Chapter 830: Planning
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
As if the setting sun in the western sky wanted to display its last bit of glory for the day before falling into slumber, the sunlight that fell on the skin carried a penetrating heat.
The flatland looked as if it shone with a metallic silver glow under the bright setting sun. A total of 67 expensive gemstones were imbued into the ground in a circle. Within an area of 10 square meters lied an assortment of valuable materials including Mithril threads, Firegold fragments, magical-rune satin, Blackfang stones, hydromicas and Silver Crystals. These materials were banded together into a mystical, inter-linking diagram via mysterious means. Various dimensional spells were casted on the diagram. When a person looked at it, they would find their vision being distorted.
One must admit that the Dwarves truly had a natural talent in construction. If it were the humans or the Elves building this magical formation, they would need at least 6 months and double the amount of material.
But it only took Segimli and less than 40 Dwarves a total of 5 hours to complete the teleportation formation. Of course, Elder Annenia Cyathea and the other 4 Elven mages played a huge part in this too with their continuous infusion of magical energy.
"What a waste," sighed Segimli as he inspected the one-way teleportation formation at Sheyan's side. "The treasures that lie here are enough to buy a whole human city. Yet you used them to build a one-way teleportation circle that can only be used once! My dear Seaman, even if you're so rich that the devils would be jealous of you, I must say it again - this is a huge waste!"
Sheyan looked back at the dense forest covering the mountains behind them, and smiled.
"Oh, my friend. Believe me, this isn't a waste at all. These things are valuable, yes, but that means that their values can be measured. To use these materials in exchange for the invaluable lives of everyone here, that's great business in my book!"
As Sheyan said this, he could already feel a strong presence from afar which exuded tremendous pressure. Feelings of unease, greed and domination were mixed in the pressure. Sheyan pulled Segimli close and asked.
"You did make this a one-time use formation, right?"
Segimli unhappily replied.
"You are doubting the skills of the Dwarves!"
Sheyan laughingly said.
"If that's the case, can you disguise the formation so that after we've used it, it would appear to be usable still? Then, the person who sees this will step into the formation and will activate it. Of course, that's not going to be a smart move. The space-time distortion will give him a lesson to remember."
Segimli frowned and said.
"That's not hard, but it will increase the cost."
Sheyan decisively said.
"Leave that for me to worry about, my friend. Also, it's important that you finish the job within a short period of time."
Segimli still frowned and said.
"I'll need to add another energy stone, and I also need the help from our pointy-eared friends here to slightly change the magic pattern. Are you sure there's a need to do this?"
"Do it. We don't have much time left," said Sheyan firmly. Then, he turned to Franklin and said, "Mr. Franklin, I believe you must have laid down some detection traps along the way. Tell me, how far away is he?"
Franklin honestly told Sheyan.
"At his current pace, he will reach us in about 30 minutes. That is, if he hadn't messed with my magical detection traps to mislead me."
Sheyan turned back to Segimli and said.
"My friend, I can give you only 20 minutes then. I look forward to your work."
While they were waiting for the remodelling, Elder Annenia Cyathea walked over to Melody to inspect her condition. He could feel that the energies inside Melody were in a very complicated situation right now. The energy of the Twilight Elf, the energy of Sin'dorei, and the energy from the Ring of Air formed a chaotic mess.
Trying to unravel a bunched up ball of thread is enough to make one go crazy. Imagine if there were 3 balls of threads bunched up together!
The main cause of this was still due to Melody forcefully used her power twice after signing the soul contract with Vilya.
Signing a soul contract with Vilya was a matter that should be handled with care. Even a genius like Elrond had to recuperate for a period of time after he did it. Besides that, he also had the guidance of the previous master of Vilya. And it still took him a whole month to control the power within the ring!
Melody was a follower of the Sun God Sin'dorei to begin with, and secondly, she used her power recklessly right after obtaining the ring. Even if Elrond and the High King of the Noldor, Gil-galad both came back to life, they wouldn't be able to help her now.
The only good news was that, according to Elder Annenia Cyathea, Melody's life was in no danger. Something like going insane due to the in-fighting between the powers in her wouldn't happen. The powers in her body might repel each other and cancel each other out, thus weakening her strength, but they wouldn't devour her.
Sheyan then took out the leaf from his bag and asked an Elven mage to identify it. The mage instantly asked in surprise.
"Isn't this the leaf of the Sacred Oak that Lord Elrond's mother brought back from across the sea?"
She easily dispelled the seal on the leaf with a wave of the hand. A fresh aroma instantly filled the air. She then placed the leaf back in Sheyan's hand.
[Evergreen Leaf of the Sacred Oak]
[Grade: Silver storyline]
[Equipment slot: Bag]
[Materials: Chlorophyll, mitochondrion, Golgi body, Endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, divine energy, permanent enchantment]
[ Additional installations: None ]
[ Weight: 4g ]
[After charging: Enable you to continuously receive the blessing of the forest. In battle, HP regeneration +3pt/5 seconds. Outside battle, HP regeneration +6pt/5 seconds]
[Every charge will cost 10,000 utility points. Lasts for 1 week.]
[Oak Recovery: The energy of the Sacred Oak is contained in the leaf. Use this ability on a target to cast a level 5 Rejuvenation spell which will heal the target over a duration of 12 seconds, for the total healing amount of 450 - 600 points.]
[Every use of Oak Recovery will cost you 3000 utility points/1 potential point. After using Oak Recovery, there will be a cooldown period of 1 hour. When Oak Recovery is in cooldown, you can still use it for a maximum of 2 times, but must pay double the previous cost (2nd use : 6000 utility points/2 potential points. 3rd use : 12,000 utility points/4 potential points. 4th use not permitted).]
[Description: This is a leaf plucked by Elwing from the foundation of the world, the great tree of Teldrassil. She gave it to her son as a birthday present. It was something very important to Elrond.]
(ED: Teldrassil is the home of the Night Elves in WoW.)
Sheyan felt that the leaf was very useful indeed. It gave Sheyan an active healing ability. 450 - 600 points of HP might not be much for Sheyan, but it's quite significant for magic users like Franklin. Of course,the price for using the ability was pretty high. Sheyan must be careful or it might make him go bankrupt.
By this time, the Dwarves had finished the remodelling work. The size of the teleport formation had doubled and it now shined with a brighter glow. In order to make it look more convincing, the Dwarves had even built some resting benches to the side.
Franklin told Sheyan that Glorfindel was already pretty close at the moment. Ironically, Glorfindel might have found his way here by following the traps left by Franklin. In other words, if Franklin hadn't left those traps as a precaution, Glorfindel might have been delayed for a bit longer.
But that's no longer important. He asked Segimli to activate the teleport formation and they started to step into the white light in the centre one after another. Each of them were transported to the predetermined destination after 2-3 seconds.
Sheyan was the last to step into the formation. His hand held a gemstone. Segimli had previously told him that if he crushed the gemstone before he was transported out, energy will continue being provided to the formation.
To make sure Glorfindel would fall for the trick, they actually perfected the weaknesses and gaps in this magic formation. Instead, they mainly altered the receiving point at the destination. That was the change that would be the hardest for him to notice.
Sheyan crushed the gemstone and stepped into the formation. Amidst the bright white glow of the teleportation magic, he saw a golden radiance on the faraway mountain range. A large number of birds were flying around the radiance in circles. That's right, the golden glow came from the hair of the Great Elder Glorfindel, a Twilight Elf. He had indeed chased them all the way here. His target was obvious - the symbol of authority, the source of power, the Ring of Air, Vilya!