Infinite Potential System

The blast of Sound Magic pushed back all mud and water in its path until it sprayed in waves against the walls of the Boss room. It pressed forward with overwhelming power, opening up the area below until the three unidentified objects were revealed.

Treasure chests? William was confused until the Sound Magic landed on all three of them simultaneously. All three chests opened up on their own and tried to swallow the Sound, but the intensity of the attack was so high that they were all blown to pieces.

Several thousand Quake Dungeon Gems exploded in all directions, while Array-enhanced drains opened up and absorbed the mud and water. The Treasure Mimic's bodies dissolved into particles on their own, leaving behind their loot.

William was left speechless by the turn of events. While he was hoping to kill the Boss in a single attack, he didn't expect this room to simply be full of tricks and traps. It was obvious that the real challenge was the spray of water that he dodged in the beginning, while the muddy tentacle was probably created by the Treasure Mimic.

Perhaps Arrays or some Illusion Magic were influencing his detection Spells as well, meaning he was probably supposed to dive under the mud and blindly search for his opponent.

If I had to go down there, I'll admit it would probably be a tricky fight. Too bad I'm smarter than that!

-Yeah? And what if you had destroyed something important in the process?

Shit! Did I break a treasure? William gasped as he realized that the System had mentioned something good, yet nothing other than Quake Dungeon Gems had dropped from the Treasure Mimics.

Thankfully, when the mud completely cleared up, William saw a set of Arrays deactivate at the bottom of the floor and a small pedestal rose from underneath. It fully extended at an agonizingly slow pace, but William waited eagerly for whatever was about to come.

Even in the Mortal Realms, the System had never mentioned the existence of a treasure when it was so far away. Even with the Superior World Cores, the System would only say something when he was already within range to see it on his own.

Yet whatever this pedestal held was something so amazing that the System could sense it all the way from the beginning of the Dungeon. The difference was obvious!

The pedestal stopped extending, then a panel at its top slid horizontally until it fell and landed on the floor with a clang. Several Tier 6 Arrays mixed in with stronger ones were present on its surface, which William recognized as Sealing and Mana Suppression Arrays.

He immediately realized why when a tidal wave of Mana more intense than anything William had ever seen burst forth, pressing him to the ground with its pressure alone. He couldn't yet see what was inside, but the pedestal concealing the treasure changed from stone brick to a hard rock, compressing and transforming further until it was pure granite.

The treasure's aura spread around the pedestal for several dozen meters, then dozens more, until the entire Boss room had been turned into various types of stone. At this point, the treasure had finally expended enough of its excess Mana that William was able to get back to his knees with the help of the Mana Dominator Talent.

In order to keep moving towards the treasure, William had to use the Mana Lord Bonus Effect to control all Mana within 25 meters of himself. The problem was, the Bonus Effect didn't guarantee that the Mana would listen to him, only making it slightly easier to manipulate.

He walked at a snail's pace towards the treasure, finally managing to grab hold of a double-fist-sized brown crystal in the shape of a diamond. Despite clearly being of Earth-Elemental nature, the sensation burned William's hand in a way that none of his Affinities or Resistance Talents could resist.

A small brown square mark appeared on the back of his hand, the burning sensation transitioning to a comfortable one that made William want to relax and lie down. It was only at this moment that several System Messages showed up.

-Acquired a Deity Earth Shard: +5 AP

-Deity Earth Shard has transferred its godhood to you. Its mark will be absorbed in exchange for Ascended Value.

Without a sound or even a moment of preparation, the brown square on the back of William's hand disappeared instantly. If he blinked while the Deity Earth Shard transferred its mark, William wouldn't have noticed it at all.

+1 Ascended Value

-Your Ascended Value has reached 5: +5 AP

This is a Deity Earth Shard! I can't believe I found one already! William was pleasantly surprised by the treasure of the 20th floor.

With the Deity Earth Shard, William could finally Ascend his first Magic Affinity. There was no need to think about what would happen with an Ascended Magic Affinity; obviously it would be stronger!

And with strength came more loot! This was the end goal, loot!

-That's your goal? To just loot forever and not care about anything? What about the Heavens that could kill you at any moment, trap both of us for eternity, or worse?

Of course I'm not trying to die, but isn't looting best for you anyway? After all, that's where a lot of my Potential Points come from! William laughed. Too many rewards came from him acquiring loot, so obviously it was the best answer to deal with the Heavens.

-You take it too far! How is a cooking ladle going to earn you Points?!

A cooking ladle? What do you mean?

-Do you not remember when you were last at the market? While you were trying to sell your Greater Fire Shards, several items mysteriously went missing from the shops on your way out.

I did that? What do you mean?

The System responded by showing William one of his own memories, where he had clearly just finished making a deal with the female shopkeeper to regularly trade Greater Fire Shards.

He smiled and walked out of the tent and was on his way towards the school, but behind him tiny portals sent several small objects such as pots and pans for cooking, ladles, and other general goods into one of his Space Rings.

It was so smooth that even the nearby shopkeepers didn't notice what happened. It probably wasn't until hours later that they discovered their items were missing.

I don't remember that at all! How is that in my memories? William remembered using some of those utensils for making food for him and Atticus, but he didn't realize that they were actually stolen items.

Who could blame him, though? They were clearly better than his Spirit Cooking Set that he got several years ago from the Night Market.

-Maybe you remember a more recent time, when you said you wouldn't steal from your classmates from the same Academy? What happened on the 10th floor last night then? Did you not take Quake Dungeon Gems and a Morphing Devil Stick and teleport away?

William couldn't refute that one. After all, it had happened merely a day ago. Then again, those were Quake Dungeon Gems, which are more useful than cooking utensils. The System's argument was half invalid.

The System didn't know what to think. William's loot goblinry had become so bad that he was subconsciously stealing things from everyone. Not only this, but he went back on his word and still stole from his classmates.

Honestly, System, since when are you my moral compass? It doesn't matter as long as we can increase your strength, right?

-Of course it matters! When you get caught doing these things, you make more enemies! Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect?

Psh! Then I won't get caught! Can't make enemies if they don't know who stole from them!
Continue reading at empire

-Your logic is flawless and there's no way this could end poorly for you at all...

Thanks!

-That was sarcasm. You're... ugh.

William laughed and looked at the Earth Deity Shard in his hands. The ambient Mana it released had dropped in intensity ever since it transferred its godhood to him, but its pressure was still awe-inspiring. He almost didn't want to use it.

Almost.

System, what do you think? Is it safe to use this now, or is some kind of unexplainable reaction going to potentially kill me or expose my location to the Heavens? William had to ask very specifically, since the last few times he upgraded Talents like this, the unexpected always happened.

The System answered at a cheap price of one Ascended Point this time, which William gladly spent to guarantee his safety. After the Ask Function was used, William still had 27 Ascended Points.

-There won't be any problems as long as no Cultivators are within 3 floors of you. I don't detect any Cultivators within 5 floors.

Great, then you know what I want! System, Ascend my Earth Affinity!