Chapter 38: Hobbies

Disclaimer: There will be torture in this chapter…

Zaos returned to his bedroom and retrieved the chest containing his Superior-grade dagger. He also retrieved his normal daggers and needles.

[They are not the best for the job but they will do,] He shook his head before making his way to the basement of the mansion. It was located behind a door on the lower floor of the house.

After passing through the door, and going down the stairs, Zaos arrived at a large underground prison.

The dungeon was constructed out of solid stone bricks, and the bars on the jail cells were made of thick metal rods with barely any gaps between them.

[What a nice prison,] Zaos smiled as he walked through the torch-lit dungeon hallway.

He passed by many empty cells before arriving at the cell Syvis was kept in. Syvis had her legs and arms chained to the wall. She sat on the ground with a blank look on her face.

"Have you been well?" Zaos knocked on the jail cells with a teasing smile on his face.

Syvis looked up slowly, when her eyes meant Zaos' eyes, she immediately snapped out of her dazed state and began struggling fiercely.

"Please! Let me go!" She screamed with a hoarse voice while she struggled.

Zaos smiled, he grabbed the key to the jail cell hung on the wall between the neighboring cell, and opened Syvis' cell.

"Why so cold? We are going to have a great time!" Zaos smiled menacingly.

"No!!" Syvis tugged at her chains violently. Her face betrayed her fear.

"Before that, I'll need to test something out so I'll need your cooperation," Zaos set down the chest and snapped its lid open. He took out the sleek dark-colored dagger and pointed at Syvis.

"We'll start after testing its effects. Well, if you survive that is…" Zaos walked towards Syvis.

"No! Please, don't kill me!" Syvis backed herself up against the wall, using her hands to shield her head.

Zaos simply smiled. After arriving before Syvis, he jabbed the Superior-grade dagger into her thigh.

"Ahhhh!!" Syvis screamed in pain at the sudden attack, she began flailing her limbs wildly in an attempt to dislodge the dagger in her thigh.

Zaos observed her with expectant eyes.

[The moment of truth!] He focused all his attention on Syvis.

Zaos' expectations were not betrayed as after a few seconds of waiting, some changes began occurring in Syvis' wounded leg.

The skin around the dagger wound began taking on a darker color and the blood around the wound also darkened.

[This?] Zaos took a closer look. After inspecting for a while, he gasped in amazement.

[Is this rot?] Zaos was ecstatic. He had finally been able to confirm that his new dagger was a Superior-grade item and its ability seemed decent.

Zaos nodded to himself before ruthlessly pulling out the dagger in Syvis' thigh.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Syvis screamed even louder than before. Streams of tears fell down her face as she gazed at Zaos with a pleading look.

"Please… let me go…" She spoke between sobs.

"How can that be? We are only getting started!" Zaos carefully placed the Superior-grade dagger into the chest and shifted his attention back to Syvis.

"You know, ever since I arrived here, I have been somewhat bored. Back in my hometown, I used to have this small hobby of mine that helped cure my boredom… " Zaos retrieved his normal dagger from his pocket.

"I haven't had any chance to re-polish my skills, so I have to thank you for making the decision you made…" Zaos bent down to Syvis' eye level.

"It means a lot to me that you volunteered yourself," Zaos smiled in a deranged manner.

Syvis continued sobbing, she couldn't properly express herself due to the pain and irritation she felt from her thigh.

"We have a long time ahead of us, let's get started… " With those words, a long and gruesome torture session began.

On earth, the reason why Zaos was feared as the greatest Mafia boss was not only because of his power. It also had something to do with his methods. In a bid to gather information on his parents' killers, Zaos often had to resort to ruthless methods.

One of such methods included torture. He did it so many times that he became skilled in it, making it possible for him to break even the toughest of thugs.

Other than for information gathering, he would often torture individuals who he believed committed crimes against him.

These individuals include those who backstabbed him, those who cheated him, those who plotted against him, and those who caused him to lose something he valued.

He punished these individuals not because of a code or moral as he would do similar things to others if they stood in his way. He did it simply because they were the losers, the weak. He believed that their inability to protect themselves after double-crossing him was foolish so he punished them.

Another reason he punished them was to serve as a reminder to himself to never become like them. He knew that if he ever fell into the hands of one of his enemies, his fate would be no better than theirs.

After hours spent in the dungeon, Zaos returned to the ground floor with blood-soaked clothes and with his chest in his hands.

[The elven anatomy and human anatomy are almost extremely similar. This is interesting…] Zaos opened the door leading out of the basement.

As someone would was skilled in the art of torture, Zaos knew a bit about the human anatomy. So when torturing Syvis, he noticed a lot of similarities.

[Aren't the elves descendants of gods? Why do they share so many similarities with humans?] Zaos' thoughts were brought to a halt when he noticed the guard standing outside the door.

"What is it?" Zaos asked the trembling guard.

"N-nothing boss. The Venom Order gang leader came to the market to seek an audience with you. I came to inform you." The guard trembled as he spoke. The guard had arrived much earlier but when he heard the terrifying screams coming from the dungeon, he didn't dare approach it.

"Oh? Inform him I'll be there in a minute. Ah yes, have someone clean up the dungeon before you go," Zaos ordered before walking past the guard.

The guard cast his gaze at the dark path leading down the dungeon and trembled. He barely managed to give a nod of affirmation before bolting out of the area.

Zaos shook his head at the guards' spineless behavior before making his way to the bathroom. He pondered as he walked.

[The matter of elven anatomy aside, it seems it's finally time to meet the Venom Order's leader…]