Time slipped by in a flash, and before anyone knew it, it was November 18.
Winter had quietly arrived, and the air had turned bitterly cold.
Just as Jarvan IV had expected, the region around the Gates of Mourning, beyond the Argent Mountains to Demacia's southeast, had begun to stir.
Foreign brigands, warlike tribes, and even Noxian warbands were all starting to make moves.
Their actions had already become a serious threat to Demacia's nearby allies.
After Jarvan IV arrived, he moved swiftly, fighting the Noxian warbands while also suppressing the raiders and tribes causing unrest.
Over this stretch of time, reports of victory had been sent back to the capital again and again.
At that moment, on a hillside between Castle Wrenwall and the Gates of Mourning, Jarvan IV's army had made camp to rest.
"Your Highness, Kakerl's tribe couldn't hold out under our encirclement and has surrendered. We captured more than five hundred prisoners this time. We also managed to pry some useful intelligence out of Kakerl."
Inside the command tent, an adjutant stepped in and reported, "There appears to be a Noxian warband in a small hill town seventy kilometers to the west."
At those words, Jarvan IV lifted his eyes from the heavily marked map. A sharp glint flashed in them, and he rose to his feet with an order. "Notify everyone. Prepare to march. We must reach the hill town before nightfall."
"Yes, sir!"
The adjutant accepted the order and left the tent.
Jarvan IV quickly fastened on his armor, picked up the long halberd resting nearby, and strode outside with a fierce gaze.
Noxus again.
Since arriving at the frontier, he had already clashed with Noxian warbands no fewer than three times.
Though every battle had ended in a decisive victory, Jarvan IV found no joy in it. The misery he had witnessed across the frontier had left him deeply uneasy.
The situation on the border was chaos. Too many places still needed to be pacified.
So Jarvan IV had split his forces into several groups and sent them in different directions under the command of the lieutenants he trusted most.
As for himself, he had taken a force of twenty-five hundred men and driven south, advancing straight toward the Noxian border city of Trevale.
Now, more than half the journey still remained.
But Noxian warbands had already crossed the Gates of Mourning and appeared on this side.
That could mean only one thing.
The situation at the Gates of Mourning was probably not looking good.
He still had not received a message from his lieutenants.
Jarvan IV let out a troubled sigh, tightened his grip on the halberd, and steadied his eyes with resolve.
At this point, the only thing he could do was keep moving forward.
There was nothing left behind him that he needed to worry about anymore.
In the past, because he had been Demacia's only heir, he had been forced to hold himself back. He could not ride into battle as freely as he wanted.
But now he had an exceptionally capable younger brother, and no longer had to worry about the royal bloodline ending with him.
He could finally throw himself into pursuing his goals without restraint.
Just then, something damp touched the tip of his nose.
Jarvan IV looked up and saw snowflakes falling from the sky. He exhaled, then turned and joined the soldiers as they packed up camp.
Not long afterward, the army set out once more.
At the same time, elsewhere.
Trevale.
It was a city that looked as though it had been forged from steel itself. High iron walls rose in stern, imposing lines, giving this newly built city an unmistakable aura of blood and iron.
More than ten years ago, this place had been nothing more than a craggy stretch of mountain country dotted with scattered villages.
Inside a fortress within the city, a messenger came running in and dropped to one knee before a raised seat.
"General Patria, the commander Demacia sent this time is Jarvan IV. So far, three of our warbands have encountered him, and all three have been defeated."
Seated above him was a middle-aged man in black armor, one hand braced against his forehead as he listened quietly to the report.
"Jarvan IV... the Demacian prince."
He muttered the words in a low voice, and something flickered twice in his eyes.
Below the raised seat, one of his adjutants asked, "General, what do we do next?"
Patria tapped a finger lightly against the arm of his chair and said with complete calm, "Proceed according to the original plan."
His gaze passed through the fortress entrance and fixed itself on the far distance.
Back in the capital.
"It's snowing!"
Miss Crownguard's bright, delighted voice rang up from downstairs.
Luke woke beneath the covers, and the cold air around him made him reluctant to leave the warmth of bed.
Besides, he had finally had the rare luxury of sleeping alone last night, and he wanted to enjoy the feeling of hogging the blankets all by himself just a little longer.
