"I don't know what tricks you're playing at, but you've been gone for fifteen days. Whatever magic or technology as you mention you were messing with, it's clear you lost track of time." The old witcher scoffed.
"So… that thing you said before. About time moving differently between worlds. You were serious?" Keira slowly turned her head to Liam, who remained unsurprised.
"I wouldn't lie about something like that and that too for some prank."
"Gods… This means if we stay in your world too long, we'll return to find everything here changed. That's—" Triss said.
"—both an advantage and a problem," Liam finished for her. "We can spend weeks over there learning or planning, and only a few days will pass here. But if we're careless, we might come back to find the world unrecognizable. But it's not permanent as this will go on for 15 years after that the portal between two different worlds will stop as it will stop my trial."
"I already have a headache." Keira said thinking of Liam's abilities, the time difference and the fact that the secretive organization behind Liam could even pull something like that. But the two women didn't pay more thought to the time delay surprise.
They were not powerful enough from what they understood from Liam. No wonder, Liam didn't care if Keira or Triss could wreck havoc in his world. He was too powerful for them to cause any long lasting trouble.
Keira and Triss wasted no time before launching into an enthusiastic retelling of their experiences in Liam's world. Vesemi's weathered face set in a doubtful expression as the two sorceresses excitedly described everything they had seen.
"You wouldn't believe it, Vesemir," Triss began. "The people there live in towers taller than the highest mountains. Some of them are entirely made of glass! And these… these metal carriages called cars—they move on their own without horses!"
"Towers of glass? Carriages without horses? Sounds like something a drunk bard would come up with."
"Oh, come on, old man. Do we look like a bard to you?" Keira scoffed. She pulled out the small rectangular object Pepper had given her—a sleek black Stark Industries mobile phone—and tapped its glass surface. The screen lit up, causing Vesemir to take an involuntary step back.
"Relax, it's just a device. Think of it as a magical mirror that captures images and stores them." Triss said.
"Look. This is what New York looks like." Keira said as she scrolled through her photos.
The old witcher leaned in cautiously, his mutant eyes narrowing at the glowing image on the screen. The cityscape of New York, with its massive skyscrapers and dazzling lights, filled the display. The sheer scale of it left him momentarily speechless.
"And here—this is me and Triss at a place called Central Park." She swiped again, showing a photo of them standing in front of a green landscape nestled within the city's structures.
"Hmph. So it's real, then. Still doesn't explain how people survive in a place like that without magic." Vesemir said.
"Oh, but they do!" Triss said, excitedly swiping through more photos. "They've replaced magic with machines. They have devices that let them talk to each other instantly across vast distances. They have massive flying metal birds that carry people across the sky—" Keira said.
"And their fashion, Vesemir! You should see what they wear! No heavy cloaks, no armor, just these comfortable fabrics that somehow keep them warm even in the cold." Triss added to Keira's words. "Pepper even gave us some clothes from her world. I'll admit, I actually like them. They're… more practical than I expected."
"And these little devices you're carrying—" Vesmeir then pointed at the mobile phone in Keira's hands. "—what else do they do?"
"Oh, plenty. We can take moving pictures, listen to music, read books… And, thanks to Pepper, we even have these—" She pulled out a small, flat object with a tiny cord attached to it. "Solar rechargeable chargers. They absorb sunlight and keep our devices working indefinitely."
"Hah. You two sound like a pair of wide-eyed apprentices who just discovered their first spell." Vesemir at the end could only shake his head seeing the enthusiasm of the two women.
"Well, at least now you believe me when I said my world was different." Liam finally said.
"Aye. Different is one way to put it." Vesemir eyed the phone once more before shaking his head. "Still don't trust those strange little mirrors of yours. But I'll admit—your world sounds… fascinating."
"Oh, Vesemir, if you saw it yourself, you wouldn't want to come back." Triss said.
"Hah! I think I'll stick to the world I know. Magic, monsters, and all." Vesemir wasn't as keen as these two women. He had witnessed too many things of the whole world to get excited about different worlds. The new world of Liam looked exciting for sure, but for now, he was more concerned about finding Ciri and bringing her back in one piece.
After a days rest, Liam was back on track on learning magic. He had already asked and got the confirmation that the sources of magic still worked fine in their world and thus Liam was now more eager to learn magic.
After settling back into Kaer Morhen, the biting cold of the keep welcomed them once again. Few days had gone by since they had arrived at Kaer Morhen and Liam had sent the information that the things Tony had wanted was here. Tony was in a pickle. He wanted those things but the distance between Kaer Morhen and Oxenfurt was too much and thus it would take days for his things to reach.
He needed to find a proper and secure route between Kaer Morhen and Oxenfurt and he was contemplating of sending Barton to deliver the goods. Liam didn't care of what Tony wanted. He wasn't going to move from this castle as he had finally had some head start to his magic learning.