Infinite Potential System

William took a dramatic pause as if considering the pros and cons of the woman's offer, when in reality there was nothing to consider. Even long-term, a ten percent discount would only lead to a net loss of roughly eighteen Spirit Jades.

Judging by how the previous few shopkeepers reacted, this was probably his best chance of earning easy Spirit Jades. If he wanted to reach his goal of one thousand, William would need to acquire something more marketable.

He and the shopkeeper spoke a bit longer and decided on more specific terms, signing a contract that obligated William to regularly supply her at a rate of 9 Spirit Jades per ten thousand Greater Fire Shards. She traded for twenty thousand Shards on the spot, then took William's contact information for the future.

74 Spirit Jades, only 26 away from the next milestone.

William smiled faintly as he added the additional funds to his Space Ring. When he hit 50 Spirit Jades earlier, the System gave him another 5 Ascended Points, pushing his total up to 14.

He now had enough to upgrade the System next time he visited the Quake Dungeon!

William thanked the shopkeeper for her time, then exited the market with haste, having both achieved a part of his goal and earned more money.

He wished he had time to sell the Ultimate Soul Stone or purchase some items for Talent Ascensions, but there was barely half an hour left before the school day began. If he dawdled any longer, Professor Tenningbrew might revoke William's invitation to the Quake Dungeon.

That ferret man is too eccentric. If I get on his bad side, who knows what could happen? Continue your adventure with empire

William used Spatial Steps to cross entire sections of the street in mere moments.

In roughly five minutes, William arrived inside the Filem Academy's Dimension, a majority of his Talents deactivating as a result. Only the Ascended Talents, Fitness, and his Magic Talents persisted, though the Ascended Talents were only at about ten percent effectiveness.

That said, his Forcefield Talent was Ascended now, which normally had a defensive strength in the Middle Stages of the Initial Deity Realm. Even at ten percent effectiveness, the Forcefield should be strong enough to handle attacks at the low end of the Realm.

William adjusted the Forcefield so that it was the bare minimum distance from his body, then used his own aura to try and mask the effects. An outsider would perceive the fluctuations of the Forcefield as simply a defensive artifact now, and even the suspicious ones might think it was a mere Spirit Aura.

"Welcome to class, William!" a cheery Professor Tenningbrew stood at the door and greeted William was he walked through the door. "You're early, class doesn't start for another twenty-five minutes."

William looked around and noticed that he was the only student inside the classroom.

He shrugged and took a seat at his desk, "I had some extra time."

"How was the Quake Dungeon? I heard things got interesting over the last few days. How far did you go?" the Professor gave William a suspicious look.

William had been told that going above the fourth floor would be dangerous to him, but he had not only ignored that warning but went a whopping eleven floors above that! He even soloed a floor boss that probably would have been invincible to the Dungeon's regulars.

"I know you said not to go past the fourth floor, but a group of students invited me to their team and we traveled together to the 12th floor." William answered. It wasn't a lie, though William definitely had to avoid mentioning the rest of his adventure.

Tenningbrew's eyes glimmered for a moment, "You've exceeded my expectations! That must mean you were able to experience the bosses on the fifth and tenth floor. Good job!"

The Professor reached into his lab coat and withdrew a small silver coin and handed it to William. The tails side was that of a ferret, while the heads was Professor Tenningbrew's own face. It was a Tenningbuck.

Yay...

William stored the semi-useless item in his Space Ring, giving the Professor a simple nod of thanks. Who would be excited about a currency that was unusable anywhere else?

-Earned a Tenningbuck: +1 AP

-Earned your first Tenningbuck: +1 AP

The two System messages completely changed William's perspective of the coin. His lips curled up, instantly motivated to impress his eccentric teacher more often.

Nevermind! System, I won't even ask how or why there is a milestone for these things.

-This milestone system was reserved for another school-based currency, but I felt your Professor's coins were more suitable, so I modified the milestones to accept this as the currency instead. The other currency was something only available in Riverveil territory anyways, so it would have been a waste.

William understood. It seemed the System wasn't completely powerless to its own rules. This was a good thing, so he didn't think about it too much.

"Welcome to class, Mikaela! How is your progress with Mana Circuits?" the Professor's voice brought William's attention away from the System.

"It's alright." Mikaela didn't say anything more and walked to her desk expressionlessly. As she passed by William, a hint of her aura leaked out while a smirk crept up on her face.

William sensed the change in Mikaela's aura immediately. Comparing it to the Mikaela from a few days ago, he guessed that she had some success with the Mana Circuits. Her aura was almost three times stronger than before, but the most impressive detail was how efficient it was.

The hint of aura was roughly the equivalent of a Nascent Soul Cultivator, but William could tell at a glance that it was strong enough to pierce the defenses of even someone in the Ascension Realm. It drifted slowly towards William's body, edging closer and closer until it crashed into him.

"Tch." Mikaela's smirk became a frown as the aura was easily dealt with by William's Forcefield, but her intention wasn't to harm him. If it was, Professor Tenningbrew definitely would have put a stop to her actions.

No, her intent was merely to showcase the efforts of her training over the last few days.

That'll teach you the difference in our strength. That was merely one percent of what I can do with my aura now.

Mikaela took a seat as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the students filtered in by themselves or in small groups of two or three, the Professor greeting each of them as they walked through the door. Filem was a prestigious school in Slightwing territory, so students were expected to come to class early. As a result, the general consensus was to arrive at least ten minutes in advance.

The only exception to this rule were the teachers, who always arrived one hour early. It would be a stain on their reputation a student was at school before they were.

"I see a lot of progress from you all, well done!" Professor Tenningbrew looked around the room in satisfaction. He even noticed a few who had broken through from the Tribulation Transcendence Realm to Ascension, forming their unique World Seeds.