Chapter 021: The Heir

A dwarf, the heir of Erebor?

When Wang Bo heard Xiaobai say this, he immediately thought of someone: Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, grandson of Thrór. By the way, “Oakenshield” was Thorin’s epithet.

In the Battle of Azanulbizar, Thorin’s shield broke, and he used an oak branch as a shield for defense, hence the name… Oakenshield.

Thus, Oakenshield was not Thorin’s surname.

His grandfather Thrór had once been king of the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor, so calling himself the heir of Erebor was not entirely wrong in a sense.

Wang Bo nodded and said, “Since they’ve come, let’s go meet them.”

Wang Bo, with Xiaobai, Elsa, and Anna, teleported to the treasure room of Erebor. In this hall piled with treasures and gold coins, besides Smaug guarding the hoard, there were also two portal doors.

One led to the world of Buds, and the other to Arendelle in the world of Frozen.

“You two go back today. Remember to give the rings to your parents.”

Elsa and Anna knew Wang Bo had important matters to attend to, so they stopped pestering him. Anna waved at Wang Bo and said, “Teacher, see you tomorrow.”

Then she pulled her sister and returned to Arendelle.

Wang Bo waved at the two girls. After they left, he looked up at Smaug sleeping on the treasure and couldn’t help shaking his head.

Ever since gaining magic, this fellow had become lazier and lazier, eating and sleeping every day—it was no exaggeration to call him gluttonous and lazy.

Without Wang Bo’s orders, he would rather die here than set foot outside the treasure room.

In a sense, he could be considered an ultimate shut-in dragon.

But what was infuriating was that even without training, Smaug’s magic grew stronger day by day. Though the progress was small, it was indeed progress. If calculated over the long years, perhaps after a hundred or eighty years, his magic would become even more powerful, and then he wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one fight with Sauron.

If Wang Bo didn’t train, his magic might stagnate, or even regress over time.

This truly echoed the old saying:

Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to fall back.

Thus it was clear that being a dragon and being a human were really damn different.

But fortunately, when he trained, his efficiency far exceeded Smaug’s.

After shaking his head, Wang Bo teleported away from the treasure room with Xiaobai. At that moment, Smaug slightly opened his eyes, shifted his position, and lazily fell back asleep.

Wang Bo arrived at the great hall of Erebor and sat on the throne, with Xiaobai sitting beside him.

In front of the throne stood a group of dwarves.

Besides them, there was an old man holding a staff. He wore a blue pointed hat, a gray cloak, a silver scarf, a white beard reaching his waist, and heavy black boots on his feet.

Additionally, Wang Bo saw a man who seemed out of place among the dwarves. His stature was similar to a dwarf’s, but he was clearly not a dwarf. This person should be the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

The dwarves were divided into two groups.

One group was the dwarves Wang Bo had recruited to forge weapons for him, numbering several dozen.

The other group was travel-worn dwarves who had come from outside, only a dozen or so, led by a man who looked quite dignified.

If Wang Bo guessed correctly, he was Thorin Oakenshield.

Wang Bo glanced at Thorin Oakenshield a few times. Though Thorin had some dignity, it meant nothing to Wang Bo. Moreover, Wang Bo didn’t have a good impression of this man.

In the original story, this fellow, together with the relatives of the key and Gandalf, found Bilbo Baggins and set out for Erebor, but he didn’t show enough leadership on the road.

At the same time, he didn’t act very wisely; in Mirkwood, he was the first to be captured by the Wood-elves.

Later, after Bard killed Smaug, Thorin retook Erebor and proclaimed himself King under the Mountain, but he didn’t share the treasure with Bilbo as promised; instead, he was corrupted by the treasure.

Thus, aside from being skilled in combat, this Thorin didn’t have much kingly bearing.

Perhaps he could be a good warrior, but not a good king.

In this regard, he was far inferior to his cousin Dáin Ironfoot.

After scanning Thorin a few times, Wang Bo’s gaze shifted to the white-haired old man’s face. The fact that he came to Erebor with Thorin and wore gray robes clearly indicated he was a legendary Maia.

The melee wizard, Gandalf the Grey.

This fellow was a Maia, and most Maiar had no fixed form or gender. However, to facilitate communication with humans, the Maiar took on the appearance of old human men and called themselves wizards.

But in reality, Maiar were largely unaffected by the passage of time.

Their power was also very high.

Of course, Gandalf’s power was not greater than Wang Bo’s, but Wang Bo was unwilling to offend Gandalf, mainly because Gandalf had backing—someone, or rather, a god.

The deity behind Gandalf was Manwë, the Lord of the Air!

In fact, these deities were also Ainur, angels created by Ilúvatar, the God who created the world of Middle-earth.

However, the fourteen most powerful of the Ainur, to distinguish themselves from the other Ainur, were called Valar.

Maiar were of the same kind as the Valar, but their power and rank were inferior to the Valar.

They were called Maiar, meaning “the people of the Valar,” and were their servants and helpers.

This was very much in line with the fact that the strong rule.

Although Gandalf and Manwë, the Lord of the Air, were of the same race, Gandalf’s power was less than Manwë’s, so he had to obey Manwë’s commands.

In fact, Sauron, the master of the One Ring, was also a Maia. His power far exceeded that of others in Middle-earth, and he ran rampant there.

Therefore, Manwë, the Lord of the Air who governed Middle-earth, ordered five Maiar of power comparable to Sauron’s to enter Middle-earth.

Gandalf was one of them, and also the last.

Later, in the War of the Ring, to protect the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf fought the Balrog, and both fell into the Durin’s Abyss, then into deep water. There, at the foundations of the earth, they fought all the way, stepping onto the Endless Stair that led to the highest peak of the Misty Mountains.

On the peak of Zirakzigil, Gandalf defeated the Balrog, but he expended too much energy and died.

But Gandalf’s soul did not return to Manwë in Aman; instead, it was sent directly before Eru Ilúvatar, the Creator, outside the universe. He was granted greater power by Ilúvatar and returned to his former dead body to be reborn, continuing his mission to oppose Sauron.

Thus, although these deities were background figures who rarely interfered in the affairs of Middle-earth, they occasionally paid attention to what happened there.

So after entering this world, Wang Bo had always behaved himself.

This time, seeing Gandalf, Wang Bo was not overly arrogant but instead maintained a certain humility.