Close Combat Mage

Chapter 67 – The Importance of Friendship

With seemingly endless regret, Suo Jia returned home. Suo Jia could not manage to get any shut-eye that entire night. His mind was completely occupied by the silhouette of that Faerie’s Soul, and his mood was so restless that he couldn’t even meditate.

The next day, the red-eyed Suo Jia ate an early breakfast. Although his breakfast today was abnormally exquisite, Suo Jia was simply ‘eating without tasting’. Deep down, although he knew that it was impossible for him to obtain that Faerie’s Soul, he still could not help but feel great regret.

After eating breakfast, Suo Jia left the White Villa like usual, and headed towards his school. After walking a few steps out of his house, a figure that could be considered fat appeared in front of him.

“Xi!” Briefly glancing at the figure in front of him, the next moment Suo Jia’s eyes grew wide. He looked at the individual with a look of disbelief, and did not know what to do in this situation.

The person standing in front of Suo Jia was Emma, and she currently had the Faerie’s Soul necklace that deprived Suo Jia an entire night of sleep. In one of her hands was the Vulcan’s Roar, and she was completely using this Ideal-rank equipment as a crutch to lean on.

Seeing Suo Jia appear, Emma said while grinning, “Oh, if it isn’t Lord Suo Jia? Where is the Lord heading to?”

Regretfully looking at the necklace around Emma’s neck as well as the staff in her hands, although Suo Jia really wanted those things, he was not willing to toss aside his dignity simply for the sake of obtaining these items. If he were to toss aside his dignity and obtain these items, wouldn’t that simply be “putting the cart before the horse”?

While thinking this, Suo Jia coldly looked at Emma and nodded towards her, “I’m going to school. Classes are about to begin, so I won’t accompany you. Bye…” Saying this, Suo Jia ignored Emma and turned around to leave. To Suo Jia, the fact that the Faerie’s Soul had fallen into Emma’s hands was a great source of grief. Every time he glanced at it, he would feel heartbroken.

In a shocked daze, Emma watched Suo Jia gradually leave. She had thought that once Suo Jia had seen the Faerie’s Soul and the Vulcan’s Roar, he would immediately switch to a smile and think of all possible ways to gain the two items currently in her possession. Afterwards, by pushing and pulling, she would give the items to him and request Suo Jia to help her lose weight. Until she was left with no other choice, Emma was not willing to give away the Epic-ranked Atlantis’ Wisdom as its value was simply so high that it was priceless.

However, she had not imagined that Suo Jia’s attitude would be completely different from what she had imagined it to be. As soon as he swept a glance over the Faerie’s Soul and Vulcan’s Roar, he coldly excused himself, making it impossible for Emma to continue. Could that mean….Suo Jia did not actually desire these items?

“Pata…pata….” Just as water began to fall on Emma’s face, a clear sound of a horse’s hooves could be heard, as a luxurious carriage slowly stopped at Emma’s side.

Hearing the carriage, Emma turned around in confusion. In front of Emma’ gaze, Wen Ya’s absolutely beautiful face appeared from within the window’s curtains. She lightly gestured at Emma to enter the carriage.

Faced with Wen Ya’s invitation, Emma obviously could not refuse. She immediately got into the luxurious carriage, and it gradually began to move again, heading towards the outside.

Within the carriage, Wen Ya smiled at Emma, “Sister Emma, although you have learned how to observe and be considerate of others, your methods were still wrong. If you have an overbearing and arrogant attitude, you will not be accepted by others. I don’t understand, why do you need someone to beg you? Why do you have to begin by putting yourself at a higher position than the receiver? You’ll never make real friendships that way.”

“I….” Emma couldn’t help but blush in shame at Wen Ya’s words. She also understood that although she had successfully hid her little scheme from Suo Jia, she was unable to hide it from Wen Ya.

Seeing Emma’s embarrassment, Wen Ya shook her head, “You…you should really learn how to treat people with sincerity. The relationships between friends cannot be played around with. Otherwise, once the opposing side finds out, the friendship between you two will immediately pull to a stop. Do you want to watch that happen?”

