The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

A/N: Readers have spoken!

Otto couldn't wait to check if his mental space could sync with the virtual arena.

He hurriedly entered the arena without bothering to change any of its original settings.

Instead, he directly appeared in his mental casting space.

Otto cautiously looked around to make sure nothing had changed.

Various landscapes appeared and faded before Otto's very eyes as he controlled the environment.

If he had a camera, he'd have thought he was watching a documentary of Earth's changing biomes.

Otto checked the materials in his hand, and his eyes slowly lit up.

It…seemed to have worked!

200x time dilation was not a dream at all!

Otto suppressed his excitement, and only felt that now he had a ton of time to train and get to work.

It was to the point he wasn't sure he'd actually need all this time.

The corners of his mouth couldn't help but stretch up in satisfaction.

He felt very pleased.

There were so many things he could do with his casting space!

He could not only cast and level his spells, but also practice alchemy and draw magic arrays, get a better feel for his spells as well as how and when to use them in combat, and gain attributes in magic via meditation, cycling his mana, learning spells and arrays manually, and compression.

Otto could even complete the same training course as the kids were doing to gain additional physical attributes!

Well, more attributes would never hurt, anyway.

Otto wasted no time and immediately started brewing the necessary potions.

Before training came his obligations.

Plus, now that he could consistently make use of a 200x time dilation factor, in effect Otto had over 16 years in his space to practice before he tackled the first floor.

It was plenty of time to get everything done.

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

Julia, Jeremy, and Elliott glared hatefully at Ramesthes.

They couldn't wait to beat this guy up.

They had now been working on this training course for forty-six hours with no break, whatsoever!

Yeah, they had no stamina metric, but that didn't mean they wanted to continuously push their bodies to the limits for days on end!

Even Elliott was angry at Ramesthes by this point.

Since they all knew that Ramesthes was the one who had set the rules in this virtual arena.

Every time any of them took a break that lasted longer than five seconds, they'd get shocked.

If they continued to rest, they'd be shocked harder.

If they continued to rest after that, they'd be shocked continuously until they got moving!

It was painful and terrible!

It wasn't like they were asking for anything obscene, just a small twenty minute break!

Jeremy stole a glance at Julia and Elliott.

They came to a decision in seconds by a mutual glance.

…and decided to try and attack Ramesthes together.

Maybe if they could bring him down, they could control the rules.

Ramesthes just looked at their glares and felt both amused and increasingly annoyed.

Well, the premise was wrong in the first place.

Even if they successfully beat him up, the rules wouldn't change. He was in complete control!

Even if Ramesthes was killed, these three would still continue to work on this course.

After 40 hours in this space, all three had advanced to the second level.

The second level was harder than the first.

The area of the top of the logs, where they kids had to stand to jump from log to log, had decreased drastically.

Now, only one foot could fit on the logs.

They had to complete the obstacle course by hopping on one foot!

In the process of finishing the first level in the required time, they had gained the [Tower's] 1 attribute point in speed.

Well, Jeremy gained a single point in agility.

Ramesthes watched as they continued to complete the course, even while 'sneakily' planning to attack him.

His eyes reflected their every flaw.

Their movements had become increasingly sharp.

Now, all of them could discern at a glance where the next log would be and exactly how much force to use to jump onto it.

It was just that after the logs shrunk, and they could suddenly only hop with one foot, they all had some trouble with their balance.

With another point of agility and his already broken natural talent for combat, Jeremy's progress was the fastest.

He had already jumped onto the 400th log, though his speed was nowhere close to the requirement quite yet.

Another three hours went by as the kids planned and finished the course at the same time.

They exchanged glances once again.

And leapt into motion.

Julia rushed at Ramesthes suddenly holding a large hammer in her right hand with a shield on her left.

Jeremy used a signature skill as well and faded into the background.

[Flexible Stealth]

Level 1

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Become invisible to the five senses. +5% Agility

Energy Cost: 10

Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 1 hour

NOTE: Attacking or being attacked will NOT break stealth.

Elliott stayed behind and used a mana bolt to test Ramesthes, who easily avoided it with a tilt of his body.

His eyes turned serious.

As a man with a Silver Class, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Instead of a mana bolt, Elliott paused before spending a couple seconds to conjure a new spell.

