The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
Chapter 68: The Pantheon (3)

The three kids stood behind Otto's slim figure which didn't fully conceal them from view as the man across looked at them.

With something akin to desire in his gaze.

As Otto had pulled the attention of the big shots, the young lady in front tried to sneakily slip away.

But as if her intention was discovered before she could act, her path was quickly blocked by the group of people who had been spitting at each other seconds before.

In contrast to their previous demeanor, they now simply stared at her stoically.

Otto looked at the group of men in front of him.

He chuckled inwardly.

They were dreaming if they thought they could steal his people.

Luckily, the old man with the cane was not someone who didn't know tact.

He also understood that he hadn't made the best first impression.

His words were much gentler this time.

"Esteemed sir, my name is Clatenis, the current head of the Shumba faction."

His expression revealed a tinge of complacency.

Well, Otto could admit he deserved it. His faction was one of the top ten most powerful factions across the entire area.

A standing that Otto could never reach in his previous life.

"May I ask for a moment of your time?"

The question was directed at Otto, for Clatenis had already understood by the position of the three challengers, the importance placed on the boy in front of him.

Clatenis would also not do such a stupid thing as underestimate Otto because of his age, either.

This was especially true after seeing the beautiful ring he wore on his hand.

Clatenis continued,

"I'm aware that I didn't make the best initial impression. How about I treat all four of you to a meal at Dille's Garden in recompense?"

Jeremy and Elliott's expressions didn't change at the words, but Julia's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

The face of the young lady who was still encircled by the surrounding recruiters also turned green with jealousy.

Even Otto couldn't help but raise his brows.

It seemed that Clatenis was willing to spend quite a lot this time.

Otto grew curious about Clatenis's purpose.

First, he arrived in person to complete a task that Otto imagined would typically be below him.

Then he invited them all to what was perhaps the most expensive meal in the entire Area.

Dille's was not cheap!

Every dish at Dille's was specially curated to slowly increase the strength of one's body.

Though it wouldn't directly enhance one's attributes, eating many meals there over a long period of time would still cause a challenger's strength to rise.

Moreover, getting a seat required more than just money.

It required connections!

Well, to be fair, as with most things in Area 1, offering enough money could cause this requirement to be waived…

At this point, before Otto had replied, they were interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Ah, don't forget me! Is it fair to forget me even though I just recently joined!?"

Obviously, this young lady saw the direction the winds were blowing.

She also wanted to get away from these recruiters, and felt like kicking herself when she remembered how quickly she had escaped the other three after hearing Jeremy's incessant chatter.

She looked at Otto while she was speaking, and even used some unknown means to whisper to him from across the hallway.

"I'll join your faction, too, if you get me away from these guys!"

It was unknown if her offer was sincere.

Regardless, Otto looked at her with a smile that... wasn't really a smile at all.

And mercilessly exposed her.

"I don't believe we've met before, miss…"

With that, the young lady, Anna, who had thin skin, reddened. She felt she didn't have any more face to continue speaking.

So she rolled her eyes.

Her family would be here to pick her up soon, in any case.

She would just have to endure these overeager recruiters until then.

Otto turned his attention back to Clatenis, who hadn't once moved his gaze from Otto, and replied,

"Thank you for the invitation. Shall we all head over immediately?"

Julia, Elliott, and Jeremy were all relieved. A good meal and a rest was just what they needed after passing the floor.

Clatenis also nodded as a glint swept through his gaze.

It seemed the boy was still on guard against him.

Well, it wasn't out of place.

Since he could indeed prepare something nasty in advance, even inside a safe zone.

But Clatenis threw those thoughts out of his head. This was not his aim at the moment…

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Otto looked around the restaurant with some measure of curiosity.

It was his first time dining in such a luxurious atmosphere.

There were a total of twelve people at the table.

Clatenis had also introduced the other seven recruiters with him, and Otto was once more surprised to replace that all seven were true big shots as well.

He grew more certain of his conjecture that the purpose of this meal was not limited to recruiting.

Per Earth custom, there were forks and knives in addition to chopsticks laid out neatly on the table at Otto's request.

They made small clinking sounds that echoed throughout the quiet room as the guests began to eat.

The food was delicious as well as nourishing.

As the group ate, Clatenis finally couldn't sit still. He began to speak of his true purpose.

"Toto, are you the leader of a faction?"

Otto waved his hand and shook his head.

"No, these three are members of my team. There is no faction to speak of."

"However,"

His eyes narrowed,

"Recruiting them is impossible."

Clatenis frowned slightly before his brows smoothed out.

"Are you implying that they will follow you?"

He looked to the three kids who were mostly gobbling down their food with relish.

Jeremy looked at Clatenis with derision as he stuffed meat into his mouth without sparing even a pretense for politeness.

He mumbled under his breath,

"Don't you know it's rude to talk while people are trying to eat?"

Julia almost burst out laughing at the contrast between his words and his actions.