“This…” Emma’s expression suddenly changed after hearing Wen Ya’s words. That’s right….just as Wen Ya had said, Emma had personally gone through similar scenarios already. Before, she could never understand why her everyday friends would gradually leave her. She had thought that it was because of her appearance. However now, with Wen Ya’s hint, Emma finally realized what she had done wrong.

Seeing that Emma seemed to have come to a realization, Wen Ya continued, “I believe that if you discovered that your friend had secretly been scheming against you behind your back, you would also leave him/her right?

Emma nodded in response to Wen Ya’s words, and said with longing, “Yes, yes, yes, it was all my fault. But…if that was wrong, then exactly how am I supposed to go about it?”

Wen Ya smiled at Emma’s modest expression. “It’s very simple, just sincerely face everything. Making friends is a natural process. Believe me, as long as you show your true self in front of Suo Jia, he will definitely accept you as his friend. After all…you’re not truly a bad person. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered helping you.”

At this point, Wen Ya paused for a bit, then leaned into Emma’s ear, “Sister Emma, there are some things that I must remind you of. Other people may be fine, but in regards with Suo Jia, you must become his eternal friend. Otherwise, even if Suo Jia successfully helps you lose weight this time, does that mean you won’t get fat again? Does that mean you won’t age?”

“Xi!” Emma could not help but suck in a cold breath at Wen Ya’s words. She had never considered this question before. Previously, her mind was occupied by thoughts of how to get Suo Jia to help her lose weight; she had never imagined that even if she managed to successfully lose her weight this time, she would still need Suo Jia’s continuous help to maintain her beauty.

Seeing Emma finally understanding, Wen Ya smiled. “Currently, Suo Jia regards me as his blood-related sister. Every week, he helps refresh my appearance, which allowed me to maintain my beauty from start to finish. If it was any other person, not mentioning how much Suo Jia would request as fees, but if he refuses to waste the effort on helping you achieve what you want, that becomes a problem.”

Speaking up to here, Wen Ya looked at Emma, “If you use the Faerie’s Soul and the Vulcan’s Roar, then if you can find an appropriate method to use them, you’ll have enough to get Suo Jia to help you. However, you have to be careful; that will only be for one time. Unless you can constantly use Faerie’s Soul and Vulcan’s Roar to bribe him, it’s otherwise useless. Based on the previous events, Suo Jia was only willing to help you once. There’s no way he would help you again, no matter if you have a golden card or a silver card, it’s not worth Suo Jia’s friendship card.”

Hearing Wen Ya’s words, Emma was already drenched in sweat. Only now did she finally realize how excessively wrong her thoughts had been. Even if she managed to successfully lose weight this time and was restored to her former beauty, how long would she be able to maintain it? A month? Or maybe a year? Once a period of time passed, she would return to her current form again.

Emma rubbed her own face with her hands. These last few days, her face had gotten fatter by quite a lot, and was showing hints of creases again. In at most a month, the Shar Pei-like layers of skin on her face would definitely re-appear. If she wanted to maintain her beauty for a long term, she would not be able to buy it with money and gifts. According to Wen Ya, the only way to maintain her beauty was to become friends with Suo Jia.

While Emma was considering this, Wen Ya lightly rubbed her own face, and dreamily said, “Suo Jia has already agreed to renew my appearance at least once a year for the rest of our lives. I can look for him whenever, as long as the time permits. In other words, even when I turn 70-80 years old, I can still maintain my current beauty. Don’t you want the same?”

“Gulp…” Emma swallowed with difficulty. Right now, she felt like she was practically in a life or death situation. When she thought about it, a woman’s beauty really only lasted for a few dozen years; being able to keep her beauty for the rest of her life is the most perfect scenario for a woman. If Emma’s objective was to make this a reality, then she had to become friends with Suo Jia. There were no other alternatives.