Chapter 92: Trial And Deception (3)
Before Adrian knew it, it was his turn to be evaluated. Two men approached him, gripping his hands tightly as they pulled him towards the man seated in the chair. With rough hands, they forced Adrian to kneel before him, though it took quite an effort to do so.
It was a little stunt Adrian intentionally pulled, and sure enough, it didn’t go unnoticed by the evaluation officer, or Shoka, as the Tulkas called him. Shoka, who had been judging the rest from the information slip he was given about them, threw away Adrian’s information before gazing into his eyes.
"Got some fight left in ya, huh?" Shoka asked Adrian in a weird accent. "I’m thinkin’ of tossin’ you back in the ring. See if you fare any better this time. What d’ya reckon?"
"Why? Is your wife waiting there for me?" Adrian retorted, spitting a mouthful of blood at Shoka’s feet. "Now that I look at you, you do seem familiar. Don’t tell me that Ograthian was your son or some shit?"
The Tulkas there stood in shock, staring at one another. It wasn’t the first time someone had commented on Shoka’s ogre-like appearance. They had witnessed this scenario play out many times before, and it always ended badly for the one standing against him.
They expected this time to be no different. But then, Shoka started laughing like a crazy person, throwing everyone off guard. Then, out of nowhere, he kicked Adrian in the chest before grabbing him by his hair and staring into his soul.
"New guy thinks he’s funneh, huh?" Shoka snarled as the others backed away. No one wanted the newcomer’s blood spilling on them.
"The only things funny are your face and that bad breath, gosh!" Adrian squinted his nose before smiling. "I thought you looked like an ogre, but damn, you smell even worse than they do."
Everyone could see smoke coming out of Shoka’s ears. If he didn’t have plans of killing the slave before, he certainly did now, and that’s precisely what Adrian wanted him to do and lose his cool.