Close Combat Mage

Chapter 202 – Dawn of Dawn Pt. 2

Seeing Suo Jia’s excited manner, Naifa Lian couldn’t help but smile as well. For some unknown reason, she suddenly no longer feared Suo Jia. Now, he was just a child in her eyes. She couldn’t understand why she had been so afraid of him before!

Naifa Lian continued, “You’d better not underestimate these 5000 Mengma Knights. In reality, this is a portion of the million man army that the Empire dispatched during the last conflict at the border; they have all undergone extremely special training!”

“Oh?” Suo Jia looked at Naifa Lian in doubt and asked curiously, “A million man army! Are you saying…that the Empire actually has a million people as formidable as this! Heavens….where are they all now?”

Naifa Lian bitterly laughed and said grimly, “How could there be a million such people! In reality, it was exactly these 10,000 soldiers that were the elites among the entire army. As for the remaining 990,000, they all died at Dawn Fort!”

Suo Jia couldn’t help but gasp at Naifa Lian’s words. To think that hundreds of thousands had died was really too terrifying. Suo Jia looked at the soldiers in front of him. He knew that they had not only killed many enemies with their own hands, they had also personally witnessed millions of their companions of war fall under their enemies’ blades, one after another!

The reason these soldiers were deemed elites were not because anyone rated them, but because they had successfully survived so many battles. They were all elites that weren’t lacking in talent, ability, luck, or strength!

Naifa Lian continued, “The 5000 pike users are best suited for protecting the city, while the 5000 Mengma Knights are best suited for attacking cities. They are omnipotent existences when it comes to charging and breaking through enemy lines!”

Naifa Lian continued, “Putting those 5000 pike users aside, as they are relatively new soldiers that have only fought for a few dozen years, those Mengma Knights are old soldiers that I hope you treat well. They have really lived hard lives.” As she said this, tears began to glitter in Naifa Lian’s eyes.

Suo Jia looked at Naifa Lian in bewilderment and asked, “Of course I’ll treat them well. Why are you crying?”

Brushing away her tears, Naifa Lian tried hard to suppress her emotions as she choked, “They have all been trained to be soldiers since they were young. For the Empire, they devoted their youth, their lives. They really sacrificed too much.”

Naifa Lian looked at the soldiers with admiration and murmured, “Young Master, can you guess how old these soldiers are?”

Suspiciously inspecting the orderly steel army in front of him, Suo Jia asked curiously, “How old can they be? Are they 30 years old?”

Naifa Lian suddenly replied, “Double that and add 1!”

“Double that and add one?” Suo Jia mumbled to himself. He then abruptly whipped his head around and said to Naifa Lian in shock, “God, you can’t be telling me that they’re already 61!”

Naifa Lian nodded and said in a heavy voice, “That is their average age. The oldest among them is 64, and the youngest is 60. Actually, these Mengma Knights are all the mightiest ones. In a few days, it will be their 50th year anniversary to commemorate their service to the Empire!”

“Holy crap!” Suo Jia couldn’t help but turn back around to look at the Mengma Knights. There were both massive respect and great pity in his gaze. What he respected was their devotion and selflessness. For the Empire’s safety, they had contributed their everything. What he felt pity for was their large ages; could they still fight?

Seeing the expression in Suo Jia’s eyes, Naifa Lian could clearly guess what he was thinking. She smiled and said, “Young Master Suo Jia, you are making a grave mistake if you’re underestimating them. As I’ve stated earlier, they are all proficient in battle qi, battle skills, and equestrian archery. Although they are already over 60 years old, this is their prime time. A warrior can typically live up to 120-130 years old! They can use their lives for the sake of the Empire for at least another 40 years!”

“Pa!” Suo Jia abruptly hit himself in the head. He knew that typically speaking, a warrior’s life span was 20-30 years longer than a normal person’s. In addition, they grew more powerful as they aged. Even after 100 years, their strength would just continue to grow with no signs of decreasing.