[Puddled]

Water Element

Level 1

Conjures a puddle of water in front of an enemy to restrict movement speed in the caster's direction. Speed reduction based on strength and speed of the enemy.

Mana Cost: 5

Duration: 10 seconds

Cast Time: 1.6 seconds

Cooldown: 90 seconds

The strength of control the spell [Winding Restrictions] provided was evident when compared with Elliott's spell, [Puddled].

[Puddled] was also a rare water element control spell, one of the rewards Elliott had received from clearing the [Tutorial] floor.

The biggest difference was whereas [Winding Restrictions] provided at least a 10% restriction no matter the strength of the enemy, [Puddled] would be less effective as the power of the enemy grew.

Moreover, Winding Restrictions blocked all directions. Puddled blocked only one.

Still, as it was a control spell, it was still rarer compared to basic attack spells.

It was also Elliott's only control spell.

In truth, casting this spell was much smarter than trying to go for a stronger attack.

What use was the strength of an attack spell if it couldn't hit an enemy?

By the time the spell was shot out, Julia had arrived at the enemy.

She swung her hammer as fast as she could, prepared to take out her shield at any time to block

She didn't underestimate her enemy.

They all knew that the man Otto had hired would definitely not be weak.

They could only hope to take him down with numbers.

As for the matter of their punishment for not participating in the virtual course Ramesthes had set up, he decided to manually postpone their punishment to see what they could do, first.

Practicing combat could also be considered training!

Instead of dodging Julia's strike, Ramesthes simply raised a hand and quickly took hold of the hammer.

Julia found she couldn't budge a single inch.

While she was struggling trying to regain control of her weapon, Jeremy's daggers arrived.

As was typical for a rogue-type class, he attacked from the back.

He aimed for the moment when Ramesthes was preoccupied with Julia and two daggers suddenly reflected a gleam of light above the stadium.

Though it was true that even someone as strong as Ramesthes couldn't fully sense Jeremy's figure, his ingrained instincts hadn't allowed him to ignore Jeremy completely.

Rogues could often be the most dangerous in battle.

Ramesthes accurately caught that brief reflection.

While still holding on to Julia's hammer, before the daggers reached him, his foot swept to the right and made contact with an invisible figure.

"OOOF."

A grunt came from Jeremy who was kicked back, though his figure was still obscured by his skill.

At the same time, Elliott's subsequent spell also arrived. This time, he hadn't used another [Puddled] after seeing it had basically no effect on Ramesthes.

He used his strongest attack.

[Wind Blade]

Wind Element

Level 1

Fire a condensed sharp blade of wind at an enemy to deal 90 + (1% magic power) in damage.

Mana Cost: 3

Cast Time: 0.6 seconds

Cooldown: 2 seconds

[Wind Blade] was not a rare spell. It was actually one of the most common wind element spells, though it didn't lack in efficacy.

The wind blade, compared to the attack methods of other elements, was not particularly strong, nor particularly sharp.

It was so effective because it was hard to detect.

Wind wasn't easy to see.

Of course, this wasn't a problem for Ramesthes.

Instead of dodging or letting himself get hit, a silvery glow wreathed his hand.

As the wind blade arrived, Ramesthes used this glow to punch the spell directly, mimicking his actions in his fight with Otto.

With a tinkle reminiscent of broken glass, the spell shattered.

Ramesthes took the opportunity to knee Julia, who was still struggling with her weapon.

He let go of her hammer and punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying a few meters backward.

At this point, if the three kids couldn't tell there was no chance of taking Ramesthes down, there was no point in them being on Otto's future team.

They couldn't help but feel a bit dejected as they thought about it, but Jeremy's eyes, on the contrary, brightened.

"Hehehe, if this guy is so strong, then won't we become as strong as him if we work hard?"

His voice sounded like it came from the void, since Jeremy's skill was still activated, and no one could see his figure at all.

But Elliott revealed a smile at his words. Even Julia's mood improved.

Ramesthes declared seriously,

"I could fight a few hundred of you without breaking a sweat."

Suddenly, the three of them realized they hadn't felt a jolt of pain yet from 'taking a break' from working on the obstacle course.

As one, they looked to Ramesthes, feeling a little embarrassed at their outburst.

Was it because they had gotten complacent after passing the tutorial?

They subconsciously wanted to relax once they got to Area 1 and entered the safe zone.

