The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

A couple of hours passed as the entire team entered their virtual pods to calm themselves down before they could get any work done.

Jeremy and Julia began to train, fighting opponents with exceptional ferocity to give vent to their emotions.

Elliott sat on the floor of a virtual room and meditated to clear his head.

Though he didn't gain mana like Otto did, meditation was always useful in calming one's emotions.

Jason read through his various spells and distracted himself by making a plan for his upcoming first summon.

Mirabelle just sang and sang in the virtual space, releasing her pain with song.

Otto received no news about the perpetrators, for now.

But he wasn't worried.

It would take at least a bit of time to find a few people among the large sea in such a vast Area 1, no matter how much money he threw at investigators.

In the meantime, he entered a period of calm.

Before calling the next meeting to focus on business and professions, Otto spoke to each member of the team individually.

Most of the conversations consisted of various riffs on,

"I know you're angry right now, but I think it would be helpful for Mirabelle if we didn't treat her any differently."

"Maybe if, when we go out, we feel and act a little bit more protective of her, that would go a long way in showing that we care, right?"

"Yes, I've already called Aeselvell to contact a few professionals who specialize in removing cosmetic damage and scars to one's body."

"We'll make sure she does just fine."

"How about it?"

"In the meantime, we can't forget our mission."

"Okay?"

"Let's get back to it."

A few hours later, the whole group was sitting around a different table inside a conference room within the rented house.

Otto started with a few words,

"Mirabelle, I've already notified Aeselvell to find a few professionals who have the ability to remove scars. We'll help get your body back in beautiful shape, ok?"

Mirabelle nodded and beamed at the team.

She didn't bother with thanks.

She had been taught that thanks should only be used in exceptional situations to vocalize deep gratitude.

But in a situation like this where her team came together to support her, she had already said thanks.

Saying it again would be gratuitous and insincere.

Should she really want to show her gratitude, it would be better to use actions! Mirabelle became even more determined to help her team.

As they saw Mirabelle's smile, Julia, Jeremy, Elliott, and Jason all felt their hearts ache slightly.

Still, none of them said a word.

They simply secretly resolved in their hearts to make sure she felt loved and welcomed on this team, no matter what.

Otto began to speak once more.

"During this training session, I want to pivot the focus a little bit."

"Previously, I needed to make sure all of you were up to speed regarding combat."

"Since on most floors, individual and team, combat will be the most important requirement for success."

"However, there are many things other than combat that an excellent, functioning team needs before attempting to clear a mission together."

Ramesthes nodded firmly and spoke,

"Indeed. I would consider all of you to be a decent combat force when working together. We've trained your teamwork in combat, and will continue to do so."

"Over this month-long break, we'll also add both Jason and Otto into the teamwork exercises. Jason, you'll have a tough time keeping up at first. The learning curve is steep."

"Otto, you have joined many times before, but now I expect you to be there for every session."

Jason nodded, his eyes determined.

"I'll train my hardest."

Otto smiled lightly and added,

"Agreed."

"But what makes an incredible team isn't only your performance in combat."

"Over this break, I want to take a look at….Professions."

The kids sported wide grins on their faces.

Yes!

They had been looking forward to getting professions!

Otto pulled out a piece of glass from his spatial storage ring, as well as a small adjacent sheet of paper.

"This screen contains a list of all known professions, including quite a few more specialized sub-professions."

He nodded at them,

"I took the liberty of organizing it for all of you."

The screen containing the extremely long list was passed around.

Julia received it first.

Her eyes went wide as she glanced through it, and her voice slightly rose,

"There are so many choices! How do we know which profession is best?"

Otto smirked,

"That question is impossible to answer. There is no 'best' profession, only professions that are useful in different circumstances, some circumstances less frequent than others."

"There are quite a few things you can use to select and practice a profession."

"Many people in Area 1 choose based on which profession will make them the most money, getting hired by other challengers in Area 1. This is how some of the most specialized professions are chosen."

