The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Soon, a new notification scrolled into Otto's view.

[Would you like to select your Personal Trait?]

It was Otto's reward for the achievement [Floor Impact].

Otto mentally agreed.

He smiled to himself when he remembered the fact that he hadn't even gotten to his regular mission rewards even after he'd spent such a long time in the [Neutral Zone].

An insanely long list of traits appeared in front of Otto.

There were thousands upon thousands of them.

They covered all sorts of circumstances. There were combat traits, related to the body, mind, magic, and energy.

There were miscellaneous traits of all sorts, many of which Otto had no idea how to think about.

Some seemed to be more drawback than advantage.

One trait described a situation where he would gain a single AP every time he ate something disgusting, such as feces, maggots, vomit…

Otto was indeed working his way to the top of the [Tower], but wasn't that a little much?

He'd rather go about gaining his AP in a more traditionally unconventional manner.

Before he bothered to read through them all, Otto filtered them according to which traits were the most powerful (though not necessarily for combat), useful to him, and compatible with his body and fighting style.

A list of six traits immediately appeared in his view.

This time, Otto read through them more carefully.

[David and Goliath]

The greater your fighting spirit, the more AP you can temporarily gain. Bonus AP up to 30%.

[Unfriendly Fire]

Your spells will not affect you and up to 10 designated allies.

[Body-Mind Conversion]

Turn your stamina into mana and vice-versa, at 33% efficiency.

[Inspirational Wisdom]

You experience an insight in a target profession of your choice, allowing you to gain creative ideas and/or level said profession much faster. Can be used once a month.

[Mental Kinesis]

You can learn to affect your physical surroundings with your mental power. The greater the mental power and understanding of this trait, the greater the force exerted.

[Assassin's Nemesis]

A wall of ambient mana constantly surrounds you, blocking 95% of the damage from an undetected enemy's first strike.

All six of these were great traits, though very different.

It was to the extent that Otto had a hard time comparing to them in order to choose which one he needed most.

[David and Goliath] was useful in any battle against a stronger enemy.

If he'd had this when facing the purple clad woman, or if Jackal hadn't been injured after getting hit by the trap he himself had laid for Otto, this trait would have come in very handy.

Since Otto unfortunately often found himself faced with strong enemies.

[Unfriendly Fire] was useful for any mage, especially a mage with teammates.

That way, when Otto cast [Swamp Ground] or similar spells in the future, he wouldn't worry about himself or his teammates getting hit by them.

Like how the [Lesser Vortex] he'd used to briefly clear out the poison above the underground cave had still dealt him damage.

It was needless to say for [Body-Mind Conversion], which Otto would use if he ran out of stamina after sprinting or fighting for an especially long stretch of time.

[Inspirational Wisdom] might help give him inspiration in creating new alchemical creations, or an entirely new set of arrays.

He ruled out [Mental Kinesis] almost instantly; though it had myriad uses, and was an especially versatile trait, Otto doubted it would ever be powerful enough for him to actually choose it over his magic.

[Assassin's Nemesis] was useful against a single stealthed enemy.

Though, frankly, Otto didn't think a 'wall of ambient mana' would have played any role in blocking that last explosion, even if he couldn't tell who had pulled the proverbial trigger.

Otto took another minute to ponder, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each selection.

After imagining the future, though, his choice slowly became obvious.

He chose [Unfriendly Fire]. More so that he would be immune to his own spells and didn't have to cast [Wind Jump] before walking through his own [Swamp Ground].

Well, he wouldn't deny that having teammates who were also immune would eventually be a big advantage…

As soon as he finished his selection, the next series of messages popped up as if they were waiting.

It was time to turn in his mission.

[Congratulations on completing your mission.]

[Mission Difficulty: Titled I]

[You have received 100 AP.]

[You have received a Title.]

[You have received a Title.]

Otto checked the two titles he received before reading the remaining notifications.

[Poison Aficionado]

Permanent +10% Poison Damage

[First Floor Completer]

Usage Unknown

The first title, Otto could understand and felt thrilled about.

Many of his water-element spells made use of poison, and he had learned even more about its potential after grabbing the 'Poison Golem.'

But as for the second, it was yet another thing Otto had never encountered before on his previous journey up the [Tower's] many floors.

He was beginning to think that what he previously knew was only a small subset compared to what was actually going on in the [Tower] away from prying eyes.

And why was the [Tower] so set on being secretive?

To this day, he hadn't yet managed to gain a second qualification, so he still had no idea what his class trait [Tower Pioneer] was meant to accomplish.

He sighed lightly.

There was still such a long way to go!

The notifications continued to roll.

[Your class has responded.]

[+5 to Basic Attributes]

[+5 to Magical Attributes]

[You have received a spell book.]

[You have received a spell book.]

[You have received a spell book.]

[You have received a spell book.]

[You have received a spell book.]

[You have received a spell book.]

'Only six spell books this time?'

Otto wasn't disappointed by this, though. Six spells was already quite a lot, especially if their quality was anywhere close to the quality of his [Tutorial] spells.

[Analyzing Mission…]

[Congratulations. You have made an exceptional achievement.]

[Achievement Type: Mission]

Description: Gained 1st place in the preliminary round.

AP +50

[Congratulations. You have made an exceptional achievement.]

[Achievement Type: Racial First]

Description: First of your race to clear a [Titled] difficulty mission.

AP +25

Attribute points were rolling in one after another.

It made Otto feel a bit more at ease about using his new trait. At least he would be able to make them up after he'd lost them.

Then, a shocking notification emerged.

[For completing 5 [Racial First] achievements, a new Title has been awarded.]

[Trailblazer of the Human Race]

May choose 1 individual from your home, Earth, to summon to the [Tower]. Restrictions apply.

Otto stood there, stunned into speechlessness.

He could summon a person directly from Earth?

As in, rip them from their presumably rather peaceful lives on Earth and force them into the [Tower] like he had been?

Summoning someone from Earth to the [Tower] had enormous implications.

One one hand, he would be thrusting a completely unwitting person into the cruel reality of struggle or die.

On the other hand, if he could guide them, this person would have the chance to rise above the masses, rather than being a run of the mill challenger who really fought for his or her life at every turn.

Otto thought of something, and literally staggered backwards in shock as he scanned the title's details again.

A hint of pain shot through his chest.

His feet were still on the ground.

But somehow, he felt as if he was floating.

It was one of the few times where Otto actually had a bit of trouble reining in his emotions.

He grabbed a few deep breaths, steadying himself on his feet.

There was only one person he'd want to summon, the only member of his remaining family.

The boy who would come to the [Tower] in around a year or so going by [Tower] time, but would eventually die before he made it to Area 2.

At least, that's what happened last time around.

It was a wound that, for Otto, had never fully scarred over.

He breathed out once more, and regained his composure. His eyes reflected a calm, waveless ocean.

There was a time and a place for most things. And this wasn't the moment to dwell on his emotions.

There were still a few rewards left!

[Mission Analyzed. Gathering Data…]

[Data gathered.]

Otto took a glance at his unadulterated mission rating.

Since he hadn't used the mission enhancement token, and there were no relevant rewards of that nature, this mission rating would reflect the [Tower's] precise given score for his mission.

What he saw made his eyes bulge once more.

[Mission Rating:.....