Close Combat Mage

Chapter 369 – Preparing to Head Out Pt.2

Ice Shield! When Suo Jia saw the magic written in the scroll, he couldn’t contain his excitement. The Ice Shield technique actually summoned two sturdy shields of ice that could be used to block an enemy attack. It was also the strongest defensive ice magic.

Suo Jia flicked his right hand and the sapphire blue Sea God’s Trident appeared in a flash. Then, according to the notes in the scroll, Suo Jia activated the Ice Shield technique!

With a small sound, blue shields made of Mysterious Ice slowly materialized in front of Suo Jia and began to gradually surround his body in a circle.

“This is…” Suo Jia looked around in astonishment at the ice shields around him and was delighted to discover that there actually weren’t just two shields, but four! Four 2 meter tall, long and narrow shields of ice covered with mysterious designs were constantly revolving around him.

Suo Jia quickly realized that if it were any other person, only two shields would be summoned. It was because of the Sea God’s Trident in his hand that he had been able to activate four. Most importantly, the Sea God’s Trident doubled the effects of any ice magic, making the ice shields sturdier, to the point where it wasn’t any weaker than a shield made of steel!

These four shields of ice revolved around him like a carousel with no gaps. In addition, Suo Jia was able to use his manipulation ability to change the ice shields’ positions as he pleased. He could block any attacks in close-range or long-range!

With these four ice shields, Suo Jia became much more confident in their upcoming adventure. He dispersed the magic and closed his eyes to meditate, making sure that he’d be in top condition for tomorrow.

The next morning, Suo Jia, Xiang Yun, Nicole, and Roger left Illusion City together and rushed towards the second checkpoint. Although they all felt somewhat uneasy, none of them were willing to voice their concerns.

Their journey went swiftly, and a week later, they finally reached the end of the second checkpoint and began going through the single path that connected it to the third checkpoint. This path wound through Green Forest Canyon, meaning that they had to cross through this ravine of dense forests to reach a shore on the opposite side of the valley. There, they could take a boat and leave Barry Island.

Suo Jia stood on top of a mountain and swept his gaze over Green Forest Canyon that stretched for dozens of kilometers. An extremely powerful magical beast lived on the top of the ravine, and it was impossible to walk around it. In addition, the lush forests at the bottom of the canyon were that homicidal maniac’s hunting grounds!

They spent the night resting where they were, and Suo Jia led them into the Green Forest Canyon the next morning. No matter what happened, Suo Jia wouldn’t retreat. Right now, his only choice was to charge through with all his strength!

It was quiet in the Green Forest Canyon. While they walked through the dense fauna, Suo Jia couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was off. However, despite checking over his surroundings many times, he couldn’t find anything wrong.

Nicole suddenly spoke up, “Why is this place so quiet? And we’ve been walking for so long already, yet no magical beasts have blocked our way?”

After hearing Nicole’s words, Suo Jia immediately understood. She was right…it was much too quiet here. Not even the sounds of birds could be heard. In addition, they’d been walking for over half an hour yet they hadn’t spotted a single magical beast. This was indeed very abnormal.

“Ahh! Argh!” Suddenly two ear-piercing screams rang out from in front of them. The voices were horrifyingly chilling, and Suo Jia’s group immediately froze in their tracks to look up and try to see into the dense forest before them.

After a while, Suo Jia gritted his teeth and once again started to lead the group forwards. As they walked, Suo Jia inwardly scolded himself. This was the first time in his entire life that he’d ever been scared by an enemy like this. He was really becoming more amateur as he aged.

“Aiya! Ahh…” They had barely progressed before they heard another miserable cry in front of them. However, this time neither Suo Jia nor any of the others in his group stopped, and instead they continued advancing.

As they continued going forwards, the tragic screams never stopped. At regular intervals, one after another could be heard. Hearing these sounds was enough to instill fear in their hearts. After all, nobody here on the Greater Trade Routes was a coward, so for them to be scared enough to let out such screams was hard to believe!

Finally…dead bodies began to appear before them one by one. No…these actually couldn’t even be called dead bodies. It was more accurate to call them dismembered bodies!

They were all shocked by the corpses before them that had been split into multiple parts. The dark bloodstains on the tree trunks and the ravaged limbs scattered across the grass were enough to send chills through their bodies!

“Holy…” Suo Jia could feel his courage gradually dwindling. He knew that if they didn’t act soon, they’d end up frozen from fear by the time they saw the enemy. With a low curse, Suo Jia tore his gaze away from the bodies and ran full speed towards the direction the sounds had come from.

Seeing Suo Jia act so boldly, Roger hesitated for a moment and extreme concern could be seen on Nicole’s face. As for Xiang Yun, he now had an expression of extreme admiration and respect. However…although the three of them were all showing different reactions, neither of them were willing to stop moving and they all sped up their pace to chase after Suo Jia, running towards the source of the sounds.

Suo Jia ran so quickly that it seemed as if the tree trunks around him were moving backwards. Finally…blurry figures appeared before him. At the same time, another desolate cry rang out from not too far away.

Suo Jia poured all his speed together, his body covering the distance of hundreds of meters in a flash. Upon reaching his destination, he looked around and saw over 400 adventurers frantically searching their surroundings with their weapons raised.

Suo Jia couldn’t help but be confused by their expressions and stances. Exactly what were they doing? What were they searching for?

Suo Jia asked the warrior closest to him, “Oi! Where’s that crazy killer? What are all of you looking for?”

The warrior shook as he answered, “Stop talking; hurry up and pull your weapon out. Stay on your guard. That guy is somewhere around here, maybe even next to you. He might act any moment now!”

“Huh?” Suo Jia shot a puzzled glance at the warrior, then at the dense crowd of people around him and asked in disbelief, “That’s impossible! In this situation, he can’t make a single move. As soon as he reveals his whereabouts, he can only face death in this situation where we’re able to attack from all sides, no matter how powerful he is!”