In a secret room in Rivendell, Saruman knocked on the table to draw the attention of others, and then continued:

"A truly righteous person never cares about rewards."

"He actually wanted to take one-third of the lone dwarf's treasure by himself. We all know how huge that is. Many kingdoms cannot accumulate so much gold in hundreds of years. This is enough to prove his greed."

"And people like this, just like the human king of the past, can be easily tempted by Sauron even without the Nine Rings of Humanity, and may very likely turn to the forces of darkness in the future."

"We have already suffered such a lesson once."

"I think we should take some measures to prevent this half-elf named Wayne. Maybe this will reduce a lot of losses in the future."

After listening to Saruman's speech, the Elf Queen Galadriel did not say anything, but turned her gaze to Gandalf. Most of them were hearing about the half-elf's deeds for the first time and had no understanding at all. Only Gandalf had the most say.

As for Saruman, after spending so much time with him, the Elf Queen probably understood the character of this white-robed wizard. She did not take many of his extreme remarks to heart and just listened to them.

As the owners of the Three Rings of the Elfs, Gandalf, King Elrond, and Queen Galadriel have always been staunch allies with the highest level of trust. In most matters, the Queen of the Elf tends to agree with Gandalf's opinions.

King Elrond had actually asked his daughter Arwen about her opinion of Wayne, but the king had a calm personality and would not say these comments out loud to influence other people's judgment.

The gray-robed wizard stroked his white beard, clasped his dead wood staff in both hands, and a thoughtful emotion flashed across his bright eyes. He was silent for a long while before saying, "I can't make too many comments about this half-elf. After all, he and I have only been together for more than a month during our journey."

"However, Bilbo in the team thinks highly of him. The Wayne Manor he built in the Shire provides many jobs for the local hobbits and makes the lives of the surrounding civilians better."

"I have not heard of any bad deeds of this adventurer. We cannot slander a person's character based on our own speculation."

"Moreover, Wayne's strength is unquestionable, whether it is fighting against the evil Orcs or those twisted and dark monsters. Maybe he can really fulfill his promise and kill the evil dragon Smaug."

"If that's the case, let alone one-third of the Lonely Mountain treasure, what's wrong with making him king?"

When Gandalf finished speaking, the others fell into silence, thinking.

The brown-robed wizard Radagast scratched his hair covered with bird droppings and said in a strange tone:

"What are you all talking about?"

"Isn't it good to have such a person? When we need his help in the future, we can just pay him. What use are external things like gold to us?"

Radagast also caused the others to think, and after a while, the most powerful Queen Galadriel finally spoke: "Perhaps we have considered too much, but it is not a bad thing to prepare for a rainy day, and people's future is not predetermined."

"What we need to do is to guide people's hearts towards light, rather than leading them to depravity and corruption, and allowing the power of darkness to 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, all you have to do is guide him, help him, and make him one of us."

"Friends, I have sensed that the power of darkness is growing in the dark corners. We must remain vigilant and be prepared for the battles that may come in the future."

………………

That morning, Wayne and Arwen agreed to go fishing by the river. Because the environment in Rivendell was particularly good, and with the blessing of the Ring of Air, one of the Three Rings of the Elves, it had not been contaminated by any filthy things.

In this valley, whether it is fruits, vegetables, fish, meat or poultry, they all taste extremely delicious.

A rough man like the dwarf might not be able to appreciate the charm of the food, but as a top chef, the ingredients here surprised Wayne greatly. He already had the plan to collect a batch of ingredients and bring them back to the wizarding world for his friends to enjoy.

After breakfast, Wayne strolled along the river with Princess Arwen, holding an artistically carved datewood fishing rod made by the elves, looking for a fishing spot.

While strolling around, the elf girl suddenly mentioned that she wanted to see his pet Deathclaw Robin.

It turned out that recently, Arwen heard the knights of her own race discussing this terrifying beast, and was quite interested in the ferocity and strength of the Death Claw.

As an elf, she is naturally full of disgust for evil things. Her mother was depressed because of the abuse she suffered from orcs. She chose to cross the west hundreds of years ago and left Middle-earth, and also left her family. Since then, they have been separated and it is difficult for them to meet again.

Therefore, the Princess of Rivendell naturally has some liking for any warrior who can defeat the orcs. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why she was willing to become Wayne's guide.

Master Wayne seldom refused the beautiful girl's request. Moreover, thanks to the princess's careful teaching, he had learned Sindarin quite well and could put some simple spoken words into practice.

He still had some good feelings towards this little elf sister who was over two thousand years old.

The two walked along the river for a long time. Before they reached the area where Robin was, they suddenly heard a burst of childish shouting. The voice was not loud, but very hard.

Following the direction of the voice, I saw a cute little boy with short black hair, wearing a linen shirt, holding a wooden stick in his hand, and practicing basic swordsmanship in a methodical manner.

Chopping, slashing, stabbing and picking, coordinated with the steps of moving forward, backward, and left and right, seemed quite professional.

