The Deceitful One



Bryan found himself inside a lavish dining room. There was a long rectangular table at the center, three chairs situated on each side of it, and there was one chair at the head of the table.

Currently, all the chairs were occupied. One similarity that Bryan could see among all the seven people present was their hair and eye color. All of them had blond hair and blue eyes.

At the head of the table, sat an old man with a thick beard. He had a domineering aura about him. Bryan looked at him but couldn't tell who he was. He had never seen him before.

Right next to the old man, sat a beautiful middle-aged couple. The man was sitting on the right and the woman on the left.

When Bryan saw this blonde middle-aged woman, he found her appearance to be very familiar. He couldn't help but mumble, "She's just like Grace, but older."

After the couple, sat two young men who seemed to be in their early twenties and a young woman who appeared slightly elder than them. And finally, there was Grace.

When Bryan saw Grace, he smiled. But soon he realized something was wrong. He found that the old man sitting at the head of the table, as well as the middle-aged couple were still like statues.

There was no movement from either of them. Their eyes appeared to be lifeless! On the other hand, Grace and the other three seemed to be alive.

Bryan felt puzzled. He looked at Benny who was sitting on his shoulder and asked, "What's happening? How come half of them are frozen?"

Benny thought for a few moments and replied, 'The focus of the person's dreams isn't the people that are frozen, but the others.'

"I see…" Bryan nodded and then turned his attention back to the scene in front of him.

The two young men, who were twins, looked at Grace and snickered, "A little weasel like you wants to participate in the family inheritance? What a joke!"

"Who gave you the right?"

"You're a nobody in this family!"

"Grandfather didn't even want you to become a Transcendent!"

"You're simply a good-for-nothing whore!"

"You think we don't know what you do with women in your free time?"

"You're an absolute disgrace to the Wilson Family!"

The twins went back and forth and continued to insult Grace. Each insult harsher than the previous one. However, Grace didn't say anything. She simply lowered her head and continued to sob silently.

Bryan clenched his fists. He took a step forward but was reminded by Benny, 'Do not change the sequence of the dream. If you do, your friend will be jolted awake in the Waking World.'

Bryan was taken aback, "I can't interfere with the dream?"

Benny shook his head, 'You're not powerful enough and neither am I. If you wish to interfere with and change the sequence of the dream, your control needs to be accurate and precise. So that the person doesn't wake up.'

Bryan pondered over Benny's words deeply. In the end, he nodded and continued to watch the dream gradually unfold.

One of the twins saw that Grace wasn't replying. Frustrated, he picked up a large bowl of soup from the dinner table and poured its contents on her!

"Aaahhhh!!" A shrill scream escaped Grace's lips as she stood up from her chair. The hot liquid burned her skin to the point that it turned red.

She looked at the twins in resentment, "WHY!? Why must you treat me this way? All my life, I've tried to be a good sister to you. Then why!? What have I done wrong?"

One of the twins got up from his chair, walked towards Grace, and glared at her, "Your very existence annoys me. I wish you were never born."

While this was happening, Bryan astutely noticed the other young woman silently clench her fists underneath the table.

'Looks like she doesn't feel the same way as the twins… Then why wouldn't she help Grace?' He wondered.

Meanwhile, after being spoken to in such a manner by her big brother, Grace fell to her knees and cried aloud, "I hate you! I hate all of you!"

The next moment, the entire dining room along with the people in it dissipated into smoke. Bryan now found himself in a familiar garden. It was the garden behind Grace's house in Damascus.

Bryan saw Grace sitting by the fountain. She sat on the grass with her legs folded and her arms around her knees. She continued to wail and mutter from time to time, "Why? Why must I be treated this way… Why?"

Seeing her in this state, Bryan's mood turned crestfallen. He had always known Grace to be a bubbly girl.

Although he had heard from her in the past that she didn't have any friends except Leah and him, he always assumed that she had family that cared for her.

Another thing Bryan realized was the fact that his emotions, for some reason, were amplified while in her dream. He looked at Benny and asked, "Why do I feel this way?"

