Infinite Potential System

"You're not supposed to be down here." the icy figure said, his armor emitting a light mist as the outer layer of ice melted and turned into water vapor. Using some Mana, the figure spread the mist further, clouding William and Carl's vision.

This was both a detection and concealment Spell, since the man could locate William and Carl based on where the water vapor didn't cover, and the mist prevented them from seeing him. Their figures became a watery outline that was easily discernable by the controller of the Spell.

What the man didn't know was that William had Life Sense Arrays embedded in his Illusionist's Cloak. When he didn't see a pair of green eyes glowing in the dark, the thief assumed that neither William nor Carl had the Life Element.

The man pulled out an Artifact that created three duplicate shadows to his own and sent them floating aimlessly throughout the room. This was meant to counter the detection Spell of the Darkness Element, which tracked others based on their shadow.

Carl nodded to William and pressed his hands to the ground, channeling his Earth Mana to detect the tremors of real footsteps. He wasn't very strong, so it was hardly effective, but it was only meant to distract the enemy from discovering William's Life Sense Arrays.

Moments after Carl cast his Spell, William channeled his own Ice Elemental Mana to form a series of Ice Spikes that blocked off the enemy's path. He controlled the shadow to move deeper into the cave, opting not to fight a potentially losing battle.

His enemy was in the Nascent Soul Realm, but if one person had discovered them it meant that more were on the way. This individual was probably just stalling for time while the others caught up.

I'm not playing your game, but you can play mine!  William said as he used Time Mana to create an Advanced Time-Slowing Array, which would slow anyone who entered its range by ninety-nine percent as long as they were below the Golden Core Realm.

If they were at the Golden Core Realm or above, the effectiveness would be greatly reduced, but it should still slow down his enemies for a few minutes.

He added a few more of the same Arrays at random intervals along with a few traps, laughing maniacally in his mind as he prepared a very annoying "game" for his pursuers. He once again felt thankful for the Array Talent, which allowed him to create Advanced Arrays in an instant.

He could even do it while running away!

As they sped downward, William and Carl passed a few groups of thieves that hadn't expected to see the intruders so soon. As the thieves slowly walked upwards, William and Carl flew past them, dropping a Time-Slowing Array next to their feet as they passed by.

The group of four Core Formation Cultivators tried to launch a few Magic Spells at the speedy shadow, but the Array activated instantly, freezing them in place.

Since their Cultivation was only in the Void Core stage of Core Refinement, they were too weak to even move a single step inside the Arrays. They were doomed to remain until someone came to their aid.

William wanted to stop and laugh at the thieves' expense, but he was forced to continue running as two more Nascent Soul Cultivators appeared from below and tried to block his path.

His shadow weaved in between two Earth Walls just in time for them to close. The Nascent Soul Cultivators cursed, then turned around and ran back the way they had just come.

Despite their failed attempt at blocking William, they weren't too concerned since his figure continued to delve underground.

The cave was over two hundred kilometers deep, and William hadn't even made it halfway down yet. By the time he reached the bottom, his chances of escaping from the Thieves' Guild were practically zero.

"This isn't working," Carl said. "We need to do something before we are fully surrounded. There's way too many of them here!"

William agreed with the first note, but the current number of thieves wasn't enough to scare him. Unless a Soul Formation Cultivator appeared, this trip through the cave would be nothing but another day's work.

I've dealt with worse in the Trial Tower. This is nothing, though I do have to protect his weak ass. William thought to himself as he looked at Carl. His friend's Mana had already run out from blocking various Spells and he was currently ingesting a Mana Regeneration Pill to recover.

He remembered when his Mana Reserves were tiny as well, so he didn't blame Carl. That being said, William hoped this wouldn't be a repeat of the Elemental Beast Tide, where Carl consumed almost all of his stock in one fight.

"Buddy, there's more to come after this. Don't tire yourself out before the main event begins." William warned.

"I have to, or we won't get out of here alive." Carl panted as he prepared to cast another Spell.

William shook his head, "You're still underestimating me. Sit back and watch as I show you everything is under my control."

William partially disabled the Spell that allowed them to maintain their shadow. Instead, he wrapped Ice Mana around Carl and froze it to himself, turning his friend into a literal backpack that couldn't come loose no matter how hard he struggled.

William secretly used the Fire Element to heat up small pockets inside the Spell, keeping Carl warm despite being covered in ice.

Once he was done, William pushed his Acrobatics Talent to seventy percent strength, turning his body into a literal missile as he weaved in between thieves before they even had time to react.

Even the Nascent Soul Cultivators that appeared from time to time had no chance of keeping up, their figures left far behind as he dashed deeper and deeper.

"He's probably using some type of trump card to increase his speed! Go after him, he has to slow down soon!" the Nascent Soul Thieves shouted when they saw their comrades losing hope.

The thieves were initially alarmed by William's sudden burst of speed, but what their leaders said made sense. They increased their own speed with the help of the Elements, then traveled at high speed after William and Carl.

Inside the block of ice, Carl's eyes widened, but not in shock. The high-speed velocity of William's movement forced his eyelids to remain wide open, his hair flapping wildly in the wind as if he was riding on a motorcycle without a helmet.

William smirked upon seeing Carl's reaction. "See, I told you I had it under control. There's nothing in this World that can keep up with me in the same rank, and Nascent Soul enemies are no exception."

"Nice bragging, but how do you expect to deal with me?" A voice sounded from a few steps away from William, nearly making him jump in fright.

William looked over his shoulder to see a blue-haired young man with a simple green robe that hid his hands. The young man bore a single scar diagonally over his left eye, and his neck sported a similar scar that was perfectly horizontal.

William wasn't bothered by the scars, but his eye twitched as he realized the newcomer's Cultivation was in the first stage of the Soul Formation Realm.

His Cultivation suggested he had recently broken through, but William didn't feel confident in taking on such an enemy while also protecting Carl. Anything could happen in a battle at the Soul Formation Realm, and William's various Talents weren't made for protecting others.

D*mnit! Me and my big mouth! William berated himself for claiming that there would be no issue as long as there were no Soul Formation enemies.

Didn't he just jinx himself with that statement alone? How idiotic!

Carl's face was already pale as paper when he heard the voice, but when he saw William's expression on top of it, he could already guess what type of enemy they were facing.

"Damnit Wil- Serio! I told you we should have left earlier!" Carl corrected himself mid-outburst, but a raised eyebrow from the Soul Formation Cultivator made him somewhat worried.

"Wilserio? Interesting name. I wonder if you were about to say "William" but changed your mind." the young man said with a slight smirk.

He had awakened an Innate Talent long ago that gave him enhanced senses to see the emotional state of his opponents through their heart rate and body language. When Carl started to say William's name, both of their heart rates spiked, signaling anxiety.

When Carl corrected himself to Serio, William's heart rate lowered, but when they looked at the Soul Formation Cultivator, his smirk caused them both to become anxious again. It was obvious that Serio wasn't his real name.

"Hmm...where have I heard that name before? William, perhaps the one that Supreme Left is looking for?" he eyed the two carefully to check their heart rates again.