Chapter 9-1
The three teams finally began their journey to Mordor. However, there was a mini episode concerning what to do with the newbies.
The mission requested all five teams to meet at Mordor. So inevitably they had the falsified sense that everyone in the teams must enter Mordor but was or was it that only one person from each team was required? As a result, the veterans were forced to carry the dead weights on the journey. Otherwise, they could have just throw the newbies into one of the many unknown villages in this massive world and the other teams wouldn’t be able to attack them.
However, as of now, they had to worry about the safety of the newbies. Following the plot, they would cross Moria. The underground city had been taken by the orcs. All dwarves were killed in the battle. There was also a Balrog sleeping in the city. Balrogs were ancient corrupted spirits.
Due to all these reasons, Moria was considered a place of death. The veterans were fine with it since they had to protect the movie characters and the more dangerous the situation was, the more rewards that were to come. They had to enter this underground city. The same thing could not be said for the newbies. The newbies only had a slimmer of chance to live through the city. A normal orc could kill all of them.
“The Ringwraith only chases the wielder of the One Ring. Saruman only attacks the group carrying the One Ring. Which means that if we were to split up from the Fellowship, we can be in a safe position. Of course, that’s on the premise that we don’t encounter another team. However, this world is so large that it isn’t difficult avoiding other teams. We still hope you can give us a few veterans in case we run into patrolling orcs.” Haotian represented the majority of newbies among the three teams and said.
These words gave the leaders some ideas. After a discussion, team Northern Ice Land gave them a veteran, team Africa gave Marnie and Rose, and team China gave Zero, WangXia, Kampa, and Gando. That wasn’t to say team China was much stronger but these four people relied on sci-fi weapons. They wouldn’t be of much use in this world aside from team battles. Sending them to the newbies’ group could help in case they met the other two teams.
The three teams split into two groups on the first day they left Rivendell. The stronger veterans went with the Fellowship toward Caradhras. The other group would go around to Rohan and wait there for the veterans.
And so, the veterans’ group was reduced to fourteen. Four people from team Northern Ice Land, four from team Africa, and six people from team China. These fourteen veterans had all been through many movies. Now that they didn’t have members pulling their legs, they could go all out in fights.
“Why am I feeling ominous that Haotian was the one who came up with the idea to split?” Zheng looked to Xuan. He was certain Xuan planned something behind him.
Xuan turned his head around and said. “Illusion.”
“Fine, illusion. I hope it’s really an illusion or you will be scheming against me again.”
Switching away from Zheng, the group had gradually reached Caradhras. They picked up their pace after splitting up with the newbies. On the third day, they reached the highlands.
The time was noon. The Hobbits were preparing food and the rest were either training or analyzing their route on the map. Just then, a flock of crows appear on the horizon.
The first person to notice the crows was Legolas. He was standing on a highpoint with Zheng and looking out. They immediately alerted the rest of the group. Everyone hid in the bushes or inside crevices. Those who watched the movie knew the crows had discovered them. In the end, Gandalf would be forced to cross Caradhras and walk into Saruman’s magic, which would push the Fellowship into the underground city.
Gungnir and Zheng hid in the same underground cave. The cave was large enough to fit the skeleton horse. Gungnir glanced at the mount with envy. Though he knew he wouldn’t be able to use it even if he were to obtain one. He said in a low voice. “Do you have any advice to the journey in the underground city?”
Zheng was confused. “Eh? What advice?”
Gungnir coughed. “The information we obtained from team Africa is that saving Gandalf rewards a stone that cancels out getting erased due to negative points three times. We are going to obtain the stones at all cost. What about the other items? Powerful monsters in this world have gems and crystals which are the energy stones you can exchange from God. The octopus the Fellowship encounters before entering the underground city should have at least a C or CC energy stone. Not to mention the Balrog which definitely has a fire energy stone. It might be B or BB tier.”
Seeing that Zheng was pondering, Gungnir added. “I think you know of the importance of the magical knowledge hidden inside the worlds as we delve deeper into this realm. As we unravel more of the knowledge, the energy stones and certain minerals become even more important. You need energy stones for magical circles, mithril for rune words. So why would you pass up the ones you can obtain without spending points and rewards? I heard the dwarf Gimli said the tunnel produces mithril and a mineral called Adamant. I don’t know what this mineral is used for but nothing can go wrong with collecting it.”
Zheng interrupted him. “Why are you saying to me? I don’t suppose you think I can seize these items.”
“Not seize but obtain!” Gungnir said. “You and I are the strongest members among the three teams. We can sweep over this world even if we abandon all other veterans. I don’t know your limit but you are definitely stronger than you are showing since you fought two high level Ringwraiths and seized their horse. My self created ability, Ice Age, needs three ice energy stones to unseal its potential. I am confident I can fight a battle against team Celestial. I have six ice energy stones. I am planning to use Ice Age once in the city to kill the Balrog. Then we don’t have to leave the underground city so fast. We can stay until we obtained all the mithril and Adamant. How about a fifty fifty split?”
Zheng’s interest was aroused. The energy storage ring improved his effectiveness in fights by several folds. The additional fighting time allowed him to stop counting how much time he had left in Explosion. If he could get a few dozens of these rings, that meant he could stay in Explosion throughout a whole movie. What monster or human could harm him at that point? The most expensive material of the ring was Mithril when exchanging through God. It would totally be worth the effort if he could obtain a lot of Mithril.
“Well then, fifty fifty. As for the points, rewards and the fire energy stone from killing Balrog, whoever kills it gets them. You okay with that?” Zheng finally said after some silence.
Gungnir was overjoyed. “Of course, deal! Let us make a show in Moria!”
The two clapped their hands as a sign of forming the contract, although this contract had no credibility. But given that they both had intentions, they sides still decided to make a big show in Moria. They shouldn’t have to worry much given their powers.
The flock of crowd had disappeared beyond the horizon by now. Gandalf’s expression looked blue. He confirmed Saruman had gotten his eyes on them. The Fellowship was forced to change their path to climb through Caradhras. The snowy mountain was several thousand meters tall.
The players weren’t as nervous in comparison. Their sci-fi items were ineffective against the movie characters but they were still useful. If they fell into danger on the mountain, their transportation tools could get them back into safety. As such, the movie characters were the only ones who objected to the change. Under Gandalf’s insistence, the Fellowship began climbing the mountain in the end. They slowly entered the snowy area.