The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
chapter-31

Otto went through a period of furious training after he made his discovery.

His new assistants also started to bulk purchase herbs and materials for potions, pills, and ink in earnest.

Otto was forced to find some additional time in the week to practice alchemy and magic arrays.

He decided to keep his current routine for five days every week.

On the sixth day, he would focus entirely on alchemy.

On the seventh, he would only draw arrays.

This would allow him to progress consistently in all areas, without neglecting any in particular.

Otto's goals for practicing alchemy and drawing magic arrays were actually quite similar.

First, he wanted to prepare an arsenal of pills, potions and formation-type, consumable arrays for both himself and his team members for when they entered the next floor.

Second, continued production would also help train his skills in both areas.

Manufacturing potions and pills would help to raise his basic level alchemy skills.

This, in turn, would allow him to produce higher quality and a higher quantity of pills and potions.

Otto only focused on making the necessary pills and potions.

For pills, he started by concocting four major basic types.

The [Perception Booster Pill] boosted a challenger's perception for a duration of time dependent on the quality of the pill.

It allowed a normal challenger to temporarily gain the eye of an eagle, the wolf of a nose, and the ears of a bat.

Actually, since this was only the most basic pill, it wasn't so exaggerated.

But it did help challengers to see and avoid danger in advance.

Regardless of its level, it was still considered a very useful pill.

The [Small Energy Recovery Pill] instantly recovered a certain, very small amount of energy for the consumer.

Otto chose this one because its benefit was that it could be taken repeatedly and had no residual side effects, nor did it have a cooldown, unlike some of the more powerful pills that recovered energy.

It was super handy for challengers to have a couple hundred of these so they could stuff a mouthful in whenever they were out of energy.

The [Energy Restoration Pill] had a stronger effect by comparison, but it took time to work.

In a long, drawn out battle, this was typically the go-to energy pill.

Finally, the fourth basic pill that most challengers considered a universal staple was called the [Stamina Booster].

It added 100-500 full points to a challenger's maximum stamina to use for a certain period of time.

For obvious reasons, it was considered an essential to bring to battle whenever a challenger entered a floor.

As for the potions Otto would make, he chose three basic potions.

[Basic Health Potion]

[Basic Stamina Potion]

[Basic Mana Potion]

All three of them had simple effects: to restore a certain amount of health, stamina, or mana instantly.

The basic stamina potion even had a hidden effect: it worked with the [Stamina Booster Pill], and the effects stacked!

He was mostly making these for Julia and Jeremy, who would have to fight in close combat to kill an enemy.

These basic potions and pills would be made until his alchemy profession level rose, allowing him to make more powerful potions and pills with more finesse.

Otto focused in on making his pills and potions.

His cauldron lit up.

He used a 'Lesser Fireball' to gradually control the flame.

If Otto had merely been practicing alchemy to raise his skills, he could choose to simply conjure an 'undying fire' in his mental space that would constantly burn at the perfect temperature.

Unfortunately, he was working with real ingredients!

Thus, all the inputs and the energy also needed to be real to come out with a decent final product.

A conjured flame wouldn't actually have any heat, so the real ingredients in the cauldron simply wouldn't melt.

Perhaps, if Otto's mental power grew without bounds, even the 'conjured' items in his mental space might even eventually become real….

Well, that day, if it ever came, was far, far into the future.

Otto skillfully manipulated the flame under the cauldron with one hand, while his other hand dumped ingredients in one after another.

A less skilled alchemist would burst into rage upon seeing this seemingly careless, casual handling of Otto's beautifully refined herbs and ingredients.

While a skilled alchemist would exclaim in awe at the distinct scent the cauldron already emitted.

Otto also chose the most basic pills and potions for another reason.

It was much easier to increase their quality!

Occasionally, the effects of astonishing quality could even surpass some more difficult, complex, and powerful potions and pills.

His goal was to create an army of super-high quality basic potions and pills before he progressed to the next step.

