Gandalf saw this scene and couldn't help but ask, "Sylas, are you sure? You want to make this your territory?"
Thorin, who was beside him, also looked up at Sylas.
People with strength in Middle-earth would establish their own strongholds or territories. It was surprising to Thorin that powerful Wizards like Gandalf and Sylas still didn't have their own spheres of influence.
Sylas shook his head, "It's not really a territory, just a stronghold, a place where I can always return to rest my feet."
"Then you must be mentally prepared. Once the news of Amon Sûl Tower's reappearance spreads throughout the wilderness, many factions will turn their attention to you, some with good intentions, others with malice. At the same time, many people will seek refuge and protection from you. These are all things you will have to face in the future."
Gandalf earnestly reminded Sylas.
Hearing Gandalf's words, Sylas frowned.
He hadn't expected that merely establishing a stronghold would cause so much trouble, making him regret making the decision so quickly.
However, he was unwilling to give up this place.
So, he could only take things as they came.
Bilbo and the dwarves, who had been touring the tower, finally returned. The dwarves slumped onto the sofa, panting, and exclaimed, "Sixty floors, a full sixty floors! It's exhausting!"
"Yes, climbing such a tall building is more tiring than making me chop down 60 Orcs!"
"Seriously, they should build an elevator here, otherwise, climbing all these floors will literally kill us from exhaustion!"
The dwarves commented, one after another.
Bilbo was also panting, but he looked somewhat excited. He came to Sylas and shared enthusiastically, "Sylas, we climbed all the way to the top of the tower! The top is so high, it feels like I can touch the clouds, and I can also see the main road down the mountain and even farther!"
"Oh, right, we also saw a huge stone platform at the top of the tower. There's a depression in the center of the platform. Balin said that's where the Palantír used to be placed…"
Hearing the dwarves and Bilbo, Sylas was also a little astonished.
This tower actually had sixty floors. If he really had to climb the stone stairs floor by floor, he would genuinely be exhausted.
If he was truly going to live here, he would have to consider installing an elevator.
Thinking this, Sylas began to consult the dwarves. After all, when he was in the Blue Mountains, he had seen the dwarves' very complex elevators and pulley systems that could go straight down a thousand meters underground, which were no worse than the elevators of his previous life.
And the dwarves did not disappoint Sylas, directly stating it was a small problem. After the Lonely Mountain quest was finished, they could completely help design and build an automatic ascending and descending staircase for the tower.
However, Sylas also had another plan. He intended to open a fireplace on each floor and then connect each floor's fireplace together to form a localized Floo Network.
This way, he could directly use the fireplace to go to whichever floor he wanted.
The only drawback was that it consumed a bit of Floo Powder.
Late at night, the full moon shone brightly.
Sylas ascended to the thousand-foot-high tower top for the first time.
This was a semi-enclosed observatory. Standing on the observatory, to the east was the boundless Lone Lands, to the south were the Midgewater Marshes and the East-West Road, to the west were the Chetwood and Bree Town, and to the north were rolling hills.
The strong wind howled around him, and the clouds were level with the tower. Looking up at the sky, the stars and the moon seemed within reach.
In the center of the observatory was a massive stone platform with a depression in its center, which was once used to house a Palantír.
The Palantír was a treasure crafted by Elven artisans. It allowed the user to see distant objects, unimpeded by terrain or buildings, and could even show past events.
After the destruction of the Númenórean Empire, Elendil brought seven Palantíri to Middle-earth. He left three of them in the Kingdom of Arnor and gave the other four to his sons who ruled in the south, for transmitting information and strengthening communication.
The three Palantíri of the Kingdom of Arnor were placed in three important locations within the kingdom, one of which was Amon Sûl Tower on Weathertop.
It was not until the fall of the Kingdom of Arnor that these Palantíri were scattered and lost.
One of them fell into the hands of the Dark Lord Sauron, and another into the hands of the White Wizard Saruman. Through the Palantíri they possessed, they observed the situation throughout Middle-earth, effectively winning battles from afar.
"If I have the chance, I'd really like to get a Palantír to study." Sylas looked at the empty depression in the stone table, filled with curiosity about the Palantír.
After admiring the tower top, Dui began his official work.
He took out a bag of full moonstone and placed it on the stone platform, allowing it to be illuminated by the moonlight.
Here, the moonlight seemed even brighter, shining on the full moonstone and refracting an even more brilliant glow, illuminating the entire tower top.
The full moonstone shimmered under the night sky, soaking in the moonlight until it gleamed with a radiant blue-silver glow, like moonlight itself had been captured and condensed into crystal.
As the moon reached its zenith, casting its fullest light, Sylas stepped forward with purpose. He laid out his ingredients: serpent fangs, silky strands of spider thread, and the glowing full moonstone. With practiced hands, he placed them into a small iron cauldron and carved ancient runes of Power and Creation into the bottom using his wand.
Then, with a quiet incantation, Sylas summoned magical flames beneath the cauldron.
The ingredients began to burn steadily. The snake fangs cracked and crumbled into ash. The spider silk shriveled away into smoke. The luminous full moonstone fractured into countless shards, its radiance dimming into fine silvery dust.
Once the mixture was fully scorched, Sylas extinguished the fire and carefully transferred the contents into a stone mortar. Using a pestle, he ground everything down into a glittering, silvery-gray powder.
Floo Powder.
The first successful batch he had ever made in Middle-earth.
Eager to test it, Sylas looked around. At the top of the newly restored tower, Hogwarts Tower, as he had named it, there stood an old beacon brazier, large and stone-lined, much like a traditional wizarding fireplace. It would do nicely.
With a flick of his wand, he magically linked the brazier to the fireplace on the tower's first floor.
He ignited the beacon's fire, which burst into life with orange embers. Then, he took a small pinch of Floo Powder and tossed it into the flames.
WHOOSH!
The fire flared emerald green.
Sylas cautiously extended his hand into the flames, and felt not heat, but a cool, tingling breeze.
Encouraged, he stepped fully into the fire and called out clearly, "The first floor!"
The familiar swirling sensation of Floo travel seized him. In the blink of an eye, Sylas stumbled out of the first-floor fireplace, slightly dizzy and coughing from the burst of soot.
"Cough, cough! Ugh…" He waved away the ash clinging to his robes. "I suppose that's a success... though perhaps a bit messier than expected."
From the nearby sofa, Gandalf chuckled, puffing on his pipe as though he'd been waiting all along.
"It seems you've done it," the old wizard said, eyes twinkling beneath his wide-brimmed hat.
Sylas grinned and pulled the small glass bottle of powder from the pouch at his side.
"Care to give it a try?" he asked with a sly grin. "I hear Bree is lovely this time of night."
Gandalf's eyes sparkled like a mischievous child. "More than eager!"
Together, they each took a pinch of powder and stepped into the green flames.
"The Prancing Pony!"
"The Prancing Pony!"
Two flashes of green fire later, the living room fell silent once more, save for the faint crackling of the fireplace and the drifting scent of pipe smoke.