The Deceitful One



Sunday, 15th July 1582.

The sky was dyed a shade of reddish-orange as the setting sun shone its lights on the city of Nadir. The tall skyscrapers reflecting the light of the sun made the entire city appear to be ablaze with a golden hue.

Due to this phenomenon that could be seen on most days, Nadir was also called the City of Gold. But it was only called that in the circles of businessmen and entrepreneurs who came to the city looking for opportunities.

The title of City of Dreams would forever be irreplaceable!

One by one all the street lights as well as the lights from buildings were slowly turned on. Nadir had come back to life once again.

In the southern part of the city, the neighborhood of Calm Springs was as peaceful as ever. At his new three-storied house, Bryan was currently sitting by the pond in the garden and feeding the fish.

Apart from meditation, this had become his new pastime hobby. For some reason, he really appreciated it. Furthermore, the calm and serene environment of his house was also much to his liking.

This was because Calm Springs was situated a little bit away from the downtown area of Nadir. And since only the affluent people resided in this neighborhood, everyone was very civilized. Hence, there was no clamor at any time of the day.

Donald slowly walked toward Bryan and spoke politely, "Master, all the changes that you suggested to the house have been made."

Bryan looked at him and smiled, "Good job."

Over the last couple of days, Bryan had instructed Donald to hire some workers and painters and refurbish the interior of the house.

Much of the house remained the same. Only the entire third floor and the painting room on the second floor had been renovated.

It went without saying that Bryan would have definitely changed the painting room. He had transformed that entire room into one where he could meditate peacefully.

As for the third floor, earlier it had three separate bedrooms. Bryan had renovated the whole floor so that there was only one large bedroom.

Moreover, he also got the workers to make a small comfortable bed for Benny right beside his bed. Naturally, Benny also approved of it.

Bryan got up from his seat and started to walk towards the house. He asked, "Are those workers still here?"

Donald followed behind him and replied respectfully, "Yes, master. But they are about to leave."

"Hmm," Bryan stopped in his footsteps and then looked at an empty clearing in the garden and pointed at it, "Have them make a small gazebo over there."

Donald replied, "As you wish, Master. But…"

Bryan waved his hand, "Don't worry about it. You can tell them to start working on it from tomorrow onward."

Donald breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that Bryan would instruct the workers to start working now. Since it was already past their working hours, it was highly doubtful that they would start now.

But thankfully Bryan was considerate. This was also something that Donald had come to realize over the past couple of days from his interactions with Bryan.

To him, it felt as if he wasn't talking to a very wealthy person at all! Instead, he felt the complete other way around.

Usually, people of such wealth and stature had a chip on their shoulders. They always acted arrogant, especially in front of the poor. But Bryan wasn't like that.

Out of curiosity, Donald had asked him for the reason. And much to his surprise, Donald found out that Bryan actually hailed from the slums of Damascus. This came as a great shock to him!

Bryan had told him that he had just turned 30 years old this year and up until the age of 18, he used to live in the slums! To be able to amass such wealth and come so far only in a mere span of twelve years was incredible!

Donald couldn't help but respect and admire Bryan even more after he heard his story. People like Bryan gave people like Donald hope. The hope that if one continued to put in the effort, they were guaranteed to succeed in life.

Donald was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when Bryan asked him, "Have you seen Benny?"

"Benny is in the kitchen, master," Donald replied with a chuckle.

Another thing that Donald had found really surprising was the existence of Benny. He had never seen a cat such as him! Ever!

Benny was like the most intelligent creature that Donald had ever seen. He even thought that Benny might be actually smarter than most humans! Although, this seemed incredulous, seeing was believing.

Listening to Donald, Bryan couldn't help but facepalm, "That little rascal… Is he eating again?"

"I'm afraid so," Donald replied with a helpless sigh, "The house cook hasn't gotten any rest at all since you arrived. He's always cooking something or the other for Benny."

Bryan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh as well, "At this rate, he's going to become round. You all should limit his food intake."

