Two young girl slaves were massaging the shoulders of a young Goblin the dim light of a luxurious room. A third one was knelt between his legs, trying to satisfy his every whim.

The Goblin’s face revealed a bored yet vaguely smug expression. He gave a scornful look at that candid-skinned slave. She was human. He had received her among the spoils from a successful expedition. Blue blood ran in her veins, and yet she was on her kneels in an attempt to gain his favor. Otherwise she would have been thrown to his subordinates, who most likely would take turns and rape her to death.

He felt a touch of her teeth and lost his temper. “Dirty slut!” he abruptly stood up and slapped her. The woman’s face turned livid. She flopped on the ground and scarcely forced tears back.

“Forgive me, young master! Forgive me! It was a mistake! Forgive me, I’m begging!”

The woman tried every prayer. However, the Goblin’s eyes, full of hatred and disdain, looked like there was no reason for her to hope.

The Goblin seemed to be about to forgive her, when a voice suddenly resounded outside the room.

“Young master!” one of his men rushed in the room. He was wearing a golden armor with the insignia of the Sect of the Worthy.

“What’s up, Artemus?” the Goblin furrowed his eyebrows as he saw his subordinate burst into the room in that rush.

“Young master Comodus, you asked me to report every news about the trial,” he panted. He stopped, took a deep breath and then: “Caesar’s new human was acquitted. They say he’s really powerful! He razed half Senate to the ground with a slash of his sword!”

Comodus. Son of the second Immortal in Orma, Aure, and first in line for the Sect of the Worthy.

Comodus’ face turned gloomy. Fierceness flashed in his eyes.

“Filthy humans. Send for the others. We must discuss this inferior being that’s come here to pollute our air. Humans. We should put them all in chains and let our soldiers rape their women,” Comodus growled.

It was a while now that the Sect of the Worthy had been promoting the idea of the superiority of the Goblin race, that should never blend with humans. Every Sect member had been brainwashed. Just like Zealots, they must all comply with the rules of the Sect - above all the one that commanded to kill every human they would stumble upon. This shed a significant light on the hatred that Comodus felt towards humans and the degree to which he considered them inferior. When he was informed that Caesar had taken a human as his pupil, the Sect of the Worthy had been on the brink of a riot. The reason why the King couldn’t accept the human and his sister directly in his Clan was the fact he was afraid to cause the uprising of the Seniors and the Sect of the Worthy. They would have declared him traitor of the Goblin population.

“So that fucking human killed three Goblins, and both the King and the Senate allowed him to go unpunished. Seems like my father is right when he says that our Orma has turned wimp.”

Artemus instantly sensed what his master was going to say next. “You master, there are three humans in this room…”

Those useless women could have likely leaked every revelation on Comodus’ plan. If they had succeeded in that, the Sect of the Worthy would have had a hard time.

Without batting an eyelid, Comodus raised his right hand and let three needle fling from his palm. They pierced the three women. Instantly, their skin turned dark as their body fell to the ground and, without a sound, began to putrefy in a black puddle.

Artemus looked at Comodus in terror and lowered his head, as if he hadn’t seen anything. Comodus mastered a Mana what had an Affinity for Venom. All the greatest warriors considered venom a womanly weapon, though Comodus couldn’t care less about it, as long as he could rely on such lethal means.

Comodus looked at the three black puddles and made them disappear with a snap of his fingers. They vaporized in a black smoke that penetrated through his pores. Comodus was indeed used to tempering his body by providing it with Venom. In order to inure to this medicine, he had got used to giving himself countless different poisons.

He glanced at his servant once again and said: “Go. Send for them.”

***

A few days later, Orma, Royal Palace

Helial directed his gaze behind Caesar’s back. The King was leaning slightly forward from the railing that ran along the terrace. He was gazing across Orma with melancholy eyes. The entire city seemed to be weighting down on his shoulders. Caesar heaved a sigh as gusts of wind flapped his clothes, Orma’s bastion.

Caesar sighed and turned, loosening the hands whose fingers were intertwined behind his back. “You made a bell ring inside of me when, a week ago, you made those ginks eat their own shit.” He pondered for a moment, in low spirits, and then went on talking with a singular light in his eyes: “Through the years I grew inured to the goings-on here in Orma. I confined my ineptitude within the excuse of my weakness. Orma needs a deserving authority now more than ever. Justice, equity, morality… Our ancestors’ values marked our footprint in this world in branding iron. They let us go down in history as a proud race, even though heavily despised and looked down as barbaric.”

