The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
chapter-34

Otto jumped up on to the tree and whipped his head around.

As he turned, fiery projectiles and mana bolts shot from his arms to blast the enemy Throskarts into pieces.

He showed no mercy.

Every single enemy was killed, with no escapees.

Soon, their corpses dropped onto the ground.

They were quite dead.

Otto understood that they had died permanently when he saw the small pile of shiny gold coins by their corpses.

He said nothing.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't go to collect the coins.

A minute passed as Otto merely stood there, occasionally glancing at those tempting looking gold coins.

There was a reason Otto had waited.

He liked to be cautious before anything else; the reckless spirit of youth had long been beaten out of him by the [Tower's] brutal methods.

So he stood there silently to recover his mana.

The past few hours were composed of one big fight for Otto.

He was attacked, attacked, and attacked again. Enemies seemed to come from all over the forest ring just to attack him.

Otto was secretly sure that all the Throskarts within a five mile radius had been completely emptied out to find him.

In the process, he had killed every single enemy.

His body count was now well over a thousand.

Otto had also been doing his best to conserve his mana in the process.

Though his current mana sat at over 12,000, it was better to be prepared and use precise force combined with excellent technique rather than an overwhelming spell.

Just as his mana had completely refilled once more, someone couldn't sit still.

Another sixteen Throskarts emerged from various spots.

They had been waiting for him to walk up to those gold coins, where they would inevitably blast him into bits.

The Throskarts' teeth itched when they recalled the scene of Otto mercilessly slaughtering their brethren while donning a faint smile all the while.

They quickly began to surround Otto, brimming with ferocity.

Otto smirked.

"Maa, finally you all come out. I was about to come to you if you hadn't showed yourselves."

A tall, sturdy looking Throskart emerged from the pack. He showed no reaction to Otto's words.

Instead, he declared,

"Human, give us all your coins and we'll let you have a painless death. Otherwise…"

He smiled with sinister intent, but didn't make a move.

Otto's audience went wild.

[Finally, a strong one came to kill him!]

[Listen, that's Yoruba, the strongest warlord in this part of the forest. He brought out his entire elite gang!]

[Damn, is the human going to pay for his sins?]

[Bets on how long the human will last?]

[1 minute]

[30 seconds]

[What? Didn't you see him kill all those other guys? The human might even win!]

[Stupid, is your brain rotten? Those spells won't even be able to hurt Yoruba. Didn't you see the color of his token? It's deep red, almost orange! And he didn't kill any small fry, only big shots!!]

[What? Are you serious?]

[Hmph, just wait and see. My bet was 30 seconds.]

Otto dutifully ignored his beloved 'audience' and glanced at the sixteen men surrounding him.

It was indeed true that this group of Throskarts was on another level compared to the others who had tried to hunt him.

Their tokens were all a deep pink, while Yoruba's glowed in deep red.

It was clear that they had already killed many of their own kind to gather all these points.

Correspondingly, their bodies were much stronger than when they came in.

Otto could tell just based off of the bodies brimming with tight muscle.

He checked his own body, and discovered it was the same.

His brows furrowed lightly. Otto didn't appreciate this look at all. He had never wanted to become some beefy muscle man.

Yoruba thought Otto's frown was indicative of his fear, and sneered.

He would never let this human leave here alive.

"What'll it be, human?"

Otto looked around and thought for a second.

He knew the spells he had been using, which primarily consisted of an exceedingly low mana version of Lesser Fireball as well as the most basic Mana Bolt, would barely be able to bruise these new enemies.

But so what?

If his spells weren't strong enough….just use stronger ones!

He had originally wanted to continue preserving his mana for when he was inevitably attacked again.

But a new idea begun to take root in his mind.

This plan...required overwhelming force.

As he thought of this, a sinister grin emerged on his face.

Otto asked insipidly,

"Are you sure?"

Yoruba nodded confidently, unaware that he was already in the danger zone.

"So be it."

Otto's eyes briefly glowed blue as he started to craft Lesser Fireball after Lesser Fireball.

