Hearing Tom's words, Luke was somewhat moved.
He knew the Barrow-downs, which had once been the holy land of the Dúnedain in the North, and later the capital of Cardolan after the Kingdom of Arnor split into three kingdoms.
However, with the invasion of the Witch-king of Angmar, the chief of the Nine Nazgûl under the Dark Lord Sauron, and the rampant Great Plague, the Kingdom of Cardolan disintegrated, and most of its residents died from illness, turning the Barrow-downs into a no-man's-land and falling into the hands of the Witch-king.
Furthermore, under the contamination of the Witch-king of Angmar's dark power, the Dúnedain buried in the tombs were transformed into terrifying barrow-wights, and the Barrow-downs have since become a place of terror, with no one daring to approach.
The Dúnedain, on the other hand, were descendants of the Númenórean, a formidable race that could defeat the Dark Lord Sauron and his dark army, even capturing Sauron and bringing him back to the island of Númenor.
If not for the Númenórean later being incited by Sauron, daringly leading their fleet to Valinor and declaring this sacred land as their own, thus offending the Valar and Iluvatar, leading the gods to punish the Númenórean and causing the island of Númenor to sink.
This Dark Lord Sauron would have merely been a prisoner of the Númenórean, posing no threat whatsoever.
Returning to the topic, as the holy land of the Dúnedain, the tombs in the Barrow-downs primarily buried the kings, princes, and nobles of the Dúnedain, and according to their traditional customs, the deceased would be buried with their jewelry, accessories, and weapons that they possessed in life.
So, if Luke truly wanted to find a sharp knife capable of cutting tree hearts, the Barrow-downs was indeed a good option.
The only thing to worry about was those barrow-wights.
The barrow-wights were powerful Dúnedain in life, and after death, they were transformed into undead dark creatures by dark power, making them even more difficult to deal with.
Therefore, if Luke wanted to go to the Barrow-downs, he would have to make ample preparations.
Since Tom knew the situation of the Barrow-downs and lived so close to it, he must have some understanding of the barrow-wights. So, he asked Tom about the barrow-wights.
Tom did not hide anything, "Barrow-wights' bodies are as hard as iron, their strength is immense, and their speed is as fast as lightning. Ordinary people cannot even see their figures before being attacked. Moreover, when they appear, they are accompanied by thick fog, making it impossible for people to discover their traces. If attacked, one will be cursed, becoming weak and dying, eventually turning into a barrow-wight! More importantly, ordinary weapons are ineffective against barrow-wights, and even if attacked, their bodies can quickly recover."
The more Luke listened, the more solemn his expression became. These barrow-wights sounded even more difficult to deal with than the Ents in the Old Forest.
"Do the barrow-wights have any weaknesses?"
"Yes, they do. barrow-wights are afraid of sunlight; they will dissipate as soon as they are touched by sunlight."
But before Luke could rejoice, Tom added, "But barrow-wights can create mist and hide in the thick fog, so even during the day, the Barrow-downs are not safe."
"So, if you insist on going to the Barrow-downs, you must not let the barrow-wights get close, especially when encountering thick fog, as the barrow-wights are very likely hidden within the fog."
"I understand, thank you for your advice, Tom."
Luke temporarily abandoned the idea of going to the Barrow-downs right now. He planned to first improve his own strength, so he would have more confidence to go to the Barrow-downs and get what he wanted.
So, he turned his attention to the first willow wood magic wand he had successfully made.
This magic wand was originally just a practice piece for him, and he kept it for its commemorative significance.
But now that the Tree Heart magic Wand could not be made for the time being, he simply decided to complete this semi-finished magic wand first and use it to replace the magic wand he most needed.
A magic wand consists of two parts: the wand body and the wand core. Now that the wand body was complete, only the wand core remained to be found.
In the magic world, the core of a magic wand usually comes from a part of a magical creature. For example, Ollivander preferred Dragon Heartstring, Unicorn hair, and Phoenix feathers from these three magical creatures.
However, in Middle-earth, there are no such creatures as Unicorns and Phoenixes.
As for Dragons, there is one in the Lonely Mountain. Leaving aside the fact that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, even if a Dragon were right in front of him, he currently did not have the strength to defeat it and obtain its Dragon Heartstring.
Just as Luke was troubled about where to find a wand core, he saw Goldberry sitting among the water lily pots, combing her long hair, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Goldberry, being the River-daughter, undoubtedly possessed extraordinary magic. If her hair were used to make the wand core, it should be effective.
