However, creating Horcruxes was not without side effects.
He discovered that as he split off a fragment of his soul, part of his rationality was also taken away, making him somewhat impulsive and reckless.
Like this rescue mission for Morinehtar, he had been quite incautious, nearly causing himself to fall into desperate straits.
And this was just from splitting off one soul fragment.
If he were to split off seven soul fragments like Voldemort, Kael couldn't imagine how much rationality would remain.
Kael looked at the palantír he had made into a Horcrux, feeling wary.
When he first created the Horcrux, he had considered making several more for extra insurance, perhaps choosing from the Crown of Wisdom, the golden cup, the Resurrection Stone, or Aeglos the Spear as containers for soul fragments.
Fortunately, he hadn't done so.
He decided this Horcrux would be his last and only one. He even needed to consider how to remedy the side effects of an incomplete soul.
Since Kael had only made one Horcrux, the side effects weren't too obvious. Apart from occasional impulsiveness and recklessness, his thinking and rationality weren't greatly affected.
But Kael didn't dare underestimate this situation. The lesson from rescuing Morinehtar was a warning. One careless moment could plunge him into desperate straits.
To resolve the side effects, there was one symptomatic treatment: taking Soul Stabilizing Potion.
Soul Stabilizing Potion was a magical brew that could ease soul shock and tearing pain. In the magical world, it was mainly used when someone's soul suffered severe impact or damage, providing stabilizing and restorative effects.
This potion could also ease the pain of soul splitting during Horcrux creation and help the creator maintain clarity and composure.
Voldemort was the greatest beneficiary of Soul Stabilizing Potion, specifically having the Potions Master Snape create extremely high-quality versions for him.
Of course, this method only treated symptoms, not the root cause, requiring long-term continuous use to alleviate the pain and side effects of soul damage.
This was like painkillers, temporarily masking soul pain without actually healing soul damage.
Besides Soul Stabilizing Potion, there was one method for completely repairing the soul: allowing the split soul fragment to reunite with the main soul, becoming whole again.
This method required not only specific magic but, more importantly, sincere, soul-deep repentance, with an extremely painful process.
But no one would choose this method.
After all, the original purpose was to split the soul to create Horcruxes. To reunite soul fragments afterward would make enduring soul-splitting agony pointless.
Naturally, Kael wouldn't choose to reclaim the soul fragment from his Horcrux over minor side effects.
More importantly, when creating the Horcrux, he had killed an orc. Should he repent for killing an orc? And with heartfelt repentance at that?
Kael felt this condition was too harsh for him.
So he didn't consider this method at all.
Besides these two approaches, Kael discovered his meditation also helped with soul damage.
Meditation could strengthen mental power and thereby strengthen the soul, naturally healing soul wounds as well.
But this process was extremely slow. Kael estimated it would take at least ten years to partially restore the split soul fragment.
This was only possible due to Kael's extraordinary meditation technique.
Kael decided that after collecting the "Salt of the Body" and creating the Philosopher's Stone to solve his lifespan problem, he would stay in his territory until his soul was fully healed.
But until then, he would follow Voldemort's example and create Soul Stabilizing Potion to temporarily stabilize the side effects of soul damage.
Soul Stabilizing Potion was an advanced magical brew, complex to make and extremely difficult, especially since some ingredients didn't exist in this world.
Kael spent two full months, with help from Radagast the Brown and Elrond, finding substitute materials and successfully brewing a cauldron of Soul Stabilizing Potion.
The Soul Stabilizing Potion appeared as a silver liquid. Kael drank a small vial of the potion, and cool energy surged to his head.
His mind became very clear, and the lingering pain from soul splitting after creating the Horcrux quickly disappeared.
He became composed and rational again, losing that impulsive, restless feeling.
But Kael knew this was temporary. One vial of Soul Stabilizing Potion only lasted a month. He needed continuous use to suppress the side effects of soul splitting.
One cauldron of potion only provided three months' worth of effects.
This meant he needed to brew more Soul Stabilizing Potion for regular consumption.
However, Kael temporarily didn't have more time for potion-making because the year was ending, with a new year approaching.
And Hildórien, humanity's birthplace, would appear when the new year's first ray of sunlight illuminated the earth.
Kael needed to reach Hildórien's location beforehand and successfully enter the Vale of Sleep.
Among the two Blue Wizards, after confirming his friend's safety, Rómestámo used Kael's Portkey to return early to the far eastern regions, preventing Sauron's forces from launching invasions during his absence.
Morinehtar was equally concerned about eastern affairs. After recovering at Rivendell for some time, despite Elrond's attempts to persuade him to stay, he followed suit and returned east.
