Gandalf had long witnessed the power of Luke's Vow Charm, which could make even the great dragon Smaug submit.
Now, upon hearing about the Fidelius Charm, a contract magic used to protect secrets, he immediately urged Luke to cast the spell.
Everyone else also looked at Luke with anticipation.
After all, if the One Ring could truly be kept secret, there would be no need to worry about Sauron finding it.
"The Fidelius Charm requires a Secret Keeper to store the secret of the One Ring deep within their soul. As long as the Secret Keeper does not reveal the secret, outsiders will be unable to know its contents. Does anyone here wish to be the Secret Keeper?"
Luke finally asked for everyone's opinion.
The role of the Secret Keeper was crucial, but none of the people present were likely to reveal secrets.
Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond, and Celeborn were especially ideal candidates, not only powerful and wise but also righteous figures.
So Luke did not care who was chosen as the Secret Keeper.
However, he did not expect that the very people he had in mind would exchange a knowing glance and then, by unspoken agreement, turn their gaze to Luke.
Gandalf, in particular, spoke for the others, saying cheerfully, "One matter, one master. We don't know much about the Fidelius Charm, so it's best if Luke you take on the role of Secret Keeper."
Me? Luke was also surprised.
He hadn't expected them to give the position of Secret Keeper to him in the end.
Although it was somewhat unexpected, Luke did not refuse. A Secret Keeper it would be.
Anyway, he wasn't worried that anyone could force him to reveal the secret.
Once decided, Luke formally began the secrecy ritual.
There were eight people present: Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, Bilbo, Legolas, Arwen, and Luke himself.
Luke had Bilbo place the One Ring on the ground, then, with the One Ring as the center, everyone formed a circle, placing their hands together.
He then placed his magic wand on their hands and began to chant the spell.
As the incantation was recited, a silver-gray light trailed from the tip of the wand, solidifying upon landing, like a circle cast from moonlight, enveloping everyone within it.
"By soul as a box, hide this secret until the end." Luke silently recited his name and the oath.
As soon as his voice fell, a point of silver light shot out from each person within the light circle, converging and directly merging into Luke.
Everyone instantly felt an emptiness within, as if some secret had been taken from them.
At the same time, the light circle surrounding everyone instantly contracted, transforming into a thin ring that drilled into Luke's heart.
Luke only felt that something had been added to his soul, and only he held the key to unlock it.
"All right, it's done!" Luke withdrew his magic wand and said.
"Is that all?" Legolas asked in surprise.
"You can try telling someone else," Luke said with a smile.
Legolas opened his mouth, trying to speak the secret of the One Ring, but found that there seemed to be some kind of restriction binding him, preventing him from revealing even a tiny bit of the secret.
The others also tried curiously and, like Legolas, could not speak the secret of the One Ring.
"Madam, how do you feel?" Gandalf asked Galadriel with a chuckle.
Galadriel revealed a brilliant smile, nodding in praise: "A very unique and magical contract magic. It hid all the secrets about the One Ring in our hearts deep within Luke's soul. I don't think I can find a way to break it either."
The others were even more surprised and relieved to hear this. To receive such high praise from Lady Galadriel, the One Ring must be even safer.
And the following scene made everyone completely at ease.
When the elf Haldir came to inform everyone that they could attend the dinner, even though the One Ring was placed on the table in front of him, he ignored it as if he could not see it.
Even when Celeborn specifically asked him what he saw on the table, Haldir shook his head, saying he saw nothing.
With the hidden danger resolved, the atmosphere among everyone became relaxed and pleasant.
In the time that followed, everyone finally had time to immerse themselves in the beautiful scenery of Lórien.
Here there were eternally green trees and grass, eternally blooming flowers, and golden Mallorn trees.
Mallorn trees, besides Lórien, only grew in the holy land of Valinor in the West, and were said to be related to one of the two trees, the Golden Tree.
Mallorn trees were not only tall and beautiful, but also magic trees containing magic. From Luke's perspective as a wandmaker, they were simply the best material for making magic wands!
If the wand masters of the magic world were to see this entire forest of Mallorn trees, they would probably go crazy, like a mouse entering a rice bin.
Speaking of magic wand making, Luke had already begun making magic wands for Arwen and the others these past few days.
After all, debts must be repaid as soon as possible to feel at ease.
And upon hearing that Luke was going to make a magic wand for Arwen, Galadriel directly sent a section of Mallorn tree core, taken from a branch of the tallest and largest Mallorn tree where Galadriel and Celeborn resided.
Looking at the five-meter-long tree core, Luke's eyes lit up.
How many magic wands could be made from such a long tree core?
And as the oldest Mallorn tree in Lórien, this section of tree core contained immense magic, and the magic wands made from it would surely be powerful.
Elrond, on the other hand, gave Luke an even greater surprise: he actually sent a branch of the White Tree.
According to Elrond, this branch was taken from the first White Tree in the southern kingdom of Gondor.
The branch was entirely white, and Elrond must have preserved it remarkably, as it remained active even after such a long time.
Luke was very pleasantly surprised to encounter two top-tier magic wand making materials at once.
He decided that while making magic wands for Arwen and the others, he could also make a few more magic wands, either for himself or for others in the future.
He could even consider replicating Ollivander's wand shop, becoming the only wand shop in Middle-earth.
