After opening all seven mystery boxes, Ainen got the following items:
From level 25 Mystery Box—Potion of Rage (Tier-1 / A-rank)
From level 30 Mystery Box—Root Surge Talisman (Tier-1 / S-rank)
From level 35 Mystery Box—Lightning Drive Boots (Tier-1 / Epic)
From level 40 Mystery Box—Skill Rune: Earth Prison (B)
From level 45 Mystery Box—Amberforge Sword (Tier-1 / Epic)
From level 50 Mystery Box—100 High-grade Mana Stones
Unfortunately, he didn't get any item with a barrier effect.
Potion of Rage and Root Surge Talisman were one-time use items.
Lighting Drive Boots were good, so Ainen equipped them. He didn't have much need of them, especially the effect that increases his running speed by 50% because he didn't need to run with his legs to move since he could just use Flight.
But the Boots gave some stat bonuses, so he could use them.
Skill Rune: Earth Prison.
Frankly, he wasn't impressed with the skill.
If he made a Fire Prison, it would be way more deadly in keeping people imprisoned.
Most importantly, he got a skill rune that didn't directly enter his head.
So he could actually choose to sell it!
Skills Runes were utterly rare according to Hammer, and they could be sold for crazy prices. Not in Silver or Gold, but in Mana Stones, which were more valuable.
So Ainen decided to keep the Skill Rune in his inventory as a sort of emergency fundraiser.
As for Amberforge Sword, it looked like a new weapon for him since it had the Fire attribute!
[ Amberforge Sword ]
Grade: Tier-1 / Epic
Attributes: Fire
Requirement: 45 Strength
Equipment Perk:
—> 20% boost in all Fire-attributed skills.
—> +100 Fire Resistance.
—> +50 Water Resistance
Effect:
—> Blazing Crescent Slash: Consume 100 Mana or more to release a crescent-shaped condensed slash with powerful flames and sharp edges.
Ainen used Blazing Crescent Slash, comparing this sword skill's potency to his own Fire-type spells.
Well, his spells were more powerful in every way, in potency, in execution time, and in efficiency of using Mana.
Ainen also knew that there were different tiers.
Tier-1 meant Mortal-rank. So even though there were Epic-grade materials of Tier-1 rank, their magic potency was still lower in quality and power compared to Tier-2 rank materials.
So even though this was an Epic-grade sword, it was still a Tier-1 weapon.
So, a difference between a Tier-1 Epic weapon and a Tier-2 Epic weapon was like a difference between an ant and an elephant.
Just like how the food Ainen cooked so far, which had all the Tier-1 ingredients like monsters below level 50 and other stuff, so they couldn't give stat boost and longer and better buffs to Hammer and others who were in Awakened-rank lifeforms.
…
'Well, it's time to break through now.' Ainen put away the items and took out the Mana Cultivation Tower ticket.
'Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea. I will be away for a bit, so take care of Ron and Syl.'
'Understood, Master.'
"Ron, Syl. I will disappear for a bit because I have to use a magic item, but I will return soon, okay? Stay here and don't go anywhere."
"Roger!"
"Got it, brother Ain."
Ainen smiled and used the ticket as he vanished right in front of them.
"Brother Ain really disappeared…"
Syl was dazed. "If he disappeared like that, where did he go?"
"Whatever. We'll ask later. Let's continue training now."
Meanwhile, Saffa and Fraisea stayed in the camp, but Clovelle left.
'Sisters, I am going to check out the forest and bring some good things that we detected.'
'Yes. Master Ain will be happy.'
…
But Ainen wasn't going to take long to return because when he had checked out the ticket earlier today, it displayed that the time ratio in the tower and outside was different.
One hour inside was one minute outside.
Arriving in the large and fabulous hall with floating chandeliers, illuminating the place in a light orange glow.
[ Welcome to Mana Cultivation Tower. ]
[ In this tower, you can climb the floors by clearing the floor challenges and earn points. When you fail to clear the challenge and lose, you can buy the Mana Cultivation Method of your choice from the points you have earned. ]
[ You are currently at the peak of Mortal-rank, so the floors available to you will be three. If you can clear the three floors successfully, you can buy the best Mana Cultivation Method available. ]
"Oh?" Ainen blinked and smiled. "Well then, let's start."
In the next moment, the floors shifted into a new scenery as Ainen found himself in a mist-filled area, unable to see anything.
'This…' Ainen couldn't interact with the mist.
Even using flames didn't make them disappear.
'I hope there's Mana.' Ainen tried absorbing some Mana, and it worked.
He sighed in relief.
As if on cue, the tower started the challenge after Ainen figured out this stage.
[ Survive for 5 minutes. Death will result in losing the challenge. However, you will not die in reality. ]
[ Challenge Starts. ]
[4:59]
Ainen's eyes narrowed.
Low vision with thick mist.
The mist pressed in, swallowing the world into a wall of shifting gray. Ainen stood still, calm but alert, his senses stretched thin.
The first sign of danger came as a whisper—no sound, just the faintest shift in the mist behind him.
He twisted instinctively, but too late.
SHRIP!
Agony lanced across his back as claws tore through skin and muscle. Blood sprayed, sizzling as it met his lingering heat.
"Tch—!" Ainen bit back a groan, his flames flaring in anger.
Another shadow darted past, so fast it was only a blur in the haze. He whirled, blasting fire in the direction it came from, but the wolf was gone. The mist swallowed everything again.
'This is bad. I can't rely on my eyes here. There's also zero sound.'
He slowed his breathing, focusing. The pain in his back throbbed, warm and wet, but his mind was sharp. He summoned a cluster of tiny flames, scattering them in a rough circle around him—little motes of heat no bigger than sparks.
At once, he felt the mist shift. The heat disturbed the air ever so slightly, giving him an image in his mind of where things moved.
Another wolf sprang from the left.
This time, Ainen was ready.
He sidestepped cleanly, his gauntleted hand igniting. The Tyrant Mage's Flame Gauntlet roared, and he smashed it into the wolf's ribs, detonating a point-blank burst of compressed flame. The creature howled as it was thrown back, charred to ash before it hit the ground.
Another came from behind. He didn't turn—he felt it. His hand whipped back and released a narrow, condensed flame beam that pierced the mist like a spear, skewering the attacker mid-leap.
'Better.'
The motes flickered as he kept them burning, feeding them with a slow stream of mana, each one a sensor. The wolves no longer had the advantage.
They still came, fast and silent, but now Ainen moved like water through their ambushes, flowing, dodging, and countering with terrifying precision. Every time a wolf entered his heat net, it was dead within a breath—torn apart by crescent-shaped flame blades, melted by compressed heat spheres, or incinerated by gauntlet punches.
With their movements getting predicated, Ainen moved more and more efficiently, wasting no movement and dispatching each of them with complete ease.
In the last minute, he didn't even move more than a meter from his position.
His eyes were closed, and he was making a complete image of his surroundings with his mind receiving feedback by sensing the heat motes.
It was an intense physical exercise as well because he had to be ready for instant action.
The number of wolves increased in the last minute, but Ainen had more and more fun in feeling himself getting better, improving his martial capabilities, and making his body perform to its peak under his control.
It felt good.
[ Congratulations. You have cleared the first floor challenge with a perfect rating.]
— Clearing Points: 10,000.
— Bonus Points: 10,000.
— Rating: Perfect.