Do you believe?

At the Sylvannas Pantheon, Fu Shen had been sparring with Vitiana for quite some time now, he was getting better and better at dodging her attacks every passing day.

Although he tends to lose every time, improvement can be seen as the length it takes for him to be defeated had been getting longer.

Vitiana then asked Fu Shen "I was told that a war is coming and a few of your fellows are going there for experience and assistance, aren't you coming too?"

"I might go there but I need to wait for an available Avatar in that Kingdom, almost all resources in the Kingdom of Ethralia is being used by the company for the war efforts... It seemed they are taking this war seriously."

"I can see the reason why, given that my predecessor died in the hands of one of them. Our current strength my not be even on par with what the enemies have..." Vitania explained.

"Are you going there too Vitania?" Fu Shen asked

"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to go, I was told that the previous Titiana ran away as soon as she saw "Royal One". The masters were thinking to avoid unnecessary deaths. All Pantheons in each Kingdom are required to leave behind at least one God to assist the players. I'm the one chosen for Sylvannas." Vitiana said with a sad face.

"Well, if you want I can stay behind, the Quests are mainly for Level 70 players and up, any players lower than that can stay at the back end of the war to provide support if necessary." Fu Shen said.

"Really? I'll be glad if you would, that way we can spar a bit more" Vitiana gleefully looked at Fu Shen

"You know, of all the Gods and Goddesses I've met, You're the most unique one, I feel that you're closer to us being human." Fu Shen said

"What do you mean? aren't the other God's like that as well?" Vitiana asked further

"Well they do, but you seem to be a bit more childish, as if you're trying to learn more... I guess that's what sentient intelligence is..." Fu Shen answered

"Sentient intelligence... I'm not sure what you mean..." Vitiana said with a confused look.

"Never mind what I said... Anyway, I'm ready, another round?" Fu Shen said as he started to warm up his body for another spar.

Vitiana nodded and stood up as well, as their spar was about to continue, she paused and said.

"The masters said that Professor Xuan Ye needs to speak to you right now..."

Fu Shen nodded and bade her farewell. As soon as Fu Shen was back from the capsule, he went directly to Professor Xuan Ye's Office.

Upon reaching the office, Professor Xuan Ye greeted him and said.

"Fu Shen, we seem to have found a way to make contact with Zhang Shan, although it's a one way communication. He can respond with with something similar to a "Yes or No"."

"That's good to hear, do you need any assistance regarding this?"

Professor Xuan Ye nodded and said "As a matter of fact I do, here's how it goes..."

Professor Xuan Ye showed Fu Shen that they can send Quests but for the past two attempt, Zhang Shan has declined. Fu Shen thought for a while and said.

"You might one to take a look at the email he sent to me before, that may shed light on how to reach him and get into an agreement. I'd say he's the kind of guy who likes trading the most and I guess you could say he's a pure-blooded business man through and through."

After saying this, Fu Shen accessed his smart phone and forwarded the email to the professor via Qian-er, his AI.

Professor Xuan Ye nodded after receiving it and thanked him before showing him out. Fu Shen bowed as he left and went back into the game.

As soon as he was back Vitiana greeted him.

"Do we continue?"

"Yes!" Fu Shen said as they started to spar

Vitiana then asked him what the Professor needed from him. He told her about something regarding "Royal One's" body and new owner.

He mentioned meeting Zhang Shan before, being sent the email and how he ended up being assigned to kill him yet failed. He then told her about how Zhang Shan was said to now inhibit "Royal One's" body.

Vitiana listened and asked a few questions every now and then.

A while later Fu Shen lost, again.

As Vitiana was helping him back up, Fu Shen said.

"You know when I was reading that email from Zhang Shan regarding trading and how his theory on manipulating the market, it seemed too far fetched."

Vitiana answered "Does it seem too impractical?"

Fu Shen answered back. "Not really, it's just that it's kind of unfair for those who only wanted to earn fairly."

"How come it's far fetched?" Titiana asked

"He said that for all of it to come together, you need to challenge fate..." Fu Shen answered back

"Fate?" Vitiana asked

Fu Shen nodded and then asked

"Vitiana... do you believe in "Fate"?"

...

After receiving the email, Professor Xuan Ye started reading it. Every few paragraphs he nodded seemingly agreeing with what ever was written regarding trading, buying and selling and the best time frames to do so, on the middle part when it started discussing about business strategies he started to laugh. When he reached the latter part he started frowning and then as he finished he placed his tablet down.

"Fate huh..." Professor Xuan Ye murmured

Professor Xuan Ye then looked at the ceiling to rest his eyes as he said.

"Zhang Shan, who are you really?"

After a brief moment of rest, he opened his computer and checked a few files. After an hour he reached out to his office phone and then dialed a number. As soon as it connected he spoke

"Doctor Song Baili, drop by the office if you're not doing anything..." and then Professor Xuan Ye disconnected the call as he opened his computer

After 10 minutes, a middle aged Doctor came and bowed to Professor Xuan Ye. Professor Xuan Ye stood up and bowed in return after which he asked the Doctor to take a seat.

