Close Combat Mage
chapter-131

Chapter 131 – Young Frost Wyrm Pt. 1

Suo Jia gently extended his hand to softly caress the inner armor, completely infatuated with it. He hadn’t imagined that Han Sa would actually make a combat armor for him. Back when he had been mock fighting with the girls, Han Sa hadn’t overlooked Suo Jia. Otherwise, there was no way this Monarch Armor would have been made.

Despite being a mage, Suo Jia enjoyed charging into a group of people to initiate free fights with rivals. It was probably this exact trait that had been the reason for Han Sa’s creation of the Monarch Armor. Otherwise, the Black Dragon Mage Robe was already enough!

In reality, this set of armor was something new. It used the combination of the warrior’s chain armor and the mage’s black dragon robe. Thus, it had a powerful resistance to both physical and magical attacks. Just as Han Sa had stated, as long as Suo Jia protected his head properly, he would pretty much be invulnerable!

Of course, Suo Jia still couldn’t defend against blunt attacks, such as those from hammers, axes, rods, and clubs….these weren’t weapons that relied on a sharp point to inflict wounds, so even chain armor was unable to defend against them. Although it was immune to magic attacks, like the freezing powers of the Ice Sphere, Suo Jia would still be unable to resist the Ice Sphere’s blunt force. It could still easily break his bones!

Earth-type strikes, water-type attacks, fire-type explosions, and wind-type vortexes were all things that one couldn’t defend against. The things that the armor could defend against were effects like freezing or burning.

Although this armor set was far from being called unrivaled, as Suo Jia could still be harmed by a warrior or a mage with it on, it had the ability to negate all magic effects. He would never be frostbitten or burned. Perhaps normal people wouldn’t be able to understand the implications behind this, but if one thinks more closely, they’d realize that if Suo Jia’s magic attacks lost their freezing traits, could they still be called ice spells?

Seeing the enamored Suo Jia, Han Sa laughed and said, “Lord Suo Jia, you must not underestimate this armor. In reality, the Monarch armor is made to protect a monarch from assassinations. Because monarchs all have to wear royal robes, this armor is only a skin-tight armor that is used as a final protective screen to save their lives!”

“Huh?” Suo Jia looked at Han Sa and asked in confusion, “And so what? What exactly are you trying to say?”

Helplessly shaking his head, Han Sa gave a bitter smile and replied, “You don’t even understand this? My meaning is quite clear. This armor is only a skin-tight layer that one wears close to their body. In other words, it’s pretty much your second skin. Aside from this, you can still wear the typical armor and mage robes!”

“That…” Suo Jia finally understood. However….wasn’t this a bit too extreme?

Suo Jia gave Han Sa a puzzled look and asked, “In that case, why didn’t you give everyone a set each?”

“What! One set per person!” Han Sa let out a strangled cry, “Man! To guarantee the chain armor’s power, it has to be well-purified. Four sets of armor must be purified as material for a single inner armor. In addition….there are 3 materials needed that are exceptionally rare and precious, like the Black Dragon Scales. Do you think there are a lot of them?”

Exasperatedly rolling his eyes at Suo Jia, Han Sa continued, “Basically, if you wanted to give every person an inner armor, you’d have to gather 4x the materials for me. That means that you’d have to gather 40x more of those three rarer materials. If you can do that, then go gather them. Just as I said before, if you can gather them all, I’ll do it free of…..”

“Wait!” Before Han Sa had finished his sentence, Suo Jia quickly extended his hand to stop Han Sa. One couldn’t possible gather 40x the amount of the rarer materials even after searching the entire world for thousands of years.

Hm…actually, it could be achieved. For example, the Black Dragon Sales could be gathered; as long as all the currently existing Black Dragons were killed, one could pretty much get enough scales. However….if one could really kill all of the Black Dragons, one wouldn’t even need the inner armor anymore, as they’d already be unrivaled.

Seeing that Suo Jia had finally understood, Han Sa couldn’t help but say, “Youngster, you shouldn’t deny the truth. Think about it; could a country’s emperor possibly use ordinary things? Epic-ranked equipment sets aren’t even uncommon for them. Actually, this Monarch Armor is much more amazing than an Epic-ranked set. Even though it isn’t as famous, its practical strength is far more superior. In addition…in terms of the materials and labor put into it, your armor there definitely surpasses other Monarch Armors!”

