I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 156 Combat Skills Must Be Taught from a Young Age

“I should be going back tomorrow, Tanes.”

After enjoying the elven dinner that night, Bilbo looked at Tanes, who was helping Ester correct his sword-wielding posture, and spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Tanes nodded slightly: "I guess it's about time you wanted to go home. I also need to go to the Valley. On the way home, I can accompany you back to Hobbiton."

Bilbo's eyes lit up: "That's wonderful! I was worried about the danger of going home alone. With you by my side, I don't have that concern anymore."

After teaching Estelle two basic sword moves with a one-handed sword, Tanes approached Bilbo and asked curiously, "By the way, why isn't that elf prince with you?"

Bilbo paused, then realized: "Oh, you mean Legolas? He went to see Mr. Bernal, saying he received a lot of help from him in the battle against the Ringwraiths in Lake-town, and went to thank him."

Tanes replied, "I see. But Bernal must be very busy lately. I wonder if Legolas will have a chance to meet him."

Bilbo nodded, then glanced furtively at Melina, tugged at Tanes's arm, and whispered, "Are you alright?"

Tanes was taken aback, puzzled: "What's the question?"

Bilbo quickly shushed him, then continued in a low voice, "Don't let anyone hear this. I'm talking about how you're handling your, uh, female friends' relationships. First it was Miss Millison, and now it's Miss Melina. And I remember you told me you also married a princess named Lani."

Tanes realized what Bilbo was worried about, and leaned down, laughing and crying at the same time, whispered, "When did you become so gossipy, Bilbo?"

Bilbo said with feigned profundity, "Because I've read many books that say, 'Even heroes have difficulty resisting the charms of a beautiful woman.' I'm more worried about you having so many female confidantes. If you don't handle the relationships well, you could become quite dangerous."

He then patted his chest generously and assured Tanes, "But don't worry, I won't tell anyone about these things. And if you really can't handle it, uh, you can come to my house for a while and take refuge. Of course, you can come to my house anytime without that reason, and I'll always have delicious food ready for you."

Tanes was amused by Bilbo's tone and nodded: "Alright, then I'll have to ask you to take me in, you homeless person."

"What are you talking about, Professor Tanes and Uncle Bilbo?" Ester's curious voice startled the two.

Tanes cleared his throat. "Bilbo and I were talking about Hobbiton, his uncle's hometown. It's very peaceful and tranquil, a paradise in Middle-earth in a sense. You must go there sometime, Esther."

Children's attention is easily drawn to other things, and sure enough, after hearing Tanes's words, Ester immediately said happily, "Hobbiton? Good, I'll remember this place. I'll bring a gift to visit Uncle Bilbo later."

Bilbo smiled and said to Estelle, "There's no need for anything too expensive. Oh, but if possible, I'd like you to bring me some tableware that elves usually use. Ordinary ones are fine; I'd like to keep them as collectibles."

Ester tilted his head in confusion and looked at Bilbo: "Collecting elf tableware? Although I don't understand why you like collecting these things, Uncle Bilbo, I'll remember it."

Tanes explained to Bilbo, "Perhaps the hobbits also valued cooking and eating, so he wanted to collect things related to these things."

Bilbo nodded and smiled at Estelle, "That's right, I'll let you taste the food of the hobbits then."

After Ester and Bilbo exchanged a few more words, Tanes once again summoned him to the open meadow to supervise his sword practice.

Perhaps due to the excellent education he received in the valley, Estelle had a very good foundation in swordsmanship.

Tanes was initially worried that he might be teaching too fast, but he found that his worries were unnecessary. Ester quickly learned the basic sword techniques that Tanes taught him.

Furthermore, Tanes also noticed that Ester's stamina had increased considerably since the last time he saw him in the valley.

As for the reason, Tanes didn't know.

Could it be because he ate the elves' good food from a young age, or because he came into contact with the Golden Blessing in the Golden Tree territory?

Later, Tanes learned from Elrond that it was Esther's Dunedan bloodline that caused him to develop faster than ordinary humans.

Tanes looked at Ester, who was gazing at him expectantly, clapped his hands, and praised her very earnestly: "The extent of your swordsmanship improvement has surprised even me. Ester, you are indeed very talented, and you have not wasted that talent, which is truly remarkable."

Ester was still a child after all, and after receiving praise from Tanes, he couldn't help but cheer with joy.

Tanes said, "When I return next time, I will teach you more advanced martial arts techniques. However, in the border region of my homeland, the people there generally call them 'combat techniques'."

Bilbo noticed Ester's slightly confused expression and suggested to Tanes, "I think Ester probably doesn't know what you mean by 'combat skills.' Why don't you demonstrate it for him? I only learned what combat skills are after seeing your fight with Mr. Bernal."

After listening to Bilbo's words, Tanes thought about it and realized that it made sense. So he asked Bilbo to take Estelle to a safe place and went to the spot where Estelle had been standing.

Then Tanes used a combat technique that Bernal had used in the previous battle: Vacuum Slash. The invisible but sharp sword energy left long and distinct sword marks on the golden grass, making Estel's eyes burn with desire.

He asked excitedly, "Teacher Tanes, is this the combat technique you're going to teach me next time you come back?"

Tanes shook his head slightly and said, "No, it's some more basic combat techniques. Although you have a solid foundation in swordsmanship, you are still a beginner when it comes to combat techniques, so you should start learning from the basics."

Ester nodded quickly: "Yes, Professor Tanes."

Tanes could tell that Ester was just hiding his disappointment, so after thinking for a moment, he comforted him, "Don't worry, I guarantee you will learn a combat technique that looks even more magnificent than the one I just demonstrated."