However, since his staff had been taken, Elrond and Kael, considering he needed a staff, gave him Saruman's confiscated staff.
Saruman's staff didn't feel quite right in Morinehtar's hands, but for Morinehtar it was exactly what he needed, better than being completely unarmed.
So Morinehtar didn't refuse Elrond and Kael's kindness, gratefully accepting Saruman's staff.
Thus, Morinehtar's staff was taken by Saruman, while Saruman's staff fell into Morinehtar's hands, a strange reversal of fortunes.
After arranging affairs at Weathertop and Isengard and bidding farewell to Arwen and Elrond, Kael touched a silver brooch at his chest and vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he had arrived in the far eastern regions.
"Kael, welcome to the east!" Blue Wizards Rómestámo and Morinehtar greeted him with warm smiles.
They stood in a mountain forest, with a wooden hut behind the Blue Wizards.
This was a hilly mountain range on the southern shore of the Sea of Rhûn, where a herd of Araw cattle, descendants of Oromë's cattle, lived nearby.
Rómestámo's mount was one of them.
Both Rómestámo and Morinehtar welcomed Kael's arrival, inviting him into the wooden house to rest.
This hut was one of Rómestámo's secret strongholds. As opponents who had contended with Sauron in the east for years, the two Blue Wizards had countless hidden bases, constantly moving between them to maneuver against Sauron's forces.
Rómestámo specially served Kael with Araw bull milk. This milk had magical properties. Long-term consumption would greatly increase one's strength.
So many people coveted Araw cattle. Even nearby Easterling tribes and kingdoms had extensively captured Araw cows to cultivate strongmen.
Of course, as descendants of Oromë's cattle, Araw bulls were not only powerful and fast, but their sharp horns could easily pierce lions, tigers, and other fierce beasts, making them virtually invincible on the plains.
So capturing Araw cattle wasn't so easy.
Drinking the milk, Kael could feel mysterious substances within it slowly strengthening his power.
However, since Kael's constitution had long been enhanced by Ent-draughts to match ordinary elves, the milk's effects weren't very obvious.
But with long-term consumption, it should significantly increase his strength.
Though Kael was a wizard, who would refuse becoming a strongman?
He thought that after completing this mission, perhaps he could capture some Araw cattle to raise at Isengard.
Inside the hut, Rómestámo served Kael with Araw bull milk.
Meanwhile, Morinehtar fulfilled his earlier promise, taking out a golden bow and handing it to Kael.
The golden bow seemed made of gold yet possessed flexibility, carved throughout with exquisite patterns and mysterious symbols, accompanied by three silver arrows.
"The bow body is crafted from wood grown in Valinor, the bowstring woven from tail hair of the Valar's horses, and these three silver arrows are used with the bow," Morinehtar explained.
"Originally this bow had twelve silver arrows. When we crossed the Misty Mountains traveling east, we used one silver arrow to kill an orc chieftain blocking our path. In the east, we used another to kill a tyrannical Easterling king, and during multiple invasions from Mordor, we used seven more silver arrows. Now only these three remain."
"Silver arrows with the golden bow need no aiming to hit their mark. They can shoot very far. If your will is strong enough, you can hit targets even thousands of miles away."
Hearing Morinehtar's introduction, Kael's eyes lit up.
This was practically a divine artifact for long-range attacks, functioning like a casualty weapon with perfect accuracy.
The silver arrows were extremely fast, faster than wind, and impossible to track with the naked eye. By the time one reacted, they'd already been struck.
Unfortunately, this bow couldn't harm Sauron, or he'd want to shoot an arrow toward Mordor right now.
Besides the three silver arrows, the golden bow could use other ordinary arrows. Though they couldn't take heads from thousands of miles like silver arrows, they still hit their mark unfailingly.
After accepting Morinehtar's gift, Kael reciprocated by giving them two sapphire brooches.
The sapphire brooches were Portkeys. In emergencies, tapping three times would activate them, instantly teleporting the user to Isengard.
The two Blue Wizards greatly appreciated Kael's gift, as these were life-saving items.
Kael didn't linger long. After bidding farewell to the two Blue Wizards, he headed further east, preparing to reach Hildórien before the new year arrived.
As for Morinehtar and Rómestámo, they continued maneuvering against Sauron and his forces in the far eastern regions.
Recently, Easterling tribes loyal to Sauron seemed to have received commands from Mordor, beginning large-scale mobilizations with signs of attempting to reclaim all Easterling territories in one stroke.
So the two Blue Wizards were preparing to organize resistance forces and sabotage Mordor's schemes.