And indeed, after a few minutes, a rich medicinal scent was emitted from the cauldron.

Otto skillfully but hurriedly sealed the scent inside the cauldron with a net of mana to allow the pills inside to absorb it.

Another minute passed.

Otto released the net.

He scrutinized the resulting pills with an appraising eye.

There were 99 pills in total, the maximum that could be made with Otto's level in a single cauldron.

[Grade 1 Perception Booster]

Highest Grade

Effect: Doubles the range and sensitivity of the five senses. Has a small enhancement effect on the sixth sense.

Duration: 10 minutes

Otto was pleased.

Normal perception booster pills didn't have any effect on the sixth sense.

Moreover, they usually provided a 25-50% boost to the five senses, and their duration was limited to five or so minutes.

His pill of the highest quality was a comprehensive improvement in all ways!

Otto casually stored the 99 pills into a few prepared bottles and slowly put away his cauldron as his 'phone alarm' rang.

It signaled the end of the sixth day, and marked a switch in gears to magic arrays for Otto.

Compared to the rote concoction of alchemy, Otto preferred to construct arrays much more.

As arrays, no matter how similar, would always have endless variables when drawing them.

Otto had decided to limit his efforts to drawing ten different types of arrays in total.

Five were variants of basic grade one arrays, three were modifications on more advanced grade one arrays, and two began from basic grade two arrays.

All of them were so-called 'formation arrays.'

This meant that they would be drawn on a common mana-conducting material called 'Lostfer Stone.'

As the mana within the ink cycled through the stone, the array would slowly dim, only to disappear after the final use.

It was often used by arrayists because its conduction capability could maintain the power of the array, and the stone itself was very cheap to use.

Using a more expensive material was of no use to Otto right now, since his goal was to draw powerful consumable arrays.

Otto had even ordered the highest grade 'Shining Silver Mana Ink' in Area 1, which typically held enough punch to last for five uses for each array.

Otto's eyes focused as he started to draw the first array.

He wasted no time in getting started, since Aeselvell had even considerately ordered the ink to be mixed beforehand.

The array he was working on at the moment was a variant of one of the easiest arrays to draw: the [Protective Dome].

To activate this array only required the person who was 'keyed in' to press a specific spot on the stone.

When activated, the array would create a protective dome that fed off ambient mana and would last for ten seconds.

It could be broken by a powerful hit, but it was useful because the residual force from said hit would not reach whoever was inside the dome.

One major drawback was that the person inside the dome couldn't move outside of the dome while the array was activated.

But Otto's array was different.

He was planning on tweaking the array such that it would move with the person who keyed it in.

Ideally, it would form a domed layer of protection that would act as a 'mana shield' for a moving person for a short period of time.

He simply named it the [Mobile Protective Dome].

This was not the only array he was creating.

With so many different runes and methods of connection, as long as an arrayist had deep knowledge, the possibilities were endless.

Otto couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of coming back to his passion.

He would never limit himself to 'only' drawing basic arrays.

He created a version of the [Basic Disguise Formation] thats use was to wreath the user to confuse enemy senses called the [Controlled Disguise Formation].

This formation would allow the user to transform into someone else for a short period of time.

The [99 Sword Formation] became the [99 Recovering Sword Formation] which would slowly recover its power through ambient mana.

The [Winged Escape Formation] was completely Otto's own idea: a basic array formation that used mana to form wings on a user, allowing them to escape into the sky for up to thirty minutes.

Well, the user would have to fly low to the ground after twenty minutes to prepare for when the wings disappeared…

Otto spent the seventh day of the week happily drawing arrays.

His team would be well prepared to enter the first floor!

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

Ramesthes looked on, satisfied at Elliott, Julia, and Jeremy's progress.

It had been sixteen months since they had entered the virtual space, around three and a half weeks in the outside world.

They had long passed through the hellish log course, as well as all the [Tower's] other official training regimes for gaining additional basic physical attributes.

The three of them looked worlds apart from their appearances before they met Ramesthes.

