Close Combat Mage
chapter-336

Chapter 336 – Beheading Fruit Pt. 1

Suo Jia turned around and frostily glared at the warrior before saying in a low voice, “You’ve provoked us again and again. We aren’t as experienced and knowledgeable as you, but I hadn’t imagined that you’d interpret our forbearance as weakness. You dare to say such blasphemous words? Don’t tell me that you don’t know that taking liberties with our female party member will be committing a crime deserving death?”

“Hahahaha…” The thick and sturdy warrior suddenly lifted his head up and laughed loudly. This whole time, he had indeed been looking at Suo Jia’s patience as weakness. Why would a skilled person need to endure this?

The warrior grabbed his greatsword by the table and said with an extremely flushed face, “Yea…I just happened to have drunken to my high. Since you’re unwilling to accept this, then let’s just contest against each other with real weapons!”

Hearing their boss’s words, the warrior’s other 5 companions also rose up, glaring fiercely at Suo Jia’s party. Many bad remarks had been exchanged, inciting an imposing air that gave the feeling that people would just start pulling out their blades and stabbing each other.

Confronting each other like this, Suo Jia smiled and turned around to head towards the door. As he walked, he declared in a low tone, “If you want to die, don’t worry about there being no ghosts around to do it for you. If you have the guts, come out with me!”

At this, Xiang Yun, Roger, and Nicole couldn’t help but chuckle darkly, and follow behind Suo Jia to leave the inn. At the same time, the thick and solid warrior laughed carefreely as he hefted his greatsword and walked outside with his companions as well.

Seeing this, the inn became calm at first, but then all the people inside all fought to stand up first. Since ancient times, people have always been fond of noise and excitement. It seemed to be a common enjoyment all people shared. If there was something interesting going on, who would be able to resist going to watch? This was true especially when they were adventurers that liked stirring things up; there was no way they’d let this chance pass by.

These adventurers were not necessarily referring to the adventurers in the profession. In reality, any people with various statuses entering the Greater Trade Routes from the outside was an adventurer according to the indigenous people living in the Greater Trade Routes. To them, the battles between the adventurers were mystical and impossible to imagine.

Suo Jia’s group left the inn and rushed to the nearby, small square. After they’d all stopped in their tracks, they turned around to face the opposing six people that had reached the destination as well. At the same time, countless spectators that had heard about the fight rushed over from various directions, fighting each other over the best spots. This was a rare showdown that they could enjoy!

The thick and solid warrior tsked in disdain at the sight of the merchant emblem on Suo Jia’s arm. He thought, if a person really did have the skills, why would they enter with the status of a merchant? A thief would be the first choice.

Facing the six opposite people with looks that could kill, Suo Jia seemed to be completely unphased. He turned his head to say to his three companions, “Alright, let’s discuss, who will go out and fight?”

As soon as Suo Jia finished speaking, Nicole’s eyes immediately lit up and she excitedly said, “The one he humiliated was me, so naturally I should go out and go up against him. Boss, don’t worry, no matter what, I’ll make him pay back the appropriate price!”

“No!” Roger hurriedly interjected, “Boss, I’ve already endured for so long, I really cannot bear it any longer. No matter what, you have to hand these guys over to me to deal with!”

“Tch…” Xiang Yun spat out in contempt and scornfully said, “Weren’t you enduring pretty well just now? They’d pretty much come up to you and pissed on your neck, yet you were able to just sit there as if nothing had happened. It looks to me as if you’re not suited to go out. It’s best if I go instead. This is a contest between us men. As for you, you should just sit on one side and just enjoy the show.”

“You!” Roger’s face couldn’t help change to red and then to white. But before he replied, Xiang Yun had already walked forward and stood in front of those six people. He wagged his finger at them and gave a dark smile, “Let’s not waste any time, all of you just come at me together!”

Suo Jia couldn’t help but furrow his brows at Xiang Yun’s back. Suo Jia knew that from the beginning, Xiang Yun had never been one to give in. From start to finish, he’d always believed that he was the strongest one in the group. Unless one was able to suppress him through martial prowess alone, there was almost no way he’d ever be be forced to obey another.

