The portrait Arwen painted of Luke was carefully framed and hung in his private drawing room. As for the portrait Luke created for Arwen, she tucked it away, planning to take it back to Rivendell for safekeeping.
The painted Arwen often seemed to shuttle between the two frames, sometimes appearing with Luke in his portrait, sometimes with herself in Arwen's, or even vanishing together, seemingly off on a secret date elsewhere. Luke found himself incredibly envious. Here he was, working tirelessly, while his painted counterpart enjoyed an endless leisure of romantic excursions.
In the days that followed, Luke also painted portraits of his companions: Sulond the giant eagle, Smaug the dragon, Herpo the basilisk, and even the Kraken from the Black Lake at the foot of the mountain. At Smaug's insistence, Luke even painted golden mountains into Smaug's portrait. Luke found the sight of his painted dragon rolling ecstatically in gold so over-the-top that he felt too embarrassed to display that particular portrait in the main hall. With the portrait-making complete, Luke turned his attention to a new endeavor.
Next, Luke prepared to begin crafting the alchemical items he had acquired through his sign-ins: the Ravenclaw Diadem and the Hufflepuff Gold Cup. These two alchemical tools represented the pinnacle of magical achievement for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively. Their creation was incredibly complex and time-consuming, making it impossible to produce both simultaneously. Luke had to choose one as his immediate focus.
He hesitated briefly between the two. The Ravenclaw Diadem could enhance the wearer's wisdom, significantly stimulating their cognitive potential and accelerating thought processes.
This would be invaluable for learning new knowledge and mastering magic. The Hufflepuff Gold Cup was equally powerful, possessing not only potent healing abilities but also the capacity to absorb and store magical energy, nourishing the user's body and magic. Not to mention its ability to conjure magical delicacies and fine wines. It was a formidable magical item, combining life-saving, nourishing, and practical uses.
However, Luke ultimately decided to prioritize the Ravenclaw Diadem. While the Hufflepuff Gold Cup was powerful, its benefits were primarily defensive, and its nourishing effects on body and magic manifested gradually over long-term use, offering little immediate impact.
The Ravenclaw Diadem, conversely, could allow Luke to push his mental and intellectual capabilities to their limit, granting him higher intelligence and leading to significant improvements in a short period. He also reasoned that once the Ravenclaw Diadem was successfully made, its enhanced wisdom would make the creation of the Hufflepuff Gold Cup much simpler.
Having made his decision, Luke began preparing the necessary components for the diadem. Arwen, intrigued by the prospect of creating a magical item that could enhance wisdom, readily joined him as his assistant.
Luke first retrieved an exquisite and ornate holy white crown. The entire crown was a luminous silver, appearing as if woven from the branches of sacred white trees. Lifelike broad and narrow leaves intertwined, their bends and folds remarkably natural, giving the impression of rustling in a gentle breeze.
At the center of this holy white tree crown was embedded a dazzling white diamond, sparkling with starlight. The gem's glow was brilliant yet not overpowering, like a captured star within the crown. This was the crown Galadriel had gifted him after the castle's completion, a piece designed by Arwen herself, with the white diamond infused with starlight by Galadriel's magic.
So gorgeous and precious was it that Luke usually kept it in storage, only wearing it for important festivals or occasions. He planned to use this crown as the base for the Ravenclaw Diadem.
Next, Luke took a bottle of the spiritual mercury collected from Mithlond. He meticulously engraved runes onto the crystal bottle using a mithril solution, then placed it atop the tallest Amon Sûl Tower to absorb moonlight for purification. This process would remove impurities, leaving behind only pure spiritual energy.
Under the runes' influence, the moonlight was drawn into the crystal bottle like liquid silver, merging with the spiritual mercury and slowly cleansing it of emotions and memories. This purification would continue for a full month, until the moonlight had completely refined the mercury.
During this period, Luke used mithril as ink to carefully draw intricate magic patterns onto the crown, covering every leaf and branch of the holy white tree design. Using his magic wand as a pen and his own magic as ink, he enchanted the white diamond at the crown's center, engraving runes representing "knowledge," "enlightenment," and "discrimination."
Then, Luke journeyed to Lothlórien, Rivendell, and Mithlond, seeking out the four wise elders: Lady Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond, and Círdan. He sought their deepest understanding of wisdom and their most profound memories of knowledge. These memories from the wise elders were then carefully infused into the crown's central jewel.
After the spiritual mercury was purified by moonlight, Luke submerged the crown in it, allowing the crown to absorb the spiritual energy. The light of wisdom emanating from the crown's jewel grew increasingly bright, causing anyone bathed in its glow to experience clearer minds and faster thinking.
Once the crown had absorbed the pure spiritual mercury, Luke awaited the auspicious night when Mercury would appear in the sky. In Middle-earth, Mercury was also known as Elen-Míri, "Star-jewel," a name given by Varda, the Valar's star goddess, for her firstborn children. In the magical world's astronomy and astrology, Mercury symbolized thinking and communication and was known as the "star of wisdom."
On a night when Mercury was ascendant, Luke and Arwen ascended to the highest tower of Amon Sûl. On the vast stone platform, Luke used mithril to draw three concentric magic circles with the crown at their center.
