Ainen didn't go anywhere after losing the second duel.

He stayed in the desert and took something out of his Inventory.

A ticket.

A ticket for Limitless Skill Tower.

'It's time to use this. Hopefully, it has the time dilation effect so I can train for hours there while only a few minutes would pass outside.'

'That's useful indeed. Let's hope it's the case. I'll also search through my memories to find some skills since you got Wind Manipulation now. I have many Wind-attributed skills.'

'Alright.'

Ainen used the ticket and disappeared from the desert before finding himself in a large hall.

The hall was massive, and it had many magical statues.

All statues were lifelike and colorful, belonging to humanoid figures like humans, elves, and so on, in different action poses with an appearance of a skill they execute.

[Welcome to the Limitless Skill Tower, an essential place to hone Limitless Chef's skills.]

[ In here, you will face combat challenges on each floor. Enemies will have higher stats than you, but you must use your skills to match up your performance and overcome the difference in power to defeat your opponents.]

[ You will get three chances to fight on each floor. You can move up if you win, but if you lose three times on a floor, you will be disqualified and exit. You will require another Limitless Skill Tower ticket to enter. ]

[Lastly, clearing each floor will reward you with a certain amount of time in a dimension that will resonate with you. Anything you imagine and think will take place there. All elements you desire will be bare there. All ingredients you require to cook limitlessly will be present there. It is up to you to create skills in there within the limited time you get as your reward after clearing a floor.]

[One day here is one second outside. You have a total of ten days here. Touch the crystal at the center to enter the first floor.]

'Wow.' Ainen amazed. 'The reward is crazy. I can't wait to experience that dimension. And we also got time dilation.'

'Absurd…And it's ten days this time. Previously, you got ten hours in another Tower.' Lord Black was dumbfounded. A second later, he added. 'You might be able to learn Arcane Paths here.'

'Arcane Paths?' Ainen asked while he looked at the statues.

'Arcane Paths refers to giving your skill a meaning related to its aspects, which you must realize fully, and by doing so, your skill will behave according to that meaning. The skills with arcane paths in them are always superior in every way.'

'Sounds interesting. So what is the requirement to give meaning?'

'Giving meaning to a skill's aspects requires experience and resonance with the arcane. The more skillful and attuned you are to arcane and mana, the easier it is to realize the meanings of elements or non-elements of arcane and give your skills arcane paths. This is something everyone is eventually able to do, but the power of their meanings and their potential varies greatly.'

'Oh…and you are saying the dimension I get to be in as a reward will allow me to get more experience of magic and increase mastery of Mana?'

'I hope so. Such a dimension abundant with magic without limit should help you reach that level at least.'

Ainen grinned. 'Now I am more fired.'

'Let's start.'

Ainen touched the crystal at the center of the floo, which had [ 1 ] on it, and disappeared.

In the next moment, Ainen found himself in snowy plains with large Christmas trees and hilly areas.

"Awoooooo!!"

A howl that shook the atmosphere and caused avalanches across the hills and trees resounded.

'A wolf?'

However, Ainen suddenly felt threatened and looked up, but by that time, the creature had landed in front of him, just twenty meters away.

It wasn't a wolf.

It was a werewolf.

'Damn, I must say, the werewolf looks hard!'

The werewolf stood over four meters tall, its fur white with pale blue veins glowing beneath the surface. Frost curled from its claws of black crystal, and its mane looked like a storm frozen mid-motion. One sapphire eye and one silver eye glowed coldly beneath a crown of ice horns, and a dark snowflake rune pulsed on its chest.

[ Tundral Demon Werewolf ]

Stats:

—> Vitality: Ⅲ 1200 Ⅲ

—> Strength: Ⅲ 1000 Ⅲ

—> Stamina: Ⅲ 1200 Ⅲ

—> Agility: Ⅲ 1000 Ⅲ

—> Cognition: Ⅲ 1000 Ⅲ

—> Arcane: Ⅲ 1200 Ⅲ

—> Mana: Ⅲ 1200 Ⅲ

'Damn. I can't even see other things. Only stats.'

The werewolf growled, its claws shining.

Ainen's eyes flickered.

He moved with a burst, disappearing into the sky at Mach 15 speed while his previous position had several slash marks frozen mid-air.

He would have been dead, or rather, lost one chance, if he hadn't dodged.

"Awoo!"

A raging storm enveloped Ainen, forcing him down, but Ainen also burst with his Palatebloom flame, devouring the ice and adapting.

But the Werewolf was already in the air nearby and slashed its five-clawed hands, releasing supersonic claw projectiles that got bigger by absorbing ice in the atmosphere.

'Its skills are also strong. I am getting overpowered.'

The air cracked with ice and heat.

Ainen's body blurred through the snowstorm, trails of flame cutting through the white haze as the Tundral Demon Werewolf lunged again.

Its claws slashed faster than thunder, leaving arcs of frozen space behind that shattered seconds later like glass. Each swing wasn't just physical—it dragged the temperature around it into a killing frost that wanted to cage him mid-flight.

Even though Ainen was burning up and had resistance, every time one of the attacks came near, his body would instantly freeze, and he would have to react fast by concentrating on that part to melt the ice.

'How is it freezing me?!'

The werewolf's tail, studded with ice thorns, lashed behind and sliced through an entire row of pines. Snow exploded like white dust.

Ainen's flames surged. He kicked into the air while using Jet Blaze Flight, spinning once as the Palatebloom Fire wrapped around him, petals of flame and wind swirling in symphony to melt ice while he moved speedily to get away.

'I can't sense the werewolf anymore, fuck. Why is the Mark of the Hunter skill not working?'

If he couldn't sense it, he couldn't attack it. The blizzard was also heavy, impairing his vision greatly.

'100 meters of Pyrostream Mirage Field is not enough. It is staying outside and attacking, but when it closes in, you won't get a chance to dodge. Be careful.' Lord Black alerted Ainen.

Boom!

Ainen's world turned upside down.

Something slammed into his side hard. The impact sent him flying through three snowy hills before he stopped mid-air, coughing blood and melting frost off his face with heat.

'Stealth and sudden attacks….' Ainen's Pyrostream Mirage Field formed quickly again as he recovered his Mana fast in breath. 'My reaction is lacking in speed. I managed to sense it entering the field, but by the time I could react, I was already hit.'

'This is difficult indeed.' Lord Black sounded worried. 'I can't see a way for you to beat it. You don't have a way to keep track of it the way it keeps track of you.'

Ainen spat some blood and got up.

The werewolf wasn't in a hurry to attack him as it floated a hundred meters away in the air, watching him.

'I am not going down easily.'

One minute later, Ainen lost and returned to the hall.

[ You have two more chances to challenge the first floor. You have a total of 10 days of stay remaining in this tower. ]

'It looks like I'll have to upgrade my Mark of the Hunter and make Dune Blaze Art first.' Ainen sat down cross-legged.

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