Chapter 8

Team China, Africa, and Northern Ice Land had been on the road for seven days. Although they knew team East America entered this world, the whereabouts of the team was unknown. Therefore, all the psyche force users in the three teams extended their psyche scans to max range to guard against possible ambushes.

These several days were rather relaxing for everyone otherwise. There was no need to worry about dangers without the threat from the Ringwraith. The sceneries were beautiful. For a while, the newbies had the sense of being on a field trip. The Hobbits were experts in finding wild vegetables and turning them into delicious dishes. The veterans also went hunting with Aragorn. The newbies wouldn’t get to taste such food in the cities they came from.

The players obtained many answers concerning Rivendell from Aragorn. The most important was its military strength and the answer gave them relief. Even though the elves were moving away from Middle Earth, their capital still had an army of several thousands. A thousand of those had the ability to shoot enchanted arrows. So the Ringwraith wouldn’t be that a catastrophic threat to Rivendell.

As the group approached Rivendell, they encountered a beautiful female elf on a white horse. Zheng was the first to meet her. He was patrolling top of the trees and hills on his Nightmare. When he was a thousand meters away from the group, a female elf appeared on top of a cliff and unsheathed her sword without a word. Then she chanted a spell.

The slope Zheng was standing on trembled. Boulders rolled down from the hill. Thankfully, the Nightmare could ignore gravity. Zheng had it leaped on the boulders and went down along with them. As he was about to reach the bottom, the Nightmare leaped onto the top of a tree.

The female elf charged at Zheng with her sword. However, a man’s shout stopped her. Aragorn was running over to them on his horse.

“Arwen, stop. He’s a friend, not Ringwraith!” Aragorn shouted from afar. His horse wasn’t a rare warhorse so it took him a while to reach Zheng and the elf. He got off and ran toward the female elf.

The female elf also got off the horse. She stood there and waited for Aragorn to run over. A smile came on her face as Aragorn took hold of her hand.

“These are my friends. They killed eight Ringwraiths and seized the mount from one of the Ringwraiths. They are strong warriors, Arwen. Gandalf entrusted them to protect the holder of the One Ring.” Aragorn introduced the group with a smile. Due to the lack of mounts, the rest of the group was still running over from afar.

Arwen smiled apologetically at Zheng. She nodded in acknowledgement then said to Aragorn. “We received message from Gandalf that Saruman has betrayed us. He feared the forces of Sauron and sought power from the darkness. We lost an ally. Gandalf was imprisoned by Saruman but he escaped and is heading toward Rivendell. We should be in time to meet him when we arrive.”

Aragorn nodded then said to the players. “My friends, we have to pick up our pace. We have to reach Rivendell by daytime tomorrow.”

It wouldn’t take more than a day if he were to head there on his mount. However, there were only three mounts among the group which forced those with a mount to walk.

Arwen Undómiel was the elf maiden. Her beauty was exceptional and contained a sense of sanctity. Such a woman was prettier than any movie stars in the real world. She instantly attracted the men and women in the group. As expected, ChengXiao couldn’t contain himself the most.

He got a harmonica and performed right in front of Aragorn. The exotic instrument caught Arwen’s curiosity which made ChengXiao push his luck further. He grabbed Arwen’s hand trying to teach her harmonica. His purpose was clearly an indirect kiss.

The elves were graceful. Arwen refused with a determined smile and pulled her hand back. When Aragorn sat down next to ChengXiao, he immediately became collected. He stopped moving near Arwwen and changed the romantic tune to a one solem and high spirited.

“I don’t want to admit it but I can’t beat Aragorn. I am afraid I will become a monster without my thing if I continue to date his girlfriend.” ChengXiao explained behind everyone’s back.

As an important character and the heir of a king, Aragorn was a great fighter in the movie. In this modified world, his strength increased by quite a margin. He was reaching the abilities of a level 7 Ringwraith without the Nightmare mount.

Aragorn had been using a normal two handed sword. His swings were not much slower than a level 7 Ringwraith. The sword glowed with a white light when he used it. The light came from his body and turned the sword similar to the light blade of Tiger’s Soul. Aragorn was stronger than many of the veterans here.

If ChengXiao were to do anything perverted to Arwen, it would take much effort for Aragorn to kill him.

The addition of a beautiful lady in the group made the atmosphere more lively. The girls had gotten in good relations with Arwen by the time they reached Rivendell.

Two past noon the next day, the group arrived. The peaceful elven town sat on the foothills of the Misty Mountains. The town wasn’t big. Its beauty could not be described in words. It was built by the mountain. Fresh green trees stood throughout the town and many small waterfalls on its outer edge. Any person would exclaim at its beauty when he first saw the town.