He didn't need to explain further to Benny because the latter could naturally feel Bryan's emotions through their connection.

Benny replied solemnly, 'When we visit someone's dreams, we are bound to be affected on an emotional scale. And our emotions are directly related to the dreamer.

If you hadn't taken the Sacred Fruit and still remained completely human, you would have completely broken down in this dream, just like your friend.'

"I see…" Bryan nodded. He was learning so many new things about the Dreamworld. The more he learned the more fascinated and intrigued he was. But at the same time, he also felt a hint of lingering fear.

He asked, "What if we happen to enter someone's nightmare?"

Benny looked into Bryan's eyes and replied, 'We would still be fine if the nightmare belonged to a regular human or an animal. But if it belonged to a Transcendent…'

He didn't finish his sentence, however, the underlying meaning was quite clear.

Bryan gulped involuntarily and muttered, "Looks like we have to be careful even when we visit someone's dreams."

Benny nodded. He then asked, 'Do you wish to speak with your friend?'

"Yes."

The next moment, Benny waved his paw and the duo felt as if they had broken through a thin membrane. They were now visible in the dream!

Bryan wiped his face and the mask, Deceit, changed his appearance back to his original one. He then slowly walked toward the fountain and called out gently, "Grace."

Grace was slightly taken aback. She turned around and looked in the direction of the voice. Initially, she couldn't figure out who this person was. But the more she stared at this person's face, the wider her eyes became.

She got up to her feet and muttered in disbelief, "B-Bryan? I-Is that you?"

Bryan smiled warmly, "Yes, it's me."

Grace ran towards him and buried herself in Bryan's embrace. She continued to wail louder and louder. A few moments later, she looked up at Bryan with reddened eyes and mumbled, "I thought you died…"

"Eh?" Bryan was slightly surprised, "And who told you that?"

"My Grandpa said that your teacher perished in a Transcendent-related incident in Damascus over a year back. And after that, you went missing.

"So everyone thought that you had committed suicide after your teacher's death," Grace replied as she wiped her tears.

Bryan couldn't help but smile bitterly, "So, that's what everyone thinks, huh?"

Well, he didn't blame them. After all, if someone went missing for over a year, people would naturally assume the worst.

What he felt bad about though, was the fact that perhaps even Abigail and little Amy thought that he had died.

"I guess, this is for the best." Bryan sighed.

Every cloud had a silver lining. If his friends and other people close to him thought he was dead, his enemies would naturally think the same. And this would prove to be very advantageous for his future plans.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Grace, "Anyways, I'm alive. And also in Nadir."

"Really!?" Grace was pleasantly surprised.

She then looked around in confusion and asked, "But wait, aren't we in Damascus right now?"

Bryan was puzzled. He was about to reply but was interrupted by Benny's mentally transmitted message, 'We're in her dream and in this dream, we are in Damascus, not Nadir.'

"Ah," Bryan suddenly realized what was happening, "So that's how it is…"

"That's how what is?" Grace looked at Bryan, perplexed.

Bryan smiled warmly, "It's nothing. When you wake up, remember to meet me at the cafe in front of your University's main entrance."

Grace was even more puzzled, "Cafe? Wake up?"

Bryan didn't clarify further. He gave her a warm hug and spoke gently, "It's nice to see you again, old friend."

Grace didn't know what was happening but she returned the hug nonetheless. However, the next moment, she realized that she was hugging nothing but empty air!

…

About fifteen minutes later, Bryan finally reached the restaurant that he had entered before coming to the Dreamworld. He got inside the same cubicle and then nodded at Benny.

The next moment, a portal to the Waking World was formed and the duo jumped inside of it.

As Bryan returned to the cubicle in the Waking World, he looked around and thankfully there was no one taking a dump in this cubicle. That would have been a very awkward moment.

He got out of the bathroom and was greeted by the restaurant manager. The latter took out his pocket watch and then looked at Bryan weirdly, "That was really quick, sir."