The Deceitful One

As soon as Bryan entered the police station, he was greeted with a round of applause by the officers inside. He was taken aback by this sudden welcome.

Head Constable Smith who was standing at the front, came forward and enthusiastically shook Bryan's hand as he said, "Congratulations, Mr. Lombardi! Thank you for bringing the serial killer to justice. All of us are extremely grateful for your help."

'So that's what this is about.' Bryan thought in his heart, then he shamelessly said with a smile, "Of course! It is my duty. I wonder if there's any reward for helping bring peace and order to Damascus?"

Officer Smith's lips couldn't help but twitch but he still kept a professional smile on his face and replied, "Of course there is. The Damascus Police Station will reward you with 50 Pounds.

Furthermore, Mr. William Dyke who is the editor of Damascus Daily will publish a front page headline detailing your heroic deeds!"

'Tsk! I don't need fame. More money would have been fine, though.' Bryan said inwardly but he asked with a puzzled expression, "But why would Mr. Dyke do this? Is it that big of a deal for it to be on the front page?"

Officer Smith shook his head slightly and smiled, "Looks like you don't know, Mr. Lombardi. The young lady you rescued yesterday was the only daughter of Mr. William Dyke, Miss Fiona Dyke."

Bryan was a little surprised at the identity of the young blonde lady he had met last night. But he threw it at the back of his mind. He didn't really care if he appeared in the newspapers or not.

To be honest, all Bryan cared about was money and getting stronger.

Bryan then made a few small talks with Officer Smith and the other police officers he was familiar with. Then he headed to the underground shooting range to begin his gun shooting practice.

After an hour of shooting practice, Bryan left the police station and took a public carriage back to his apartment. Upon reaching home, Bryan took off his trench coat, hung it on the coat hanger, and sat down on the couch in the living room.

After resting for a few minutes, he got up and went to his bedroom. Inside his bedroom, there was a study table where Bryan usually worked.

He sat down on the chair, took out a sheet of paper from the drawer, dipped his quill in ink, and began writing a letter to Grace.

Bryan was planning to send this letter along with the Illusion Path potion recipe and meditation technique that he took from Kenny's house, through the post office to Grace's house in Nadir.

In the letter, he mentioned to Grace the origins of both the potion recipe and meditation technique. This was because he wanted Grace to further verify the authenticity of the two parchment papers.

Kenny's mental state was very erratic and he was in the process of turning into a monster. Naturally, Bryan didn't want to take a chance and have Grace risk it.

Therefore, he heavily emphasized Grace to verify the potion recipe and the meditation technique before using it.

Furthermore, he also wrote about some of the innate abilities that an Illusion Path Transcendent was capable of. These were, naturally, the abilities that he had seen Kenny use in battle.

After finishing writing the letter, Bryan checked it once for any mistakes. Then he folded the letter and put it inside a white envelope along with the two parchment papers that he had taken from Kenny's house last night.

Earlier in the day, Bryan had already memorized the contents of the two parchment papers and also written down a copy of it and kept it with himself. Of course, he had no intention of using it for himself.

Then he took a postage stamp that had the famous statue of the Goddess of Wisdom in Nadir on it, licked its backside, and stuck it on the back of the envelope.

Bryan wrote down the address of Grace's house in Nadir on the back of the envelope as well. Before Grace left for Damascus, she had already given Bryan her house address.

Bryan then took the envelope, put it in his suit pocket, and got up from the chair. He took his trench coat from the coat hanger and left the house. Heading to the Damascus Post Office to get this task over with.

…

Friday, 20th August 1580.

Over the last week, Bryan's daily routine was mostly the same as it had been in the past. Studying with Detective Watson, combat training, shooting practice, and repeating.

Although doing the same thing could get monotonous, Bryan could feel his growth and he loved the feeling of improving and getting stronger.

A few days back, Bryan received an invitation to a banquet at Mr. Dyke's house. He had wanted to formally thank him for saving his only daughter. The banquet would be held a week from now.

After all, the young lady whom he had saved, Fiona Dyke, still had to recover from her head injury. Not everyone had a medicinal potion. Bryan accepted the invitation. He didn't really have a reason to refuse.

On this day, Bryan opened his eyes from meditation. He had finally managed to carve the 29th mind rune. He felt that carving the mind runes was getting harder and taking longer than before.

But he was a patient man. Detective Watson had reminded him time and again that one could not hasten the process of carving the mind runes. One had to be patient and steady.

It was 8 pm right now. Bryan got off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. About fifteen minutes later, Bryan got out of the bathroom and changed into his pajamas.

Then he cooked himself a light dinner which consisted of chicken soup and a baguette. After having his fill, Bryan put the empty bowl and plate in the kitchen sink and then headed back to his bedroom.

He sat back on the bed in a lotus position, his eyes shining with excitement as well as a hint of trepidation. Bryan grabbed his pocket watch that was kept on the bedside table.

Looking at the intricately designed silver pocket watch in his hands, he took a deep breath and started to complete the refining process.

Tonight, Bryan would finally be able to completely unseal his pocket watch and unveil the mysteries hidden within!