GOGGLES

Leonel thought about it for a long time, longer than he wanted to admit. Considering his speed of thought, he knew the right answer immediately, but there was a sort of thirst for power that was pulling him in the opposite direction of the smart choice.

He knew well that it didn't make sense for him to take this risk right now. If his Ability Index changed too much out of his expectations, he would be screwed. He had relied heavily on his Ability Index to get to this point, he had spent years constructing abilities around it, even the strength of his Spear Force, one of his greatest offensive cards right now, was built with his Ability Index as its foundation.

If not for Dream Class, how would he have mastered his grandfather's way of the spear so quickly? And if he no longer had Dream Class, would his insights hold well? He actually felt that he would be fine even without Dream Class because his comprehension had already solidified, but what about into the future? Would he make his path of the spear easier or harder?

There was another reason that Leonel was so hesitant as well. Thinking back to his battle with Myghell, the latter had used words to breathe strength into his swords. In fact, his grandfather's methods did something similar with poetry, pulling strength from imagery drawn by word of mouth.

This was obviously nowhere near what Alexandre's abilities could do, especially when they were scaled down to the Fifth Dimension. However, what it did say was that an Ability Index wasn't the only way to access this power.

There was some overlap between Ability Indexes and other power systems, that Leonel was certain of. If there wasn't, then how could an existence like King who could be considered to be near the bottom rung of greater Existence, be capable of converting Abilities Indexes into Force Arts and gifting them to people?

There was a wider tapestry out there that he was just barely missing out on, and the thought made it easier for him to set aside the idea of fusing with a relatively unknown ability now and rolling the dice.

Leonel managed to settle his impulses and looked toward Goggles. Almost immediately, the latter shifted into a position that displayed his absolute attention and Leonel couldn't help but chuckle. Even when this brat was nervous, his antics were still just as amusing.

'When'd I start thinking like such an old man?' Leonel rubbed his nose.

Goggles was young, about 19 or so years old if memory served. When Leonel first met him, they were about the same age. But now that they were meeting in these circumstances, it felt like a lifetime had passed. Leonel had matured... well, he had at least aged, and it made him look at Goggles like more of a little brother than anything else.

Leonel chuckled to himself again, wondering if Goggles' infatuation with Rollan's wife was still the same now that so much had changed.

'Is this guy cracked in the head?' Goggles thought, watching Leonel laugh to himself for no reason. He inched away, wondering if the man was thinking about all the evil things he'd do to him.

"Li-listen, boss," Goggles stuttered, "I love the attention, but I'm a strictly woman loving man. If you must have me... at least be gentle, okay?"

Leonel's lip twitched. Was that the kind of aura he radiated?

Well, to Goggles, who had a somewhat gruff appearance despite his lankiness, and whose idea of fashion was the pain of goggles stuck to his forehead, the shimmering silvery suit that Leonel was wearing did look like only something a man too obsessed with her personal appearance would wear.

"I've heard that you have a powerful ability?" Leonel asked instead.

"Ah? Who'd you hear that from? Who's spying on me?!"

Leonel smiled, getting a bout of dejavu. When he originally met Goggles, their first interaction was like this as well. The difference was that back then he had been trying to catch a thief who seemed capable of evading him with ease that was far too great.

He only managed to catch Goggles after several months of effort and then recruited him to his cause. Or, rather... Rollan's wife had. Leonel could never seem to convince this brat to do anything or take anything seriously.

It made sense, though. Goggles was like an orphaned child with too much street smarts for his own good, except he also had an Ability Index that made him fit that character times a thousand.From .

He always looked out for himself and was always looking for a way out, Leonel almost felt it was a shame that Rollan's wife had fallen for him instead of Goggles, but he wasn't going to do anything to change that.

There were other ways to get Goggles on board. Plus, the kid had his heart in the right place, and that was all that really mattered to Leonel.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leonel asked, with a raised brow. "Your exploits are well documented, including a case of sneaking through a particular open window to take a looking at some hanging-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Goggles looked around, his heart beating out of his chest.

At the moment, they were all still within the Silver Tablet, and there were two nations worth of people in here who didn't dare to make a peep. He couldn't allow secrets he wanted to take to the grave to be doled out like this.

Leonel smiled. "Oh, you want to cooperate?"

"Yes, yes! Whatever you say!"

"Call me Leonel in private, Patriarch Morales in public."

"Yes, Patriarch Morales!"

Leonel's smile grew.

Goggles had a unique Ability Index, one that Leonel hadn't seen documented anywhere else, much like Anna's own. So, he chose to call it the Oracle Simulation Ability Index.

With enough background information and context, Goggles could naturally predict a series of events with absolute accuracy and avoid any unwanted outcomes.

If there was any trump card he would need to save his father, wouldn't it be Goggles?