They slowly circled around his arm, waiting for Otto to release the spring of mana to propel them forward.

If it was before, his brows would already be beaded with sweat trying to complete this task.

Since it was the prerequisite for multicasting.

But now, it was different.

His innate trait, that oh so prized possession of his, [Multitask], had recently leveled up to two.

And a level 2 [Multitask] was entirely different from level 1.

To level it up, Otto had to practice focusing on more than one thing at the same time.

In principle, it sounded easy.

In practice, it was not so.

For example, when practicing alchemy, Otto could help level his [Multitask] by making pills at the same time as he was contemplating the arrays he could draw.

Both tasks normally required his full attention, but he needed to focus on two at once.

Or, if he was meditating, just circulating his mana in a certain way wasn't enough for [Multitask] to improve.

He would have to simultaneously concentrate on meditating while also casting spells to increase their level.

It was an intense, demanding practice.

In his past life, Otto had poured a good portion of his effort, time, and energy into practicing casting multiple wind element spells at the same time.

To be precise, he often cast the spell [Wind Blade] and held it in place with one hand, while mentally casting a second.

It was a grueling method of practice that always left Otto shaking and sweating with exhaustion.

But it was worth it back then, and it was worth it now.

When leveled, [Multitask] was a godly tool for a mage.

At level 2, Otto wouldn't break a sweat to hold a spell, then cast it over and over.

At level 3, Otto was perfectly able to legitimately dual cast with the same spell.

Level 3 [Multitask] allowed him to somewhat split his brain into two parts.

Each part would cast a spell.

At level 4, Otto could even attain a higher level, where he could cast two completely different spells at the same time.

The pinnacle of dual casting.

At level 5, which was the highest Otto had achieved in his past life after decades of effort, Otto was able to achieve rudimentary focus on three simultaneously cast spells!

He could basically triple cast!

No mages could triple cast!

Perhaps double casting was barely possible for those mages with the strongest minds and mental calculation abilities.

But triple casting…was purely a dream.

Only Otto, with his god-given innate trait, would be able to achieve this in the future.

Meanwhile, the Throskarts didn't just sit still and wait for Otto to finish casting his slew of fireballs.

Yoruba, the leader of the gang, sent a signal to his teammates.

Four of them took a split second to begin casting their own spells.

Another five took out large bows and nocked their arrows before firing with gleaming eyes.

The remaining seven ran at Otto with various weapons.

At a glance, Otto saw three swords, two pairs of daggers, a mace, and a huge hammer that swung heavily at his position.

None of them dared to hold back.

Not because they thought Otto was too strong…but because they all wanted to get the last hit!

The game rules stipulated that even if these Throskarts were in a team, the man who got the last hit would automatically receive half of Otto's points.

As for the other half, if Otto didn't have the opportunity to revive, his coins would drop on death.

At that point, these men were probably all planning to fight amongst themselves for it.

Otto calmly watched the weapons and spells fly at him.

He started channeling one of his favorite spells, [Wind Jump].

Fortunately, channeling a spell didn't require the same level of concentration as holding one did. He was able to do it even while holding the fireballs in his hand.

[Wind Jump]

Wind Element

Level 10

Create sturdy platforms on the air to step on.

Mana Cost (cast): 50

Duration (cast): 5 seconds

Mana Cost (channeled): 10/second

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

Once the spell had reached level 10, Otto could not only step and jump off these platforms, he could also literally stand in the air for a short period of time.

So Otto jumped high into the air, conjuring a platform to stand on with [Wind Jump].

With his massive agility, he jumped a straight 8 meters into the air.

While he stood on an air platform, he continued adding additional [Lesser Fireballs].

When his brow was beaded with sweat, Otto held seven fireballs in his hand.

He made no pretense and directly threw them down at his attackers.

The Throskarts were stunned when they saw Otto evade their attacks by jumping into the air.

Then, they sneered.

It was well known that it was harder to control one's momentum when there was no ground to push off of.

A few archers lazily knocked their arrows, waiting for the moment he started to fall.

