“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 grunts 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 grunts, 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 grunts, 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.