The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Elliott's mood was dark as he followed Otto and his team out of the house.

He couldn't help but wonder if he was really worthy of training with his soon-to-be teammates.

Otto noticed his lingering despondency, and felt he could guess at what was bothering the boy.

He casually asked Elliott about what happened in the [Tutorial] as the group made their way to Otto's final destination: Sector 82, Otto's old stomping grounds.

Elliott took a deep breath and looked at Otto with some apprehension.

Then, he started to narrate his experience.

"I picked the Hard difficulty and chose the mission to kill a Wolf General."

He fidgeted a little.

"Well, I was right by the military camp when I arrived. Me and a few others asked to help the army kill the wolves."

Otto nodded. It was a common story so far.

But how in the world did Elliott manage to kill a Wolf General?

"The first few days weren't so hard. I stayed with the other challengers and the military took us to get some battle experience.

Later, my [Tower] guide told me to release my magic from the [Tower's] control.

He said it would be more effective.

Luckily, I picked up the way to cast 'Mana Bolt' after the [Tower] helped me the first few days."

Otto clicked his tongue secretly.

This guy indeed had talent on the path of magic.

Otto meant both talent in the real, measurable sense regarding how well his mana flowed, as well as the vague sort of natural intuition for picking up spells.

Not just anyone could release their magic and instantly understand how to cast.

Elliott continued,

"But then my guide just suddenly disappeared, hanging me out to dry."

His face bore a dissatisfied grimace.

His guide hadn't mentioned that releasing his magic meant he would leave.

Elliott was terrified for a while, and subconsciously wanted to rely on someone.

"The next day, Allen told our group that his guide instructed him to have us separate from the military and hunt the wolves on our own.

He took the group of ten or so of us and we went deep into the forest. He said there'd be rewards, but…"

Elliott shivered a little,

"Then we got surrounded by those wolves. And then…Allen started to go after us."

His voice was no louder than a whisper.

Whereas Jeremy's reaction to this sort of betrayal was anger and caution, Elliott's was a bit different.

"I watched him…kill… five people in front of me. At first, I was too scared to even move. I couldn't even cast a spell and… just directly ran away. I…left them to die."

Otto just looked at the boy who didn't dare look at him and almost rolled his eyes.

Was he expecting Otto to scold him or judge him or something?

Otto clicked his tongue.

What would that do? Add to his shame?

From the way he hung his head, Elliott was punishing himself quite enough already.

Rather, Otto was practically thrilled that he had a conscience at all, different from that shameless idiot Jeremy.

...And too many people turned into psychopaths or sadists under the [Tower's] pressure.

It wasn't so bad right now...since Area 1's sanctuaries were still functioning

Otto weighed his options, but still decided to speak. He looked calmly at Elliott.

His voice, spoken to the background 'music' of Jeremy and Julia's argument, sounded particularly deep and sure,

"I won't say it was right to run away. It wasn't."

"But... I can guarantee that something similar will happen again."

"And when it does, you will have learned from that."

"Think of how you're feeling right now. Feel it strongly. Then, lock that feeling up."

"When you are scared, and want to run away, remember it."

"And take a different action."

Otto's words weren't soothing.

Actually, if he only wanted to comfort the boy, he would say things like 'it's okay, anyone would have been scared.' or 'it's not your fault, that man was just evil.'

But to him, those words were both not particularly true, and not conducive to growth, either.

For his part, Elliott just seemed a little glad that he wasn't judged and reprimanded, or even directly thrown away.

He hadn't known Otto for long- Elliott really couldn't predict how Otto would react.

But his own character wouldn't allow him to hide such a thing.

He took a deep breath and continued,

"Well, after I ran out of the encirclement, for some reason I felt like I should run deeper into the forest."

Elliott's tone was suddenly a little awkward.

"Err, it was probably because of my trait…I accidentally stumbled on a fight between a wolf monster and a snake monster."

