[Sign-in successful, congratulations on receiving "The Book of Invisibility"!]
Looking at the magic book that only he could see, Luke was already able to examine it calmly in front of others.
However, when he saw the contents of the book, Luke still couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
"The Invisible Book of Invisibility" recorded various invisibility magic spells, including the Invisibility Charm that makes objects transparent, the Disillusionment Charm that allows one to blend into the surroundings like a chameleon, the Concealment Charm that hides one's form, even concealing aura and magic fluctuations, the Confundo that interferes with others' thoughts and perceptions, and the Shielding Charm which includes the Muggle-Repelling Charm.
It could be said that the invisibility spells recorded in the book covered all aspects of invisibility, from visual interference to thought and perception interference; it was an encyclopedia of invisibility.
Luke simply glanced at the table of contents and then put the book away.
Now was not the time to study the contents of the book.
"Luke, quickly use your amazing magic to conjure tents and comfortable beds! I want to sleep!"
The sleepy and portly dwarf Bombur yawned, interrupting Luke's thoughts.
The others also looked at him expectantly.
These days, with Luke's Transfiguration, everyone had not suffered much; it was difficult to go from luxury to frugality, and no one wanted to sleep out in the wilderness with the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed anymore.
Being stared at so eagerly by everyone, Luke smiled and was about to agree.
But looking at the surrounding ruins, a somewhat unreliable idea suddenly came to him.
He wanted to try and see if he could use a Repairing Charm to restore this damaged tall tower.
The more he thought about it, the more eager he became to try, so he immediately shouted to everyone, "Everyone, leave this place first!"
Everyone was puzzled, but they still followed Luke's command, moving away from the tower ruins until they were a certain distance away before stopping, then looking at Luke with confusion and curiosity.
After ensuring that no one would be affected, Luke stood in front of the broken wall and waved his wand.
"Reparo!"
magic continuously surged from his wand.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, as if time had reversed, the surrounding ruins automatically repaired and grew under an invisible force.
Luke didn't know if his magic had a concept like a health bar, but at this moment, he felt he had overestimated himself; the magic consumed to repair such a magnificent building was almost endless.
He was like an ant trying to move an object hundreds or thousands of times heavier than himself. The thousand-foot tall tower hadn't even been half-repaired, and he was already exhausted, unable to continue casting!
Just as Luke thought he was about to give up halfway, a familiar and powerful force surged into his body, and his fatigued spirit instantly returned to its peak, making him feel full of vigor.
"Don't be distracted, keep casting!" Gandalf's voice came from behind him.
He had appeared behind Luke at some point, with one hand on Luke's shoulder, and a ruby ring on his finger, visible only to Luke and him, was shining with a warm light.
Luke's spirit lifted, his eyes became more determined, and surging magic continuously poured out of his wand, applying to the tall tower that was being repaired.
The tall tower's repair speed accelerated, and under everyone's astonished gaze, the tower layers stacked up, soaring straight into the clouds.
Finally, a Giant tall tower, 1000 feet high, stood atop Weathertop.
From afar, it looked like a Giant standing on the peak, overlooking the entire Eriador plain.
"Ha! Amon Sûl is reborn again! What a great magical feat!" Gandalf looked up at the magnificent tall tower and said very happily, "Luke, you have created a miracle!"
Luke shook his head, "If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to complete it!"
Gandalf disagreed, "Don't be too modest, Luke, I just helped you recover your spirit; everything else was accomplished by yourself!"
"Alright, quickly enjoy your success! This tall tower is reborn because of you. Have you thought of a new name for it?"
Luke originally had no such idea, but after hearing Gandalf's words, he had an idea.
"Let's keep the old name!"
"Agreed, why change what works, right?" Gandalf asked.
Looking at the tall tower he had personally restored, Luke was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
At first, he just wanted to test the limits of the Repairing Charm, but now looking at the magnificent tall tower in front of him, he thought it wouldn't be bad to make this his base.
