The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

The identity of a Throskart definitely made it easier for Otto's words to be accepted.

But the biggest factor in swaying the crowd was not this.

It was not even the [Imbue Persuasion] he used on his voice.

It was the glass of water that glittered in the sunlight, secured tightly in Otto's grasp.

As soon as he spoke, countless eyes immediately glued themselves to his hand.

Otto couldn't help but inwardly smirk.

Why else would he have brought this glass of water?

And it wasn't 'just' water.

It was magical, condensed water.

Such that a single sip would leave Otto feeling hydrated for a good period of time even in this serious heat.

Theoretically, a person could survive on only a mere drop of this stuff every day.

Which was obviously not possible here.

The second floor restricted items in spatial storage, as well as things like water spells that could produce water while in the desert.

However, it was a poorly concealed 'secret' about the second floor that items which could be directly carried in one's hands were neither restricted nor managed.

The catch was that there could only be one, the container couldn't be closed, and the item had to be actually small enough to fit into one's palm.

In other words, he was essentially allowed to bring a single glass of water into the second floor.

Otto had modified it in order to use it to its fullest possible extent.

He smiled at the crowd.

"I know you're probably all very thirsty already."

"Are you wondering where I got this water from?"

"Listen, I won't lie to you. People like me will always be able to leverage our connections somehow."

He intended to direct the crowd into believing some higher up in the game had allowed him to teleport over with a glass of water in hand.

Otto sneered at the resentful glances he received in return.

It seemed they weren't that hard to convince.

How tough was life as a Throskart that they were used to such differential treatment?

Though he supposed that humans really had no room to speak...

Otto let out a resigned shrug and continued,

"Hey, did I say it was fair?"

"Don't glare at me like that."

"Why else do you think I'm speaking to you right now?"

"Yes, I am prepared to share."

"Well, for a price, of course. Not even I can afford to help all of you for free…"

Otto rapidly cast the spell [Analyze] over and over again as he continued to work the crowd.

He was carefully selecting his targets.

Otto took his time and picked out 4 people first.

Thankfully, although the disguise Jackal had used on the last floor was able to block his [Analyze], this mass produced disguise tool that seemed to be used for all the contestants was simply not strong enough.

Their real details appeared in front of Otto almost immediately.

He split his mind, using one portion to cast [Analyze] on the crowd, reading the details little by little, and another portion to gather their attention at the same time.

Soon, he pointed out four specific Throskarts.

Otto's selections were not based on their overall strength, but their size and speed.

The four were all relatively large but also reasonably fast.

He beckoned for those four Throskarts to follow him.

Otto took them a full 50 meters away from the crowd.

Murmurs swept through the 95 people left behind.

In the desert, there were no obstacles between Otto's group and the others anxiously staring at them.

All five of them were in plain sight.

"What are they doing?"

"Is he trying to make some kind of deal with them?"

"Hey, you should go over and see what this is about."

"What, are you crazy? And offend the only person with water right now?"

"I'm already sweltering in this heat!"

"Me too. Let's just stay here and hope he picks us next."

At first, no one dared to go over and potentially offend Otto for the sake of maybe earning an opportunity to drink some of the water in his hands.

But while some were more or less optimistic, a few spouted complaints right off the bat.

One particularly jealous man, Greer, felt that he was wasting his chance.

"That's only a single glass of water! If all four of them drink it, what would be left for us?"

"Ha. I'm gonna go see what's up."

Greer brought two nearby men to try and eavesdrop on the conversation.

Meanwhile, Otto was currently in the midst of making the four large Throskarts a proposition.

His smile was cunning.

But somehow, the four agreed that this person's sly smile only made him more trustworthy.

Someone unaccountably solicitous was hiding no good intentions.

Otto, on the other hand, would obviously be benefitting a lot from this trade.

"My name is Benson."

It was a typical name for a Throskart.

He couldn't use even the name Toto here, ever since his publicity stunt on the first floor.

It was better to be more careful to ensure his plan went without a hitch.

"I need all four of you to be my bodyguards."

"Well, not so much bodyguards, as… watchers, I suppose."

