The moment that cosmic will settled upon him, Kael felt as though every secret he possessed had been laid bare like an open book. He stood exposed, stripped of all pretense and protection, completely vulnerable before a gaze that could peer into the very essence of his soul.
But he couldn't spare mental energy for such concerns right now. Instead, he found himself drowning in tremendous panic, experiencing the unknowable, irresistible helplessness that comes when a lower-dimensional being encounters something infinitely greater than itself.
Yet that overwhelming presence seemed to harbor no malice toward him, merely casting what felt like a curious, almost amused glance at his trembling form.
"Good!" A magnificent voice resonated directly within Kael's soul, carrying unmistakable notes of appreciation and approval. "You may visit my Halls of Mandos in the future, wizard from another world."
The words faded like echoes in a vast cathedral as the cosmic will withdrew its attention. Time, which had been frozen like a photograph, suddenly resumed its natural flow. Stalled winds began moving again, carrying the scent of mountain air and distant forests. The silent world regained its symphony of natural sounds.
Kael's heart hammered against his ribs, his emotions churning like a storm-tossed sea. The shock of what had just occurred left him reeling with disbelief.
Had that transcendent will belonged to the master of the Halls of Mandos himself? Námo, the Vala who served as keeper of the dead and judge of departed souls?
He hadn't expected that creating the Resurrection Stone would draw the direct attention of one of the Valar! The implications were staggering, both terrifying and exhilarating.
And with a single casual utterance, his greatest secret had been revealed. The cosmic being had seen through his carefully guarded origins as easily as reading words on a page.
"Wizard Kael? Wizard Kael?" Celebrimbor's melodious voice cut through his racing thoughts, bringing him back to the present moment. The elven spirit was regarding him with obvious concern and curiosity. "Are you quite alright? You seemed to drift away for a moment there."
Kael struggled to calm his turbulent emotions, taking several deep breaths before shaking his head. "I'm perfectly fine; I just got a bit distracted by the magnitude of what we've accomplished here."
But even as he spoke, he couldn't contain his growing excitement. Joy flashed in his eyes like lightning as he made an incredible discovery.
His soul had become significantly stronger during that brief cosmic encounter. The improvement was so dramatic it would normally require ten years of dedicated meditation and spiritual exercises to achieve naturally!
Along with his strengthened soul came a massive surge in mental power, his psychic capabilities expanding like a dam bursting open. Even his magical reservoir had grown substantially, able to contain and channel far more energy than before.
Just being observed by Mandos had produced such tremendous beneficial effects? The casual attention of a Vala could transform a mortal wizard so dramatically?
This was the true power of the Valar, beings who had helped shape the very foundations of reality itself!
Kael felt deeply shaken by this revelation, his understanding of cosmic hierarchy forever altered.
Suppressing his inner elation for the moment, Kael focused on explaining his purpose to the patient elven spirit before him.
"Master Celebrimbor, your craftsmanship is absolutely exquisite, capable of forging such powerful artifacts as the legendary Three Elven Rings. I humbly wish to learn advanced techniques from you so I might forge a ring of my own creation."
Celebrimbor had already guessed Kael's likely purpose for summoning him, but his ethereal features showed clear disapproval at the request.
"The craft of Rings of Power originally came from Sauron himself," the elf said with obvious distaste. "He once disguised himself as Annatar, Lord of Gifts, and came to my realm of Eregion with honeyed words and false friendship. He deceived me and my fellow elven smiths into helping him forge the Nine Rings for Men and Seven for Dwarves, weaving his corruption into their very essence."
His expression grew haunted with old pain and regret. "If I hadn't harbored growing suspicions about his true nature and forged the Three Elven Rings in secret, without his knowledge or influence, they might have been corrupted by Sauron's evil power just like all the other Rings of Power, ultimately becoming nothing more than tools for his domination."
"Even so, I couldn't be completely certain whether the Three Elven Rings I had created in secret might somehow be used against us by Sauron. So I scattered and hid them across Middle-earth, entrusting them to others I deemed worthy, taking a solemn vow never to use the three rings as long as Sauron held possession of the One Ring."
Celebrimbor's gray-blue eyes fixed on Kael with searching intensity. "Even knowing this dark history and the terrible risks involved, do you still wish to learn the art of forging Rings of Power?"
Kael nodded firmly without hesitation and withdrew the ring hanging on its chain around his neck, holding it up for the master craftsman to examine.
"This is another Ring of Power?" Celebrimbor showed genuine surprise upon seeing the golden band, leaning closer to study its construction with expert eyes.
But after careful observation that lasted several long minutes, he couldn't help frowning with obvious disappointment.
"The forger's skill level is clearly inadequate for such an ambitious undertaking. The design pursues power enhancement in a purely one-sided manner, making the final result deeply unsatisfactory from both aesthetic and functional perspectives. Whose amateur work is this supposed to be?"
"Saruman the White, a wizard who betrayed our cause and now collaborates openly with Sauron himself."
Kael provided a concise but comprehensive explanation of Saruman's fall from grace and current villainous status.
