A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

The two ogres were dumbfounded; the hostages in their hands didn't seem to be of much use.

The two released their grip at the same time, and Bilbo fell to the ground.

"Very good, the fire is out."

"this..."

While Om hesitated, the ogre wearing an apron poured a pot of soup onto the fire.

"Release them now."

"Impossible, you only have one hostage, we have fourteen."

puff!

Aaron pushed the dagger forward half an inch, and a black line of blood appeared on Tom's neck.

The ogre, whose skull had been ripped open, stared wide-eyed in his final moments of lucidity, "Ram, Om, are you going to watch me die?"

“But that’s not fair.” The ogre (Ram) wearing an apron shook his head. “One person can only be exchanged for one hostage.”

呲!

The dagger slowly sliced ​​across Tom's neck, and the black blood flowed even faster.

"I don't want to say it a second time."

Tom trembled with fear, looking at his two older brothers with pleading eyes.

"To replace or not to replace?"

Ram was silent for a moment, then said, "We can only exchange four at most, no, three."

“No,” Aaron said firmly.

"Human, don't push your luck. This is already the limit."

Aaron rolled his eyes. Negotiating with not-so-bright trolls was definitely a brain-teasing task, and getting food out of them was no easy feat.

He was hesitating whether to use magic when he saw a figure in a gray robe running towards him, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

"Okay, I agree."

“No,” Thorin said immediately. “I will not abandon any of them.”

“Thorin, you should trust me now. I have a plan,” Aaron said speechlessly. “All you have to do is lie still and not provoke them before the deal is done. You know they don’t have brains.”

Before Thorin could say anything more, Balin secretly kicked him and gestured for him to look behind the trolls.

When he saw a pointed hat sweep across the dawn, he immediately realized that Gandalf had returned and promptly shut his mouth.

"Have you made your choice?" Ram asked.

"Wait a minute, let me think!" Aaron pretended to be deep in thought, his eyes darting between Bilbo and the dwarves.

Then the gray-robed wizard finally climbed onto a huge rock, and in the light of dawn, his figure looked particularly sacred.

"Let the dawn subdue you!" Gandalf roared, staff in hand.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know, is it safe to eat?"

Gandalf raised his staff and struck it hard against the boulder.

The boulder split in half, and the light of dawn shone into the dark hollow, also illuminating the trolls.

The troll seemed to be scorched by flames; its skin cracked, and its body, exposed to sunlight, turned bluish-gray. Finally, it turned to stone amidst a piercing scream.

As the dawn broke and the dwarves' faces shone, they immediately cheered.

Aaron threw down his weapon, tapped Tom, who had turned to stone, and exclaimed, "Even though I was mentally prepared, it still felt a bit unbelievable when I saw it with my own eyes."

“I didn’t expect you to be so powerful.” Gandalf walked over and looked at Aaron with a half-smile. “My intuition that day was right.”

I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes: an ordinary-looking human child was actually able to fight two ogres.

Aaron: ......

That old bastard must have arrived a long time ago; thankfully, I managed to refrain from using magic.

"Don't worry, I won't ask questions I shouldn't." Gandalf gave Aaron a knowing look. "All I need to know is that you're a reliable teammate."

Aaron pursed his lips, not expecting Gandalf to be so perceptive, not even needing to make up a reason.

“Um… could you untie us first?” Bilbo said. “Being tied up in these bags is really uncomfortable.”

"Understood." Aaron picked up the dwarves' weapons and rescued them one by one.

Gandalf tapped the stone statue that the ogre had transformed into, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes as he smiled.

"Where have you been?" Thorin asked as he walked over.

"Go ahead and scout the way."

Why have you come back again?

"Let's check back," Gandalf said. "Luckily, everyone is alright."

"Your thief... isn't entirely useless."

Bilbo may not have been very useful, but his courage was commendable.

"And he knows how to stall for time, something none of the rest of you thought of."

"Perhaps!" Thorin shrugged. "But the other person's strength is something I didn't expect."

“I told you, their contributions are beyond your imagination,” Gandalf said calmly. “That’s the foresight of a wizard.”

