"We don't want to play any games." Mi'er refused bluntly.
"Heh." The man in black robe chuckled.
Mi'er suddenly realized that she and Mia were still lying in the game cabin. It was too fake to say that she didn't want to play games, so she quickly made amends and said:
"… Especially with someone like you whose origins are unknown."
"How about this." The black-robed man chuckled and said, "I understand your caution, so I'll give you a reward."
"As long as you complete my game, you can get a reward. How about that?"
"What reward?" Mia asked.
"Hehe, Mia, you are still level 9, right?" The black-robed man looked up at her, but Mia could only see darkness under his hood. "You still need the last bottle of 'Shadow IV'? Ask has collected the main ingredients for you, but still lacks the formula and auxiliary materials, right?"
"How did you know?" Mia asked.
Without answering her question, the black-robed man continued, "I can give you the formula and auxiliary materials so that you can successfully advance to Lv. 10 and condense the blood of the Shadow Dancer. How about that?"
Mia didn't say anything. After thinking for a while, she asked again:
"What about Mi'er's reward?"
The black-robed man chuckled and said, "As for Mi'er, you have already been promoted to Lv.10, and you are still looking for a suitable law for cohesion, right?"
"That's about the same." Mi'er said vaguely.
"No." The man in black robe said leisurely, "You should have sensed the law ritual task. Let me guess... it's 'fate', right?"
Mi'er's face remained unchanged, but her heart was secretly filled with turmoil! How did he know? This matter... I haven't told anyone! Not even Ask knew!
"You want to know why I know this?" The man in black robe said calmly, "Because the ritual mission requires you to pursue the 'opportunity to change your destiny'..."
“… right here with me.”
Mier:!!!
"What is destiny? It is a collection of divergent world lines. At every 'present' time point, countless possibilities will radiate forward." The man in black robe said slowly, "The beautiful 'future' seems to have everything possible, but in fact it will be constrained by the 'present', that is, the constraints of the world line."
"For most people, the future is actually predetermined. Just like the salmon migrating in the Atlantic Ocean, although where they swim is controlled by their will, most salmon will only instinctively follow the school of fish, migrating along a fixed route cyclically every year, from birth, reproduction, to death."
"Only a few salmon may be suddenly disturbed by external factors in their unchanging destiny. For example, sudden changes in ocean currents, occasional diseases, or the unexpected intrusion of a catfish may force them to leave their original school. This change may be fortunate or unfortunate..."
"I don't understand what you're saying." Mia interrupted him.
"Oh, but Mi'er can understand, right?" The black-robed man's tone seemed to be full of interest, as if he was carving a piece of perfect quality jade. "The moment you condensed your blood, you saw a brief scene, you should have already understood it, right?"