Chapter 804: Retrieving treasures
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Once the group settled down, Sheyan found an excuse to 'settle some affairs' with Reef. The others didn't dare to inquire and only asked them to be safe.
In truth, the duo left in search of the treasure buried by Melody. It wasn't that Sheyan did not trust Melody's elves, but rather the implications of this matter was so great, that the fewer who know it the better.
In the darkness of night, the duo shuttled through the pine forest, as snowflakes rained down repeatedly and infiltrated their necks. The chilling sensation caused them to shiver frequently as though someone was skinning them alive.
"We were truly pathetic the previous time." Sheyan attempted to start a conversation to douse the chilling sensation.
Reef shivered as he replied.
"If we encounter Lurtz now, we will still be in deep shit."
Sheyan sneezed and answered.
"Lurtz should be in Isengard now, we wouldn't be able to meet him even if we wished to. Right, pay attention to this darn compass."
In Sheyan's hands, was a peculiar object that appeared to be a spittoon filled up with water, with a pitch black object floating within. The object would submerge deeper if ores were detected nearby.
This was an enchanted magic prospect compass loaned to him from Segimli. It could detect ores that were buried up to three meters deep.
Since Sheyan clearly remembered the direction he pointed to Melody to flee in previously, with the aid of the magic prospect compass, seeking the lost treasures would not be that difficult.
All of a sudden, Reef yelled excitedly.
"Sunk, it sunk!"
Sheyan was instantly ecstatic as the duo begun excavating the ground beneath the compass with their monstrous contestant strength.
Ten minutes later, a deep pit could be seen. Moments later, after careful digging, Sheyan unearthed a semi-rusted arrowtip...the two gazed at each other with a dreadful sensation in their hearts. This was an extremely sensitive prospect tool, and this night may very well bring them more of such 'surprises'.
Following that...the duo started digging around despondently.
During the long search, they unearthed seven iron ores, three rusted arrowtips, a broken helmet...…
Finally, on the verge of desperation, they dug up an unremarkable looking chest. This chest was disguised with mud, grass, and twigs. Sheyan stared at it vacantly for a long while before opening the chest.
Instantly, the precious treasure acquired from the venerable wizard Saruman emerged before their very eyes. In a flash, the splendorous sparkle irradiated their faces.
[ Items: 14.65 pounds of mithril. 3 pounds of adamantium. Three rubies, four sapphires and two cat's eyes ]
The adamantium and mithril had been purified by magic, and had purities reaching 99.9%. Instead in this world, the standard purity of mithril and adamantium was only 40%!
After his previous investigations of the marketplace, Sheyan was sure this was an absolute fortune that even the devil's eyes would pop wide open with envy.
"I'm really an idiot." The muddy-faced Sheyan stood sluggish as he muttered. "With Melody's tiny physique and strength then, without any machines, how would she be able to excavate things! It must have been extremely infuriating!"
At present, the duo had left the makeshift campsite for 4-5 hours and the sky was almost turning bright. If not for them being able to communicate their safety to the elves, the elves would have started searching for them.
The duo hastily returned to the camp and slept immediately with loud snores. The night of search had been intense and they had exhausted their mental strength. As the habitually clean elves observed the stinky and sweaty duo, they became speechless but could only endure.
Seeing them slumbering so soundly, the elves figured they would be here till the afternoon. Hence, they started to construct a fortified camp with trees and attempted to beautify the campsite as well.
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When the duo woke up, it was nearly four in the afternoon where the sun was inclining down the west.
Few sun rays pervaded through the leafy gaps. It was quiet all around as a vigilance welled up in Sheyan's heart. Logically speaking, the elves should be residing in the camp and be idling around, or whistling on blow leaves and such. Why was it so quiet all around?
He nimbly crawled up and pushed through the thick curtain-doors, and was instantly startled by the transformation of the campsite.
The surrounding pine trees had been hacked down and configured into crenelated parapet walls. A square kilometer radius of trees had been banished afar, resulting in a spacious flatland. In this region, any hostile creatures would experience a nightmare when facing the immaculate ranging accuracy of the elves.
