The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
Chapter 74: Gathering of Giants (1)

Otto cast [Analyze] on Jeremy as the boy narrated his experience.

Of course, his retelling was full of yelling, hand gestures, and full physical reenactments as Jeremy acted out some of his best fighting scenes, and a decent amount of bragging in addition.

[Jeremy Smalls]

Floor Cleared: 1st Floor

Class: Invisible Acrobat

Profession 1: None

Profession 2: None

Profession 3: None

Health: 225 —] 320/320 (0.14 —] 0.17/minute)

Stamina: 225 —] 400/400 (1.4 —] 2.5/minute)

Energy: 40 —] 140/140 (0.35 —] 1.2/minute)

[Attributes]

Strength 17 —] 30

Agility 19 —] 58

Stamina 14 —] 25

Sturdiness 14 —] 17

Energy Pool 2 —] 7

Comprehension 2 —] 10

Energy Compression 3 —] 10

Regeneration 7 —] 12

AP: 0

Otto was surprised and thrilled after discovering Jeremy's large changes.

His first floor experience was both similar to and different from the others.

Like Julia, he had spent most of the first few days locked in constant battle with Throskarts.

Thanks to his agility and ability to slip into stealth, he had an easier time running away and hiding from enemies he couldn't yet face.

Still, he initially had to fight many hundreds of battles. Over the course of these battles, his killing intent had begun to take shape.

Fortunately, for Jeremy, his strength increased very rapidly as his points started to accumulate.

With this, additional experience in real combat, and his incredible intuitive sense for the flow of a battle, killing came smoother and easier than ever to Jeremy over the course of the 1st floor.

As he grew more experienced, the maneuvers he could execute were also more complicated.

While he would never be a schemer like Otto, Jeremy also learned how to steal coins without attracting attention, especially searching for high-value coins.

Until one day, Jeremy happened across a monumental clash between some very powerful, likely ranked contestants.

As it happened, the situation almost mirrored Otto's own in the clash for the 100,000 point coin.

Except this time, Jeremy himself played the role of the thief.

He hid in the forest, waiting for an opportunity to ambush until his eyes caught a slight shimmer in the air.

Another thief was here!

Jeremy had to move, and fast!

When he moved, his newly forged muscles rippled like those of a cat's.

Jeremy pounced on that coin with fervor, ripping it out of the hands of the other before it disappeared into his pocket.

Actually, the other Throskarts weren't initially aware that the coin was stolen by a different thief, and one faction continued on with their initial plan, believing it to be a success.

It was only the audience that caught glimpses into the fact that something wasn't right…

To Jeremy's great shock, the coin was worth 100,000 points!

Jeremy immediately used it, and felt his body grow light as his attributes soared beyond what he thought his body was capable of.

He then ran like the wind to escape the clearing.

But his stealth couldn't last forever, even for a boy with a silver class, and his figure was eventually revealed, starting a man-hunt where Throskarts came to kill him in droves.

Jeremy's eyes had gradually begun to turn blood red as he escaped and killed his way out of dozens of encirclements.

Even as his body faced exhaustion, Jeremy didn't let up. He killed and killed until the dark soil was dyed in purple.

Thankfully, his body was more powerful at this point and still growing, despite his lack of sleep, and he even racked up quite a few additional points as he killed and killed.

And pushing his body to the absolute brink also had merits, just as Julia found out.

Actually, if it weren't for his inherent trait that caused even audience members to occasionally overlook him, he himself was aware he probably would have died after this maneuver.

But his struggles paid off in the [Neutral Zone].

Jeremy gained two achievements in the end.

A mission achievement that granted additional AP, and a hunting achievement for the staggering number of enemies he'd killed in a short period of time that granted him two new, powerful traits.

[Personal Trait]

[Slippery]

Evolving Trait White

Passive

+15 Agility

+10% Agility

-50% Terrain penalty to agility

Below a certain standard, control skills and spells are ineffective on you.

Individual Control efficacy reduced by 80%

Active

When slipping into stealth, gain 0.3 seconds of invincibility.

Stealth allows you to ignore or remove control skills and spells.

