Close Combat Mage

Chapter 122 – Selecting Treasures Pt. 2

Nodding his head in admiration, Suo Jia smiled while saying, “This young one is sincerely convinced by the venerable elder’s ability to handle affairs. Your ability is at the peak of perfection, and under such business conditions, this young one is unable to refuse. Venerable elder has made this young one’s mind completely clear. Even if I wanted to refuse, it would be impossible.”

“Hahahaha…” Hearing Suo Jia’s words, the master of the ten great thief families also began to laugh out loud. The foundation of this business transaction was based on the cooperation of them all, and each family’s consumption was quite low. All that was left to do now was to obtain that dagger. This was equal to the collected strength of the ten great families’ powers as a whole.

After a short pause, the white haired elder continued, “Alright, we have already brought the listed materials with us, and not a single item is missing. Now everyone should take them out and let Lord Suo Jia look them over.”

Hearing the white clothed elder’s words, all of the family masters operated their own interspatial rings, suddenly… many wooden boxes roughly one meter squared in size appeared one by one in the small room. There were a total of ten wooden boxes, and within them were the materials that Suo Jia needed.

“Hehe……” Seeing this scene, Suo Jia couldn’t help but chuckle. He slowly stepped forward and opened the boxes one after another to examine the items. It was just as the white-haired elder had said; all the materials were here, and not a single one missing. Ores, animal hides, wood…… everything that should’ve been there was there.

Closing the lid of the boxes lightly, Suo Jia stood up as he smiled, “Alright everyone, let us go to the big assembly hall to continue our business transaction. I will let the maids handle the goods.” While speaking, Suo Jia tossed the dagger towards the white-haired elder. With the dagger as the collateral, they wouldn’t fear Suo Jia playing any tricks on them.

Soon after, the ten great family lords walked out of the living room one by one under the white haired elder’s lead. As they all began to head towards the villa’s big assembly hall, Suo Jia waved his palm and stored the ten boxes of materials into his interspatial ring. He’d already planned it out; after the transaction was completed, he would go to the dwarf blacksmith. The dwarf had long since swore to Suo Jia that after collecting all of the materials, he would help Suo Jia create the weapons and armor for free.

The ten great family lords were restless, pacing back and forth in the meeting room. In the head seat sat Suo Jia, who was currently focusing his gaze on the table in front of him. On top of the shining, clean table were 10 open boxes. What Suo Jia was currently examining were the treasures that the ten boxes contained.

These boxes contained the magic artifacts that the ten great family lords had brought. Since each one of them could only present one item, every one of these artifacts were undoubtedly Legendary-ranked and above. Each box also contained a booklet that clearly introduced the magic item’s characteristics, its effects, and its advantages. This was because the lords were afraid that Suo Jia’s knowledge and experience weren’t enough to recognize these magic artifacts.

Although the ten great family lords all had a lot of confidence in their own treasures, they also knew that all the other major families had advanced items as well. Even if these other items were not as good as their own, there wouldn’t be that great of a difference. The final decision would definitely depend on Suo Jia’s tastes.

Leaving aside the expressions of the ten family lords, Suo Jia was currently on the other side, staring at the magic items within those large boxes in front of him with a racing heart. He really wanted to just take everything. However, Suo Jia knew that this was unfortunately impossible.

Among the ten boxes, 6 of them contained peak-grade Legendary-ranked magic items, while the other 4 unexpectedly contained Epic-ranked items. As Suo Jia examined these items, he really didn’t want to give up a single one of them, but he knew that he would have to choose only one.

If he could possess all the treasures in the boxes and wear them, Suo Jia believed that his strength would definitely increase by several-fold. However, this kind of situation could only happen in his dreams. Right now he could only select one out of ten.

Suo Jia greedily glanced at the equipment one after another. In the end…… Suo Jia helplessly sighed and painfully shut his eyes as he pushed the other boxes back. He closed the lid of the remaining box and tightly embraced it before he said resolutely, “I have made my decision. This is my selection!”

Seeing that Suo Jia had already made his decision, certain people among the ten family lords were pleased, while others were grieving. Anxiously waiting for the other nine family leaders to take the boxes back into their possessions, Suo Jia almost stretched his hands and snatch it back. However, Suo Jia knew that if he really went and did it, that would be equal to throwing his life away.

Suo Jia trembled as he tightly embraced the box, “Everyone, it is already time for lunch. We have already prepared food downstairs. We should all go together……”

Apart from that lucky guy who had obtained the dagger, how could the other family lords be in the mood to stay behind and eat? Not waiting for Suo Jia to finish what he was saying, the white haired old man bitterly said, “No need! We are not going to trouble Lord Suo Jia.”

Suo Jia wasn’t one who didn’t recognize face. He simply expressed warm hospitality to his customers, and then allowed the ten great family lords to leave. Suo Jia really wanted to carefully study these new treasures, and find out exactly how formidable they were!

