The Deceitful One

Tuesday, 4th May 1580.

Detective Watson's Villa, 22 Augustus Street.

Inside the study on the second floor, Bryan was writing down all the characters of the Vendurish language from memory, on a sheet of paper with a quill. Vendurish was the common language spoken on the Western Continent. Bryan already knew how to speak this language. Over the last two weeks, he had already mastered reading and writing.

After he finished writing down all the characters, Bryan handed over the sheet of paper to Detective Watson who was sitting across from him. He was feeling quite smug about it since he had mastered a language in 15 days.

'Oh and there's also that other language, but I haven't mastered that completely yet.' Bryan was thinking about the other language that Detective Watson was currently teaching him, Hymmnos.

"Well done, Bryan. You're no longer an illiterate." Detective Watson teased him.

Bryan's smug expression collapsed, 'That's definitely a compliment but why do I feel insulted at the same time?'

"Thanks, boss! Can you tell me more about Hymmnos? Which continent uses this language?" Bryan was quite curious about this language.

Detective Watson put on a serious expression when he heard this, "Hymmnos is a unique language that is derived from Ancient Hymmnos. However, it is not a common language used in any continent or place like you're thinking. Instead, it is a language commonly used amongst a group of extraordinary people."

'Not used in any continent? Extraordinary people?' Bryan's interest was piqued. He probed, "Extraordinary people? What do you mean by that?"

Detective Watson took a deep breath and explained to him, "Yes, they are people who wield enormous power and have strange abilities that normal people cannot even begin to comprehend. They are known as Transcendents!"

Bryan was fascinated, 'Enormous powers and strange abilities..' He was lost in thought. Detective Watson had a hint of pride in his eyes when he saw Bryan was speechless.

"Boss, you mean those clowns and magicians in circuses?" Bryan asked.

Detective Watson's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch when he heard Bryan, "Brat, how can you compare mighty Transcendents to mere clowns!? You completely misunderstood me. Hmm, let me put it this way. Transcendents are a group of extraordinary people who consume potions and cultivate meditation techniques in order to gain immense power and various strange abilities such as wielding lightning, flying in the sky, bringing down a rain of meteors, or something even as bizarre as foreseeing the future. They cultivate a particular Path, innovate and create spells, and pursue the truth!"

This time Bryan was completely taken aback. His eyes went wide and his mouth agape, almost touching the floor. It took him a while to compose himself. "If they're so powerful, how come I've never seen or heard of them?"

Detective Watson replied, "The existence of Transcendents is not known to the common people because the authorities such as the various churches, the police, military, and even the higher-ups in the government and kingdoms actively prevent ordinary people from getting involved or obtaining information. After all, if Transcendents are not strictly regulated, they can jeopardize and bring trouble to society."

'So mysterious! But that does make sense. Then there's this so-called Path. Is this the 'Path' that mother spoke about when she gave me the silver pocket watch? But that's absurd. How could she be related to a Transcendent?' Bryan thought. Then he raised another series of questions, "Boss what did you mean by potions and meditation techniques? And what does cultivating a particular Path mean?"

Detective Watson patiently explained, "Potions are concocted from natural ingredients and exotic animal parts. Whereas meditation techniques strengthen the mind in order to balance out the negative effects brought about by the potions. And as for Paths, I won't delve too deep into them since this isn't something you'd be able to understand currently."

"You can think of it as a route that a Transcendent must take in order to become stronger. Various churches, royal families, and some ancient noble families control potion formulas and meditation techniques for their respective Paths. For example, the Church of Wisdom controls the Wisdom Path and Fate Path."

Bryan fell into deep thought as he digested all the information. He softly mumbled, "Various churches control various Paths…Church of Wisdom controls the Wisdom & Fate paths. Does that mean that the Goddess is also a Transcendent of said Paths?"

Detective Watson was shocked to hear him say this, 'This kid..' But he sternly reprimanded him, "Bryan, do not speak such blasphemous words!"

"S-sorry." Bryan apologized weakly.

"Anyways, in short, this is what it means to be a Transcendent. I must warn you though, the Transcendent world is fraught with danger at every turn. Once you become a Transcendent, you will never be able to return to your normal life again." Detective Watson emphasized.

'Before I met you, my normal life consisted of begging, stealing, and mostly starving.' Bryan inwardly rolled his eyes but he still nodded.

"However, before one becomes a Transcendent, they must first become an Apprentice. An Apprentice is divided into 3 ranks, mainly Rank 1 to Rank 3. This sets up a foundation for you to later on become a proper Transcendent." Detective Watson added.

