Close Combat Mage
chapter-181

Chapter 181 – So Frightening Pt. 1

“Bang! Bang! Bang…” Suo Jia stood unyieldingly with a Magic Potion in one hand, and a Spirit Potion in another. Opposite him, Duo Mei was currently fluttering around with clenched teeth as she wildly swung her blade around. Following her attacks, the sapphire blue Water God’s Shield continuously shifted. It constantly changed shape, but didn’t break at all!

After a few tests, Suo Jia knew that to break this shield, one had to either output 10000 moles of magic power in a single go, or charge at it so that the magic shield wouldn’t have enough time to repair itself. In other words, one’s attack would have to be 1000 moles/second, and the attack would have to continue for a duration of at least 10 seconds.

If Suo Jia didn’t use his own magic power and spirit power to amplify it, Duo Mei would need to attack 10 times in succession in order to break the magic shield. However, after he amplified it with his own powers, it wasn’t as simple; only after 15 cuts would there be hope of breaking through.

Of course, this was if Suo Jia was in a completely defensive state. After activating the Water God’s Shield, he also had to activate attacks, which meant that the consumption of magic power and spirit power would be greater, and would quickly drain. Fortunately, Suo Jia had the four colored potions, so he could easily maintain the shield.

The Water God’s Shield had a base strength of 10000, but this wasn’t a set value. The user could utilize their magic power and spirit power to strengthen it. The higher one’s magic power, the greater the defense would increase. The higher one’s spirit power, the greater the amount it would charge itself per second.

For example, the purple-faced lord could use the support of his magic power and spirit power to raise the Water God Shield’s strength to 100000, and its ability to replenish energy to 10000/second. If it weren’t for his fierce attacks leading to the consumption of spirit power and magic power, Duo Mei definitely wouldn’t have been able to break it.

However, the purple-faced lord couldn’t be blamed for his actions. He thought that as long as he defeated his opponent, he’d be able to resolve all problems. Thus, he simultaneously activated large-scale magics, and his magic power and spirit power quickly dried up. In addition to maintaining a stable and strong water shield, his magic power and spirit power had obviously been exhausted.

As he saw Duo Mei wildly hack without stopping, Suo Jia laughed. He first drank a Magic Potion, then he stamped his foot, instantly activating Diamond Charge. Before Duo Mei could react, three consecutive attacks froze her once more. Afterwards, an ice stream coiled out and Freezing Touch was instantly activated, leading to a smooth, easy victory.

Of course, since it was just a spar, Suo Jia didn’t continue to fight after he had already won. He smiled as he dispersed the ice stream. After making up for his defensive power, Duo Mei was no longer able to fight evenly with Suo Jia.

A red light flashed, and the ice layers surrounding Duo Mei’s body quickly melted. She looked at Suo Jia in shock as she said incredulously, “You’re too ridiculous! You resisted my attacks head-on, and even defeated me! Are you sure you’re a mage?”

Suo Jia laughed, “Ok, ok, this Water God’s Shield is indeed pretty awesome. But you don’t need to get discouraged, you have the entirely linked Six-Winged Phoenix Heavenly Clothes. If you manage to gather the entire Fire Phoenix jewelry set as well, you’d definitely be a super-domineering existence. When we go to the capital this time, I can help you find the Fire Phoenix Bracelet. By then, your power will greatly rise again!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s words, Duo Mei’s eyes lit up. Every powerful magic equipment could exponentially increase her strength. Now that she heard there was hope of gaining the Fire Phoenix Bracelet, how could she conceal her happiness?

Seeing her excited expression, Suo Jia suddenly turned solemn as he stressed, “But Duo Mei, although magic equipments can be quite powerful, you cannot depend too much on them. If your own strength is too weak, magic equipment won’t be of any use regardless of how powerful they are!”

Duo Mei smiled in embarrassment and she nodded, “Don’t worry, Young Master. I definitely won’t slack off. I only hope that I can use any methods possible to hurry up and get stronger, and become more formidable! But I won’t relax just because of that.”

