Bryan looked at Benny and smiled faintly. He realized that his new body had given him more than just the change in his appearance.

His new body was already more powerful than a Rank 1 Transcendent! In fact, it was very close to a Rank 2! And that was not all! He had even received two innate abilities!

"The first one is called Dream Divination. This can allow me to gain revelations from the Dreamworld. I can divine the past, present, and future of anyone or anything I have come in contact with.

"The more powerful the thing or person I divine, the less accurate the divination results would be," Bryan replied. He felt that his ability would be extremely helpful to him.

'Did you receive any other abilities?' Benny probed.

"I did," Bryan replied solemnly, "It's these eyes of mine..."

Bryan then went on to explain his innate ocular ability. The more Benny heard about this ability, the more frightened he got!

'Bryan, you must not use this power unless absolutely necessary. You must promise me!' Benny stated anxiously.

Seeing Benny's genuine care and concern for him, Bryan's heart warmed, "I promise you, Benny."

All of a sudden his eyes lit up and he mumbled, "Wait! If my body is now half human and half dream creature... Perhaps, creating the Dream Path would be much easier than before!"

The moment he thought of this, it instantly took root in his mind. Bryan couldn't help but get excited at this prospect! Although he speculated it would become much easier for him, he would still need to put in the required effort.

'I cannot rush things. I must take one step at a time. After all, I'll be embarking on a Path no one has ever before.' Bryan thought inwardly. He had already decided to make Dream Path his secondary Path!

He then looked around at his surroundings and sighed, "I guess, it's time to leave this place."

Benny was excited, 'Where are we going next?'

"I need to check out a few things in Damascus. And after that, I'll use my Dream Divination ability to find out where to go next." Bryan replied with a smile.

Benny nodded and then waved his paw. The next moment, the space in front of them tore open and a direct portal to the Waking World was formed. Without waiting a moment longer, the duo jumped right in.

...

Damascus City was not the same as it used to be. A lot of time had passed since Duke of Destruction, Abaddon had descended on the surface world and wreaked havoc in this city.

The people of Damascus had gradually gotten over this incident along with the death of their loved ones. Keep in mind, the memories of the residents of this city had been altered by Transcendents.

To them, there was no Devil from Hell descending upon their city. Instead, it was the terrorist organization, The Inferno Order, that was at fault! Although a lot of time had passed, the people of the city still blamed the poor working-class people of the city.

After all, in their altered memories, the Inferno Order had taken advantage of the working-class people's protests and caused several bombings in the Augustus neighborhood.

Hence, the disparity between the rich and the poor had further increased since that incident. Moreover, the poor working-class people were being treated even worse than before.

In an inconspicuous alley, somewhere near Laurent Avenue, the space twisted and tore open as a portal was formed. The next moment, a handsome man dressed in a three-piece black suit, and a black cat that was sitting on the man's shoulder, jumped out of the portal!

"I'm finally back!" Bryan looked at the sky that was dyed blue, confirming that he had left the Dreamworld, "It feels like I've been away forever."

He then walked towards the main street with a smile on his face. However, soon the smile on his face vanished and his eyes widened when he was greeted by scenery in front of him.

"W-Where the fuck am I? Is this really Damascus!!?" Bryan muttered in shock.

The streets were full of steam cars! And they appeared to be completely different than the ones that Bryan remembered. They appeared to be more advanced!

He even saw strange lights on metal poles at different crossroads! The cars would stop and move whenever different lights shone. There were even designated paths for pedestrians to cross the streets.

And not just that! Bryan saw dozens of humanoid machines made up of gears and steel that were accompanying people--the rich ones, that is.

When Bryan saw these machines, only one word echoed in his head, "Automatons!"

Bryan snapped out of his daze and caught a person near him by the shoulders, "You! Where is this place!?"

This person was about to reply in anger, however, when he met Bryan's eyes, he instantly passed out! His eyes rolled backward as he fell to the ground and started foaming from the mouth, his body twitching incessantly.

