Chapter 44: Art (1)

[Bonus chapter for reaching 100 powerstones. Next at 200]

"Something like that is possible...?"

"No... It should be completely impossible. I can't fathom what level of intellect it would take to do something like this. It's even more impressive that this person managed to keep the final product simple enough that it could be used."

"If even you say it's impossible, then how are you so sure? How did you even guess at all?"

"I'm very sensitive to things related to bodies... abilities, even if they manifest with the same or similar result very rarely have the same process. I might have superior physical strength, but the reason that I do is because my true ability is related to an innate sense I have for what the body needs and what changes it has undergone... It's a bit difficult to explain in a few words, but it's ultimately the reason I was slotted in as a Five Star health professional."

Leonel's brows raised. This was the first time he had heard of Aina's profession.

When it came to the Gene Assessment and its results, the more general the title you were given, the more talented you were. To be named as a 'health professional', this was about as general as titles came, while 'quarterback', in Leonel's case, was about as specific as you could get.

Simply put, anyone who birthed a child like Aina was basically guaranteed to rise up in the world no matter what their original standing was. That said, considering the wrist watch on Leonel's arm had informed him that it understood less than 5% of his DNA, how accurate could his own Assessment have possibly been, then?

"Thanks to my ability, I subconsciously know the best way to train my body. It's because of that that my physical stats are so high. The limitation of my ability, though, is that it doesn't seem to carry over into Force."

Though there was nothing special about Aina's words, and even despite the life or death situation they were currently in, Leonel couldn't help but smile. He just liked learning more about her and liked it even more when it was her speaking to him about it.

"... What are you smiling about?"

Leonel coughed lightly. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Aina quirked her head in confusion, but gave up on finding a real answer from Leonel.

"What should we do?" Aina asked.

Leonel took a deep breath. "I can sense that if we blindly try to leave through these tunnels, we'll only fail miserably. I feel that we're stuck in a cage right now and the power backing this cage won't fade for a long while. But, staying here for just a week would allow more than two months to pass in the outside world, by then, it might already be too late..."

Leonel sighed. "I'm sorry, this is my fault... I should know better by now. If I don't change —"

"Don't!"

Leonel's words were abruptly cut off by Aina. He couldn't help but look toward her with shock hardly concealed in his eyes.

"... Just don't say that." Aina's voice became soft. "Let's focus on how to leave this place instead, okay?"

Leonel's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally nodded.

Taking another deep breath, he walked toward the only things left to analyze in this place.

First, he picked up Nicolas' staff, weighing it in his hands. It was a shame that Nicolas died before truly using this cane's power. It left Leonel in the dark about how it actually worked, but it was more important to defeat him more quickly so as to avoid any unwanted variables.

It was odd. Leonel felt that this cane was different from the Mayan Priest's sacrificial dagger somehow.

After sensing everything he could at a surface level, Leonel walked to the small desk at the end of the sewage tunnel, his eyes narrowing at the sheets of loose tan colored paper.

"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.