The outermost layer was engraved with runes symbolizing wisdom, designed to gather spiritual energy. The middle layer depicted a "thinking circuit," resembling the intricate neural patterns of a brain, connecting to the central crown to create an energy conduction pathway. The innermost layer bore the "Resonance Core," a ring formed by two entwined snakes, constructed from countless runes, serving as the energy hub of the entire magic circle.
When Mercury reached its zenith in the sky, its starlight streamed down onto the formation on the stone platform. Luke placed his staff against the formation, chanted an ancient spell, and poured his magical power into the circles through the staff.
The formation activated, emitting a dazzling silver light that shot skyward, illuminating the entire tower and echoing with Mercury in the heavens.
The planet suddenly became incredibly luminous, its light even surpassing that of Eärendil, the brightest star in the sky. Blue starlight descended, guided and projected into the formation, causing the runes to illuminate one by one, forming a stable magical field.
Such a massive magical display, with its towering pillar of starlight, drew varied reactions from those who witnessed it across Middle-earth. Apart from Galadriel, Elrond, and others who were aware of the situation, everyone else speculated about its meaning. Those in Hogsmeade at the foot of Weathertop, in particular, gazed at the pillar of starlight on the castle tower in shock and awe, recognizing it as the work of their mysterious lord.
Luke, oblivious to the outside world, struggled to channel his magical power, maintain the formation, and guide more astrological energy into the crown. However, he had clearly underestimated the energy demands of the crown.
His magical power rapidly depleted, leaving him feeling exhausted. Arwen, standing nearby, noticed Luke's struggle. Her face etched with concern, she immediately raised her wand and continuously channeled her own magical power into the formation, alleviating Luke's strain.
As the daughter of Elrond and the granddaughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, Arwen possessed formidable bloodline powers, her total magical reserves even surpassing Luke's. With her magic added, Luke felt the pressure ease and breathed a sigh of relief.
As time passed, the astral power within the formation intensified, flowing continuously into the crown. The crown grew increasingly extraordinary, especially its central white gemstone. The light of wisdom it emitted became brighter and brighter. Both Luke and Arwen, standing outside the formation, could feel their minds working faster.
The ritual continued into the latter half of the night, until Mercury began its descent westward, and the projected starlight gradually faded, finally ceasing. The formation's runes dimmed once more, becoming inert, leaving only the crown lying quietly at its center.
The crown's appearance had subtly changed. The white diamond now shone more subtly, no longer as overtly dazzling, emitting only a faint blue light. Yet, upon closer inspection, one could perceive that the gem contained an endless wellspring of wisdom, instantly clearing the mind and sparking inspiration.
Luke stepped forward, knelt, picked up the crown, and examined it carefully. "Luke, did it succeed?" Arwen asked curiously.
"You'll know after trying it," Luke replied, then placed the crown upon his head.
In an instant, Luke felt his consciousness elevate infinitely. The speed of his thoughts accelerated countless times, and his comprehension of knowledge and efficiency in analyzing problems reached an unparalleled level.
Not only that, he gained the ability to perfectly recall everything he perceived. Memories once buried deep in his mind surged forth with perfect clarity. If his memory had merely improved to the speed of an electric car after his time travel, now, wearing the crown, it felt as though he were strapped to a rocket, possessing the most brilliant mind imaginable.
"How is it, Luke? How do you feel?" Arwen looked at him with concern.
Luke found it difficult to articulate the sensation. He calmly replied, "I feel like the door to wisdom has been opened to me, and endless knowledge is at my fingertips."
Arwen noticed that after Luke put on the crown, he seemed like a different person, with no significant emotional fluctuations, which worried her slightly. When Luke saw her concerned expression, he removed the crown from his head. His calm eyes instantly regained their natural warmth and emotional expressiveness.
He reassured her, "Don't worry, this is just a side effect of wearing the crown. While it enhances wisdom, it inevitably allows rationality to take precedence, suppressing emotional fluctuations and making one more rational. But once you take off the crown, you'll recover immediately, and your character won't be affected."
As he spoke, he placed the crown on Arwen's head so she could experience it. With the crown upon her, Arwen's demeanor also transformed. Her eyes deepened and became calmer, and her aura grew cold and distant, like a goddess on snow-capped mountains, exuding pure wisdom and insight. For a moment, Arwen bore a striking resemblance to Galadriel.
Arwen didn't wear the crown for long before taking it off, instantly transforming back into the gentle Princess Evenstar. She held the crown in both hands, smiling brightly, and congratulated Luke.
"Congratulations, Luke, you've created a truly magical object! Such a treasure that can increase wisdom is enough to attract many who seek knowledge!" She added, "By the way, are you going to give it a name?"
Luke shook his head. "The crown is a joint work of ours. I hope you can help me choose its name this time, so it will bear both our names for the rest of its existence!"
Arwen's eyes crinkled with a radiant smile, and she did not refuse Luke's request. She looked at the exquisite crown in her hand, her red lips parting slightly as she pronounced its name: "Racas Golwon."
"Racas Golwon? The Crown of Wisdom?" Luke was surprised for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "What a beautiful name!"