Ramesthes started to scold,

"I was going to do this later, but seeing how little patience you all have, it might be better to get it out of the way now."

They looked at him, feeling a slight chill from his words.

Was he going to brutally beat them up and put them in their places?

Julia's stomach still throbbed from his earlier punch.

Looking at the fear in their eyes, Ramesthes snorted.

Then he asked a question, with deep meaning in his eyes,

"Do any of you actually want to get strong?"

"From what I've seen so far, all three of you have been half hearted in your efforts."

He chuckled darkly, before his voice suddenly turned harsh,

"I don't think you understand just how much your benefactor has helped you. There are people who, no, MOST people would literally kill for the opportunity you all stumbled on."

"I'll put it this way. Otto has done so much for all of you. And this,"

His voice was tinged with disdain,

"Is how you repay him? I'm beginning to wonder if any of you are even worth training.

Perhaps I should go back and tell him to select new, hardworking talents who actually understand what it means to be here."

His tone grew increasingly biting as he continued to lecture,

"The only possible way you can even be somewhat useful to that man is if you give it your absolute all in every single second.

Your 'bodies' should be sore from training at all hours of every day working yourself to your limits.

Even then, I doubt any of you would be even close to the level he hopes you reach."

Ramesthes's anger wasn't faked.

It was already jealousy inducing for him to watch Otto to spare no expense to train these three kids.

Then, they kept whining about their 'rights' and taking more 'breaks' in between?

To Ramesthes, who would have killed for this opportunity when he was a mere soldier in the Federation, it was maddening.

These three kids were quickly learning qualities he hated the most: privilege and entitlement.

They had no IDEA how much had been done for them.

Ramesthes didn't know Otto's goal, but he knew it couldn't be completed like this.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and gazed at the three with emotionless eyes.

Jeremy's figure was also visible after the effects of his skill receded.

Ramesthes took in their red faces and the way they avoided his eyes.

Good, it seems they at least weren't beyond redemption.

And it was up to him to shape them up.

"Before we continue, I will give you one last chance to quit.

If you choose to continue, you WILL follow my orders, and you WILL do everything in your power to live up to the trust Otto has placed in all of you.

I am not someone who will tolerate insubordination."

He stepped back and took out three pieces of paper.

"I will give you ten minutes to think about it. Should you choose to continue, you will need to sign these contracts."

The contracts were not something Otto had prepared.

They were his own idea.

It allowed him to enforce punishments, even inside a safe zone.

Otherwise, if the kids couldn't bear it after training started, and decided to leave, wouldn't it be a pure loss?

The contracts would prevent this from happening.

Ramesthes had been hired by Otto at an exorbitant sum of money and he would never let something like this happen under his watch.

Jeremy, Elliott, and Julia reached out to take the contracts.

After reading through them, their faces were tinged with struggle.

Despite their current shame, the conditions proposed here were rather harsh.

They basically didn't have any freedom for the next eight months.

Moreover, they were completely subject to Ramesthes's whims for their training.

Each of them looked a little green as they thought about what that meant.

In the end, Jeremy was the first to look up.

His face reddened, and he looked Ramesthes in the eyes with gritted teeth before signing his name.

He had his own resolution.

Julia didn't take much longer to think about it, either.

Though she was indeed a little spoiled, she wasn't someone who would forget gratitude.

Otto paying off her father's debt was a grace she would never be able to repay, even with her entire life.

Thinking about it like this, signing a draconian contract for eight months wasn't a big deal at all.

And wasn't Otto doing it for their benefit, in the end, too?

She signed her name.

Elliott struggled a little more. He took the full ten minutes to think it over.

He wasn't as moved as the other two.

The biggest reason he had approached Otto in the first place was for his own selfish desire- to survive.

Though it was true that he had afterwards been given great grace as well.

In the end, with a bitter smile, Elliott also signed his name.

How could he not?

His intuition had urged him to ever since the contract came out.

What was a little pain if he could become strong, anyway?

Ramesthes nodded with satisfaction when he saw them all agree.

His hands rubbed together gleefully. Now he would really work them to the bone.

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

Otto was oblivious to the struggles of the three kids under Ramesthes's painstaking efforts.

He had just exited the virtual pod, planning to take care of everything he needed to do in the real world at once.

After, he decided to exit once every two days (which was over a year at 200x time dilation) to take care of things, and gather any materials that had been purchased.

