39 [Bonus Chapter] All Set And Done

"Next. " Adam spoke with a sharp look while holding his sword to Vince's neck.

"I-I'm not finished yet! I can still fight! " Vince tried to argue in a desperate tone as cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

"No, you're done. " Captain Yamamoto stepped forward and declared the outcome of the skirmish.

"P-please! He only beat me with a stroke of luck! " Vince continued arguing.

"Enough, Vince. I thought you were a better man than that. A man should always accept his losses and learn from them. You're done. " Captain Yamamoto shot down his argument once more.

"Y-yes, sir... " Vince begrudgingly accepted his defeat before leaving the building while glaring daggers at Adam.

"Is there anyone else who wishes to fight the newbie for the spot? " The captain looked around and asked.

"W-what should we do? "

"Vince is a C-rank, and he beat him so easily. "

"Do D-rank High Humans even stand a chance? "

"I won't take my chances on that guy... "

"Me neither. "

The D-rank auxiliary members surrendered the spot to Adam with no further objections, while the two remaining C-rank members, including Steven, stayed silent.

"I see, then the 8th spot belongs to Adam King. " Captain Yamamoto spoke with a serious expression. "The rest of the auxiliary members move to the second floor to decide the rest of the spots. " He continued before walking towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

""Yes, sir! "" The auxiliary members replied in unison before following the captain in a straight line.

"Adam! Congratulations, man! " James ran towards Adam and congratulated him with a wide smile.

"James, thank you. " Adam said while placing his sword back into the inventory. "Where have you been? "

"I was dealing with some stuff. I'll tell you about it later. " James replied with the same smile. "Anyway, you remember the underworld event, right? " He leaned in and whispered in Adam's ear.

"Of course I do. Did you get any new information? " Adam whispered back.

"It seems like it will be easier to go than we thought. " James replied.

"What do you mean? " Adam asked.

"It's an open event, so anyone can enter, but there were few spots left. Thankfully, I registered both of us under pseudonyms. " James spoke in a grave tone. "Those underworld bastards are not even trying to hide it anymore... " He continued.

"It doesn't matter. I'm still going. " Adam replied with a slight frown. "But you don't have to, James. This is something that I decided on, so you don't have to follow me through it... "

"What are you talking about? " James asked with a deep frown. "The same way you decided on it, it's also my decision to follow you. "

"What are you two whispering about? " Darius approached the two and asked in a curious tone.

"James was just telling me about his girlfriend. " Adam quickly lied with a straight face.

"Oh! So he told you? " Darius asked with a slightly surprised expression.

"Told me about what? " Adam asked in a curious tone.

"His "girlfriend" is the S-rank High Human who we want to cooperate with for the raid. " Darius replied while looking at James with a devious smile.

"Seriously? " Adam asked with a shocked expression.

"Y-yeah, she's pretty amazing. " James gave a bashful reply while scratching his head.

"Why are you acting like she's actually your girlfriend, idiot? " Darius woke James from his delusional fantasy. "Anyway, it's still not set in stone. The captain and I need to visit her in England and talk out the details before we get into the actual training. "

"England? When are you going there? " Adam asked with a surprised expression.

"We're leaving tomorrow. " Darius replied while looking at James. " We were waiting for James because he was supposed to come with us, but he said that he has some urgent business to handle at the moment, so it's going to be just me and the captain. "

"I-I see... " Adam spoke in a nervous tone. "A trip to England must be exciting. " He tried to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Well, I've been there a lot because of work, so it's not that new. Besides, traveling with the captain is such a drag. "

"What do you mean? " Adam asked.

"He has a lot of weird superstitions. " James replied while struggling to hold back his laughter.

"That monster has his weaknesses too, huh? " Adam spoke with a smile.

On the other side of the room, the core members were talking amongst themselves while watching the three young men.

"That newbie might be better than we expected. " Kevin said while scrutinizing Adam from afar.

"Yeah, his bold action surprised me. " Tyrone said with a gentle smile.

"He was so cool~, " Elina spoke with a slightly flushed face.

"Hey, Elina, don't catch feelings for the guy. " Sneed said in a mocking tone.

"Huh?! Who are you to tell me what to do, shark boy?! " Elina replied with an annoyed expression.

"I was looking out for you, bimbo Loli. " Sneed said while looking down at the small girl.

"I see, you wanna die... " Elina spoke in a furious tone before grabbing a gigantic hammer twice her size.

"Stop it, you two. " Kevin stepped in between the two and spoke in a firm tone. "Let's go introduce ourselves to the newbie. We will work together after all. "

"Tsk, yes, sir. " Sneed spoke while glaring at Elina.