What concerned Wayne was that this young boy did not have the long ears of the elves, but instead had a human appearance.

He turned his head slightly to look at Alwen and asked, "Do you know whose child this is, Alwen?"

"I remember now. This is a son my father adopted a few years ago. His name is Aragorn. He seems to be ten years old this year."

"But at that time, I had been living in Lothlórien where my grandmother was, and this was the first time I met him."

Seeing Wayne nodded in realization, Alwen added:

"He is the sixteenth chieftain of the Dunedain, the son of Arathorn. According to Dunedain tradition, the sons of the chieftains of each generation will be raised and educated by my father. The Dunedain are different from ordinary humans. They can generally live to more than two hundred years old, which is considered a very long-lived human race."

When Wayne heard the name Aragorn, he immediately had an impression. Isn't this the future emperor of the Fellowship of the Ring?

Speaking of the Human Emperor, he instantly thought of another question. The elven princess beside him at this moment seemed to be the future wife of the Human Emperor. It seemed that later, for the sake of love, Arwen gave up her identity as an elf, became a human, gave up immortality, and died with the Human Emperor Aragorn more than two hundred years later, which was considered a natural death.

Thinking of this, Wayne felt quite emotional, as if he was witnessing history.

So, he and Arwen walked up to Aragorn with some evil intentions.

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

Wayne reached into his space bracelet and took out two well-made wooden swords. He threw one of them in front of Aragorn, picked up the other, stood in front of him and said, "Little friend, I see you like swordsmanship."

"This wooden sword is for you. Come, pick up the sword. Today, uncle and aunt will teach you some real swordsmanship."

Aragorn was still a half-grown child at this time, because his father died in a sneak attack by orcs when he was two years old, so the child was relatively precocious and was much more eager for revenge and power than ordinary human children.

He looked at the rough wooden stick in his hand, and then at the exquisite wooden sword that Wayne had inserted in front of him. Without any hesitation or fear, he immediately threw away the stick, picked up the wooden sword, stood in front of Wayne, and put on a proper sword attack posture, saying:

"Thank you, sir of the elf tribe. I am ready."

Wayne didn't hesitate to hear that. He shouted "Be careful" and then swung the wooden sword in his hand towards Aragorn's forearm. It hit Aragorn's muscle with a snap, causing the little guy's mouth to twitch slightly. It was obviously very painful, and even his sword-holding posture was a little distorted.

In response, Wayne smiled slightly, and then explained in a few short and easy-to-understand sentences how to defend against such an attack and how to attack, and then began a bullying sparring match.

In the next hour, Wayne taught Aragorn a swordsmanship lesson in the way he taught a witcher apprentice swordsmanship. He did not mislead him maliciously, but instead gave Aragorn a serious swordsmanship lesson.

From the most basic holding and swinging of the sword to the subsequent dodging and blocking, his men showed no mercy, and every sword hit Aragorn, leaving him with a deep impression.

Pain and sweat are the best teachers. An hour of instruction allowed the future emperor to enjoy a good time. The one-on-one professional training from a master swordsmanship teacher not only made the future emperor beaten black and blue, but also benefited him a lot.

Thanks to his talent and the blessing of the system, Wayne's swordsmanship level is basically at the pinnacle of human beings in terms of skill alone. And Aragorn, as one of the future protagonists, is also extremely talented. The two of them have a good understanding of each other, one teaching happily and the other learning diligently.

It was not until little Aragorn collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion that Wayne smiled happily and retracted the wooden sword.

There aren't many opportunities to beat up the future protagonist like this and still have the other party be grateful. A sensible child like Aragorn is much more comforting than those naughty children who only get into trouble.

"Okay, let's stop here. I'll leave the wooden sword to you as a gift. I have things to do. Let's meet again if we're lucky enough!"

After saying that, Wayne prepared to take Alwen, who always had a smile on her face, to continue searching for the Deathclaw.

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

"Mr. Elf, my name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and future chieftain of the Dunedain. Your swordsmanship is superb, and I admire you very much."

"Can you tell me your name? I hope to invite you to be my swordsmanship teacher and teach me the real swordsmanship."

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

As Aragorn finished speaking, Wayne, who was about to leave, suddenly heard a system prompt in his ears.

Ding! Mission triggered, [Aragon's Swordsmanship Teacher] special mission, do you want to accept it?

Ding! This task will give rewards according to the degree of completion, up to the master level.

Wayne paused and was shocked for a moment. It turned out to be a special mission that could reach the master level.

He turned to look at Aragorn, whose face was bruised and swollen, and whose expression was particularly sincere. He thought for a few seconds, then nodded and said, "It would be a waste if I didn't do it."

"All right, Aragorn."

"You can call me Mr. Wayne. From now on, I will teach you swordsmanship for two hours at this time every day. However, I will not stay in Rivendell for too long. How much you can learn before I leave depends on your understanding and diligence."

After saying that, he left amid Aragorn's surprised cheers and Arwen's somewhat surprised gaze.

(End of this chapter)