Chapter 44: Art (1) (2/2)

”These diagrams… Are they Force Arts as well?”

Aina gaze narrowed when she heard this, swiftly making her way to his side.

”It really is… What do these say?” Aina looked toward Leonel's side profile.

”Is it not possible to understand Force Arts from the diagrams themselves?” Leonel asked curiously.

”Remember the analogy about writing?” Aina answered with a question.

Leonel's mind spun. ”You're saying that Force Art is akin to a Third Dimensional existence writing in the 2D?”

”Yes, Force Arts are rare. Those who can draw Force Arts are rarer. And, those who can create Force Arts for others to replicate are even rarer than that. I've only seen a few Force Arts. On top of that, the language that this Nicolas uses is very different from anything I've ever seen.”

Leonel's eyes flashed as he suddenly thought of something.

In what seemed like an act of madness, he brought Nicolas' cane over his knee and powered his leg up hard, snapping it in half.

Aina was shocked by his actions, but after seeing what was inside of it, she suddenly understood.

The wooden cane was completely hollow. After angling a candle to light its insides, it was possible to see countless small etchings of Force Arts on the inside. And, judging by the fact that aside from inks and pens, Nicolas' desk also had several pen-shaped knives, Leonel and Aina could easily deduce that they were drawn by him.

”This style, or language, is identical to what's in the black book.” Leonel said.

”You can tell?” Aina's eyes lit up with a bit of surprise.

”Can't you also? You just said this language was different from what you were used to… I assumed by that that you could tell the difference.”

Even though Leonel couldn't read Japanese, Chinese or Korean, he could easily tell the difference between their characters. It wasn't just him, it was a pretty easy task for any person who was even somewhat familiar with them. He felt that these diagrams were the same. Even if he couldn't understand them, he could still see through the fact they had the same basic foundation.

”… I can't.” Aina replied. ”Force Arts are shrouded in an energy that makes them hard to observe, it's part of what makes them so hard to comprehend and use, and even harder to make. I only know that they're not the same because I can't see through that shroud. If it was a similar language to what I'm used to, it would be easier for me to do so.”

Leonel's brows arched with understanding. But, there was one part he was still confused about. Why was it that he didn't feel a shroud impeding him at all?

Once more, Leonel could only toss these things to the back of his mind, unable to provide an answer to Aina's curious gaze.

”… Why do you think that Pierre would have a book like this but Nicolas doesn't?” Leonel suddenly said after several hushed moments filled with nothing but the sound of rustling paper.

Aina frowned, not knowing what Leonel was getting at.

”I have a feeling that drawing these Force Diagrams is Nicolas' ability. But…”

Leonel's gaze flickered with a blazing light. He walked back to Nicolas' corpse, stepping through the leaking blood and tearing open the back of his robes.

Leonel stood to his full height as his jaw set. There it was, the massive etching mutilation they were looking for. Except… It was on Nicolas' body.

Somebody had given him this ability.