Ester puffed out his small chest and said, "I know Teacher Tanes is trying to comfort me and is worried that I'm disappointed! But I'm fine! While you're away, I will listen to you and practice the basics diligently, and you can teach me combat skills when you come back."

"How obedient he is," Tanes thought to himself, as he reached into his spatial backpack and a finely crafted one-handed straight sword, scabbard and all, appeared in his hand.

Ester's gaze was immediately drawn to the sword in Tanes's hand, and he recalled the nickname that Elrond had mentioned about Tanes, causing him to breathe heavily.

Is the teacher going to give me this sword?
Ester couldn't help but think to himself.

Just as Ester had expected, Tanes came to Ester's side, half-squatting down to look him in the eye, and said, "I was in a hurry when I left the valley last time and didn't give you a gift. When Phil and Chili became my disciples, I also prepared gifts for them. So I couldn't leave you out of your gift. This sword is now yours."

As he spoke, Tanes placed the straight sword of the Monarch's Army in his hand into the outstretched hands of Ester.

Then Tanes added a [Graceful Dewdrop Amulet] to Estelle's neck and explained, "This amulet can slowly repair your injuries, and even those hidden wounds that are not easily noticed can be slowly healed. Your body is still developing, but the amount of training you usually do is very high, so you will definitely have some hidden injuries. This amulet can also slowly help your body recover."

Ester nodded vigorously, remembering Tanes's words.

Tanes patted Ester's head and said, "Although this sword is a standard straight sword, its quality is absolutely guaranteed. When you grow a little older, I will prepare a more special and powerful one-handed sword for you."

Ester nodded again: "I will strive to become a student worthy of that sword, Professor Tanes."

Teacher Tanes smiled and shook his head: "No, Estelle, your safety is the most important thing. Weapons are ultimately just external possessions, and I will definitely give them to you if I promise. Whether it's you, or Philip and Kiri, I hope you can all live well."

Although Estelle didn't understand why his teacher said that, he still kept those words in mind.

Tanes stood up and said with a smile, "Alright, you should be happy to receive a gift. And don't you want to know what more combat techniques are like? Melina and I will demonstrate them for you, shall we?"

Upon hearing this, Melina sighed: "Are you implying that you want me to have a spar with you?"

This time, Tanes quickly shook his head: "How could that be? Swords have no eyes, and combat skills even less so. I don't care if I accidentally hurt myself, but I don't want to hurt you."

Melina's lips curled into a quick smile before vanishing, her tone slightly raised as she said, "But it would be best to have a target to reference the power of the combat technique. I don't want to end up like you, swinging weapons at the ground."

Tanes turned and looked around, looking somewhat troubled: "But there don't seem to be any targets here. Should we take Estelle to the barracks in Stoneville? But wouldn't it be too late to go now and disturb his rest?"

At this moment, Ester raised his hand and said, "If it's a wooden rake, then Brother Elladan made a few wooden dummies in the backyard of the house to practice my archery skills."

Tanes nodded: "Then use them. If they get damaged, I'll have someone send over the unused wooden rakes from the barracks later."

Later, in the time before Estelle went to sleep, Tanes and Melina demonstrated several combat techniques related to the Golden Tree, so that even when Estelle fell asleep, the golden glow emitted by those techniques remained in her mind.

Of course, the other hobbit present also shone with the light of battle arts while sleeping that night.

Tanes, who rarely needed to sleep to rest, traveled to Ensis City with Melina that night. Lerana and her Carian army, who had had enough time to rest, followed Tanes out of the city and headed to Stoneville City. Without disturbing any residents, they arrived at Lake Town through a portal.

Thanks to Tanes's reminder, Lelana and her Carian army were not affected by the sudden drop in temperature; the soldiers had already put on warm winter clothes under their armor before entering the portal.

"Lord Tanes! Uh, how should I address this lord?"

The Storm Knight, who was in charge of guarding the portal, immediately came to Tanes's side and bowed, then looked at Lera.

"This army comes from Caria, and they have come to exchange garrison duties with the Red Lion Legion."

Tanes didn't explain much about the origins of Layana and her army, and the Storm Knight couldn't possibly ask for details, so he simply saluted the other party and returned to his post.

Lelana looked at the portal behind her and asked, "It seems that this is the only way we can travel long distances?"

Tanes nodded: "Currently, only this portal can get us here."

Lelana looked at her army, and then a small squad of soldiers and mages stepped forward in unison and knelt down on one knee before her.

"You are responsible for assisting Storm King's forces in defending this place."

After saying that, she looked at Tanes and added, "Once the garrison situation is settled, I will send an engineering corps to build a small fortress here. What do you think, Tanes?"

Tanes said with a smile, "It would be wonderful if a fortress could be built here. I've always had this idea, but unfortunately neither the Storm Legion nor the Red Lion Legion has enough manpower to do it."

Lelana replied, "Back in the Shadowlands, we were used to building fortresses with our own hands to defend against the remaining Horned People's attacks, and protecting this teleportation point in the fortress is also a kind of insurance."

Tanes nodded. "Indeed. Let's continue. I'll take you to Lake-town. However, there shouldn't be many people living there now. Most of the residents who moved away have chosen to settle in River Valley."

Lelana looked at the town with its lights swaying on the lake in the distance and asked, "Is Ratahn in Laketown now? I haven't seen him in a long time, and I have a lot of questions to ask him."

Tanes replied, "Ratan should still be in River Valley. Lake Town is currently garrisoned by his royal guard, Freya, and a small number of Red Lion Legion soldiers."

He saw Lera frown when she heard Freya's name and explained, "Don't worry, this Freya has broken free from Michaela's charm control and is no longer that demigod's follower."

Lera was relieved: "That's good."

(End of this chapter)