Close Combat Mage

Chapter 114 – Knowledge to Face Poisonous Fangs Pt. 2

Hearing Lightning Wind Warrior’s words, Suo Jia smiled. He turned around and gestured respectfully at Duke Wen Sha, “Duke Wen Sha, please act as our witness. That way, nobody can take back their words later!”

Duke Wen Sha nodded, then turned to face the Lightning Wind Warrior with a smile on his face, “In that case, let me confirm: Lightning Wind Warrior, do you agree to make this bet with Suo Jia?”

“I agree! Why wouldn’t I? I hope that Duke Wen Sha will be fair, I’m afraid this brat will lose and try to back out!” Lightning Wind Warrior laughed.

Loftily narrowing his eyes at Lightning Wind Warrior, Duke Wen Sha coldly said, “I, Duke Wen Sha, always keep my word. Since I am acting as witness, you two had better not even think of reneging. If either of you show even the slightest hint of breaking your words, I will kill him on the spot!” While saying this, a red light exploded out of Duke Wen Sha’s entire body.

Sensing Duke Wen Sha’s aura, the Lightning Wind Warrior couldn’t help but wet his lips. Duke Wen Sha was a legendary warrior with great strength, and a single strike from the Duke was enough to defeat more than even 100 Lightning Wind Warriors added together.

While the Lightning Wind Warrior was inwardly sighing in admiration, Wen Sha continued in a dignified voice, “Suo Jia, Lightning Wind, do both of you confirm your participation in this bet? This is the last time I will ask. There will be no other chances to back out after this final inquiry. If you back out later, you will not only automatically lose the bet, but I will also kill you on the spot!”

Hearing Duke Wen Sha’s words, Suo Jia nodded resolutely and replied, “That’s right, I am willing to bet my two noble rank advancements against him. I request the Duke to be my witness!”

As soon as Suo Jia finished speaking, Lightning Wind Warrior also loudly replied, “I am also willing to bet. I voluntarily bet my two Divine Needles. If I lose, the Divine Needles will belong to him!”

“Good!” Duke Wen Sha declared, “In that case, the bet is established. No one can back out, and any renouncers will die!”

“Hahahaha….” As soon as Duke Wen Sha finished speaking, Suo Jia suddenly broke out into laughter. Everyone watched in shock as Suo Jia laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes.

After a long time, Suo Jia finally ceased laughing with some difficulty. Gasping for breath, he wiped away his tears and turned to gesture respectfully at the Duke, “Duke Wen Sha, Suo Jia requests you to keep the gambled items!”

Hearing Suo Jia, Duke Wen Sha was shocked for a minute. However, he soon broke out into laughter just like how Suo Jia had laughed. While laughing heartily, Wen Sha was also admiring Suo Jia to death. This child was so intelligent that he had even managed to hide facts from the Duke.

Originally, Duke Wen Sha had thought that Suo Jia would have some other methods to deal with the Divine Needles. Just a moment ago, Duke Wen Sha was still secretly guessing to himself just what kind of methods Suo Jia could possibly use against these special Divine Needles that were specialized to fight mages, so much to the point that he had enough confidence to even dare to bet against his opponent!

However, Duke Wen Sha understood now; this bright young fellow didn’t have any particular methods to defeat his opponent. If those two Divine Needles were so easy to defeat, then how would the Lightning Wind Warrior have remained so unbridled during this entire time? Thinking about it, if Duke Wen Sha, who was an experienced veteran that had gone through years of battle, couldn’t think of a way to defeat the Lightning Wind Warrior, then how could Suo Jia?

It instantly activated within 20 meters, and aside from a faint golden light, nothing could be seen. Even if one wanted to use the golden light as an indication of the attack, it would be impossible; every time the Lightning Wind Warrior moved, he emitted thousands of golden light rays. How was one supposed to know which one to watch out for?

Currently, everyone, including the Lightning Wind Warrior had been tricked by Suo Jia. In reality, Suo Jia didn’t have any particular methods to deal with the two Divine Needles. However, although Suo Jia was helpless in the arena, he had been able to use an alternative method outside of the fight; he had used this bet to solve the issue.

As everyone knows, if one wants to make a bet, then one must first take out the items at stake and hand them over to the witness. Only the winner has the right to retrieve these items. Of course…it’s possible that the items will not be asked for at all. However, once someone requested for them to be held in custody, then everyone must oblige!

In other words, once this bet was confirmed, then there was no way the Lightning Wind Warrior could even think of using his Divine Needles during the tournament. He had to hand them over now and give them to Duke Wen Sha as collateral. Only after winning would he be able to take them back.

The entire arena fell silent at Suo Jia’s request for a moment before breaking into an uproar. To think that there was still such a hand to play, this frightening child was too shrewd. He could even come up with a move like this!

At the same time, the Lightning Wind Warrior was also inwardly alarmed. He shouted, “That isn’t fair! If I cannot use my two Divine Needles, then my strength will decrease drastically. If I must hand over a collateral, then I would rather not bet!”

“Hmph!” As soon as the Lightning Wind Warrior finished speaking, Duke Wen Sha snorted in anger, “Young man, it was you who wanted me to be fair. I’m sorry, but I just announced to everyone that the bet was established. You can refuse to compete now, but no matter whether you compete or not, you have to hand over your two needles! If you abandon the competition, then it will count as your forfeit, and the Divine Needles will go to Suo Jia!”