Elliott and Jeremy's bodies lost their baby fat in favor of some muscle tone.

They had bulked up a bit, and it was now easy to mistake them for guys in their early twenties rather than their mid teens.

Even their faces grew sharper and now had some definition.

Jeremy still couldn't quite be considered handsome, but he was now at least a bit above average.

Elliott, who was already somewhat handsome looked charismatic and steady, though if scrutinized, one might be able to see through to his shy nature.

Julia's curves had only increased from her incessant efforts.

While her boobs had slimmed down a bit, her overall figure was now molded into a beautiful tight hourglass.

She also boasted a flat stomach where one could even see the faint markings of small sex lines leading down to her unmentionables.

But the biggest changes in all three kids had not happened to their bodies.

No, it was their gazes that changed the most.

After passing through the [Tower's] courses, Ramesthes had constantly forced them to fight.

With no ins and outs, every single day, the three of them had to fight, fight, and fight again.

They fought individually in the morning, with opponents from the virtual arena that were personally tailored to match their strength.

Later in the day, they fought as a group against tougher foes to practice their teamwork through incessant battle.

Originally, they were each accorded an hour of rest every day.

But Ramesthes had created a point system: for every victory, they would gain a single point, or two points if won quickly.

For every loss, they would lose eight points.

More points meant additional rewards like certain foods, more rest time, a trip to the virtual spa.

But fewer points would directly decrease their break time.

Ramesthes also rigged their matches.

He made it such that as the trio gained fighting experience both individually and as a group, their opponents got stronger and stronger just a little faster than they did, making it harder and harder to fight as time went on.

Each day felt like a life and death struggle to them.

Ramesthes also mentioned that if there was ever a day they fell to negative points, they would get a 'strike.'

If they got three 'strikes', they'd be kicked out of training entirely.

As per the contract they'd all signed, this was not a favorable outcome to the three of them.

So they fought like their lives depended on it.

And started to get stronger. And more experienced.

Now, Ramesthes looked at the trio with satisfaction, thinking that they might possibly have a sliver of a chance at reaching the level Otto had intended.

Well, that didn't mean he would go easy on them.

Weren't there still almost four months left?

His eyes glowed as he made a decision.

Seeing them like this, it seemed it was time for him to step in personally.

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

Otto wasn't entirely ignorant to the development on the kids' side of things.

Though he had entered a state of furious learning, practice, concoction, and drawing, Ramesthes still provided him with periodic updates on the kids' development.

Otto found himself nodding in satisfaction at his methods.

Desperation wasn't the only way to grow, but it was probably the fastest.

And by linking their break time with the result of their battles, their motivation to win would be unwavering.

Otto himself curled his lips into a satisfied smile at his own efforts.

His seclusion was now about to end.

Otto was extremely pleased with his own growth.

He had no doubt he was now at the absolute top of Area 1.

Perhaps he was even the strongest, period.

Well, with the possible exception of the Kinetice.

But didn't he have eight months to prepare?

His lips curled.

He'd see who could face him after seven more months of this constant growth.

Otto checked his status screen and marveled at the enormous changes therein.

[Toto]

Floor Cleared: Tutorial

Class: Rainbow Caster

Profession 1: Alchemist

Profession 2: Magic Arrayist

Profession 3: None

Health: 385--] 535 (0.28 --] 0.38/minute)

Stamina: 335--] 485 (2.3 --] 3.3/minute)

Mana: 3,540--] 14,580 (15,130) (3.06 --] 23.40/second)

[Attributes]

Strength 21--]31

Agility 25 (35) --] 60 (70)

Stamina 23 --] 33

Sturdiness 28 --] 38

Mana Pool 53 (58) --] 165 (170)

Intuition 36 (41) --] 127 (132)

Magic Power 41 (46) --] 143 (148)

Regeneration 41 (48) --] 208 (218)

AP: 0

In terms of his attributes, all his basic physical stats had increased by ten points.