"Hmph! " Elina puffed her cheeks and looked away with an annoyed expression.

"When are those two going to grow up? " Ash spoke while looking at Sneed and Elina with a condescending gaze.

"Spoken from the lips of our third child... " Marianne said with a slight snicker.

"Huh?! " Ash turned to her with a menacing glare. "What did you just say? "

"Nothing~, " Marianne quickly played dumb before following the rest of the core members to introduce herself to the newbie.

Adam noticed the core members, who were all approaching him, and got slightly nervous. They did not seem like bad people, but they sure didn't seem hospitable or accepting of him, either.

'I wonder what they want... ' He thought.

"Yo, James. " The first one to speak was Sneed, who put his arm on James's shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Sneed, yo! What's up? " James greeted Sneed with a smile. The two seemed to be really close.

"Everyone is curious about your friend here. " Sneed spoke while pointing at Adam. "The only things we know is that he's tall, disgustingly handsome, his name is Adam King, and gotten beaten to a pulp by the captain, but since we'll be working together, might as well know more. "

"We also want the new member to know more about us. " Kevin stepped forward and said with a friendly expression. "My name is Kevin Spencer. The vice-captain of the task force, you can call me Kevin. I'm an upper B-rank Physical High Human with a physical enhancement ability. My weapon is this great sword. " He continued while holding up his sword.

"I'm lord Sneed, upper B-rank, with healing abilities. " Sneed introduced himself next with a high and mighty tone. "I might be a healer, but I can still beat the shit out of most of these guys. "

"Marianne, upper B-rank Magical High Human with a fire magic ability. " Marianne gave a brief introduction while crossing her arms.

"I'm Tyrone. B-rank Physical High Human with physical enhancement and taunt abilities. " Tyrone introduced himself with a gentle smile, unbefitting of his scary looks. "I mainly use a shield and an ax to protect the party and deal minimal damage. "

"My name is Elina, B-rank Physical High Human with physical enhancement and earth magic abilities. Single, 18 years old. " Elina stepped forward and introduced herself while showing off her cute eyes.

"Ash, B-rank Magical High Human with wind magic and stealth abilities. I use a longbow. " Ash introduced himself in an indifferent tone.

"Nice to meet you. As you all know, my name is Adam King. Upper C-rank Physical High Human with physical enhancement and sub-space abilities. " Adam introduced himself with a smile.

"And I'm James! " James jumped in with a puffed-up chest.

"No one asked, P*kachu. " Marianne said in a sarcastic tone.

And just as James was about to get into an argument with her, captain Yamamoto came down along with the auxiliary members.

"The selection has ended. " He declared. "The final two spots belong to Steven Carlyle and Sophia Frederick. "

"Steven! You made it! " Adam rejoiced.

"Yeah, we both did. " Steven replied with a smile.

"As you all probably heard, Darius and I are going to England tomorrow on an important business trip, which will take two weeks. " Captain Yamamoto said while looking at the last members. "The rest of you will stay here and train. I already decided on your regimen. "

""Yes, sir! "" The members, including Adam, replied in unison.

"James, Elina, and Adam will train in hand-to-hand combat under Sneed. " He spoke while looking at Adam. "Ash and Steven will train in mana control under Marianne. Tyrone and Sophia will train under Kevin, understood? "

""Yes, sir! "" Everyone replied except for Adam, who had a puzzled look on his face.

"Do you have a question, newbie? " Captain Yamamoto noticed Adam's expression and asked.

"Uh, yes. I'm a sword user, so why am I training in hand-to-hand combat? " Adam asked in a curious tone.

"Your sword is too crude. You're only swinging it like a barbarian without considering your body, which makes your movements predictable and ineffective. " The captain answered Adam with a calm expression. "You need to train your body movement and coordination before training that shabby sword of yours. "

"Y-yes, sir. " Adam replied in a dispirited tone. He always thought that his sword skills were too good for a beginner, but it seems like that was just an illusion.

"I have other matters to attend to, so you guys should start. " The captain finally said before leaving the building along with Darius.

"Hold on, why is Sneed the one training us in hand-to-hand combat? Isn't he a healer? " Adam asked James with a whisper.

"Oh, you don't know. " James replied while looking at Sneed. "He might be a healer, but Sneed is actually only second to the captain in battle technique. "

"Seriously?! " Adam couldn't help but exclaim in a loud voice.

"Yep, seriously. " Sneed suddenly appeared and put his hand on Adam's shoulder with a devious smile. "Your hellish training is about to start, newbie... "