Weathertop is the southernmost peak of the Weather Hills, adjacent to the east-west main road. To the east is the vast Eriador plain, to the south is the Midgewater Marshes, and to the west are Bree Town and the Shire, giving it an excellent geographical location.
Although his sign-in tasks meant he inevitably had to travel around, having a base of his own would always provide some peace of mind.
Luke came to the tower entrance, bowed to everyone, and welcomed them with a smile: "Welcome everyone to Amon Sul, please come in!"
Gandalf was very supportive, nodding to Luke with a chuckle: "Gandalf, at your service."
Thorin, on the other hand, was serious, "Thorin Oakenshield, at your service."
The other dwarves also paid their respects.
Bilbo, a step behind, seeing everyone's formal greetings, became a little flustered and quickly followed with a bow, "Bilbo Baggins, at your service!"
Suddenly becoming so formal, Luke was also a bit unprepared and quickly greeted them: "Alright, everyone, come in and let's explore this thousand-year-old tall tower together."
Everyone followed Luke into the tall tower.
The tall tower was built entirely of hard granite, sturdy and thick. The internal floor height was a full five meters, with halls, lounges, storerooms, armories, and other architectural structures. There were also layers of stone stairs spiraling around the walls, leading straight up to the tower's summit.
Although Luke had restored the tall tower, all the internal facilities had long turned to dust under the erosion of time, so it appeared empty.
However, this didn't faze him; under the magic of Transfiguration, tables, chairs, sofas, beds, and everything else were conjured by him.
And after receiving Luke's permission, everyone enthusiastically began to explore the various floors of the tall tower and choose suitable rooms as their sleeping places for the night.
In the living room, only Luke, Gandalf, and the most serious Thorin remained.
Gandalf sat on the sofa, leisurely and comfortably smoking his pipe.
Thorin, on the other hand, held the map of the Lonely Mountain left to him by his father, silently studying its secrets.
Luke came to the fireplace, lit it with a Fire-Making Charm, and then began to wave his wand, casting a position spell on the fireplace to connect it with the fireplace at The Prancing Pony in Bree.
Gandalf saw this scene and couldn't help but ask, "Luke, are you sure? You want to make this your territory?"
Thorin, who was beside him, also looked up at Luke.
People with strength in Middle-earth would establish their own strongholds or territories. It was surprising to Thorin that powerful Wizards like Gandalf and Luke still didn't have their own spheres of influence.
Luke shook his head, "It's not really a territory, just a stronghold, a place where I can always return to rest my feet."
"Then you must be mentally prepared. Once the news of Amon Sûl Tower's reappearance spreads throughout the wilderness, many factions will turn their attention to you, some with good intentions, others with malice. At the same time, many people will seek refuge and protection from you. These are all things you will have to face in the future."
Gandalf earnestly reminded Luke.
Hearing Gandalf's words, Luke frowned.
He hadn't expected that merely establishing a stronghold would cause so much trouble, making him regret making the decision so quickly.
However, he was unwilling to give up this place.
So, he could only take things as they came.
Bilbo and the Dwarves, who had been touring the tower, finally returned. The Dwarves slumped onto the sofa, panting, and exclaimed, "Sixty floors, a full sixty floors! It's exhausting!"
"Yes, climbing such a tall building is more tiring than making me chop down 60 Orcs!"
"Seriously, they should build an elevator here, otherwise, climbing all these floors will literally kill us from exhaustion!"
The Dwarves commented, one after another.
Bilbo was also panting, but he looked somewhat excited. He came to Luke and shared enthusiastically, "Luke, we climbed all the way to the top of the tower! The top is so high, it feels like I can touch the clouds, and I can also see the main road down the mountain and even farther!"
"Oh, right, we also saw a huge stone platform at the top of the tower. There's a depression in the center of the platform. Balin said that's where the Palantír used to be placed…"
Hearing the Dwarves and Bilbo, Luke was also a little astonished.
This tower actually had sixty floors. If he really had to climb the stone stairs floor by floor, he would genuinely be exhausted.