Although Suo Jia was the group leader by name, that was it. From beginning until now, Xiang Yun had always called Suo Jia ‘captain’, and never called him ‘boss’. In Xiang Yun’s eyes, the captain was the captain, and the boss was the boss. Suo Jia may have been the first choice captain, but he was only the second choice boss!

Suo Jia smiled. Although the unfavorable situation before him didn’t seem very well, Suo Jia was still filled with the challenging spirit in this competition situation. Under these ruthless circumstances, everyone had to bring our their all to prevent themselves from being pulled under. If they relaxed even the slightest bit, they’d instantly be flung behind.

Putting Suo Jia’s thoughts about this to a side, the thick and sturdy warrior couldn’t help but grow furious at the sight of Xiang Yun clearly acting as if everyone else was beneath him. His hands slowly gripped onto the greatsword’s hilt as he slowly advanced towards Xiang Yun. At the same time, he said forcefully, “Brat, don’t be too condescending. Since you’re seeking death, then allow me to escort you there!”

Xiang Yun narrowed his eyes at the ridiculously giant greatsword in the warrior’s hand and sneered. He then drew the nearly 2 meter long Holy Crossblade from his back, and he smiled coldly at the slowly approaching warrior.

Finally, the two people’s bodies stopped when they were about 10 meters away from each other. For a moment, an invisible yet imposing aura fiercely swept outwards from their persons.

Their confrontation seemed to both last forever, and only for a mere instant. Just as everyone was beginning to lose their focus, the two simultaneously began to go at it against each other with their all.

“Clang!” With a violent explosion, all the spectators couldn’t help but feel stifled. Although they’d been watching the whole time without turning away, very few people were able to clearly see the two’s movements. To most of the observers, the first second was still them just standing there, but the following second was them crashing into each other with all their force. Fiery waves of battle qi burst outwards without restraint from their bodies, dispersing in all directions, causing shattered pieces of rock to fly through the air!

“Clang! Clang! Clang….” They were first desperately deadlocked for a while, up until both of them simultaneously realised that neither of their strengths were enough to completely suppress the other. With this, they pushed off with a burst of force and retreated backwards from each other. Their bodies then charged forwards once more, and the weapons in their hand joined together again. As they attacked the other party, their power was still unable to overwhelm the other, so they could only start using battle skills to contest against each other.

After directly colliding with each other a few dozen times, they were still unable to defeat one another. Finally….they were unable to avoid crashing into each other with an all-out move. The shock induced by these bitter forces instantly shredded their upper clothes into pieces.

“Whoa!” As their clothes were destroyed, the surrounding spectators couldn’t help but cry out. When they looked over, they saw that Xiang Yun’s build was both slender yet healthy, his muscles sturdy yet aesthetically pleasing. He wasn’t too fat or too skinny. In summary, his stature was proportioned evenly with the golden ratio.

The thick and solid warrior opposite to Xiang Yun was different. At first glance, it didn’t seem at all like a human’s body; it was clearly a giant orangutan’s. That body of muscle was so rugged to the point that it seemed oppressive. Just looking at his muscles was enough for one to conclude that this fellow wasn’t one that could easily be knocked down.

This wasn’t even the most eye-catching part. What made the people most shocked was that the thick and sturdy warrior’s body was filled with criss-crossed wounds of various sizes. From their appearance, it seemed as if they’d been caused by a wild beast’s sharp claws. This sight proved that this guy’s battle experience was definitely something that a typical person couldn’t even imagine.

The warrior’s gaze locked onto Xiang Yun. He finally showed a cruel smile as he intoned in a deep voice, “Very interesting, really very interesting. Such a flimsy body, yet able to produce such powerful strength. This is really a pleasant surprise, to think that it was like this!”

He’d only finished half his words before the warrior’s expression became serious. Both his hands simultaneously gripped the hilt of his greatsword as he wildly roared out, “Brat, have a taste of my power from the Berserk Fruits—Brute Frenzy!”

“Chi…” Following the warrior’s words, a violent shrieking sound pierced the air as a scarlet fog instantly perfused out from the warrior. At the same time, a powerful, indescribable pressure flowed out from his body.