Although Bryan had a guess, he still asked, "But boss, why are you telling me all this?"

Detective Watson smiled gently, "Bryan, remember when you first came here, I had told you that I would give you an opportunity. Back then, the function of the crystal ball was to determine your spiritual aptitude. And you have a very high aptitude which is required to become a Transcendent."

He didn't tell Bryan that the crystal ball determined that he had a supreme-grade aptitude yet, afraid that it would get to his head and he would become arrogant.

"So that's what it was" Now it all made sense to Bryan.

"That's right." Detective Watson nodded. "Now I want you to go back home and think about this seriously. This is a major decision that'll change your life's trajectory. And this decision can be only made by you. Take the rest of the day off, ponder over all that you've learned today and come back tomorrow morning and give me an answer."

"I understand. Thank you, boss." Bryan got up, bowed to him and took his leave. He was very grateful to work for such a person.

Detective Watson watched him leave and sighed, 'There's no one who can turn down the temptation of becoming a Transcendent and obtaining more power. So he'll most likely agree, but it's still better to let him think about the pros and cons and make the decision himself. Moreover, surprisingly the Wisdom Cathedral in Nadir had already accepted my proposal of taking Bryan in as my student. I thought they would carry out strict tests and background checks. Looks like they had already seen this coming.'

Unlike other Paths, Wisdom and Fate Path Transcendents were very scarce. This is because of the strict control of the potion formulas, spells, and corresponding meditation techniques by the Church of Wisdom.

Transcendents of these two Paths are all part of the Church of Wisdom or are related to it and have sworn an oath to never divulge the related information to outsiders unless given permission.

Although these two Paths are controlled by the Church of Wisdom, no other churches or organizations dared to have designs on them. Because, firstly, the Church of Wisdom is one of the oldest churches in existence, hence, it has a lot of prestige.

Secondly, and most importantly, Transcendents of the Wisdom and Fate Paths are the best at scheming against others. They excel at mental manipulations, reading minds and emotions, and hypnotizing others.

They are also very good at divination and predicting the future. Most of the time, their enemies would meet their doom without them even knowing how.

…

Bryan was walking along Augustus Street, deep in thought. The leaves of the parasol trees gently swayed as the warm spring breeze blew by. It was close to sunset, the sky looked as if someone had painted it a shade of orange.

'There's a whole other world out there, one that's hidden in the shadows.' Bryan's lips curled into a grin and his eyes sparkled with excitement. "How fucking interesting!"

In order to celebrate, Bryan decided to treat himself and do what he did best. Steal! Although he had about 2 pounds left over from his salary, he decisively chose to ignore it.

Soon, he came to his usual hunting ground, the farmer's market. This place was almost always crowded as people came there to buy groceries or eat food at one of the many stalls placed there. The shop owners here were mostly lower-class people and some middle-class people.

Bryan entered the crowded street and mixed amongst the various people coming and going, looking for juicy prey. His eyes soon landed on a fat middle-aged man with a high hairline.

He was wearing a brown suit and the buttons of his shirt were busting at the seams. It was like they were begging to be unbuttoned. He was currently screaming at his two servants behind him who were carrying two big bags full of groceries each to hurry up. Bryan's eyes lit up at the sight of this.

He approached the fat man in the brown suit from the front. He pretended to look at the stalls on both sides of the street and then suddenly crashed into the fat man before falling to the ground.

On the other side, the fat man nearly lost balance and fell, but was caught by his servants in time. Then he glared at Bryan who was trying to lift himself from the ground, "You little shit watch where you're going. How dare you come in my way!?" The fat man was furious.

Bryan stood up and hurriedly bowed to him, "Forgive me, my lord. My lowly self did not see you and bumped into you. Please be generous and show mercy! Please!" At this point, Bryan's eyes had turned watery and he made the most innocent look he could muster up.

Seeing him like this, the fat man coldly snorted and said "You're lucky I'm a generous man. Now fuck off." Then he walked off with his servants in tow.

Bryan too hurriedly fled the scene in 'panic' and 'fear'. After walking a few steps, he lowered his head and his lips curled into a faint smile, 'Heh fool'.

Over the years, he had gotten very good at acting. After all, there was a high chance the other party would let him off if he acted like a silly child and made an innocent-puppy face.

He unclenched his right hand and saw a few notes crumpled into a ball. Bryan unhurriedly straightened them out and neatly put them on top of each other. "Oh? 3 pounds? Not bad. Looks like I can have a grand feast tonight hehe."