Close Combat Mage

Chapter 383 - News of Xiang Yun Part 2

Roger gaped at Suo Jia, then blankly stared at the destroyed ice on the ground around him. “Boss, isn’t this Ice Prison of yours too strong? Even if I used battle qi first thing upon being trapped, I’d still be stuck in there for about six seconds; in such a situation, am I not just a toy on top of your palm?”

Roger then very slowly trudged over to Suo Jia with a bitter expression, “Also, having been frozen for so long as made me completely numb; I can’t even walk fast anymore. Plus, since my whole body has been desensitized, I can’t muster any strength either!”

When Roger returned to the table and began to drink in attempt to warm his body, Nicole turned to look at Suo Jia with her brows knit together, “Boss, it’s only been half a year since I saw you and you already seem to be as ridiculously powerful as that maniac killer. First was that strange Ice Arrow, then that Revolving Frozen Gas that broke my concealment, and finally that abnormally strong Ice Prison. Don’t those make you unrivaled now?”

Suo Jia sighed and shook his head. “You’re overestimating it. Although the Ice Arrow is indeed formidable, it can only be used as a surprise attack, not a main attack. Using that to defeat an opponent of equal level would be impossible. As for the Revolving Frozen Glass, while that was able to break your concealment and stealth, it wasn’t able to harm you!”

Roger, who had slowly regained some energy, said gloomily, “Even if those two things aren’t much, that Ice Prison is too much! It can trap me for at least six seconds. If we were seriously fighting, you could’ve killed me over a hundred times!”

“No,” Suo Jia answered. “Your thinking there is wrong. Although the Ice Prison trapped you, you can also think of its ice walls as similar to the Diamond Dragon’s Glacial Armor; it is also protecting you. As long as it isn’t broken, nobody outside it would be able to harm you either!”

Nicole nodded in understanding. With a breath of relief, she chuckled, “Good, it looks like I’m not too far behind Boss, haha…”

“Tch…” Roger tsked in disdain. “That’s because you haven’t experienced the Ice Prison yet. I’ll admit that although the Ice Prison doesn’t have the ability to kill me, it also emits a large amount of cold air to freeze me. In addition, I have to consume a great amount of battle qi to break out!”

Roger rolled his eyes at Nicole before continuing, “Think about it, once my battle qi is used up and my body is frozen, my speed drops, my attacks have no strength, and my defense is full of holes. By that point, how could I possibly go up against Boss?”

“That’s…” Nicole’s face paled. That was right…although Suo Jia’s Ice Prison couldn’t directly kill or even contain an opponent of equal level, it could drastically weaken the opponent. The longer the opponent was trapped, the weaker they’d get; in that way, the opponent would be worn down to death!

Thinking back now, the reason she’d acted so passively just now and directly surrendered was because of Suo Jia’s Ice Arrow. Although Nicole had been able to block the physical arrow, she hadn’t been able to resist against its cold air. Her speed had been dropped by a third, and as a result, she had become slower than Roger. Thus, she had been forced to admit defeat. If they had all been in their normal states, there was no way Nicole would be afraid of Roger. Even if she couldn’t defeat him, there was no way Roger could defeat Nicole either.

Nicole looked up in astonishment with a dumbfounded look. “Heavens! Now that I think about it, I was being completely manipulated by Boss in the fight just now. From the very beginning, Boss had control over the entire battle!”

“Mhm, mhm…” Roger nodded in complete agreement and praised, “That’s right, “control” perfectly describes the situation. Although Boss might not actually kill an enemy himself, his control ability allows us and the enemy to instantly change dominance and turn the tides of battle. Just like with you, he was able to break your concealment and lower your speed, forcing you to surrender!”

“Please,” Nicole rolled her eyes at Roger. “Surrender my ass. All I did was concede; I’m not an enemy, so the word ‘surrender’ isn’t even appropriate!”