Because a certain swordmaster had a bad habit of stealing the covers in her sleep.
More than once, Luke had been woken in the middle of the night by the cold, only to end up pitifully burrowing back under the blankets in search of warmth.
And sometimes, if he accidentally woke the swordmaster up in the process, it inevitably led to another round of loving selfless giving.
Tiring. Very tiring.
Luke finally understood exactly what people meant by pain and pleasure mixed together.
Today was blanket time that belonged to him alone.
Still, once he thought about the snow outside, Luke eventually sat up and started getting dressed.
After changing, he headed downstairs to take a look at the snowfall.
When he reached the front courtyard, he saw Lux standing right beneath the drifting flakes, not minding the cold in the slightest. She had tipped her head up slightly and was watching the snow with wide, beautiful eyes full of delight.
The tip of her nose had turned red from the cold, which made her look unexpectedly adorable.
A few snowflakes dotted her golden hair. Around her neck was a scarf Augatha had knitted, and she wore fluffy gloves while she caught the falling snow bit by bit in her hands.
"What are you doing out there, weirdo?"
Luke stood under the eaves and looked at Lux. The cold air outside already made him want to go straight back into the living room and warm himself by the fire.
And yet this girl had gone out of her way to stand in the snow.
"What do you know? This is called appreciating the atmosphere of winter."
Lux shot him a glance and said, "This is the first snow of the winter."
"All right, then enjoy it slowly."
The breath Luke exhaled turned to white mist. After saying that, he turned and went back into the living room.
He was in no hurry, strolling back at an easy pace, but the energetic Lux had already rushed inside ahead of him and stolen the seat closest to the fireplace.
Yurna had just gotten the fire going. It was not especially warm yet, but the heat was starting to build.
Lux took off her scarf, then removed her gloves, held out her small hands, and let the warmth of the flames drive away the chill.
"Did you shake the snow off your shoes?"
Luke glanced at her as he entered the room.
"Yep, all clean."
Lux answered casually.
Luke said nothing more and sat down on the seat opposite, letting the warmth drifting over gradually settle onto him.
Yurna came over and poured the two of them each a cup of hot tea.
Once she had warmed herself a bit, Lux undid the buttons on her coat and pulled a newspaper from inside it.
Luke glanced over. "Today's?"
"Mm-hmm."
Lux nodded.
So Luke dragged his chair closer and leaned in to read it with her.
Lux said nothing, just shifted the paper slightly so it sat more evenly between them and went on scanning line after line.
"Big Brother Jarvan's already beaten the marauders?"
When she spotted the headline, Lux looked genuinely happy over Jarvan IV's string of victories.
Luke had seen it too.
A message took two days to go back and forth between the capital and the southern border. When the officials received frontline news, Luke's side learned of it almost at the same time.
Given the Royal City Bulletin's reach by now, developments from the border naturally found their way into print as well.
Since Jarvan IV had arrived at Castle Wrenwall fifteen days ago, this was already the third report of victory to return to the capital.
Apparently, the situation over there was far from good.
Scattered drifters and bandits had gathered together in large numbers.
The warlike tribes were already formidable on their own.
And once they had run into Noxian warbands, it had confirmed beyond doubt that Noxus had once again set its sights on the Gates of Mourning.
Now Jarvan IV had defeated a tribe numbering over a thousand, then gone on to break yet another force made up of several thousand drifters and brigands.
His performance could only be called outstanding.
"What are you two looking at?"
Footsteps sounded from behind them.
Turning, Luke saw Kahina coming in while tugging at her scarf, curiosity plain on her face.
"The paper."
"I read today's paper too. More good news came from the frontier, right?"
Kahina said.
Behind her came Sona. A few snowflakes still clung to her blue hair, and somehow they suited her perfectly.
Her lovely eyes curved into a gentle smile toward Luke before she took a seat on the sofa.
Luke then looked at Lux and Kahina. "You two should be getting started soon."
"Ah, I'm not done reading yet."
Lux slumped in her chair, unwilling to move.
"The whole day depends on a good morning." Luke glanced at her. "You're the one who came to me asking for this in the first place. If you can't stick with it, then maybe you should just quit."
That one jab was enough. Lux immediately put the newspaper down and jumped to her feet. "Fine, let's start!"