Of course, to obtain a magic wand made by him, it could not merely be bought with money, unless one could trade with conditions that satisfied Luke.
After all, every magic wand he now agreed to make for others had garnered him a considerable reward.
This was the value of a monopoly.
Making one magic wand and making a batch of magic wands actually didn't take much more time; besides some steps that required manual work, other steps could be done simultaneously.
Thus, the making of magic wands for Arwen, Elrohir, Elladan, and Legolas proceeded in parallel.
For this, Luke even summoned Elrohir and Elladan, who were staying in Rivendell, to Lórien to test their compatibility with the magic wand wood.
For the entire month that followed, Luke was busy making their magic wands.
During this period, Luke also did not forget to ask Elrond to heal the great dragon Smaug's injured wing.
"Of course, that's no problem. I'm quite curious about this great dragon you've tamed," Elrond said with a cheerful agreement.
To avoid Smaug scaring the elves of Lórien, Luke could not bring him into the forest.
So Luke and Elrond had to go outside the forest to find Smaug.
Luke gave the flying broom to Elrond to ride, while he himself transformed into an Animagus and flew over.
Elrond was very interested in the unique flying method of the flying broom. After Luke briefly explained the flying operation, he quickly mastered the flying method and followed Luke on the broom.
But even with the not-so-elegant method of flying on a broom, Elrond still looked pleasing to the eye, with graceful movements.
Luke could only sigh, elves truly are the most perfect race in this world; they can even be so elegant riding a broom.
Flying over the Golden Forest, the two found the great dragon Smaug hunting outside the forest.
Watching Smaug effortlessly bite a wild ox to death and skillfully roast it with dragon fire.
Elrond deeply sighed:
"Before, I was worried that your trip to the Lonely Mountain would anger this great dragon, thus causing a greater disaster, so I never approved of Gandalf's plan.
But I never expected that one trip to the Lonely Mountain would not only help the dwarves reclaim the Lonely Mountain, but also allow you to subdue a great dragon!"
"Luke, you have made history." Elrond looked at Luke, his eyes full of admiration,
"Great dragons are dark creatures created by Morgoth, cunning, violent, and malicious. In ancient times, they followed Morgoth, bringing misfortune and destruction, and were considered untamable powerful creatures."
"But Luke, you have successfully subdued a great dragon, something even Sauron failed to do."
Luke shook his head: "Lord Elrond, you flatter me. I merely relied on a little magic to fortunately make the great dragon submit. To speak of the greatest, it is none other than your father Eärendil. His feat of slaying the great dragon Ancalagon is truly admirable and inspiring!"
The great dragon Ancalagon was the first winged great dragon created by Morgoth, and also the largest great dragon. Legend says he was so large he could obscure the sun, the strongest great dragon in history.
During the War of Wrath, Morgoth's army was defeated by the Valar's army, so he released the dragon army led by Ancalagon to make a final stand.
Ancalagon led the great dragons to spew lightning, storms, and fire, once driving back the Valar's army.
At the critical moment, Eärendil, wearing the Silmaril, arrived on his flying ship and battled the great dragon Ancalagon. After fighting fiercely for a day and a night, he finally slew him before dawn.
Ancalagon's fall from high altitude, destroying several mountains, was enough to show how enormous his size was.
The great dragon Smaug was a tiny shrimp in front of him, not even worth mentioning.
Hearing Luke's praise, even though he knew it was flattery, a smile flickered in Elrond's eyes.
Elrond's life was full of hardships. When he and his twin brother Elros were young, enemies attacked and slaughtered their people, and their mother jumped into the sea with the Silmaril to commit suicide. The two brothers were abducted and raised by their enemies.
But after growing up, Elrond chose to become an elf, while his brother Elros chose to become human, and he experienced the pain of losing a loved one again.
After meeting his beloved and starting a family, having twins and a young daughter, his wife Celebrían was captured by Orcs and subjected to torture.
Although she was eventually rescued, she was physically and mentally exhausted and could only travel across the sea to Valinor to recuperate.
But even after suffering so many hardships and separations, Elrond's heart remained resilient and strong.
Although his father Eärendil's time with him was very short, he was deeply influenced by him and always persevered in the fight against evil. Getting back to the point, Luke and Elrond had just arrived beside the great dragon Smaug.
Smaug immediately launched into a series of complaints, grumbling that Luke was enjoying the good life in Lórien, yet had forgotten about him, the dragon.
He complained that he had to endure wind and rain while fending for himself.
Looking at Elrond's surprised and amused expression.
Luke felt a wave of embarrassment and snapped, "Shut up! I brought Lord Elrond to heal your wing. If you say one more word, we're going straight back!"
Hearing Luke's words, Smaug's eyes instantly lit up, and he immediately shut his mouth.
He had suffered enough from not being able to fly, but ever since his wing was pierced by the magic spear aeglos, the wound had been difficult to heal, and even flapping it was extremely painful.
Now that he heard it could be healed, he was naturally filled with anticipation and dared not complain anymore.
And Elrond, observing the interaction between the great dragon and Luke, commented with a smile, "Your great dragon is quite interesting!"
"He's just a stupid dragon, you're seeing me make a fool of myself," Luke said helplessly.
Smaug was indignant at the remark, but after Luke glared at him, he immediately pulled his head back and fell silent.