Close Combat Mage
chapter-116

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, even though the Lightning Wind Warrior’s consciousness had already become fuzzy, he still understood that he was in a dangerous situation. He really wanted to beg for mercy and admit defeat. However, at the moment, his entire body had already been frozen solid by the ice; he was unable speak! The Lightning Wind Warrior was frozen to the extent that he couldn’t even change his expression.

Luckily, the referee was experienced. Hearing Suo Jia’s voice, he resolutely declared the match over. The victory belonged to the first year water mage apprentice – Suo Jia!

“Ya!” Hearing the referee’s voice, Suo Jia tossed away the double-edged sword and clenched both fists before cheering loudly. Although it looked like this victory was obtained effortlessly, Suo Jia had already brought out all of his abilities to their limits!

Suo Jia didn’t hold anything back in either wisdom, technique, or strength. If he was still incapable of defeating his opponent under such conditions, he didn’t know how else he could possibly win. In the battlefield, the slightest bit of hesitation could lead to defeat!

Looking at Suo Jia’s joyous expression, Duke Wen Sha couldn’t help but smile. He slowly stood up and laughed loudly. “Congratulations Suo Jia. According to the bet, you have won these two Divine Needles. At the same time, the two opportunities to promote your nobility rank will be returned to you since you won.”

Hearing Duke Wen Sha’s words, Suo Jia excitedly rushed over and received the case containing the two Divine Needles. Right as he was prepared to leave, the head judge called out to him with a smile, “There’s still more. You defeated the Lightning Wind Warrior and obtained his nobility promotion. Therefore, you have already earned three nobility promotions. Heavens …… this is an astonishingly impressive feat!”

The head judge carefully continued, “How about it? Do you wish to continue the challenge? The next one…… would be the last competitor. This person has been the champion for three consecutive years. This will be his fourth year defending the Holy Light Crown —— the fire warrior, Mi Xiusa!”

Knitting his brows, Suo Jia said without the slightest hesitation, “Of course I will continue the challenge. My goal is not the nobility promotion, but to test my strength. So unless I am defeated, I will keep challenging!”

Seeing Suo Jia’s resolute expression, the head judge and Duke Wen Sha couldn’t help but be amazed. They couldn’t possibly have known that Suo Jia’s objective was to advance along the Greater Trade Routes. If Suo Jia couldn’t even prevail in Holy Light City, then how could he even speak of the Greater Trade Routes? Even the strongest experts in Holy Light City were only ordinary warriors on the Greater Trade Routes. If Suo Jia couldn’t even stand his ground in Holy Light Academy, then it meant that he hadn’t put enough effort into his training yet.

After hesitating for a while, Duke Wen Sha frowned and said, “Suo Jia, shouldn’t you think about it a bit more before making a decision? Mi Xiusa’s strength is something that I understand clearly. You have to understand that during the competition in past years, Mi Xiusa finished all of his battles within ten seconds. Even the Lightning Wind Warrior couldn’t resist for a single second longer.”

Hearing Duke Wen Sha’s words, Suo Jia couldn’t help but shake his head while laughing. He earnestly said to Duke Wen Sha, “Duke Wen Sha, I want to ask you: Is this Mi Xiusa stronger than you?”

Duke Wen Sha looked at Suo Jia in confusion, “Isn’t that obvious? No matter how strong he is, he is still only an eighteen year old child that hasn’t even graduated yet. I, Duke Wen Sha, am also one of the empire’s few experts. Although Mi Xiusa is powerful, he still isn’t worth anything in my eyes. In terms of strength, I alone can defeat a hundred of him.”

Hearing Duke Wen Sha’s words, Suo Jia earnestly replied, “Duke Wen Sha’s strength is something that everyone in the world knows about. However, what I am trying to say is that even if my next opponent was you, the Grand Duke, I still wouldn’t shrink back!” While speaking, Suo Jia resolutely turned his body and walked towards the fighting area.

With Suo Jia’s back turned, Duke Wen Sha could not help but feel bewildered. This young fellow… was really too crazy. Could it be that he really believed that he could defeat Duke Wen Sha?

“No way!” Wen Sha quickly discarded this thought. Suo Jia was not stupid; he was exactly the opposite. In fact, Suo Jia was awfully cunning. Thus, there was no way he thought that some form of miracle would occur if he fought with the Duke. Even if Suo Jia wore an entire set of Epic-ranked equipment, there would still be no chance of victory. The gap between the two of them was too big; nothing could possibly make up for it.

But in that case, why did Suo Jia still choose to challenge? After thinking for a long time, Duke Wen Sha suddenly understood and lifted his head while sighing in admiration to watch Suo Jia quietly walk off the platform. Duke Wen Sha knew that Suo Jia chose to challenge not because he had confidence in winning, but rather because he didn’t allow himself to shrink or cower!

During a person’s life, it is inevitable that the person will face countless challenges and difficulties. This fact is true no matter who it is. Even if it was Duke Wen Sha or the empire’s Emperor, it would not be any different. The only difference would be the type of difficulties they would face.

The reason why Suo Jia was not willing to shrink back was because this represented his attitude towards how he lived his life, as well as his goals. Although Duke Wen Sha did not know what Suo Jia’s goal was, it was quite clear that his goal did not allow him to cower in fear! No matter who his opponent was, he could only move forward! Move forward! And forward again!

