The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Jason grumbled softly to himself as he stared at the creature in front of him.

It was a small chipmunk, or squirrel-looking thing.

Honestly, Jason couldn't help but be attracted to it.

It was… really freaking CUTE.

But that didn't mean he wanted to choose it as his long term summon!

It wasn't that it was bad, just…

A long screen appeared in front of Jason and he carefully combed through its details.

Some small part of him was looking for any redeeming features that would give him a reason to choose this little chipmunk thing as his summoned beast.

But the majority of his gaze instead rested on any potential negative lines.

Was it wrong to want his summoned beast to be a tiny bit more domineering?

He sighed and examined the small beast's details carefully again.

At the very least, memorizing all of this information would allow him to quickly compare the next few summons as well.

[Higher Prurian Neotamia]

Current Attributes

Overall: 1

Attack Power: 1

Escape: 2

Defense: 0

Health: 1

Skills/Spells: 0

Intelligence: 2

NOTE: Summoner may only see a beast's precise attributes after signing a contract. Strength is rated out of 10 and compared to all Prurian Beasts.

Potential

Overall Potential: 2

Defensive Potential: 2

Melee Potential: 1

Ranged Potential: 2

Energy Potential: 2

Magic Potential: 0

Escape Potential: 4

Learning Potential: 3

NOTE: Potential is rated out of 10 and compared to all Prurian Beasts.

0 = No potential to develop in this direction

1-2 = Low to very low potential to develop in this direction

3-4 = Mediocre potential to develop in this direction

5 = Moderate potential to develop in this direction

6-7 = Strong potential to develop in this direction

8-9 = Incredible potential to develop in this direction

10 = Top of all Prurian Beasts in terms of potential

[Traits]

[Flight of the Rodent]

??

[Opportunity Seeker]

??

There was an endless list of increasingly abstruse and needlessly precise measurements about this little chipmunk that went on and on as he scrolled down.

But Jason sighed.

He reached down to pet the small chipmunk-beast. Its soft grey fur was warm to the touch.

A small blush worked its way onto his face as the chipmunk squealed and jumped onto his arm, looking very affectionate.

A few minutes passed as Jason contentedly patted and tickled the chipmunk as it raced across his body.

Soon, though, he returned to reality and held his forehead. He sighed again, with a hint of disappointment.

After a quick flick of his finger, the beast disappeared.

Its image remained, and slid over next to the other two rejected beast candidates.

Well, they weren't fully rejected quite yet.

If Jason couldn't find a better beast, any of these three candidates could still be chosen and re-summoned.

But that was only if the next seven beasts he summoned weren't any better…

He read the spell for what felt like the hundredth time.

[Prurian Summon]

Space Element | Higher Order

Summons a single low-tier Prurian beast to grow with the caster. Summoner has 10 chances to establish a contract with a Prurian Beast.

Restricted to Class: [Prurian Summoner]

Mana Cost: 1

Duration: 6 hours (before contract is signed)

Cast Time: 1 minute

Cooldown: 150 minutes

NOTE: Currently 7 remaining chances.

He steeled himself. Its cooldown had just ended, and Jason was preparing to cast the spell for the fourth time.

But suddenly, he was interrupted by a tug on his link with his brother.

He turned around with a twitch of his lips.

"Did you see that whole thing!?"

Otto's face was routinely expressionless, his voice dry,

"Where you were fondling that little squirrel?"

Jason clenched his fist,

"RUDE! It's called bonding, bro, bonding. Something you could learn a thing or two about!!"

Jason turned his head away to hide his embarrassment when he suddenly felt a hard smack on his head.

He turned to glare at Otto. Only to find him standing behind with an eery grin on his face and a glint in his eye.

"I agree. We do need some more bonding."

Otto nodded sagely even as he held his fist threateningly in the air.

Jason held his head and cowered exaggeratedly in fear at the amused twinkle in Otto's gaze.

"Whaddya want?"

Otto rolled his eyes.

"To help you."

"With summoning? It's random! Look here."

He showed Otto the spell description, but Otto continued to stare at Jason as if he was an idiot.

"Where the hell does that description say random?"

"…"

"Exactly. Dumbass. It doesn't. That was only your assumption."

"Jay, there's no way this is random. Not a chance in hell."

Otto exhaled forcefully.

"Fine. I'll teach you how to cast it properly."

Jason's eyes sparkled.

"Yes! So I can get a good one this time? Oooh what about a lion cub…or a griffin? Maybe I could get…a dragon!?"

Otto tilted his head,

"Well, it's not that it's completely impossible."

"First, show me how you cast it now, but stop casting it a couple seconds before you finish."

Jason did as asked and started casting it from memory.

It wasn't long before beads of sweat covered his forehead.

This spell had both a very long cast time and a high requirement for the mage's concentration.