After absorbing this disturbing information, Celebrimbor sighed deeply with obvious sadness. He hadn't expected so many catastrophic events to unfold in the years since his death, the world continuing to spin toward darkness even without his presence.
Learning that the One Ring was no longer in Sauron's direct possession and that Kael maintained close friendships with both Galadriel and Elrond, Celebrimbor's resistance finally crumbled. He agreed to share his jealously guarded ring-forging techniques with this promising young wizard.
Securing Celebrimbor's agreement filled Kael with profound happiness that bubbled up from his very core.
He had coveted the incredible power of the Three Elven Rings for what felt like ages, but since all three artifacts were currently in the hands of people he cared about deeply, he couldn't very well covet them openly or attempt to claim them for himself.
Now, with the opportunity to receive direct instruction from the legendary master craftsman himself, he would eventually possess the knowledge to forge a ring that could rival the Three Elven Rings in both power and elegance.
Actually, Kael harbored secret ambitions to summon Fëanor as well, the creator of the legendary Silmarils and Celebrimbor's even more famous grandfather.
With that genius elven craftsman's collaboration and combined knowledge, perhaps they could forge rings far more powerful and sophisticated than even the Three Elven Rings that currently represented the pinnacle of such craftsmanship.
But the souls summoned by the Resurrection Stone weren't unlimited in scope. One couldn't simply summon whoever they wished on a whim like calling servants.
Rather, there needed to be close emotional connections linking the summoner with the deceased for the Resurrection Stone to successfully call forth the dead soul's projection.
Naturally, Kael possessed no personal emotional connection with Celebrimbor, having never met the elf during his lifetime. But he had discovered an ingenious workaround for this limitation through careful research and experimentation.
He had obtained precious memories of Celebrimbor directly from Galadriel herself, then skillfully implanted those recollections into his own consciousness through advanced memory magic.
Galadriel and Celebrimbor had been close friends during the Second Age. When Sauron had finally revealed his true malevolent nature to the world, Celebrimbor had scattered and hidden the Three Elven Rings based entirely on Galadriel's wise counsel, ultimately entrusting the Water Ring Nenya to her personal protection.
This demonstrated their deep, abiding friendship and mutual trust.
So Kael had carefully incorporated Galadriel's warm, friendly memories of Celebrimbor into his own mental landscape, artificially creating the emotional connection necessary for the summoning to succeed.
Though this emotional bond was technically false and manufactured, it proved equally effective for the Resurrection Stone's purposes.
The inspiration for this method had come from Professor Lockhart during Harry Potter's infamous second year at Hogwarts.
Lockhart had been a complete fraud who couldn't perform most basic magic competently, but due to his exceptional natural talent with memory charms, he had systematically stolen the adventures and achievements of genuinely powerful wizards. He altered their memories to claim their heroic deeds as his own experiences, successfully packaging himself as an elite wizard through pure deception.
With the Crown of Wisdom enhancing his intellectual capabilities, Kael naturally wouldn't prove inferior to a charlatan like Lockhart. After dedicating substantial time to practicing and researching memory magic, he had developed an incredibly deep understanding of how consciousness and recollection functioned.
With his current mastery of memory manipulation, he could theoretically make two mortal enemies fall desperately in love with each other simply by adjusting their mental associations.
So implanting some borrowed memories presented no significant technical challenge.
Of course, Kael understood that memories and brain function were critically important to maintaining one's identity and sanity. Carelessly stuffing foreign memories into his own mind could accidentally create dangerous split personality disorders or a complete mental breakdown.
So he approached this delicate work with extreme caution, only implanting the borrowed memories into the Crown of Wisdom itself rather than his biological brain.
Wearing the crown granted him access to those memories, while removing it caused them to fade away completely. The arrangement functioned like a portable storage device without risking permanent damage to his actual consciousness.
In the days that followed, Kael continuously summoned Celebrimbor's spirit to receive intensive instruction in advanced ring-forging techniques.
With his solid foundation in goblin metalworking methods and alchemical principles, plus his previous studies of Noldor crafting traditions and the Crown of Wisdom's constant enhancement of his learning abilities, Kael's skill level in ring creation improved at an almost supernatural rate.
Celebrimbor, serving as his instructor and mentor, found himself genuinely surprised by his student's rapid progress. He often sighed wistfully that if Kael had appeared during his actual lifetime, he would have immediately taken the young wizard as his personal apprentice to train an even more excellent master craftsman than himself.
After half a year of intensive study and practice, Kael finally began attempting to perfect and redesign the Ring of Power currently in his possession.
With his present skill level, he naturally couldn't yet independently forge completely new Rings of Power from raw materials. That level of mastery would require years of additional study and practice.
But he couldn't continue staying in his comfortable laboratories slowly researching theoretical principles. Having already spent enough precious time in academic pursuits, he needed to quickly venture eastward to locate the mysterious "Salt of the Body" and rapidly complete the Philosopher's Stone.
After all, as time continued its relentless march forward, his physical age was no longer that of a young man.
If he didn't want to eventually become a decrepit old wizard, he still needed to quickly achieve some form of longevity enhancement.
