Infinite Potential System

As Uri neared the end of his five-day flight, William and his friends smelled a slight stench in the air. It was as if someone had forgotten to take out the trash for a few weeks or returning from vacation to find spoiled food in the fridge.

It was slight, but Uri was flying only a few hundred meters below the clouds, so they were well above the source of the smell.

They leaned over the side of Uri's back, peering at the discolored water that was greener than it was blue. Just a few dozen kilometers ahead of them was the Velos Continent's shoreline, which could hardly be called as such.

Instead of sandy beaches or rocky formations, the shore was a swampland dotted with greyish mangroves and filled with small green lifeforms hidden underwater that William could only compare to a mix between a slug and leech.

"This is the Velos Continent?" Tia scrunched her nose. She was the first of the group to seal her sense of smell with her Spirit Qi and was starting to regret coming with William.

"Why do you say it like that? This place seems perfect for Alchemy!" Yuming also sealed his nose while looking at the diverse fauna with excitement. "Those are Poison Sleeches, a great ingredient for the Poison Blood Pill! If we find one in the Nascent Soul Realm, I might be able to make my first Tier 6 Pill!"

As an Alchemist, Yuming had studied both herbs and Magical Beasts thoroughly before leaving— a must if one didn't want to miss out on rare ingredients while exploring. He had even asked William for a few books on Beasts of the Velos Continent, who promptly sto- borrowed it from the Yu Royal Family's library.

"Those will also drain your blood and Mana in seconds, and even a Core Formation Poison Sleech can cripple a Nascent Soul Cultivator if you ignore it for too long. They feed on Poison Mages to grow stronger and are one of the few Magical Beasts that can improve their Magic Affinity." Carl replied before Yuming could get any dangerous ideas.

Gunther pointed to the mangroves, "Those are Mangled Moongroves! Their bark can be combined with many ores to create tough and flexible armor with more resistance to poison than even Advanced Arrays can achieve. At night, anything made with it gains even more defensive power!"

Carl snorted and pointed at a large bird nest in one of the trees, having studied the Magical Beasts of the Velos Continent years before. "And many are the home to the Toxin Obliteration Egret, which is the mutated form of the Toxin Egret. They've existed for thousands of years, and the Obliteration in their name isn't just for show."

William nodded to each of their comments, but he was focused on one thing in particular. His Life Sense was tracking the vitality of all the nearby creatures, but something about their activity became odd the moment they came within five kilometers of the shore.

The Poison Sleeches started to group together on his Life Sense, swimming just a few centimeters below the water's surface towards the Flame Dragon in the sky.

"Have you noticed that they're all... looking at us?" William asked.

Uri laughed, "We're so high up, how could they even notice our presence, much less see us?"

William scratched his head, "Never mind. I guess it's just my imagination."

Uri flew over the shore and continued forward for a few more kilometers until they reached a small city where they could confirm their current location. The swampland transitioned into stable ground, but the soil was tinted green and there were only sparse stalks of grass.

When Uri landed, the group got off his back while William opened a portal to an unknown location much to their confusion. He reappeared in the same spot a few minutes later with a satisfied smile while his green-stained hands slowly returned to their usual peachy color.

"Where were you?" Yuming asked.

"More like, what did you do this time?" Carl knew William's antics like the back of his hand, and this was too suspicious to pass up on.

"I just had something to check out, that's all."

Carl wasn't convinced, "Did you take something? From the shoreline perhaps?"

"It was just a few things, nothing much." William shrugged.

"How much?" Carl pressed further.

"..."

Carl crossed his arms in front of his chest while William raised a single finger.

"Just one item?" Gunther asked. "That's not a big deal, it's not like anyone from the Velos Continent will care. After all, isn't our mission to take something from someone?"

Carl narrowed his eyes. He knew better than to accept the things William said at face value, "One what? One Space Ring?"

William looked to the ground in shame while the group laughed, having been discovered already. They decided to let the matter go since William was practically invincible anyway, choosing to enter the nearby city instead.

No one present except Uri had been to the Velos Continent, but even the dragon had only visited twice, so they needed to purchase a map and ask for information before searching for Marcus Rednel and the Alchemist.

Uri remained outside the city with the nervous guards while William and the group entered a simple general store and asked a butch lady with a mean stare where they could find a map. To their luck, she had a few in stock, but she charged William a whopping four hundred Gold Coins, which was absurdly expensive compared to Azures.

When Will tried to bargain, the lady frowned, "Visitors don't get discounts. Do you think mapping is easy in Velos? It would normally cost 480 Gold, but I know you won't last a week in the wilderness without the map."

She couldn't sense any of their Cultivation since she was only in the Core Formation Realm, but it was clear at a glance that none of them were over a hundred years old and doubted any were above the Golden Core. They were nothing but chickens in front of the Beasts native to Velos.

That's probably just the Moneybags Title's 20 percent discount in effect... William complained inwardly as he paid for the absurdly priced map.

-You have over two million Gold. Why are you complaining about this amount?

Money is money, System. You wouldn't understand.

The group checked out other sections of the city, but every storefront and even the Adventurer's Guild was either suspicious or outright rude towards them. It was completely different from how people were treated in the Azures Continent, and they decided to leave earlier than planned.

"I think it's best we check the Capital Cities first. There's six of them, right? Which Region are we in?" Carl asked as he leaned towards the map that was laid out on a nearby bench outside.

"They're not Regions, they call them Factions here for some reason. It looks like there are six Factions that control the Continent, and they've separated their boundaries with the same name. We're on the Western shore, which should be within the Revista Faction's territory." William replied, having asked the System beforehand.

"If you're going to visit the Revista Faction, I think I can help you get there." a voice said from behind.