“En….” Suo Jia nodded. He knew what Han Sa had said was absolutely true. If even Duke Wen Sha’s Economic Master had a piece of Epic-ranked equipment, then how could a country’s emperor not? They had tons of amazing items. Even under such circumstances, they still insisted on wearing the Monarch Armor; that was enough to prove the Monarch Armor’s might.

Happily taking out the Monarch Armor from its case, Suo Jia stored it into his interspatial ring and laughed, “Master Han Sa, although you had already previously promised to do this, we still can’t simply take it all for free.”

Suo Jia paused for a bit before sincerely continuing, “I won’t give you money, because I can’t afford it. This is no longer as simple as just forging something; it has already entered the domain of art, and is absolutely priceless!”

Han Sa smiled in satisfaction at Suo Jia’s flattery, continuously stroking his beard. His expression made him look like a toad that had drank exquisite wine, an expression of incomparable contentment.

Deeply gazing at Master Han Sa, Suo Jia continued, “However, our friendship is something that I have remembered. From now on, as long as you need me, just say the word. As long as it’s within my abilities, I will definitely accept it as my responsibility!”

Master Han Sa couldn’t stop his body from trembling at Suo Jia’s promise. If anyone else had said this, he would’ve just snorted in disdain. However, Suo Jia was a different story. He possessed the qualifications to say such things. If he was really willing to help someone without any regards for the cost of doing so, there would be nothing beyond his capabilities.

Suo Jia abruptly bowed respectfully and said firmly, “Alright, Master Han Sa. It’s quite late already, so we won’t disturb you any longer. Keep my words in mind. If you ever need help, remember to tell me! I definitely won’t disappoint you!” After saying these words, Suo Jia turned around and began to walk away. At the same time, the 36 fire wind warriors quietly stood up from the ground to follow Suo Jia, and all of them left the forging room.

After leaving Dwarf Canyon, Suo Jia commanded the girls to tie 6 cloaks together and create a red and gold mantle. Before they swiftly left Holy Light City, Suo Jia took advantage of the moment when everyone was gathered together, and began to give a speech.

Looking at the 36 Angelic Six Winged Phoenix sitting in a circle in front of him, Suo Jia heavily said, “Alright, you girls don’t need to enter the city. For the next half a year, you all should continue to gain more experience. Before the New Year’s, I hope that you will make the best of your time, and quickly familiarize yourselves with the Angelic Six Winged Phoenix clothes. After New Year’s passes, the plan’s third step will begin!”

None of the girls questioned Suo Jia’s order. They all respectfully gestured at Suo Jia, then turned around and raced towards the distance. Soon, the 36 beautiful figures had completely disappeared from Suo Jia’s line of vision.

Letting out a sigh, Suo Jia reluctantly withdrew his gaze. Although he was unwilling to separate from everyone, he knew that if he did not do things this way, everyone would not quickly get stronger. In addition, Suo Jia’s goal required that they became as strong as possible.

Returning to Holy Light City alone, besides cultivating with great effort, Suo Jia also reserved some time everyday to browse through the markets. After half a year, he had to go out and learn through real experiences, which meant that he had to acquire and arm himself with some magical equipment that could increase his fighting strength. Although one shouldn’t be relying on magical equipment, it was still not good to “not eat due to fear of choking”, as it was still essential.

Outside of fishing for treasures, each time there was an auction, Suo Jia would also participate. The only thing was that there hadn’t been any items that moved Suo Jia’s heart. When one finally appeared, its price was too high, making Suo Jia realize that he had to earn more money.

Typically, to be a martial artist, they had to first increase their strength and then use their strength to make money. However, Suo Jia had actually did it in reverse, and first earned a great amount of money and afterwards used the money to arm himself and increase his cultivation speed. Although he was only an Elementary Mage, he had already acquired three parts of the top-notch Atlantis Set. Although he was still lacking many parts before completing the set, to be able to have so many Epic-ranked magical equipment at his age was already something that had never been seen before.

During the evening, Suo Jia once again empty-handedly returned to the White Villa. When he had just entered through the door, Eldest Sister walked over and said with an anxious expression, “Bad news Suo Jia, something bad happened to your little dragon!”