I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 148 Wang Yecao

Tanes asked in confusion, "The Black Gate? Where is that?"

Neferi Lu glanced at Bilbo before saying, "According to the map you, the Hobbit, gave us, the Black Gate, also known as Morannon and the Gate of Mordor, is located northwest of the Ash Mountains, which in turn are southeast of Middle-earth. Theoretically, the area should be overrun with Orcs and other dangerous dark creatures."

After hearing Neferi Lu's words, Legolas added, "The Black Gate? I've heard of that place. In recent years, a group of human rangers from the Dúnedain have been stationed there to prevent the Orcs from Mordor from escaping. If my memory serves me correctly, the human kingdom of Gondor is also providing assistance to these human rangers."

Then Legolas paused, worried that Tanis was still unaware of the situation at the Black Gate, and added, "Do you remember the Ringwraiths that Mr. Bernard, Mr. Aegon, and I fought against in Lake Town? The masters of these Ringwraiths should be in Mordor inside the Black Gate."

Now I understand.

Tanes nodded vigorously: "I understand, but I really don't have the free time to go somewhere so far recently."

He raised his hand and pointed back at the huge but deserted royal city of Rodel, saying, "I must first address the shortage of available manpower within our territory."

Neferi Lu sighed. "I'm glad you know... After Bernard returned the Storm Legion to me, he also sent me a message saying that the human lord of River Valley Town wants you to station a legion there. I hope you can resolve this matter as soon as possible."

Then Neferi Lu remembered something and said, "By the way, Oleg seems to have something to report to you about the Storm Legion."

Tanes nodded: "You say."

Neferi Lu turned to look at Oleg, who had been silent, and said to him, "If you have anything to say, just tell Tanes directly."

Oleg took a step forward, then bowed slightly to Tanes and said respectfully, "Lord Tanes, the Storm Legion suffered 75 casualties and one serious injury in the battle with Long Lake Town. The problem I want to explain to you is related to this seriously injured Storm Knight."

Tanes frowned, "What happened to this Storm Rider?"

Oleg thought for a moment and said, "He... suffered a strange injury, and ordinary treatments are incapable of healing. Lord Bernard noticed the Storm Knight's injury and cast a Golden Tree Prayer to heal him. However, after the prayer's lasting effect wore off, the Storm Knight's injury recurred. Therefore, I beg you to condescend to treat this Storm Knight. Yesterday, we thought it was just a simple curse, but judging by last night's treatment, I'm afraid it's more complicated."

Tanes was surprised and asked, "Even if we give him the potion of golden blessing, there is no way to cure him?"

Oleg replied, "After drinking the potion, the Storm Knight's injuries healed instantly. But just like Lord Bernard's prayer, once the potion was absorbed by his body, the strange injuries reappeared. For now, the Storm Knight can only stay in an area rich in Golden Blessing, otherwise, if he leaves, his injuries will relapse."

Tanes was now even more curious. He agreed, "I understand. Human life is at stake. Take me over now to see what's going on."

After listening to the conversation between the two, Legolas frowned and thought. After Tanis and the others mounted their horses, he hurriedly followed and said, "I may have some impression of the wound that knight suffered. Was he injured in the battle with the Ringwraiths?"

Oleg glanced at Legolas in surprise and nodded. "Yes. After discovering the wound was difficult to heal, the physician treating him immediately inquired about the cause of the wound. The Storm Knight said that in order to restrict the movement of a Ringwraith, he took the initiative to exchange wounds and endured the opponent's sword attack."

When Legolas heard that it was the reason he thought, his expression not only did not relax, but became even more serious.

He explained to Tanes and Neferi Lu, who were listening intently, "I've read in the books of the Woodland Kingdom that among the Ringwraiths there was a being called the Witch-king of Angmar, and that the weapon he wielded was called the Blade of Morgul. A portion of the blade remains in the wound of a person wounded by this weapon, drilling deeper until it pierces the heart. I believe this is why the knight's wound could not be healed."

Tanes frowned: "If it's just a curse, the Golden Blessing should be able to cure it..."

Legolas looked at Tanis with admiration. "I do know a way to heal this injury. It requires only a herb called 'Aceras.' Apart from this, I've never heard of any other method that can heal this injury, not even temporarily. The fact that you, within the Golden Tree Territory, were able to suppress this knight's injury and prevent it from worsening is beyond my expectation."

Tanes nodded thoughtfully: "So there is another reason..."

Neferi Lu sighed and asked, "Let's not talk about that for now, Legolas. How can we obtain the herb called 'Athelas' you mentioned? Where does it grow? Is it difficult to find? I don't want any of my warriors to lose their lives to this inexplicable curse."

Legolas smiled and soothed, "Please rest assured, Lady Neferi Lu. Athelas is what we elves call it. In the Common Tongue, it's called 'kingsleaf', and it's especially common in Gondor. However, many people in Gondor don't realize the medicinal uses of kingsleaf, simply using it as a refreshing herb. It's precisely because of this that some Gondorian merchants like to sell this herb. And from what I learned last night, your territory happens to be trading with a Gondorian caravan specializing in growing flowers and herbs."

Nepheli Lu suddenly realized, "Ah, those fragrant herbs? I remember once, out of curiosity, I bought a few bunches of herbs and had the maids in Stonewell plant them in the garden for decoration. I didn't know it could be used like this."

Upon hearing this, Tanis, not understanding that the Storm Rider's injuries would not be serious, breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Legolas, "This is all thanks to our Elf friend. Legolas, without you, we might have had a headache with this strange curse."

Legolas, still maintaining a polite smile, replied, "This is what I must do. My conscience cannot bear the thought of a warrior who has fought against the Ringwraiths dying under the curse of Morgul's blade."

