Chapter 245: Aragorn and the Sword Instructor

"Gandalf, I believe that half-elf you mentioned, the one called Wayne, is absolutely not a good person."

In a secluded room in Rivendell, Saruman tapped the table, and after drawing everyone's gaze toward him, he continued:

"A truly righteous person would never care about rewards."

"He actually wants to claim one-third of the Lonely Mountain treasure all by himself. We all know what a massive amount of wealth that is; many kingdoms couldn't accumulate that much gold in centuries. This is sufficient proof of his greed."

"And a person like this is just like the human kings of the past—even without the Nine Rings of Men, it is very easy for him to be tempted by Sauron, and he will very likely turn toward the forces of darkness in the future."

"We have already suffered from such a lesson once before."

"I feel that we should take some measures to take precautions against this half-elf named Wayne; it might reduce many losses in the future."

After hearing Saruman's statement, the Elf Queen Galadriel did not speak, but instead turned her gaze toward Gandalf. Most of them were hearing about the half-elf's deeds for the first time and could hardly claim to understand him; only Gandalf had the most right to speak on the matter.

As for Saruman, having spent a long time with him, the Elf Queen had roughly grasped the personality of this White Wizard. She did not take many of his extreme remarks to heart, merely listening to them.

And as the holders of the Three Elven Rings, Gandalf, King Elrond, and Queen Galadriel had always been firm allies with the highest level of trust. On most matters, the Elf Queen tended to approve of Gandalf's opinions.

King Elrond had actually inquired about his daughter Arwen's assessment of Wayne on the side, but this king had a steady personality and would not voice these assessments to influence the judgment of others.

The Grey Wizard stroked his white beard, his hands wrapped around his gnarled staff, a thoughtful expression flashing in his bright eyes. After a long silence, he said: "I cannot make too much of an evaluation regarding this half-elf; after all, I only spent a little over a month with him during our journey."

"However, Bilbo in the party thinks very highly of him. The Wayne Manor he built in the Shire has provided many jobs for the local hobbits, making the lives of the surrounding commoners much better."

"Basically, I have never heard of any evil deeds regarding this adventurer. We cannot slander a person's character based on our own guesses."

"Moreover, Wayne's strength is beyond doubt. Whether it is against the evil Orcs or those twisted, dark monsters, perhaps he really can fulfill his promise and kill the dragon Smaug."

"If that is the case, let alone one-third of the Lonely Mountain treasure, what would be wrong with letting him become king?"

As Gandalf's voice faded, the others also fell into thought, remaining silent.

The Brown Wizard Radagast scratched his hair, which was full of bird droppings, and said somewhat strangely:

"What are you all talking about?"

"Isn't it quite good to have such a person? Whenever we have problems in the future that require his help, we can just pay him a reward, can't we? What use are external things like gold to us?"

Radagast also prompted the others to think. After a long while, the most powerful Queen Galadriel finally spoke: "Perhaps we are considering too much, but taking precautions is not a bad thing. People's futures are not set in stone."

"What we need to do is guide people's hearts toward the light, rather than toward corruption and decay, letting the power of darkness spread in people's hearts."

The Elf Queen looked at Gandalf and her son-in-law, King Elrond, with eyes full of divinity, and said: "No matter what path this half-elf chooses in the future, what you need to do is guide him, give him help, and let him become one of us."

"Friends, I have already felt it; the power of darkness is breeding in dark corners. We must remain vigilant and be ready at any time for the battles that may come in the future."

………………

This morning, Wayne and Arwen had an appointment to go fishing by the river, because the environment of Rivendell was exceptionally good, and with the blessing of the Elven Ring of Air, it had not suffered any pollution from filthy things.

In this valley, whether it was fruits, vegetables, fish, or poultry, their taste was extremely delicious.

Rough men like the Dwarves might not be able to appreciate the nuances, but as a top-tier chef, the ingredients here were quite a pleasant surprise for Wayne. He already had the intention of collecting a batch of ingredients to take back to the Wizard World for his friends to enjoy together.

After breakfast, Wayne took a jujube wood fishing rod carved by the Elves, full of artistic flair, and strolled by the river with Princess Arwen to find a fishing spot.

While strolling, the Elf maiden suddenly mentioned that she wanted to see his pet, the Deathclaw Robin.

It turned out that recently, Arwen had heard the knights of her own race discussing this terrifying giant beast, and she was quite interested in the ferocity and power of the Deathclaw.

As an Elf, she was born with a hatred for evil things. Her mother had been depressed because she had suffered abuse from Orcs, and hundreds of years ago, she chose to sail West, leaving Middle-earth and her family, separated by distance and difficult to meet again.

Therefore, this Princess of Rivendell naturally held a bit of favor for any warrior capable of defeating Orcs. Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why she was willing to be Wayne's guide in the first place.

Wayne rarely refused the requests of beautiful maidens. Moreover, thanks to the careful guidance of this princess, his Sindarin was quite good, and he had already put some simple spoken language to use.

He still held some favor for this little sister of the Elven race, who was over two thousand years old.

The two walked along the river for half a day, and before they reached the area where Robin was, they suddenly heard a burst of childish shouting. The voice was not loud, but it was very earnest.

Following the sound, they saw a little boy with short black hair and a cute appearance, wearing a linen shirt, holding a wooden stick in his hand, practicing basic swordplay in a serious manner.

Slashing, hacking, thrusting, and parrying, combined with forward, backward, and side-to-side footwork, it actually looked quite decent.

