Close Combat Mage
chapter-282

Chapter 282 – Who Won, Who Lost? Pt. 2

Nicole was annoyed by the mysterious person’s words. She lifted her own gold coin from the front of her chest and said, “Look closely. My gold coin is perfectly…”

Nicole suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and she looked down in shock at the gold coin in her hands, now split into pieces. For a moment, Nicole was completely stunned. What…what exactly was going on here? How had the gold coin suddenly split apart?!

Seeing Nicole’s surprised expression, Suo Jia hurriedly rushed over and closely inspected it. The gold coin in her hands had indeed been evenly cut into four pieces. Two cuts, one horizontal and one vertical, had been instantly made without Nicole knowing.

Since it was only two cuts, it didn’t seem very fast. However, it couldn’t be forgotten that Nicole was a nimble and speed-type thief. Yet the mysterious swordsman’s two slashes had managed to hide from both Suo Jia’s and Nicole’s eyes. From this, the realm that blade’s speed had reached could be seen.

What absolutely horrified Suo Jia was how well-grasped the propriety of these two cuts were. They weren’t deep nor shallow, and had clearly split apart the coin. Yet the parts hadn’t fallen directly to the ground. Only when Nicole had lifted it up did it finally break from the pressure.

Nicole found this unfathomable and stared at the mysterious person blankly. “This isn’t possible. Hurry up and tell me, when did you attack? Why didn’t I feel it at all?”

The mysterious swordsman calmly replied, “The first cut was when you reached your hand out to catch me. Back then…your eyes were focused only on the gold coin, so you didn’t see my blade slash open your coin under the protection of the gold light!”

After a moment of silence, the mysterious person continued, “As for the second cut, it was after you’d successfully gotten the gold coin and were happily rejoicing. Back then, you were too happy, and completely overlooked my blade.”

Nicole blankly turned to look at Suo Jia. Did this count as a win or a loss? Or was it a tie? Nicole personally wasn’t able to tell.

Seeing Nicole’s vacant expression, the mysterious person laughed and said, “This should count as a tie. After all…neither of you saw my movements, so whatever I say would be useless. Moreover…although I won today’s friendly match, that’s because of the limits of the location. If I extended the time limit and area, you’d properly use the stealth state while I’d become the most exhausted one. Then when my concentration wasn’t together, you’d take advantage of that moment to attack. That means I’d definitely lose.”

“Hey!” Suo Jia’s eyes suddenly lit up, “You should think it through clearly before you make a judgment. You said before the contest that if it ended in a tie, you’d become our companion. Now…do you still call it a tie?”

Firmly nodding, the mysterious person smiled and said, “That’s right, it’s still a tie. No matter what, I couldn’t protect my own gold coin. According to the rules earlier, since my gold coin is gone, and hers is destroyed, it’s naturally a draw. There would be no point in denying it, even if I wanted to.”

“Yeah!” Nicole excitedly clenched her hands into fists and said, “Mhm, that’s right! We said before the competition that we had to protect our own gold coins. It didn’t matter who was first or last, it would be no good if the gold coin was broken. Hahaha…”

Nicole turned around to look at the mysterious person and loudly declared, “Ok, the competition has already ended. The final result is a tie. In other words, you have to become our companion!”

The mysterious person nodded and said with a warm smile, “If you bet, you must pay. Since it’s a tie, I’ll have to formally join you guys and adventure the Greater Trade Routes together with you for a bit!”

He then paused for a moment before firmly saying, “First, I should give a simple self-introduction. My name is Xiang Yun, a swordsman. I come from a distant ancient country in the East, and am currently traveling everywhere to seek out the experts from various countries all over the world in order to perfect my blade techniques.”

As soon as Xiang Yun finished speaking, Nicole continued, “In that case, I’ll also introduce myself. My name is Nicole, a treasure hunter. I come from Kaya Empire, and am currently following Young Master Suo Jia. We only have one objective—crossing over the Greater Trade Routes!”

Xiang Yun sighed in praise at Nicole’s words and sincerely said, “Throughout my entire journey, I’ve only ever challenged warriors. This is the first time I’ve ever gone against a treasure hunter. You’re very strong, and will only become stronger in the future. I’m very glad to have a companion like you!”

Nicole couldn’t help but break out into a huge smile at this. At the same time, Xiang Yun turned to look at Suo Jia. He furrowed his brows and said, “Judging from your clothing, you’re one of those mysterious magicians from the Western continent, right?”

“Mag…magician?” Suo Jia’s jaw dropped open in shock. What was that, since when did mages become magicians?

Suo Jia bitterly smiled and replied, “Please, I’m a mage, not a magician. You can’t just mix the two together.”

Xiang Yun scratched his head and awkwardly responded, “Sorry, I’ve never been able to get them straight. In my memories, a magician is fine, a mage is fine, both can throw fireballs, which look pretty nice.”

“What…” Suo Jia helplessly facepalmed. He knew that to the people from the East, his magic was pretty much equivalent to a sideshow of tricks, like spitting fire, changing fire pans, etc. They were all just some showy tricks.

“Alright…” Suddenly dropping his hand from his forehead, Suo Jia said mysteriously, “Xiang Yun, since you said magic is good-looking, how about I give you a magic performance?”

“Yes, of course…” Xiang Yun’s eyes lit up. However, it was clear to see that this guy thought it was just a show, and didn’t really know the difference between magic and tricks yet.

Suo Jia smiled and extended his right hand. A blue glow flashed in his palm before promptly disappearing. He then laughed and said, “Ok, the show has ended. What do you think…are you satisfied with my performance?”

“This…” After stuttering for a long time, Xiang Yun bitterly smiled at Suo Jia, “What is that supposed to be? Honestly speaking, your tricks are the worst I’ve ever seen. A mere flash of blue light is something anyone could do! Moreover, your glow was clearly emitted from your glove. Your tricks are too much of a failure.”

“Wow…” Suo Jia helplessly shook his head. He’d already been completely shot down. Nicole, who’d been watching from the side, cleared it up instead. “Brother Xiang Yun, Young Master Suo Jia’s performance wasn’t the blue light from his hand, but rather healing up your wound.”

“What!” Xiang Yun stared blankly at Nicole for a bit, before hurriedly lowering his head and reaching out to touch his ribs. Just now, his right rib had been struck from his fight against Picolo. Although the bone hadn’t actually broken, the slash had left a long and deep wound.

After touching it, Xiang Yun’s expression completely changed. From the places he touched, he could tell that the wound was already quickly coming together to heal. This probing was enough for him to tell that the wound had already formed a scab, which he’d even wiped away.

The scab fell away, revealing the smooth flesh underneath. Tentatively pressing down around the area, Xiang Yun found that the wound didn’t hurt at all anymore. With just that little effort, such a serious sword wound had been completely healed!

After confirming for a third time that everything wasn’t just a hallucination, and verifying that it wasn’t just a facade, Xiang Yun finally lifted his head and said while trembling, “Amazing! Really too powerful. With that skill alone, you’re already qualified to become my companion. With you here, I never have to worry about getting injured again!”