The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

"Welcome, Toto."

Clatenis stood to the side and welcomed Otto into the ornately decorated room.

Otto helped himself to a few slices of fish laid out on a silver platter hovering next to him.

It tasted like salmon.

"There wasn't much we could prepare on such short notice, but there are still a few options for you."

Otto glanced at the line-up in front of him.

Four challengers stood there.

Otto's expression gave nothing away.

But inwardly, he felt very satisfied with Clatenis's efficiency.

Finding four people that fit his requirements in an hour was no mean feat, even in the pantheon.

Otto cast [Analyze] on the four individuals as Clatenis took the opportunity to introduce them one by one.

He focused on the floor they'd cleared, their class, and their attributes.

[Graseton]

Floor Cleared: 4th Floor

Class: Retribution Knight

Race: Human

[Attributes]

Strength 30

Speed 22

Stamina 26

Sturdiness 45

Energy Pool 5

Comprehension 5

Energy Compression 5

Regeneration 10

The first man on the left, Graseton, was rather burly.

He stood at attention in full plate armor, even within the safe zone.

His face belied his rigid demeanor.

He resembled a disciplined man from the military.

"This is Graseton. He is an excellent challenger in dire need of money, and has been looking for a suitable team. He has no loyalties to speak of."

"He cleared the [Hard] difficulty in the [Tutorial], the [Very Hard] difficulty on the 1st floor, and the [Extreme] difficulty thereafter."

"He doesn't quite meet your recommendations, but he is one of the strongest Shumba could find on such short notice."

Otto nodded and appraised the man before slowly shaking his head.

Quite frankly, the man wasn't as strong as he'd have liked for passing the 4th floor.

Otto shook his head at Clatenis and said to the man,

"Thank you for your time," as he handed him a couple Small Smekkers for his effort.

Graseton looked disappointed, but nodded and left quietly.

Otto's gaze roamed over the next person.

His eyes twinkled.

It was a young looking woman with red hair and bright green eyes.

She stood and looked at him defiantly as Otto used [Analyze].

He immediately felt like laughing.

[Kinar (Concealed: Anna)]

Floor Cleared: 4th Floor (Concealed: 1st Floor)

Class: Bright Iorian Caster

Race: Human

[Attributes]

Strength 11

Speed 15

Stamina 11

Sturdiness 11

Mana Pool 41

Intuition 8

Magic Power 18

Regeneration 5

"This is Kinar. She is one of our…"

Otto merely interrupted Clatenis with a smirk,

"Cut the bullshit."

Clatenis was taken aback for a second and stared closely at Otto.

Then, he sighed and took a tool out from his right pocket and activated it.

Anna's disguise quickly evaporated, exposing her true figure.

She wore a tiny collar around her neck.

"You've met this woman before, I believe. In the exit pavilion."

Otto's smile remained unchanged.

"Indeed I have. And how could I not remember dear Anna?"

"After all, it was at her suggestion that her father tried to teach me a lesson by going after my assistant, correct?"

Clatenis nodded and rolled his eyes.

"Since then, the family has declined somewhat without Shumba's support."

He whispered in Otto's ear,

"That heartless wretch wanted to make a comeback and decided to sell off his daughter to Shumba for a handsome sum of money."

"You are free to buy her. Though to be clear, she is being 'recruited,' not officially bought."

Slavery was a rather tricky subject in Area 1.

It was not banned by the Federation explicitly, though it was haphazardly regulated and often fell into a sort-of legal grey area.

By law, slavery could occur as long as a slave consented to be bought. The buyer would transfer a sum of money directly to the slave in return for 'eternal servitude.'

In reality, these laws were not enforced well enough to prevent trafficking.

Many a businessman made tons of money by coercing the poor into eternal servitude each year.

However, Shumba was a large organization and needed to maintain a certain level of prestige on the surface.

If caught dabbling in trafficking, the consequences wouldn't be light.

Anna looked at Otto with a slightly dull expression.

