The young dwarf"s honest reply caused Sheyan to be slightly stumped.
"...what an ingenious answer. Fine, since most of the elves are departing, they will naturally avoid carrying excessively heavy or brittle objects. With many cordial friends sending off now, they naturally wouldn"t mind giving away such objects. Putting it simply, putting in a little and getting much out, understood?"
"No but I will remember that." Segimli earnestly replied. "Your expression tells me you are correct."
"Segimli truly knows how to flatter." Sheyan rolled his eyes. "Oh, an elf is approaching us. It must be because of you, after all, elves and dwarves don"t see eye to eye."
There was a long history of grievances between the elves and dwarves of Middle-earth. In simple terms, the Dwarves of Nogrod were famous for the craftsmans.h.i.+p of their weapons. Thingol, an elf king, requested Dwarven smiths to set a Silmaril (brilliant jewel) into a necklace. Enthralled by its beauty and greedy for the Silmaril, the Dwarves demanded the necklace insisting that as dwarf work it belonged to them. However, the elf king rejected them...driven mad by gold-l.u.s.t, they murdered Thingol and stole the necklace and the stone, igniting the bitter rivalry between Dwarves and Elves. Nevertheless, under Sauron"s pressure from the recent centuries, the conflict between two races lessened; resulting in Legolas and Gimli being able to work together in the Fellows.h.i.+p of the Ring.
However, Sheyan"s guess was wrong. This elf was middle-aged and seemed to know magic. He inspected Sheyan suspiciously and proclaimed.
"Human, I can sense a blood-thirsty aura coming from you."
Sheyan laughed and replied nonchalantly.
"Oh mystic elf, this human has been a butcher since fourteen."
Several other elves who were curiously glancing over frowned in distates towards Sheyan"s statement. Instead, the middle-aged elf frowned and said.
"I"ve encountered many occasions of such blood-thirsty aura. Many from orcs of Misty Mountains who are sealed underneath the great tree, and frequently from Uruk-hais as well. Yet I can"t explain your aura, it contains hints of nature!"
Speaking till here, the elf wizard"s eyes turned hazy. He shut his eyes and looked towards the sky with a seemingly bewitched infatuation.
"Unprecedented…...such a sensation. The taste of blood reaching deep into my mind like a tentacle, drilling into my senses like a terrifying network of ma.s.sive roots. I should be feeling agony, yet it feels like a vast sea, a raging whirlpool in the vast sea....."
The elves were creatures of senses. Advocators of graceful arts, the elves could hear the laughs and cries of melancholic souls.
As such, the spectators didn"t feel particularly strange when this elf raised both arms to the sky in seemingly intoxicated fas.h.i.+on.
Still, when they heard this middle-aged elf wizard"s statement, the other elves circled in and attempted to probe with their magic senses as well.
It was no wonder the middle-aged elf wizard was lost in his senses. The "Stairway of the Sun" was an incredibly peculiar existence which contained the characteristics of nature. Yet, it also possessed the savage ferocity of bests, a hegemony of viruses.
Sheyan was extremely puzzled as well. The "Stairway of the Sun" was well hidden inside his body. Logically speaking, unless he gone through some sort of x-ray ability, it would be hard to fathom the alien specimen in his body.
Still, whenever Sheyan partic.i.p.ated in a battle, his virus ability would be unleashed. Yet even though he released and sealed it, that elf could unexpectedly sense it with merely 10 short seconds. It appears that elves were truly the gifted species of nature.
Nevertheless, Sheyan"s "Pestilence Monarch" ability was exceptional. An evolvable rank 9 ability, given an "S" rank evaluation. Although Sheyan only reached the second tier of branch abilities, other forms of ability shouldn"t be able to perceive it as long as Sheyan refrained from activating the ability.
After several futile attempts, the elves dispersed resentfully. Only that middle-aged elf wizard continued to steal dissecting glances at Sheyan, feeling extremely uneasy about him.
Under the guidance of this elf squad, the caravan group advanced swiftly and reached the outskirts of Rivendell.
The trees of this vicinity were all infused with nature magic by the elves. They were verdant and lush, surrounded by luscious vegetation and mystifying shades. Green gra.s.s coated the ground like a soft mattress that water could simply flow freely along it. White pebbles formed a tiny alley that was incomparably clean and untainted by even a speck of dust.
Sheyan was rather intrigued. With the numerous caravan groups arriving in Rivendell, how could they still preserve such pristine cleanliness of the place?
Thus, he purposely slowed his footsteps and observed a carriage horse of a caravan group. Not too long later, a horse that chewed a mouthful of dew gra.s.s, loosened its a.s.shole and painted the clean verdant environment with a think inky drop.