The Philosopher's Stone represented one promising path toward that goal. Using the Balrog's purified undying flames for phoenix-like rebirth offered another intriguing possibility.
But completely cleansing the evil corruption from the Balrog's undying flames would require nearly a full year of careful magical work.
During that extended waiting period, he couldn't afford to remain idle.
Under Celebrimbor's expert guidance, Kael systematically reshaped and improved Saruman's Ring of Power, redesigning its fundamental structure based on its existing magical properties while correcting numerous flaws in the original craftsmanship.
Kael's ultimate long-term goal involved aligning his work with the Three Elven Rings by eventually forging a complementary "Earth Ring." Since the Three Elven Rings corresponded to water, fire, and air elemental forces, his "Earth Ring" would naturally correspond to earth elemental magic, granting him control over geological and terrestrial powers.
However, with Kael's current abilities and knowledge, he couldn't yet forge such an ambitious and complex artifact.
But this limitation didn't prevent him from preparing the existing Ring of Power to eventually serve that greater purpose.
With Celebrimbor's patient instruction and centuries of accumulated wisdom, Kael successfully eliminated the major flaws plaguing Saruman's Ring of Power.
Though the ring's raw power output didn't increase substantially, it no longer placed dangerous physical burdens on whoever wore it. Kael could finally wear the artifact constantly on his finger instead of keeping it safely hanging on a protective chain.
Additionally, the improved Ring of Power could now store substantial quantities of magical energy, forming powerful defensive barriers when the wearer encountered serious danger.
The barrier's strength and duration depended entirely on how much magic the Ring of Power had accumulated in its reservoir.
With sufficient magical energy stored within, even when directly confronting Sauron himself, the wearer would have precious breathing room to respond before the stored magic was completely depleted.
Having this reliable life-saving capability gave Kael significantly more confidence for his upcoming eastern journey into dangerous, enemy-controlled territory.
So before departing for the Far East, Kael established a daily routine of pouring all his available magical power into the Ring of Power's storage matrix. He would then quickly restore his depleted magical reserves using the golden cup's restorative properties before continuing to channel more energy into the ring.
After maintaining this intensive charging regimen for over a month, ensuring the Ring of Power contained enough accumulated magic to guarantee his survival in worst-case scenarios, Kael finally felt ready to bid farewell to Arwen and begin his eastward journey.
For this potentially dangerous expedition, Kael made the strategic decision not to bring conspicuous companions like Smaug or Thorondor along.
The eastern regions fell squarely within Sauron's sphere of influence and control. Kael needed to remain as inconspicuous and hidden as possible to avoid drawing the Dark Lord's unwanted attention to his activities.
Otherwise, before successfully locating humanity's legendary birthplace of Hildórien and collecting the precious "Salt of the Body," he might find himself completely surrounded by Sauron's vast armies and supernatural servants.
Before departing on his quest, Kael contacted Gandalf to attempt to obtain useful information about the mysterious Blue Wizards from the Grey Pilgrim's vast network of contacts and knowledge.
But Gandalf explained with obvious regret that when he had first arrived in Middle-earth, the two Blue Wizards had already been firmly established in the far eastern regions for many years. Since he had focused his efforts primarily in western lands, they had maintained no meaningful interaction or communication over the centuries.
Gandalf suggested that Kael consult with Radagast the Brown instead, pointing out that the nature-loving wizard had arrived in Middle-earth even earlier than Gandalf himself and might possess more detailed knowledge about the Blue Wizards' activities and current whereabouts.
So Kael made his way to Radagast's rustic forest dwelling to seek the Brown Wizard's counsel and hopefully gain some useful intelligence.
Though Radagast strongly preferred staying deep within wild forests far from civilization, he maintained friendships with countless animals throughout Middle-earth and could learn tremendous amounts of outside news from his feathered and furry informants.
"Some years ago, a large flock of geese flew here from the Far Eastern regions and remained in my forest for quite a while during their migration," Radagast explained, his weathered face creasing with concentration as he searched his memories. "According to their reports, near the Sea of Rhûn there were people wearing blue robes who were actively leading local populations in uprisings and battles against occupying forces. You might want to search in that general area. Perhaps you'll be fortunate enough to locate them there."
Radagast had wracked his brains for most of the day trying to recall useful details until Kael placed the Crown of Wisdom on the Brown Wizard's head. Then suddenly his eyes lit up with realization, and he spoke with obvious satisfaction at having remembered something important.
"Thank you so much for this invaluable information," Kael said with genuine gratitude, finally having obtained some genuinely useful intelligence.
The eastern regions were absolutely vast in scope, covering thousands of miles of largely unmapped territory. Without some definite locations to investigate, Kael would have faced the impossible task of searching for two individuals across an entire continent.
Now with his search area narrowed to the vicinity of the Sea of Rhûn, at least he wouldn't be looking for needles in an infinite haystack.
After expressing his appreciation to Radagast and sharing some interesting stories about his recent adventures, Kael bid farewell to the Brown Wizard and officially set out on his eastward journey.
But before heading directly toward the far eastern regions and their unknown dangers, Kael planned to make a brief detour through Rohan's capital city for one final check-in at a location that might prove useful for his magical development.