"Crap, what the heck happened. Where did the elves disappear to?" Sheyan inquired inwardly. His doubt was soon resolved.
Trampling footsteps on snow drifted in, as a squad of eleves marched back with raised chests and upheld heads. They appeared arrogant like guards of honor, and even the enormous Ent Ferrell was amongst their ranks.
Beside the elves, were roughly 50-60 dwarves that were striding in with mechanical-like expressions. Sheyan squinted his eyes to find one familiar face amongst the stereotyped and repetitive faces of dwarves. Indeed, he only recognized a single dwarve – Mister Segimli.
Without a doubt, the reason the camp was empty was due to the haughtiness of the elves. They wanted to maintain an overbearing ancient manner of greeting to welcome the group of seemingly haughty elves.
Of course, this wasn't because the elves were magnanimous enough to greet the dwarves. Their reason was extremely clear – puny bumpkin dwarves, do you recognize this ancient greeting between forces? Will you know how to return this formality?
Nevertheless, the dwarves had a knowledgeable master amongst them as well. Under his leadership, the dwarves returned a fierce formality which sunk the two forces into a deadlock. It was hard for one to back down first.
Upon noticing Sheyan, Segimli quickly tossed aside the ancient greeting down the cliffs of the Misty Mountains. He was like an amicable little donkey that dove towards Sheyan.
"Beloved friend, ah I really missed yo...…..your magical winecup."
Sheyan was initially beaming with delight but his countenance instantly darkened as he kicked the dwarf.
"Who the hell are you, I don't know you....."
After a round of torture, Segimli begun introducing his travel companions to Sheyan.
First, was his uncle and clan head, Gimli Stonehammer. Next, was the most outstanding blacksmith of this dwarf clan, grandmaster Mcgonical Firestove. Then, a grandmaster of arraying magic into artifacts, Takelin Tinsilk. Lastly, was the apprentice of grandmaster Firestove and several elite warriors of the clan and so on. It seemed as though the core forces of the clan were mobilized.
As for the reason they rushed here, it was fairly simple. The fretting Gimli clan had been constantly seeking for a lifeline. They heard of the congregation of Middle-earth merchants in Rivendell. As the Skifz Ascûd festival was only half a year later, they wanted to try their luck in Rivendell. Never did they expect, the adventuring little Segimli would contact them first!
This caused great delight amongst the dwarves. In reality, when Segimli contacted them, the dwarves weren't far from Rivendell.
Hence, the anxious dwarves, fearing for any unexpected mishaps, directly seeked out twilight elf Melody; requesting that she dispatched an elf to assist them. That elf could sense the magic imprint of Elder Desirese Roots. In addition to Sheyan and gang clearing out some of the orcs, the dwarves left in the morning by riding tamed Rock Rams and smoothly located Sheyan and the elves.
Without a doubt, the arrival of the dwarves was a pleasant surprise for Sheyan. That meant that his plan could be brought forward. Thus, Sheyan smiled and led the guests through the icy needle-leaved forest, before finally reaching a hillside that sunlight was still present.
The dried grass here was soft and warm due to the sun. Sitting down offered a cosy sensation. If complemented with rum and a roasted, sizzling wild boar, an exceptionally nice ambience could be created.
"Segimli has been a selfless assistance towards me throughout my travels to Rivendell, gifting us with great friendship." Sheyan announced. "After learning of his difficult predicament, I started devising a method that could, hopefully, be of assistance to him."
Speaking till here, Sheyan directly produced a tiny portion of the treasures he acquired from Saruman – roughly 30 grams of mithril and a ruby.
He then earnestly said.
"As a devout of a high-god, all my riches have been consecrated to him, in hopes of being bestowed with something desirable. However, my high-god commands that I present powerful artifacts of space magic, to be blessed with my heart's wishes. In order to express the authenticity of this and because of the camaraderie between Segimli and I, I am even willing to use our lordess twilight's tiara. This is a supreme quality forging material and mithril I exchanged for my family's inheritance."