The Deceitful One

Out of the five people, three were men and two were women. When Bryan introduced himself, Andrew was the first one to greet him back.

He stood up from his chair and walked to Bryan as he stretched out his right hand, "It's been a while, Bryan. My name's Andrew."

Bryan looked at this man who had black hair and blue eyes and shook his hand with a smile, "Nice to meet you, Andrew."

Then he thought of something and asked in puzzlement, "Wait, you said it's been a while. Have we met before?"

Andrew nodded his head and smirked, "Yes. In the infirmary at the church. You were all bandaged up back then, moaning from time to time. Hehe, Ron was there too."

'Scumbag! Did you have to mention the moaning part?' Bryan's lips twitched as he thought inwardly.

Then another person approached Bryan. She looked to be in her late twenties and had red hair and brown eyes. She was a pretty good-looking lady who was wearing simple brown leather pants and a white shirt

She stretched out her hand and winked at Bryan, "Pretty boy, I'm Emma. Let's get along well."

Bryan shook her hand and smiled back, "Pleasure to meet you, Emma."

Emma then introduced the others to Bryan, "That cold-looking woman right there is Olivia. She doesn't speak much but she's really good at poker though."

Bryan turned his gaze toward the young lady with black hair and brown eyes who was wearing a black dress and smiled, "Hello Olivia!"

Olivia simply nodded her head slightly and then looked away. There was no change in her expression whatsoever.

"That guy with the round glasses is Elijah. He is a pretty good mechanic or in other words, a Rank 1 Transcendent of the Artisan Path." Emma continued.

Elijah stood up from his chair and walked to Bryan with a smile. He first nudged his glasses further up and then extended his right arm out, "Pleased to meet you, Bryan."

Bryan shook his hands and greeted back, "Hello Elijah, nice to mee-"

But before he could complete his greeting, Elijah pulled him forward and then pushed up the sleeves of his coat and trench coat as he marveled at his Mystiko bracers,

"Whoaaa!! Such great craftsmanship. Oh? And what's this? A hidden weapon? How fascinating!"

Looking at this dark-skinned young man who had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a beard of the same color treating his forearms and bracers as a specimen, Bryan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

However, he was very surprised that Elijah was able to acutely notice the hidden blade underneath his bracers with just a glance.

He could only look at Emma and signal her to help. Emma shrugged her shoulders as a helpless sigh escaped her lips, "Elijah is really into weapons and machinery. Just let him be or he'll constantly pester you."

Bryan could only smile bitterly and just allow Elijah to finish admiring his Mystiko bracers.

A few minutes later, Elijah looked up at Bryan with sparkling eyes, "Bryan! Who crafted this? I must meet him. Is he here in Damascus? Please introduce me to him!!"

Looking at the overly excited Elijah, Bryan's lips couldn't help but twitch as he replied, "A friend of mine got this made for me. And the person who made this is in Nadir."

"Nadir?" Elijah's shoulders slouched as he visibly became depressed.

Bryan added, "I can let you study it though."

"Really!? That's great!" Elijah smiled brightly, no longer disheartened.

"I can also make adjustments to it and optimize it. I see that it's not a Rank 1 Artifact yet. If you can get me the materials, I can even upgrade it for you." He added while rubbing his palms in excitement.

Bryan was pleasantly surprised, "Sounds good! I'll look for the materials and let you know."

Emma then pointed behind Bryan and smiled, "And that's Henry."

Bryan was puzzled as to why Emma was pointing behind him. He turned around and his gaze landed on a person who was at least a head taller than him.

This person had blond hair and blue eyes. He had a big build which made him very intimidating. Seeing the other person look down at him from that height, Bryan subconsciously took half a step back.

"Newbie, get in the ring with me. The initiation ceremony will begin now." Henry said in a deep voice.

"I-Initiation ceremony?" Bryan asked puzzled.

"Yes, it's sort of a tradition. Anyone who joins the Strike Team has to last a minute in the ring with Henry." Emma interjected with a playful smile.

"Strike Team? What's that?" Asked Bryan.

But before he could get a reply, Henry had already grabbed his collar and was now dragging him to the combat ring in the practice area.

Bryan tried to get free of his grasp but he was helpless. The scene looked as if Henry was dragging a farm animal to the slaughterhouse, causing the rest of the people to break out into laughter.

Henry dragged Bryan to the glass-partitioned area where a few Apprentices were practicing their magic spells. The combat ring was adjacent to the spell-casting practice area.

The ring was square-shaped with tight ropes that marked its boundary. Henry who had already taken off his suit coat got onto the ring and patiently waited for Bryan to hop in.

Bryan looked at the other members of the Strike Team who had followed him inside and asked, "Is this for real?"

"Hehe, very much so, pretty boy," Emma replied smugly.

Bryan could only shake his head and sigh. He took off his suit coat as well and threw it on the ground. He then rolled both his sleeves up to his elbow.

He was about to get into the ring when Andrew suddenly approached him. Andrew nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "Henry's a Rank 1 Transcendent of the Strength Path. So, don't get too cocky."

Bryan involuntary gulped as he turned to look at the bulky Henry standing tall in the center of the ring with his arms crossed.

'Indeed, he does look like someone of the Strength Path!' Bryan thought in his heart.