Quickly, the ten great family lords left one after another. Meanwhile, Suo Jia excitedly embraced the case as he directly ran towards the secret underwater training room. Honestly speaking, obtaining this treasure was really beyond Suo Jia’s expectations.

Although there were a total of ten treasures for Suo Jia to choose from, in reality, Suo Jia had instantly chosen one the second the boxes were placed in front of him, before he had even opened any of them. No matter how amazing the other items were, Suo Jia definitely wouldn’t have hesitated in choosing this one.

That instant the ten boxes had been placed in front of him, Suo Jia had clearly sensed an awe-inspiring feeling leaking out from one of the boxes. The slightest perception of it had allowed Suo Jia to discover that the treasure within the box actually contained something that formed a mysterious connection with the Atlantis’ Wisdom on his head. In that instant, Suo Jia was able to sense that the magic item within this box was clearly an Epic-ranked magic item!

Suo Jia took a deep breath and gently opened the box. What he saw was an unusual ear ornament. What was important to notice was that there was only one of them, not a pair. In reality, only one of these had ever existed.

Although it was only a single ear ornament, it was actually comprised of seven blue earrings. Each of the rings had mysterious writings written on their surfaces. If Suo Jia hadn’t been well versed in this ear ornament’s exact properties, he definitely would’ve worn 3 on each ear, and then stare blankly in confusion at the extra ring.

Unable to deal with the pain after puncturing seven holes in succession on his left ear, and then inserting each of those fine and exquisite earrings into the holes, Suo Jia used a few Moisture Techniques on his ear wounds.

Suo Jia lightly shook his head. As expected…..just as the epic records had stated, a sharp and clear feeling, like the flowing of spring water, could be heard flowing from Suo Jia’s heart. Under Suo Jia’s perception, he could tell that this sound was indeed spreading from his heart as its origin, and not from his ear.

Taking a deep breath, Suo Jia took out the books he had purchased and quickly flipped through the pages to where the Atlantis set was discussed. After some close examination of the text, he discovered that indeed…..his current earrings were exactly the same as the ones drawn in the book.

The name of this set of earrings was Atlantis’ Whispers, and it had the ability to allow one to hear the whispers/murmurs/words of the water elements to increase one’s understanding of them. Through listening, one could raise their familiarity with the water elements. At the same time, once the earrings connected with Atlantis’ Wisdom, they would boost the might of any water elemental magics.

Based on the words, these earrings didn’t seem to have many functions, making it hard to see where they got their famous reputation from. However, in reality, these earrings were definitely worthy of their fame as being part of the most powerful Epic-ranked set. Their formidability wasn’t one that could be physically felt, and definitely was impossible to understand.

Being able to hear the water elements’ whispers meant being able to increase one’s understanding of the water elements. The deeper the understanding, the more one can fully utilize the water’s capabilities. Even if Suo Jia didn’t have much experience and hadn’t trained enough in magic, simply relying on understanding the water elements was enough to make his water stream’s power much stronger.

At the same time, as a result of hearing the water elements’ whispers, one’s familiarity with them would continuously deepen as well. The deeper one’s familiarity, the easier it is to control the water. It could be said that these earrings could improve Suo Jia’s water manipulation! It could increase the total amount of water that Suo Jia could control. This was really important, especially to Suo Jia, who had come up with the Whip-Hammer Technique.

Finally, because Suo Jia was now wearing two parts of the equipment set, they had gained the ability to interconnect with each other to raise Suo Jia’s overall comprehension of the water elements.

Understanding gained from Atlantis’ Whispers in addition to the knowledge gained from Atlantis’ Wisdom gave rise to a deeper understanding of the water elements. The more this understanding increased, the mightier one’s water magic would become. Moreover, this included all water magics, not just a few.

Of course, just like the magic items that Suo Jia currently possessed, Atlantis’ Whispers wouldn’t instantly increase Suo Jia’s strength. The effects were originally imperceptible, and would gradually appear as time flowed on. As he advanced in his training, the effects would appear bit by bit. The overall benefits were not present on itself, but were left inside the user’s body and would become the user’s own abilities. This was the effect of an Epic-ranked item.

The epic ranked equipment was renowned because the historic person was well-known. They were the hero that brought about the fame of the epic ranked equipment and vice versa. Only an epic ranked equipment could possibly bring up an epic ranked hero.

Happily shaking his head, the seven earrings momentarily made contact with each other and made a clear ringing noise. The sound gently flowed out from Suo Jia’s heart. He closed his eyes in excitement and silently listened to it, trying to understand it…..

Immersed in listening to the water elements’ whispers, Suo Jia sat there for an entire week. Aside from eating meals and carrying out any other life necessities, Suo Jia didn’t stop for a single moment, and used his entire being to listen and come to understand the whispers.

Finally, after a week had passed, news was delivered from the outside. The fire wind warriors had returned. Only after hearing this did Suo Jia remember that there was still a huge pile of precious, priceless materials within his interspatial ring. Right now….he could go find the dwarf blacksmith. After all, the dwarf had already agreed to create equipment for Suo Jia for free if he gathered and presented these materials!