"They were both way stronger than any of the other monsters I saw, and I came in just as the snake had poisoned the wolf and left.

It seemed like it was a fight for territory or something.

Anyway, I was already really pissed at the wolves for surrounding us and killing all those people, so I got really angry.

I started bombarding the injured wolf with mana bolts until my mana was completely gone.

Then…it just died. So I completed the mission, but my rating was only a 1.1 so I didn't really get that much money from it."

He avoided Otto's amused stare.

Elliott probably understood how ridiculous that sounded, too, right?

Otto thought for a second then said,

"Did anything happen after you got here?"

Elliott nodded, eyes wide,

"Yeah, after I got here, I fell unconscious for three days! Then, as soon as I woke up, I used all my money to teleport to this district, and fell asleep for another two days."

He rubbed his nose and seemed to realize something and almost shouted in alarm

"Ah! Is it because of my trait!?"

Otto nodded.

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Traits like Elliott's didn't come without consequences.

His 'intuition' was extremely powerful in some situations, but traits like this usually drew on a challenger's future luck, potential, life force, or some other energy source.

It sounded like Elliott's [Survivor's Intuition] mainly drained his stamina.

Because his stamina was already so low, he simply fell unconscious whenever he had a strong intuition about something.

Well, this could be solved slowly in the future.

Otto silently walked in front and let the three of them chat with each other behind him.

Julia was initially rather reticent to talk to the two of them.

Luckily, it seemed Jeremy specialized in aggravating people enough to open up.

The resulting argument was loud and seemingly unending.

At the moment, Julia's normally stoic demeanor had morphed into anger, resulting in bright red cheeks and alluring eyes.

The words coming out of her mouth, however, were unexpectedly vulgar.

"Your bitch ass thinks you can beat me? How old are you, nine? Ohhhh did you get some new spandex to show off your p*ssy? Huh?"

Of course, Jeremy was likewise unwilling to lose. His hair was sticking up messily and his face was just as red as hers.

He vaguely resembled a puffed up porcupine.

"Hey! You...you..."

Steam flew out of his ears but Jeremy's brain simply could not function in front of such a beautiful girl, despite his anger at her condescension.

Alas, Jeremy was still a little young to be thinking up any good insults.

Otto thought Jeremy was rather lucky that he was in a safe zone or he would definitely have been beaten up by Julia…

They group walked in relative harmony.

Julia and Otto were happy with the quiet as Jeremy had turned his raging mouth on to Elliott, who finally looked irritated by the boy's chatter.

But none had the intention to save him...

After another hour of travel through various vehicles and teleportations, Otto, Jeremy, Julia, and Elliott stepped out of a large teleportation circle.

They were met with a wave of cool air.

The three shivered.

The air was hot back in Sector 77, to the point where it felt like summer back on earth.

But Sector 82 was much farther south, and tended to be colder by around 20-30 degrees F.

The quartet looked around and saw most folks wearing long clothes and insulated jackets.

Otto had a nostalgic look in his eye as he looked around before quickly bringing the others to buy a few jackets and other warm clothes.

Elliott, in particular, had already realized the power of money after spending virtually all of his to travel to another district back in Golthra.

His gratitude practically overflowed and he kept loudly thanking Otto, who had first paid for them to travel across entire Sectors and even bought them 'expensive' jackets without hesitation.

For reference, all three 'expensive' jackets cost him under 8 Wazzies in total.

Otto scratched his head a little, was it that big of a deal?

He really didn't lack money. Now that these three were considered his people, wasn't it only natural to take care of them a little?

In any case, since he'd already decided to help them, he'd help to the end.

Otto soon settled them into three rooms at an upscale hotel and let them rest.

He almost laughed seeing their relieved faces.

He wondered how they'd be feeling in a few days…

Otto walked out of the hotel with a smirk on his face.

Time to find their soon-to-be trainer.

…And get his ass in gear.