So the two girls ran down to the basement, the one place where they usually would not be disturbed, and sat down with their books.
Besides barrels and barrels of liquor, the basement held all sorts of medicinal ingredients.
Every so often they would pick one up and compare it to the descriptions in the book, sometimes even sniffing it to identify it.
Some of the herbs had a bitter, astringent smell that instantly made their little faces fall.
The book in both their hands was the pharmacology volume Luke had compiled.
It contained notes he had written in his spare time about medicinal theory, the uses, effects, strengths and weaknesses of all kinds of herbs, along with various medical techniques.
It was not especially comprehensive, but it was more than enough to keep the two of them studying for quite a while.
The one who had first proposed learning medicine was Lux. After relentless pestering on her part, Luke had finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, to spend the effort teaching them.
Since both of them belonged to the Church of the Illuminators, medical knowledge really would be useful to them in the future.
At first, Lux had imagined it would be easy.
But the moment she actually started learning, she looked like she was suffering.
Some of the ingredients in the book could be combined with over a hundred others into different prescriptions, each one producing entirely different effects.
It threw her straight back into the agony of attending lessons at the Royal Academy, except this was even worse.
And yet her misery was Luke's happiness, which was exactly why he had been willing to personally spend the time compiling such a not-at-all-thin pharmacology handbook.
Kahina was doing somewhat better. Studying had never been particularly painful for her.
It was just that some of the herbs smelled absolutely vicious...
Even so, both girls had stuck with it, and neither of them was learning slowly.
Since not everyone was up yet, Luke only made some porridge and did not rush to prepare the rest of breakfast.
He went back and sat by the fireplace, looking thoroughly at ease. Then he said inwardly, "Sign in."
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained 2 Intermediate Skill Upgrade Cards.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one dose of neurotoxin and its formula.]
The system's voice fell silent.
Luke glanced over the rewards and, without the slightest hesitation, continued, "Use the upgrade cards to level up Fingertip Tricks."
[Intermediate Skill Upgrade Card used successfully.]
[Fingertip Tricks has been upgraded to LV7.]
Luke used both upgrade cards directly on Fingertip Tricks.
Feeling the subtle change in his fingers, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Before this, he had already used the two Basic Skill Upgrade Cards he had saved up on Fingertip Tricks as well.
This skill increased his hand speed.
At first, Luke had thought the skill was completely useless.
But later, after some extensive practical testing, he discovered the true use of Fingertip Tricks.
Even though it was only an ordinary skill, for Luke, it had endless marvelous applications.
Tonight, he was going to let that little swordmaster have a taste of the Shadowless Finger.
Now in a much better mood, Luke took a sip of hot tea and turned his attention to the system's second reward. He checked the description, and understanding quickly dawned on him.
Neurotoxin.
As the name implied, it was a poison.
This poison was colorless and odorless. Once taken, it directly embedded itself into the victim's nervous system. When it took effect, it completely shut down the body's neural regulation, causing unbearable pain, and death would follow within five minutes.
There was no need to explain how important the nervous system was to the human body.
Something that could directly destroy the nerves was obviously terrifyingly effective.
It also came with an antidote.
Luke rarely used poison.
Though with maxed-out medical skill, he had also, by extension, acquired maxed-out toxicology.
Mainly because there just were not that many situations where poison was useful.
Generally speaking, poison had only two uses.
The first was assassination. Poisons for that purpose were usually lethal, the kind where someone drank it and dropped dead in a few minutes.
The second was prevention, situations where you sensed danger ahead of time and secretly poisoned someone first.
Both were methods for getting the drop on people.
When the time came to play dirty, Luke naturally would think of poison.
But most of the time, he did not need it.
He had considered using poison to control Sylas.
But in the end, he had decided against it.
Sylas was a potential threat within Demacia, and every time Luke took a stroll through the dungeon, he was naturally considering what other uses Sylas might have.
But before Luke ever intervened, Sylas had already all but given up on living. Deep down, he had wanted only to die.
On top of that, after so many years, his temperament had become unstable. He was already hovering at the brink of a breakdown.
If he failed to see any hope, there was every chance he really would stop wanting to live.
So in the end, Luke had decided to go with a gentler kind of psychological conditioning instead.
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