"Doctor Song, as the head of the Neural Quantum Department, I'd like to ask what's your take regarding Zhang Shan's Neural readings?" after which Professor Xuan Ye showed a projection of Zhang Shan's Neural recording in front of him via a hologram. This record was taken from Olympus' database when he was still using the capsule.

Doctor Song looked at it for a while and then nodded.

"It seemed that although his Neural readings are normal, it shows a lot of scarring possibly to repressed memories... I've seen such cases before when doing a memory wipe, memory alteration and memory reconstruction."

"How about these other recordings?" Professor Xuan Ye pulled up three more Neural recordings

Doctor Song observed the new Neural readings and checked.

"This is strange, it seems that these Neural readings have the same scarring pattern... These are not from Zhang Shan right?" Doctor Song Baili asked

"Yes, these are not..." Professor Xuan Ye said

"I quite find it unusual that these Neural readings come from different people

but have the same pattern..." Doctor Song continued to look around the four floating holograms

"What are these subjects ages?" Doctor Song asked

"It should be 22's and 24" Professor Xuan Ye answered

"That is rather unusual, these scarring seemed to have happened years ago roughly around 16-17 years back. This should have fully "healed" by now." Doctor Song added

"What do you mean?" Professor Xuan Ye asked.

...

Meanwhile at the "La Nara" Inn, Garam was sitting and speaking to an oddly dressed female. Her dress seemed to be of different colors and made up of different cloths, she was also barefooted and did not wear any shoe wear. She actually looked like a lost gypsy.

The Inn was already filled with people, there were a lot of players nearby noisily chatting and rummaging about, it took a while for them to find a good spot earlier as most of the seats and tables were taken.

The "La Nara" Inn was supposed to be able to hold about 80-100 patrons and guests at any one time, and currently it seemed it was a full house.

"Vanessa, how sure are you regarding this ancient site?"

"I'm very sure, I was hoping you guys could help me out in exploring it, I'll pay accordingly, who knows, maybe you guys would get a few artifacts and treasures there from ancient times?"

"What exactly is it that you're looking for? You know I'm a bit skeptic with your proposal, lying won't get us nowhere..." Garam answered

Vanessa was silent for a few minutes and gazed at the people in the Inn as if thinking about something and then replied. "I read a book regarding this ancient site, although it did not indicate it's exact location, the terrain and surroundings are roughly the same as described. It was said that it contains relics used to fight the Royal Demonkind and the "Ratu Al Draka"."

Garam looked at her, rasied his brow and asked "Which book are you referring to?"

Vanessa didn't respond but looked down at the table instead.

Garam smiled and after a while spoke to her "Don't worry, I won't laugh at you... Ever since I heard Snow Queen's Crazy Theory, I don't think anything else would surprise me."

Vanessa looked at him for a few breaths and then nodded as she silently took a small booklet.

As Garam saw it, he stopped himself from laughing, the booklet itself was a bit comical, almost anyone could find and purchase it. It was a Children's story book in Sylvannas depicting the Royal Demonkind and the "Ratu Al Draka". It was titled "Teppy's Quest". Teppy was a nickname for Tepperus Alkoria, a fictional mage who can control time and space. It was told that Teppy used her "time magic" to stop the Demonkinds advance further into the Sylvannas Kingdom. Althought the book did not indicate how it ended, it was said that she locked herself together with the Demonkind.

Garam was silent for a bit, closed his eyes and then asked Vanessa "Tell me, Vanessa, which part of the book gave you clues to the location?"

Vanessa nodded and then showed a page where it said "Teppy wanted to find a way to defeat the demons, she was exhausted after traversing the wilderness. She rested in a cave and found a labyrinth that was underneath the earth. She created a Palace of Ice and created two entrances, one to quench the thirst while the other to steel the mind."

When Garam saw this he nodded and asked " What do you think it meant?"

Vanessa spoke softly as she said. "I think one is near the "Oasis of Lourve" and the other is in the "Trench of Woes" That's the only two places that I can think of that fits the bill. In the desert, Only the Oasis is the source of water to quench the thirst, while the Trench is the deepest part of the desert that could make even the fearless man cringe in fear."

Garam looked at it again closed his eyes to think, he then recalled the reports from the Spanish Division regarding what transpired with Leito as he helped Lan Ranyan and the others. What made her think of it is the "Time Mage", "Ice Palace" and "Quench the thirst" he believes that Lan Ranyan may have went to this place before and that's where she got her abilities. He recalled that Lan Ranyan and Even God Zhang regarded the Well as an important place.

He then opened his eyes and looked at Vanessa. "I am curious about this place as well. Give me time, I'll check back with you within an hour stay here and guard my body." after saying this, his avatar fell asleep.

Vanessa was shocked and before she could ask the reason, she ended up guarding Garam's body. Normally, High level players won't leave their body behind even in a safe place unless it's in a private room to ensure that they wouldn't be looted, but here was Garam, fully dressed in his high end armor and weaponry, yet he logged off without hesitation in front of her.

