The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Otto yelled out, seemingly into empty space,

"Mirabelle, we're ready for you!"

A brightly colored bird flew out and sat on Otto's shoulder.

"Everyone, meet your final teammate. Mirabelle, please turn into a human."

Mirabelle's body elongated as she transformed back to her human shape.

"Currently, because of reasons I do not wish to discuss at this moment, I won't be implanting a soul shard into her quite yet."

"However, this doesn't make her any less of a teammate."

"Ramesthes, you will need to accommodate her somewhat in training. Just like with Jason, please get her up to speed."

Ramesthes raised a brow, but slowly nodded.

"However, I guarantee that all of you will find her skills useful. She is a specialized supporter."

Julia, Jeremy, and Elliott's eyes lit up simultaneously. They knew from fighting other 'teams' in the virtual world that an excellent supporter could even carry a team.

Their eyes at Mirabelle carried excitement and a hint of interest.

Otto paused, and a light smirk graced his lips,

"Perhaps it'd be better to figure out her exact abilities by fighting alongside her."

"Her original form is a Chantrelle Songbird, but although she is unable to physically speak, her intelligence is probably even higher than all of yours. She can understand you just fine."

Otto looked at each of them,

"The [Tower] also sells an extension to the universal translator which allows for translation of intentional non-vocalizations into your ears."

He passed out six small strips of paper, leaving one for himself. They quickly melted onto each member's fingertips.

"This will also be useful should we find ourselves in enemy territory, so we can use hand signals and 'hear' what a teammate says."

Actually, the typical route would simply be to learn something akin to sign language.

But this was more efficient, if more costly. The merits required to exchange for these set him back almost 10 Brocks in total.

Well, that was how it was in Area 1. Everything worthwhile was expensive; money could crown a king or condemn a pauper.

The four kids looked at Mirabelle curiously as she smiled and waved at each of them in turn.

The voice from their enhanced translators sounded bright and young,

"Hello, I'm Mirabelle. I look forward to working with all of you."

They nodded at her in return, quickly introducing themselves one by one.

"Is that understood?"

All four nodded. They would naturally get to know each other better when training and fighting as comrades, in any case.

But before they could disperse, suddenly, without any prior warning, Otto's demeanor changed.

He let out a tiny sliver of his killing intent.

It was directed squarely at Elliott.

Otto brought out a small golden pineapple.

He had been thinking hard about how to maximize his luck when using this pineapple.

He hadn't come up with many strategies.

This was one of the few that could potentially work.

Otto's voice was calm and unbothered.

His killing intent continued to pressure the boy as he spoke,

"Elliott, I need you to tell me when to eat this pineapple."

Elliott gulped and nodded.

He tried his best to retain his composure.

"If I don't get more than 45% of my lost attributes back, I will immediately cut you down where you stand."

Otto even repeated himself just in case.

"You will die if you don't give me the correct timing."

Thoughts raced through Elliott's head.

What was going on?

Why was he being targeted?

Didn't they just do the soul connection thingy?

Why was Otto suddenly threatening to kill him?

But deep down, Elliott couldn't help but think it was some sort of test for him, or something.

Had Otto threatened to do this before he'd implanted the soul sliver, perhaps Elliott may have been terrified and promptly escaped from this crazy person.

But now, a feeling of unconditional trust filled him.

Otto would never do such a thing.

Moreover, his intuition wasn't giving him any signals to escape.

His mind steadied.

Elliott replied with confidence,

"I understand."

But contrary to his expectations, Otto sighed and withdrew the pressure.

"As expected, it needs to be a real threat?"

Otto was trying to take advantage of Elliott's [Survivor's Intuition] in order to determine the best time to eat this damned pineapple.

Otto thought that perhaps if he threatened to kill Elliott, the trait would activate on his own?

He'd even used his killing intent to add believability…

Alas, there was no way Otto would actually kill him, and Elliott most likely didn't believe him either.

Elliott's trait failed to activate.

Honestly, even if the plan had worked, Otto wasn't convinced [Survivor's Intuition] could help him with something as esoteric as luck.

