Chapter 347: The Elven Banquet
At present, Kull was thoroughly satisfied with George in every aspect.
He had strength, and he had wisdom.
If George were an elf, Kull would have certainly chosen him as the son-in-law of the Grey Elf Kingdom and would have married his daughter, Lucien, to him.
Only someone as outstanding as George was worthy of his daughter.
Unfortunately, George was not an elf, but a human. Human lifespans are limited—even if he was brilliant, decades later he would be nothing but a handful of dust.
That's why he had just sighed inwardly—how unfortunate that someone as exceptional as George wasn't an elf, but a human.
That night, Kull held a grand banquet at the Thousand Stone Cavern to formally welcome George to the Grey Elf Kingdom.
By now, George was no longer "just a mere human"—he was a human sorcerer who embodied both power and wisdom, and had shown the Grey Elves the way forward.
In fact, he was starting to resemble the future Grey-robed Gandalf in some ways.
The elven banquet was lavish beyond words. The banquet hall was encrusted with all manner of rare and precious treasures, and the elven nobles attending were all stunningly handsome men and beautiful women—a delight to the eyes.
As for the food, it was incredibly abundant, with all kinds of exotic fruits, desserts, and carefully prepared meats.
Yes, elves ate meat too.
He used to think, based on movies, that elves were vegetarians who only ate fruits, vegetables, and grains—but based on his recent understanding, elves did eat meat.
Elves would also hunt wild goats, boars, and similar beasts, then cook and consume them.
In the eyes of elves, animals had life, but so did trees and plants—they were all equal. So it made no sense to only eat fruit and grain but not animals.
George also saw some uniquely elven magical foods at the banquet.
For instance, the Lembas biscuits made with special magic, and the Miruvor nectar wine.
Just a small piece of Lembas could provide enough energy to sustain one for days without eating.
And Miruvor could quickly dispel fatigue and restore vitality.
The atmosphere of the entire banquet was excellent. There were no cliché moments of noble elven youths trying to pick a fight with him out of jealousy. Given the strength George had demonstrated earlier, no elf was foolish enough to try.
To be honest, watching a group of beautiful men and women sing and dance was a joy in itself.
Especially Lucien's solo performance—her voice seemed magical, enchanting everyone present. Her singing was so beautiful it made George feel like his ears were becoming pregnant.
If it weren't for his strong willpower and lofty goals, he might've had the impulse to marry Lucien on the spot and have her sing and dance for him every day.
He genuinely liked girls with Lucien's kind of personality.
It's just that the timing wasn't right.
In many stories, villains often say: no matter how powerful someone is, once they have loved ones and children, they have weaknesses—and those weaknesses are easily exploited.
The protagonists usually refute this by saying: it's because of loved ones and children that one gains responsibility and motivation, which unleashes even greater power.
As for George, he leaned more toward the former.
Especially given his unique situation—he had avatars in different worlds. If he had no emotional attachments, then at critical moments, abandoning one of his avatars wouldn't matter.
But if he had such attachments, he could no longer act so freely. Even when trying to grow stronger, he'd have to be far more cautious.
For instance, if the avatar he had in this world got together with Lucien and even had a child, what would happen if he died in a future battle against Morgoth, or in a conflict with the gods and Eru Ilúvatar?
That was very different from other cases. Like those teachers and classmates in the Harry Potter world—if they were separated, they might never meet again, but that was fine. At most, he'd feel a bit nostalgic from time to time.
In the World of the Mage's Apprentice, he had already secluded himself in the deep mountains and forests. The same applied to his guild friends in the Fairy Tail world. As for Academy City and Card World, there wasn't much attachment at all.
So, in his heart, he thought: at the very least, he needed to attain the strength to freely travel between all his avatar worlds before considering marriage and children.
That way, if anything happened, he could first bring his wife, children, and some important loved ones to another world.
"George, come dance with me!"
As the banquet reached its climax, the elves began inviting partners to dance. After rejecting a slew of invitations, Lucien saw George drinking alone and walked over.
"I'm not very good at dancing."
George politely declined the invitation.
But Lucien grabbed him and laughingly pulled him into the dance floor.
"It's fine! Besides my mother, I'm the best dancer in the kingdom. I can teach you."
"Alright then."
Looking at Lucien's innocent smile, George had no choice but to agree.
Sitting on the throne, Kull frowned the moment he saw this and was about to rise when Melian beside him gently pressed him back down.
"No need to be so tense. George doesn't seem like an ordinary human. Besides, there are some things you can't stop just by trying to."
After a long period of observation, Melian had already noticed something unusual about George. The vitality radiating from his body was far too strong—absolutely not something a normal human could possess.
She even suspected that George might be a Maia disguised as a human, sent to Middle-earth.
Hearing his wife Melian's words, Kull thought for a moment and sighed, sitting back down.
"Lucien, I want to ask the Queen for guidance in magic. Would that be inappropriate?"
As George gradually became more adept under Lucien's guidance, he straightforwardly asked her.
One of his main goals in coming to the Grey Elf Kingdom was to seek Melian's magical guidance.
Kull still needed a week to gather the Grey Elf army to march on Dorthonion, and George wanted to seize this opportunity.
"Of course not! Mother's very kind. After the banquet, I'll take you to her myself."
Lucien led George in dancing across the floor, completely unbothered.
George thought for a moment:
"Better tomorrow."
Going with Lucien to see Melian late at night felt somewhat inappropriate.
Though Melian was Lucien's mother, as a Maia, she didn't age at all. Just by appearances, she looked about the same age as Lucien.
The next morning, George, accompanied by Lucien and Galadriel, arrived at Queen Melian's garden.
Back in Valinor, Melian had lived in the Gardens of Lórien, tending to rare and wondrous flora.
So she didn't normally live in the Thousand Stone Cavern underground, but rather in a secret garden in the forest, modeled after Lórien's gardens.
Normally, only Kull, Lucien, and Galadriel could come and go freely from this garden.
(End of Chapter)