He had also dumped all the AP received from his achievement into 'Agility' which was further boosted.

His magical attributes, on the other hand had undergone a comprehensive evolution.

Over the course of his seclusion, Otto found a sort of pattern to increasing his attributes.

His mana pool would grow slowly and constantly with meditation.

Otto hadn't found any bottlenecks to speak of here, but the rate of growth was greatly dependent on the time spent meditating, and only the time spent meditating.

His mana pool had increased by 112 points in total over 16 years. By some measures, this was horrendously slow.

Wouldn't it be faster just to climb the [Tower]?

But if looked at differently, Otto had increased his mana by 112 points over the course of a single month.

An outrageous increase that would perhaps shock even the [Tower] itself!

Otto also found that his intuition was the hardest to grow, and not only by a little.

While he was studying spell formulas, this was the attribute that he ended up spending the most time on, yet it was also the attribute that he had the hardest time raising even by a single point.

At first, Otto's intuition grew by leaps and bounds as he studied new spell formulas.

Even to the point where it wasn't weird to grow three or four points in a single week.

Over time, that growth slowed to a trickle, though.

By the time it hit '100' Otto found himself lucky if it grew by even a single point over an entire month.

It was mostly the huge reward of 50 intuition that came from learning his first 'unlimited' spell that allowed it grow this much.

And Otto knew instinctively that it would be even harder from here on out.

Compressing his mana and growing his magic power also got harder and harder the further he compressed.

But Otto was rather luckier in this regard.

Since the compression basically depended on his mental power to do the heavy lifting.

One thing that Otto was not short of was mental power.

Thus, his magic power grew steadily, if slowly, without facing bottlenecks.

If he spent more time on compression alone, Otto had no doubt his current magic power would be even higher.

Finally, Otto was most pleased with his regeneration.

Because he was able to enhance his regeneration when he was both meditating and compressing his magic power, it grew comparatively quickly.

As such, he could now regenerate his entire, massive, pool of mana in just under 11 minutes.

It was enough to face consecutive battles with mana to spare!

Moreover, Otto's attributes only represented the beginning of his enormous power upgrade.

He checked his list of spells, next.

His growth was even more obvious here.

In addition to the 25 spells Aeselvell had gathered for him initially, she had found another 18 formulas later in the month.

Furthermore, after Otto had delivered the required potions to Garrote, he had provided another six all on his own.

Otto had worked 'overtime' in seclusion just to be able to learn all of them.

He was not talking about the [Tower's] method of learning.

No, Otto had managed to learn the 'unlimited' version of each of these forty-nine spells.

In the end, what Otto was worried about hadn't come true.

After spending 200 days learning the spell model for [Lesser Fireball], each subsequent spell model started to come easier to Otto.

Especially since, with his achievement, Otto's intuition had increased by a full 50 points.

From 150 days to 100 days down to now, where he could learn any model that required under 10 intuition within a period of five days.

Any formula requiring under 25 intuition would be learned in a scant few weeks.

Otto had made another discovery during this period.

After reading through and fully understanding the spell model for [Tunnel], a [Tower] notification had popped up under his vision.

[You have learned the spell [Tunnel] with your own efforts.]

[Would you like to upgrade [Tunnel] to [Tunnel: Unlimited]?]

Otto had obviously agreed.

He felt something break loose as the spell changed its form, as if the chains limiting its growth were abruptly severed.

It meant that as long as he still had the spell books and spell models for spells he had learned, he could upgrade even previously learned spells to their 'unlimited' versions.

So he also decided to immediately learn the spell models for [Cone of Fire], [Earth Shrink], [Sun's Aura], [Enfeebling Darkness], and [Force Field], the five spells received from his class after clearing the [Tutorial].

After all, he could always just upgrade them later when his intuition had further increased.

Otto's eyes were bright.

He stepped out of his virtual pod.

His seclusion was over.

He was ready for the challenges that lay ahead.

His eyes met Ramesthes, who nodded at him.

It was time to challenge the first floor.