Feel the Charm of Magic

It turns out that evening self-study was quite effective.

The next morning, when Lux woke up and saw the sunlight streaming through the curtains, her first thought was, "Sunlight isn't Elemental Magic; that's an easy point to get confused."

She was truly studying herself into a daze.

Shaking her head, Lux felt like she had gone mad. She looked at her bedside, where Karya lay quietly, bathed in the warm morning light.

She glared at the sword hilt. Lux still wasn't satisfied, so she thought for a moment and then, without any ladylike grace, jumped onto the bed. She lifted her leg and raised her fair, small foot.

"You scoundrel!"

"I'll stomp on you—"

However, just as she was about to stomp, Lux hesitated.

Is this... not right?

After all, he was teaching her knowledge and had promised to help her rescue her uncle, who was trapped in the Shadow Realm.

Although Lux didn't know what use this knowledge would be, or if she could even save her uncle in the end, Karya was her tutor.

She somewhat sheepishly lowered her leg, changed into a long dress, put on her headband, washed her face in the adjoining washroom, and finally picked up her dress sword, fastening it to her belt.

"Yo, awake?" As Lux's Magic Power began to circulate again, Karya's greeting arrived as expected. "Your Magic Power circulation seems unstable. You must have been exhausted yesterday—let's skip today's study session."

"..."

Although she was happy to skip morning self-study and avoid facing the aggressive Karya during questioning, the joy completely vanished when she realized it was only a "postponement."

"I'm going to eat," Lux pouted, slipping on her small boots. "Remember to remind me about etiquette—Mom looked very happy yesterday, and I want to make Dad happy today too!"

"What a thoughtful little warm jacket for the Crown Guard family!" Karya seemed to be in a good mood. "However, in my opinion, if you really want to make him happy, the best way is to do as you promised your mother yesterday: keep an eye on your immature brother."

"Brother isn't immature!" Lux puffed out her cheeks, retorting indignantly. "He's just a bit impulsive!"

"A twelve-year-old brat wants to join the army, especially when tensions are high and war might break out? That's more than just impulsiveness," Karya clicked his tongue. "Bravery and recklessness are separated by a fine line. I really don't know which one he is."

"He's brave!" Even though Garen had broken her favorite music box and couldn't fix it, Lux still defended her brother. "He must know that joining the army now is dangerous, but he won't hesitate because it aligns with noble virtues!"

"Oh? Noble virtues?"

"Yes, virtues." Lux blinked, trying to find evidence to support herself. "Taking responsibility, charging forward... what's that saying... 'We accept sustenance, we protect our home,' that's it!"

"So, you're very proud of him?" Karya asked casually. "Because his choice, though dangerous, aligns with the definition of the noble spirit in the first volume of The Grand Etiquette, right?"

"Exactly!" Lux proudly lifted her chin, a smile of shared pride on her face. "That's it!"

However, she never expected that after presenting her evidence, she wouldn't receive Karya's approval but a completely unrelated "praise."

"Our Miss Lux is truly amazing! She studied diligently for a whole afternoon yesterday. Although she forgot seventy percent by evening, she still had the energy to pay attention to that open book on the table as decoration and memorized those meaningless words... she's truly exceptionally talented!"

Lux, who had been beaming with pride, was stunned by the undisguised sarcasm.

For the little princess of the Crown Guard family, such criticism was too harsh. She had never been criticized in a sarcastic tone before. Karya's words lodged in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe for a moment.

Why is the topic being brought back to me not paying attention yesterday when I'm just defending my brother?

And when she thought about yesterday's test, she really couldn't answer. Although she was unhappy, she couldn't find a reason to refute it...

At that moment, Lux suddenly wished she could throw this dress sword as hard as she could—into a corner, out of the city, into the moat.

Then, before she could say anything else, Lady Ogsa appeared in the corridor.

"Darling, you're awake!" Lady Ogsa, wearing a well-fitting dress, hurried forward and stroked Lux's fluffy blonde hair. "Go to the dining room quickly. Your father has a meeting at Dawn Castle this morning and probably won't be back until evening."

Hearing Lady Ogsa's words, Lux temporarily abandoned the idea of throwing the dress sword. She nodded, took a deep breath, and, following Karya's reminder, entered "Noble Lady" mode.

Scoundrel—you just wait!

Once I learn your knowledge, I'll eventually refute you until you're speechless with your own words!

Breakfast passed peacefully.

Unfortunately, Peter seemed very concerned about the front-line situation and was in no mood to notice Lux's ladylike demeanor. The tall patriarch of the Crown Guard family frowned the entire time, occasionally lost in thought. Apart from glaring at Garen when he clamored about joining the army, he didn't say much else.

Lux was somewhat disappointed after breakfast.

The young girl had thought her etiquette would earn her father's approval and improve his mood, but unfortunately, Peter wasn't in the mood to observe his family. His mind was filled with the conflict with Noxus, and Lux's good behavior was in vain.

Although Lady Ogsa praised Lux again during their post-meal stroll, the feeling still made her uncomfortable.

Lux knew her uncle was alive but couldn't reveal her cooperation with Karya. She hoped to find a way to make her family happier, but unfortunately, apart from the thoughtful Lady Ogsa, neither her stressed father nor her single-minded brother could understand Lux's feelings.

Garen, that rascal, even said something after breakfast that displeased the young girl: "Lux, why do you look so composed now?"

Then he was dragged away by his mother, who had grabbed him by the ear.

"Since you want to join the army... you'll undergo training first!" Lady Ogsa seemed to have found a solution. "Your father has asked the Steward to give you some necessary training alongside the princes."

This was clearly one of Lady Ogsa's methods to deal with Garen's desire to join the army.

Want to join the army?