Just then, Nicole glanced around her and asked, “Oh right, why are you two the only ones I see? Where’s Xiang Yun? Has he not arrived yet? It’s way past the designated meeting time!”

Suo Jia shook his head with a grave expression. “He’s not here yet. That guy is typically always punctual, so why not this time? Could it be that he got into an accident?”

“Hmph!” Nicole huffed in reply, “More like you set a bad example. Who asked you to come so late last time? Now do you finally understand what it feels like to wait for others?”

“Ha…” Suo Jia let out a dry chuckle and nodded. “That’s right, now I finally know what waiting feels like. It’s not just waiting, but also bearing with a strong sense of concern!”

“Bang!” Just then, the inn’s door suddenly slammed open. The three of them jumped at the sound and shifted their gazes over to look, thinking that Xiang Yun had arrived. However, the person entering the inn wasn’t Xiang Yun, but a shifty-eyed thief!

Amidst their disappointment, the thief loudly shouted, “Hurry, hurry, hurry! Everyone, hurry up and go watch the show! There are ten of Illusion City’s troops surrounding a blade master right now! They’ve already fought for a good while and left behind a ton of dead bodies!”

“Bang!” Immediately, everyone in the inn stood up in unison and wildly ran out. Of course…it wasn’t for a reason as simple as just wanting to watch the show. Getting a chance to watch experts fight could boost one’s own experience and battle skills. Sometimes, seeing a single move was enough to raise one’s strength by several fold!

Most fights were typically private. After all…after the end of the fight, the parties would be extremely weakened, having exhausted their magic power, spirit power, battle qi, and stamina. If they were attacked at such a moment, it would be extremely dangerous. Only rare chances like this one allowed spectators; moreover, the ones fighting were undoubtedly experts!

In the span of a few short minutes, everyone inside had run out. Only Suo Jia, Nicole, and Roger remained blankly sitting in place.

After a long while, Suo Jia tentatively asked, “Hey, do you guys think that ‘blade master’ could be Xiang Yun? Didn’t he always call himself something like that…oh! He called himself the descendant of the western blade master?”

Roger and Nicole were stunned for a moment. Then, the three of them exchanged glances at each other and instantly stood up with a bang as if the seats had burned them, and bounded out the door. No wonder Xiang Yun, who was typically always punctual, was so late…he had been blocked off! So unlucky…

The city entrance was a bit far from the inn. The three of them followed the road, frantically running as fast as possible. However, in terms of speed, Nicole was the fastest, Roger was second, and Suo Jia was the slowest. Thus…although Suo Jia was running with all his might, Nicole and Roger didn’t seem to be expending much energy at all!

While they were running, Nicole voiced in confusion, “Exactly what kind of mess did Xiang Yun get himself into to get surrounded by ten of Illusion City’s troops? I mean…among those troops, there are definitely thieves, adventurers, mercenaries, and knights…how could a single person have possibly provoked so many groups at once? In such a situation, he could only be described as someone that could infuriate the heavens and all men under it!”

Roger let out a bitter chuckle. “I have a general idea of what he did but…he’s way too brazen-to think he’d actually dare to do something of this level!”

“Hm?” Nicole shot Roger a suspicious glance. “Roger! You’d better give me a straight answer…what exactly have you been doing this past half a year? And what is Xiang Yun up to? Hurry up and say!”

Roger shook his head dryly. “You guys know that I do mercenary work, right? So…any time I run into a thief group, I challenge them. As for Xiang Yun…”

“Heavens!” Before Roger had even finished, Suo Jia and Nicole had realized what was going on; there was no way they couldn’t. They exchanged glances and Nicole asked in horror, “Xiang Yun…couldn’t have challenged every single group he’d encountered, right?”

Roger could only weakly reply, “Aside from that, what other possible explanation could there be?”

“That’s…” Nicole hesitated for a moment before replying, “That’s right…there’s no other possible reason for ten troops to attack him at once. It looks like that rascal has been playing around too much!”

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