Actually, warriors were simply people that were better at making use of their capabilities. As their age accumulated, their capabilities would increase in number. Their control over these capabilities would also grow stronger. So warriors actually grew more formidable with age. This applied even to the day they died; right before their deaths, they’d be able to use their strongest attack!

Naifa Lian said, “Also, these 5000 Mengmas were the ones that had been allocated back when they were part of the million man army. Now each one of them has one. Currently, these Mengmas have reached around the age of 50. Does Young Master know what a 50 year-old Mengma implies?”

Suo Jia wordlessly looked at Naifa Lian. He had really lost his ability to reply. The Mengma was an earth-type magical beast that had the external appearance of a horse, but had four legs the thickness of a human’s. Its body was as sturdy as a bull’s, and it had two horns sprouting from its head. A Mengma’s movements were as swift as the wind.

As an earth-type magical beast, as long as its feet were on the ground, the Mengma had a running speed that a horse couldn’t possibly compare to. Although it couldn’t instantly cover 100 li, it could easily cover 10 li in a flash!

However, although the Mengma’s speed was extremely fast, it wasn’t the fastest beast. The Mengma was famous for its powerful defense and charging ability. In terms of speed alone, it was only in the middle ranks; it still couldn’t compare to that of a leopard, a lion, or a tiger type magical beast.

However, after reaching the age of 50, the Mengma would evolve. During this period, it would transform into a Velociraptor. Its front limbs would form sharp claws, its body would become upright, its back limbs would become incomparably thick and solid. It became a creature that had the fastest movements on ground!

Moreover, the Velociraptor was classified as a high grade, lower tier magical beast. It could activate Earth Sting, Rock Thorn, Rock Shield, and Stone Skin. Its close combat physical attacks were incomparably powerful. The Velociraptor’s only weaknesses were its magical defense, as well as its physical defensive abilities, which were a bit lacking. It was most afraid of mage group attacks.

Normally, the Mengmas was perceived as most suitable for armies. After all, their defense and charging assault power were appropriate for group battles, as they were hard to injure. On the other hand, the Velociraptors were another type of magical beast that sacrificed physical and magical defenses for speed and magic. Their attacks were formidable, and they had many methods of attacking as well. Their speeds were at the extreme limits, to the point where they would be able to fly up into the air if they had wings stuck onto them.

Actually, these Mengmas already had the ability to evolve. But this whole while, nobody had allowed them to do so. They were all most familiar with the Mengmas, and didn’t actually wish for them to evolve into Velociraptors. Regardless of how mighty Velociraptors were, the Mengmas were clearly most appropriate for them.

Suo Jia stared at the 5000 Mengma Knights in deep concentration. After thinking over it for a while, he abruptly waved his hand, gesturing for the pike users to disperse. Only the 5000 Mengma Knights remained in their places, ready to receive orders.

Suo Jia thought long and hard. He understood the characteristics of the Mengmas; they had thick skin and muscle, and had gigantic bodies. Their physical defensive powers were high, and due to the heaviness of their bodies, the amount of force in their physical charges was even greater! Their speeds were also quite fast; it could be said that they were the best suited magical beasts to become mounts in a battle.

Despite this, the Velociraptors were clearly even more formidable. Although their defensive abilities decreased, their speeds increased. Although their charging force decreased, their attack power increased. In addition, they had more methods of attack.

Earth Sting was a sharp thorn of earth with a length of at least 2 meters that pierced forth from the ground. It attacked enemies from below.

Rock Thorn was a sharp thorn of rock around 1 meter long. Like an arrow, it shot out at its enemies. It was equivalent to the Ice Arrow Technique in ice type magic.

Rock Shield was a large defensive guard made of rock to block any incoming attacks. It had very strong defensive abilities.

Stone Skin was an earth-type auxiliary magic that created an energy layer made of the earth elements. This increased the user’s physical and magical defenses!

With these four great magics, the army’s overall might was boosted by a great amount. The only downside was that a decrease in defenses meant that they could get injured more easily, which wasn’t at all appropriate for group combat on the battlefield!