The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

Otto took a second to take off all of his equipment, then placed it in his storage ring.

He first checked his status screen after the changes in his racial profile.

[Toto]

Floor Cleared: Tutorial

Class: Rainbow Caster

Race: Enhanced Human II

Profession 1: Alchemist

Profession 2: Magic Arrayist

Profession 3: None

Profession 4: None

Health: 535 —] 1337 (0.38 —] 2.28/minute)

Stamina: 485 —] 776 (3.3 —] 8.25/minute)

Mana: 14,580 (23.40/second)

[Attributes]

Strength 31

Agility 60

Stamina 33

Sturdiness 38

Mana Pool 165

Intuition 127

Magic Power 143

Regeneration 208

AP: 20

Obviously, Otto's health and stamina had increased by a large margin.

He wasn't nearly as 'strong' as he had been in the first floor as a whole, but Otto also understood the difference between temporary strength and strength that he could call his own.

Now, the power received from Otto's evolution could truly be called his own.

He settled down and waited for the [Tower's] following notifications.

And perhaps the [Tower] was also waiting for him to prepare.

For in the next second, a series of notifications flew across his screen.

[Congratulations on completing a hidden mission.]

[Hidden Mission Difficulty: Titled II]

[Calculated to be greater than mission difficulty.]

[Dispensing rewards…]

[Rewards have increased by 50%.]

[You have received 15 AP.]

[A percentage of the temporary physical attributes gained on the first floor will become permanent.]

[Percentage has been set at 3%.]

[Attributes added.]

[+19 to Strength.]

[+4 to Agility.]

[+19 to Stamina.]

[+19 to Sturdiness.]

[A hidden reward is unlocked.]

[Calculating…]

Otto stared in glee at the series of notifications.

His whole body vibrated in response to the additional attributes.

Otto's muscles bulked up slightly, and he felt himself become a little heavier.

This was a healthy kind of weight, that came from the sturdiness of his body rather than additional fat stored around his abdomen.

This was equivalent to 61 AP!

That was not even including the extra 15 AP he was free to spend.

Moreover, Otto was aware that the best part of any 'Hidden Mission' was always the hidden reward at the end.

Like other [Tower] achievements, the hidden reward was never fixed.

It could change based on what a challenger most needed at any given moment.

Otto looked on eagerly as the [Tower] spent a few seconds to calculate.

He knew the value of what he received would definitely not be low, in any case.

[You have received a new personal trait.]

[Split Symbiosis]

Evolving Trait White

Otto quirked an eyebrow.

An evolving trait?

Evolving traits were not particularly rare in the [Tower].

Before entering the [Tutorial], new challengers could choose a personal trait.

Many of the options were [Evolving Traits], and challengers often picked these out of the batch.

Because while these traits seemed to start out weak, challengers hoped to grow them, and realize their full potential.

Unfortunately, many of these challengers later regretted their choice.

Not because evolving traits had poor potential.

But no matter how hard the challengers worked, the traits didn't evolve!

Very few managed to raise them to bronze, let alone silver or gold.

The criteria for evolution were also freely passed on when the traits were selected.

It was different for every trait.

What was similar was that each trait had astronomical requirements of a challenger.

Otto remembered that Dallas, the man he 'stole' the talent potion from in the [Tutorial] had actually managed to raise his own evolving trait to Bronze.

His trait was called [Wishing Well].

It was a very simple trait. Dallas would flip a coin (that had to be above a certain value) into the air.

If it landed on 'heads', he could make a wish that would have a certain chance of coming true.

If it landed on 'tails', the coin would disappear all on its own. Dallas would merely have lost some money.

The criteria for evolution for [Wishing Well] also, understandably, involved luck.

If 100 consecutive wishes came true, the trait would evolve.

Even for Dallas, it took almost three entire years and most of his fortune to evolve the trait.

Otto knew that compared to others, this was on the short end, too, which was in part thanks to Dallas's already outstanding luck.

