"And that's all i have to say about potion making, if you want to make the best potion possible you need to extract the maximum effect from the herbs but at the same time be careful not to spoil everything in the process."
Opus Kroft finished explaining and looked at Viltz with admiration in his eyes.
"You are the first person i know who can absorb so much knowledge and grasp it so quickly, the students i have had before seem like donkeys compared to you, no matter how much i teach them and explain, they only complain about not understanding anything i say."
The middle aged man looked at Viltz with burning eyes and asked, "Tell me child, don't you want to leave those scheming sorcerers and come to study here in Oxenfurt? If you are willing i can take you on as my apprentice and you will be assured of my position in the future."
Viltz looked back at Opus and refused, "I'm sorry Mr. Kroft, i've been at Ban Ard for over four years now and i have another eight years before i graduate, i find it a tempting offer but i don't want to limit my quest for knowledge.
How about this, i am still young and when i finish studying at Ban Ard i will be barely twenty years old, when that happens, i will come to study here in Oxenfurt with the other young people here.
I have seen that the minimum age of the students wandering around here is about eighteen, i think i will fit in with them by then."
Opus looked at him puzzled and asked, "Excuse me but how old are you?"
Viltz arched a confused eyebrow and replied, "I'm twelve, why is there a problem?"
Opus looked blank for a moment before he blurted out in astonishment: "Are you really only twelve? But your body looks like that of someone at least 14 years old! And your behavior isn't that of a twelve year old either!"
Viltz tried to calm the agitated man and said: "I train my body with a cavalier in my free time and the food they give us at the academy is quite nutritious, it's normal for me to grow up with a strong body, and my behavior, well... I've always been like that."
Opus sighed and changed the subject.
"Well, whatever, anytime you want you can come to Oxenfurt and i'll be more than happy to teach you everything i know."
Viltz smiled and shook the middle-aged man's hand before taking his leave.
The talk he had with Opus was of great benefit to him as it cleared up many of his doubts about alchemy.
Walking out the dining room door, Viltz encountered a peculiar scene.
Artaud, holding a rose in his hands, presented it to a scholarly-looking young woman.
The young woman clutched the flower happily and smiled at the stunned Artaud.
The young woman linked her arm with Artaud's and the two walked past Viltz.
Viltz was genuinely surprised by the guy's capabilities, he never thought Artaud could date such a beautiful young woman.
Viltz gave Artaud a thumbs up before continuing on his way.
After wandering around for a while, Viltz arrived in front of the faculty of medicine and herbology, where he spent an hour listening to the lecture being given by the professor in charge, then spent another hour at the faculty of technology. At first he was hopeful about this faculty but ended up being disappointed as the general technology was too rudimentary and there was nothing to hold his interest.
He then went through the archaeology faculty and finally finished his remaining hour by attending the astrology faculty.
As the sun set, Viltz met up with his classmates and they went together to an inn in town for the night.
The next morning, they had breakfast and then returned to the Oxenfurt academy, where Mardin gave a long and boring lecture on various aspects of magic that lasted a full three hours.
After the lecture, the group rejoined Mardin, who opened a portal to Ban Ard.
Viltz, now in his room, sat cross-legged and entered a deep state of meditation.
Opening his eyes, Viltz found himself in the ever familiar star sea.
Staring at a transparent thread flowing irregularly in front of him, Viltz grasped it between his fingers and his consciousness traveled through that thread to another place.
Opening his eyes, Viltz found himself on a busy street, with antique cars passing by on the road.
There were women and men dressed in early twentieth century clothing.
On a newspaper lying on the ground could be seen written the date April 1, 1910.
Sighing, Viltz entered a bar on a street corner and sat at the counter as he remembered the first time he discovered this place.
It was a year ago, as he was exploiting the various worlds, he stumbled upon this alternate version of the Earth.
And how did Viltz know that it was an alternate version? He only had to see a guy melting into a wall to know that it was not his original Earth, besides the difference in dates.
He died in the year 2024 and this version of the earth was only in the year 1910.
Curious, Viltz decided to focus on this version of the Earth and find out what it was hiding but so far the only thing he discovered was the man who disappeared after walking through a wall.
While Viltz was pondering, a person sat right in the seat he was sitting in.
Cursing the guy and showing him the middle finger, Viltz turned away and sat down in another chair.
As he looked at the man, he tried to read his lips, a practice he had been doing since he realized the major disadvantage of his left eye, the lack of sound.
As long as it was a language Viltz mastered, he wouldn't find it too difficult to interpret from lip reading.
"A beer please."
The bartender wiped his hands on his apron and began pouring the man his beer.
The man drank the first glass of beer and then asked for another.
When he finished, he drank another one.
Bored, Viltz walked over to a table in the corner where there was an open newspaper and began to read it out of boredom, as it was written in english, he had no problem reading it.
Reading the two pages in front of him, Viltz became discouraged. Originally he thought he would find some clue that would help him understand what world it was about but all he found was unimportant news.
Sigh, looks like i won't be able to figure out which version of earth it is today either.
Shaking his head, Viltz snapped his fingers and his consciousness returned to his body.
Rising from his meditative position, he grabbed his silver sword and began to train.