The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

"Bro, what IS the [Tutorial]?"

Otto grinned at him eerily, causing Jason to feel a shiver down his spine.

He immediately complained,

"Why the heck do you have to smile like that? It gives people the creeps."

Jeremy snorted with laughter, but Otto's smile didn't disappear.

"I'll have Ramesthes explain everything when he gets here later today."

Then, Otto's face turned serious again.

"Right now, there are a couple of things we need to do before we get to serious training."

"The first, and perhaps most important is that I need to split my soul and give each of you a piece."

While the others nodded calmly, it was Jason who reacted most strongly.

His face revealed his alarm,

"Bro, what the hell does that mean?"

"Splitting your soul? Why do you need to split your soul? That sounds scary as f*ck. Listen, if you want me to train harder, that's fine, I know you keep telling me how dangerous it is, but I don't think you need to go to that leng…"

"Jay. Be quiet."

"It's for all of us. For me and for all of you. It'll also help us be more cohesive as a team."

Otto shook his head.

"I'll explain later. I swear it's not as scary as it sounds."

Jason still felt uneasy. He looked at Jeremy, Julia, and Elliott's calm faces, and couldn't help but feel upset with them.

Weren't they supposed to be his teammates?

Why didn't they care that his brother was going to split his soul?

His previously good impression of them disappeared instantly.

Jason couldn't help but remark snidely,

"Some team members you guys are."

Although the words were muttered under his breath, all four people in the yard were not ordinary.

His words rang loud and clear in their ears.

Elliott looked unfazed, though if one looked closely, they could see his fingers clasping each other tightly behind his back.

Jeremy shifted his feet and looked to the ground awkwardly, while Julia felt anger bubble up in her chest.

This was a sacrifice that THEY were choosing to make, and they were being blamed for it?

She almost let out a loud curse in anger.

Until she remembered who the other party was.

Their leader's brother.

But before she even had a chance to bite her tongue and swallow back her words, Jason flew through the air.

Otto knew they were in a safe zone right now.

Nothing he did here would be able to truly harm Jason in the slightest.

So he didn't hold back.

He slammed Jason back first into the ground, knocking the wind right out of him.

Perhaps it wasn't until right then, when Jason felt how hard he'd hit the ground, did he truly realize just how super-human his brother had become.

Otto took a knee on Jason's chest, and held his brother down, before stating, tone indifferent,

"Before you go around spouting that kind of nasty shit, little bro, you'd do best to learn the facts."

"It is not me making this sacrifice, but them."

Underlying his words was more than a hint of anger.

"And I'll be damned if I let you jeopardize our team because of your own ignorance. Brother or not,"

"I am the leader of this team, Jason. I do not need nor do I want you to stick up for me. I am perfectly capable of handling myself."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, snide remarks like that will never be tolerated. By any of you."

He raised his voice to address all four of them.

"I will not be affording my brother any special treatment. If anything, because he is my brother, I will make sure he works the hardest of all."

Otto's fists clenched hard. His nails dug into his palm. Had his physical defenses not been so strong, blood would have been streaming rapidly down his fingers.

'Because I'll never let him die again.'

The sentence was left unsaid.

Otto loosened his grip on Jason.

Seeing the anger in his brother's eyes, he spat,

"Go cool off for an hour in your room."

Jason got up and left without looking at the others.

His mind spun.

Why was he suddenly being blamed for sticking up for his brother?

For as long as he could remember, it had only been the two of them, Jason and Otto, against the world.

So why was Otto suddenly defending outsiders?

He entered his room and laid down on his bed.

He stewed in silence.

Soon, angry tears fell from his eyes.

What was going on?

Jason wanted to be back home, not in this stupid luxury mansion-house.

He even began to blame his brother for bringing him here, before quickly stopping this line of thought as he remembered that he would have had to come to terms with his brother's disappearance back on Earth.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.

Jason quickly wiped his tears and pretended he hadn't been crying.

But to his surprise, it was not Otto that entered, but the girl named… was it Julia?

His expression contorted slightly before it smoothed out. He glared at her from his bed.

She spoke first,

"You really pissed me off, you know? This place isn't a joke. A comment like that at the wrong moment? Whew."

Jason didn't respond. He turned his face away in annoyance.

She closed the door behind her.

"Otto splitting his soul, it IS a sacrifice on his part. But it also binds us to him, irrevocably so, as far as we can tell."

"It …requires trust, on both ends."

"I thought he was trying to mind control us, at first. To make sure we never betrayed him."

