35 Place Your Bets

"... " Adam could only stare silently at the captain's words. Not because he was thinking of a comeback or anything, but the captain's words were just that accurate. 'It's my fault for oversleeping... '

The young man always had a strong sense of responsibility, which was created by his belief that his family died because he wasn't there.

"Captain Yamamoto, I apologize on behalf of Adam. " Darius noticed Adam's troubled expression and stepped forward. "He might be late this once, but I can guarantee that it won't happen again. " He continued before shooting Adam a warning glare.

Captain Yamamoto looked at Darius with a slightly surprised gaze before turning to Adam. He circled the young man while scrutinizing him, then spoke in the same indifferent tone.

"I see... Since you want me to give this young man special treatment. You wouldn't mind if I give him a special test, will you? " He asked Darius with a smile. "If he is as competent as you say he is, I'm sure he'll succeed. "

"I don't mind. " Darius replied with a hint of defeat in his voice. 'A shrewd monster, as always... ' He thought while looking at Adam with a pitiful expression.

*Stomp! *

Captain Yamamoto stomped his foot while walking toward the stairs leading to the second floor with a menacing smirk.

"Follow me, young man. " He said while climbing the stairs.

"Better look for a new gig, hunky boy. " Sneed said in a sarcastic tone as he followed the captain to the second floor.

"Eh? " Adam looked at him with a confused expression.

"Just try to keep your bones intact. " The orange-haired beauty said as she passed by Adam.

"Huh? " Adam turned around with a shocked expression.

"Please, just please, cover your face, at least. " The blue-haired girl pleaded with teary eyes.

"What is everyone talking about?! " Adam asked the people walking toward the second floor in an urgent tone.

But no one gave him a reply. Everyone, including Kevin and the bulky African-American man, silently walked up the stairs with various expressions ranging from excitement to pity.

*Pat. *

James walked up to Adam and pat his shoulder with an apologetic expression.

"You're going to fight the captain in a one-on-one, bro. " He spoke in a pitiful tone. "He's quite pissed because of a certain something, you see. And a perfect target to release all that anger just showed up. "

"Me?! " Adam asked while pointing at his chest as cold sweat trickled down his forehead. "He's A-rank, though! " He continued with a wronged expression, like a man who's sentenced to life in prison even though he is innocent.

"I'm sorry, Adam. The original plan was to have you fight one of the B-rank members, but captain Yamamoto is a punctual person, you see. " Darius also spoke to Adam in an apologetic tone. "Just try your best not to die because he's quite pissed right now, you see. "

"What do you mean "you see. "? I don't see! Nope! I'm not fighting this guy, especially not when he's mad, you see. " Adam said before shaking off James's hand with a nervous expression. "I am a C-rank High Human. Why do I have to fight this monster?! " He took out his license and showed off the big, pitiful C on it.

"It's nothing personal. " Darius said with a smile before glancing at James. "You just have to do your best to survive, nothing much. "

*Grab! *

"Huh?! " Adam exclaimed as James forcefully grabbed him and carried him up the stairs. He beat James once by a mere fluke, but James was still much stronger than he was. "Unhand me! " Adam yelled.

But neither Darius nor James heeded his calls for help...

"Guess I'll just excuse myself, then... " Mark noticed that everyone just kind of started with the whole mess and silently exited the building.

______________

The three reached the second floor, where the task force members discussed something amongst themselves in one corner while captain Yamamoto stood in the middle of the space in which Adam and James trained with a blank expression.

James let the shaking Adam go, who started looking around the room with eyes full of nervousness and fear, like a lamb that accepted its fate to be slaughtered.

"Okay! The lowest price of a bet is 5000 dollars! All participants, please, pass your money to Tyron over here! " Sneed said with a big smile while pointing at the bulky African-American man, Tyrone.

"W-why me?! " Tyrone asked in a nervous tone.

*Smack! *

"Because everyone trusts you, man! " Sneed said while repeatedly smacking Tyrone's broad back. "Here, this is my bet. 5000 dollars says that the newbie won't last over 20 seconds! Who wants to call that action? Marrianne? " Sneed asked while looking at the orange-haired beautiful woman, Marrianne.

"Let's do this, you compulsive gambler. " Marrianne replied with a smirk. "5000 dollars says that he won't last over 5 seconds. " She handed the money to Tyrone, who reluctantly accepted it.