Following that, the most astonis.h.i.+ng scene happened.
Many large dung beetles bore out from all corners of the luscious gra.s.s and accelerated to the horse manure to clean it. Once again, that purely white pebble alley became untarnished. Moreover, the dirt and soil left behind by horse hooves were carried off by populations of ants. The level of magic here was truly mind-blowing.
The constructs of Rivendell sat atop a mountain valley, with two arduously steep cliffs by the side. Pine trees and emerald vines thrived and spring waters flowed down splendidly. Waterfalls fell like white jades hanging down lofty mountain ranges. One could gaze upon the distant snowy mountain peaks and feel a sense of myriad phenomenons.
Beneath the majestic sceneries, beautiful and impressive elven buildings populated the mountain valley. The structures of buildings were gentle and exuded a n.o.ble sense of royalty, while maintaining the purity of elves. Spring fountains and white pebbles filled the place, while the air carried a distinct fragrance. This was truly the unparalleled elf kingdom, Rivendell.
Of course, the caravan group was prohibited from entering the interior of Rivendell. The excrement of mult.i.tudes of cattles and horses would cause the elves to scratch their heads in anger.
Wright"s Caravan traversed through the waist of a mountain that could overlook Rivendell. After pa.s.sing through a luscious forest, an astonis.h.i.+ng vast gra.s.sland appeared in their sight. The gra.s.sland hosted many tents and was incomparably clamorous. Many individuals filled the place and one could deem this as a tiny city of a thousand strong.
The elves led the caravan group to the edge of an enormous tent. Don"t even mention the living quarters, s.p.a.ce was limited here and the individuals had to squeeze.
However, the elves suddenly produced a whip that was braided with hair. They lightly whipped a nearby tree. The tree begun automatically uprooting its roots before strolling to another place. After more trees did so, a s.p.a.cious land was produced.
Uniquely colored ribbons could be seen hanging from the trees in Rivendell. They didn"t appear remarkable during the daytime, but were a breathtaking sight at night.
After settling down and resting briefly, Mister Wright led a group of workers and headed into Rivendell with the goods for his old friend.
Naturally, the other group of contestants followed along. After witnessing the might of Sheyan and Reef, they didn"t dare to raise a challenge anymore.
After all, the nightmare realm followed the laws of the jungle. The duo"s strength of defying the a.s.saults of vie contestants while forcing Yerna, a Growth-Hunter, into despair, was sufficient to create a reverence in the hearts of the contestants.
Furthermore, that newly formed party was definitely still unstable; looking strong but internally brittle.
Sheyan silently admired the splendor of Rivendell.
Without a doubt, Sister Melody was here. He believed only about 5-6 kilometers separated them both, and to a powerful contestant, that distance could be covered within a dozen minutes or so.
Alas, this distance was akin to a heavenly moat.
The only advantage Sheyan had was that the elves of Rivendell were still unaware of his presence. Therefore, he would still have a chance of seeing Melody.
But what next?
In truth, Sheyan wasn"t absolutely confident in Melody like Reef said him to be. Besides, a person"s perspective can change easily, especially an adolescent young lady.
Just like how junior school females would judge a man by his looks, but a senior high school student will judge based on looks and wealth. In the end, a college female will look for guys with cash.
Most importantly, Melody was an awakened twilight elf. This indicated her memories would return. Therefore, could she still be an innocent and naive young maiden? A night of romance in the cave could very possibly turn into a mere spring dream.
Just as Sheyan was daydreaming about these, he suddenly felt someone tugging his s.h.i.+rt. An annoyed Segimli chided seriously.
"Mister Seaman, I"ve called you five times."
Sheyan offered him three gla.s.s of "Endless Spirit Vodka" before finally receiving a response.
"I abide by my words, Mister Seaman. I just discovered an old customer of my dwarven family, Mister Wilhelm. He has agreed to bring us into Rivendell."
"I"m awfully grateful...…..us??? You"re coming along?" Sheyan curiously asked.
"Of course, a grand banquet will be held at night fall after all." Segimli replied boldly.
"It is said the Price of the Woodland Realm, Legolas, will be proposing to the twilight elf during the banquet. Therefore, we must head off immediately. Sadly, since both of you are listed as hirelings under Mister Wilhelm, you"ll have to help carry the goods. I"ll be back five minutes later. Rest now, the goods seem rather heavy."
When Segimly left, Reef laughed heartily as he walked over. He slapped the dumbstruck Sheyan"s shoulder and exclaimed.
"Ah huh, my friend. Welcome to the Society of Green Hats!"