Bear School Astartes

Lady Galadriel seems to have a deep friendship with Gandalf; the two of them chatted on the platform for a while.

The Demon Hunter, who had already walked down, saw Elrond standing on the stairs.

The Elf Lord stood on a small platform halfway up the spiral staircase, leisurely watching Lann come down.

”You’re welcome, Yadanisil.”

Elrond nodded gracefully, making Lann raise an eyebrow.

”What?”

”You have a task to accomplish, and I facilitated this meeting. Once Lady Galadriel and Gandalf finish their serious discussion, she will still stay in Rivendell for a while. You have plenty of time to complete your task.”

Elrond shrugged.

”So I say: you’re welcome.”

It must be said, when there are no emergencies or serious situations, Elrond’s personality is quite humorous.

He walked a few steps up the stairs so his head was level with Lann’s.

This angle happened to allow a view of the upper platform.

In the morning sunlight, Galadriel and Gandalf stood under the arch, conversing naturally and comfortably, like old friends very familiar with each other.

A smile appeared on Elrond’s face, twisting his head in the direction of the two, and he looked at Lann and said.

”Do you know in this image...”

As he spoke, Elrond framed Galadriel, Gandalf, and the sun with his hands.

”What’s the youngest thing?”

Generally speaking, no one would choose the sun, but Lann blurted out.

”The sun.”

”Hmm?”

Sure enough, Elrond looked stupefied.

”Wait... why?”

”Because I know you’re trying to tease me.”

The young Demon Hunter said with a cold smile.

”Alright, now you can reveal the answer to the question. Is it a brainteaser? A pun? Or something else?”

”To be honest, sometimes it feels really pleasant to blurt out the answer when someone is trying to tell a joke or riddle and then watch them awkwardly explain the punchline.”

But Elrond wasn’t embarrassed.

”I didn’t expect jokes could be played this way; it’s so profound... but maybe because I’m not very good at it, you probably won’t see me awkwardly explaining the punchline today, Yadanisil.”

This time it was Lann’s cold smile that gradually stiffened.

”Wait... what?”

”It means: this isn’t a riddle or brainteaser, young Lann.”

Elrond’s face held a relaxed smile.

”The sun in the sky is indeed the youngest thing in this image.”

Elrond led them downwards.

”The present-day sun and moon first rose at the beginning of the First Era, which also marked the start of the First Era.”

”Before the First Era, we Elves referred to it as the Dual Tree Era because the world was illuminated by two great trees growing in the Blessed Land.”

”One gold, one silver, planted by the Villa themselves, their light sacred and pure, illuminating all.”

”Lady Galadriel is one of the rare Elves still remaining in Middle-earth Continent who has witnessed the light of the twin holy trees firsthand in the Western Blessed Land. You’ve seen her eyes, haven’t you?”

”The light of the twin holy trees still resides in her eyes to this day.”

”Afterward, the twin holy trees were consumed by Morgoth and his ally from the Void Realm, the ’Great Spider’ Ugoliant. They drained the sap and injected poison, causing them to wither.”

”The Villa then raised the flowers of the silver tree to become the moon and the fruit of the golden tree to become the sun, marking the true beginning of the First Era.”

The Demon Hunter blinked, more convinced in his heart.

In a world with a clear Creator God, the sun and moon were just newly born.

Lann’s astonished and dazed expression made Elrond chuckle.

For the short-lived races, such things are always hard to believe.

And for the Elves, all other races in this world are considered ’short-lived.’

Because Elves are immortal, they are the firstborn children of Ilúvatar and will live until Ardan is destroyed.

Mere physical death is just a phase; their souls will reunite in the halls of Mandos after physical death.

They might even take time out from the halls of Mandos to play in the Blessed Land of Valinor where the Villa reside.

So Elrond wasn’t surprised Lann didn’t understand what the sun and moon above were.

Because the finite-lived humans mostly don’t know about these things.

At that moment, Lann’s curiosity reminded him of a topic discussed over dinner at Old Tom’s place.

”Then...” the Demon Hunter hesitated to ask, ”I’ve heard people say Ardan used to be flat. When did it become a sphere?”

”Ah, this happened not too long ago.” Elrond said casually as he descended the stairs effortlessly.

But Lann now didn’t dare believe what the local Elves considered ’not long ago.’

Who knows what that means?

”At the end of the Second Age, Ilúvatar was angered by the Númenóreans and drastically altered the geography of Ardan, turning it into a sphere.”