Otto lowered his voice, and the four men listened with rapt attention.

[Imbue Persuasion] was still acting on Otto's voice.

"To keep out the riff-raff."

The eyes of the men gleamed strangely in the light.

One man, Roran the fastest and biggest of the bunch, smirked.

"What do we get out of this?"

Otto held up his glass of water.

"This is a specially formulated water, made by the…"

He furtively glanced around,

"Purple robes. My father got his hands on it with great difficulty precisely to participate in this round."

Their eyes widened. Roran briefly considered trying to steal it.

But looking at the open container, he quickly gave up on that idea.

If it was spilled, they literally wouldn't have any tears left to cry.

"It is said that in normal conditions, one drop is all that's needed to hydrate a fully grown man for 24 hours."

"Of course, it's much too hot to only share a single drop."

Otto pulled four droppers from Area 1 out of his ring, making it seem as if he'd pulled them out of an inner pocket of his combat suit.

Thankfully, equipment like this was not restricted on the second floor.

Then, he carefully added two drops of condensed water to each of their hands.

He watched as their eyes firmed upon tasting the water.

They realized that Otto was telling the truth.

"I'll give you each 10 drops a day if you agree to this proposal. 5 drops in the morning, 5 in the evening if you do your job properly."

The men glanced at each other. Roran spoke,

"100 drops."

"12 drops."

"80"

"15"

"We're big guys, as you can see. I think we deserve a little more. It'll be really hot over the next few days, and you do have plenty of this special water."

Roran smirked slightly,

"Otherwise…"

He raised his fist.

Otto was unfazed.

"You wish to hit me here? Did you miss the game master's warning?"

Even Roran felt a small shudder down his spine. His face hardened.

This truly wasn't a place to play around.

Moreover, Roran couldn't do a single thing in retaliation to this 'Benson' character, at least for now.

Yet all Benson had to do was return to the crowd and pick four more people who would happily take the deal.

Otto narrowed his eyes, and looked as if he was calculating seriously.

"I can't give you more than 20."

"I also have other people to hire."

"However…I can guarantee that you won't have to kill a single monster. Plus, I will invite all four of you to eat and drink your fill each evening."

Roran raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice.

The jealous Greer was already in earshot.

"What do you know?"

Otto just shook his head.

"Deal or not? You will find out if I'm lying this very evening."

He glanced at the approaching Greer and his two men, and inwardly smirked.

As if he was now impatient, Otto raised his voice and spoke,

"Well, do you want the water or not?"

Roran raised his gaze to Otto.

He looked him in the eye.

"You have a deal."

"Very well. Here are the first ten. Ten this evening if you do your job properly."

He turned his head to the others.

"And? What have you come here for?"

Otto also noticed that behind the Greer and his company of three, the crowd was also steadily inching in his direction.

Greer rubbed his hands together and sneered,

"I wonder if you'd be interested in a deal with me as well."

In the meantime, Otto started to cast a spell.

Instead of limiting its range, though, he cast it far and wide on purpose.

[Heat Wave: Unlimited]

Fire Element

Level 12

Sends a wave of blistering heat at enemies to deal (110 +6% magic power) damage and increase stamina usage for all affected by 110%.

Mana Cost: 72

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

Otto dared not use this spell to attack anyone in particular.

Since there was a good chance it would be judged as a direct attack.

No.

He purposely cast it at extremely low power over the widest range he could.

His goal was much more insidious.

He wanted to make the desert hotter.

The approaching Throskarts in disguise groaned and sweated as they felt another wave of heat emerge from the desert.

This place was too stifling! If their bodies were weaker, maybe they'd already be dead...

They sped up their pace towards Otto, who whispered to Greer and his two buddies.

These three were exactly the type of people he was looking for.

"I need you to gather 30 people for me and stand in one place. Make sure you're apart from the rest of the crowd. I have a deal for all of you."

Greer's eyes lit up as Otto hastily whispered a few words towards Roran.

His gaze swept past the 90 some members of the approaching crowd.

All of these people would soon be…his prey.