If he was truly going to live here, he would have to consider installing an elevator.
Thinking this, Luke began to consult the Dwarves. After all, when he was in the Blue Mountains, he had seen the Dwarves' very complex elevators and pulley systems that could go straight down a thousand meters underground, which were no worse than the elevators of his previous life.
And the Dwarves did not disappoint Luke, directly stating it was a small problem. After the Lonely Mountain quest was finished, they could completely help design and build an automatic ascending and descending staircase for the tower.
However, Luke also had another plan. He intended to open a fireplace on each floor and then connect each floor's fireplace together to form a localized Floo Network.
This way, he could directly use the fireplace to go to whichever floor he wanted.
The only drawback was that it consumed a bit of Floo Powder.
Late at night, the full moon shone brightly.
Luke ascended to the thousand-foot-high tower top for the first time.
This was a semi-enclosed observatory. Standing on the observatory, to the east was the boundless Lone Lands, to the south were the Midgewater Marshes and the East-West Road, to the west were the Chetwood and Bree Town, and to the north were rolling hills.
The strong wind howled around him, and the clouds were level with the tower. Looking up at the sky, the stars and the moon seemed within reach.
In the center of the observatory was a massive stone platform with a depression in its center, which was once used to house a Palantír.
The Palantír was a treasure crafted by Elven artisans. It allowed the user to see distant objects, unimpeded by terrain or buildings, and could even show past events.
After the destruction of the Númenórean Empire, Elendil brought 7 Palantíri to Middle-earth. He left 3 of them in the Kingdom of Arnor and gave the other 4 to his sons who ruled in the south, for transmitting information and strengthening communication.
The three Palantíri of the Kingdom of Arnor were placed in three important locations within the kingdom, one of which was Amon Sûl Tower on Weather Top.
It was not until the fall of the Kingdom of Arnor that these Palantíri were scattered and lost.
One of them fell into the hands of the Dark Lord Sauron, and another into the hands of the White Wizard Saruman. Through the Palantíri they possessed, they observed the situation throughout Middle-earth, effectively winning battles from afar.
"If I have the chance, I'd really like to get a Palantír to study." Luke looked at the empty depression in the stone table, filled with curiosity about the Palantír.
After admiring the tower top, Luke began his official work.
He took out a bag of full moonstone and placed it on the stone platform, allowing it to be illuminated by the moonlight.
Here, the moonlight seemed even brighter, shining on the full moonstone and refracting an even more brilliant glow, illuminating the entire tower top.
The full moonstone absorbed the moonlight, becoming even brighter and more dazzling, emitting a faint blue silver light, as if it were the essence condensed from moonlight.
When the moon was at its fullest at midnight, Luke took out snake fangs, spider silk, and full moonstone, mixed them in a certain proportion into a crucible, and carved power and creation runes at the bottom of the crucible with his wand. Then, he ignited the mixture in the crucible with magic flames, continuously burning it.
Under the scorching of the flames, the snake fangs and spider silk were burned to ashes, and the dazzling full moonstone shattered into countless tiny particles, losing its brilliant luster.
When it was sufficiently burned, Luke withdrew the flames and ground the mixed particles of snake fangs, spider silk, and full moonstone into powder with a mortar.
Only a sparkling silvery-gray powder remained in the mortar, and this was Floo Powder.
Having successfully made Floo Powder, Luke wanted to test its performance.
Conveniently, there was a beacon fire at the top of the tower, which looked similar to a fireplace. Luke simply cast a spell to connect it to the fireplace downstairs.
Waving his hand to ignite the beacon fire, Luke grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and sprinkled it into the flames, which instantly turned green.
Looking at the burning flames, Luke tried to reach his hand through and was not burned by the fire; instead, he felt a coolness.
Seeing this, Luke no longer hesitated and stepped into the flames.
The next second, feeling a dizzying sensation, Luke appeared in the fireplace on the first floor.
"Cough, cough, cough…" Luke's eyes were somewhat obscured by the soot.
