The Deceitful One

Tuesday, 15th September 1580.

In the library of the Silver Owls headquarters, Bryan was sitting cross-legged on a blue velvet, single-seater couch. On his lap was a thick book that had a grey hardcover and looked extremely ancient.

He was currently trying to figure out the answers to why he always had that same dream whenever he advanced a rank.

After every advancement in the Apprentice Stage, Bryan would be pulled into a dream. Now, he had been in that same dream twice already.

And according to his speculations, when he advanced to a Transcendent, the dream would be even more prominent.

To be honest, Bryan was quite apprehensive about this recurring dream. After all, in the Transcendent world, the unknown more often than not represented danger. That is why he wished to learn more about this dream.

The book he was currently reading was called 'Compendium of Enigmas'. Basically, it spoke about the various strange and mysterious incidents that Transcendents had encountered in the past.

It was more so like a journal, however, the author had compiled the strange experiences of Transcendents from the olden days as well as those from recent times. Bryan was simply trying his luck, hoping to find some clues about his dreams.

About half an hour later, while Bryan was still engrossed in the contents of the book, Andrew approached him from behind and tapped his shoulder, "Bryan, it's already past 6 in the evening, let's go to the bar and play some poker!"

Over the last 2 weeks, Bryan had completely assimilated with the Strike Team and was on very friendly terms with all the members.

To his surprise, Priest Livia was also a member of the Strike Team, however, she only came to the headquarters occasionally. Mostly spending her time on her own or in the Church of Wisdom.

Bryan had become great drinking buddies, especially with Andrew and Elijah. He had come to find that Andrew was very much like himself when it came to women.

However, Elijah, not so much. He only stuck to his machinery but always accompanied them in drinking.

Speaking of women, Bryan had been fucking the brains out of Lily quite often in the last 2 weeks. He would go to her vacation house every few days since her husband, William Dyke, was still out of town.

Lily was now completely subservient to Bryan, to say the least. She would behave like a slave whenever they were in bed together. Bryan really had a great sex life with her. Leah could not even compare.

Bryan was able to play out all sorts of sexual fantasies with Lily and he really liked this feeling of domination when it came to sex.

Other than that, he never once skipped on his cultivation. Bryan had already carved the 31st mind rune and was already halfway there to carving the 32nd.

He also got to practice hand-to-hand combat with Henry almost every day. This greatly increased his proficiency in combat. All in all, the last 2 weeks had been very productive for him.

Bryan closed the book that he was reading. Having not found any answers, he decided to come back again tomorrow and read it in his free time.

He got up from his seat and looked at Andrew with a mischievous smile, "Since you're so desperate to lose money, I shall happily oblige, hehe."

Andrew's lips twitched upon hearing Bryan's words. It was he who taught Bryan how to play Poker. In the beginning, it was fine since Bryan was still learning and would always lose money.

However, in less than two days it was as if Bryan had completely mastered the art of playing cards. Since then, Andrew was never able to win against him and instead lost quite a large sum of money.

This really wounded his ego as he simply refused to lose to someone whom he had taught himself. Andrew snorted as he replied, "Hmph! We'll see about that."

Bryan simply chuckled and then followed behind Andrew to head back upstairs.

...

Inside an abandoned mill in the factory area of Damascus, Alfredo, also known as Blood Moon in the evil organization called Holy Blood Sect, was currently standing in front of a blond youth who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and meditating.

This blond youth who seemed to be in his early twenties bore a striking resemblance to Alfredo. Currently, he was meditating calmly as energy particles swirled around him and entered his body.

A few minutes later, the blond youth opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He then felt the changes in his body and smiled arrogantly.

Alfredo looked at the red-eyed blond youth and smiled with pride evident in his eyes, "Well done, Anthony. Congratulations on advancing to Rank 3 Apprentice, I'm proud of you!"

Anthony looked up at Alfredo and smiled brightly, "Thank you, grandfather!"

Alfredo shook his head as he smiled, "You should thank Master, instead. It was he who gave both of us the chance to change our lives. So when you meet him next time, pay him your respect and gratitude."

Anthony got up to his feet and nodded, "I understand, grandfather."

Alfredo tapped Anthony's shoulder in encouragement as he walked with him toward the exit of the abandoned mill, "Since you have just advanced, let's get you some fresh blood. It will help you solidify your advancement."

Anthony eagerly licked his lips as he smiled viciously, "Grandfather, I've really fancied this little girl on Augustus Street. Let's go there now!"

Alfredo stopped in his tracks, turned to glare at Anthony, and strictly reprimanded him, "Damascus City is simply out of bounds. Do you understand, boy!?"

Anthony was taken aback as he subconsciously took a step back. He hung his head low as he muttered softly, "I-I'm sorry, grandfather!"

Seeing Anthony turned downcast, Alfredo's eyes softened as he gently patted his head and explained, "My grandson, hunting within Damascus will bring us a lot of trouble. The Church has become very strict in its search for the Holy Blood Sect members.

We cannot underestimate the Church in the slightest even though we have Master backing us. Come, I've already captured a few young girls alive and imprisoned them in our house in the suburbs. That should suffice."

Hearing his grandfather mention young girls, Anthony's eyes lit up as he lifted his head and smiled, "Thank you, grandfather! I shall do as you say."

Alfredo smiled back at Anthony and then together they exited the mill as they made their way to their house in the suburbs.