The Deceitful One

After about an hour of refining the pocket watch, Bryan seemed to feel as if something was unlocked. He kept his eyes closed and felt it carefully.

He could now feel a sort of connection with his silver pocket watch. A connection that signified Bryan's ownership over it.

While feeling slightly nervous, Bryan guided his consciousness inside the pocket watch, where he saw a white space so enormous that he momentarily couldn't find anything to compare it to.

'As I thought, it's a space-type storage artifact. And a pretty fucking big one at that!' Bryan thought in his heart as his eyes widened in surprise.

After searching around for a while, in the middle of the white space, Bryan found 3 items lying on the ground.

One was a slightly yellow parchment paper, one was a greenish-brown wooden mask, and the last item was a thick, black-colored, ancient-looking book.

Bryan gulped involuntarily and gently wrapped his spiritual force around the 3 items and brought them out of the silver pocket watch.

All 3 items then appeared on his bed. Bryan put aside his pocket watch and picked up the folded parchment paper first. He had an idea about what this paper might be.

As Bryan unfolded the paper and saw the contents on it, his eyes moistened and his body trembled ever so slightly. It was yet another letter from his deceased mother. And most likely, also the final one.

Bryan bit his lower lip and began to read,

'My Dear Bryan,

If you're reading this, it means that you have advanced to Rank 3 Apprentice and have refined the pocket watch.

As your loving mother, all I can leave behind for you are these letters and items that can help keep you safe. My sweet child, there are so many things I wish to say to you but I'm afraid I don't have much time left.

With the help of the Medici Apprentice meditation technique that I had written down in the previous letter, you will be able to embark on the Path that was created by the founding ancestor of our Medici Family.

However, you will need to know the history of my ancestors in order to understand the Path you must embark on and its dangers. These secrets you will now learn, I hope, will keep you safe…'

As Bryan read the letter, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He could feel the struggle with which her mother had written this letter on her deathbed.

He could feel her mother's anxiety through her words. Bryan recalled the time when his mother had given him this pocket watch. She was lying on the bed and her face was deathly pale.

His father, Vincent, was also present. He was holding her right hand and sobbing. Even though Bryan's mother was so weak and so close to death, she still looked at Bryan with a doting smile. That was also the last time he had seen her as well as that smile.

Bryan wiped the tears from his eyes and continued reading the letter,

'Our Medici Family was an ancient family that came into being sometime in the previous era, that is the 3rd era. And the founding ancestor of our family was known as Medici, a High-String Transcendent.

Our family had a glorious past and my ancestors were all powerful Transcendents who garnered great respect and admiration from the masses.

However, after the death of our great ancestor, the Medici Family fell into decline. With the death of our great ancestor, the members of the Medici Family were hunted down.

In the end, very few escaped and scattered to different parts of the world and settled down, changing their names. However, I'm not sure how many of them are still alive.

Bryan, the reason why I am telling you this, is because under no circumstances are you to reveal that you're a descendant of the Medici Family. Or the world will hunt you down and kill you.

I do not know the reason for such deep hatred the others have towards our Medici Family. All I know is that it involves the secrets of the higher Ranks of the Path created by our founding ancestor…'

Bryan's eyebrows furrowed as he thought, 'What could possibly be the reason for the entire world to go against the Medici Family? Did my ancestors commit some horrible crime in the past that they incurred such wrath?

Or is it because the others were afraid of the Medici Family? If so, then what were they so afraid of?'

He had so many questions that he didn't know the answer to. Bryan made up his mind to gather more information on the Medici Family in the future. He then continued to read,

'Others have tried to get their hands on the Path created by our founding ancestor but none have succeeded. This is because only a descendant of the Medici Family can walk on the founding ancestor's Path.

However, the rest of the world is not privy to this secret. If others, who don't have the blood of Medici flowing in them, embark on this Path, they will reach a bottleneck in the early stages and never be able to advance.

Our founding ancestor, Medici, was said to be a heaven-defying genius in his era. And the Path that he created came to be known as the Theft Path!'

Bryan's heart churned with tumultuous waves as he read the term 'Theft Path'. For some reason his heart was beating so wildly, he felt as if his chest could explode at any moment.

Growing up in poverty, Bryan had forgotten how many times he had stolen to survive on the streets. The act of theft came to him so naturally that sometime he would even foolishly think that he was born to be a thief.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down his heart and sighed, 'No wonder! Every time I thought about quitting stealing after teacher took me in, I just couldn't stop myself.

Even now, I subconsciously steal something or the other when I'm in crowded places. So this was the reason.'

Bryan shook his head and smiled wryly as he thought, 'It's because the blood of Medici flows in me!'