Infinite Potential System

Ice Spikes reflected the light of the torches in the dimly lit cave as they flew forward, but they weren't directed at William and Carl. Instead, these Ice Spikes pierced through the throats of both thieves with the Darkness Affinity, preventing them from making so much as a sound before their bodies fell forward.

William raised ice from the ground to catch the thieves quietly, then stored their lifeless corpses in his Space Ring for later. They may be dead, but William was sure that their bounties would still be valuable.

It was a shame though, that he had to kill them, since his Humanity dropped by two points. His previous 78 Humanity was now back down to 76, just three points higher than where he was when he left the Gravitas Ruins.

That being said, the Humanity statistic didn't have any obvious impacts yet, not much different from his normal self. He could still tell right from wrong, at least.

Less Humanity, but more Potential Points. It's a good trade-off. William thought to himself as he and Carl explored to the deeper recesses of the cave unimpeded.

Without any Darkness Mages able to spot their movements, William could freely explore in the shadows as long as he stayed out of the thieves' field of vision.

As they traveled further downward, they noticed the light levels of the cave increased rather than decreasing. The ceiling that was previously made up of stalactites and the occasional bat were now glowing a light orange that came from further below.

Another kilometer downward and William spotted small orange crystals that his Blacksmithing Talent instantly translated to Fire Shards, a fairly uncommon crystal that could improve the fire-resistance capabilities of equipment.

William couldn't collect the Fire Shards since there were still dozens of thieves in close proximity, but he vowed to return later and gather some. Even if they weren't that rare, William's loot goblin tendencies wouldn't allow him to pass up on free items.

His Space Ring had storage, so why not?

Another two kilometers downward, and William decided to use the Navigation Talent to look for the bottom. He should have done this earlier, but he was distracted by the System and hadn't thought of it.

-You distracted yourself. Don't bring me into this.

Anyways, William was distracted by the System, so he-

-I said, you distracted yourself.

Anyways...

-No.

Okay fine. I distracted myself.

-I'm aware.

"F*ck you, System!" William shouted.

Some of the thieves were spooked by the sudden shout and jumped in fright. William used the Time Element to freeze them in place, their bodies almost fully stationary in the air as he and Carl backtracked and repositioned the shadow to another location.

-Now you've done it.

I don't want to hear it from you. What kind of person are you, interrupting my inner monologue? William complained inwardly as he maneuvered his shadow into a tiny crack in the wall to hide.

The System didn't respond, but William could sense a hint of irritation in the silence. A feeling he rarely got, unless he was interacting with Jenny in the Guild Hall or Fria when he did something stupid.

The thieves regained control over their bodies, but so little time had passed since they were frozen that they had no idea that they had been frozen. They searched frantically for the source of the voice and even launched a few Spells, but the depth of the cave kept them from causing too much damage, lest the cave collapse on them all.

Carl was focused on keeping count of the number of thieves he saw as they snuck by. This was the job assigned to him by William this time around, since Carl wouldn't be able to do anything for a while and he wanted to have a greater impact than he did in the last hideout.

Carl's Magical Beasts were all outside, a few kilometers away from the cave where they wouldn't be detected. They were tasked to move in and surround the cave, but only after he and William had gained control of the situation inside.

Without his summons to protect him, Carl was only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and not anything comparable to William. He had no choice but to trust William's plan and rely on his friend to protect him.

But I'm seriously regretting this now!

He wanted to berate William for his sudden shout, but he couldn't speak to his friend without drawing even more attention. He decided to save the complaints for later and focus on the assigned task, but his expression was bitter as he did so.

After wasting half an hour hiding in a small crack, William and Carl were finally able to proceed forward again. The thieves were incredibly spooked at this point, but they seemed to have some level of confidence that the intruders would be dealt with the moment they appeared.

In their minds, there was no way that someone unfathomably strong would need to hide, so their main goal should be to maintain security and avoid being assassinated.

It was funny to think about, an assassin being assassinated, but it wasn't unbelievable. After all, the Thieves' Guild had many enemies, but few were strong enough to openly take on the Guild.

Many who desired revenge from some grievance in the past would come to them secretly, hoping to take care of the one responsible without a fuss. Unfortunately for them, however, the Thieves' Guild was well-versed in the acts of assassination.

While William and Carl thought they hadn't been discovered and had completely fooled those at the higher portions of the cave, the more experienced thieves were actually drawing them deeper and deeper inside, while secretly eliminating every escape route they had hidden over the years.

This was their territory, and they knew it better than anyone else. There was no way an intruder would hold an advantage here.

Five kilometers deeper, the Fire Shards sharply increased in number, covering both the walls and ceiling completely while the orange glow emanated throughout the entire area. The number of shadows in the cave greatly decreased, making it much more difficult to bypass the thieves unnoticed.

For some reason, though, William noticed that the number of thieves had also decreased as they moved downward. He wasn't sure if it was a lack of manpower or what, but it was a good thing for them.

They were able to slip behind each Cultivator easily and proceed forward, speeding up their exploration greatly.

The Fire Shards changed again when they reached the fifty-kilometer mark. Not only did the heat of the cave and glow become more intense, but the crystals were larger and had turned into Greater Fire Shards, a much rarer version of the former.

William's eyes glittered with greed, but before he could try to snatch some of them into his Space Ring, he was interrupted by a massive fireball barreling straight for Carl's side of the shadow.

William was forced to control the Fire Mana when it was mere centimeters from Carl's skin, absorbing the entire attack in place of his friend. His eyes became fierce as he looked at the unknown enemy that was covered from head to toe in an ice-like armor.