But their expressions soon grew solemn.

Otto's hadn't started to fall at all. Moreover, his maneuverability hadn't decreased one iota.

If anything, his flexibility was enhanced, as the platforms he could conjure didn't have to be below his feet.

They woke up from their astonishment when they saw several fireballs streaking at them.

Worse was that while the fireballs Otto threw previously hadn't posed a danger to them, these presented an imminent threat.

The Throskarts looked towards the air, where Otto was leisurely standing on a platform, in terror.

They had no way to hit him!

"Dodge!" screamed Yoruba.

He wanted to run away. This human was much stronger than he previously showed!

But would Otto give him that opportunity?

What a joke. Not a chance in hell.

Before they got a chance to scatter, Otto's eyes glowed once again.

Instead of using the spell [Lesser Fireball: Unlimited] and dumping dozens of mana into it, Otto went for a subtler approach.

He first cast the spell [Swamp Ground], directly limiting the mobility of his enemies.

[Swamp Ground]

Water Element

Level 10

Turn an area of 20m x 20m into sticky swampland, greatly reducing movement speed (current: 60%), and adding moderate poison damage to all who enter.

Mana Cost: 455

Duration: Permanent

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

His smile turned sinister as he listened to their screams of pain and terror.

Otto had previously experimented with the spell [Swamp Ground] in his mental casting space.

He was originally disappointed because the poison effect was rather weak in terms of damage, dealing no more than 10 damage a second.

Even at level 10, it only improved to 20 damage a second.

With strong resistance and high defense, this amount of damage would be nullified.

But his disappointment only lasted until he experimented with a small hamster he'd conjured in his mental space.

As soon as he put the hamster in the swamp, it started squealing and clawing desperately to get out, and kept jumping up as if the swamp surface was unbearably hot.

After repeated experiments, Otto started to understand.

It turned out the poison was insidious: it directly attacked the nerves of those who entered.

While they screamed in pain, terror quickly overwhelmed the Throskarts. They hadn't even come close to escaping from Otto's attack range.

Within a couple seconds, their fears had come true.

Otto added hundreds of mana to the spell [Blaze], and shot it directly at the center of the Throskarts, who were still trying to escape the swamp.

[Blaze]

Fire Element

Level 10

Sends a super condensed fireball at an enemy that rapidly spreads. Current spreading speed at 200%.

Mana Cost: 150

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

After numerous experiments with [Blaze], Otto also deeply understood this spell.

At level 10, with Otto's current magic power, it dealt an instant 300 + 196 damage.

Best of all was that if he added just a bit of additional mana, it would spread rapidly wherever he directed it.

Then, it burned the target for a whopping 120 damage per second until the target was burned to ashes.

A sizzling sound echoed as the fire hit the water-element swamp.

Otto directed the blaze with his mana to spread at its fastest speed.

The fire soon covered the entire swamp.

Otto looked at his creation, snorted, then backed away to avoid the noxious looking green smoke that the fire was emitting.

It was a complete, unmitigated massacre.

The screams began to die down after around ten seconds.

All of the Throskarts had perished in the blaze.

For safety's sake, Otto waited another minute or so before alighting from his air platform.

He tested the ground near the swamp, and gave a sigh of relief when his foot landed on normal dirt.

The blaze had done the dual job of eliminating his enemies and clearing the area that was infected with poison.

Otto leisurely strolled over to where his enemies had dropped their coins.

His eyes lit up.

These folks were truly bigwigs! He would have to thank them in the afterlife for their generosity.

Otto's token gradually turned a brilliant orange.

It was as if a warning to predators that this 'prey' was not easily touched.

He also checked the comments on his 'stream.'

For once, his 'audience' was silent.

They didn't know what to say.

Hadn't it been them who had directed all of these Throskarts over to murder him?

Weren't they betting on how long it would take Yoruba and gang to kill him?

So wasn't it also them who bore the responsibility for their deaths?

The audience as a group liked excitement the most.

It was to the point that they would normally cheer whenever someone died on camera, even occasionally sponsoring the murderer so he would continue to make these exciting scenes.