Bryan was alarmed, "W-Whats going on?"

Benny mentally transmitted, 'Bryan, it's your eyes! Even Transcendents of the same Rank as you will be severely affected, much less regular humans!'

"Fuck!" Bryan cursed under his breath as he realized what had just happened. He then disappeared from the spot, not wanting to attract any attention.

In another secluded alleyway, Bryan appeared and then took out a black cloth from his pocket watch. He then tied the cloth around his eyes, completely hiding them along with his forehead.

"This should do the work for the time being, I guess," Bryan mumbled. He then extended out his spiritual sense and found a newspaper stand nearby.

Bryan came out of the alleyway and then calmly walked toward the newspaper stand. He agilely waved his hand as he passed by the stand, and stole a newspaper right under the nose of the shopkeeper.

When Bryan read the date on the newspaper, he froze in his footsteps and his hands trembled ever so slightly, "No fucking way!!"

Benny looked at the newspaper and giggled, 'You'll get used to it.'

Although Bryan had sort of expected this before he left the Dreamworld, it still came to him as a massive surprise because this was the first time it was happening to him. And he was completely baffled, to say the least!

The reason why he was so shocked was because of the date in the newspaper.

"Tuesday, 10th July 1582..." Bryan mumbled.

14 months had passed since Detective Watson's funeral!

He wondered if everyone here thought that he was dead after going missing for more than a year. At the thought of this, Bryan couldn't help but smile wryly.

He then decided to check up on Andrew and Elijah. With the help of the mask, Deceit, Bryan changed his appearance to that of an old man--a blind old man, to be precise!

Bryan then went to the Sophia Public Library and inquired about the members of the Strike Team from the receptionist. To his surprise, he found out that the old members of the Strike Team had been replaced by new members!

And that Andrew, Elijah, Henry, and Olivia had all left Damascus. As for where they went, Bryan wasn't able to find that out.

After getting all the information, Bryan asked Benny to alter the memories of the person he had just questioned. Bryan didn't want to take any chances.historical

He then visited the Saint Mary's orphanage to check up on Jamie's five little siblings. After making sure that Ava, Abe, and the other kids were being treated well and were having no problems in their upbringing, he silently left.

A couple of hours later, at the top of the Damascus Clock tower, Bryan was standing on the side platform right beneath the giant clock and staring at the setting sun.

He had just visited his teacher's and parents' graves in Wilmington Cemetery to speak to them one last time and bid them farewell. On the way, he also checked Detective Watson's house and confirmed that Abigail and little Amy had also left Damascus.

Bryan had already reverted back to his appearance now. He removed his black blindfold, his pupils shone with an otherworldly black light! However, there was a trace of pain and sorrow in them.

Although more than a year had passed in the Waking World, to Bryan it was only a few days. Detective Watson's death was still fresh in his memories. He couldn't help but break down when he had visited his teacher's grave earlier.

"Teacher..." Bryan's lips quivered as he thought back to that fateful night. Soon, his eyes narrowed. The sorrow in them was replaced by ruthless determination!

The next moment, his pupils along with the sclera and iris turned silver.

He was performing a Dream Divination!

In his mind, Bryan kept repeating one single line over and over again, 'The people responsible for teacher's death!'

And soon, with the help of the Dreamworld, Bryan finally received a revelation. He had a vision! And in this vision, he saw a city that appeared dozens of times more advanced than Damascus.

The tall buildings pierced the skies! The roads were wider and different types of steam vehicles drove through it! All types of machines could be seen operating in this city!

Steam dirigibles drifted above the city skyline meanwhile steam trains and metros snaked through the city. Bryan instinctively knew what he was looking at.

He opened his eyes which were no longer silver. His black pupils shone with resolve as he gazed at the sky that was dyed a shade of dark orange.

Benny who was sitting on his shoulder, asked excitedly, 'So, where are we headed?'

Bryan looked at him and smiled faintly. He then looked back at the setting sun and replied,

"The City of Dreams, Nadir!"

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End of Volume 1: Thief