"He practically saved my life, so I would have agreed to it even so, but,"

She paused to gather her words,

"I don't think that's really it."

"It's meant to form an unbreakable connection. You'll be getting a part of his soul, too, no doubt."

Jason looked up sharply in disbelief.

Julia stared at him seriously.

"I know he's your brother."

"But he's serious about this team. Dead serious."

"This place is no joke. The sooner you can understand that, the better off you'll be."

Her voice softened slightly.

"Jason, I've never seen him get so angry before. Not even once has his expression cracked like it just did."

"And maybe part of it was on our behalf. But ... I think the bigger part was for your sake."

"So you could integrate into the team. To show both you and us that we need to support each other."

"Even his remark on special treatment. Otherwise, how would it be so easy to accept you as one of us with your 'status,' I suppose?"

"Listen. Jason. I can forgive you for that remark."

"But only if you live up to the trust he's placed in you."

Jason's eyes suddenly watered again, forcing him to turn his head away and wipe his eyes with his sleeve.

Julia sighed a little, then smiled as she cracked her knuckles, easily returning to her conversational comfort zone.

"But boy, if you ever say anything like that again, I'll beat you up so hard you'll cry for mercy. And I'll take you out of the safe zone, first."

Jason sighed, cracked a smile and finally spoke,

"Hmph. Girl, I give as good as I get, ya know. You best be prepared to eat my fists, too."

Julia shot him a big middle finger as she left the room.

And promptly rolled her eyes as Elliott's silhouette disappeared down the hallway, Jeremy's stealth also flickering right outside the door as he ran away.

"How dare you assholes eavesdrop on me!"

After she was gone, Otto also exited his stealthed state and made to disappear back to the yard, only to freeze in the next second.

Jason, who had come out to close the door…

"…"

Otto, the 'old man' who had been caught in the act…

"…"

"…"

Otto quickly recovered his usual demeanor. With not a change in his expression, he declared seriously,

"It seems you've cooled down enough. You may rejoin us in the yard."

"…"

Jason rolled his eyes, completely speechless, but the angry heat had left his gaze.

A few minutes later, in the yard.

Elliott, the slow mage, wore a smirk on his face, having evaded Julia's pursuit, while Jeremy, the quick rogue, was dissatisfied at having been caught.

Jason also quietly apologized for his remarks.

Then, Otto clapped once again and continued what he'd been planning to say.

"The other thing I need to spend a bit of time on is finding a new permanent teammate, for a number of reasons."

"As I've mentioned before, the maximum small-team size to enter the 5th floor is 6. I intend for us to have exactly six members."

"I'd prefer to get a permanent teammate because my trait will evolve after I split my soul five times."

"The sooner, the better, so I can train my attributes up again in one go before hitting the second floor."

"However, I can't afford to spend more than two days searching."

Otto briefly lamented.

He'd actually been looking for some kind of container that could hold a fifth split portion of his soul so he could lose the attributes early, and wouldn't be so pressed for time to welcome a teammate.

Unfortunately, these kinds of items would be extremely rare, if they even existed at all.

There was nothing even at the Golden Club auction yesterday.

"If a suitable teammate can't be found in two days, I won't bother with it and would rather take the small loss then spend too much time not training."

"For the third thing, I bought a nifty little device at the auction yesterday."

"Reveal Details: Talent Stone."

[Talent Stone]

Gold Grade Auxiliary Tool

Reveals the potential hidden within.

Cost: 10,000 Mana per use

It was being sold at the Golden Club auction because, although the tool was obviously extremely valuable, lesser versions existed that came with far smaller mana costs.

Few could meet the required 10,000 mana to use it. Moreover, it required such an amount at once.

Still, it was perfect for Otto's needs.

The three kids stared at him with sparkling eyes, hoping to use it on themselves.

But Otto simply rolled his eyes at them.

"Even if you knew you had the potential to do something different, what good would it do now?"

"Your classes have already been chosen and your paths set."

"I won't use it on you."

Instead, all four eyes simultaneously turned to Jason, who looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention, after the fight he'd just had.

He steeled himself, and resolutely said,

"Use it on me."

His expression looked as if he was preparing himself for some great pain.

Otto felt slightly amused.

"Be careful. This might hurt…"

He injected the 10,000 mana into the stone, using his own mana pool, and willed it to activate towards Jason.

It lit up with runes that Otto didn't recognize.

A gentle light poured towards Jason.

But rather than feeling uncomfortable, Jason inadvertently relaxed as it entered his body.

He shot a middle finger at his brother.

Soon, a screen popped up in front of the team.