Time for Plan B!

An assortment of food, an herb, a potion, a rune, and a stick of incense surrounded Otto as he sat on the ground.

It was everything he had found so far related to 'luck' in Area 1.

[Iris Iricis]

Temporarily enhances the luck of the consumer.

Duration: 5 minutes.

[Felispel Root]

Rub it over the skin to create a 'ward' that repels bad luck.

[Meal of the Ancient Trullen]

Eat in a particular order to slightly enhance luck for a day.

[Sentinel's Rune]

Significantly decreases chances of a 'bad luck' event.

[Traditional Orfel Incense]

Burn to add a minuscule amount of luck to an area.

Otto was not confident in his luck.

He was nothing like Dallas, the man from his past life, who would stumble upon treasure even if he fell of a cliff.

His tendency was, instead, to work for the things he gained.

But it was possible his luck had improved.

Otto considered himself very lucky so far, finding so many strong teammates, the [Tower's] impeccable timing and choice of rewards, summoning his long lost brother over.

Hopefully, his current luck would not suddenly decline…

After completing all the elements in succession, with no time to spare, Otto popped the entire golden pineapple in his mouth.

Fortunately, his teeth and mouth were strong enough not to be bothered by the measly shell of a single pineapple.

The flesh was sweet as it coated his throat.

Otto waited.

A minute passed.

A screen appeared.

[You have eaten Rohrsan's Pineapple after an event where you lost attributes.]

[Randomizing…]

[Success!]

[You have regained 41% of your lost attributes back as AP.]

[246 AP have been added.]

[A/N I used a restricted Random Number Generator to come up with this number. If it's too low, you can't yell at me, if it's too high, you also can't yell at me :P]

Otto breathed a small sigh of relief and patted his chest.

His luck wasn't horrendous!

Even better, it spit the attributes back in the form of AP!

As Otto checked his status screen to grin at the now 476 AP under his attributes, another new element caught his eye.

It was a title.

When had he received another title?

[Titles]

[Rock Solid Foundation]

Challenger may preview Area 1's exit reward.

He raised an eyebrow.

The exit reward, huh?

After ascending to each area from the last, said area would grant an exit reward.

It would usually come in the form of a new trait, title, or some other direct boost to the status.

Area 1's 'graduation' reward was particularly good.

And, now he was able to use it because of his 'rock solid foundation'?

It seemed to have something to do with splitting his soul.

Otto remembered the reward clearly, the way his jaw dropped the first time he'd read it.

[At each multiple of 100, effective attributes double.]

A simple sentence, but with large effects even well into the hundreds.

Now, Otto was able to preview such a reward!

He checked his status for at least the fifth time that day.

[Toto]

Floor Cleared: 1st Floor

Class: Rainbow Caster

Race: Enhanced Human II

Profession 1: Alchemist

Profession 2: Magic Arrayist

Profession 3: None

Profession 4: None

Health: 1,450/1,450 (2.4/minute)

Stamina: 880/880 (9.25/minute)

Mana: 15,420/15,420 (22.16/second)

[Attributes]

Strength 36

Agility 46

Stamina 37

Sturdiness 40

Mana Pool 114

Intuition 90

Magic Power 101

Regeneration 142

AP: 476

"…"

Once again, Otto was speechless.

Though all his attributes had decreased by just over a third, somehow, both his mana and regeneration had remained similar due to the title he'd received.

It also wasn't as simple as merely being able to gain a reward early.

As Otto well understood the principle of 'the early bird catches the worm.'

In the [Tower], the better the performance, the greater the reward.

Or rather, the better the performance in comparison to a challenger's 'measured level,' the greater the reward.

Three of Otto's attributes doubling now would almost certainly snowball into better performances on subsequent floors, netting him more and more rewards as he continued to climb the [Tower].

He smirked.

There was only one thing left before he and the kids immersed themselves into intensive training.

A small bead appeared in his hands.

Instantly, everyone's eyes were attracted to it.

The evolution bead!