Chapter 858: Cause and effect
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Melody used the powerful ability of Sire Vilya to quietly contact Dawn City. Naturally, she asked old Sindalor about Treebeard. What was strange was that, when old Sindalor heard the word Treebeard, he remained silent no matter what Melody asked.
But after a while, she suddenly beckoned Sheyan over and told him that Mr. Ferrell, the nephew of old Sindalor, had something to ask him.
Sheyan only needed to have Melody in his embrace and to press his finger on to the disguised Ring of Air to communicate with Ferrell. The battle Ent asked oddly.
"Why did you suddenly ask about Treebeard? That's a taboo topic for Uncle Sindalor."
Sheyan curiously asked.
"Why's that?"
Ferrell looked to be in a little dilemma.
"If uncle knew that I revealed his secret, my fate will be dire.... ok, ok, don't be angry Lady Melody. I'll tell you honestly. Uh, I must start from the very beginning."
Mr. Ferrell kept his voice down and told them.
"Treebeard is one of the three surviving primary Ents, the other two being Foliage and Treebark. Treebeard is the leader of the Ents and also the Lord of Fangorn Forest. In his long life, he visited the forests of many places, including the Beleriand Forest which later descended into the sea. Sometime during his long years of traveling, he met a very elegant and beautiful lady. Her name was Fimbrethil...."
Melody chimed in at this moment.
"Sire Vilya is not yet able to support such exchanges for a prolonged period of time. Please be concise. This may be quite rude, but what does it have to do with Grandpa Sindalor?"
Mr. Ferrell sighed and presented the whole truth with one concise statement.
"Aunt Fimbrethil was uncle's first love."
"...…"
"...…"
They were all left speechless. Who could have imagined something so strange to have happened between the two Ents. A love affair!
Mr. Ferrell then added
"Afterwards, Aunt Fimbrethil and Treebeard got into a fight. She ran alone to the end of the Anduin River to plant her saplings. However, Sauron's evil flames encroached upon the area. Aunt Fimbrethil disappeared from then on."
"So that's how it is," murmured Sheyan. "Can give us any advice, Mr. Ferrell? We received intelligence that Treebeard will bear Golden Fruits soon. Our objective is to obtain the fruit."
Ferrell was stumped for a short while. Then, he asked in a shocked tone.
"Treebeard is bearing Golden Fruits?? That's impossible!"
According to Ferrell, bearing Golden Fruits was a sign of change for the Ents. It was a sort of hurdle that they must overcome. During the process of enhancing their purest form of power, they will condense it into Golden Fruits. Under normal circumstances, the produced Golden Fruits will be reabsorbed back by the Ents.
There is also another situation where some very powerful Ents suffered fatal injuries. They will use their final essence to bear Golden Fruits, which would function as a continuation of their lives. It must be noted that the seed of the golden tree used by Elrond belonged to this category, and its quality was far from being comparable to the Golden Fruits in the first category.
When Ferrell heard that Sheyan was going after the Golden Fruits, he was incomparably excited and very firmly requested to join them! Even a blind man could see that he coveted the Golden Fruits.... However, it must be noted that Ferrell was a very rare existence among the Ents. He had previously demonstrated his ability of leaving his real body in spiritual form and directly occupying an ordinary tree to turn it into an Ent.
The benefits of his ability were obvious. Even if the occupied tree was destroyed, he would only suffer heavy injury in spirit. However, the drawbacks were also very direct - Ferrell's battle strength would normally be weaker than other Ents his age.
Since Ferrell volunteered himself, Sheyan his companions certainly wouldn't say no to this strong reinforcement. As long as Ferrell was willing to sacrifice a little spiritual power, then he would be able to traverse through forests in spiritual form at an incredible speed (similar to the Wood Release in Naruto). Therefore, Sheyan only needed to wait for less than 20 hours for him to arrive.
While waiting for Ferrell, the party still had something else to take care of. The hidden main storyline mission required them to choose between "Saruman's Ambition/Isengard's Hidden Dangers".
