The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
Chapter 44: Poison (5.1)

Otto glanced indifferently at the bloody ground in front of him.

Fifteen dead bodies of enemy Throskarts lay haphazardly in the middle of the camp.

He was surrounded by another seventy or so enemies, subordinates of the leaders who just died.

They looked at the shimmering patch air that moved like the invisible wind and killed their bosses.

Their knees weakened.

None dared to fight.

One man shouted,

"Escape!"

Escape they did.

Otto didn't bother to give chase.

Their pitiful points weren't worth his time.

Moreover, they hadn't acted against him.

Otto was too lazy to make the first move.

He checked his gains.

[Current Rank: 7]

[Points: 297,355]

His lips curved.

Indeed, compared to searching for coins, killing other Throskarts was a much more efficient means of gathering points.

At least for Otto, who was one of the strongest, if not THE strongest person in the entire forest ring.

He started to jog back to his stone house, feeling a tinge of disappointment that none of his alarms had been triggered while he was away.

Perhaps he should have toggled his watchers on when he built it...

Otto shook his head and sighed lightly.

Today, he had decided to use [Sense Life] as a tool for searching for and identifying targets to kill.

HIs goal was efficiency. To gather the greatest number of points in the smallest amount of time.

Though the number of people he'd killed today wasn't even close to the level of the swamp massacre, this method was admittedly slightly more efficient in the long run.

The major difference was that he was choosier with his selected targets.

Unfortunately, [Sense Life], despite its incredible range and utility, couldn't tell Otto how strong or weak a target was.

So he had no choice but to use his brain to figure out who to attack.

After a few hours, he discovered quite a few important tidbits.

The strongest targets carrying the greatest number of points tended to be leaders and elite subordinates of large camps.

From those, Otto only targeted the strongest few.

Since the habitable area of the forest ring had condensed, it was also easier to find enemies, for better or for worse.

Otto proceeded to attack Throskart camps with over two hundred people.

He never bothered to massacre the weakest individuals.

Otto simply came like the wind, killing any Throskart sporting a red, orange, or yellow token.

He was also stealthed the entire time.

Enemies couldn't even glance at his figure, other than a rare few who had specified detection instruments from the game's shop.

He came and left without obstruction, leaving only destruction in his wake...

However, the biggest contributor to Otto's gains today was actually one of his title effects.

It was the high-value coin locator.

Otto had used it as soon as he left his stone house, netting him an additional 10,000 points very quickly.

His sensitivity to the energy of the coins had also increased as a permanent effect of the same title, allowing him to gather quite a few 100 point coins and another three 1,000 point coins.

Otto entered the forest clearing containing his stone abode in satisfaction.

"Otto! You're back?"

Jackal had also spent the day outside of the stone house.

Since he didn't have the ability to kill others, he was in charge of gathering food and water and also collecting all the coins he could find in the meantime.

He was currently using a clay pot placed over a fire to cook a thick brown liquid mixture with chunks of meat and brightly colored vegetables.

It surprisingly looked fairly appetizing.

"Ah! I'm not an expert chef or anything, but I figured I'd cook a meat and vegetable stew."

He continued in a smaller voice,

"Makes me miss home, doesn't it?"

Otto looked at him and frowned slightly, but, in the end, decided to say nothing.

Everyone had their own burden to bear.

Jackal fidgeted for a second before he brushed over it with an awkward change of subject and an ugly smile.

"I had to buy the meat, the pot, and the dishes from the shop, but everything else was made from scavenged plants and fungus."

Otto scrutinized Jackal closely.

He discovered that Jackal's body seemed to be a tiny bit stronger than yesterday.

He must have also gotten a reasonably good haul.

Otto's lips curved silently.

"Here are the coins I found today. They're all yours. I already took my 10% out of it."

A small pile of coins came from Jackal's pack.

Otto took them silently, and used them, gaining another almost 600 points.

Well, it was chump change for Otto right now, but it wasn't bad.

Every little bit still counted!

Later, Jackal and Otto ate the stew in silence.

The atmosphere was awkward.

It was quickly becoming obvious that both boys didn't actually know each other very well.

Otto was obviously not bothered, but Jackal felt increasingly agitated.

He took the initiative to speak,

"Err, did you find any good coins today? With your title, I mean?"

Otto looked at him silently, expression hard to read.

"I found a 10,000 point coin."

Jackal laughed uncomfortably,

"Then that's great! Congratulations. You'll probably be able to stay in the top 10 then."

Otto nodded but didn't reply.

He quietly finished his stew and got up to leave, throwing out a final word,

"Stay here. I'll be back late tonight or not until the morning."