Duke Wen Sha then swept a dignified gaze around and loudly stated to the audience, “Everyone….do you think Wen Sha’s judgment is fair or not?”

Everyone firmly nodded in response. This wasn’t really a question; the bet had already been established. It wasn’t like one could simply bet or not bet with a simple word. Not betting was fine, but it would be equivalent to forfeiting. All of the collateral would automatically go to the opposite party. All bets in this world followed these same rules; it didn’t need to be discussed any further.

Seeing everyone nod in unison, Duke Wen Sha’s expression hardened. He angrily said, “Hand over your Divine Needles immediately. Or….do you want to go back on your words?” A cold aura began to emanate from Duke Wen Sha’s body.

“Renouncers must die!” Feeling the murderous aura coming from Duke Wen Sha, the Lightning Wind Warrior immediately recalled the words that the Duke had said previously. His body shuddered, and then he obediently handed the two Divine Needles over, placing them in Duke Wen Sha’s hands.

Nodding, Duke Wen Sha continued, “Very good. Suo Jia’s noble rank advancement opportunities are also under my control. As long as you win, I’ll grant them to you instead. Don’t worry, even I wouldn’t dare to joke around with such things.”

Duke Wen Sha said in an imposing manner, “Alright, now that both parties have presented their stakes, I’ll hand the remaining time to the referee. I’m simply a witness.” Duke Wen Sha slowly sat back down.

“Tch…” Gritting his teeth in irritation, the Lightning Wind Warrior glared maliciously at Suo Jia and said, “Brat, you’re despicable. You even used such nasty tricks. But you’d better remember that even without my Lightning Wind Thorns, I still have the Lightning Wind Charge. I will definitely still defeat you!”

Smiling, Suo Jia said in disdain, “You’ve really been wasting your life for so long. Could it be that you don’t know? Cutting down an enemy requires using one’s head. Someone as simple-headed as you that only relies on external sources couldn’t possibly be my equal. Right now….I’m only pulling your teeth. I’ll break your legs next. When the time comes, I’ll see just how arrogant you can still be!”

Hearing Suo Jia’s infuriating words, the Lightning Wind Warrior practically exploded from anger. This bastard had managed to slander his greatest weapon with just a few words; it really pissed him off. He was really enraged; there was absolutely no way he could forgive a bastard like Suo Jia!

Ignoring the ashen faced Lightning Wind Warrior, Suo Jia turned around and walked to the platform. He straightened his body and smiled at the referee. Receiving this signal, the referee asked the Lightning Wind Warrior if he was ready. After receiving a confirmation, the referee firmly declared that the competition….had now officially started!

As soon as the referee gave the command, the Lightning Wind Warrior immediately sprang into action. His strides were small, but his speed was extremely fast. Moreover, his speed just kept increasing; in an instant, the pace of his footsteps reached a frightening speed. It looked as if he had created countless afterimages.

“Heya!” After a sudden shout… the Lightning Wind Warrior’s body first tilted upwards, and then he suddenly leapt forwards. His strides suddenly grew much larger, but his pace didn’t change, making his overall speed several fold higher! Suo Jia only saw a blur, and at the next moment…. the Lightning Wind Warrior had already flashed 10 meters forward. His body appeared to curve, but was actually straight as he charged towards Suo Jia.

Although the 50 meter distance seemed long, the Lightning Wind Warrior was able to cover it within 3-4 seconds. In an instant, the Lightning Wind Warrior had already appeared within the 20 meters perimeter around Suo Jia. However, up until now, Suo Jia still had no way to attack.

Seeing the Lightning Wind Warrior sharply charging over, Suo Jia’s forehead began to sweat. If Suo Jia hadn’t gotten rid of the Lightning Wind’s Divine Needles, then he might’ve already lost in that instant. Such extreme speed was beyond shocking!

Looking down at the opposite party’s feet, a pair of boots surrounded by golden light appeared in Suo Jia’s vision. Without a question, these boots were a magic item. Moreover, they were most likely an Ideal-ranked magic item that was not very far from a Legendary-ranked item. Based on the golden light surrounding the boots, the supplementary effects they contained were probably the wind attribute auxiliary magic — Wind Rush!

Nodding, Suo Jia finally understood. In reality, his opponent’s strength was like the fire mage he had just fought; completely reliant on magical items. The Lightning Wind Charge originated from the Wind Rush magic the boots carried. If Suo Jia wore those same boots, he would be able to use the auxiliary Wind Arts to battle as well. The so-called Lightning Wind Charge was really only activated with the boots. There was no need for further explanation about the Lightning Wind Thorn.

In reality, Suo Jia hadn’t simply frozen during these short seconds. He had already cast a series of magics successfully. However….currently, the spells were still hidden, and hadn’t been used yet. This was the trap that Suo Jia had laid out; once the spells were actually used, the battle would end. What Suo Jia needed to do now was to try to make this trap useful.

Arrogantly standing in place, Suo Jia waved his hands. Instantly, the Water Whirlpool and the Revolving Frozen Gas began to intermingle with each other. The Whirling Ice Protective Wall once again appeared around Suo Jia.

Seeing this scene, the wind warrior couldn’t help but inwardly curse. If he had those two Divine Needles, he would’ve been able to completely bypass that ice wall. The needle would’ve directly flown past, and ended the battle. However, now he could only try using brute force to break past the ice wall.