The Deceitful One

The following day, Bryan got up early and had breakfast with Detective Bryan. He had his usual toast and eggs with baked beans. After studying a bit of Tsomulan, which was the common language of the Central Continent, Bryan went back to his room to dress up.

He was going to Grace's house today to help her with meditation. Detective Watson had had Butler John get a few of Bryan's clothes from his apartment to the villa since he'd be staying here for a couple of days.

Bryan took out his black pants, a white shirt, and a black double-breasted suit vest from the wardrobe. Since he was going to Grace's house, he didn't feel the need to overly dress.

Looking at the clothes he had taken out and kept on the bed, Bryan thought, 'Hmm.. black, black, black. Except for the shirt everything else is black. Maybe I should buy some different colored clothes.'

He put on his clothes and shoes and then rolled the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. Bryan felt that the weather outside was too good to cover his whole body with clothes. If he had shorts, he would wear them instead.

Bryan left his room and told Butler John to inform Detective Watson, who was in his study, that he was going out to meet a friend. After getting out of the villa compound, he called for Detective Watson's personal carriage and driver.

After getting in the carriage, he instructed the driver, "10 West Augustus Street." The posh neighborhood of Augustus Street wasn't small at all. Even in a carriage, it took Bryan almost 10 minutes to reach grace's house.

Grace's villa was the most extravagant he had ever seen. It was a white 3-storied mansion with a wide lawn at the entrance of the door. Different varieties of flowers could be seen growing there.

Furthermore, there was also a much bigger garden behind the house. The total area that this villa occupied was easily two to three times that of Detective Watson's or Leah's villa.

'Looks like the lesser the number on the address, the fancier the house.' Bryan thought as he looked at Grace's villa and the neighboring ones.

He stepped in through the metal gate of the compound, walked alongside the front lawn, and reached the main door of the house. He knocked on it a few times.

After a short few moments, a middle-aged brunette lady wearing a black and white maid's uniform as well as a white mobcap opened the door and greeted him with a smile, "You must be Mr. Bryan. Welcome! The young lady has been waiting for you."

Bryan smiled back and replied, "Thank you. Please lead the way."

After entering the house, as expected everything inside was super luxurious. So much so that Bryan had to nearly cover his eyes because everything was shining so much.

The maid led Bryan up the stairs and onto the second floor. They turned right and followed the corridor that had been carpeted with a dark red fabric.

Beautiful paintings hung on both sides of the wall. On the last door to the right, the maid stopped and knocked on the door gently.

"Come in." Grace's voice came from inside the room.

The maid opened the door and led Bryan in. She smiled and said, "Young Lady, Mr. Bryan is here.

This was a study room, with bookshelves stacked with many different kinds of books on both sides of the room. There was a mahogany table and a few chairs and lots of other items in the room that gave it a very scholarly vibe.

Grace smiled back and replied gently, "Thank you, Norma. You may leave."

Norma replied, "Yes, young lady." With that said, she bowed to Grace and left the room after closing the door.

Bryan who was watching from the side was slightly taken aback. He said, "Surprisingly, you're not as cold to her as I thought you'd be, Grace."

Grace shook her head slightly and smiled, "How can I be? She's always served me and been by my side since I was born. She's practically like my second mother."

'Mother huh?' Bryan had a reminiscent look in his eyes as he thought wistfully. He shook his head and asked Grace, "Anyways, are you ready?"

"Yes." Grace's expression turned serious.

"All right then, find a comfortable position to sit in." Bryan nodded his head and instructed.

Grace sat comfortably in the chair and relaxed her stiff shoulders. Then she heard Bryan's gentle voice, "Follow the breathing pattern and breathe accordingly. Remove all distractions from your mind and focus."

After noting that Grace had perfectly started to follow the breathing patterns mentioned in the elementary meditation technique, Bryan added softly,

"Now imagine the energy particles in the air around you. Think of them as small yet bright fireflies hovering beside you."

"Slowly visualize the fireflies entering your mind. Good, now gather those fireflies and carve the first mind rune." Bryan guided Grace patiently just as how Detective Watson had guided him.

After about three hours, Grace, whose forehead was dripping with sweat, opened her eyes and smiled brightly. Feeling the first mind rune in her mind, she was ecstatic. She looked at Bryan and said sincerely, "Thank you, Bryan! I mean it."

Bryan smiled, "You're most welcome, Grace."

Grace suddenly thought of something and hesitated a bit before asking, "Bryan, will you be willing to teach me mysticism knowledge?"

Bryan was slightly taken aback and chuckled, "Hehe it's not a big deal. I can teach you whatever I learn from my teacher."

"Great! Also, I'll pay you for teaching me." Grace said excitedly.

Bryan smiled and shook his head, "No need to pay me. We're friends."

Although Bryan was greedy for money, he wouldn't charge his friends for something so trivial. He had a bottom line, after all.

However, Grace was determined as she replied, "Nope, that won't do. I don't like to owe others favors."

Bryan rolled his eyes at this stubborn friend of his and replied, "Fine. Just buy me food whenever you can. Oh, you can also buy me some good clothes."

Then he seemed to recall something as he looked at Grace with shining eyes, "Wait, didn't you say your grandfather was a Rank 3 Transcendent of the Artisan Path?"

Grace looked at him weirdly and replied, "Uh, yeah?"

"Then can you ask him to make a weapon for me?" Bryan asked earnestly, like a child asking for a toy.

Looking at Bryan's expression, Grace covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, "Sure sure. Just tell me the details."