Three weeks after the competition.
It was very busy for Vincent. During this time, he has to learn more about the internal status of the Black Tower. He met several Tower Masters and Archons of various towers. They were previously planning to recruit him but after Ignacy announced that Vincent is already his disciple, these Archons decided to back out.
Aside from this, Vincent also acquired the compilation of the dungeons owned by the Black Tower!
He learned that there are 33 Dungeons under the management of the Towers. In addition, there are actually 52 dungeons that were sold or are being sold to the others!
With such a limited number of dungeons, it was no wonder why Levent was so proud of acquiring one dungeon.
Nevertheless, he also learned that it is possible that there are still other dungeons that are left undiscovered.
After all, the people of the Black Tower are just truly remaining within the vicinity of their towers! Explorations were mostly done by the Hunter Organization and only a few magicians with Emblem would sometimes help in these dangerous explorations.
Unfortunately, the Black Tower wasn't really focused on finding new resources or dungeons since most of the high-ranking magicians were already doing their research in Mana Arts, Alchemy, Formation, or Magic Crafts.
They just can't be bothered in these explorations if they are already satisfied with their current wealth or progress in their research.
After Vincent get all the information about the dungeon that he wanted to explore, he decided that it was finally time to meet Ayla again as he visited her in one of Professor Turhan's villas.
Unlike Levent, who spent most of her money to purchase the dungeon, Turhan's money was mostly used to buy properties in various towers…
Together with Tara and Rem, they boarded the Vermillion Hawk and went to the 29th Tower where one of Turhan's villas is at.
Since he was expected to arrive, everything went smoothly as Vincent arrived at Ayla's workshop.
"Vincent! It's been a while! Oh, are your eyes better now?" Ayla said with her charming voice. She was able to notice that the previous dullness in his eyes was no more.
Vincent smiled after 'seeing' her.
,m Previously, he had zero visibility and had no idea of how Ayla looked.
Right now, however, he was able to tell her height. He's a head taller than her although they were only 1 year apart in their age.
Furthermore, he imagined her as a pale-skinned young lady because she's always staying in her room doing research but she's actually quite tanned.
Of course, Vincent had no way of seeing her face so he can't really say much about her appearance but it's not that important…
He had a feeling that Ayla has an item with her that is above +5!
It doesn't even seem to be the item he had given to her before.
"Ehem… I'm already seeing some light. So perhaps I'm about to recover."
"That's good to hear! I hope it won't take long!" Ayla was genuinely delighted upon hearing this news. She may not have experienced becoming blind but just thinking about it happening to her would probably make her go crazy. No one would want to be blind if possible.
"I hope so… In any case, can you now tell me about your new level of enhancement?"
"Hehehe! Thank the items you've given me before, I managed to improve a bit. However, I'm still unsure how will continue from here. It feels like there's a huge chasm between fifth and sixth enhancement, Vincent…"
"Oh? You're stuck at the 5th enhancement?"
'Did I make a mistake? I felt something higher than that though…' Vincent mused as he asked if he could check her enhanced items right now.
Ayla then handed over a necklace with an amethyst gem as a pendant.
[ Do you want to Appraise the item? ]
'Yes…'
[ Prim Necklace ]
[ Quality: Rare
Number of Enhancements: 5/10
Durability: 49/80
Charm: 10
Cold Aura: 2
Description: A piece of jewelry that can increase the attractiveness of the wearer. It is made of charm brass and a cold amethyst gem.
Remarks: Charm and Cold Aura attribute has been found. Every successful enhancement will increase the attributes and durability of the item. ]
'The durability is lower than I expected. Normally, a +5 was already enough to reach 100 and above durability.'
Vincent thought as he checked the result of the appraisal.
The attributes were also commonly seen among the jewels so he didn't think too much of it as he returned the item to Ayla.
"This is a good enhancement, Ayla… You've accomplished a lot in just a few months."
"Right?! It was all thanks to the items you've given to me… At the moment, I've been interested in the attributes of my items. I'm thinking that there is a certain requirement to reach the +6 and above… so I'm starting there."
Ayla explained but from the tone of her voice, Vincent can tell that she was not doing well in this direction of research. She's lacking samples after all.
"Attributes, huh… That's possible… Right, how did you break through from +3 to +4?"
"Oh, it is related to the amount of mana and durability during the enhancement. I've modified my enhancement circle to be able to accumulate enough mana. I also used a few Refined Burr to increase the durability by several points."
Vincent nodded. It seems that Ayla's enhancement method lacks a significant increase in durability. This might even be the reason why she can't pass the +5 enhancement.
The two of them chatted for a while as he learned that Ayla received a gift from Faviona. It is a +6 necklace and a Magic Artifact!
It is Faviona's treasure and was gifted to her after she shared her knowledge about the Enhancement Theory. It was no wonder he felt the unusual fluctuation of energy.
With that said, he decided to give her twelve more items reaching +8.
They were potions, talismans, and small weapons like knives and staves in his possession.
"So many?! Is it alright to give these all to me?" Ayla was shocked as soon as Vincent took out all these items within his interspatial ring.
"Well, I'm also interested in this research. Just make sure not to hand them over to anyone."
Hearing this, Ayla jolted as she made a promise.
"I will keep this to myself! I won't let anyone take them. I will not even let Master Turhan touch them!"
"Ahh… You can let him see it. Sir Turhan isn't a stranger anyway."
"R-right… Are you going to stay here? I will arrange a room for you and your friends." Ayla offered.
Vincent thought for a moment before he nodded. Anyway, he wanted to have some rest first before they enter the dungeon he wanted to visit.