When William tried to compare himself to Efretta, he was only left disappointed. His strength was higher than hers, but her ability to get others to do things for her was unmatched. After being targeted by a weaker enemy, she didn't even bother to take care of them herself, finding it a waste of ti.
Instead, she used tricks or her loyal subordinates to handle the issue either politically or with force. There was no need to get involved directly.
System, how long ago was this? William asked as he watched Efretta toying with an Ascended Cultivator. The man cloaked in golden aura was casting dozens of Spells in quick succession at Efretta, but his attacks seed to narrowly miss each ti.
When he beca frustrated and went for a large-scale attack, Efretta cast Space Magic on the man and teleported him to the center of his own Spell, then marked him with Chaos Mana and teleported herself away.
His own Magic that wasn't supposed to be able to injure him went mad when it felt the Chaos Mana, destroying the Cultivator's body in re seconds with no chance of revival.
-Are you using your free Response?
No, how much is it?
-160,000 Potential Points.
Confirm.
-This was roughly thirty thousand years ago, ten thousand years after Duon the Tiskipper's Disciple pierced a hole through the Planar Veil and unleashed a portion of the Soul-Sapping Necrotoxin over the Velos Continent.
Thirty thousand years ago... it explains why Efretta is revered as a Goddess even now. There's a good chance that many who knew Efretta are in the Ascended Realms.
She said sothing about being a body double, so this isn't the real her? How can a body double be so strong?
William continued watching, hoping to notice so secrets of Efretta's strength, but there was just too much to pay attention to! Her Spirit Aura was imnsely strong and repaired itself almost instantly, while her skill with the sword was impeccable.
At so point, Efretta found herself on the opposing side of the Heavens, but the Magical Beasts they spawned were nothing compared to her. All they could do was roar in frustration as Efretta effortlessly dodged all of their attacks just like she did with human Cultivators.
During one battle, William saw Efretta make her first mistake. A Cultivator tossed their spiked ball and chain weapon at Efretta during a mont when her Spirit Aura had been broken. When she tilted her head to the side to dodge, the Cultivator twisted his wrist and made the bulky part of the weapon land directly on the back of her neck.
A small wound developed on Efretta's body, but it healed rather quickly. What surprised him, however, was not the fact that Efretta was actually wounded for once, but the state of the Cultivator that threw the weapon.
Not only his neck, but everything above the base of the Cultivator's neck promptly exploded into a cloud of blood mist. He noticed a slight scowl on Efretta's expression, but he didn't understand exactly why. Not only this, but the unknown skill she used matched nothing William knew about the World.
Except...
The Attack Reflection Talent? William made a guess, but he wasn't entirely sure. Now that his train of thought went down that route, however, William started to notice a few things that suspiciously made sense now.
Regeneration Talent, Forcefield, many Magic Affinities... exceptionally good at Blacksmithing, Alchemy, and Arrays...
William couldn't believe what he was seeing. After reviewing what had happened in his mind, didn't Efretta do quite a few things that he would normally do?
A few days later, William watched as Efretta "inspected" the quality of the weapons and equipnt produced by her subordinates. After a closer look, wasn't Efretta really just making sure she touched everything?
Is she... earning Potential Points? William realized instantly. If he thought about it, William rarely saw Efretta kill a human herself. This was the first ti, and her expression suggested she wasn't exactly happy about it.
If my guess is right, she's probably losing Humanity Points for that. What is she so concerned about, though? It's only one human.
William suddenly felt like he should start looking for ways to increase his Humanity Score. Sothing about Efretta's reaction suggested that it wasn't as harmless as he thought.
System, is Efretta a Host? How many Hosts have you had? William decided to ask suddenly.
-Request requires 12.5 million Potential Points.
That's a lot of Points, System. I think I'll use one of my Free Responses this ti.
-Efretta was my 8th Host... the System you're seeing is just a fragnt of myself, a weaker version compared to what is attached to her main body. This is why Efretta has been harvesting Potential Points, so she can grow to the sa point as her previous self.
The System responded to William's request with a slight sadness in their tone, making him feel a little guilty for asking. He nodded earnestly and waited for the System to continue.
-You are the 10th Host, and also the slowest to progress of all my previous Hosts. By the end of their first year, my other nine Hosts had already Ascended and made a na for themselves in the Celestial Planes.
The slowest? Maybe that's not a bad thing. If they rushed to Ascend too much, maybe that was their downfall. William replied simply.
If he spent the entirety of his ti and being on trying to earn Potential Points as quickly as possible, he was dood to fail eventually. If even the System wasn't able to protect its Hosts from whatever was to co, that ant their enemies were probably on a similar level to the System.
They might even be actively searching for individuals like William that express a unique need for mass amounts of resources, or those that kill large numbers of Magical Beasts. It was another form of being high-profile.
System, do you think I have a chance against whatever your previous Hosts had to face?
-As it stands, your chances of achieving what the others hadn't is less than one percent. You've truly maintained the status of "Not Worthy" the entire ti.
William frowned. I thought I was getting stronger...
-You are. Your chances before were barely a tenth of what they are now. You've proven that you may be able to change and improve. Like you said, maybe slower progression is the Host I need to—
You need? What would you need for?
-Nothing.
I'd like to use the Free Ask Function Response for your answer.
-Denied.
What?! What's the point of giving these to if you get to choose what you tell ?
-Ask another question for free.
Never mind...
William continued to watch Efretta progress through the lower Realms, making a na for herself as her Cultivation climbed steadily. When she reached the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, a ti skip of a few thousand years took place while she prepared so things that the System said were nial in nature.
The mory of the past promptly ended imdiately after Efretta's body double Ascended, but there were still many gaps that had yet to be answered. First and foremost, where was the real Efretta? Did she die?
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