But when the trait evolved to [Wishing Well] bronze, Otto also knew that it was entirely worth it.

The bronze version of the trait added depth and breadth to Dallas's wishes. There was even a continuous passive enhancement to his overall luck.

Otto shook his head and smiled helplessly remembering Dallas's ridiculous fortune ever since.

He turned his attention to [Split Symbiosis].

Otto quickly read through the trait's description.

The more he read, the wider his eyes became.

Soon, he revealed a small smirk.

He really couldn't have picked a better trait.

It was a fitting reward for the insanely difficult hidden mission that even he might have died in if he hadn't paid extremely close attention.

[Split Symbiosis]

WHITE

Allows trait owner to split off up to five portions of your soul and implant them into other challengers.

Soul portions remain connected to the soul owner.

Any challenger implanted with a soul will be unable to betray the soul owner.

Challengers implanted with a soul will gain a portion of the soul owner's current attributes.

If in danger, challengers implanted with a soul will be able to briefly call out the owner's full might, at the cost of a portion of their own attributes depending on the length of time the owner's might is summoned.

Soul owner will permanently lose 10% of all basic attributes for each portion of the soul they split off.

NOTE: This process is permanent.

Conditions of upgrade: Trait owner must split off five portions of his soul and implant them into others.

Otto closed his eyes and pondered seriously while he rubbed his forehead.

This…was an excellent reward if used wisely.

But the cost was similarly staggering.

For each soul sliver he split, he would lose 10% of all his basic attributes.

For Otto, this was an astronomical ~80 AP. Almost 90 AP if he included the new attributes from the other rewards of the hidden mission.

If he wanted to use this on Jeremy, Julia, and Elliott, he would lose a full 270 basic attributes. To upgrade, he would lose as many as 450.

450 attributes was no joke to him. Heck, half of one's basic attributes wasn't a joke to anyone.

And while his magic attributes could be gained again without investing AP, his physical attributes would not do the same.

Otto thought it through carefully.

The benefits this trait would provide to the kids were obvious.

When they entered the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors, Otto still wouldn't be able to enter with them.

Just like in the 1st floor, they would have to rely on themselves.

Of course, Otto would provide help in the form of potions, arrays, and pills for all three of them.

So long as they didn't meet a Throskart vastly stronger than themselves, they'd have no trouble fighting even thousands of enemies to a stand still.

Well, Otto didn't expect them to have met the same circumstances as he himself had been through.

However, adding this trait, they would still have a path to survival even if they met an enemy who could kill them in one hit.

That is, they could briefly borrow Otto's soul power.

The problem with this trait was that, so far, he couldn't see a single real benefit to himself.

Other than perhaps that they wouldn't be able to betray him.

But wouldn't a contract provide the same guarnatee?

Otto narrowed his eyes and thought some more as he looked around at the grey-hued room.

His eyes gradually lit up, his thoughts turning cautiously optimistic.

There were two reasons.

First, if there was anyone who would be able to fully utilize the benefits of this trait, it was Otto.

At least, he had never heard of anyone else who could increase their attributes without spending AP.

While it was a useless brocade in the hands of another, this trait was quite obviously tailor made for his build.

Second, Otto had a feeling that upgrading this trait would be extremely worthwhile.

Who else would dare to sacrifice a full half of their basic attributes to see where this trait took them?

Perhaps the gains to be found at the end of this road were similarly enormous…

Moreover, so far, from the trait's description, even though this was ostensibly 'his' trait, the benefits were solely provided to the challengers he would implant his soul into.

Yet the trait was not called [Sacrifice], but [Symbiosis].

Which meant something akin to 'growing together, providing mutual help to both' from what Otto could remember from his high school biology classes so long ago.

Otto looked up at the gray ceiling before shaking his head with a sigh.

He knew himself that he'd already made his decision.

He wouldn't be afraid of a mere sacrifice, now, would he?

Sacrifices were inevitable on Otto's road to the top.

A/N: DON'T H-HIT ME I'M NOT TRYING TO NERF HIM OK