Chapter 57: Adam vs. Ron
Chapter 57: Adam vs. Ron
"Argh!" Adam groaned loudly, veins bulging on his forehead. 'H-he just doesn't move!'
"Oh, a nice try." Ron chuckled, his legs firmly rooted on the ground, with Adam trying desperately to lift them up.
Adam's tackle desperately failed.
At first, Adam managed to lift him up and start throwing him towards the ground. However, somehow, Ron managed to bring his feet back down to the ground and completely nullify his tackling attempt.
"Your tackle lacked the strength and technique needed to take me down," Ron taunted, then grabbed Adam by his left shoulder and threw him to the ground instead.
Adam's back crashed to the ground, a loud groan escaping his lips.
"You are definitely good at striking, but your tackle needs work." Ron said and then chuckled. "You're not actually good at wrestling, aren't you? You just wanted to bring me down, as that counts as your victory. A nice attempt."
"You caught me..." Adam groaned and stood back up, his back slightly bruised and bleeding from the rough landing.
He never planned to challenge Ron in wrestling. He only needed to bring him down, and that counted as a victory for them.
Unfortunately, the strength difference was just so immense that he was unable to finish his tackle.
"You couldn't get a good grip of my other leg." Ron looked at Adam's hand, which missed two fingers. "Real unfortunate."
"Even if I had my fingers, my tackle still would've failed." Adam said. "When I tackled you, it felt like I was trying to move a mountain."
"Yeah, the difference in level between us is just too much." Ron sighed, actually feeling frustrated by it.
"I wish I was able to control my brain processing speed, like some others are. I would be able to lower my reaction time and speed to match yours.
"I want to fight you on equal ground some day, maybe once you've reached my level."
At that moment, Adam put his arms close to his chest and rushed at Ron. He immediately reached close range, planning to take this fight to the next level.
"What's your next plan?" Ron formed fists with his hands and smirked. "What kind of fighting style will you use now?"
Adam stomped on the ground, twisted his waist, and threw a straight punch. His shoulder rotated, and his body lunged forward with full force.
Ron caught the punch and made it slide past him, causing Adam's balance to falter and his body to be unguarded.
At that moment, Adam revealed his thumb from his clenched fist and thrust it straight towards Ron's eye.
Ron quickly moved his head out of the way, his eyes slightly shaking. He was not expecting Adam to fight back so fiercely.
After the thumb strike missed, Adam took a step closer, placed his arm beside his waist, and threw a powerful straight punch. It looked like a punch from traditional karate.
Ron narrowed his eyes and elbowed the fist away before it could make contact.
The fingers of the fist looked bruised.
Ron then raised his leg and did a low kick towards Adam's knee.
Adam quickly jumped over the kick and did a front kick to Ron's chest. However, he caught it by the ankle and then slammed Adam straight to the ground.
CRACK!
"Argh!" Adam groaned, and he thought he heard his spine crack in half.
'Since I can still move, I didn't just get paralyzed!' Adam thought to himself, then jumped back to his feet, sweating furiously because of the intense confrontation.
"You showed that you can fight with great skill, but you're still not using your greatest weapon." Ron cracked his knuckles and asked, "Come on, show me your speed."
"No worries, you'll see something even beyond that."
Adam moved into a cat stance-it was a traditional stance in martial arts.
He had one foot in front of the other, his weight evenly distributed. The front foot stood on its toes, while the other was flat on the ground. His hands were open-palmed, placed near his waist, and his back was completely straight with his head facing forward.
"Well then, show me!" Ron pounced forward like a wild beast.
With lightning speed, he appeared in front of Adam and threw a punch so powerful that it caused the air to explode around them.
Adam slid his foot to the side and barely dodged the punch. He then jabbed two of his fingers towards Ron's exposed eyes.
"Again with that." Ron caught the hand with ease and twisted it, causing Adam to wince in pain.
Adam intentionally dropped down to his knees and swiped his leg out, aiming to trip Ron.
Ron steeled his leg's muscles and blocked the attempt without any difficulty. His leg didn't move an inch.
Another failed attempt.
Adam placed his hands under him and flipped himself over, landing on his two feet without a smile on his face.
Then he rushed in and moved into a different stance. This time it was a flicker stance from boxing. He started throwing jabs, one after another.
Ron furrowed his brows and weaved through the jabs without any difficulty.
'What's the point in all of this? He should know that these attacks have no chance of hitting me.'
...
In a dimly lit room with a large screen and lots of chairs-it looked like a cinema.
On the large screen, seven shadowy figures sat on their high-end chairs. Most of them looked bored, leaning against the backrest or leaning against their arms.
There were a few who continued watching with straight backs and intense focus, their eyes never leaving the screen.
In the room, around thirty Handlers, stood patiently with their heads slightly bowed. Some of them were fidgeting nervously, while others appeared calm and collected.
There was another screen for them to watch-a smaller screen that showed the battle on the
fourth floor.
"How much time is left?" One of the seven shadowy figures asked.
One of the Handlers brought out a timepiece and said, "Five minutes."
"Huh, they've already been on Fourth Floor fifty-five minutes..."
"It looks like they weren't able to harm Ron, after all."
"Not a surprise. The Fourth Floor is rarely completed fully, after all. Unless one has an S-
ranked candidate in the group, it is very difficult."
"Still, I suppose this group has some decent recruits."
"This, Adam Palestar, is the top recruit, was he not?"
"He was, indeed, the one who has made quite a ruckus. He is a decent fighter and has some
prior fighting experience."
"What's his rank going to be?"
"It looks like an A-ranker to me."
"Yeah."
"Agreed."
At the back of the room, Muriel clenched her hands and looked at the screen. 'This ain't enough. He deserves so much more. Adam, it is time to show why you belong among those
monsters!'
...
Adam reeled in his fist and dodged a slow punch from Ron. He then backed off till he arrived
next to his dropped shield and sword.
"Enough of Unarmed Combat?" Ron saw that and asked with a grin.
"Unarmed Combat is dead-end." Adam said without emotion in his tone. "I'll never be able
to touch you. And I'm done trying."
"Huh?" Ron's eyebrow jumped.
At that moment, Adam picked up his shield and sword, then stood up slowly, his back slowly
straightening out.
'The time limit is almost up...' Adam thought to himself. 'This floor has a time limit of one hour. Once that is up, the Fourth Floor is over. Every player still clears the floor and has successfully finished the tutorial.
'Ron's job was to show the difference between his and our strengths. Coinfeeders have to know the extreme difference in strength so they won't foolishly go pick fights in the New
World.
'He was never supposed to kill us or anything. Just to teach us a lesson, that's why he has stopped multiple lethal blows and has been holding back on all of his attacks.
'The 'Boss' of the Fourth Floor is rarely 'defeated' because it is just so hard for Coinfeeder to land an attack on someone of Ron's skill level. However, every S-ranker so far has cleared it.
'If I don't, there is no way I'll be one!
'It is time to show what Little God is really capable of. It's not only speed.'