Infinite Potential System

"I'm not in a rush for the treasure, but you might not secure a good position in your current condition, I'm afraid." Kenny frowned, "There are too many Cultivators that have spent their entire life preparing for this event; they're much stronger than you'd expect.

Some Families will spend all of their time and resources on their most promising candidate, just months before the actual event. It's a ruthless battle, I tell you!"

William nodded in understanding. After seeing what Yuhe could do with her Innate Talent, he guessed that there were several others like her that were concealing their strength until the last possible moment.

What Yuhe said earlier stuck in the back of his mind. The Riverveil Faction was producing a super genius for the Competition, and he'd be entering the Lowest Backet this time. Hearing Yuhe, the arrogant girl with a Primary Law, call another a genius made William more intent to increase his strength.

I'm still playing catch-up with my own generation! I've been Cultivating for four years, but they've been at it their entire lives! I need to get stronger, and fast!

William asked, "About the Quake Dungeon... how much has the Academy explored?"

The Vice Principal picked up a coffee mug and took a long sip. In one sitting, the entire cup was empty and it was thrown in an unknown Space Ring.

"You're the furthest, I believe. Floor 14, right?" he replied.

William didn't hesitate to correct the Vice Principal and nodded, "How did you know?"

Inwardly, William was glad that Kenny hadn't said Floor 20, which would imply that he knew even more about William's secrets than he was planning to give away.

"It's part of my job to know things. After I saw your Talent in the school, I was serious in keeping my promise to protect you. If something happened in the Dungeon, my own territory, I couldn't forgive myself."

He gave William a knowing smile, "That was some battle, by the way. A princess of the Slightwing Family was forced to use lifesaving treasures to trap you. Yuhe has been a long-time focus of our school, since she was guaranteed to get a good spot in the Competition."

"Isn't the Competition pointless unless you win?" William asked. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire

"There are other rewards, like increased benefits for the schools that have high performers, old Masters that offer to recruit our graduates into their apprenticeship, and even mercenary groups that want to hire our students' services from time to time."

It made sense to William, so he chose not to ask further and stay on track. His eyes followed Professor Tenningbrew, who was aimlessly walking around the room, as if he had no goal in mind. From right to left and back to the right, Tenningbrew paced all corners of the room until he ended up at Kenny's side.

Kenny conjured another coffee mug from thin air and filled it with coffee. William accidentally caught a whiff of the coffee, reeling back from the strong bitter odor that came with Mana-enhanced coffee beans.

"Principal, since you know I'm climbing the Quake Dungeon, is there a way we can have more people? I'd like to clear the 40th Floor as quickly as possible."

Kenny spat out the coffee that had just touched his lips, turning his head at the last moment to avoid spitting it all over William. The direction he faced just happened to be towards Professor Tenningbrew, who now found his pure white lab coat stained with the brown liquid.

"You don't actually mean... the fortieth floor?!?" Kenny leaned forward and tilted an ear towards William, as if double checking his hearing. He didn't even bother to acknowledge his earlier mistake.

"Hey! You ruined my clothes!!" Professor Tenningbrew pulled out a set of special napkins from somewhere and started dabbing at the white fabric, but there was no use. The coffee was made with too much intensity, and napkins wouldn't be able to deal with a stain of such level.

"Your fault for coming here." Kenny waved the professor away, as if he was just a street rat.

Tenningbrew faked a hurt expression, his eyes welling up with crocodile tears, "I thought you were my friend..."

"Oh, fuck off with that. Can't you be a little more serious? There's a student here!" Kenny knew Tenningbrew well and this was normal reaction. He knew his friend wasn't actually angry. He smiled apologetically at William, slightly embarrassed by his friend's unprofessional demeanor.

Tenningbrew snorted, "Work hours end at exactly 4. I'm no longer required to be professional."

"I could skin you and wear your fur like a coat! Don't test me!"

"Go ahead and try! There's more than just me. Do you know what a group of ferrets are called? That's right, mess with me and I'll show you that I mean business!"

William couldn't avoid bursting into laughter at the last statement. It was so out-of-pocket that he couldn't help but compare the Professor to himself.

He suddenly thought of something and interrupted the duo, "What if we took a teacher or aide with us into the Quake Dungeon. Would we be able to clear it sooner?"

Professor Tenningbrew answered this time, "That's cheating. A big no-no for our school. If you want to clear the Quake Dungeon, do it with your own strength, or the strength of the first three years' students."

William expected as much, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Okay, what about the Fourth Years? They're pretty strong, right?"

"Fourth- and Fifth-Year students aren't allowed to go into the Quake Dungeon. It's reserved for the Third-Year students and below, though Third-Years also have access to the Academy's personal Dungeon, so good luck finding one at Quake." Tenningbrew answered.

The Vice Principal spoke up, "You're doing much better than the average First-Year and your group is just a few steps away from the 15th Floor Boss; why the rush? You might even get to the 40th floor by the end of your third year."

William didn't know how to answer Kenny's question. How could he explain that the reason why he was in such a hurry was because the System gave him a one-year time limit, and the rewards were too good to let the Quest go to waste?

How could he say that he could probably clear up to the 25th floor by himself, but it would be too suspicious if he made it all the way to the top in the same manner?

Kenny saw William's hesitation and waved his hand in dismissal, "Forget about what I asked. Are you clearing it for treasures, or just to clear it?"

"If possible, both, but I mostly just want to clear the Dungeon. I'll need as large a group as possible to do it." William's answer was so fluid that even the System wondered if he was the same person. Where was the William that would normally say, "I want all the loot!"?

William felt the confusion in the System's mental waves and answered in his mind.

I'm not giving up on the treasures, obviously. Just wait and see.

"Hmm, that's a lot easier than trying to get all the benefits..." Kenny mumbled to himself. Half a minute passed in pure silence while Kenny thought.

He considered saying no to William's request, considering the Quake Dungeon was a training ground for the school, but they could simply replenish the treasures with similar items at a later date.

He finally spoke, "I can invite all students of the three grades into the Quake Dungeon and offer more benefits to the students that reach the 20th, 25th, and every fifth floor afterwards.

It won't be skill dependent, rather they only need to reach the specified floor to receive the reward. That should solve your problem; what do you think?"

William's eyes brightened up. If the Vice Principal made such an announcement, it was guaranteed that more students would go into the Dungeon. He could gather more followers to his group, and the Noble Prowess Talent would definitely get an upgrade!

Not only that, but there would be plenty of even better treasures on the higher floors! If William could mark them all on a map and come back later when his skill with Arrays was better, he'd be set for a long time!

It took everything in William's power to not use the Thought Transference Bonus Effect on accident. Sometimes when his emotions ran high, it was easy for the effect to trigger on its own, but this time he kept it in control.

He nodded several times, doing his best to suppress his excitement. Kenny nodded in return, then snapped his fingers to conjure a few papers. William could barely make out some of the letters from the angle of the paper, but it was written in a language he didn't understand.

Kenny flipped through the pages, numbering certain items on each page. "There are forty treasures on average per floor, give or take a dozen depending on the Floor's layout. If you gather a large enough group, you should still have a considerable amount to yourself."

He continued, "Though, if you really only wanted treasure, I could have given you some of my own. It's too bad..."