Suo Jia smiled and nodded. In reality, Suo Jia was also like that. He definitely wouldn’t ever let anything that could boost his strength escape his hands. However…after obtaining the said items, he wouldn’t simply be satisfied with that. Instead, he’d continue to train arduously, making himself even stronger.

The next morning, Suo Jia led the group towards the scheduled destination. They trained hard along the journey, and after half a month, they finally entered an boundless mountain range. This place was the location of the Atomic Alchemy Labs’ headquarters.

Based on the silver-armored knight’s description, the group of people arrived in front of a man-made cave. From the mottled marks on the cave walls, it was clear that although the cave had originally been natural, it had clearly gone through construction to cut it further and build what it was now.

After walking through a long, dark, and slightly damp passage through the cave, Suo Jia and the group entered a narrow yet exceptionally beautiful ravine. A sinister-looking ancient castle appeared in their line of sight.

This great castle was made of limestone. Judging from its outer appearance, it had completely crumbled. The inner parts of the ancient castle had mostly collapsed, and countless unknown bird species could be heard emitting eerie, ear-piercing cries that echoed around the empty castle.

Although it looked extremely dark and sinister, Suo Jia knew that this place had already been inspected by the silver-armored knight, which meant there weren’t any dangers. Thus…Suo Jia led his companions straight into the castle.

After searching around for an entire day, they ended up empty-handed. Only after night had fallen did Suo Jia and his group finally stop searching, find some empty rooms, and rest up. Although Suo Jia believed that this place definitely still had some overlooked treasures, they weren’t things that could be unearthed over 1-2 days.

The second morning, Suo Jia issued a task to the Angelic Phoenixes, as well as Aimi and Aila. He then began to head to capital alone. There…the Emperor was still waiting for his help.

Nothing significant happened along the journey. One week later, Suo Jia arrived at the capital. There, he went directly to the palace to meet Empress An Rong, who had been waiting for him for many days now. After spending some time fixing up the Empress’s appearance, the two began to chat.

Just as Suo Jia had anticipated, during the past year, Empress An Rong had only spent time with the Emperor twice a month. This drew the Emperor into becoming obsessed with her. During that period, the Emperor pretty much never went to his other concubines, and instead spent every day with the Empress. Even if the Empress tried to pressure him to do otherwise, he wouldn’t agree.

However, the Emperor was, after all, already over 50 years old, nearing 60 now. The functions of every part of his body were beginning to deteriorate. He was no longer as domineering and potent as he was during his youth. Even if he still wanted to be like he was in the past, he was already impotent.

In reality, this was a course of events that everyone experienced, and the Emperor knew this fact. However…after the Empress had miraculously recovered her youthfulness, the Emperor couldn’t help but feel hopeful as well. If Suo Jia was really that amazing, it was possible that he’d be able to help the Emperor regain his youthful vigor.

After hearing the Empress tell him this, Suo Jia furrowed his brow and said, “Your Highness, I don’t dare to say I can cure His Majesty’s problem right now. This is something due to the aging of his entire body. It’s different from losing weight; this is literally going against the heavens! Nobody knows if it’s possible!”

The Empress knew that this was Suo Jia asking for another reward. However…if Suo Jia really could achieve this, then so what if she had to give away some things? These mere worldly possessions couldn’t possibly be more important than the Emperor’s happiness.

The Empress pulled out an embroidered case and handed it to Suo Jia with a smile, “No matter what, please try your utmost. Regardless of the outcome, this Fire Phoenix Bracelet is yours!”

Suo Jia’s eyes lit up upon seeing the exquisite case. He didn’t bother holding himself back, and took the case in his hands, throwing it into his interspatial ring. He then laughed, “Alright, for Your Highness’s sake, I’ll try my best. However, I have to stress now that I can’t guarantee it’ll be successful!”

The Empress nodded with a smile, then shouted towards a side door, “Alright, Your Majesty, you’ve been listening for long enough. Isn’t it about time for you to come out and meet Knight Suo Jia?”