But a brutal massacre of their people committed by an enemy, the most hated human being, would never feel good no matter how tolerant these people were.

Yet their guilt over the deaths of their brethren also robbed them of the vitriol these 'netizens' would normally display.

Otto shot a smirk at the nearest 'hidden' camera, which took the form of a small ball that floated invisibly in the forest.

He turned his head back.

Then, he commented, seemingly without care,

"Was that the last of the ambushers? *Sigh* truly a pity, they were all so generous…"

The audience felt their backs turn cold when they heard those words.

[…]

[We give up! Sob sob! We won't lure any more enemies!]

[What the hell!? How could you give up so easily?]

[Upstairs go cry at home! We don't need cowards watching this show!]

[Am I the only one who thinks this human is very attractive…]

[I want more excitement! Human, more battles, more battles!]

[You're all so fu*king stupid, do you think he's as dumb as you are?]

[Hmph, he'll need to rest at some point. Wash your neck, murder-hobo!]

[Oi, shut up, upstairs! He can read these comments!]

[Isn't that why I said it??? The ones who died were all too weak. Humans aren't invincible!]

Otto's 'stream' now had quite a few audience members, likely gathered after they migrated over from the Throskarts who had died in his hands.

Otto felt a bit amused despite himself as he looked at the comments.

Truly, all types of people watched this show!

Well, it wasn't important for him.

More audience members brought him no benefits whatsoever, since the game forbade them from sending him gifts.

His brutal massacre did have one intended effect, however.

The number of Throskarts willing to ambush him became fewer and fewer in the succeeding hours.

Otto walked along the corridors of the forest at ease.

He checked his ranking, and his brows creased.

[Current Rank: 854,911]

[Top 2%]

How in the world was he supposed to break into the top 1,000?

Moreover, he had essentially been killing and killing since he entered the game.

Was it even possible that others had killed more than he had?

So how were so many others ahead of him in the ranking?

What had they done that he missed?

This was something Otto hadn't actually considered in his past life clearing the first floor.

In the past, Otto had only worried about gathering a certain number of points and completing the mission.

His brain turned as the possibilities were discarded one by one.

How were these Throskarts gathering points?

It was possible a few had gotten lucky and gathered high value coins.

Another few had most likely killed others with high value coins.

An even rarer few might have killed more people than he did.

But for 800,000 people to do the same?

Otto's rational brain rejected such a possibility.

He opened his stream interface, then clicked on a feature he hadn't yet needed to use.

'Points store.'

It was where contestants could buy needed items with their points.

It included things like food, water, swords, bows, other weapons, bandages, wood, cooking utensils, etc.

One could even 'rent' a house for the night for a certain number of points.

It contained everything needed to survive in this forest.

But as he scrolled through the list, his eyes caught on a tiny button in the bottom right corner.

'Sell goods.'

He abruptly came to a realization.

Otto clenched his fists while his brow creased.

These game developers were...ridiculously corrupt!

He really hadn't expected there to be such a function- Otto more or less understood where these 'top rankers' were getting all their points.

Audience members would give these people gifts and goods of all sorts.

The ones that weren't needed were in turn sold to the store for additional points.

Yes, the audience couldn't provide points directly, but couldn't they provide gifts that would turn into points?

What a scam.

Otto almost wanted to laugh.

It was a hidden benefit to those top 'streamers.'

Otto rolled his eyes before he smirked.

He thought: So what?

All these 'top rankers' would obediently lay down and die before his magic all the same.

Their bodies would roll out the carpet to his glorious victory.

His eyes glinted coldly, and Otto continued walking.

Otto had originally been planning on buying himself a nice dinner and a hammock he could lay in at night to sleep for a few hours.

Now, his plan changed.

He couldn't spend any of his points on the store.

His ranking was already low enough even after killing so many enemies.

He'd have to gather food, and create shelter all by himself…

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A/N: read the author's note and sorry for the delay on this chapter! (also it's snowing outside my house rn and it's really thrilling)