The Deceitful One



A little over two hours later, Bryan opened his eyes which shone like the brightest of gems. The dim meditation room seemed to have been lit up for a split second before going back to normal.

Bryan exhaled a deep breath and then scrutinized the mind runes. A faint smile spread across his lips as he confirmed that he had completely carved the 9th mind rune.

"Now, all that I need is the Rank 2 potion." He muttered under his breath.

The Book of Medici already contained the meditation techniques as well as the potion recipes all the way to Rank 3.

Bryan felt that he wouldn't have much difficulty acquiring the main ingredients and the supplementary ingredients. After all, this was Nadir! At the very least, it would be much easier than buying anything—Transcendent related—in Damascus.

Although Bryan did not know of any Transcendent conventions in the city, he knew a person who would most definitely know. It was none other than Grace!

And he was going to visit her now. Not face to face, of course. But in her dreams!

Bryan got up from his seat and walked towards his bedroom. He was planning to take a bath first and then head out with Donald.

After taking a quick shower, as Bryan was wiping his body dry, he caught a glimpse of his appearance in the mirror. He leaned closer and took a proper look.

"It's been a couple of days already since I've changed back to my appearance." Bryan sighed.

Ever since he had taken this house from Connor, he hadn't reverted back to his appearance. After all, he couldn't. That would surely scare the maids and servants present in the house.

Bryan raised his hand and wiped his face. When he lowered his hand, his face had changed back to his original face. The face of Bryan Lombardi.

He stared intently at the mirror and spoke solemnly to himself, "Never forget who you are!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Bryan's face began to twist and contort. And in but a few moments, his face had now changed back to that of Anthony Wayne.

Bryan looked at himself in the mirror and nodded. He wasn't planning to disclose his real identity to anyone. Not yet at least. For him, having a new identity also meant beginning anew.

He exited the bathroom and headed to his wardrobe. On the way, he saw Benny snoozing on his newly made extra comfortable bed.

Looking at his bloated tummy, Bryan couldn't help but chuckle heartily. He then put on his clothes and made sure to wear his black sunglasses as well.

A few servants and maids at the house had curiously asked him earlier why he wore sunglasses even at night. To which, he had replied that his eyes were very sensitive to light, even during nighttime.

The maids and servants had readily accepted this excuse. Or perhaps, they simply didn't dare to probe further. But Bryan thought that this would be the go-to excuse he would give to anyone who asked the same question.

And if they still persisted, then Bryan didn't mind giving them a slight taste of the hellish nightmare contained in his eyes!

After he had fully dressed up, he walked towards Benny's bed and gently lifted him up. He then headed downstairs.

Benny slowly opened his groggy eyes and looked around. After seeing that he was in Bryan's arms, he decided to go back to sleep again.

However, before that, he curiously asked, 'Bryan, are we going somewhere?'

"Yes," Bryan nodded as he walked down the staircase, "We're going out to eat."

Benny's eyes lit up. He agilely climbed and sat atop Bryan's shoulders. His earlier drowsiness had now completely vanished.

'Yes, let's go eat!' He transmitted mentally.

Bryan couldn't help but chuckle, "You've been eating quite a lot since you've come to Nadir. At this rate, you'll become fat and round."

Benny harrumphed, 'It cannot be helped. The food here is exquisite.'

Listening to Benny's excuse, Bryan couldn't help but roll his eyes.

'And besides,' Benny continued, 'I cannot get fat so easily. I have a high metabolism.'

Bryan raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Where are you learning such fancy words from?"

Benny licked his paw and replied, 'From the neighbors, of course! All of them seem to be quite educated.'

Bryan froze in his footsteps and looked at Benny incredulously, "Don't tell me! You've been visiting their dreams and learning new information?"

'Isn't that obvious, Bryan?' Benny stated matter-of-factly, 'We're in a foreign land. Naturally, I need to learn as much as possible about this place.'

Bryan felt that this was reasonable. However, he was still bothered about something else, "I hope you haven't been giving them nightmares."

Benny shook his head, 'Rest assured, I haven't.'

However, he thought inwardly with a devious smile, 'Yet.'

