Infinite Potential System

Chapter 417 Enlightened

Where can I find Torc? Maybe I can ask him myself instead of spending a lot of Potential Points. William asked the System.

-He's dead. You can find him in Hell.

...

William became downtrodden after hearing that. His eyes drooped as the nostalgic memories washed over him a second time, though with a much sadder tone.

How did he die?

-He was helping to evacuate Thin Creek Village during a Beast Tide. Wind Wolves had surrounded Misha's house, and he chose to trade his life for her safety.

William placed his hand across his heart and muttered a silent prayer for Torc. He wasn't very religious, especially in a Cultivation World like this where the Gods might very well be his enemies in the future, but William didn't care.

Heavens, Gods, Beings Above... whatever you are. Hear my call and please guide Torc to prosperity. If he remembers me, please tell him that I am grateful for his sacrifice and hope to repay him one day...

Good luck, Torc...

As the prayer ended, William saw a tiny wisp of light float from his head into the sky and disappear from his view. He stared in awe at the effect, secretly hopeful that his prayer had actually done something.

Regarding the question that the System wouldn't fully answer, even if William thought about it for weeks, he probably wouldn't come up with anything on his own. For now, he chose to forget about it until he either had enough Potential Points or could meet with Torc in Hell.

Since William still had to wait a few days to recover from Karma, William decided to go ahead and upgrade the Fate Element as high as he could next.

Different from Karma, William found that the first few Fate upgrades still had an effect, but they were incredibly minor. His mind automatically trailed to thinking about the future, doubting what he had done in the past. Subconsciously, William felt disappointed in himself for not doing more, and even past phrases of the System came back to him.

Is it... trying to gaslight me? William inspected the eyes with an odd expression.

"Then you must be the one lying, because I can prove it." he said as he controlled a slight amount of Order Mana to disassemble a small grassy area next to him.

As he did so, however, the Fate Element wrested control of that finger and continued to funnel Order Mana from William's body, twirling his fingers in the attempt to weave some sort of new Spell.

William resisted again, managing to cancel the Spell before it fully formed. He realized that the Fate Element had tricked him, which was much different and more unexpected than some of the Elements. If any Element was going to be the trickster, William would have expected it from the Illusion Affinity, not Fate.

"You're supposed to be serious, unchanging, and unaffected by external matters." William scolded the Element as the SSR-Rank upgrade neared its ending. "You are the Fate Element, able to see one's past and predict their future. To you, all should be set in stone with little changes unless someone intervenes..."

"So why are you acting like this? You aren't yourself." William finished.

-You have been enlightened by the pressure of conflict.

-Your comprehension of the Fate Element has increased. Total: 8%

It's not even X-Rank, though. William looked at the System message in confusion.

-There are some exceptions, and this is one of them.

The Fate Element was left stunned by William's words. It didn't know how, but the boy had actually accurately guessed its true meaning, its Elemental Purpose. While many would begin to do this at a certain age, William was much too young to have pondered these things to such an extent, so how did he know?

"I once read a book about the mysteries of fate and how many would often give up on their aspirations after discovering that they weren't destined to achieve something. It was so long ago that I had almost forgotten, but your actions reminded me somehow.

While I don't agree with what was said in that book, I do have to say that it matches exactly what I would expect of the Fate Element." William explained.

The Fate Element receded into his body without another word, still awestruck by William's sudden mental breakthrough that allowed him to gain a thorough control over its abilities.