Close Combat Mage

Chapter 273 - City of Warriors Part 1

The rest of the journey didn’t exactly go smoothly. They continuously encountered various types of magical beasts that fought to jump out from the nearby grasses and attack Suo Jia and Nicole first. This scared Suo Jia and Nicole quite a bit, and they didn’t dare at all to quickly advance.

Currently, neither Suo Jia nor Nicole could face off against a magical beast at close range. Although Suo Jia had the magic shield, and Nicole had stealth, their abilities and spirit power had limits. They couldn’t possibly maintain these states forever.

The Magical Beast Plains were extremely dangerous, as multiple magical beasts many times more powerful than Nicole or Suo Jia could leap out at any moment in time. The slightest moment of carelessness would lead to instant death. Nobody would ever dare to let down their guard here.

With lack of better choice, Suo Jia could only summon the Water God’s Shield, while Nicole entered her stealth state. After rushing through for a length of time, they immediately made the Diamond Dragon change to its combat state and act as a guard, while Suo Jia and Nicole focused on restoring their energies as fast as possible. Whenever the Diamond Dragon finished resting, the roles would switch over once more. However, this meant that Suo Jia would have to carry the Diamond Dragon whenever they advanced, as the Diamond Dragon required a stable environment for it to concentrate on restoring its energy.

After using up a tremendous amount of their strength and experiencing many life or death situations, Suo Jia and Nicole finally managed to successfully pass through the great plains. By that time, their spirit energies were extremely weak and at their limits. As soon as they found a hotel, they immediately collapsed into a deep slumber for three days and three nights, before finally relieving some of their tension.

Suo Jia and Nicole were relaxed as they sat in the hotel that morning, contently eating the delicious food. After going hungry for three days, anything they ate tasted amazing. They had come to cherish these little moments, especially after several life or death experiences.

The path through the plains that should’ve originally taken only 3 days to cross had taken Suo Jia and Nicole an entire week instead. The massive amount of spirit power and physical strength they had consumed was something that they hadn’t previously imagined. Whenever they recalled their experiences that week, Suo Jia and Nicole couldn’t help but tremble. They’d pretty much been unable to even sleep for an entire week.

After a long while of silently eating…Nicole finally lifted her head and earnestly said to Suo Jia, “Suo Jia, after passing through the plains this time, I’m sure you’ve realized that the two of us alone aren’t qualified to go adventuring, let alone around the Greater Trade Routes.”

Suo Jia didn’t understand much about adventuring. He looked at Nicole in confusion and frowned, “You mean…”

Nicole firmly replied, “Some occupations are dispensable in an adventure group, but others are necessary. Our past experience alone can already completely prove this point.”

Suo Jia put down the cutlery in his hands and lowered his head in thought. After a long time, Suo Jia’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly raised his head to reply to Nicole, “I’ve got it. We need a warrior, a true warrior. Right?”

Nicole bitterly smiled and nodded, “Does that even need to be thought over? Something like that is obvious. The reason we struggled so miserably this time was solely because we’re lacking a true warrior to protect us.”

Nicole paused for a bit before continuing, “Because we’re lacking a warrior, we don’t have anyone to directly face-off the magical beasts that pop out at us. If we had a warrior accompanying us, we wouldn’t be in such a difficult situation. The warrior would be completely responsible for holding off the beast when it first appears, giving us the chance to prepare. It wouldn’t be like now, when we have to maintain our combat state all the time. We’ll eventually be exhausted to death.”

Nodding his head in thought, Suo Jia sighed and replied, “That’s right, how could I forget something so simple? In reality, the two of us lack an unyielding defense and a strong body, rendering us unable to go against a magical beast that suddenly appears. If we had a warrior, our lives would be much easier.”

Suo Jia loudly slapped his hand no the table and firmly declared, “Alright. In that case, our next step is to look for a powerful warrior, hehe…”

Nicole smiled and nodded, replying in agreement, “That’s right. That’s exactly what we need to do. Otherwise, there’s no way we’ll be able to get very far. Before we even reach the Greater Trade Routes, we’ll die of exhaustion.”

“But…” Suo Jia nodded and smiled grimly, “Originally, I had been trying to build up a group of powerful warriors. You’ve seen them as well, they’re definitely formidable.”

“Mhm…” Nicole nodded furiously in fear and replied, “That’s right, I did indeed see them. I’ve even fought against them quite a few times. Those people are definitely very mighty. Their entire bodies are impervious to sword and spear, and they’re also abnormally fast. Their attacks are terrifyingly explosive as well. If one of them could come, our journey would be too easy.”

“Sigh…” Suo Jia blankly lifted his head to look at the sky outside the window. “It’s a pity that my eight year long relationship with them wasn’t as important as money or power. They’ve already betrayed me.”

Nicole glanced at Suo Jia. Although Suo Jia hadn’t ever said anything about them this whole time, Nicole was exceptionally intelligent, and had long already guessed this fact. If nothing had changed, why would Suo Jia have left so easily? Considering the fact that he’d already walked out of the empire, he’d most likely have lost everything already.

Nicole smiled and said consolingly, “You shouldn’t mind it too much. It’s hard to tell whether that supposed blessing in disguise will bring you fortune or disaster. Who knows, there might be an even more powerful warrior waiting before us.”

Nicole stood up with a smile and said, “Let’s go, we should use our time wisely. We can’t let that warrior end up running off with someone else. Otherwise, it’ll be too great of a loss on our part.”

“Eh?” Suo Jia stood up in astonishment and asked in confusion, “Why are you in such a hurry? Even if you want to find one, you need extensive planning first. Do you plan on just running around randomly? Do you know where to look for one?”

Nicole charmingly turned around and made a funny face at Suo Jia before smugly replying, “Who do you think I am? I’m the outstanding treasure hunter from my family. How could I not know where to find an Advanced Warrior? I know that better than anyone else.”

“Where?” Suo Jia asked curiously.

“Hehe…” Nicole chuckled mysteriously and said proudly, “For now, I won’t tell you the exact location. Just follow me, you’ll figure it out when the time comes.”