As someone who has been forced to eat feces, Loki knows how bad it is. So he knew how bad the four lackeys must feel after they were ridiculed. But Loki didn’t feel any pride that Slav had belittled them to elevate him. His heart only felt endless frigidity.
Since he wasn’t moved by the offer, Slav changed the subject and said, "So what’s this about the competition?"
Loki reined in his disgust and instead replied with a straight face, "I will forfeit the competition so that you can win. In exchange, I want a rank 2 Slave of the Forging Pathway."
Slav’s amicable face fell apart when he heard Loki’s offer. His face scrunched up in anger as he asked, "Why would I need you to forfeit? Are you saying that I can’t win if you fight seriously?"
Loki replied with a smile, "No. My offer is to make things easier for you. Even if I fight seriously, you’ll still win. I just want to make your victory easier. Take it as paying me to increase your chances of winning and ensure that no accident occurs to take your victory from you."
Slav didn’t appreciate a word out of everything he said. Instead of calming down, his face became colder, and his eyes became murderous as he said, "In that case, you are sorely mistaken. I don’t need your offer because I don’t need to win."
"The competition cannot give me anything I can’t have. And even if I perform poorly, I will still be able to join one of the best societies in the sect because that society is controlled by my father."
"Thirdly, even if I were interested, I can’t give you a rank 2 slave because I don’t think the cost is worth it. Fourthly, even if I were interested in winning at any cost, I still wouldn’t be able to get a rank 2 slave for you. So forget about it."
He was about to leave, but Loki said to him, "If you don’t need to win, then why are you afraid of me?"
His question made Slav lose control. His face contorted in anger, and he pointed one finger at Loki as he said, "What utter nonsense is that? Why would I be afraid of you? What do you take me for?"
"Do you know what you are? Do you know who I am? I don’t even need to raise my finger to put an end to you here and now. I have many people willing to kill you for me at all costs."
Loki thought to himself, "You’re only half right about having many people who you can use to kill me. As for them being willing to kill me at all costs, that’s a big fat lie."
But outwardly, he said, "If you’re not scared of me, then why are you trying to kill me?"
He shouted the question, so everyone nearby heard it. This included their peers and Muni in the distance.
Since the matter had become a public matter, Slav quickly regained his decorum and replied with a calm tone, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
He can never admit to trying to kill Loki, even if it is the truth. Even if he has only one tooth, he will still lie through his single tooth.
Loki chuckled and said, "I don’t believe you. But fortunately, there is a way to prove that you’re not afraid of me. Just sign a contract that says that you won’t try to kill me until we leave the initiation ground. In exchange, I will do my best to defeat you during the fight."
In response, Slav said coldly to him, "Goodbye."
Then he turned to leave.
Loki called out to him, "How about this? If you sign the contract, I won’t compete with you in the competition. In fact, I will forfeit the entire thing."
Slav didn’t reply. The young man didn’t turn back or validate Loki’s offer with a response. He left with his four lackeys in tow like a mother hen with her chicks.
Loki shook his head and said, "What a pity?"
Then he swaggered on his way back to his lodgings. He didn’t look like failing to make that deal mattered to him at all. He also didn’t appear to be worried about the repercussions of offending Slav like that in public.
Loki was at peace with himself and with the world, but Slav was like a dragon about to be consumed by his fire and in dire need of proper venting.
It is true that he doesn’t need to perform well in the competition, and it is even more true that he doesn’t need to win the competition. But not needing to do something only means that it is not necessary. It doesn’t mean that he wants it, and it doesn’t mean that it won’t be beneficial to him if he gets it.
As a second-generation cultivator, it is just right that he wins the competition even if it won’t bring him any important benefit. After all, there is no other way for him to stand out from the slaves and the first-generation cultivators.
He has to win to make his father proud, and he has to win spectacularly. But far more important than this is to make sure that a slave like Loki doesn’t beat him in the competition. And even more important than this is his duty to kill or enslave Loki and bring him back home to be punished.
So yes, he has to kill Loki. He didn’t need to be insulted in front of everyone and accused of being afraid of the slave of his family for him to want to kill Loki. But now that Loki had pressed the right buttons to push his anger to its limit, he would take the task of killing Loki even more seriously.
This is why he roared even more passionately at his four slaves than usual. He made sure to press the importance of Loki’s death into their skulls before he left them to their vices.