*********************************************************

In a small bar in District 94 in Sector 82's city 'New Buffalo,' a teenager dressed in dark blue robes swaggered through the doors.

He held a staff in his hand, and his sharp eyes swept the room aggressively, provoking the guests within.

A few onlookers whistled as he entered, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow and directly shoot a mana bolt from his finger that missed one woman's head by barely an inch.

This bar was not under the city's safe zone.

As opposed to the higher districts of a city where one had to enter special establishments like the Death Ring to be able to fight, it was much more common for random establishments to be 'dangerous.'

The safe zones of the lower districts basically only covered residential areas.

If one looked at a map of any city planned by the [Tower], and the safe zone coverage therein, they would find a series of miniature zones in each district that decreased in size gradually as one went from the higher districts (districts 1-20) to the lower districts (districts 80-100).

The safe zone was not literally a dome that covered the entire city.

Here, in District 94, the safe zone covered residential areas and a few key commercial centers, and that was it.

Clubs, bars, entertainment venues, even some shoddy homes and eateries remained uncovered.

The rest of the district was 'dangerous.'

Of course, it wasn't actually very dangerous.

The Kinetice race couldn't enter the cities at all, and due to the universal IDs registered with the Federation, the crime rate remained very low.

But fights did break out more often.

Outside of a safe zone, a challenger could even ask for a 'Death Match' with another challenger. If both agreed, they could fight to the death with no penalties.

Otherwise, a fight that led to a challenger's death would result in a hefty fine by the Federation.

Around these parts, that fine was simply not payable.

Which meant that most spontaneous fights would basically consist of drunken brawls or escalating disagreements.

As such, Otto was once again prepared by wearing his bronze-grade mage set.

[Basic Elemental Set]

Bronze Grade

[Elemental Robe]

+10% Magic Power

[Elemental Tunic]

+10% Power to Earth Element Spells

[Elemental Trousers]

+10% Power to Wind Element Spells

[Elemental Belt]

+10% Power to Fire Element Spells

[Elemental Earring]

+5 Regeneration

[Elemental Bracelet]

+10% Power to Water Element Spells

[Elemental Pendant]

+50 Mana

[Elemental Staff]

+10% Casting Speed

[Set Effect]

3 Pieces: +100 Mana

5 Pieces: +200 Mana

Full Set: +500 Mana

It was basically a set only he could fully benefit from.

The [Tower] had truly chosen wisely.

Who else would want additional power for fire, water, wind, and earth spells?

Otto had reluctantly foregone his [Magical Staff of Fire] which added +2 Regeneration in favor of grabbing the full set bonus when adding the redundant [Elemental Staff].

He sneered at the stunned guests in the bar and his gaze locked onto a certain man.

The man looked to be middle-aged, with long, black, greasy hair.

His facial features were somewhat ugly, with a long hooked nose, and protruding forehead.

It didn't help that his demeanor was rather glum.

His tattered clothes didn't do his overall appearance any good, either.

He sat at the bar drinking an unknown alcohol.

It looked as though even if the world burned down around him, this man would remain unmoved from his seat at this bar.

Not even a glance was spared for the newcomer's 'show of strength.'

A disdain he would quickly come to regret.

Otto directly strolled up to this man and didn't bother with pleasantries.

Those wouldn't work on this guy anyway.

Instead, Otto raised his staff like a baseball bat to whack the man over the head.

The eyes of the onlookers simultaneously widened.

Then, they paled in fear, and scattered unanimously from the bar, leaving an irritated bartender, the bedraggled man, and Otto alone inside.

Otto's strike didn't hit its mark.

His staff was caught by an upraised hand, seemingly with no difficulty at all.

Otto found that even with his strength attribute as high as 21, his staff wouldn't budge an inch downward to continue his swing.

The man himself finally turned away from his drink. Sharp, dark eyes locked onto Otto's figure.

Otto caught a hint of surprise on seeing his mage's robes, evidenced by a barely discernible lift of his eyebrows.

