Who was this old man?
And where exactly had the Little Door in the Tree Trunk brought him?
These questions had naturally been circling in Ruger's mind all along, like a flock of foolish birds that knew only how to fly in circles, endlessly fluttering their wings. But right now, he truly had no attention to spare for them. This old Wizard seemed to know his limits perfectly. At first, Ruger had thought he could not do it, yet he had persevered, unknowingly reaching a heightened state of concentration and operating two different laboratory benches at the very edge of his limits.
He even suspected that the old Wizard had precisely gauged that earlier knock on his head, bringing it right to the threshold of what a Dragonborn Kobold could withstand.
Everything was just right, as though the old man understood Ruger's limits better than Ruger himself did.
That was also why, without realizing it, he had begun to feel like a Wizard Apprentice again.
Facing this busy, impatient old Wizard felt just like facing those Formal Wizards back when he had been a Wizard Apprentice.
This old Wizard was more powerful than his teacher, Immanuel.
In fact, by his reckoning, far more powerful.
Gradually, he felt as though he had become one with the laboratory. There seemed to be something strange about this room, something that put the mind more at ease. As he processed materials at two different laboratory benches simultaneously in a state of intense concentration, he crossed some threshold and became acutely aware of the entire laboratory. He could see the old Wizard running from place to place, even pulling out a thick book to leaf through and look something up while he worked. An old man with boundless energy.
As he entered this state, he