Dimensional Descent

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.

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

himself again, wondering if Goggles' infatuation with Rollan's wife was

Leonel laugh to himself for no reason. He inched away, wondering if the man was

stuttered, "I love the attention, but I'm a strictly woman loving man. If you must have me... at least be

Was that the kind of

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

have a powerful ability?"

hear that from? Who's spying on

like this as well. The difference was that back then he had been

only managed to catch Goggles after several months of effort and then recruited him to his cause. Or, rather...

child with too much street smarts for his own good, except he also had an Ability Index

way out, Leonel almost felt it was a shame that Rollan's wife had fallen for him instead of Goggles, but

kid had his heart

obvious?" Leonel asked, with a raised brow. "Your exploits are well documented, including a case of sneaking

whoa, whoa, whoa!" Goggles looked around,

people in here who didn't dare