Other than this, the man didn't speak.

Then, he attacked.

While Otto's staff was caught in his grasp, the man's other hand, wreathed in a silvery light, reached out lightning fast in a stabbing motion towards Otto's eyes.

His reaction was incredibly rapid and just as ruthless, exposing his decades of combat experience.

But Otto was prepared.

A quick cast of mana bolt right to the man's stomach at point blank range followed by using 'Lesser Blink' to move two meters away bought Otto barely half a second of time.

Otto took the opportunity to cast two critical spells:

[Greater Body Enhance]

Enhance all physical attributes by 25%

Duration: 10 minutes

[Greater Mind Enhance]

Enhance all mental attributes by 20%.

Duration: 10 minutes

New power filled Otto's body, and his mind turned faster.

His movements sped up, his perception greatly heightened by his agility attribute, as his mind felt like it was freed from shackles Otto hadn't known existed.

It was barely enough to dodge the man's next thrust, which arrived at his groin before he could tell the man had even moved.

Otto unhesitatingly jumped up and channeled 'Wind Step' to create a platform right above the man's hand.

He simultaneously curved his body to the left and feinted a kick at the man's jaw while using his right hand to fire off a mana bolt aimed at the man's face.

Then, he blinked backwards once again as the man's face tilted in a dodge, letting the mana bolt briefly graze his shoulder.

The two men looked at each other and breathed heavily.

Though the exchange was merely a few seconds long, both came to a deep understanding of the other's terrifying might.

Otto knew who this man was, but fighting him first hand was completely on another level.

The man's reaction speed, strength, movement speed, ruthlessness, and incredible show of technique and experience left Otto completely awed.

Meanwhile, the man had no idea who Otto was, and his face was grave.

A mage who didn't lack in battle experience compared to him, able to use ultra rare spells of at least two elements, is able to instant cast, with few to no cooldowns on his spells, that boasted high physical attributes to boot?

Who the hell was this boy? He had never even heard of someone like Otto.

And so young! The man clicked his tongue. Truly, the new would surpass the old.

Otto's eyes glinted as he met the man's gaze dead on.

"You win, I'll give you 100 Smekkers. I win, you come out of retirement. I pay you no less than 10 Smekkers each month to do a task for me for a year.

Genuine [Tower] contract. Sign there."

Otto had the contract specially drawn up in advance, and had even paid a few Smekkers for it.

Breaking a genuine [Tower] contract would deprive challengers of AP.

It was a the worst sort of punishment that no one dared accept.

The man's face hardened when Otto asked him to come out of retirement.

He had already guessed it, but the fact that Otto knew who he was meant he was someone with means.

His face couldn't help but reveal some hesitation.

What in the world would this boy want of him?

He had already vowed never to fight the Kinetice again. Even if he came out of retirement, that wouldn't change.

He looked over at Otto, who shook his head.

"Not the Kinetice."

His voice was deep.

"Sign the contract."

Otto threw over the contract, which was completely filled in and already signed by Otto himself.

Seeing no traps in the words, and realizing he likely wouldn't be getting out of this so easily, Ramesthes's eye twitched.

He carefully read until he found a single clause:

'Ramesthes, the contractor, will not ever be required by Otto, the employer, to come into contact with the Kinetice.'

Ramesthes sighed. But he still signed the contract.

Either way, he'd be earning a metric buttload of money, right? Smekkers weren't light coins!

"Come."

Otto moved.

With the contract signed, Otto went all out in the now-abandoned bar.

Instead of shooting spells from up close, Otto used his ridiculous mobility and incredible perception to bombard Ramesthes with mana bolts from afar.

Then Otto was forced to dodge the man's insanely fast charges with Wind Jump before he quickly escaped using Lesser Blink.

Mana bolt after mana bolt flew at Ramesthes, aimed at each of his vitals and directly aimed for his life.