After some investigation, they found that Saruman's Ambition should be linked to the plotline of the Rohan kingdom. If they chose this route, they would have to go to Edoras, the capital of the Rohan, and join forces with another one of Saruman's subordinate, Gríma Wormtongue. They would assassinate his political enemies and remove the obstacles for Saruman to rule over Rohan.
The explanation of Isengard's Hidden Dangers listed out several major forces around Isengard that may be threatening the city. Sheyan's party would have to weaken them. These forces include the water monsters of the Isen River, the Kasamo bandits of Dunland, and the Ents of Fangorn Forest.
Since this was the case, Sheyan's party decisively chose the hidden main storyline mission: Isengard's Hidden Dangers. They immediately received notifications from their respective nightmare imprint.
[You have chosen the hidden main storyline mission: Isengard's Hidden Dangers]
[Difficulty: Unable to provide an evaluation]
[Time limit for completion: 20 days]
[Mission summary: Since you have chosen the hidden faction of Saruman, then you should provide some service for this faction.]
[Mission objective: Within twenty days, weaken the forces that could pose a threat to Isengard and obtain one of the following items: black dorsal fin of water monster / Dunlending golden tooth / shattered Ent heart]
[Mission reminder: The drop rates of the mission items are not that high. You must hurry.]
[If you fail the main storyline mission, you will be immediately sent back to the nightmare realm and 100,000 utility points will be deducted.]
***********
[You have acquired the hidden branch mission: Saruman's Request]
[Difficulty: Unable to provide an evaluation]
[Time limit for completion: 9 days]
[Mission summary: Retrieve Treebeard's Golden Fruits before they fully mature, thus weakening Treebeard.]
[Mission objective: Retrieve the Golden Fruits]
[Mission reminder: Although the Ents love peace and are mild in nature, once they find out your objective, they will most likely turn more ferocious than Ringwraiths.]
[If you fail the branch mission, parts of the relevant abilities that you gained will be taken away.]
*********
Fourteen hours later, Sheyan met with Mr. Ferrell on the scenic Isen River Dam. Melody had long identified a large black maple tree for him to possess. The trunk of the maple tree was upright and strong as if it was carved out of steel, looking full of vitality. Even its branches and leaves displayed a proud persistence.
Mr. Ferrell infiltrated the tree at once. It took him a while to expel the original will of the tree. He shook his new body to let his magic power grow a pair of feet from the roots, and became a large battle Ent.
This time, Mr. Ferrell's battle Ent had a black vine around his neck that looked like a black scarf. Against the enemy, it was a very deadly weapon. Mr. Ferrell could skillfully use this vine to entangle his opponent and then stab in with his sharp, poisonous branches.
With Mr. Ferrell in the lead, they dexterously travelled through the forest that no human had ever walked on before. The Ents were known as the lords of the forest, and it wasn't merely a saying. They met with no obstacles along the way; no ferocious beasts, no crazy insects, no poisonous vines.... all of them did not appear in the group's path. After travelling for about five or six hours, the strange group climbed up a ridge. Mr. Ferrell caught a gust wind with his arm and took a deep sniff.
"Let us rest here. There may be a heavy rain soon. Fangorn Forest in right in front of us; it's not a good idea to enter Fangorn Forest in the dark with wind and rain - especially for us who bear not-so-pure intentions."
Senyan's group purchased all sorts of things in Isengard, including some camping tents which were quickly raised. It's worth mentioning that they also obtained five powerful magic arrows from Gansdore.
These five magic arrows mixed with some pyrite iron. The curved carvings on the arrows may seem useless, but if spiritual power was imbued into them, a flow of magic power as hot as magma could be felt. Those who observed the arrows would find their bodies filled with an indescribable heat. When an arrow hit the target, a very violent explosion will occur, and the enemy would be ignited into a blazing fireball.
Obviously, these five magic arrows would be a considerable threat to the Ents who fear fire.
After they settled the issues of camping, the sky had turned dark. Sheyan looked over at the green waves of forest in the distance and could not help muttering to himself.
"So this is the Fangorn Forest of the Ents? It doesn't look like anything special."
Mr. Ferrell walked to his side with heavy steps, and spoke in a low muffled voice.
"You couldn't be more wrong! Take a look at the forest over there, then look at Fangorn Forest. Look carefully!"