As the forest fell into an eerie silence, Nikolai stood amid the corpses of the goblins. No crystals were dropped, and he walked back toward his group.
"What do you think?" Lex asked, looking as if she was holding herself back from snatching the blades from Nikolai's hands.
"They are... difficult to use," Nikolai said with a frown.
"That's why I have the incomplete art," Lex said as she turned on the engine of the vehicle, making it roar to life. "Do you want to keep using it?"
"So, I can refuse?" Nikolai asked with amusement, but Lex nodded thoughtfully, her pipe bobbing up and down.
"This is my compromise. Your gun was the reason you lost, making my win incomplete as well. Since my family was only sealing the weapon, the art must be their way of controlling the darkness."
Nikolai's eyes gleamed when he heard this. An Art that would help him utilize the darkness better? That was pie falling from the sky, one he wouldn't refuse.