Otto could sympathize with Jason a little.

Casting one of his 'trump card' spells in his past life had always felt like pulling teeth, then, too.

Still, Jason persevered.

Otto carefully observed the movement of Jason's mana through his magic network, using one of his new profession skills [Magical Network Vision].

Finally, Jason ended the cast barely a second before it would be completed.

Thankfully, he stopped it before his mana had fully gathered, so there was nothing like a backlash to casting the spell, either.

Otto thought for a second as Jason eagerly awaited his reply.

He quickly narrowed his eyes.

"This spell is one of the class-restricted spells, correct?"

Jason nodded.

Otto casually remarked,

"Your mana veins are slightly different from mine, Jason. Did you know that?"

"What? No way!"

Otto nodded,

"You have a few extra pathways that were used when casting that spell. I assume those pathways involve encoding the Prurian dimension into your spells, perhaps?"

"Hmm."

Otto made a mental note to study this phenomenon more later.

"For now, cast it a few more times. Do the same thing, and make sure to stop it before you finish casting. I need to memorize the movement."

While Otto could memorize the contents of an entire novel almost instantly with his enhanced mental prowess, memorizing every minute movement of mana in a spell cast for a solid minute would prove arduous, even for him.

The next few hours were spent in silence as Otto concentrated while Jason panted and sweated from exertion in the background.

Finally, Otto spoke again.

"To give you these instructions, I'll need to make a diagram of your body. I'll send it to you now, with your whole network labeled sequentially."

"Do you have it?"

Jason gulped.

It was an immense diagram.

"Bro…do I have to memorize this?"

Otto glared at him.

"This concerns your lifelong partner. You can choose to leave it up to luck, or you can get into the virtual pod and memorize it immediately. Pay extra attention to all the veins you use when you cast this spell."

An hour later (20 hours for Jason), he came out.

"It's memorized."

"Great. What is xxy vein in your right leg called?"

"FL83."

"Great. Let's go to the mental space. This will take a while. Record what I say starting from now. Are you ready?"

They each moved into their virtual pods.

Jason did not look ready at all.

Nevertheless, he still nodded his head.

"The first part is making general adjustments to how you use your mana as a whole."

"Jason, you are a beginner. I understand that your casting will be slightly sloppy. As your control improves, this too will come."

"But we don't have time for that right now. I'm going to fix every single basic mistake I saw, immediately. Understand?"

Jason's eyes firmed. This would be arduous. Still, he nodded.

If it meant he could get the best possible lifelong partner...

"Awesome. Starting at around 1.2 seconds into your cast, move the strand of mana in AR09 about a degree upwards. Adjust the angle of rotation as it hits the top of the vein to smooth the flip. This better preserves the mana's momentum and adds a bit of power to the cast."

"Remember, these will all seem like tiny changes, but these tiny changes are the things that add up in the long run. Keep recording my voice."

Jason inhaled deeply and gave a cheeky thumbs up. Otto continued on, unfazed.

"Next, at AR14, slow the mana and add more pressure when pushing through the narrow end…"

"At YP88, adjust the angle of movement and twist it slightly to fit…"

"For these three, BG44, BG45, and BG46, I'm not as familiar with since they seem to be class-specific, but that doesn't mean you can…"

Otto's voice droned on and on as Jason painstakingly recorded each change.

In the end, after 383 mistakes, and a full four hours of Otto continuously making adjustments, Jason almost collapsed from exhaustion.

"What, you're tired already?"

"I still have to show you each of these changes one by one. Get out of your pod."

Jason was too tired to even argue.

The duo reentered the backyard.

"Sit down on the grass."

Otto sat behind him and placed his hand on Jason's back.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

A cool, slightly unpleasant sensation erupted on contact.

Jason spun around in annoyance,

"Ow. What are you doing?"

Otto raised a brow.

"I'm using my mana to show you each of your mistakes so you intuitively understand them."

Jason almost collapsed.

"Can't we do this tomorrow? Just let me train for a while in the virtual space! Please!!"

His eyes were begging to be let out of this 'torture.'

Otto saw his concentration flag, and eventually acquiesced to his demand.

It wouldn't hurt for Otto to get in some training with his new profession, either.

He could even use this time to study the summoning spell tome…

Otto rolled his eyes. His voice was stern,

"Fine. Be ready early tomorrow. If I have to come looking for you, this'll be twice as painful."

"You jer-"

Otto raised his fist threateningly, scaring Jason into scurrying back into the house once again.

He looked up to the night sky, the dots of stars swallowed by the void.

His expression revealed a sliver of melancholy, and a vague, helpless pain.

"Bringing him here…was this…a good decision, in the end?"

Otto slowly clenched his fists and turned his face away, his shoulders pressed down by the weight of the night.

His lonesome figure strode solemnly through the yard.