Jackal paled a bit. There was a strong possibility of being ambushed over the night in a safe zone.

Thinking of the various booby traps around the house, he barely kept his composure.

"Are you going to kill more people to take their points?"

Otto looked at him thoughtfully and said,

"Perhaps."

Then, he vanished into the night.

****************************************************************

Otto was not intending to kill more people at all when he left this time.

No, his goal for the evening was actually the poison.

He had previously discovered that the source of the poison was likely underground.

It just so happened that Otto had the perfect spell in his hands to find it.

He had decided to tunnel down into the ground until he arrived.

The magic eyes following him had now been toggled off for quite a while.

His audience had slowly been getting bored, and begun to leave his channel in droves.

Barely any chat filled his screen.

...It was an exceedingly refreshing experience.

Otto cast [Shadow Stealth] on himself and sprinted back to the poison zone.

He made sure to leave the stone house this time before the poison appeared.

First, it allowed him to witness the scene when the mist rose up from below the ground.

This would help him pinpoint the precise direction where he would need to tunnel.

Second, it gave him a head start, such that he would already be deep in the earth when the poison mist arrived.

It didn't take long for Otto to arrive at the red zone.

This area was quite deserted.

No one dared to brave the poison with their bodies alone.

Especially when there didn't seem to be any benefits in doing so.

Since Otto had no inkling as to the whereabouts of the poison's origin, he casually selected a spot and cast the spell [Tunnel].

The way [Tunnel] worked was actually a little odd.

One would imagine that humans, when digging a tunnel into the ground, would need it to be on somewhat of an incline.

Ideally, steep enough so they could dig efficiently but shallow enough to walk down on their two legs without falling.

That was indeed one of the methods to use this spell.

However, when Otto experimented with [Tunnel] in his mental casting space, he actually discovered a more effective and efficient manner of use.

[Tunnel]

Earth Element

Level 13

Continuously tunnel up to 6500 meters below the earth. Become immune to all non-magical and minor magical earth-related negative status and effects.

Mana Cost: 25/second

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

The spell description mentioned that it protected Otto from non-magical earth related negative status.

This was supposedly referring to things like added air pressure and the additional heat that arose so deep underground.

When he'd learned the unlimited version, though, Otto understood the reason this spell was considered rare and powerful.

Earth-related effects surprisingly included gravity!

This wasn't to say that Otto could control the gravity inside the tunnels he made.

If that was the case, Otto would be able to cast the spell even when he wasn't underground to control the gravity around him and even fly into the air.

No, instead, Otto realized that he could drill straight down into the ground without any harmful effects.

His body would be suspended in the air around a meter above the tunnel's lowest point; he would fall only as fast as he channeled [Tunnel].

Even if he stopped 'digging,' the spell would allow him to gently step onto the ground below with no problem.

Practically, it made Otto's 'digging' speed very fast.

Within a minute, Otto was almost 200 meters below the surface.

He continued channeling the spell.

The pressure and the heat slowly began to rise.

The poison hadn't arrived yet, but Otto prepared to cast Night Vision to make sure he captured the moment it did.

300 meters

400 meters

500 meters

600 meters

The pressure was now palpable, and the heat began to rise.

If Otto hadn't been protected by the spell, he may already have been sweating.

After another few minutes of digging, Otto stopped when he was about 1km below the ground.

He couldn't risk digging too deeply- if the poison was located above his position, he wouldn't be able to watch it emerge, and would miss the chance to pinpoint from where it originated.

He paused at 1km and cast [Night Vision] on himself.

A few minutes passed as Otto waited with bated breath.

His excitement began to rise.

Otto had a faint suspicion that only continued to grow- if he could find where the poison began, he might encounter a hidden piece!

Soon enough, a faint, immaterial mist began to pass through from below.

It lazily entered the tunnel.

Upon reaching the breathable air inside, the mist settled down like it had found a nice new residence for itself.

Otto's lips quirked upwards.

The poison had emerged!

Moreover, although it was still thin, the mist Otto could see inside the tunnel was considerably thicker than the mist he encountered above the ground.

Otto's hunch was confirmed.

The poison had indeed come from below!

Not daring to delay and miss his opportunity, Otto hurriedly analyzed the poison mist to pinpoint its direction of travel.

This was no easy task, even with superior perception.

Mist was essentially immaterial.

It tended to float whichever direction the air carried it in.

Otto spent several minutes analyzing it, but could only vaguely glean its general direction.

His eyes turned downward.

It was coming from below.

Otto wondered what new excitement awaited him underground...