He glanced around the table.

"Others select based on their hobbies or personal passion. They ask themselves the question, 'What do I want to do in the [Tower]? What would I be happy to dedicate my time to?' And then use their passion to choose a profession."

Otto raised his voice slightly,

"But for all of your first professions, I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of doing that. There'll be time to choose a useful profession that you're passionate about later, for your second or third professions."

"However, at the moment, it is most important for us to focus on the needs of the team."

Jeremy quickly interjected,

"Wait, so we can't choose any profession? We have to choose one that you give us?"

Otto waved his other sheet of paper in the air.

"Not quite. I compiled a list of professions that most good teams should have, as well as professions that are slightly less necessary, but still excellent choices."

"You should choose from this list, instead of the big one."

"Any objections?"

Jeremy pouted slightly. Perhaps if it was the him from back in the [Tutorial], he would already have kicked up a fuss.

But after clearing two floors and completing a few years of training, he had managed to mature slightly.

So now, he just nodded.

"Very good."

"I'll go down the list and briefly describe each of these necessary professions."

"The first, and perhaps most important and necessary profession is the Chef."

"In the mundane world, the chef is simply a profession who cooks food, but in the [Tower], things are a little different."

"An official [Chef] still makes food, but the focus lies in many areas."

Otto nodded at Ramesthes,

"Chefs need to be able to make food from weird and obscure materials, some of which might even be inedible."

"A chef can add flavor to food from merely their flame alone, injecting energy or mana into it to bring out its taste."

"Good chefs are able to add nutrients to food based on the physique of the person eating. Their food will also taste fantastic, and great chefs can even infuse combat buffs to their food to strengthen one's body or mind for a period of time."

"Of course, this also has something to do with the ingredients."

"Every great team will have a chef to cook meals for them on floors, and many of the top teams will always be sure to eat before they fight to add power to the team combination."

"There are many chef sub-professions that we won't go into too much detail about: spice master, flavor infuser, strength cook, energy cook, survivalist chef, pastry baker, vegetable enhancer, and so on and so forth. But these are all more specialized."

"Now, this is an absolutely necessary profession, so I hope that one of you is willing to choose to become a chef."

Mirabelle raised her hand happily.

"But before that, we need to find out who has the talent for it."

He pulled out a small cube with runes on it.

[Profession Talent Evaluator]

White Grade

Auxiliary Tool

Evaluates talent in five stages for 200 professions.

"This little tool is to test to make sure that you have some talent in the area of your chosen profession."

Otto looked seriously at each of his teammates.

"Let me be clear. Talent, in general, is actually not nearly as important in the area of professions as it is in combat. There are many amazing professionals who began with no talent, and worked up the ladder entirely through dedication."

"Talent as a chef, for example, only means having an instinctive knowledge of flavors and flavor combinations that would work, and the infusion of flavor and temporary combat buffs via one's personal cooking flame."

"From this cube, a red light would mean no talent whatsoever. Orange indicates that your talent is limited, yellow is average, green is excellent, and blue is a rare genius."

"I'll only disqualify you from being a Chef if your talent is red."

He brought the cube around the table.

Mirabelle looked particularly excited.

Jason got a yellow light, Jeremy an orange, Julia a green, Elliott a green.

Then, he shone it on Mirabelle.

She got a red light…

Otto almost laughed out loud at her subsequent pout.

The other team members looked towards Mirabelle with hidden relief…the food she always cooked and baked for them could kindly be described as… 'interesting to eat.'

Elliott almost immediately raised his hand.

"I would love to be a chef."

He looked at Julia, who shook her head and shrugged,

"I don't want it."

Otto nodded.

"Good. Elliott, you can be our chef, then."

He handed Elliott a small piece of paper.

"Here is a card with the details of how to obtain the profession. Read it through carefully, please."

"Great, moving on. The chef was the only profession that I'd consider absolutely essential, so the rest of these can be opt-in."

"The next spot is for an Enchanter."