The group easily moved past the guards with Aragorn and Arwen on the lead. It took some urging from the two before the rest of the group moved on toward the meeting lobby.

The meeting loby was located on an open platform. Several people had been waiting there, Gandalf and some elves.

The Hobbits were excited to see Gandalf. They ran over with cries like four little children. Gandalf hugged them in a laughter. It seemed like they could talk on and on forever. The Hobbits narrated the dangers and Ringwraiths they encountered on the journey. Gandalf and the elves looked over to the players in surprise when they heard the group killed eight Ringwraiths.

“Brave warriors, you defeated the Ringwraiths and killed eight of them?” An elf asked.

Arwen replied. “Not only did they kill eight Ringwraiths, they seized a Nightmare from the Ringwraith. The horse perishes plants so I had the guards brought it near the boulders where there are no plants.”

Gandalf and the elves finally expressed their astonishment and looked over in disbelief.

“And so they want us to send three representatives to attend the meeting concerning the One Ring.”

It had been two days since the players arrived at Rivendell. The elves treated them as honored guests. They learned from the elves that normally only ministers from other nations and famed warriors and wizards like Gandalf received such treatment. This was a rare occurrence in the elves’s history for a big group of thirty people to be treated like this.

“That’s all due to our strength.” Neos said scornfully.

“Yeah, because we are powerful, we are needed for the multiple race meeting.” Zheng responded.

Both the honored treatment and invitation to the meeting were the result of their strength. This made the players sighed. Favoring those with power was the same in the real world and in the movie worlds.

The veterans discussed about their representatives. It was still best for the three team leaders to attend the meeting. Though there were disagreements when it came to team China’s selection. Zheng wanted Xuan to go in place of him since they could communicate using Soul Link. Xuan’s intelligence would be useful in these situations where words decided the outcome.

Xuan’s response was, “I have some things to talk with Haotian. The main flow of the plot has been decided. You just have to be in the meeting. Contact me via Soul Link if you have questions during the meeting.” He then went out to look for Haotian.

“I am not being nosey but your actions are making me suspicious. Who is Haotian? How can a newbie get so much attention from you? You are giving me the sense that you either want to play brokeback with him or you are scheming something behind us again. I am not hoping you to stop making schemes but at least tell me in advance.” Zheng was scared for a moment and grabbed a hold of Xuan. He didn’t dare to let Xuan get away. What would happen if he were planning to blow up Rivendell? Of course, that was an analogy but Xuan was very possibly scheming on something big.

Xuan turned his head around and spoke solemnly. “No schemes and no brokeback.”

Zheng also responded in a serious tone. “I was just kidding about the brokeback. You swear there are no schemes? Why do you want to talk to Haotian?”

“Because there’s something interesting.”

“And you said no schemes?” Zheng was enraged. He remembered how he struggled for life because of Xuan’s schemes.

“Not a scheme.” Xuan said calmly. He had the potential to make people rage.

“Then what are you looking for Haotian for?”

“Because there’s something interesting.”

In the end, there was nothing Zheng could do. He truly believed anyone that got real with Xuan must be mentally ill. Zheng was so mad he wanted to bite Xuan to death. Xuan walked away with a calm expression. Zheng was afraid a murder might take place if he didn’t let Xuan go, a murder because of a scheme.

Zheng stuffed the rage into himself and went to the meeting. The other two people walking with him were worried and almost frightened. They didn’t know the cause of that killing intent and thought maybe team China was planning on something big. For a while, they stayed cautious. Neos consumed chocolate nonstop like he was addicted, trying to ponder team China’s scheme.

The meeting concerning the One Ring began like this. The players saw several of the main characters in the meeting, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir. These were all main characters in the war that was about to come.

“Strangers and friends from afar, we are discussing how to deal with the forces of Mordor.” Elrond was the host of this meeting. He looked over everyone solemnly then continued. “The fate of destruction is looming in on Middle Earth. No one can be spared. That’s why you must unite. If you don’t unite, no one can escape the destruction!”

Elrond then said to Frodo. “Bring the One Ring forward.”

The four Hobbits were also in the meeting. They sat on the outer edge. Frodo immediately came up to the center and carefully placed the One Ring on the table.

It looked like a normal gold ring and not unique in any way. There was no decorations on the ring. However, it attracted everyone’s eyes the moment it appeared. Anyone that looked at the ring felt the whole world was in front of them. The ring was their world.