"That's the spirit! Anyone else? " Sneed's grin grew as he started looking around for more bets like a hungry, sly fox.

'They're seriously betting on me losing... ' Adam thought while looking at the task force members bet their money with carefree expressions. 'Besides, the time keeps getting shorter, too... ' He bit his lips with a bitter expression.

"I will bet on the handsome prince! " The cute, blue-haired, young girl stepped forward and handed her money to Tyrone as well. "5000 dollars says he'll last over 40 seconds. "

'Had me in the first half, not going to lie... ' Adam looked at the young girl with teary eyes.

"Oh! Elina enters the fray! Who else?! " Sneed said while patting the little girl's head. "Darius, James, vice-captain, and Ash! You want in? " He turned to the rest of the people.

'Ash?! Who's that? ' Adam got puzzled at Sneed's words. He could only sense 8 people, including James and Darius, when he entered the building. Even now, he couldn't see the extra person who Sneed was calling out for.

"Ash is always too shy for this type of stuff. " Elina said while pouting.

*Whoosh! *

Suddenly, a man cloaked in black appeared behind Elina out of thin air and started patting her head gently. He wore a mask that covered his nose and mouth, but his deep blue eyes and a few strands of his shiny black hair were visible.

"Ash is here! " Elina said with a joyful expression.

'What the hell?! I couldn't even sense him... Scratch that, I still can't, nor can I see any mana emanating from him. Who is this guy?! ' Adam looked at the cloaked man with a shocked expression.

"Ash! You finally showed yourself, you shy edge lord. " Sneed said in a sarcastic tone.

"Try calling me an edge lord, one more time... " Ash replied in a hoarse voice as his eyes flashed with killing intent.

"Wanna bet?! " Sneed quickly raised his hands and asked in a docile tone.

"No, I just want to see what the newbie is capable of. " Ash replied while looking at Adam.

"Tsk, you're no fun. " Sneed said while looking at Ash with an annoyed expression. "What about you guys? " He asked the rest.

"I'll also refrain. " Kevin raised his hand.

"Me, too. " Darius also followed suit.

James, however, sneakily walked closer to Tyron and handed his money.

"No more than 15 seconds. " He secretly whispered.

"Hey! " Adam yelled at James from across the room. "I literally beat you yesterday! "

"Make it 3 seconds... " James lowered the expected time at Adam's words with a condescending smirk.

'Bastard... ' Adam cursed him with a furious expression.

"Okay, now that everyone placed their bets, let's begin. " Captain Yamamoto, who was silently standing in the middle of the room the entire time, finally spoke while looking at Adam. "Vice-captain, since you're not betting, you judge the spar. " He turned to Kevin and asked.

"Adam, step up. " Kevin immediately called for Adam while walking toward the center of the room.

'I guess there's no way around this... ' Adam walked up with a nervous expression. He could feel the terrifyingly immense amount of mana emanating from captain Yamato, which was making it harder for him to even walk properly.

After he reached the center and stood with both the captain and vice-captain, Kevin started explaining the rules of the match.

"You can use any weapon as long as it's not poisoned. The fight will only stop when one of you either enters a dangerous state or surrenders. " He spoke as his gaze alternated between the tall Adam, standing at 190 cm, and the shorter captain, who was around 175 cm. "The fight starts on the count of 1. " But he was worried about the tall, young man instead of the shorter and older man.

Adam pulled out his pitch-black sword from the inventory.

"Woah! "

"That looks cool! "

"Are you sure he's a Physical High Human? "

The task force gave surprised reactions to Adam's action.

Meanwhile, Shinji calmly stood there with his hands crossed on his chest.

"3. "

Adam kept watching the captain with wary eyes.

"2. "

'I'll try to last a minute... ' He thought while watching out for any movements, but the captain simply kept motionlessly standing with a calm expression.

"1. "

*BOOM! *

It all happened in a split second.

Adam kept watching the captain for any movements.

He held his sword and readied himself.

So, why? How?

'What happened?! ' The thought crossed his mind.

*CRACK! *

A couple of his ribs made a cracking sound.

'Why am I inside the wall?! '

The wall, which wouldn't even budge during Adam's training, now housed Adam in a hole.