Infinite Potential System

When the Corpse Gatherer fully turned, William was able to see the Middle Stages Ascension Realm creature in its full glory. Or rather... monstrosity.

Its bones were twisted and wrapped around its body in layers like an external full-body ribcage, and each of its four limbs had a skull attached. Counting the main skull, the Corpse Gatherer had five faces, each sporting the same dull expression.

Its arms were bulky as if it had bone muscles, but they didn't seem to serve any purpose other than making its punches heavier. Attached to the left arm was the giant shield, while the right was unarmed.

As a result of its immense size and body structure, each step taken formed cracks in the dungeon floor, but they healed almost instantaneously and caused no permanent damage. Its right arm dug into its side and ripped out a mass of bone, then threw the pieces into the air and performed a sweeping motion with its shield.

"Watch out!" Jason shouted as he raised an Earth Wall, barely fast enough to protect the group from a spray of bone bullets.

William raised an eyebrow, not expecting the bulky Corpse Gatherer to lead off with a ranged attack. He peeked out from behind the Earth Wall to see the skeleton preparing a second attack, ducking away just in time to avoid injury.

"I got this!" Benny yelled out while forming a tsunami and sending it around the Earth Wall. The Corpse Gatherer tried to step away, but the water turned into a pair of hands that gripped at one leg and threw the creature off balance.

Jeron followed up by casting Wind Mana into a hurricane that swept up the water and doused the Corpse Gatherer, then used Ice Magic to freeze the boss in place. He signaled to William, who used a Spatial Slash to slice off one of the Corpse Gatherer's legs.

The Corpse Gatherer opened its mouth in a soundless roar, but the group didn't allow the creature to vent its frustration and continued to target its joints with concentrated attacks until it couldn't get up anymore.

In less than a minute, its body exploded into a pile of ten Quake Dungeon Gems and a shield roughly a quarter the size of its body. Jeron stored the shield in his Space Ring, offering William three of the Gems while his two companions split the other seven.

Seeing the frown on William's face, Jeron spoke up. "If you don't like your share, we can figure it out in detail before we leave. I don't want to waste time arguing about these matters."

William curbed his discontent and nodded. "So that's it for the fifth floor?"

"Pretty much. The stairwell is over there." Jeron pointed to the boss room that they hadn't even entered yet, where an ascending set of stairs peeked out near the end.

"How far are we going this time?" Benny asked.

"Hmm..." Jeron looked at William, then back at his group. "We're making good time, and no one is hurt. I was going to stop at floor 9, but I think we can get more Gems from floor 11."

"You seriously want to fight the tenth-floor boss again? It took us almost three hours last time!" Jonas complained.

"That was just the three of us. With our new buddy here, it shouldn't be more than an hour. We'll be out of there in no time." Jeron smiled. "Besides, you know how good the loot is on 11."

"Ugh..." Jonas held his hand to his forehead, but he agreed to Jeron's plan eventually.

The group sorted out their equipment for a few minutes, then worked William into some more complex formations that would help them on the next few floors. Once they had a good understanding of each other, the group moved onward. Enjoy new stories from empire

The stairwell transitioned from the simple grey dungeon brick to a light green wood as William reached the sixth floor. At the same time, he noticed that there were no skeletons and even more disabled traps than before.

Sprouting from the walls were weeds and roots of various shapes and sizes, some of which shifted ever so slightly when William looked in their direction.

[Bestiary] Gnarled Bark: +1PP

"Be careful, those are Gnarled Bark. They're the only thing that appears on the Plant Layer." Jeron warned just moments after the System notification appeared. He pointed to a small bundle of roots that twisted in an unnatural shape, then cast a fireball that engulfed the creature and turned it into a Quake Dungeon Gem.

He continued, "They're nasty things if you get close, but pretty weak to anything that burns or poisons. Let me take care of them."

William nodded silently and followed along quietly while Jeron took care of everything in their path singlehandedly. While William missed out on a large number of Gems, he decided he would come back later and farm some by himself.

With the help of torches placed by past students and Jeron's Fire Magic, the group effortlessly cleared the sixth and seventh floors despite the level of Magical Beasts reaching the Middle Stages of the Ascension Realm.

The group took a few hours to rest on the eighth floor, waiting for Jeron to recover his Mana before continuing. The entire trip until the ninth floor was just like the previous few, but William's Navigation Radar started to pick up a few interesting areas that didn't seem explored.

At one point while traveling down a long hallway, the Radar showed a four-way intersection in the middle of nowhere, causing William's eyes to narrow in suspicion. He wanted to break through the wall to see what was on the other side, but he decided to wait until he was alone to check.

He mentally marked it off as a place of interest, choosing to follow the group through the stairwell to the tenth floor.

This time, Jeron went first, issuing orders to William as he moved.

"Be careful of this boss. It can't move, but its attack range covers pretty much the entire floor. It also has an absurd level of regeneration. If you destroy one of its limbs, let me know so I can destroy it completely. If you let it be for too long, it will regrow into a smaller version of the boss."

"A smaller boss? Is it a Demon?" William's eyes widened in surprise. Even after exploring the entire Mortal Realms, William had yet to hear of a creature with such insane regeneration other than a Demon.

"Nope. As far as I know, it's just a very special type of Gnarled Bark. You'll see, but don't get complacent. This thing is dangerous; my older brother and I were both seriously injured by it." Jeron's face was very serious as he spoke.

He peeled back the sleeve on his right arm, revealing a large patch of third degree burns that were heavily discolored. Judging by the severity of the burns and the fact that they hadn't yet been healed by Magic, William guessed it was a special type of injury.

"When did that happen?" he asked.

"Two months ago. My brother got the worst of it and is still healing at my residence. I'm mostly fine, but I probably won't recover for another two or three months." Jeron explained. "But enough about that, let's kill this tree."