The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Seven people sat around a large circular table.

"First things first, report."

Ramesthes, the team's official 'trainer' was running the meeting.

"Let's go youngest to oldest."

"Jeremy, you're up."

"So first, when I went in, I got a special mission called Mal something hunter, to kill 500 spiders over 10 days. Then, the [Tower] upped the extreme mission to make it 1000 spiders."

"Then I basically went…"

The other listened quietly to Jeremy's story.

Instead of holding the meeting in the rented house, though, they were currently inside the virtual space.

Otto was doing everything he could to save time. Since what he wanted to do would require quite a lot of it.

Every now and again, Otto or Ramesthes would interject with comments about Jeremy's performance.

"If you're in a similar scenario next time, you'll want to slip into stealth immediately to throw off any pursuers. As much as you can, land a hit on the spiders while stealthed. Why?"

Jeremy thought for a second, then smiled,

"So that no one else would figure out the rule that spiders can give more than one merit. And I can collect the merit while no one else was aware! Hehehe."

Otto smiled,

"Indeed. Okay, reveal your status."

[Jeremy Smalls]

Floor Cleared: 2nd Floor

Class: Invisible Acrobat

Race: Enhanced Human II

Health 1,013 —] 1,425 (1.38 —] 1.92/minute)

Stamina 760 —] 928 (7.5 —] 8.25/minute)

Energy 720 (4.8 —] 5.0/minute)

[Attributes]

Strength 35 —] 50

Agility 73 —] 85

Stamina 30 —] 33

Sturdiness 23 —] 32

Energy Pool 36

Comprehension 32

Energy Compression 35

Regeneration 48 —] 50

AP: 0

[Double Blind]

Level 1

Stab a target anywhere on the body to inject energy into target's eyes. Damage increases by 50%. Chance of blindness increases with proximity to eyes, energy injected and level of skill.

Energy Cost: Variable

Duration: 10 minutes (upon success)

Cooldown: 25 seconds

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[Sleight of Hand]

Level 1

Create a brief energy illusion directed at a single target. Target will misread your moves.

Energy Cost: 25

Duration: 2 seconds

No Cooldown

Otto nodded.

"No achievements this time?"

Jeremy shook his head.

"Fine. Don't expect one every time. In general, achievements are only acquired by going above and beyond. Understand?"

The others nodded as Ramesthes chimed in.

"Good. Jason?"

Jason's eyes sparkled as he slowly recounted his experiences in the [Tutorial].

There was a lot to tell.

But as he started recounting his experiences, he realized he'd forgotten a lot of the dumb decisions he'd made.

It was evident as Otto's face got darker and darker as he spoke,

"So then that one girl tried to stab me literally right after I threw up, so I…"

Finally, Otto couldn't hold back anymore. Though his tone was calm, his eyes were narrowed dangerously,

"So you're telling us that every single reminder about leeches and other challengers, and how they tended to act when placed under pressure went in one ear and out the other?"

"That you ignored both Ramesthes's and my warnings as well as your own common sense to trust these people who you JUST admitted you found suspicious right from the beginning, enough to entirely let down your guard around them and TURN your BACK to them to go throw up in the corner of a bar?"

Jason couldn't meet his brother's eyes, and shrunk further down into his seat.

Jeremy, Elliott, and Julia also looked away.

Jason's embarrassment was only compounded by the soul connection they shared; Otto let them feel his fury.

"Do you understand how dangerous that could have been for you? Unguarded, with a dagger through your heart? If she was one of those experienced leeches that had been training for ten years on her 100th run into the [Tutorial], you would have been flat out dead, perhaps even after a single stab."

"But I,"

Otto held up a hand and shook his head.

"Dead, Jason."

"That could have cost you a life right there. This was a situation you should have been able to easily get through. With all the resources and help we've provided you?"

"Never. Trust. Anyone. Other than us. Never. I hope you know that now."

Otto shook his head.

A minute passed as Otto took a deep breath to calm himself down.

He was 16, not an adult yet. This was his first foray into the [Tower]. It was normal to make mistakes.

Otto sighed. It was just that his brother always had a way of breaking his calm.

"Continue."

Duly chastised, Jason continued to narrate his experiences.

"Then I just stabbed that evil old man in the throat, and another woman came looking for me. She said her name was Renora, and she wanted to have some cooper…"

"Wait, you made a deal with Renora? Renora Nosk?"