The effect of this Floo Powder was very good, the only downside was too much soot, leaving him covered in ash after teleportation.
"It seems you have successfully made Floo Powder?" Gandalf, with his blue eyes twinkling, sat smilingly on the sofa in front of the fireplace, smoking his pipe.
He seemed to have known that Luke would succeed tonight and had specifically waited there.
Luke pulled out the bottle containing Floo Powder from his Pregnant, smiling as he invited, "Gandalf, interested in a long trip?"
Gandalf's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he stood up impatiently, "More than eager!"
"The Prancing Pony!"
"The Prancing Pony!"
Two flashes of green fire passed one after another, and the first-floor living room was now empty and quiet.
In the morning, everyone woke up and packed their belongings, preparing to set off.
"Where's Gandalf? Has he not woken up yet?" one of the Dwarves suddenly asked.
"Where's Luke? He's not here either!" Bilbo also noticed another person was missing.
Upon hearing this, everyone realized that neither Gandalf nor Luke had been seen all morning.
Thorin frowned, looking puzzled, and instructed the Dwarves, "Look around and see where they are. It's getting late, we need to depart."
Before everyone could disperse to search, a green flame suddenly ignited in the fireplace.
Gandalf stepped out of the flames, and seeing everyone, he greeted them with a smile, "Good morning, everyone!"
Immediately after, Luke also emerged from the fireplace, carrying a pile of things in his hands. He said to everyone, "Ah, you're all here. That's perfect, come have breakfast. The bread and sausages are freshly cooked and still hot."
Everyone was very surprised to see Gandalf and Luke appearing from the fireplace flames.
Thorin walked forward, scrutinizing the two with surprise, then looked at the steaming bread in Luke's hand, and asked, "Where did you go?"
Gandalf chuckled, replying, "Being bored, Luke and I went to The Prancing Pony for a drink. On our way back, we brought you breakfast."
They went to The Prancing Pony? Everyone was shocked to hear this. It was several days' journey from The Prancing Pony to here. How did they manage it?
Connecting it with their emergence from the flames just now, everyone clearly guessed that magic was used, and immediately looked at Gandalf and Luke with envy.
Thorin, however, thought of something deeper. He looked at Luke and Gandalf with burning eyes and asked, "Since you can use magic to get to The Prancing Pony, can you take us directly to the Lonely Mountain?"
Luke shook his head. "Magic teleportation has conditions. Two fireplaces must be connected first to be able to teleport. There's no designated fireplace at the Lonely Mountain, so it can't be teleported to."
Thorin was very disappointed to hear this. He was now single-mindedly focused on reaching the Lonely Mountain and reclaiming his home occupied by the dragon.
After everyone finished the breakfast Luke brought from The Prancing Pony, they didn't delay further and set off again.
Before leaving, Luke sealed the tower entrance with Transfiguration, then cast the newly learned Muggle-Repelling Charm and Confundo around the area, only then feeling at ease to leave with everyone.
For the next part of the journey, everyone needed to cross a vast, desolate wilderness, pass over the Last Bridge on the Mitheitel, and then go through the Trollshaws to reach the Misty Mountains, completing half of their expedition.
Between Weather Top and the Last Bridge was an uninhabited wilderness, known as the Lone-lands. Few people lived here, except for rangers who secretly patrolled this wasteland.
However, in recent years, with the surge in the number of Orcs in the Misty Mountains, Orc squads often descended the mountains to raid deep into the wilderness.
Thus, the originally peaceful wilderness became a bit more dangerous.
The wilderness was so vast that the expedition team walked for a week without leaving its confines or reaching the Last Bridge.
This night, as everyone just stopped, preparing to rest by the roadside, dozens of arrows suddenly shot towards them!
"Alert!" Gandalf reacted the fastest, standing in front of everyone, wielding his staff as a weapon, blocking some of the incoming arrows.
Luke was pulling out his wand to Transfigure a tent, but seeing this scene, he reacted quickly, turning his wand and casting Transfiguration.
The incoming arrows all turned into flowers, falling onto everyone.
