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Lannar Stone-Speech sat in his place, glanced up at the time, then lowered his head again to inspect his complete set of engraving tools.

The tool bag had already been spread open on the table. Engraving blades of all sizes lay snugly against the leather compartments, exposing only the clasps for attaching the handles. Lannar drew a deep breath and began his final inspection before the competition, starting with the smallest and finest blade.

With an almost inaudible click, the handle's fastener connected to the clasp.

He pulled the handle, and the blade slid free. Its edge, freed from the leather compartment, glittered sharply in the sunlight. Lannar gently rotated the handle, and the slender blade displayed its perfect curves before him like a dancer twisting her waist.

Lannar nodded lightly. He extended his left thumb and gently rubbed the side of the blade several times with his rough, callused fingertip.

It was cold, with a slight scrape to it. That proved the blade had been sharpened perfectly.

Lannar nodded in satisfaction.

The familiar sensation relaxed him considerably, while the rune steel mixed into the blade gave him a small sense of security.

Although the towering Nullstone walls of Demacia City could no longer stop these mages, Nullstone's ability to protect people from magic had, in any case, become an iron stamp engraved deep in the hearts of countless Demacians. It had become part of their subconscious.

Lannar's breathing gradually steadied. With his head lowered, he confirmed that the first engraving blade was intact, then began inspecting the second and third.

To him, the inspection was both preparation for the competition about to begin and the best way to relax. These engraving blades, passed down through the Stone-Speech Family for generations, together with the techniques for handling them, formed Lannar's