The Deceitful One

Tuesday, 10th August 1580.

It was 4 pm in the evening and Bryan had just returned to his apartment at 7 Robinson Street. He locked the door to his apartment after entering, took off his trench coat and fedora hat, and hung them on the coat hanger.

He came to the living room and sat on the sofa, completely exhausted. Since yesterday, his schedule had become even more hectic.

In the morning, he would go to Detective Watson's house and study spell structures. He had also taken a few spell books from Detective Watson, hoping to use them when he advanced to Rank 3 Apprentice.

Learning the spell structures of Rank 0 spells didn't impede his other activities in any way. If anything, it would just be more convenient for him when he advanced to the next rank.

And the spell books that he had taken from Detective Watson were really to his liking. He couldn't wait to use it.

After tonight's round of meditation, he would finish carving the 28th mind rune and officially become a Rank 3 Apprentice.

After a two-hour-long study session, he would then start practicing combat techniques with Detective Watson. Lasting a minute against him in a sparring match was still a distant dream. However, Bryan wasn't too disappointed.

He would then go to the police station and act as a liaison between them and Detective Watson. He would gather all the relevant materials and information related to the case. After that, he would come back home and meditate and then refine his pocket watch.

The refining process of his silver pocket watch had also progressed quite a bit. Bryan believed that within the next 10 days, he will have completely refined it. He was both expectant and nervous regarding the contents of his silver watch.

After all, this was something his mother had left him. And it also contained information on the Path created by the Medici Family Ancestor. Regardless, the curtains would finally be drawn when he completed refining the pocket watch.

In the last two days, Bryan felt that he had learned a great deal from Detective Watson about investigating cases, finding clues, deducing patterns of the criminal's behavior, and several other things that would help one catch criminals.

He was full of admiration for Detective Watson. His way of deductions had thoroughly garnered great respect from Bryan. In the words of Detective Watson, in order to catch a criminal, one must not think of how he kills but why he kills.

In the case of the serial killer who's been going around murdering teenagers and then taking away their organs, Detective Watson believed that the killer was choosing victims who reminded him of his own background, upbringing, or even his social class.

That could most likely be the reason why the killer had only killed teenagers from middle-class families. And all three victims had come from well-to-do families and had led a happy life prior to their deaths.

And the reason why he was killing these youths, Detective Watson also had a theory regarding this. It was that the killer was also once upon a time, part of a middle-class family, and lived a happy life. But he was robbed of it.

That is why the killer was going after these teenagers who reminded him of his past and deprived them of their happiness. However, Detective Watson also believed that the killer must be going through some sort of mental illness.

Otherwise, he wouldn't do the things that he was doing. The list of people who lived in the middle-class neighborhood and had lost their families in the past ten years had already been collected and given to Detective Watson.

Earlier today, he had already narrowed it down to 27 people whom he believed to be the most likely people to be the killer and given the list to Bryan for him to go and investigate it personally.

After tonight, Bryan would also become a Rank 3 Apprentice, hence, Detective Watson was assured about his safety. Moreover, he had also given Bryan a pistol and some bullets. Therefore, starting tomorrow, Bryan could begin his investigations.

To be honest, Bryan really didn't like this kind of detective work. He even thought he was more suited to be a criminal.

He believed that he was more skilled at hiding from a detective than actually becoming one. But since it was an assignment given to him by his teacher, he had to accept it.

As he lay on the couch languidly, he looked at the ceiling in a daze as he thought in his heart,

'If teacher's theory is true and the killer was going around killing people similar to him because he lost his family and happiness. Why is it that he took this path while I, who also lost my family, took a different one?'

Earlier today, Detective Watson had taught him that humans protect themselves from psychological and emotional pain by taking actions to craft fantasies of revenge, power, or even sexual gratification.

'If this is true then how did I protect myself emotionally and psychologically after my parents died?' Bryan thought for a long time but couldn't find the answer in his heart. Ultimately, he just shook his head and threw these thoughts to the back of his head.

Bryan got up from the sofa, took off his clothes, and randomly threw them on the floor. He then went to his bathroom to take a shower. He wanted to freshen up first and then sit down to meditate.

He had already had lunch at Detective Watson's house so he wasn't that hungry. Meditating on an empty stomach was not advised since one wouldn't be able to focus if their stomach was rumbling every now and then.

After lying down in the wooden tub filled with warm water for nearly thirty minutes, Bryan got out and dried himself with a towel. He then tied the towel around his waist, exited the bathroom, and went to his bedroom.

He took out his pajamas from the wardrobe, wore them, and then climbed his bed and sat down in a lotus position to begin meditation.

Bryan took two deep breaths and then entered a trans-like state.

Ready to advance to Rank 3 Apprentice!