Everyone felt a lingering fear; if the arrows had hit them, even if they didn't die, they would have been severely injured.
"Well done, Luke!" the Dwarves cheered after recovering, then grabbed their weapons and immediately gathered.
Bilbo also immediately drew the dagger Luke had given him, nervously choosing to stand by Luke's side.
As everyone looked, a group of people emerged from the darkness in the distance, numbering at least fifty.
They were tall, with ugly, twisted faces, protruding fangs, small, red eyes, dressed in tattered leather armor, and carrying primitive, crude weapons like bows, axes, and clubs, exuding a fierce and cruel aura.
They were Orcs!
"It's an Orc squad! Prepare to fight!" Gandalf shouted loudly.
The Dwarves, seeing an Orc team several times their number, became even more eager to fight.
Thorin looked at these Orcs with utter disgust and hatred, as his grandfather and father had both died at the hands of Orcs. Now, seeing his enemies, his eyes turned red, and he gripped his longsword tightly.
"Kill them!" Thorin charged first towards the Orcs.
The other Dwarves followed closely, swinging their axes and hammers, attacking the Orc squad.
In an instant, both sides clashed fiercely. Although the Dwarves were short, they were very agile and strong, cooperating seamlessly, specifically targeting the Orcs' lower bodies.
Gandalf also seemed to be infected by the Dwarves' fighting spirit, instantly turning into a berserker, wielding his staff as a weapon, wildly smashing and hammering the Orcs.
"Wow, are they all this fierce?" Luke watched his teammates transform into berserkers, which made him feel a bit impulsive, wishing he could pull out his Flame Sword and go on a rampage.
However, considering his identity as a squishy Mage and his terrible swordsmanship, he still chose to stay put.
Moreover, he had a weak hobbit to protect by his side.
What surprised him, though, was that while Bilbo seemed a bit nervous, there was no trace of fear on his face. Instead, he gripped the dagger Luke had given him, looking ready to fight at any moment.
Should he say, 'As expected of the protagonist'?
Luke calmly observed the intense situation on the battlefield, ready to provide support at any time.
Perhaps fate didn't want Luke to be idle on the side.
Or perhaps these Orcs were not intelligent enough, or had poor memory? Seeing that Luke did not actively attack, five Orcs actually charged towards him and the isolated Bilbo.
"Oh, are they treating me as a soft target?"
Luke sneered, then cast a Shield Charm on Bilbo and instructed, "Stay close to me later."
Saying that, he drew the sword from his waist, holding the sword in one hand and his wand in the other, and charged towards the incoming Orcs.
"Petrificus Totalus them all!"
Luke immediately launched a super powerful Petrificus Totalus.
He raised his Flame Sword and brought it down forcefully on an Orc. The longsword was extremely sharp, easily slicing off the Orc's head, which was then quickly engulfed by the flames spreading from the sword.
Luke felt his adrenaline surging at that moment, his emotions highly excited, without any fear. Instead, when he sliced off the Orc's head, he felt a secret sense of satisfaction.
No wonder Gandalf liked to charge forward with a sword; holding a sword truly felt different from holding a wand.
While Luke easily dealt with five Orcs, Gandalf and the Dwarves were no less impressive.
Gandalf wielded his staff with great force; basically, an Orc fell with every few blows.
And the thirteen Dwarves led by Thorin were even more powerful in combat, easily fighting two-on-one.
Soon, the Orc forces suffered heavy losses. Seeing they were no match, the Orcs began to flee.
The Dwarves had no intention of letting a single Orc escape. They pursued them all the way, finally eliminating the last Orc.
In this battle, the Dwarves contributed the most, killing more than half of the Orcs, followed by Gandalf and Luke.
What was most surprising was that Bilbo actually had a kill count of one Orc.
During the pursuit of the Orcs, Bilbo threw the dagger Luke had given him, directly taking down a fleeing Orc, completing his first kill.
The Dwarves were impressed by Bilbo and fully accepted him as a member of the team.