"Beautiful Goldberry, may I have a strand of your hair?" Luke requested from Goldberry.
"Hey, kid, Goldberry is mine!" Tom jumped up, glaring at Luke with an unfriendly and wary look.
Goldberry smiled brightly, gently pulling Tom's hand to soothe him. Her eyes were tender and full of wisdom as she looked at Luke and asked, "Can you tell me what you want my hair for?"
Luke quickly explained, "It's like this, Goldberry, my magic wand is missing a core, so I wanted to use Goldberry's hair to make the magic wand, but if I have offended you, please forgive my rudeness!"
"It's a small matter." Goldberry did not mind at all, casually plucking a golden strand of hair and handing it to him, and then asked, "Is one enough? I can pull a few more if you need them."
"Enough! Enough!" Luke quickly said. If she pulled any more, he felt like he would be glared to death by Tom.
Upon receiving Goldberry's hair, Luke immediately felt the magic it contained, as well as the aura of the water.
Luke was very happy; this was absolutely suitable for making a magic wand, and its effect would be far better than the magical creature hairs from the magic world.
"Hey, kid, Goldberry gave you a strand of hair, so I'll give you a beard hair too." Tom was displeased that Luke had received a strand of his wife's hair, so he immediately pulled off a beard hair, vowing to be a pair with his wife.
Luke had not expected such a pleasant surprise and felt a continuous string of delights. He did not dislike Tom's beard hair; although Tom's identity was mysterious, he was undoubtedly very powerful and ancient, so his beard hair naturally contained extraordinary power.
But before he could rejoice, he watched in astonishment as the beard hair quickly intertwined with Goldberry's strand of hair, completely merging into a single, thicker golden-brown intertwined hair.
"This…" Luke was a little dumbfounded, then felt a mix of amusement and helplessness.
He hadn't expected old Tom to be so jealous, even over a single strand of hair.
He held the intertwined hair and beard, examining it carefully, and his eyes immediately lit up.
He had originally worried that the intertwining of the two hairs would create conflicting properties, making them unsuitable for a wand core.
But unexpectedly, the two hairs fused remarkably well, and their magical properties increased severalfold.
Now with a wand core, Luke began preparing to make the magic wand.
However, since the tree heart could not be carved, he could only first make a magic wand using willow wood and the hair from Tom and Goldberry.
As for the core of the Tree Heart magic Wand, he would see later if he could replace the willow wood core, or if he could find another suitable core.
Although he now had the wand body and core, making a magic wand was not as simple as merely inserting the core into the body to successfully cast spells; it also required a series of complex steps and rituals.
Luke first collected dewdrops that had not yet been touched by the sun in the morning, gathering a whole small basin. Then, he soaked the willow wand body and the hair used as the core in the dew, and placed them under moonlight for seven days to ensure the wand body and core performed at their best.
Subsequently, Luke went into the Old Forest to search for magical trees that produced resin, eventually finding a giant pine tree and a lacquer tree.
Using Petrificus Totalus to immobilize these two restless and hostile trees, Luke, before the sun rose in the morning, used a knife to cut the bark of the pine and lacquer trees, collecting pine resin and lacquer resin.
After all this was done, the wand-making process officially began.
Luke used a special drill to bore a small hole from the tail end of the willow wood, deep enough to accommodate the length of the hair.
He then carved magical runes on the inner wall of the hole to serve as magic conversion nodes.
Next, he carefully picked up the hair with long tweezers and inserted it into the hole, ensuring the hair was evenly placed within the cavity. Then, he carefully poured the melted pine resin into the hole, while being careful not to create any air bubbles.
Once the pine resin completely filled the hole and naturally dried and cooled, the hair and the magic wand were completely integrated under the adhesion of the resin.
Having completed these steps, Luke meticulously polished the magic wand with sandpaper until it was smooth, then applied tree lacquer.
Thus, a complete finished magic wand appeared.
At this stage, the magic wand still could not cast spells; it required one final and most crucial ritual.
On another full moon night, Luke held the magic wand under the moonlight, waving it according to specific movements, continuously injecting magic into the wand, and chanting incessantly: "Runix-Inscri-Berry, Spiritus-Olari-Resonantia…"
As the lengthy incantation continued, the moonlight gathered to form a silvery gas, which was then absorbed by the magic wand.
In a trance, Luke heard a faint heartbeat from within the magic wand.
The magic wand in his hand seemed to come alive, becoming extraordinary.
"Lumos!"
A bright ball of light appeared at the tip of the magic wand, illuminating Luke's smile.