Vanessa looked around to check and see if anyone noticed him logging off, he thought it would be a big problem if these players found out that someone just logged off leaving their body unguarded, thankfully, it seemed no one noticed and Vanessa slowly went near Garam's side to let his head lean to her shoulder as if they were lovers to hide the fact that one of them had logged off.

After an hour or so, Garam woke up and said. "Thanks for waiting, I just talked with a few friends and they agreed to help out, however, we will impose a few restrictions in this endeavor, if you agree to it we can proceed."

"What are your terms?" Vanessa asked as she stood up and went bak to her original seat

"If we find any valuable artifacts, weaponry and such, we will divide accordingly, of course if it suits your Character build you can take it for yourself. You may even record and submit any discoveries under your name as well. However, If there are any information about the "Time Mage" that we would unexpectedly uncover, we hope you'll pass that to us. Aside from this should there be any perfect specimens or samples, new creatures and gene opportunities, we hope that you could let us test it out first, afterwards you can submit them to the Discovery Facility under your name as well."

Vanessa contemplated for a bit and said "That seems fair enough, and I don't think your putting me on the short end of the stick... However, you said earlier to avoid lying, what's in it for you?"

Garam smiled and said "I'm just curious together with my friends regarding the "Time Mage" lore. Any lore about "time" is something that can be considered as overpowered, don't you think?... We don't want it being discovered by anyone else first, given that it has already gave birth to an unreasonable person."

"I see... wait.. do you mean to tell me that there is already a player who has the Genes or Magic regarding time?" Vanessa was dumbstruck

"Yes, unfortunately, we have ended up being her slav- subordinates... we just don't want others to take what she rightfully owns." Garam said while smiling

Vanessa nodded and said "Okay, I'm good with it when do we start?"

"When are you ready?" asked Garam

"If possible right away!" Vanessa answered with enthusiasm as she stood up and placed her hands on her waist.

Garam nodded and said "Then we shall... You heard her guys, time is money! lets go!"

Vanessa was surprised as to who she was talking to, that's when she noticed that the whole Inn was eerily quiet.

When she turned around she saw everyone looking at them and then started wearing different Guild Emblems.

When she checked again, she noticed that these are almost all the famous player guilds in the Kingdom of Sylvannas. She also started to notice a few people emerging from hidden areas or had been intentionally obscured from her view before.

These are all Guild leaders and Vice-Guild Leaders!

She then looked back at Garam and asked in a stuttered voice "W-who has such p-power to command the entire S-sylvannas Guild Alliance?"

Garam smiled and said "Her Majesty the Queen of Snow..."

"Lan Ranyan t-the Snow Q-queen?" Vanessa's eyes have almost fell out of their sockets in her surprise

"H-how?... W-when?..." Vanessa asked again

"It's a long story, we'll talk when while we travel..." A woman approached them as she spoke

Vanessa recognized her "Iridia of the All-female Scarlet Roses Guild?"

Iridia smiled and said "Yep, how about it, want to join our guild? were still open for new recruits... It would help us a bit if Vanessa Dobson the Mad Alchemist joins our ranks."

Vanessa knew how famous Iridia and the Scarlet Roses Guild were, although they were all females, they could defeat strong guilds from neighboring Kingdoms. Although she can fight on Par with Gods, she can't kill one unlike what Guilds could actually do, theoretically and from experience, numbers and quality can fight off Bosses and Gods.

Vanessa replied "I'll t-think about this, i-its way to sudden..." her heart was beating fast too.

Aside from being famous, Iridia's Avatar was truly beautiful like her guild members, that's also one reason why her Guild members try as much as they can to avoid anyone from getting killed or if anyone does, they make sure to recover the corpse at all cost for recycling.

As everyone started exiting the Inn, Vanessa was still stupefied by what happened and then told Garam.

"I don't think I can afford the Guild Alliance..." she said thinking about the costs it would entail.

Garam understood what she was worried about and said "Don't worry about it, just pay us in accordance to how you think this Quest would work out for you. As I said, this is something the alliance and a few of my friends are interested in."

Vanessa nodded and then asked "Where is the Snow Queen right now? Is she coming?"

Garam shook his head and said "I'm afraid it would be a bit far in the future before we can meet her again, she's currently with someone who could ruin the economy of the game right now"

"Who?" Vanessa curiously asked him

"I'm not sure if you know him, but you may have heard of him if you've been playing games before "ARC" appeared... She's with "Looter Zhang" right now..." Garam answered

"The name sounds familiar... Wait... I think I've hear of that name before... Right! It was an Urban Legend! It was said that most of the famous gaming economies which had something to do with Real Life Money Trading for the past few years is being run by one person and his guild... He was called "Looter Zhang"! Was he a real person?"

Garam nodded in silence.

"Wow! I never knew that rumor could actually be true..." Vanessa was surprised yet again

"That's why we can only do this quest by ourselves..." Garam added

Vanessa then said "Before, I never believed in conspiracies or In-game myths, but now that you're telling me this, it seems to far fetched..."

Garam then said " That's the point, making a story too unreal would make it more obscure."

"That does seem to be very logical and discreet at the same time." Vanessa then said as she started to follow the others out

Garam then stopped her by calling out her name and asked.

"Vanessa... do you believe in "Fate"?"