Go train first!

Once you're exhausted, you won't have the energy to whine about running away from home.

And so, Father left for the Dawn Citadel early, Mother took my brother and left, and only Lux remained alone in the garden.

"Are we still going to study?" Lux's disappointment was visible to the naked eye. "Continue the lessons?"

"Before that, we need to do some consolidation," Karya didn't answer directly. "Let's go to the flower-lined wall, we'll review and consolidate yesterday's knowledge."

Go to the garden wall?

Lux blinked her eyes in confusion, but still followed Karya's instructions, finding a deserted corner.

"Very good, this is a good spot," Karya seemed satisfied. "Now, lean against the wall and let me feel it."

Lean against the wall?

Although she didn't know what this was for, Lux turned around and pressed her back against the wall. The next moment, an astonishing amount of Magic Power surged from her back into her hands, and then poured into the hilt of the dress sword in her hand.

This burning sensation was fleeting, but after the heat dissipated, she could still feel that her Magic Power was significantly more abundant than yesterday.

"I think you must be very curious, even unconvinced, why I made you memorize those things," Karya's voice rang out again as Lux was stunned. "I want to tell you, that is the foundation of magic, the basis of everything, and the core mystery of this world. Now, look at your own palm!"

Lux lowered her head and saw a ball of Light dancing like a sprite on her palm, without any pattern.

It was just like when she first awakened her magic talent the day before yesterday.

The wind, which gradually warmed up in the morning, blew past, and the Light seemed to begin dancing.

"I've removed the Nullstone protection on you, this is the raw form of your magic," Karya explained. "Now, let's look at the advanced changes of raw magic."

As he spoke, Karya took control of Lux's body.

"First, let's look at your mistakes from last night... First are the seven forms of Elemental Magic resonance. The weather is nice, so let's use Light and Wind as examples."

The ball of Light became blurry, ethereal, and unstable—"This is Resonance."

The ball of Light made a whistling sound like a strong wind—"This is Harmony."

The brightness of the ball of Light increased to a blinding level—"This is Saturation."

After the ball of Light dimmed, her palm felt cool—"This is Tempering."

The ball of Light transformed into a half-Light, half-Wind elemental spirit—"This is Incarnation."

The ball of Light vanished with the wind, illuminating a corner of the wall—"This is Diffusion."

Finally, the ball of Light rapidly transformed in Lux's palm, becoming a bright emblem. Lux recognized the emblem; it was the crest of the Crown Guard family—"This is Crystallization."

"Observe carefully, look at the details of the emblem, the radial pattern. This is the basic form of Light Magic after crystallization! If you can't remember this, you won't even be able to create a family crest!"

Seeing the radial pattern on the crystallized emblem with her own eyes, Lux subconsciously wanted to nod, but with her body being controlled, she couldn't. She could only watch as Karya continued his demonstration.

"Next is the difference between sunlight and the light element..."

"..."

"..."

And so, in Lux's stunned state, Karya used the energy stored in the Crown Guard family's Nullstone to show her many exquisite magic tricks.

These tricks had almost no destructive power, but they required a high degree of magic control. Through these tricks, Karya corrected Lux's mistakes from last night's evening study one by one, proving the truth and correctness of the theories he had taught with facts.

When Lux regained control of her body, even though she still didn't trust magic, she couldn't help but marvel at its exquisiteness at this moment.

Although the little girl was a bit tired, her mental state had clearly improved a lot. She looked energetic again, and Karya, sensing all of this, finally let out a long sigh of relief.

It seemed that after the trilogy of cramming, review, and practice, Lux had finally developed a little initiative in learning magic.

The little leek had finally begun to sprout!

Education is not a simple matter.

In fact, if Karya had controlled Lux from the start and then used the Nullstone to draw Mana to perform these magic tricks, no matter how exquisite the tricks were, it would have been impossible to arouse Lux's interest. Instead, it would have made her fearful, and she might have even reported Karya.

Even a carefree child would find it difficult to accept that their body was not under their own control.

It was this method of teaching theory first, reinforcing memory, and then showing facts that allowed the little girl to accept magic at the fastest pace.

After all, fear often stems from the unknown. After Lux learned the Magic Theory lessons, even if it was just cramming, where she only knew the "what" and not the "why," it could give her the idea that "magic is controllable."

And once she realized that magic had rules and could be controlled, her fear would be dispelled.

Although Lux still didn't understand magic at this moment, her enthusiasm for learning magic had clearly increased. The combination of ethereal theories and visible magic spells was the true meaning of magic, and the unity of knowledge and action was what Karya had always insisted on since the Shurima era!

However, although Lux seemed very excited, Karya's teaching for today had to stop.

Karya was, after all, a Darkin.

Even though he had no intention of controlling or possessing Lux, and even though he had used some of the Magic Power from the Nullstone wall as the Source of Magic Power, doing his best to avoid directly controlling Lux's magic, the series of magic tricks he had just performed had reached Lux's limit.

A nine-year-old little girl had little resistance to the erosion of Void power. Excitement was just a superficial phenomenon; in reality, Lux's spirit had reached its limit.

In such a situation, whether practicing spells or explaining theories, Lux couldn't endure it. The result of mental dispersion was that she couldn't hear anything, and her mind was in a mess.

At this time, it was better to chat and relax.

So, just as Lux returned to the reading room and opened that large, imposing book as a pretense, preparing to start her studies for the day, Karya told her that there would be no class today.

"I think we need to get to know each other better," Karya said. "At the same time, I need to learn more about this era and this country, which will be of great help in teaching."

"So?"

"So, lovely Miss Lux, would you be willing to chat with this old man for a bit?" Karya's voice softened uncharacterishly. "Just think of it as... a break from work."

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