Ronan may have introduced himself as Sage Vivian's servant, but Faviona has actually heard of his name before.

'Ronan the Imperator of Silver. I wonder why you accepted this escort mission…' Faviona mused as she listened to their conversation from inside the carriage.

Ronan is a strong warrior of the Star Garden Peak under Sage Vivian's faction and Faviona heard a lot about him.

In the first place, someone who can use a Silver Tier Automaton is already considered a professional magician in this land.

On the other hand, Ronan is already showing how he can control four Silver Tier Knights at the same time. It must also be mentioned that he's controlling the two carriage's Brass Tier horses while controlling the Knights.

It means that he's already controlling six automatons at the same time and it wasn't even his limit.

Faviona heard rumors that when Ronan was still actively clearing dungeons, he was able to control 10 Silver Tier Knights at the same time… With this number even if he fights against someone who can control a Gold Tier Knight, he could easily defeat them using the number of his automatons.

Anyway, Faviona wasn't sure why Ronan stopped his dungeon explorations and decided to serve Sage Vivian… There must be a very important reason for that to happen but she didn't really care about that.

In the end, the people inside the carriage decided to just listen to the two's conversation sitting in the driver's seat of the carriage.

***

"Are you telling me that only Iron Tier Automatons can be controlled by Mental Energy alone?" Vincent asked as he looks at the iron ball in his hands.

He still hasn't tried using it since he wanted to learn more about the Automatons first. Faviona may have informed him about it but she only explained in a sentence or two…

He only has a rough idea about it and he is still clueless about how it works.

"That's correct… If you want to control Brass Tier and above, you have to learn a specific mind cultivation method or what we call a meditation technique." Ronan answered with a smile.

"Meditation Technique… I'm unfamiliar with it but I know a method to increase my mental energy and I've been using it a few times a week."

Vincent replied after recalling Turhan's gift to him when he decided to join the Black Tower. It may not have the highest quality out there but that book allowed him to be conscious of his Mental Energy and how important it was.

"I see… I guess you have a really good foundation… I heard that most magicians nowadays would only hear about mental energy when they became an Archmage… That's important to become a Grand Magus… or multicaster to be specific."

"That's true… Most magicians would spend their time learning Mana Arts, especially their Tier 4 techniques and fusion arts… They'd also consider strengthening their Soul Cultivation and gaining more combat experience. It's not surprising that Mental Energy Cultivation isn't popular…"

Vincent replied since he had already observed this as well. Even the old magicians in the Black Tower weren't too adept at using Mental Energy techniques… Vincent can still remember how the Totemic Barbarians caused a lot of trouble inside the First Tower because the first responders didn't even think of using it…

'Well, I guess there aren't a lot of mental cultivation methods existing in the Black Tower. Even if there are, they are only meant for cultivation and they still lack offensive mind techniques.' He mused.

"Indeed, they just didn't have enough time to learn all the various things that could be important for them. We couldn't really blame the magicians nowadays since practicing a Tier 3 or Tier 4 Mana Art already takes a lot of time. Furthermore, there are also other important skills to learn like Magic Crafting, Pill-Making, Formation Arts, and other things… So it's a good thing that you've already started cultivating your Mental Energy at a young age…"

Ronan nodded and added.

"Now, you should try using your mental energy and find the core inside of the Iron Tier Automaton that you're holding… Once you felt it, you should be able to know how this Iron Tier Automaton works."

'Normally, a novice practitioner that learned a meditation technique for three years takes two to three hours to pierce the Ironball with mental energy… I wonder how long will Vincent connect to it.' Ronan mused as he looked at the road ahead of them.

It is quite peaceful but once a wave of beasts approached them, he decided that he'll go all out to ensure that Vincent can focus on his task.

"Alright… Let me try…" Vincent replied with a smile. However, instead of using his Mental Energy, he decided to appraise the Ironball first…

[ Do you want to Appraise the item? ]

'Yes…'

[ You have discovered a Dormant Imperfect Iron Sparrow Automaton ]

[ Dormant Imperfect Iron Sparrow Automaton ]

[ Quality: Unique

Number of Enhancements: 0/10

Durability: 500/500

Energy: 1000/1000

Description: A dormant automaton that requires a certain level of Mental Energy to activate its bird form and functions. It requires a weak connection of Mental Energy to continue its operations. It is mainly made from Arcane Iron and Virtue Crystal as its core. It uses two Energy Cores as batteries. It is made by Magic Technician Airi Kayser.

Replenishing its energy requires mana. It can naturally absorb Mana Crystals or receive Mana through Mana Transfer of Mana Practitioners.

Remarks: The Durability and its other attributes will be upgraded with every successful enhancement. The Automaton can't be used during its dormant state. ]

'It's actually a bird automaton… That's quite surprising…' Vincent mused as he read the full appraisal result.

He wasn't expecting that the iron ball can become an iron sparrow once he activated it. He thought that the ball is the automaton itself.

'Hmm… It has very high durability considering it's only a Unique Rank quality.' Vincent thought after seeing a staggering 500 points in its Durability. With this durability, not even Legendary Sword can destroy it in one slash!