What Wayne found more noteworthy was that this young boy did not have the long ears of the Elven race, but had the appearance of a human.

He tilted his head slightly to look at Arwen and asked, "Whose child is this, do you know, Arwen?" The Elf princess had originally been a bit dazed, but after hearing Wayne's question, she tilted her head to think, suddenly smiled, and said gently:

"I remember now, this is a foster son my father adopted a few years ago, named Aragorn. He seems to be ten years old this year."

"However, at that time, I was always living in Lothlorien where my grandmother is, so this is also my first time seeing him."

Seeing Wayne nod in realization, Arwen added:

"He is the sixteenth chieftain of the Dunedain, son of Arathorn. According to the traditions of the Dunedain, the son of every chieftain is raised and educated by my father. The Dunedain are different from ordinary humans; they can generally live to be over two hundred years old, which is considered a quite long-lived human race."

Hearing the name Aragorn, Wayne immediately had an impression. Isn't this the Human Emperor in the future Fellowship of the Ring?

And mentioning this Human Emperor, he instantly thought of another problem: the Elf princess beside him seemed to be the future wife of this Human Emperor. It seemed that later, for the sake of love, Arwen gave up her Elven identity, became a human, gave up immortality, and died over two hundred years later with this Human Emperor Aragorn, which could be considered a natural death.

Thinking of this, Wayne felt quite emotional, having a feeling of witnessing history.

Thus, with a bit of mischief, he walked with Arwen to the front of Aragorn.

When this future Human Emperor stopped his training and looked at the two with some curiosity.

Wayne reached into his space bracelet and took out two well-crafted wooden swords, threw one in front of Aragorn, and picked up the other one himself, standing in front of him, saying: "Little friend, I see you quite like swordplay."

"This wooden sword is a gift for you. Come, pick up this sword; today, your uncle and aunt are going to teach you some real swordplay."

Aragorn was still a half-grown child at this time. Because his father died in an Orc ambush when he was two, this child was quite precocious, and his desire for revenge and power was far greater than that of ordinary human children.

He looked at the rough wooden stick in his hand, then at the exquisite wooden sword Wayne had planted in front of him. Without any hesitation or fear, he immediately threw away the wooden stick, picked up the wooden sword, stood in front of Wayne, assumed a decent swordplay offensive stance, and said:

"Thank you, sir of the Elven race, I am ready."

Wayne did not stand on ceremony upon hearing this, shouted "Be careful," and then the wooden sword in his hand slashed rapidly toward Aragorn's forearm, hitting his muscle with a 'slap', making the little guy's mouth twitch slightly. It was clearly quite painful, and even his posture for holding the sword became a bit distorted.

To this, Wayne smiled slightly, then used a few short and easy-to-understand words to explain how to defend against such attacks and how to strike, and then began a 'noob-stomping' style of sparring.

In the next hour, Wayne used the method of teaching Witcher apprentices swordplay, not maliciously misleading, but seriously giving Aragorn a swordplay lesson.

From the most basic holding and swinging of the sword to the subsequent dodging and parrying, he did not hold back, and every sword hit Aragorn's body, making him remember it deeply in his heart.

Pain and sweat are the best teachers. One hour of instruction allowed this future Human Emperor to enjoy a professional training session from a master-level sword instructor one-on-one. While beating the future Human Emperor until he was bruised and swollen, he also benefited a lot.

Due to his talent and the system's blessing, Wayne's swordplay level was basically at the peak of humanity in terms of technique alone, and Aragorn, as one of the future protagonists, also had excellent talent. The two were quite tacit, one teaching happily and the other learning diligently.

It was not until little Aragorn was so tired that he slumped on the ground that Wayne showed a satisfied smile and withdrew the wooden sword.

Opportunities to beat up a future protagonist like this and still have the other party be grateful are rare. A child as sensible as Aragorn is much more gratifying than those bratty kids who only know how to cause trouble.

"Alright, let's stop here. Keep that wooden sword as a gift. I have things to do, let's meet again if fate allows!"

After speaking, Wayne prepared to take Arwen, who had been smiling all along, to continue searching for the Deathclaw.

Who knew that Aragorn, who was originally sitting on the ground, saw him about to leave, immediately struggled to stand up, bowed respectfully to Wayne's back, and said loudly:

"Sir Elf, my name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, future chieftain of the Dunedain. Your swordplay is superb, and I admire it very much."

"Could you tell me your name? I hope to invite you to be my sword instructor and teach me real swordplay."

"If you are willing to accept this request, I will keep it in mind."

As Aragorn's voice fell, Wayne, who was originally preparing to leave, suddenly heard a system prompt in his ear.

Ding! Task triggered, 【Aragorn's Sword Instructor】 special task, do you accept?

Ding! This task will be rewarded according to the degree of completion, up to master-level.

Wayne's footsteps paused, and his heart was instantly shocked. It was actually a special task that could reach master-level at its highest.

He turned to look at Aragorn, who was bruised and swollen but had an exceptionally sincere expression, considered for a few seconds, and then, holding the mentality of 'not doing it is a waste', nodded and said:

"Alright, Aragorn."

"You can call me Mr. Wayne. From now on, at this time every day, I will teach you two hours of swordplay here. However, I will not stay in Rivendell for too long. Before I leave, how much you can learn will depend on your comprehension and diligence."

After speaking, he left the place amidst Aragorn's joyful cheers and Arwen's somewhat surprised gaze.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 246 =====