[ The Administrator ]

Part II Chapter 43 - Ascension

***Lynett***

His eyes were cold, emotionless. Feeling absolutely not threatened at all, the slavers' leader was standing right in front of us, his guard completely opened, as he carefully studied each one of us, stroking his chin. His men, however, were a bit more cautious. Their hands resting on their swords, they were ready to pounce at any time, were any of us to make the slightest suspicious move.

"You look strong," he eventually spoke, his eyes focused on Leven. "Number 4889, was it?"

"I'm honored that you remember my number, sir," Leven sarcastically spat with an arrogant smile, which the other slavers didn't miss. The leader, however, paid it no mind.

"So, what is it that you've done exactly?" he asked.

"He murdered two of our men the night he arrived," the secretary dude at his side responded. "Art was murdered in his sleep, and he got John right after, while he was trying to subdue him."

"Art and John, huh?" A grin appeared on the slavers' leader's face. "Pretty impressive."

"Well, they were slowpokes so it was easy," Leven taunted.

Falling for his provocation, a slaver came to grab him by his collar.

"You piece of shit! Your death is going to be slow and painful!"

"That's enough," the leader ordered, "I'm not finished here."

The slaver ground his teeth as he reluctantly let go of Leven, still glaring at him. So the leader's word is absolute, huh?

"It says on your report that it took a total of five people to take you down," the leader continued, impassive, "and that you managed to injure three of them before being completely subdued. You seem to have experience when it comes to fighting. What did you do for a living?"

"I cut down trees," Leven replied with a straight face, "It's just your men who are pathetically weak."

Offended, the slavers shot him a deadly glare. Their leader was the only one to be seemingly impressed by his boldness, judging by the smirk on his face.

"Strong and audacious, huh?" he noted. "I don't dislike it. Would you like to work for me?"

Leven frowned at his unexpected proposition, and he wasn't the only one. Outraged, a slaver immediately came forward to express his disapproval.

"Boss!" he shouted. "He killed Art and John!"

"I'm aware," the leader replied with a disinterested voice, "but if those two weren't able to defend themselves against a mere logger, it's their own fault. I have no need for weak men."

His harsh statement caused the slaver to flinch.

"But... Even if it's true, he's an insurgent! He rebelled once, he will do it again! A former slave like him can't be trusted!"

The leader sneered at these words.

"Trust?" he repeated with an ironic smile. "Like you think I trust any of you? You bunch of thugs are only here because I pay you. The moment a better opportunity to earn money presents itself, you will no doubt stab me in the back."

The slaver tried to disagree, but he couldn't find anything to retort.

"Money buys loyalty," the leader continued, before shifting his attention back to Leven, "and now, I'm offering to buy yours."

"You want to buy me?" Leven repeated with a hard expression, before a grin spread across his face. "Alright, I'm listening. How much are you offering?"