Zheng also felt the strangeness. There was a murmuring by his ears when he looked at the ring. The voice urged him to take the ring. It would give him endless strength and power. It would give him eternal life. The voice was tempting Zheng to take the ring in hand.

As Zheng tried to stand up, he sensed danger. The Chaotic Unity Qi circulated his body. His body suddenly felt refreshing and he woke up. He was finally able to take a look at the others and saw everyone other than Elrond, Gandalf and the four Hobbits had stood up. The two team leaders also stood up. However, sweat covered their heads. They were struggling compared to the others.

Gandalf roared in an unknown language. The syllables sounded like they contained infinite power. Light dimmed and a strong force pressed everyone back down on their chairs. Once everyone sat down, Gandalf stopped. Zheng looked at the ring again and the voice was gone.

Elrond let out a sigh of relief. He stared at Gandalf and said. “No one dares to utter the evil spells in Rivendell!”

Gandalf also let out a sigh of relief. He gestured apologetically. “I do not ask for your forgiveness but the voices of evil might soon be echoed throughout the western world. The One Ring is an evil force. We must completely destroy it!”

Yet, a human knight staring at the ring muttered as he heard the words. “It may not be as terrible as you think. The One Ring is perhaps a gift. It’s a weapon against the forces of Mordor. My father is the Steward of Gondor. He has been battling Mordor all this time. We people of Gondor protected you with our blood and flesh. Let us take the ring. Let us use the power of the ring against Mordor!”

Aragorn finally said. “Wait. You can’t hold control over the ring. No one can. It only had one master since the time it was created, and that was Sauron. No one can become its second master.”

The knight turned to Aragorn with an expression of disdain. “What does a strider know? What do you have to give lesson to a knight of Gondor?”

The elves weren’t happy hearing it. Legolas stood up and said. “He is not merely a strider. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and future king of Gondor. You will pledge your loyalty to him!”

The others stared at Aragorn in shock. No one would have imagined this strider was the sole heir of the largest kingdom of Men. The knight was dumbfounded. “Aragorn? The descendent of Isildur?”

Legolas followed. “Correct. He’s the sole heir to the throne!” His tone sounded very angry.

Aragorn said. “Let’s get back in seat, Legolas.”

Legolas ignored his words and stared at the knight. The knight finally got himself back together then said ferociously, “Gondor has no king and doesn’t need a king!” Before sitting back down.

The room fell into silence. The rest of the people couldn’t speak to the political battle within Gondor.

Gandalf had no choice but to break the silence. “Aragorn was right that we can not make use of the ring. Our only choice is to destroy it. The question lies in how do we destroy it.”

“How do we destroy it? We destroy it now!”

A strong dwarf shouted. He raised his axe and hacked at the ring. The axe emitted a brilliant red light then both the axe and table exploded. The explosion blasted him away. The other dwarves caught him. Everyone waited for the dust to set. When they looked over at the remains, the stone table had shattered. The broken axe lay among the little rocks. Yet, the One Ring was intact.

Elrond sighed. “It’s no use. No weapon that we have here can damage this ring. It is a ring that reigns everything in this world, a miracle forged in Orodruin. The lava in Orodruin is the only thing that can destroy the ring. We must bring it to Orodruin. This is the only thing we can do!”

The room fell to a silence again. Then the human knight said. “We can’t just head to Mordor like this. There are orcs guarding the gate and countless forces of evil residing there, dragons and Ringwraith. Even the air in Mordor was toxic. The land is eternally burning. Sauron’s eyes patrolled the land. Mordor is a place of death even with an army.”

“Boromir, have you not heard what Legolas said? Mordor is the only place where we can destroy the One Ring and we must destroy it!” Legolas stood up.

The dwarves were discontent. It seemed like the relationship between dwarves and elves were not close. The one who swung the axe shouted. “Are you elves going to bring the ring to Mordor?”

Boromir also said. “Right, what if we failed? Sauron seizes the ring and descends into the world again. Destruction will not be far from it.”

The dwarf immediately said. “I will not allow the ring to fall into the hands of the elves!”

The room turned into a chaos as the three factions argued. Gandalf was dragged into the argument in the end. Things were seemingly going out of control.

Yet, Zheng’s mind was not in this room. He was still pondering if Xuan was hiding a scheme. The events happening in front of him were merely scenes from the movie. The more realistic question was if Xuan had a plan. If he did, then Zheng would have to start getting prepared. Be prepared for saving his own life.

“Then, warriors who protected the ring and killed eight Ringwraiths, will you join the fellowship?”

A voice woke Zheng from his deep thoughts. He saw the four Hobbits standing in the center of everyone. Elrond looked to the players and said.