The duo entered the house and Donald shut the door behind him. He then turned around and replied with an awkward smile, "It's going to be difficult to do that, master. You see… Benny bullies the cook a lot if he isn't given anything to eat."

Bryan rolled his eyes, "Take me to him."

Donald nodded and then led Bryan to the kitchen. As soon as the duo entered the kitchen, what entered their view was a scene of pandemonium!

A couple of servants were laying on the floor, breathless. They had dark bags under their eyes, almost as if they hadn't slept in days.

And the worst of them was the house cook. He looked as if he had fought a terrible war for days on end but in the end, he still had to succumb to defeat.

Bryan looked at the state of all the people in the kitchen and couldn't help but mutter, "What the fuck?"

He then looked at Benny who was lying on the table counter surrounded by empty plates on all sides. The plates looked spic and span but the truth was that all of them had been licked clean! To the point that they looked brand new!

And Benny, he was lying on his back and his eyes were shut. He had a satisfied expression on his face. His lips had curled up into a faint smile and his whiskers moved around lazily from time to time.

He continued to gently massage his bloated tummy and purred every now and then. When Benny felt the presence of Bryan, he opened his eyes with great difficulty and transmitted a message mentally,

'Bryan… I think I'm about to die… Help.'

Bryan's lips couldn't help but twitch. He looked at Benny's euphoric expression and rolled his eyes, "Die from overeating, you mean?"

"Meow~" Benny replied happily.

Bryan walked towards him and gently picked him up. Benny made himself comfortable in Bryan's embrace and within a few moments, he drifted off to sleep.

Looking at Benny's adorable expression, Bryan couldn't help but smile warmly, "You gluttonous little rascal! When you wake up, I'm going to make sure to give you a good bath."

Benny's body trembled ever so slightly. But he didn't dare open his eyes. He just pretended to sleep.

Looking at Benny's reactions, Bryan chuckled. He then looked at the maids and the house cook and instructed, "You guys take the rest of the day off."

"But master what about your dinner?" Donald reminded. It was fine if the servants in the house went to bed on empty stomachs. But the master of the house should not.

Bryan waved his hand nonchalantly, "I'm going to go out anyways. I'll eat something outside."

Donald wanted to say something but when he looked at the state of the house cook who had overworked himself, he decided not to.

Instead, he suggested, "I know how to cook as well, Master."

Bryan turned to look at him and raised his eyebrow, "Never mind that. Do you know how to drive?"

"Of course!" Donald replied confidently.

"Good," Bryan nodded, "We'll leave in two hours then."

"As you wish, master." Donald bowed respectfully, "I shall wait for you outside the house then."

Bryan then went back upstairs to the meditation room. He decided to meditate for a couple of hours and then head outside.

As a Transcendent, one still had to carve mind runes just like they did in the Apprentice stages. For Rank 1 Transcendent, one had to carve 9 mind runes. For Rank 2, one had to cave 18 mind runes.

With each increase in ranks, the mind runes increased in increments of 9. Bryan had already carved the first mind rune before that incident in Damascus.

And after consuming the Sacred Fruit, much to his surprise, Bryan realized that seven more mind runes—and most of the 9th rune—had already been carved. He attributed this to the strange energy that was released from the Sacred Fruit.

Usually, it would take a Transcendent about a year to advance from Rank 1 to Rank 2. However, Bryan was luckily able to take a shortcut. Well, technically it wasn't a shortcut because over a year had already passed in the Waking World.

But nonetheless, he was very happy about this unexpected development. At least, he wouldn't have to waste another year to advance to Rank 2.

Now, he only needed to finish carving the 9th mind rune before he could officially advance to a Rank 2 Transcendent.

And with his physique which was already at Rank 2, Bryan believed that after he carved this final mind rune and advanced, he would be much stronger than the average Rank 2 Transcendent.

Bryan sat down in a lotus position, took a few deep breaths, and entered a trance-like state. He was finally going to complete carving the final mind rune within this meditation session!