! You've learned how to buzz in!" Karya's voice was filled with the gratification of a father pleased with his daughter. "Relax. Nullstone is much softer than ordinary stone. Carving an entire Magic Circuit in one go won't be too much of a problem for you—at least not in terms of strength."
"Oh, that's just wonderful." Lux spoke in a completely emotionless, exaggerated monotone as she looked at her best friend. "Sona, what do you think?"
"I think so too." Sona nodded expressionlessly. "This really is wonderful."
"Mhm!"
"That's right."
Then, amid their back-and-forth agreement, Lux's sword was "accidentally" unfastened from her waist and, sword and scabbard together, "coincidentally" fell into the small pond in the Crown Guard family's garden, sinking straight to the bottom.
"Karya, where are you?" Lux pretended to be very concerned and immediately took off her shoes before wading into the water. "Sona, come help!"
After hesitating for a moment, Sona finally chose to enter the knee-deep pond with Lux.
And so, during the two students' "enthusiastic search," Karya was forcibly trampled into the mud at the bottom of the pond one foot after another. He was only "found" by Lux after Garen also tried to join the water-playing game.
Regardless of the process, after studying music and painting, Lux and Sona still began learning their third art project.
However, unlike the previous two times, Ogesha, who had always been extremely supportive of Lux, unexpectedly voiced her opposition this time.
"Sweetheart, your mother has always supported you." Ogesha looked helplessly at her daughter. "Music and painting can cultivate the temperament and improve one's artistic appreciation, so I'm very happy for you to study those subjects. But sculpting can just be admired from a distance. There's really no need for you to do it yourself."
"Only by doing it yourself can you experience the true charm of art." Repeating the words Karya had taught her, Lux suppressed her embarrassment and delivered her chuunibyou declaration. "You can only know what a pear tastes like after tasting it. This is my path of art!"
"But you don't need to personally plant a pear tree, either." Ogesha rubbed her temples. "Sweetheart, carving is ultimately not something a lady should do. Covered in dust and looking disheveled is hardly proper etiquette."
"That's why I want to carve Nullstone. I specifically researched the material. Nullstone generally doesn't produce much loose dust when carved!"
"...But swinging a hammer is also far too inelegant."
"It still counts as exercise. Mother, I know I can't put on armor and go into battle like my brother or little sister Kahina, but sometimes I long to use my own strength to accomplish something. Carving is one of the best ways I can think of."
"..."
Looking at Lux's determination, Ogesha finally sighed helplessly.
In her eyes, her daughter had entered her rebellious phase. Her little cotton-padded jacket seemed to be showing signs of turning into strange clothing. Still, given the Crown Guard family tradition, she could already count herself lucky that her daughter was not like her sister-in-law Tiana, who had disguised herself as a man and joined the Fearless Vanguard.
Carving... carving was at least better than shouting about joining the army, right?
You liked carving? Then carve!
"As long as you don't neglect the things you're supposed to do." Ogesha gritted her teeth, doing her best not to imagine her little princess covered in grime among piles of broken stone. "I'll instruct the steward to clear out a carving room for you!"
"Mother, you're the best!" Lux lifted her face and unhesitatingly planted a kiss on her mother's cheek. "I love you, Mother!"
"Hmph, you only know how to say nice things at times like this!" Ogesha sounded disdainful, but the corners of her lips still curled upward. "Oh, well. Who can blame me for being your mother..."
And so, after winning her mother over, Lux officially began practicing carving Nullstone.
Half a month later.
Lux's "Nullstone carving art" had not made much progress.
But at noble banquets, the number of people taking the initiative to speak with her had increased. One unfamiliar person after another found Lux through all kinds of connections.
These people came from all sorts of places and had wildly varied backgrounds, but most of them were down-and-out artists.
In the face of Lux's flawless noble etiquette, they appeared nervous and uneasy, even stammering when they spoke. Although Lux listened attentively, and although she had now gained some understanding of the winding language of nobles, the result was still incomprehensible—until Karya translated it into plain language for her.
"They're all artists who want to ask for sponsorship."
"But why are they looking for me?" Lux was utterly confused. "This is the Gufo family's engagement party. I'm not the host!"
"But you're the person who understands art best in Demacia's noble circles." Karya struggled to hold back his laughter. "And to be honest, although these people are one more miserable-looking than the next, most of them really do have some skill. Do you remember the man who just called you a 'true artist'?"
"Which awkward little mustache are you talking about?"
"That's the one. I heard from Sona that last year, when facing the young master of the Dekker family, he even openly scolded him as an 'ignorant bastard who knows nothing about art'!" Karya finally could not hold back and burst out laughing. "Yet even an artist with such firm principles has immense respect for you. Clearly, our Miss Luxanna Crown Guard has now become the last great savior of Demacia's art world!"
"Why is this happening?" Lux maintained her etiquette with a slightly stiff expression, but she was already speechless inside. I'm studying magic!
"A great Archmage who doesn't want to become an artist is no good swordsman." Karya cheerfully began whistling. "What a shame. I'm not very good at dealing with these art people, and they won't notice even if your etiquette slips a little. So let me rest for a while..."
"Don't!" Lux stared at him in shock. "If you do that... if you do that, I'll be exposed! I have no artistic talent at all. These are just accelerated, unorthodox skills. I can't handle talking with these people!"
"Everyone has things they aren't good at." Karya looked very understanding. "Take me, for example. I currently have neither hands nor feet, so I'm very bad at pulling myself out of the mud..."
Karya's grudge-holding left Lux stunned.
"My dear, great, learned, all-powerful teacher, I was wrong!" Realizing the problem, Lux immediately surrendered. "I shouldn't have taken out my frustration over slacking off in my studies on you, and I certainly shouldn't have offended you—"
"When did you ever offend me?"
"Oh, right, right, right. I would never dare offend you, and I won't in the future either!" Lux knew when to yield. "This time, considering my youth and ignorance, you absolutely have to help me. Help me deal with these artists... I really have nothing to say to them!"
"Hmph..." Karya drawled out the sound with reserved dignity. "Fine. I'm truly a kind person... From now on, I'll say one sentence, and you repeat it. Also, pay attention to your facial expressions. An artist should be elegant, not look like a miserable fool!"
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