The plot had progressed to the end of the meeting. What differed from the movie was the addition of their group. A group with strong powers that caused the change of plot.

Zheng exchanged gazes with the other two leaders. Gungnir said with a smile. “Of course. As a member of Middle Earth, we have the responsibility to join the fellowship. Let us cooperate again.”

“It’s fighting side by side.” Zheng laughed as he looked to the Hobbits. He added, “Fighting side by side, not a cooperation. We are comrades.”

And so everything was set. Elrond advised everyone to rest for two days and refill the supplies, food and weapons, for the upcoming journey. The journey would end at Orodruin, and the fellowship would throw the One Ring into the volcano.

Gandalf finally paid the rewards to the players. A little bag of energy stones. Their ranks ranged from D to C, with two wood attributes and approximately four of every other attribute. The values of these energy stones made everyone feel overjoyed. Gungnir could make use of the Ice energy stones and the rest could be used for the recovery magic circle. The veterans let out a sigh of relief. It was a godsend to obtain these energy stones in a movie with battles after battles.

Elrond also provided the players each with a set of equipment. An elven sword that glowed when in close distance to the orcs, and a chainmail made with a bit of mithril that could defend against regular weapons. Since they had to cross a mountain, there were no horses. The group had to walk the journey to Mordor or cross the mountain to Rohan and purchase horses there.

However, the swords and chainmail were enough to make the players happy. The elven swords were sharp and could notify the presence of orcs, though this effect would be useless in other worlds. This sword was probably a tier D item. The chainmail were lightweight and tough. Even the smallest girl in the group could walk freely with the chainmail on. These two surprises were such great additions since the group already had to go to Mordor.

Anyhow, onto the next day, which was the day before they left Rivendell. Team East America had entered this world for five days. The time for team Celestial to enter had come.

In the far east to Rivendell, a location much further east than Mordor, was a desert. This place wasn’t part of Middle Earth anymore but another continent. A nation also existed in this continent. This nation was an ally of Mordor.

Four men and two women suddenly appeared by the border of the desert out of thin air. As they stepped onto the desert, a blonde woman cried and jumped. “Eww, why are we in the desert? I hate sand. They make my skin rough.”

Four people gave a look that they couldn’t stand here. A handsome blonde man looked apathetic. He nodded and took in the surrounding. “A desert, and this heat. Seems like we are teleported in a random location. This place should be far from Middle Earth. Uh. Is that God’s attempt to protect the other teams?”

“Adam, why would you think that? Are there no deserts in Middle Earth?” A Chinese young man with a longsword asked.

Adam nodded. “There are of course deserts in Middle Earth but judging by the weather, Middle Earth is located near the sea so the weather would be tropical. Even if it gets this hot, there won’t be a desert that you can’t see its end. The deserts should be small in size. To the east of Middle Earth, much further east than Mordor, should be a place with similar weather to Arabia. Thus, we can be certain we are thrown in a random location. God wouldn’t know how to protect the weak teams otherwise. Its giving them the condition to raise their influence.”

A second Chinese man with slightly brown hair stood next to the Chinese young man. He looked like mixed race. “Adam, what do you think we should do? We aren’t team Devil and we don’t necessarily have to kill all the teams. Our mission is to head to Mordor. Should we go there and see if they are any threats before deciding how to treat them?”

Adam snapped his finger. “That’s for certain. Points and rewards aren’t useful to us. As long as there are no threats, we don’t have the need to raise our rating in God. Plus, remaining in the Good faction is an advantage. Same rules, let’s find our location first then we decide on whether to split or or work as a team. Either way, we need to keep in contact via our devices. Our second priority is to scout the three teams. Do you still remember the most important thing for our team?”

The Chinese young man laughed. “Yes. Yes. You have repeated it three times before we come in and at least a few dozen times total. Find the origin of the devil and kill him before he grows to the power of his clone.”

Adam said. “Then it’s all set. The magical knowledge or items or even the One Ring we can obtain in this world are much more valuable than points and rewards. Try to complete as much as possible. Lina and Songtian come with me.”

The mixed race man and the blonde woman nodded. The Chinese young man smiled. “Hoho, then I will go ahead. Enjoy your journey out of this desert. Don’t let it end up with me completing all the bonus missions and getting the items.” His hands formed a shape. The sword on his back slowly floated to the front.

He stepped on the sword and uttered. “Ji!” In just a few seconds, he was already several hundred meters away. That speed was faster than the Sky Stick.

“Haha, Adam. Enjoy your crawl. I will look for Sauron first and test the item I just got from my sect.” His voice slowly faded in the distance.