The rare bird

Somewhere inside the walls of Orma

Comodo watched the fight in front of him, with his chin up. A huge translucent screen projected the Revenant's first attacks, which had nearly killed Helial on the spot.

For a moment, the son of Aure was assaulted by a intoxicating ecstasy.

Seeing Helial like this in a few exchanges made him tremendously happy. For the first time, he thought that the Undead were far more valid than any representative of the Human race.

Comodo had always felt an unparalleled hatred for that little boy, but now it was pouring out of him all the anger he wanted to direct to his brother.

The Goblin's hands were clawing the armrests of the chair, leaving long furrows where the fingers should rest.

In the past year, Hades had forced him to endure torture that not even his sadistic brain could have imagined. The result of those sufferings now rested on his whole body, battered by deep scars and wounds not yet healed.

He would have to wait a little longer and reach Immortality to have his perfect body back, exactly as it was before.

The gnashed teeth seemed to be caught in a clenched, motionless jaw. His eyes were two fountains of fire.

"Your body has a particular condition. While your talent doesn't seem like much, you have an affinity for Poison Mana. After asking experts to examine you, we have discovered that you are the receptacle of a very rare type of constitution. You have the Body of the Hydra. The delays you have seen in cultivation are due to this," Hades had told him.

The thought of nearly two years he had passed with the man made him shiver.

"What does it mean?" Comodo replied, completely shocked. He had always known that he had something special, something that made him immune to most poisons and that had allowed him to develop an affinity for Poison Mana.

"Hydra, daughter of Chidna and Typhus, is a creature of legends", explained the Human, an excited glint in his eye. "It is said that, during a war belonging to mythology, the Hydra killed an entire army of Immortals with just its breath. You can only imagine how much you have to thank heaven for this gift. It is difficult to control, but it will allow you to cultivate the most potent poisons directly inside your body. "

The Hydra had nine heads, one of which - the central one - contained the monster's Immortal soul. The others, in an inexplicable phenomenon, when cut regenerated two more heads. Only by attacking the core of each individual head could it be hoped that it would not regenerate.

Each head had a different kind of poison. One paralyzed, one gave insomnia, another destroyed living tissue, creating massive necrosis and generalized organ dysfunction. It was said that the central one was capable of creating a poison capable of killing anyone. Only a few monsters in the universe had survived a direct confrontation with the Hydra without being poisoned.

It was a creature of legends.

A terrifying being.

A monster that had brought the Poison Mana Path to the pinnacle of the universe, making it one of the most extraordinary and dangerous powers ever. But overnight, the Hydra disappeared. Many thought that it had left for another dimension, others that it had finally been defeated, but no one ever knew what the truth behind one of the scariest beasts in the universe was...

…

An indefinite number of millennia earlier

"Come back here to die immediately!" a thunderous voice pursued a gargantuan monster, whose stature alone might have rivalled that of a small planet. The voice seemed to contain the fury of all nine circles of hell.

"Damn fool, I breathed during the banquet only by mistake!" thundered the Hydra from its many mouths, creating an infinite echo. There was a hint of regret and terror in his tone.

"Not only did you defile the hall with your presence during the Council of Destruction, but you also broke my favourite set of dishes because you decided to be a bully at my dinner, right?"

"How was I supposed to know you cared so much about some stupid dishes!?"

"They were a gift from a very important person, which you will now repay at the high price of your life. Yes, you and all your damned fucking heads will pay for it! "

…

Comodo, a partire dalla rivelazione che gli aveva fatto Ade, aveva cominciato ad informarsi sulla figura dell'Idra e sulle sue strabilianti abilità, sulle imprese che aveva portato a termine, su quanto fosse stata temuta dai suoi nemici e messa su un piedistallo dagli alleati.

Comodo had been pervaded by a feeling he had never experienced. Maybe it was what everyone called "happiness", but he wasn't sure.

How could you not be completely amazed by the memory of a monster capable of creating any poison inside its body, so as to advance the Path of Poison Mana by itself?

The young Goblin didn't actually know the details about the Paths. Ade had vaguely mentioned them, without giving him too many details. It seemed that the human knew the universe much more than a normal person.

"You will have to undergo a very rigid training. Both your body and your Meridians will have to get used not only to the Poison Mana but also to endure excruciating pain. Even the Hydra could only create a few drops of its most potent poison every millennium; yet, these were enough to pulverize any enemy. In your case, the process of creating the first poisons will be terribly painful." Hades spoke with reassuring calmness and a soft smile that softened his face. "We will have to get used to undergoing very special treatments, but you will see that you will be satisfied."

Comodo nodded, satisfied. At that time, he had not yet understood that he would be subjected to actual torture, alternating with terrifying training.

That was the last time he'd seen Hades and he thought he would never see him again. Instead, just before leaving for Orma, he had seen him a couple of times. And he had hated him, but above all he had feared him.

His tormentors were in the Ninth Stage, Humans of incredible talent and power. They operated in silence and carried out whatever orders were given to them. Rebelling would have been almost useless. Comodo hadn't had a choice.

For his part, Hades didn't seem to be interested in the Goblin's survival. For him, this was nothing more than an experiment.

Like the huge and terrifying monster, who had died in excruciating suffering for a set of dishes, Comodo had suffered so much that he often wished he would die. Probably everything related to the Hydra was destined to live with innumerable pains.

Comodo had begun to sense that being heir to the Hydra was more a disaster than a blessing.

Touching his wrists, the Goblin felt the sores of the chains that kept him immobilized during the long hours of torture and the marks of the hands that held him when even the chains proved useless. His body had been bitten by countless blades, by fire, by blunt objects and punches; he had had to ingest poisons more powerful than he could control, to take the antidote only shortly before death.

Comodo had also experienced death a couple of times, only to be brought back to life.

Usually, even after this procedure, despite the body being reformed, any wounds and scars would remain in place, unless a particularly skilled healer intervened. But Comodo's body had been so badly treated that probably no one below Immortality would be able to fix it.

Not even Aure could have done much. It would take the intervention of an Immortal specialized in the medical arts, a very rare category to find on their planet.

Due to all that torture, the Goblin was completely transformed. Her face was deeply marked by spots and deep wrinkles between the eyebrows and forehead and his hair, once black, shiny and always well combed, had grown to the shoulders and between the raven-coloured tufts stood out white and gray streaks. Every millimeter of his skin constantly reminded him of what he had been through and all that he had lost.

The look he had been so proud of as he stalked the streets of Orma had been transformed by the madness of Hades and his men, like his soul and the rest of his body.

But Hades' torture and insane training had not been entirely in vain. Thanks to these, Comodo had reached the Late stage of the Seventh Phase and, although his foundations were slightly unstable, he was much more powerful than any other warrior at his level.

Watching Helial defeating the monster on the screen, Comodo felt an ecstatic sensation run down his back. Just then, a loud noise interrupted Comodo's thoughts.

Beside him, in another armchair, an Assassin was snoring blissfully, two silver blades gleaming at his sides.

If Helial had seen him, he would probably have remembered him as the rare bird, the Assassin who talked a lot and didn't behave at all as expected of one of his Class.