Infinite Potential System

"Don't make me wait too long. I need to recover my strength so I can destroy those bastards." Efretta said as William prepared to take his leave.

She also didn't forget to explain to William how the specific functions of the World Seeds worked. Since he didn't have the ability yet, Efretta offered to maintain the vortex until William could come up with another solution.

He nodded and bade Efretta farewell, returning to the surface where Fria had just about finished off all the Magical Beasts from the last Beast Tide.

As she killed more Beasts, Fria was able to upgrade her Talents further and further until they were completely maxed out. Until she gained access to more Talents, Fria would have no use for her current Potential Points, so she started selling them through the Forums for money on Reius.

Given the massive amount of money that flowed in and out of Otherworld Prime, William felt this was a good thing for Fria. Her real body wasn't as a Cultivator, so she still needed to eat and sleep, and she was even able to buy her own house with the money she earned.

At the same time, William's new understanding of the World allowed him to see past the facade of Otherworld Prime. Everything was set up and directed by Efretta from the start, and the System was able to fill the few gaps in his understanding to paint a clear picture at the cost of merely two million Points.

-If one was a normal human that found Magic to be a myth and Cultivation to be a simple superstition, how would they react when finding out that these myths and superstitions were real?

-For one, they might be overjoyed, excited even, that there was more to the World than just the bland day to day. That they could cast Spells of their own and increase their strength simply by meditating.

-They would probably seek out information about the World around them, to learn the most they could about Magic to achieve things they would have never thought possible.

-But while that was amazing to think about, suddenly sending millions or even billions of people into a World like Efretta's Prison would almost certainly lead to chaos. To mitigate this, Efretta had to carefully manage and manipulate a series of events to convince the citizens of Reius that it was nothing to be alarmed about and that it was just a game.

-She introduced books, movies, and other video games related to Magic and Cultivation that would spark the interest of a select group of the population, planting the seed for their eventual transition.

-Later, Efretta sparked a war between the nations of Reius and used it as a filter to eliminate the weakest individuals that would either hinder her plan or wouldn't survive on Efretta. This seemed simple and almost unnecessary at first glance, but the war saved her almost five years' worth of Mana that would have been wasted later.

-Lastly, she ended the war and brought the nations to peace, following up by introducing virtual reality games that would justify her Soul Transference Vortex. She was even able to use some of her power to infinitely resurrect the Players, but she assigned heavy consequences to incentivize not dying frequently.

How was that supposed to change things, though? Why would she go to such great lengths to send the residents of her World to the outside? William asked.

-Her plan was to allow the Players to grow in strength over time and eventually absorb the Superior Veins that bound her. To do that, though, she had to first allow her Players to grow stronger than the native humans that were created by the Heavens.

-The only problem was that there was a limit to how much she could help the Players. If not for my Ninth Host dying, Efretta's plan probably would have failed.

What do you mean? How did you get separated from Efretta in the first place if she didn't die?

-I... bent the rules to try and save the Eighth Host. When Efretta was captured, I split myself into two fragments, leaving a quarter of myself with the Eighth while the remaining seventy-five percent attached to another, who became the Ninth Host.

-The Ninth... we'll skip that part.

-When they died, I tried to return to the Eighth Host but was blocked by the very Laws that bind her now. Only by passing through the vortex she created was I able to return to her properly, but I spent a large amount of my energy in the process.

So, when you said you would make me use the weakest version of yourself, it wasn't by choice but actually because you were weak? William felt like he was catching onto the story.

-...Correct. I was going to return to the Eighth Host directly, but then I saw Fria.

-Fria was like a blinding light of Soul Strength and natural talent that made me want to attach myself to her directly no matter what, so I was hasty and followed the rules of Reius to form a contract with her.

-I thought she would be the most useful tool to regain my strength, and that she might even be able to help me reconnect with my Eighth Host. Unfortunately, you were the one to sign the contract, which left me in despair.

William was irked that the System essentially called him useless, but he understood that the System didn't mean it that way. At least not anymore.

-After I reconnected with you, the Tenth Host, I was able to use some of my power to transport you outside of Reius and into a World where you could Cultivate. In the process, I fragmented myself further and dispersed the pieces amongst the humans on Reius, allowing them to improve their strength the same way you do.

-It was mostly a failsafe, since I didn't have much hope for you, but now it seems like it was unnecessary to give a fragment to anyone other than your sister, who saved you in the Gravitas Ruins.

Since you fragmented yourself a lot, does that mean all the others with your fragment can grow as strong as me? William asked.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

He had been thinking about this ever since Efretta mentioned fragments, having guessed that it referred to the System. Only now when the System actually confirmed it themself was William completely confident in his deduction.

While William didn't mind if there were others like him out there, he worried that there would be a few who chose to use the System's powers to cause trouble for him. If they could improve just as quickly as he could, then he might find himself in a very tricky situation in the future.

-Never. Not even Efretta herself could catch up to you if not for her own natural talent. You Host the main fragment of my existence, and that cannot be duplicated. Of course, that comes with a risk.

-Since I've separated myself into so many parts over the years, you will be my last Host. You will be the final human, Magical Beast, Spirit, Demon, or otherwise that I will ever have an interaction with, since my existence will burn out along with you.

-If you die, so will I.