Soon, Tanes and his group returned to the city of Stonewell and saw large patches of royal leaf grass in the garden that Nepheli Lu mentioned.

Legolas relayed the method of using kingleaf as medicine to the physician who came to treat the patient. Tanis and the others followed the physician and did not leave the ward until they saw with their own eyes that the Storm Knight who was injured by the Witch-king of Angmar was indeed cured.

Tanes said to Neferi Lu, "Judging from what Bernard said about the Ringwraiths, they are a very dangerous group of enemies. Our soldiers will have a high chance of encountering them in the future. Therefore, I believe we should set aside a dedicated area within Stonewell to grow kingleaf grass. We should also have doctors in related fields research pills like 'poison moss medicine' and distribute them to the army. This will greatly reduce casualties in battles with the Ringwraiths."

Neferi Lu nodded. "That's what I was planning, Oleg. I'll leave this matter to you. As for your patrol and defense duties in Stonewell, I'll hand them over to Ingwill."

Oleg and Ingwill, who stood behind her like two door gods, immediately agreed.

However, they both looked at Neferi Lu with apprehension, as if they were about to speak but hesitated. Neferi Lu looked over and asked, "What's wrong? Just say it if you have something to say."

Oleg and his old friend Ingwill exchanged a tacit glance before Oleg spoke, "Lady Neferi Lu, both planting the royal leaf grass and patrolling Stonewell City will require a large number of manpower... but we simply don't have many soldiers available right now. Even with the Storm Legion that just returned from Lonely Mountain, we're barely enough."

Ingwill added, "Because the majority of the Storm Legion's soldiers were previously transferred to participate in the campaign at Lonely Mountain, the remaining soldiers were left to do the work of three people each. They were essentially working non-stop, without even a moment to catch their breath."

Nepheli Lu, who heard the two people talking, said nothing and just looked at Tanes.

Tanes was overwhelmed and said quickly, "I know, I know. I will find a way to solve it."

"Hey……"

Melina, who was behind Tanes, saw this scene and laughed softly.

Then she stepped forward, lifted the hem of her skirt, and bowed slightly to Neferi Lu, Oleg, and Ingwill. "Please give Lord Faded some time. He will gather people for you as soon as possible. I will also find a way to help."

Bilbo, who had been following Tanis and his companions, smiled and asked Tanis, "It looks like you're going to be busy, Tanis?"

Tanes gave Bilbo an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm really busy with many things. I may not be able to accompany you to visit the Golden Tree Territory in person."

Bilbo waved his hand in understanding, saying, "You can't say that, Tanis. You are a king after all. Think about it, the kings of human kingdoms probably wouldn't pay any attention to a hobbit like me who has no noble status. I was already happy that you were able to accompany me on the tour yesterday."

Then he said casually, "It just so happens that Estel is also in your territory. Let me stay with the elves for the next few days. I will go out on my own during the day. When we are free in the evening, can we enjoy dinner together?"

Legolas also spoke up at this time: "If Mr. Bilbo lives in the elf's residence, I can look after him during the day."

Seeing both of them say this, Tanes didn't object. "Okay, when I'm not busy, I'll definitely invite you to visit my territory again."

Then Bilbo said hello to the others present, and took the initiative to discuss with Legolas where to go next in the Golden Tree Territory, and then left.

Tanes briefly discussed the future plans with Neferi Lu, and quickly left the ward in the Storm Legion camp with Melina.

However, he did not choose to leave Stonewell City and go directly to the royal city of Rodel, but chose to find his teacher Selin first.

Tanes needs to solve the capacity problem of the soul collector. He had seen so many souls that could not be collected on the Lonely Mountain battlefield, and his heart was bleeding.

Otherwise, when Tanes came back this time, he would not just summon Rodel and Melina from the royal city, but would also summon Rodel's royal army.

However, now that Melina has been summoned, both the runes in the soul collector and the blessings stored in the golden tree have been almost completely consumed.

"Teacher Seren, are you in the room?"

Tanes asked as he knocked politely on the door of Seren's room.

"Enter."

Seren's lazy voice came from inside the door, and Tanes pushed the door open and walked into the room.

The female magician was still the same as always. She would close the curtains even in broad daylight, light candles with blue flames, and conduct experiments in her room that even Tanes could not understand.

"Oh? The soul that has been following you has also been summoned by you? Just like Oga, it has been given a body..." When Seren saw Melina, his tone was a little surprised, and then he fell into deep thought as if he had thought of some new experimental idea.

Seeing Serlian's expression, Tanes did not interrupt him, but waited patiently for Serlian to finish thinking.

Fortunately, this time, Se Lian didn't think too long. It only took a few minutes for her to reject the idea that suddenly popped up in her mind: "preserving her soul and then using the Shadow Golden Tree to replace her new body."

She looked at Tanes and asked, "Is the matter of Lonely Mountain over?"

Tanes nodded, then took out the soul collector, gently placed it on the table and asked, "Teacher Seren, do you have a way to increase the capacity of the soul collector?"

Seren didn't ask Tanes why. Instead, after careful consideration, he replied, "There's currently no way to increase the capacity of soul collectors. After all, the number of souls a piece of source pyroxene can hold is fixed. To increase the capacity of source pyroxene, we have to find a better alternative. However, your needs don't require a better alternative. There's a simpler solution: crafting a few soul collectors out of source pyroxene for you to carry around."

Tanes' eyes lit up: "Then I'll trouble you to make a few more, Teacher Seren."

Se Lian chuckled and shook his head. "There's nothing I can do now. This is the only source stone I have. But I remember that the warehouse of the Rhea Lukalia Magic Academy has a lot of source stone stored. Oh, and there are countless source stones in the Kalia Castle. As long as you can summon one of these two places, I can make more soul collectors for you."

(End of this chapter)