Wen Sha knew that he was definitely right. Typically speaking, if people with Suo Jia’s nature and habits did not die early, then they would become the strongest type of existences. And considering Suo Jia’s intelligence, it would be very hard for him to die.

Leaving aside Duke Wen Sha’s thought, on the other side, Suo Jia had once again returned to the female lecturer’s side to sincerely thank her. If it were not for her previous time-out, Suo Jia would have definitely been defeated for unknown reasons. Without knowing about the Divine Needles, there was no way he could have protected himself from them.

Now, he had won the match by taking advantage of the lecturer’s advice. The meaning behind this was too significant; not only did he keep his nobility titles, but it had also allowed Suo Jia to acquire the Lightning Wind Warrior’s nobility title. In addition, the most important part was that Suo Jia won that pair of Divine Needles, as well as the opportunity to continue challenging.

The female lecturer called him over to her side, and with a simple wave of his left hand, four crystal cards appeared on Suo Jia’s left hand. Without any hesitation, he handed them over to the female lecturer as he sincerely said, “I thank the lecturer for her guidance. This is Suo Jia’s kindness in return.”

Dumbfoundedly looking at the Crystal Card in Suo Jia’s hand, the female lecturer knew that each of these cards represented ten million gold coins. As a lecturer of Holy Light Academy, her monthly wage was only ten thousand gold coins. In one year, she could only earn one hundred thousand gold. These 40 million gold coins were sufficient for her to last for 400 years!

“You… what is this!” Seeing Suo Jia’s actions, the female lecturer cried out in disbelief. She really wasn’t sure if what was happening was reality.

Suo Jia frowned. He had never really liked owing anyone. Without the lecturer’s guidance, it would have been impossible for him to obtain victory, so he thought such actions were necessary. If he had more money right now, he would have also taken it out without any hesitation. However, he currently only had this 40 million.

He firmly placed the four crystal cards into the female lecturer’s pocket, and earnestly said, “Since you helped me, I need to thank you. Although this amount of money is not a lot, but it is not just small change either.”

Suo Jia continued, “There is an hour left before the next match. Let’s not waste any time; help me analyze Mi Xiusa’s specialties. I want to defeat him!”

“Gulp!” Looking at the crystal card in her hand, the female lecturer really wanted to refuse. However, she didn’t have the power to resist. Such a large amount of money could buy so many beautiful clothes and good items!

Hesitating for only a slight moment, the female lecturer resolutely put away the four crystal cards and firmly looked at Suo Jia as she said, “Teacher will accept this money. Please don’t worry, I will not just take it for free. From now on until you graduate, I will help you until I make up for this money’s worth!”

The female lecturer did not waste time on anymore superfluous words. She pulled Suo Jia to sit down and said softly, “Mi Xiusa’s first characteristic is his innate talent, ‘Flame Strengthening’. The raging inferno he releases, whether it is in terms of quantity or temperature, is two times higher than common people.”

“Heavens!” Hearing the lecturer’s words, Suo Jia could not help but inwardly sigh in admiration. This fellow was actually born with a divine weapon. With such innate talent, it wasn’t surprising that he could continuously obtain the championship. Even if he fought empty handed, he would already be the same as an ordinary person wearing magic equipment of the highest quality.

The female lecturer continued, “In addition, the Blazing Blade that he uses has an extremely high destructive power. It is a Legendary-ranked magic weapon that can raise the flame’s power by 100%. Moreover, it can release the battle qi outside and discharge the Red Lotus Moon Slash. It can instantly obliterate anything within a ten meter radius!”

“Red Lotus Moon Slash!” Hearing the lecturer’s words, Suo Jia couldn’t help but be stunned.

What was the Red Lotus Moon Slash? It was actually quite simple. It used the transformation of the external battle qi shaped in a crescent-moon to slash the enemy. This was originally nothing much, even an elementary warrior could perform it. Although its power was formidable, Suo Jia was not afraid, as he could block it with Whirling Ice Protective Wall.

However, with Mi Xiusa’s innate talent and the assistance of the Blazing Blade, his power was increased by no less than 4 times! With such formidable firepower, Suo Jia’s ice wall would be completely incapable of resisting; it would just be instantly destroyed.

Basically, the opposing side was equal to an ordinary person wearing 3-4 Legendary-ranked equipment specialized in attack. That was not an opponent Suo Jia could face at the moment. Moreover, Suo Jia was convinced that it was impossible for the opponent to not have any other magic items and equipment if he had the Blazing Blade. In terms of overall strength, Suo Jia was afraid that his opponent’s strength was double of what he initially thought!

As Suo Jia was secretly admiring the opponent, the female lecturer continued, “According to my analysis from your performance earlier, your probability of winning is absolutely zero! You must know that the opponent is from the fire department; he is not afraid of your ice. Although it is true that water can suppress fire, the opponent’s innate talent can make up for this shortcoming. It is impossible for the power of your ice to be stronger than your opponent’s fire no matter how cold it is. Trying to freeze Mi Xiusa is a stupid idea.”

The female lecturer seriously continued, “Therefore, the smartest thing to do in my opinion is to forfeit the match. No matter how hard I think about it, I cannot come up with a method for you to win. There definitely isn’t one!”

Suo Jia took a deep breath and nodded. In fact, he also knew that if freezing was impossible, then he wouldn’t have any chance of winning against such a powerful opponent like Mi Xiusa. However, there was absolutely no way he would ever admit defeat and back out of the challenge. Just as he had said before, no matter who his challenger was, he would never shrink back!