"He is no longer here…,

" Klautz looked around in the crowd with his sharp eyes.

But when he couldn't find the man he was looking for causing his forehead to crease to a frown. He wouldn't have bothered with this person in the normal scenario but Akihiko's message kept flashing across his eyes causing a shred of doubt to dominate his mind.

"Colt Ackerman…

"

He was a man who had gone missing immediately after Klautz had defeated him.

It was quite a pity. Klautz had no insider information unlike the other second gen to figure out what had actually happened. Was he still healing from his injuries? Or was Klautz's little joke of him going missing was actually true?

Klautz eyes traveled towards the others.

'It seems that neither Gozoto nor the other second gens are concerned with his absence… so things should be fine I guess.'

There was no reason for Klautz to believe that the ones with the 'insider information' wouldn't be troubled if something was actually fishy with Colt. Them not reacting in any form could only mean that everything was going fine.

"But this behavior is strange…

"

Ever since Klautz had heard about rumors being spread around in regards to his match with Colt he had expected Colt to come rushing to him in order to defeat him in a not so unfair battle.

After all, Klautz victory was being underrated for this very purpose through the means of rumors. If Colt wins against Klautz in such a scenario won't his ruined reputation be reverted back? The person who planned all of this behind the scenes couldn't have done it in a futile and aimless attempt, would he?

But no punches were thrown towards Klautz… no blood was spilled. The person who was supposed to take his vengeance himself was absent.

"And here I thought I would be able to earn a few more reputation through his means. Looks like he won't be showing up.

"

It seemed like Klautz had wrongly assessed Colt. But whether he was a chicken or a sly fox was something he would have to be determining later.

At the moment all he felt was nauseated from too much crowd around him. The crowd gathered yet again under the burning sun while the second gens walked around with umbrellas covering their heads under its shade.

It was a mandatory process everyone had to go through. It was for such an event that a 'showdown' was even enacted. The newbies had to be somewhat subservient for this process to go smoothly. But alas, it was Klautz that had won.

But despite his victory it wasn't like they could skip on this and move on.

Every member of the second gen would be assigned a random group of earthlings. All of them would be equally divided amongst them for them to train the same while furthering their own growth.

'At least that is what Ronald says.'

It was a temporary measure to give a chance to the second gen to show which of them are the most worth. After all, the newbies would later have to choose to follow one of them and it was equivalent to putting their lives in their hands.

Of course just because an earthling wanted to follow one of them doesn't necessarily mean that the person concerned was obliged to accept such an applicant.

In such a scenario the newbie could only look for someone else to give them shelter or the worst of them all… to be swallowed by the world of ninjas.

The ninjas pulling in the remnants of the newbie camp was a dark secret that no one wanted to talk about. People like Colt didn't even know that there was such a system and had no idea where the rejects went.

It had always been kept a secret from human society… where a large bunch of people just magically disappear every year.

"But then again there are exceptions like Gozoto.

"

Not having any organization to safeguard your food and shelter was like a nightmare. There had to be a division of roles and unity amongst the humans no matter how fragile it was to aid them in survival in a place like hell.

But there were also those rare DIY types of people like Gozoto who chose to pave their own paths. But it was nothing tame. It might seem fancy and heroic to the kids but neither was there much profit in it nor much benefits. Every day was a race against death.

"I wonder who it would be that I would end up with…

"

Like everyone else Klautz had to be part of the randomization as well. It was quite a pity but Klautz's reputation wasn't strong enough to have forsaken this event.

'But that is understandable.'

Klautz nodded. To the earthlings he might be a hero but to the hells folk who had seen much stronger powerhouses Klautz was just another pebble by the road. His strength doesn't struck them with awe even if it was greater than theirs.

'I could have trained alone as usual but…'

Would Klautz be able to train all alone? Of course he would. He had been doing that ever since. He was training on hotspots which were too dangerous for the newbies.

It was to fight in those same hotspots that the newbies were joining hands with the second gen to better their skills and attributes.

But Klautz had to join anyway for he couldn't go against Gozoto in his current state. At least not yet…

But the randomization could end him up in any team.

But Klautz could only scoff at that idea.

"Huh? Randomization? Don't make me laugh.

"

To create better reputation and accomplish better results, none of the second gen would shy away from influencing this so called randomization. It was but for show to quell the revolts.

***

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