“Gaius,” Thorin looked at Aaron, “who exactly are you?”

"Uh... Anyway, I have nothing to do with elves."

“Of course you have nothing to do with elves,” Balin said as he walked over. “Thorin is asking about your identity; you’re so strong you’re practically not human.”

"Slander! This is blatant slander!" Aaron slapped the petrified ogre with righteous indignation. "This is disrespect to my parents, who are human."

"Then how come you are so strong? You can actually go toe-to-toe with an ogre."

Aaron proudly raised his head and uttered four words: "Born with superhuman strength."

"And what about your swordsmanship?" Thorin asked. "Even among elves, few can match your skillful movement and swordsmanship."

"My ancestors were knights, and as their descendant, it's not unreasonable for me to learn a move or two!"

Bahrain and Sorin looked at each other, knowing that the other was most likely making things up, but they couldn't find a reason to refute it.

Chapter 240 Monster Drops Equipment, Dire Wolf Scout

“They must have come from the Eton Wilderness.”

Thorin asked, puzzled, "When did the ogres start wandering further afield?"

“It hasn’t been like this for an entire era.” Gandalf’s expression grew more serious. “It hasn’t been like this since the Dark Ages.”

Upon hearing this, Thorin frowned slightly, but didn't take it too seriously.

Aaron couldn't help but swallow.

The terms "epoch" and "dark age" contain a wealth of information.

His curiosity was almost irrepressible, but he also knew that the more he knew, the more dangerous it would be, and that keeping a low profile was the best course of action before he understood the world as well as he thought.

“They can’t possibly operate during the day,” Gandalf murmured.

"This means there must be a cave nearby."

Thorin immediately led the group to search and found a filthy cave behind the ogre camp.

Half of the men remained outside to keep watch, while Thorin led four dwarves inside, and Gandalf pulled Aaron in as well.

The dark, damp cave was swarming with disgusting flies, and the stench was overwhelming.

"Why does it smell so bad?" Nori frowned.

“This is the ogre’s treasure vault,” Gandalf explained. “Be careful not to touch anything.”

After walking a few steps, Noli heard the sound of coins.

Looking down, there was a pile of scattered gold coins.

"It's such a waste to leave things like this lying around like this," Nori shook his head. "Anyone can take them."

Aaron's eyes lit up. He didn't care whether the coins were dirty or not, and grabbed the gold coins to stuff them into his purse.

After the money bag bulged, he grabbed another handful and put it in his pocket.

"You're really not being polite," Nori said, both amused and exasperated. "If I were you, I wouldn't do this."

Money is a good thing, but our team will hardly have any opportunities to spend money before reaching Lonely Mountain, while once we get there, it means we won't be short of money.

“You can’t think like that. Money isn’t everything, but you can’t do without it,” Aaron said seriously. “One of the truths I’ve always believed in is that it’s better to have money in your pocket.”

Groin opened a box full of gold coins, then patted Nori on the shoulder, "Get me a shovel, let's bury it first."

Thorin stood there, stunned, in front of a wooden crate, his gaze drawn to several swords covered in spiderwebs.

As a dwarf prince who had participated in countless battles, he had a special feeling for weapons and knew very well that there were real treasures here.

He put down his torch, ignored the pile of defective products, and picked up the two most unusual ones. "These swords were not made by ogres."

“Even a fool could see that they don’t have the intelligence to forge anything.” Aaron scoffed, then took one of the weapons from Thorin’s hand.

The longsword was slowly drawn from its sheath, accompanied by a crisp sword sound, its cold silver gleam shimmering slightly in the dark cave.

Aaron flicked his finger, listening intently to the sound of the sword.

"Tsk! Good stuff, absolutely good stuff."

Time has left almost no trace on it; there isn't a single gap on the blade, making it a truly exquisite work of art.

This was made by a master blacksmith, though it's not as good as...

"Incomparable to what?" Gandalf looked at Aaron with a half-smile. "Have you seen a better sword?"

"I am not, I am not, don't talk nonsense."