The first thing he did was head to an agency that specialized in hiring people.

He pompously announced his requirements to the staff on charge.

"I need six assistants of the highest grade that are familiar with various markets of Erkolls-13.

Two should be mages that have experience purchasing rare spell tomes and spell formulas. Together, they need to cover all the elements.

One should be a magic arrayist with extensive knowledge of arrays, mana ink, and materials upon which to draw them.

Two should be alchemists.

One should have the most advanced knowledge of monsters, monster materials and the market for them, while the other should have knowledge of all the required herbs and alchemical recipes.

The final needs to be a financial advisor experienced with money and prices for almost all goods on the market, with extensive connections, and a willingness to be completely subordinate to me for a time period of not less than a month.

Money is no object, no matter how high their salaries, and I need them to be here in an hour."

The staffer woman just looked at Otto in a daze.

Then, he harrumphed and she immediately went into a frenzy of activity.

Otto also tactfully showed off his spatial storage ring to indicate that he meant what he said about 'money is no object.'

The staffer quickly cross checked her list of assistants for hire, and even rallied the entire office into working on this matter for Otto.

She hoped she might be able to get a big 'surprise' if she did this job well.

Updates came like flowing water as the entire office was mobilized into the Federation's network to search for the most suitable people.

"Sir, we have found two mages for you. They both have over twenty years of experience working as consultants for spell tomes and formulas.

One specializes in gathering spells of the basic elements, and one in the advanced elements.

We also took the liberty of raising their remuneration so as to get them to move immediately.

The first was hired for 55,000 Doleras a month, and the second for 83,000 Doleras a month.

We have already notified them and they are on their way."

Otto nodded with satisfaction.

"Sir, we found a financial advisor for you. She is not from Erkolls-13, but she is renowned in Area 1 for her connections and prowess.

Sorry, sir, she only works for Federation official currency, and her asking price for coming immediately was 3 Small Brock coins as an advance and then 15 Smekkers a month.

Er, should I agree?"

Otto pretended to fly into a rage and said,

"Didn't I say money was no object? Hurry up! Get her here now! I don't lack these small coins!"

The staffer immediately gave the go-ahead as her face paled with fright and the financial advisor was soon hired as well.

Otto nodded once again and arrogantly proclaimed,

"Hmph, the faster the better, here's a few coins for your efforts."

He casually threw the staffer a pile of Small Smekkers, causing the staffer's face to flush and order,

"On the double!"

It wasn't long until six assistants were found.

After only half an hour, they stood in front of him with slightly pale complexions.

Of course it was because they had continuously teleported here.

All the assistants were humanoid, though two were not human.

One woman had dark grey skin and a lithe figure with no visible cleavage and a row of five bright green dots on her forehead.

These indicated her rather high status as a member of the 'Aurelion' race.

The Aurelion race was a race of exceptional merchants and business traders who also boasted strong combat ability, and were well respected for both their cunning and financial savvy.

This woman was hired to be Otto's managing assistant. She would also be in charge of his funds.

The other was a short, brown skinned humanoid who had thick fur covering most of his body, a [Deluvian], an oft-bullied race with low combat power but a single incredible talent for alchemy.

This one seemed rather well fed and his clothes were reasonably luxurious, so it was clear to Otto that his alchemy skill wasn't low.

Well, he didn't hire him for his alchemy skill, anyway.

Perhaps it was only Otto who would willingly use respected alchemists and magic arrayists just to buy goods for him to practice his own craft…

But money could buy anything in Area 1!

Otto's eyes lit up as he saw his six new assistants, and he promptly gave them a short introduction.

After all, for him, every second he spent in the outside world was 200 seconds he would be missing out on under time dilation in the virtual world.

"Hello, everyone, thank you for coming so promptly. I expect to be contracting you for at the very least, the next month, and I can guarantee that the remuneration will be to your satisfaction."

The words eased the group's slight dissatisfaction with Otto's hurried manner of calling them over.

No one disliked being paid a lot!

After they introduced themselves as fast as possible, Otto quizzed them a few times to validate their depth and breadth of experience.

He was especially satisfied with the Aurelion woman who really knew her stuff.

With no hesitation in his movements, he dropped the hiring office a big, shiny Small Brock coin, and left with his assistants in tow.

Hehe...time to start his mass purchases!