The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Otto narrowed his eyes and glanced around the stage.

He cast a well-timed [Sense Life].

Thankfully, the attackers didn't seem to be overly concerned with stealth.

Otto detected dozens of masked presences invading from every entrance and even a few hidden amongst the audience.

His body tensed lightly.

He cast [Analyze] on a nearby attacker.

[Samarant]

Floor Cleared: 6th

Health: 2,800 (2.85/minute)

Stamina: 4,550 (13.10/minute)

Mana: 890 (1.56/minute)

Energy: 1,040 (7.60/minute)

Otto's eyes narrowed.

These were not your typical, run of the mill bandits.

A combination class that was this strong?

Perhaps it wasn't much compared to his own strength, but there were at least 50 of similarly powerful assailants.

Otto thoughtfully rubbed his chin.

It should be a planned attack.

His mind whirred as he began to analyze.

What was their goal?

Wasn't this club supposed to be the most secretive club in Area 1?

Perhaps…

Otto lowered his eyes to mask his expression.

Suddenly, twelve black clothed individuals ran up to the stage and began to surround him.

A vortex sprang up with Otto as the center as he pushed them back with [Lesser Vortex: Unlimited]

Dust and debris surrounded the stage.

It hid the tiny smirk on his face.

As well as the four wind blades that spontaneously burst out of the vortex to impale four attackers directly into the brain.

All four slumped to the ground, killed with a single cast.

It was not unheard of for a mage to be able to kill with a single spell.

But to kill with a single cast of one of the most basic 1st circle spells, much less to kill such strong attackers…

It wasn't long before two fireballs raced towards Otto from behind as well.

They burned brightly amongst the dust of the vortex.

Their heat spread out through the stage, causing the masked assailants nearby to sweat slightly through their uniforms.

A sneak attack!

But without taking even a single look at them, Otto leapt above both to step onto the podium.

His eyes glowed with power as they peered through the vortex, quietly observing in the brief moments the attackers were unable to approach him.

8…15…20…30…40…50…63

There were a total of 63 masked assailants in the room.

Quite a few were already locked in fights with other members of the audience for this auction.

Their tactics were cunning.

Whenever a battle drew to a stalemate, another attacker would appear, just in time to gain the upper hand against the victim.

Against opponents that were weaker than them in a one-on-one, they gave up completely, mobilizing only to attack in groups against the audience members who were much more powerful.

Otto calculated for a second before his smirk widened.

These masked individuals were enemies, no matter how he looked at it.

Finally, the vortex of wind separating both sides vanished.

Otto wasted no time in casting a series of buffs on himself.

[Haste: Unlimited]

Level 18

Enhances the caster's movement speed by 22%.

Mana Cost: 625

Duration: 166 seconds

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

A surge of power ran through his muscles as Otto felt them become ever more reactive.

[Buff of Earth: Unlimited]

Level 13

Cast on target to add +13 Sturdiness. Not stackable.

Mana Cost: 160

Duration: 60 seconds

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

[Rock Armor: Unlimited]

[Stone Skin: Unlimited]

His body condensed as his defense, resilience, and health rose in tandem.

Otto felt his bones hardening ever so slightly in response to the three buffs.

Suddenly, a shout echoed out behind him,

"Behind you!"

A mana projectile flew at a dizzying speed through the air right towards Otto.

But just before Otto planned to take action, it was abruptly blocked by an impromptu energy beam.

Otto's brows rose.

He didn't tell this woman that her help had been unnecessary.

Instead, he settled for a simple,

"Thanks."

A gruff voice returned,

"Watch your back."

Otto's eyes focused on the middle-aged woman who had just 'saved' him.

She was surrounded by 11 masked assailants on her own.

She fought with two nunchucks in her hand that glowed with yellow and blue electricity.

She moved like a martial artist, every attack graceful but strategically timed to parry or kill as she appeared to have no trouble fending off all of their attacks at once.

Her brief lapse in attention to 'save' Otto caused her to stagger back a step after being hit by a blast of pressurized water one of the attackers shot out from his finger.

Otto cast slightly weakened versions of [Buff of Earth], [Stone Skin] and [Rock Armor] on her one by one.

Her smile widened.

"Looks like I can go all out!"

The arcs of electricity on her weapon brightened and her speed seemed to increase.

Otto returned his attention back to his own fight.

Before any of them even got the chance to make a move, he whispered the name of a spell.

"Static Shock"

[Static Shock: Unlimited]

Wind Element

Level 12

All enemies within 100m of caster take (minimum 60 + 0.1% magic power) damage inversely proportional to their distance from each other.

Mana Cost: 266

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

It was a perfect spell for times like this, when his enemies were close to one another.

A spark flew through the air towards the surrounding assailants, hitting the masked men in succession.

He didn't hear a single yelp of pain, but the subsequent smell of burning flesh made Otto inwardly frown.