[Energy Efficiency]

Energy Regeneration +100%

Gain 50% of your energy back immediately after using it.

Otto looked at Jeremy's new attributes in shock and delight.

Though it was typically advisable in the [Tower] as a whole to keep the physical attributes in a reasonable balance, Otto was impressed by Jeremy's agility that had grown by an almost full 40 points.

It was only ten points below his own at the moment!

Which meant, after Otto split his soul a few times, Jeremy may actually be faster than him.

Otto, was also thrilled at the performance of his new traits, especially Jeremy's exceptionally powerful new trait [Slippery].

Control skills were poison for a rogue-type class, as it nullified their greatest advantage over others, their agility.

Jeremy's new trait made him much more difficult to control.

When he was finished speaking, Otto turned to all three of the kids, and announced,

"Your performance was excellent on the 1st floor. Even, above and beyond my expectations."

"For all three of you."

He fixed them with a look of satisfaction, then nodded and declared,

"Now, Ramesthes will be here soon to begin your training sessions once again."

"Before that, I plan to begin splitting my soul tomorrow night."

"Afterwards, I have a surprise for all of you."

Otto smiled mysteriously to the kids but vanished as he heard their cries of annoyance and irritation that he'd left them all hanging.

He smirked as he re-entered his mental space through the virtual pod.

It was time to get ready for the 'club meeting' tonight.

Otto purposely didn't choose to split his soul before this evening.

He needed to be prepared, in case anything happened.

He had no idea where he'd be teleported by the card he held in his hand.

If it was outside the safe zone, then…

All bets were off.

Otto didn't even throw out the theory that this was a carefully planned trap, uniquely prepared for himself.

Though he didn't believe he'd offended anyone of the caliber required to pull off such a meeting, that didn't mean he wouldn't consider the possibility.

It had even happened before, on the 1st Floor.

So Otto suited up and continued practicing his spells in his mental space before the evening arrived.

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

Ten real time minutes before the 'meeting,' Otto exited his mental space.

His hair was slicked back into a more professional look.

On his body, he wore a sky blue jump suit with patterns that made it both presentable as formal wear around Area 1 and usable in combat.

The suit was provided courtesy of Clatenis.

Of course, Otto didn't wear it because it looked nice.

Rather, the three attributes it boasted were even better than his previous bronze-grade full mage equipment set.

[Magical Suit Set]

Bronze Grade

Magic Power +15%

Mental Power Recovery +50%

Mana +1000

Otto also wore his favorite boots to provide that additional kick to his magic and agility.

He looked in the mirror and nodded slightly. Otto felt that he looked more mature in this type of suit, rather than in a robe.

He checked his status screen once again.

[Toto]

Floor Cleared: 1st Floor

Health: 2237 (3.72/minute)

Stamina: 1352 (14.25/minute)

Mana: 16,180 (24.00/second)

[Attributes]

Strength 55

Agility 70 (85)

Stamina 57

Sturdiness 62

Mana Pool 175 (185)

Intuition 137 (147)

Magic Power 153 (163)

Regeneration 218 (228)

Otto smiled and quickly readied himself to leave.

His last task was to prepare the 'disguise' for himself.

A solid grey mask appeared in his hands.

Otto quickly [Analyzed] it.

[Veil of the Deceiver]

Silver Grade Consumable

Allows wearer to change face as envisioned.

Duration: 24 hours

Uses: 1

This time, Otto had charged Aeselvell with the task of preparing this.

It was the best item that could be found on short notice.

Moreover, as a [Silver Grade] item, it was not cheap by any means.

Otto's face morphed and shifted.

Lines appeared on his forehead and around his eyes as he gradually took on the visage of a dashing, middle-aged man.

It was Otto's previous appearance, though to be extra careful he wouldn't be recognized as his young self, he muddled a few of his sharp features and slightly rounded his angular face.

He was still somewhat handsome, but by no means extraordinary.

Otto was officially ready to go.

In no time, the card in his hand shook slightly and began to glow with a dim golden color.

The arrays on the front of the card lit up along with Otto's eyes as he tried to parse the coordinates at it sent him away.

He was fully combat ready.

Otto's body flashed and disappeared.