Jason thought back and nodded. Seeing the look on his brother's face, he grew a little alarmed.

"Wait, was that a bad thing to do, too?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I was just surprised."

Since she had 100% been part of the problem during his own [Tutorial] run…

Jason continued to tell the story.

Actually, most of his decision had been pretty good, other than that one major mess-up.

In Otto's opinion, getting Renora to help him with the Wolf King was also quite smart.

But as he got to his fight with the Wolf King, this time it was Ramesthes who had to interrupt.

"You mean to tell me you thought you could fight the Wolf King without using any of the arrays that your brother specifically prepared to ward off his minions and catch him?"

"The same ones that I reminded you to use again and again, that even though your rating would go down a little, it was worth it because otherwise you wouldn't be able to beat him?"

Otto placed his hand on Ramesthes's shoulder and interjected,

"I can forgive this mistake."

Then, he sighed, and tried to keep his tone mild,

"Jason, you mostly did a great job. Just, listen to us in the future, okay?"

"You were really lucky your innate talent awoke then."

Jason nodded and shivered a little.

Even he felt a little scared thinking back to when he had been 'wolf-piled.'

It wasn't long before he finished his story, and told them all about the details of his class.

[Jason]

Floor Cleared: Tutorial

Class: Prurian Summoner

Race: Enhanced Human II

Health: 638 —] 891 (1.02 —] 1.43/min)

Stamina 408 —] 570 (4.25 —] 5.94/min)

Mana 740 —] 1,170 (1.98 —] 3.03/min)

[Attributes]

Strength 17 —] 19

Speed 27 —] 29

Stamina 17 —] 19

Sturdiness 17 —] 19

Mana Pool 37 —] 39

Intuition 29 —] 31

Magic Power 31 —] 33

Regeneration 99 —] 101

AP: 90

Otto grinned and remarked,

"You made a good choice, Jason."

"Excellent job."

The Prurian Summoner was a better choice for Jason than the Argas Summoner. Jason was an emotional type who would only perform better, not worse, if he had something (a beast, in this case) he needed to protect.

Otto thought he would be able to thrive with this class.

"Elliott, you're up."

The meeting continued until all five of them had gone and revealed their status screens.

This time, of the three, Elliott and Julia had both received an 'extraordinary achievement.' Elliott, for hiding his identity as a human to the very end.

Other than the attribute increase, he received a new class trait:

[Elliott Lastermann]

Health 663 —] 838 (1.14 —] 1.56/minute)

Stamina 408 —] 520 (4.5 —] 6.25/minute)

Mana 1,160 —] 1,200 (11.2 —] 13.2/minute)

[Attributes]

Strength 15

Speed 24 —] 34

Stamina 18 —] 25

Sturdiness 19 —] 26

Mana Pool 58 —] 60

Intuition 54

Magic Power 36 --] 42

Regeneration 56 —] 66

AP: 0

[Stormy Synchronicity]

After casting a Wind Element spell, your Water Element spells will take one less second to cast.

After casting a Water Element spell, your Wind Element spells will gain 20% more power.

Julia, for her part, was rewarded for her quick thinking in getting off of the chopping block with barely a second to spare.

She revealed her status, and had received a new personal trait along with 15 additional AP.

[Julia Nilsen]

Health 1,113 —] 1,750 (9.0 —] 15.0/minute)

Stamina 696 —] 960 (14.5 —] 20.0/minute)

Energy 560 (1.7/minute)

[Attributes]

Strength 29 —] 40

Speed 35 —] 42

Stamina 29 —] 40

Sturdiness 30 —] 50

Energy Pool 28

Comprehension 14

Energy Compression 25

Regeneration 34

AP: 0

[Vanguard]

For attacks that hit a shield equipped by you, returns 10% of the damage as energy at 50% efficiency, and 10% of the damage as health at 10% efficiency.

Perfect for a defender like Julia.

Otto nodded at all of them and gave them the congratulations they were due.

"Tomorrow, we'll hold another meeting."

"This training session will be a little bit different than the last two."

"I want to shift the focus over the month. Ramesthes, you'll be able to get a bit of a break."

Ramesthes nodded solemnly as Otto continued,

"It's time for all of you to choose … your professions."