”Afterward, the Villa and Vilya were no longer allowed to engage in activities such as raising mountains or altering land on the Middle-earth Continent. They seldom set foot there.”

-----------------

The Dwarves left, with Gandalf following closely behind.

Rivendell regained its usual tranquility and elegance.

Lady Galadriel found Lann shortly after speaking with Gandalf on a small bridge over a pond with fallen leaves in Rivendell.

More accurately, it wasn’t ’found’—Lann was wandering freely as usual, and by the time he turned a corner from the garden’s trimmed hedges, Lady Galadriel was already standing on the bridge.

Her beautiful eyes looked down at the fallen leaves drifting along the gentle current.

Lann only paused slightly, then naturally walked to Lady Galadriel’s side.

”Good afternoon, my lady.”

”Good afternoon, Yadanisil.”

Galadriel looked up at Lann beside her with interest.

”Would you accompany me for a walk?”

”It would be an honor.”

They walked side by side on the small stone bridge, with red leaves falling not only into the pond but also onto the stone bridge.

The pond was so clear it reflected the entire sky, the stone bridge, and the people on the bridge.

”That sword.” As they walked, Lady Galadriel spoke, ”Please bring it out again, let me take a look.”

Even though Lann could sense that the Elf Queen beside him was deliberately restraining her power, when she spoke, her voice still carried an ethereal echo.

It was the reverberation of immense, high-quality power.

An Elf older than the sun and moon... perhaps the Elves of this world can indeed contend with Divine Beings, and maybe even triumph!

The Lady of the Lake’s Sword was drawn by Lann with one hand, its blade clear as lake water falling into Galadriel’s hand.

As soon as she took it, the Elf Queen’s lips curved into a slight, amused smile.

”This is not the form I initially taught her; I only taught her how to forge a sword, not a blade.”

”This blade was originally indeed a longsword.”

Lann said in astonishment, while glancing sideways at the Elf Queen.

”It’s just that my habits and skills are more suited to the blade form, so I had the Lady help me modify it... was this crafting technique taught by you?”

Galadriel played with the long blade in her hand, deftly and lightly.

Meanwhile, her face showed a smile of recollection.

”That was a long time ago.”

”I once followed many Villa and Vilya in Valinor to acquire knowledge... back then, I had no idea I would journey east to Middle-earth.”

”Nimmo suddenly appeared in Valinor during that time; we were both young, and she was among my few friends.”

”We chatted under the Two Holy Trees, and the Villa kindly regarded Nimmo, not minding my sharing with her the things I had learned.”

At this point, a smile of happiness and relief appeared on Galadriel’s face, the kind that often accompanies the elderly reminiscing about beautiful moments of the past.

But quickly, that smile was tinged with a bit of pride and teasing.

”Of course, Nimmo wasn’t particularly bright; she learned slowly and chaotically, hardly grasping anything... compared to me.”

During the shift of expression and tone, Lann closed his lips with a muffled ’pfft’ and immediately stifled even that sound.

He wasn’t foolish enough to speak at a time like this!

With a crisp ringing, Galadriel’s slender and graceful fingers tapped on Aron Dite’s blade.

A smile that seemed to enjoy her friend’s embarrassment hung at the corner of her mouth, making the holy and noble aura around her appear more approachable.

”You were brilliant, Lann. Nimmo messed up again. She dared to convert the blade shape I taught her into a blade without proper handling.”

”This was a technique taught to me by Auri, the God of Craftsmanship.”

Galadriel’s voice was low, mature, and steady.

Thus, her critique held a formidable impact.

Lann already felt the corners of his mouth twitching.

Galadriel and Lann stepped off the stone bridge, strolling into the garden meticulously trimmed, reflecting the artistic sensibilities of the Elves.

The Elf Queen held the blade backhanded and made a gentle slash. A shallow mark appeared on a green leaf by the path, not even cutting through the thickness of the leaf.

”Hmm, she also infused the sword with a unique magic... did she research it herself? It seems she made some progress.”

After a round of backhanded compliments, Galadriel suddenly halted in the garden.

Her lovely face bore no trace of the earlier teasing and mischief.

She looked down at the long blade cradled in her hands, her smile now one of pure reminiscence.

”Is she well now, Yadanisil?”

Galadriel spoke softly, her fingers gently brushing the blade of Aron Dite as if touching a dear friend.

”The Lady of the Lake is doing well now, my lady.”

Lann replied sincerely.

The Elf Queen responded with a grateful smile.

”Thank you.”