Caesar dived his light-blue eyes in those dark blue of Helial and his solemnity intensified: “My path along the Dao of Mana is far from finishing and there is still much I can give my brothers. I didn’t realize it, but I do now. After seeing a brat not even in the First Phase destroy half of our Senate, I realized what Orma really needs.”

Caesar paused briefly, raised his gaze up to the sky and smiled: “Even if the Senate were to oppose him, I will now do everything in my power to give my people what they deserve.”

Caesar seemed like the hero of a tragedy now more than ever; ready to face anything and anyone, even his own fellow brothers, in order to give dignity back to his people. He wanted Orma to be revived, so that their values would be worth handing down to the generations to come.

In that very moment, a wall was built between Caesar and Helial. The indestructible wall of responsibility. On Caesar’s side lay the responsibility of an entire population to care for. On Helial’s side lay that of who can barely take care of oneself. Unconsciously, with that barrier Caesar had just put him and his disciple on two completely different planes.

Any ordinary person couldn’t hope to ever overcome that barrier too easily. After all, on the opposite side stood the King of Orma, a powerful Immortal what was anything but ordinary.

And yet Helial’s reaction went against any expectation produced by common sense.

After listening to Caesar in silence, Helial stepped forward and looked at the King in the eyes. He bent the knee and said in a deep voice: “Even if the sky were against me, I will do everything to let the Goblin population and you, master, get what you deserve.”

Helial’s words rumbled through Caesar’s ears like a thunderbolt; Caesar gave his disciple a curious and respectful look. Then a beaming smile spread across his greenish face. Despite Helial kneeling before him, it was actually Caesar who felt like he were in front of a god. Helial’s words conveyed indeed an outstanding resolution that would let everyone’s blood seethe with reverence.

Once again, Caesar felt proud of his choice to keep that boy as hi pupil. He wasn’t merely strong; he had a lot more to him. “Then, it would appear, I’m not the only one who will shoulder the responsibility brought by this honor,” Caesar smiled and stretched out a hand to help Helial stand up.

Helial clutched Caesar’s hand firmly and stood up without withdrawing his gaze.

Caesar gave a sigh, turned once again and said: “Lumia, Snowflake, Frankenstein and the girl will have to pass the entrance test if they want to stay in the Royal Palace. Otherwise, we’ll have to look for a new accommodation for them. I can’t disobey all Orma’s protocols. People revolted against me only because I took you. I’d have a hard time justifying for them as well.”

Helial nodded and shrugged: “I’ll deal with that.”

Caesar furrowed his eyebrows and said: “Snowflake, that cat, and Lumia will definitely pass it. But Lulu and Frankenstein…” A flash of uncertainty crossed the King’s eyes, who added: “But don’t worry. I can’t have an accommodation settled…”

“No need, Master. Don’t worry. I’ll deal with everything,” Helial smiled.

By which you mean that I will deal with everything, don’t you? Shithead… An irritated voice resounded out inside his Soul. But nothing else followed. The Devil had already accepted the role of trainer for Lumia and Helial’s friends. It was no big deal for him.

***

Forest of Orma

Snowflake swiftly dodged the claws of a huge Cursed Dark Bear, bouncing aside light at lightning speed while silver flares flashed under his feet.

The Cursed Dark Bear was in the Third Phase. Even though Snowflake hadn’t been able to hurt it, it hadn’t been able to hurt that miserable white-furred cat either.

“Hey, piece of shit, your mom made you with reversed paws? Never thought to, like, shovel your tail up your ass instead of wagging it like a doggo? Look at you, fatso, do you really think you can hit this Supreme Cat? In your dreams, whore.”

The Cursed Dark Bear had developed a high level of intelligence and could grasp Snowflake’s words. He lost his temper and started throwing blows with its paws with increasing fury.

Snowflake’s focus reached its peak. He kept dodging blows relentlessly. After all, the Cursed Dark Bear was in the Third Phase, while he wasn’t even in the First. The gap between was as wide as the distance between heaven and earth.

After a few minutes, Snowflake thought it best to run for the hills. He was running out of Mana and his Vigor wasn’t high enough to let him keep dodging for much longer.

“Stronger, faster, I have to grow faster…” Snowflake whispered to himself as the mysterious symbol on his forehead began to shine. However, a black light extinguished that glow immediately. A warm tear streaked his furred cheek as Snowflake kept running at breakneck speed towards Orma.