Close Combat Mage
chapter-7

Chapter 7 – Learning the Moisture Technique

Looking at the reactions of the female students with satisfaction, the female lecturer stood proudly. However, she suddenly noticed that Suo Jia’s ashen face looked as if he was ready to “eat a person”. (TL: LOL what?) Wrinkling her brow, the female lecturer directed her pointer at Suo Jia and asked: “What kind of facial expression is that? Don’t tell me that you don’t think this is a superior ability?”

“This…” hesitating for a moment, Suo Jia said in a bitter voice: “Teacher, in my opinion, magic should be primarily used in more sensible and realistic ways. To be honest, I do not care about my skin. What I want to know, is besides from hydrating skin, is this Moisture Technique any different from the healing arts?”

“Hmph!” In a cold and unpleased voice, the female lecturer replied: “The light element’s healing arts are favored because they can quickly recover wounds and restore a person’s previous condition, and are also ten times faster than the water element’s Moisture Technique. However, while the light element only allows the wound to heal, the water element, although slower, can simultaneously heal the wound and replenish the person’s strength!”

Lightly hitting the pointer against her palm, the female lecturer continued: “The advantage of the light element’s healing arts is its speed, while the advantage of the water element’s Moisture Technique is its more thorough healing.”

Hearing the female lecturer’s words, Suo Jia finally understood. Thinking it over…healing efficacy was the water element’s winning point over the light element. This was because the light element only recovered to an original state, while the water element’s moisture could build upon a person’s basic foundation. For a person seeking to gain strength, [the water element’s] efficacy was better than healing arts; it was just a bit more time-consuming. As for the hydrating skin or whatever, that was a complete joke.

As Suo Jia was silently considering this, the female lecturer, unwilling to resign [her original point], stood at the podium and lightly tapped her pointer against her palm. “Hey, Student Suo Jia, being able to hydrate the skin has always been the Moisture Technique’s largest merit. You are male, so perhaps you don’t care about outer appearances, but to us females, beauty is as important as life itself!”

At this point, the female lecturer proudly raised her chest, and said: “In other words, as long as you have a chair, if you sit on the streets and give young ladies skin hydration, I promise that you will have a successful business. This is because…beauty is ultimately what females are most willing to spend money on!”

What!

Originally, the female lecturer was simply speaking without thinking for the sake of proving that water Moisture Technique’s hydration was actually important. However, she never imagined that to Suo Jia, who had been overwhelmed with concerns about money, these words were more important than any magic incantation.

Abruptly standing up, Suo Jia shook as he shouted: “Teacher! Are the words you just said true? If I really do as you say, will there really be customers?”

“That…” Because the female lecturer did not expect Suo Jia to suddenly be so interested, she could not help but hesitate for a bit. After a long time, the female lecturer awkwardly said: “In reality, most well-off people have their personal mages give them hydration. Normal city residents however, have no need for such costly cosmetic practices so…”

“So what!” Hearing the female lecturer stall, Suo Jia pursued her words closely.

“Eh!” Under Suo Jia’s urging, the female lecturer awkwardly replied: “So…as of the present, Teacher has not yet seen this type of booth on the street. After all, mages are noble occupations; no person would do such a status-dropping act for just a little money.”

Excitedly looking at the female lecturer, Suo Jia’s inner happiness was practically overflowing. Indeed…if he had not entered Holy Light Academy, he would not have had the opportunity to learn any type of magic at all! Holy Light Academy only accepted about 100 water element specialists as students every year.

The most important fact was, most of those entering Holy Light Academy were wealthy and respectable people. Normal people could not afford to pay the tuition of a thousand gold every year. If they were able to afford it, why would they set up vendor stalls on the street?

Water mages that helped girls hydrate their skin did exist, however most of their customers were fixed regulars. They would not stoop so low as to set up a stall on the street to provide these services. Mages were noble occupations; With regards to the Holy Light Empire, only about a 100 or so of these talents would appear every year.

