Close Combat Mage

Chapter 1 – The Strongest Warrior

The screaming northern wind mixed together with the flying snow that filled the air devastated and ruined the plains of this northern country as they fused the sky and the ground together. The border line could not be found and the bare trees were mournfully shrieking in the cold wind like a young girl.

The formerly noisy alleys seemed especially bleak and desolate. Very rarely would a person walk by. Occasionally, there would be a person fully equipped. From top to bottom they would be tightly covered and only revealing a pair of pitch-black eyes. They seemed like mysterious killers with masks, but their swelled cotton clothes and their thin bodies created obvious contrasts.

The winter of the north made people feel especially desolate, as if all the living were hibernating. The days of the water droplets forming into ice made people’s thoughts slow as well. If there weren’t many things to do, people would usually stay at home. Very seldom would they go out the door, so people also became lazier.

Within a short cottage, Suo Jia was silently sitting on top of a wooden bed. Both his hands were skillfully turning and a stream of water which was as thick as a finger was continuously passing between his hands. This was his only toy and it was also his closest companion.

Some quiet coughing sounds came from the room next door. Although it was obviously restrained, it still did not pass Suo Jia’s sharp ears. He slightly spread both of his hands, and the long stream of water went along Suo Jia’s hands and withdrew itself. It magically disappeared and could not be seen.

Nimbly jumping off the wooden bed, Suo Jia quickly walked out of the room. He went to the iron pot on the stove, and poured a cup of boiling water. Carefully holding it with both hands, he walked towards the room next door…

Within the room, a weak woman was leaning on a pillow without strength. Her right hand was pressing on her soft chest, her eyebrows tightly wrinkling. Her face was full of pain, but the instant Suo Jia pushed open the door, she quickly made all that vanish. The pain on her face disappeared in a flash, and her expression and attitude were like those made when awakening from a sleep from spring.

Lightly walking over in front of the bed, Suo Jia asked, “Mother…Is your illness better? Should we go ask for a doctor and take a look? It seems that your coughing is getting worse and worse these days.”

The woman warmingly extended her right hand and lightly stroked her son’s jet-black hair and lovingly, replying, “No need, no need…I’m fine; it’ll get better after a few days.”

Frowning, Suo Jia looked at his mother as he half believed and half doubted her words. He touched the cup with his left hand, and after checking the temperature, he moved the cup of water in front of the woman.

“Mother, drink some water. After drinking water, I want to hear you tell stories about father.”

Gratefully accepting the cup of water, the woman lightly sipped it, moistening her throat, then smiled and said, “You want to hear stories about father huh, no problem… But, you need to show me how your ability is. If you’ve trained well, I’ll tell the story to you!”

Suo Jia excitedly lit up his eyes. He spread his hands apart, and coiling around his body was an almost 10 meter long water stream that was as thick as his arm. It quickly appeared around Suo Jia’s body, and magically spiraled around Suo Jia.

While nodding, the woman expectantly looked as her precious son, “Okay, you can perform now. Let me see what state you have reached in your control of the water streams!”

Nodding, Suo Jia cleverly moved both his hands and confidently controlled the near 10 meter long water stream that was around his body. It playfully danced around, as Suo Jia had absolute confidence in his control in the water streams. From the day of his 5th birthday, after his mother had taught him this small game, he practiced every day. Up until today, it had been a whole 3 years. The water stream had already merged with him and became one. He could use it like his arms and however his heart wished to.

After a while, Suo Jia put away both his hands, and the long, faint-blue water stream slowly returned back into his hands and went missing. As he proudly looked at his mother, Suo Jia firmly said, “Don’t worry mother, I will be like father and become the greatest warrior!”

Hearing her son’s words, the woman bitterly nodded. Warrior? Was it possible for a water-type mage to be a strong warrior? She looked at her son with regret. She knew that because her son was a water-type, he was more suitable for being a mage. It would be very hard for him to have any achievements if his goal was to become a warrior. The delicate water streams had no way of harming the enemy. Even if the water was solidified into ice, it was impossible to go against warriors that controlled fire.

Walking next to the bed, Suo Jia took off his shoes, climbed into his mother’s bed and snuggled against his mother’s warm embrace. He acted like a spoiled child and said, “Okay mother, now…you can tell stories about father right?”

The woman sighed inwardly. She knew that the reason why her son wanted to be a warrior so badly was because she always told stories about his father. The father of the child was an extremely strong fire-type warrior. But sadly…The child’s ability did not follow his father’s, it followed his mother’s, which was a water-type!

Looking at the child who was snuggled against her and embraced by her, the woman tightened her arms and embraced her child even more strongly. The soft and pleasant-to-listen story began…

The warm light of the setting sun leaked into the room from the window. The story was finished. Suo Jia looked at the yellow that was outside the window as if it was a dream and he muttered, “Mother…Why hasn’t father returned yet? When will he return? I want to see him!”

Her son’s words made her nose sour and tears almost fell. As the strongest warrior in the area, the child’s father left with some of his comrades 6 days after the marriage. 9 years had passed since then. Perhaps he didn’t even know that he had a son and that the son was already 8 years old. Perhaps…not only the son…perhaps he even forgotten about his wife?

The woman’s arms grew even tighter. Now… the two of them relied on each other. But…her son was already 8 years old and it was about time he should go to school.

The face of the woman became serious. She lowered her head and looked at her son who was in her embrace. She frowned in worry because in a few more days, it would be the time in which the school would start to enroll students. Although she didn’t want her son to leave her, for his future, she could not selfishly keep her son by her side.

But that wasn’t the biggest problem. The thing that troubled her the most was, as a water controller, her son only wanted to become the strongest warrior. Since it was a bad choice, purely based on the thoughts of the school, they would certainly not accept him!

The woman looked at her son and tried to persuade him. “Suo Jia, listen to your mother. Don’t be a warrior and become a noble mage. You should know that within the water-type mages, there are lots of beautiful little girls. In the future, you don’t need to be afraid of not being able to find anyone to play with you!”

“No! I don’t want to!” Hearing his mother’s words, Suo Jia resolutely shook his head and firmly said, “I have already decided to be the strongest warrior on the continent! I don’t want to become any mage. Only little girls become mages.”

You!

Hearing her son’s words, the woman couldn’t help but anxiously frown. A water controller wanted to be a warrior. The school would undoubtedly not accept him. Although children who were 8 years old had a chance to enter the school, the enrollment standards of the school were abnormally strict. There were millions of people living around this area, but they only had 100 spots available every year.

Looking at her son who made things difficult, the woman knew in the history of hundreds and thousands of years, there was never a water controller that could become a strong warrior. Just from that, no matter how much talent her son had, the school would not accept him.

The woman knew that her son’s talent was not especially outstanding. It was just that his control with water was extremely proficient because of his training since he was young. The woman had never seen anyone that could control the water to such an extent. Even the greatest water-type mages could not do it.

Although her son had only trained for 3 years, those 3 years, had been the period of quickest development for her son. The realm in which he reached using 3 years to train was not achievable even if he used 30 years of training in the future. If one missed that period of time, a person would never be able to control the water currents as they wished.