Infinite Potential System

William evaluated his condition further to find that not only had he grown a beard, but his feet and back hurt a bit when he walked.

Previously, he thought he was still exhausted from being attacked by white lights while unconscious, but now he realized it was from old age.

-37 isn't that old. I'm over a hundred million years of age.

You're what?!? William was baffled. This was the first time the System had revealed any information about itself, and it did so willingly without charging him a ton of Potential Points.

He couldn't help but be awed by the System, though. That's not just old, that's ancient!

-Hmph!

Wait I didn't mean it! William tried to console the System, but it was no longer responding. Even when he asked questions about his condition, it was completely silent.

Whatever. William stopped bothering with the System and his age problem.

I'll have to be careful in the future. If I fall asleep during a battle like this again, I might wake up to be a hundred-year-old man...

As long as William didn't overuse his Regeneration Talent, he would be alright. He could live with being in his thirties, but it might not be a bad idea to invest in some pills that help him maintain his appearance.

William finished off the Medusa and was teleported directly to the 102nd floor, where the stone statue of a lion with golden fur waited for him.

The lion burst forth from the stone statue without warning and released a loud roar. There wasn't even a message from the trial creator welcoming him to the floor this time.

William dodged the roar, which was actually a soundwave attack that would probably knock the lungs out of him. His Array Puppets were brought with him to the floor, but they were idle and needed to be controlled, so it would take a few seconds to establish a connection with them.

In the meantime, William launched fireballs at the golden lion, blasting against its pelt and spreading across its entire body.

A gentle glow lit up on the lion's fur, absorbing the attack without causing any real damage, much to William's disappointment.

It's immune to the Fire Element, huh. Then let's try Ice!

William spread ice across the ground at the golden lion's feet, its claws struggling to maintain a foothold. William spread more ice around the room, until the entire floor was covered in ice. The lion's speed was restricted, so William threw an Ice Spike in its direction.

The Ice Spike flew through the air at high speed, but shattered the moment it touched the golden lion's fur. William tried a few other spells, including Earth Spikes and Lightning Bolts, but nothing seemed to work.

So, it's completely immune to all Magic? That's so overpowered!

William had a feeling he would eventually encounter an enemy like this, but he didn't expect to see one so soon. After all, he wasn't even a Cultivator yet!

Thankfully, William had also invested a lot into his Physical Talents over the past few months, so he wasn't helpless against such a foe. He could at least use Magic to restrict the golden lion's movement, then follow up with physical attacks.

William finally completed re-establishing his connection with the Array Puppets, so he ordered the Starmetal Bow Puppet to launch a poison-tipped arrow at the lion.

Much to his surprise, even the Starmetal Bow couldn't pierce its fur, the arrow bouncing off as if the pelt was steel and the arrow was made out of rubber.

The lion roared with anger at William, releasing another sound wave that pushed back the Array Puppets. It dashed forward at the Starmetal Bow Puppet but was stabbed in the side by the Glaive Puppet. While the Glaive also wasn't able to pierce its fur, the force of the attack knocked the golden lion to the side and caused it to slip on the icy floor.

Even weapons don't work. Can this thing even be killed? William wondered.

"There has to be a way!" he wasn't going to give up so easily. How could a trial be impossible to clear, and how could a Magical Beast be completely perfect with no flaws?

He evaluated the golden lion as it fought, controlling the Array Puppets to avoid its attacks. He realized that some of the Array Puppets were moving less swiftly than before, their arms and legs slightly restricted by some sort of force.

The golden lion landed an attack on one of the weaponless Puppets that was a bit slower than the rest, slicing off its arm in one clean strike. The Array Puppet lost its balance and fell to the floor but was defended by the Glaive Puppet that blocked the golden lion's follow-up attack.

After inspecting one of the affected Puppets, William found that they had been partially petrified by Medusa on the previous floor. Even so, the golden lion shouldn't have caused so much damage to an improved Array Puppet. At most, the attack should have created a deep cut, but not severed the arm from its body.

So, the lion has both incredible defense and powerful attack. This thing is a literal boss monster!

Technically, every enemy in the trial tower was a boss monster, but William's monstrous strength made them seem much weaker than they actually were.

After half an hour of fighting defensively, William found that the golden lion's weak point was inside its mouth, a place that couldn't be protected by its fur. Another method that seemed to work was blunt force damage, such as palm strikes and strangling.

With these two in mind, William recalled his damaged Puppets to his side so they could automatically repair their injuries, replacing them with an undamaged set from his Space Ring. He dodged the attacks from the golden lion with ease, handing off the weapons to the new set of Array Puppets.

The new set of Array Puppets would serve as William's support, blocking the lion's claw strikes while waiting for the beast to roar.

The long-awaited moment had arrived, the golden lion opening its mouth briefly to launch a soundwave attack. William was prepared for this moment, controlling the Starmetal Bow Puppet to release a readied arrow straight into the golden lion's mouth.

The arrow and soundwave clashed, but the aerodynamic design of the arrowhead allowed it to travel forward without losing much of its momentum. It embedded itself in the roof of the golden lion's mouth, slightly off the intended target.

William meant for the arrow to travel down the golden lion's throat, but this was also acceptable. The poison spread quickly throughout the lion's system, slowing down its attacks and making it stagger a bit.

It closed its mouth, but the effect made the arrowhead dig deeper into the lion's mouth, causing it to roar in pain while shaking its head. William didn't miss this opportunity and had the Bow Puppet launch two more arrows, one narrowly missing while the other dug into the lion's tongue.

Maybe I should upgrade the Ranged Weapons Master Talent... William thought. The Talent at D-Rank was quite effective, but William felt that the accuracy could be increased further, especially since he was missing shots from only twenty meters away, even if the lion was moving around.