To the Holy Light Empire that had a population of a billion, this amount of people was absolutely not enough. One must know that these 100 people were talented students! Among that hundred, there would be at most only two people who would do something boring like moisturizing a woman’s skin. If the careers that had higher prospects than this did not number up to a thousand, it would still be at least 800; who would want to do this? After graduating with a masters degrees, would you go to the streets and give people haircuts to make money?

Happily sitting down, Suo Jia tightly curled his hands into fists. He hadn’t imagined that water mages actually had an occupation with such prospects. He, who was merely eight years old, had to learn this magic no matter what to help his mother relieve some of the financial pressure from their current lifestyles!

Seeing Suo Jia’s face turn red from excitement about the usage of Moisture Technique, the female lecture finally laughed in satisfaction. No more words were necessary; it was time to prepare to directly impart the most basic supplements to the water element—-the Moisture Technique, to the students.

Arriving at this point, the female lecturer laughed: “Normal people will not understand the meaning behind skin moisturization. One must know that simply soaking the skin in water does not hydrate the skin, but rather dehydrates and wrinkles it. After soaking for too long, it can even fester and cause some cells to die!”

While speaking, the female lecturer gestured with her right hand, and a shiny water sphere immediately appeared at her fingertip. “However, the Moisture Technique is different. It directly hydrates a person’s cells within the body. This not only provides the cells with enough moisture, but also further enhance each cell’s vitality!”

70% of a person’s body composition consists of water. As long as the amount of water is regulated at an equilibrium, one can maintain beauty and health. After using the Moisture Technique to hydrate the body, the result will surely be extraordinary!

In the middle of her lecture, the female instructor once again used a Moisture Technique. Suddenly… a cloud of refreshing mist passed by, and the female instructor’s peach blossom-like face developed a colorful radiance. The water, full of life, softly and delicately purified her skin to an unimaginable degree. This clear water technique did nothing other than improve natural beauty.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. The female lecturer had taught every single student the Moisture Technique, from the most basic principles to applying it in practical use. To an ordinary person, the Moisture Technique was a simple magic. In reality, every magic could be established as a complete subject, because this subject consisted of the theories and uses of the water element!

It was evening again, and while Suo Jia was pondering over the principles of the Moisture Technique, he pushed opened the door to his home. The house was dark, without a hint of warmth. Suspiciously, he glanced towards the bedroom. Based on his experiences the past month, his mother should have already finished making a fragrant dinner waiting for him. Yet how come the room was so cold, and so still?

Suo Jia’s eyes had gotten used to the darkness of the house, and he soon noticed his mother lying down on the freezing cold bed. The magic books in his hand dropped to the ground with a soft thud as he rushed towards the bed.

“Mother!” Tightly grasping his mother’s burning hands and seeing his mother’s dazed state, Suo Jia knew that his mother had collapsed from illness. This whole time, his mother had never completely recovered from her illness. After a year of arduous work, his mother unfortunately finally collapsed. Seeing his unconscious mother, Suo Jia’s eyes soon reddened.

“Un…” Most likely after hearing Suo Jia’s sound, the woman half-consciously opened her eyes. Blankly, her eyes that were unable to focus properly swept around, and she finally noticed Suo Jia by her bedside.

Weakly laughing, the woman propped herself up with difficulty, chuckling in a low voice: “You see, Mother had only wanted to rest for a bit but accidentally fell asleep. Suo Jia wait for a bit, Mother will go prepare food now.”

Saying these words, the woman sat up unsteadily. She gritted her teeth, and stood up with difficulty and headed towards the simple stove. Seeing his mother’s body swaying like a small strand of grass in the wind, Suo Jia’s tears finally fell, heavy drop after heavy drop.

After enduring through a simple dinner and washing the dishes, the woman could not hold out for any longer and slept unconsciously on the bed. Seeing his mother’s exhaustion, Suo Jia knew that he could not yet help his mother. What he had to do now was to spend every minute, every second of his time to strengthen himself. Only by doing so, would he be able to one day help his mother.

Suo Jia opened his book of magic and searched for the complex magic spell formations, practicing them repetitively . A pale blue light gently followed his right fingertips, continuously outlining an illusionary magic spell formation. However, the outlines disappeared one after another; he couldn’t successfully cast this Moisture Technique!