He cast spells one after another, his mana racing through his mana veins like a flurry of snow, spontaneous but rapid.

First was [Shockwave: Unlimited] and [Updraft: Unlimited].

The assailants staggered back from the shockwave. A few tried to retaliate immediately with their weapons, but Otto didn't give them the chance.

A gust of wind came; they were then lifted into the air to various degrees as their attacks flew off target.

Small, invisible blades of wind shot out of Otto's fingers one by one.

Perfectly aimed at the masked men directly surrounding him.

There was one spell for each person.

Otto couldn't bear the thought of letting anyone to go home without a souvenir. In this case, hopefully one less life…

The first two [Wind Blades] immediately found their targets.

However, the remaining attackers took the split second to barely hoist their weapons in front of themselves before the spells hit them.

Their eyes were wide with shock and fear.

Otto was too fast, after all.

He might be the first mage any of them had ever met who could cast numerous spells in the time it took for them to raise their arms and swing.

CLANG

SHHHT

Sounds of blades hitting blades as well as blades hitting flesh reverberated throughout the stage.

Four more down.

Only eight more surrounded Otto.

Another seven were on their way towards him after the commotion he made.

Otto promptly stepped on a platform of air, seamlessly integrating [Wind Jump] into his movements to dodge the bevy of energy attacks and the few fireballs, rock bullets, and balls of poison mixed in.

Otto dodged and weaved leisurely without missing a beat; spell after spell shot from his finger.

A few auction attendees couldn't help but stare at Otto in disbelief once more.

He looked like a mobile cannon the way he was shooting spells.

Plus, the more they watched, the more astounding the fight seemed!

Even surrounded by over a dozen black-clad people, Otto calmly and methodically blocked or intercepted each attack aimed at him with the ease of a professional, while also somehow finding time to return fire.

By his own standards, Otto wasn't even casting at full speed.

Rather, he wasted around a quarter second for every cast (Otto didn't forget to hold back a good portion of his might).

Still, each spell was exquisitely timed, aimed to flow beautifully with what appeared to be a choreographed dance of battle with his opponents.

Most felt thankful they hadn't gone against Otto in the auction or otherwise.

Though it looked like Otto was effortlessly beating up only twelve or so men every minute, these auction attendees were nevertheless aware of just how strong these black clad attackers were when they gathered together in such groups.

The majority had already been forced to eat losses at their hands.

Since while one was manageable, when they worked together, they perfectly complemented each other's weaknesses, covering all blind spots and synchronizing their attacks.

If the men attacking them hadn't belatedly rushed at Otto…it wasn't hard to imagine that they might have been forced to lose a life here.

So Otto's feat of singlehandedly pushing them all back sent slight chills down their spines.

The number of people around Otto continued to decrease.

It wasn't long before he faced his last attacker.

Otto didn't even show signs of breaking a sweat…

Finally, the last of the men around him was dispatched with a smooth [Earth Spike] from behind.

Otto glanced calmly around the stage.

It was now littered with bodies.

At a glance, he counted 38 in total.

He smirked as he realized he'd killed more than half of them alone.

Otto immediately moved to search their corpses to see if he could discover a clue.

But before he could approach the bodies, suddenly a wisp of black smoke entered the auditorium.

It separated into dozens of tiny, wispy tendrils, one for each body.

Before his eyes, the bodies burned to ashes.

Otto's eyes narrowed, his brows slightly creased.

He'd seen this happen once before…Otto's brows creased, his thoughts unknown.

He rubbed his hands on his robe.

Suddenly, a resounding cheer sprang up from the auction attendees.

Choruses of "thank you!" and "thanks for helping us!" or "that was awesome!" reverberated throughout the newly quiet room.

The woman fighting with nunchucks quickly approached Otto and straightforwardly declared,

"My name is Grace of the Xionel. Esteemed mage, I wish to ask you…would you grant me the honor of sparring?"

Otto tilted his head quizzically.

She still wanted to fight him? After she'd just seen him demolish those attackers?

Did she think she was his match?

"Esteemed mage, a spar in my culture is not for determining superiority, but for learning from one another."

She bowed deeply.

"You have much to teach me."

Otto's lips twitched.

What a weirdo.

Inwardly, he sighed.

Her demeanor indicated that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

He glanced at Grace cooly.

"Very well. Let's exchange communications."

Grace's face lit up.

This mage was so strong! She would definitely be able to learn something from him!

Right after they did so, a woman's voice entered everyone's ears.

"Thank you for participating in this month's Golden Club meeting."

"Due to the attack, I'm afraid that the remaining programs will have to be postponed until next month. We apologize for the inconvenience."

"You shall be return teleported in 5…4…"

"Ah, not again!"

"Seriously, this happened two months ago, too!"

"What in the world is management thinking?"

"Hey! I'm an Adept Member! You dare to treat me like this?!"

Still, the countdown reached 1, heedless of their complaints.

Otto's body shimmered, then slowly vanished from the auditorium.