Infinite Potential System

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.

-You're not worthy. You won't make it. Your chances of survival are slim.

Phrases continued to pound William's brain almost rhythmically, but he could tell that they weren't real. They were just taunts by the Fate Element, meant to fluster him.

When the Fate Element reached B-Rank, things started to change. William was overcome with an extreme desire to do things, such as break objects or travel to dangerous areas. He was even tempted to Ascend right now, as if the Fate Element that this was the most life-threatening thing to his existence currently.

By the S-Rank upgrade, William almost listened to the Fate Element, but not of his own free will. He knew all the way through that the Fate Element was toying with him, but it began to possess his body just like Order, controlling him to manipulate his Seal Element and slowly undo the suppression.

It was different from the Chaos Element, which usually treated the Elements as subordinates, but it was also different from Order, which inhabited William's body and wrested full control of his limbs.

Instead, Fate was able to manipulate William's own Mana as if it was him, but it's control over his body was minimal. It was only able to make a few waves and call the Seal Mana from inside William's body, but any mental resistance from him would disrupt the Fate Element's plan.

It's a battle of wills, I see. The Fate Element wants to break into my mind and force me to give up, then use my Mana to place me in a dangerous situation. If it can't breach my mind, however, it has to do its best to brute force the process.

William smiled as the Fate Element failed to take over and the upgrade to SS-Rank was completed. It seemed the Fate Element would actually be the second to X-Rank!

He immediately purchased the next upgrade, mentally preparing himself for increased aggression from the Fate Element. To his surprise, though, it didn't react in the same way. Instead, it muttered a few times in the Language of the Elements before calling out.

"Boy, call Order for me."

William was confused, but he had no intention of doing what Fate asked, "Why should I?"

"Because I said so," it started, then William felt a pair of purplish-golden eyes peer directly into his mind, almost like it could see all the thoughts inside his brain, "Do it because it is your destiny."

William felt himself start to lose control again, but he resisted fiercely, not allowing the Fate Element to have its way, "Order doesn't want to come out. It's already granted me power over its Mana."

Fate paused for a moment, as if it was surprised, then continued peering into William's mind, "You're lying. I can see it in your mind. Your claims are illegitimate."

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.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

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.