But she was quickly nudged hard in the ribs by Elliott, the only one who had bothered to pay some attention to the conversation.

Clatenis just turned a deaf ear to the comment and waited for Otto to reply.

"Yes. They are members of my team, after all."

All three kids practically glowed with pride at the comment, and simultaneously turned their gazes down to hide their embarrassment.

Clatenis looked at Otto sharply.

He lowered his voice to ask,

"Have you also cleared the first floor?"

"Yes."

"If I may ask, what room did you arrive from?"

Otto looked at him with hidden amusement.

There was not the slightest falsehood in his reply,

"Basic."

Clatenis almost choked on his food.

It took him a second to regain his composure, at which point he changed his line of questioning,

"Are you aware of my Shumba faction?"

Otto was unfazed by the hidden sharpness in his tone.

"Of course."

Who hadn't heard of the Shumba faction?

It was one of the premier factions across Area 1.

The Shumba faction carried just under 300,000 official challengers in its ranks.

For an Area-wide faction like Shumba, this was actually considered a rather small number.

The other factions with approximately the same amount of power were composed of many millions of challengers working towards similar goals.

But not a single one dared to look down on power of the Shumba faction.

Because Shumba only accepted absolute elites.

These were 300,000 of the absolute strongest challengers throughout the entirety of area 1.

It was rumored that to get accepted into Shumba, the most basic requirement was to clear the 1st floor mission on [Hard] difficulty.

And that was merely the most basic requirement.

The elites that were treated well within the faction had typically cleared [Very Hard] or even, in rare cases, [Extreme].

And clearing [Extreme] difficulty was rare enough that Otto had not met a single person of that caliber in the entirety of his past life, no matter the Area he visited.

Moreover, like most other factions, Shumba commanded an army of dozens of millions of challengers willing to work for the faction as [Leeches] or [Indentured], gathering resources for coin.

Quite frankly, if Otto were to join a faction, Shumba would probably be his first or second choice.

The main reason was the resources Shumba could offer.

With such a large network of gifted challengers, the spells and information, materials, herbs, potions, and pills such a faction had access to were far beyond the pale.

Even Otto's new employees led by such a competent assistant as Aeselvell would never come close to matching the power of such a large organization.

As such, he couldn't help but be interested in what Clatenis wanted from them.

And to see what he could give them in exchange.

"Good. That makes this easier, then."

Clatenis's eyes sharpened,

"Join our faction."

Silence filled the room for a second as the air abruptly thickened with hidden tension.

Without warning, then, a voice interrupted in a chiding tone,

"My god, Clatenis, get to the point already. You're so old, but still playing mind games with these kids, what exactly are you trying to do?"

The speaker looked significantly older than Clatenis. Otto remembered his name was Edwin, the leader of the Grosstin Guild that wasn't too far inferior in power to Shumba.

Judging from Clatenis's eye roll at the interruption, the two's relationship was clearly not too bad.

Clatenis sighed and said,

"Don't interrupt, Edwin. I'm discussing business here."

"Business my ass! How is implicitly threatening a bunch of kids considered business nowadays? Or were you going to do the whole 'I'm a good guy, I won't ask for too much' routine after you threatened them?"

"You old bastard, what do you know about business tactics?"

"Oh, so we're stooping to personal attacks? My Grosstin Guild makes ten times more than your Shumba Faction and you're still telling me I'm no good at business."

Otto watched from the side, maintaining an aloof demeanor as the two bickered.

Inwardly, he felt a little speechless….did they really not care about his presence?

Or perhaps…was this a calculated ploy to get him to lower his guard against them?

He watched as the two men continued to argue until they grew red in the face.

If this was a calculated ploy, it was working, though Otto increasingly felt he was merely thinking too much.

The others around the two men sat there with bored expressions, occasionally side-eyeing each other, as if this wasn't the first time this particular point had been debated.

The commotion even attracted the attention of Jeremy and Julia, who began to bicker with each other in tandem with the old men,

"Dude, you haven't ever eaten chocolate!? What the heck do you even eat!"

"Haaah, what's so great about chocolate? Don't tell me you've been eating sugar this whole time? Are you stupid? Don't you know how bad it is for your body?"

"Who cares about your body anyway? You're stupid! Can't you just add attributes to make it better anyway?"

Otto rubbed his forehead as the minutes passed with no sign of either pair settling down.

The beginnings of a headache started to emerge.

He looked up.

His eyes narrowed, and began to glow as he filled his voice with mana.

"Silence."

The effect was immediate. Both arguments stopped immediately.

Suddenly, the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Otto's headache eased. He glowered at Julia and Jeremy, both of whom slightly shrunk back in their seats, before he asked,

"Clatenis, what's your intention by asking us here?"

Clatenis reddened slightly as he realized he could no longer keep up with his charade…luckily his initial intention was not to force these kids into his faction, in any case.

But he regained his composure in the course of a split second. He was an old fox, after all.

"I wish to propose... a cooperation."