They forced the man to dodge with unnatural speed as he began to close the distance to Otto.

The battle proceeded like a whirlwind.

Otto blinked and bounced all around the bar, never forgetting to limit Ramesthes's movements with his spells.

He made use of every obstacle in the man's path, forcing him to destroy half of the room as he apporached.

Otto also shot 'Winding Restrictions' at the man, hiding the spell behind his mana bolt unseen.

But it was as if Ramesthes could see the mana contained within.

He used his preternatural senses to evade dangerous spells like this, even if it meant being forced to take Otto's mana bolts head on.

When he finally couldn't evade another 'Winding Restriction,' Ramesthes directly broke the spell by punching it with a fist covered in silver energy.

Otto was totally dumbfounded. Breaking through a spell by using a fist?

He knew it was possible- but not until like the 40th floor! What the hell was this?!

Still, his surprise did not affect his movements.

Otto quickly blinked back and spent a second to supercharge his 'Winding Restriction.'

Then, he gritted his teeth and stood still, awaiting Ramesthes's approach.

Otto wanted to use his body as bait to hit Ramesthes with his killer spell!

He shot out mana bolt after mana bolt while keeping the restriction on his finger.

As he was once again doing preliminary multi casting, beads of sweat slowly formed on his forehead.

Soon enough, Ramesthes was forced to approach him while evading the mana bolts Otto shot out.

Once Ramesthes was five meters away from Otto, though, he sped up again!

His fist, coated with energy formed a deadly blade poised to strike at Otto's neck.

Otto's eyes bulged in surprise.

Ramesthes still had another hidden card!?

If Otto hadn't had the 'agility' attribute, he would definitely have lost a life here.

Otto's body instinctually felt the danger, but instead of casting a mana shield, he leaned right, causing the energy blade to hit his upper arm.

He released his spell as his left arm was struck with serious pain!

Worse, Ramesthes's energy rampaged around trying to destroy the rest of his body.

Fortunately, he had bought himself a second to think.

Otto immediately cast a 'Heal' on himself before instinctively shooting off another mana bolt to ward off Ramesthes' approach.

When the first heal didn't seem to have gotten rid of the damage from the rampaging energy, Otto cast a second heal, then a third.

He no longer had the spare energy to think of Ramesthes. He had to save his own life, first!

Finally, after another two heals, the energy subsided.

What frightening tenacity!

Otto subconsciously looked up when no subsequent attacks came.

But he discovered…

That Ramesthes was kneeling on the ground in front of him, staring at Otto with unabated intent to battle.

His face was disheveled, but his eyes burned with domineering will.

Even when he was kneeling, his awe imposing aura, the aura of a general, remained.

He spit out a mouthful of blood, but his lips hooked up.

This kid was enormously powerful!

Meanwhile, Otto was puzzled.

'Why isn't he approaching?'

He then heard Ramesthes's resigned sigh,

"I surrender."

Otto just looked at him quizzically for a second before checking his mana.

He gulped.

Mana: 404/3540 (3.06/second)

He had used 3,100 mana in a mere, what, five minutes?

No, wait, it was more than that.

Almost 4,000 mana if Otto's regeneration was also considered!

In such a short time, too...his body and mind buffs were even still active!

Otto had thought his mana problem would be solved for a while once he got stronger, but…he sighed.

He definitely needed to start meditating!

Ramesthes laughed shortly at Otto's confusion.

He then gritted his teeth and struggled up from where he was kneeling and started to walk towards Otto.

Only… he walked at the speed of a tortoise, and Otto could see veins popping out from his forehead as he was under serious strain.

Otto finally understood.

'This is my supercharged Winding Restriction?'

It was way more powerful than he thought it'd be, right?

"You…who are you?"

Otto gave Ramesthes a slight smile.

"I suppose I'm now…your employer."

Ramesthes gave a light groan as Otto just smiled with hidden glee.

Those kids would wish they'd never met him…