Though she wasn't so stupid as to blame the entirety of her current situation on him, she definitely held no good feelings towards Otto.

Perhaps, in her heart, there was even a little bit of hope that he would 'recruit' her and take her away from this mess.

But Otto read her expression and scoffed.

"I'm afraid I'm not in the habit of adding past enemies to my team."

Anna was actually a very suitable match for Otto's team.

She was a light element caster with a Bronze class, and she had also recently passed the 1st floor.

Her attributes were also rather high for having only completed the 1st floor, almost on part with Julia's.

But to Otto, even if she was twice as suitable, he still wouldn't choose her.

Yes, his requirements were stringent, but he wasn't that desperate.

Just as expected, once denied, Anna shot him a resentful glare even while holding her hand out to ask for compensation for her time.

Otto merely snorted.

"I still haven't forgiven you for making a move on my assistant, yet you want to be compensated?"

He smirked,

"Begging isn't a good look on you, my dear."

Anna's expression contorted in anger.

Humiliated, she couldn't help but spit out a retort.

"Someday, you'll offend someone you shouldn't."

Her voice darkened,

"I greatly anticipate the moment when you get your comeuppance."

But before she could storm out in a huff, Clatenis pressed a button in his hand.

A spark shot out from her collar. Suddenly, her body writhed in pain.

Anna fell to the ground in a heap, her expression revealing shock and fear.

"Don't forget, you are now unofficially Shumba's property."

"While I do feel for your situation, it certainly does not give you the right to act out against an esteemed guest."

Otto merely ignored the small play and turned to the next person in the line-up.

[Lazareth Spondanio Suffishe IV]

Floor Cleared: 4th Floor

Class: Ersatz Archer

Race: Human

[Attributes]

Strength 20

Speed 21

Stamina 20

Sturdiness 21

Energy Pool 39

Comprehension 26

Energy Compression 16

Regeneration 46

Before Clatenis even got a chance to introduce him, Otto had shaken his head.

An archer was not what he was looking for.

The two of them simultaneously looked at the final man standing.

The only non-human.

This challenger had four normal limbs and a dark complexion.

However, as he was standing on the floor, Otto found that a few roots had already grown out of his feet, looking for soil.

His brows rose in interest.

He used [Analyze].

[Graylimbs Plentoria]

Floor Cleared: 4th Floor

Class: Pyrokineticist

Race: Half Ent, Half Human

[Attributes]

Strength 15

Speed 11

Stamina 15

Sturdiness 20

Energy Pool 51

Comprehension 11

Energy Compression 41

Regeneration 31

Mana Pool 30

Intuition 11

Magic Power 30

Regeneration 11

A race of trees with a long, arcane name that was unpronounceable to human mouths, translated as Ents to Otto's ears.

Otto gazed with regret at the half-ent creature.

He found it especially fascinating that a half tree had a class that worked entirely with fire. A combination class no less, that worked with both energy and mana.

Alas, Otto was once again forced to shake his head, and paid the Ent some money for his time before sending him away.

He sighed.

"I'm afraid none of them are suitable for me."

"I appreciate your time, Clatenis; here's a token of my gratitude."

He casually handed a small bottle filled with murky yellow liquid over to Clatenis.

[Attribute Potion]

Speed +2

Duration: Permanent

Limit: 1 per person per basic attribute

Otto bought a set of 100 of these attribute potions at the Golden Club auction.

Of course, he had reserved 40 of them for himself and his teammates.

The rest would be used as gifts for times like this where money wasn't as effective.

Though Clatenis wasn't exactly rolling in dough, as the head of such a large organization, it would be a small thing to take out Brock Coins here and there.

These small potions as gifts were a great alternative.

He thanked Clatenis, then left the building and communicated with Aeselvell.

"Have you come up with an effective list of places where we can recruit high-end challengers?"

"Yes, I just sent it over, and planned out your route for maximum time efficiency."

"There are a total of ten spots to hit for today."

"Then let's get started."