Bryan looked dubiously at Benny for a long time. But in the end, he couldn't help but sigh,

"Don't be so quick to give them nightmares. We have just arrived here. If the local Transcendents match our arrival with the time the nightmares started taking place, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

Benny nodded, 'I understand, I understand.'

The duo then exited the mansion and headed towards the parking space. Bryan saw that Donald was already waiting for him right next to the car.

When the latter saw Bryan approach, he greeted respectfully, "Good evening, Master Wayne."

Bryan waved his hand, "Drop the 'Wayne'. You can address me as Tony."

Donald smiled, "Very well, Master Tony."

He then opened the car door for him. And after Bryan had sat down along with Benny, Donald shut the door and hopped onto the driver's seat.

After turning the engine on and adjusting the rearview mirror, he asked, "Where to?"

"Take us to a good place to eat," Bryan replied.

"Anything specific that you're looking for?" Donald asked.

"Hmm," Bryan stroked his goatee and then replied, "Do you know of any famous street food place?"

Donald thought for a while and then his eyes lit up, "There is indeed a very famous one in downtown Nadir. The stall owner is from the Southern Continent and sells some of the best skewered meat in the city."

"All right!" Bryan nodded, "Take us there."

"Meoww~" Benny too gave a meow of approval.

Donald couldn't help but chuckle. He then pressed the accelerator and the car soon left the compound as it made its way towards the central part of the city.

Meanwhile, in the backseat, Bryan leaned back and performed dream divination. He had to admit, this new innate ability of his had surely made things a lot easier for him.

Soon, his eyes turned silver as he repeated a sentence in his mind, 'Grace Wilson's whereabouts…'

After a few minutes, after having received a revelation from the Dreamworld, Bryan opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

Although it was his innate ability, performing dream divination still felt a little taxing on him. After all, how could any form of divination be easy on the user?

Technically, dream divination was the same as the divination abilities of Wisdom and Fate Path Transcendents.

The only difference was, Bryan received revelations from the Dreamworld, whereas Wisdom and Fate Path transcendents received revelations from the River of Fate.

Scrying into the past, present, and future of a person or a thing was never an easy task. Bryan believed that when he advanced further in ranks, he would even be able to divine the future!

Unlike now, where he could only divine the present. He couldn't properly divine the future yet. The most he could do was receive a revelation about whether anything would bring him danger or not.

As he massaged his temples slightly, he asked Donald, "Where is the University of Nadir?"

"The university is also located in the downtown area." Donald replied politely, "Would you like me to take you there?"

"How far is the food stall that we're going to from the university?" Bryan asked instead.

"It should only be a few blocks away. After all, the University of Nadir has a large campus and occupies a lot of land in downtown Nadir." Donald replied.

"I see," Bryan nodded, "Let's go to the food stall first."

"Yes, sir." Donald nodded as he took a right turn. The car cruised down the street as it slowly approached its destination.

Bryan stroked Benny's head and asked mentally, 'Can you take me to the Dreamworld again?'

Benny nodded with his eyes shut, 'Sure! Are we going to meet someone?'

Bryan smiled, 'Yes. An old friend.'

He thought back to the time when he had first met Grace back in Damascus. So much time had passed. It had been more than a year. Well, for him it had been more than a year but to the rest of the world it had been far more.

The car soon parked in front of a building. Donald, Bryan, and Benny got out of the car. The former locked the car and then guided Bryan to the nearby food stall on the footpath.

Although the food stall was very small in size, surprisingly there were quite a lot of people gathered around it.

Bryan raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Oh? Seems like it's really popular."

Donald smiled, "Indeed, it is. Master Tony, what would you like to have?"

"Just order three plates of their bestseller," Bryan replied. He then walked back towards his car and leaned against its hood.

Meanwhile, Benny excitedly followed Donald to the food stall.

As Bryan looked at the tall buildings and the strange pieces of machinery all around him, he couldn't help but wonder, 'If Nadir is already so advanced, I wonder how Strinver City is!'

But he threw this to the back of his mind, 'Hmm, perhaps I can visit Strinver sometime later in the future.'

His lips curled up into a mischievous smirk, 'After all, there's still much to loot in the City of Dreams.'