Infinite Potential System

The Time Element? What's happening? William wondered as he looked at the unknown Cultivator. The person was also moving backwards, and there were no fluctuations of Time Mana at all.

It's not him? I thought this guy might be the Duon the dragons were talking about...

William traced the source of the Time Element, finally catching a trail that led to the Mistlands Region. His body wasn't restricted in this part of the Ask Function's simulation, so William was able to follow the trail to a small underground structure roughly the size of a tool shed.

Seated cross-legged in the room with closed eyes, a boy of roughly sixteen or seventeen was channeling Time Mana into a complex Spell. The boy's Mana flow was like William had never seen before, winding and coiling around his fingertips as if Time Magic belonged to him.

His hair was blue, with white and gold tips that were like the contrast from the sun to the moon, while his face was pristine: not a blemish, freckle, or a hint of acne. Even his eyebrows were in perfect condition, as if they had been drawn on, and not grown.

His narrow eyes opened, their golden-brown irises locking onto William, who was supposed to be undetectable since this was only a simulation. Despite this, the character opened his mouth to speak.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

He didn't seem threatened by William, nor was he surprised that William was even here. Instead, he was merely curious about William's identity, like a stranger meeting another on the street.

"You can see me?" William asked in surprise.

"Should I not be able to? I'm leagues above your understanding, boy."

William shook his head. "Are you Duon, then?"

The boy's eyes flashed with slight panic and worry before switching to surprise, "Where did you hear my name? You're merely in the Nascent Soul Realm; You should have exploded."

"Exploded? That's a bit extreme, don't you think?" William laughed, but now that Duon mentioned it, he did feel a little uncomfortable. It was as if his existence was reacting to the mention of Duon's name, which was unbelievable to be honest.

If the special properties of the Ask Function hadn't protected him, maybe he would have blown up right then and there.

Who is this guy?!? He's definitely an Ascended Cultivator! William panicked slightly as he realized why the System refused to tell him many things about the Heavens.

If just knowing a first name could kill, he didn't want to imagine what it'd be like to know about the Heavens. Would he spontaneously combust for figuring out their favorite breakfast cereal?

"Not in the slightest. Anyways, you'll know more when you Ascend. You still haven't answered my question, by the way." Duon replied.

"William."

"Last name?"

"Why does everyone want to know my last name? I don't have one." William replied angrily.

"Hmm, I see." Duon muttered as he twirled his fingers, calling Mana of the Time Element. "Well, I hate to say this, but you're going to have to disappear. Goodbye."

The Time Mana gathered around his fingers suddenly entered William's body, reversing every movement he had made since arriving and taking him back to the center of the Providence Zone. There, he saw the blood of the dragons reform into their bodies, still moving in reverse.

Time continued to move further and further backwards, but William's body stopped moving in reverse, held in place by the Ask Function. He saw the dark clouds of the Azures Continent shrinking bit by bit, only stopping at the point when the Greater Death Core was absorbed.

"Huh? Why stop now?" William was confused. Time flowed properly again, but the World Core had already been absorbed. With time, the same series of events would unfold once more, the rest of the World none the wiser of anything that happened.

William flew back to Duon's underground room.

"What did you do that for?" he asked the blue-haired boy that was still seated in his original position.

"You're back already? And you remember me?" Duon narrowed his eyes as he looked at William closely. If they were in the real world, William's Elements might have been exposed at this point, but he was in the Ask Function's simulation, so Duon didn't notice anything.

"You must have a good memory." he said.

William nodded but didn't say more. He knew very well that it was the presence of the Time Affinity that allowed him to understand what had happened, not his memory. "Why would you reverse time for nothing? Couldn't you have stopped the World Core from being absorbed?"

"Not a chance. I can't control matters of such magnitude, even if I was at my peak." Duon shook his head.

"Then why bother? Are you going to go out there and stop the dragons from getting killed?" William asked.

"Why should I? I don't care about the dragons. They were created specifically for this purpose; it'd be suicide to clash heads with... them." Duon chose his words carefully, lest he expose secrets about the Realms above to an unprepared soul.

"Even you are scared of the Heavens? Just how strong are they?" William asked.

"Heh."

"Well?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. I think you've learned that by now. You carry the mark of the Ultimate Tribulation; you're just like the others."

"The others?"

"A group of idiots like you that think they can oppose the Heavens directly. You get a little bit of power and think you're all that. Well newsflash. It's not that easy. I can tell your body is well cultivated, and I can tell you're a Mage by your equipment, but there are no Mana fluctuations.

Your concealment Technique is extraordinary, and your ability to find me already proves that you have some talent, but who cares? Everything pales in front of them, even if you had the strength to defeat me." Duon explained.

"Are you trying to say there's no point in fighting for what you believe in?" William probed.

"I'm trying to say that there's a limit to how much your strength can grow. There's a limit to how hard you punch, how fast you run, how smart you are. There's always a limit. And the Heavens are the limit above that limit. You can't break the first limit, so how will you break the second? It's impossible!"

William became deep in thought following Duon's words. If what the man said was true, then the Heavens truly were an obstacle above the rest. Were the abilities of the Potential System enough to compete with that?

A memory entered William's brain. A long-lost phrase he heard as a baby from his biological parents as they spoke to each other.

"Years before either of us were born, people thought it was impossible to fly. Now, we have airplanes that can cross the entire World in a few hours! Decades ago, reaching the moon was a fool's errand, but what happened? We made it!

How can we say that something is impossible, when the simplicity of the matter is that it hasn't been done yet. The emphasis is on yet, because it will happen, we just don't know when."

William repeated those words to Duon, "How can we say that anything is impossible? It just hasn't been achieved yet. Maybe I'll be the first to reach that point, or maybe it'll be someone else. Either way, I won't give up until I've tried."