Close Combat Mage

Chapter 347 - I Want to Slaughter the Bears Part 2

Despite pondering this for a long time, Suo Jia still wasn’t able to come up with a solution. The overpowering defense was something that prevented even earth mages from breaking through and damaging their bodies, so the attacks of a water mage were clearly ineffective. Fire elemental magics also required no discussion; that was completely restrained by the ice element. In addition, while the wind element was not completely subdued, wind elemental attacks were the most inferior.

The current issue was that, even if a Great Icebear was lured out by itself, there was absolutely no way of harming it. The four elemental magics would all inflict extremely little damage, so fighting was pretty much pointless.

Drawing a Great Icebear out by itself wasn’t hard, it was eliminating it that proved to be difficult. At the moment, neither Suo Jia, Xiang Yun, Roger, nor Nicole were able to harm the Great Icebear at all. In a moment, the battle seemed to have fallen into a hopeless situation.

“Boss…” Roger looked at Suo Jia’s brows furrowed deep in thought and hesitantly said, “It looks to me like we should leave first. Our strength is too weak at the moment. Once we’ve grown stronger, we can come back and deal with these Great Icebears!”

Glancing at Roger, Suo Jia said in a heavy voice, “It’s not an issue of strength. Even if we trained until we were the strongest in the world, we wouldn’t be able to go up against these Great Icebears!”

“Mmm…” With a profound nod, Xiang Yun agreed. “That’s right, Captain is correct. If, let’s say…there was a way to go near the prehistoric remains, then the solution definitely wouldn’t depend on using strength to charge in!”

Nicole nodded as well. “Yes, in reality, those Great Icebears are like normal bears, while we are like normal humans. An ordinary, unarmed person couldn’t possibly pass through an area guarded by a giant bear! Moreover, these bears are especially bloodthirsty, so this just further proves the point.”

“Haha…” With a bitter laugh, Suo Jia helplessly said, “That’s right. Actually, it’s not just an issue of us. Even if we had 10,000 people, we still wouldn’t be able to get through the guarding of 10,000 bears. It’s not a problem of numbers at all.”

“But…” Roger looked at Suo Jia in confusion. “If one cannot get through relying on strength alone, isn’t it an impossible feat? What are we doing here then?”

“Hm…” Suo Jia pondered, “Yeah, at the very least, there has been no person able to come up with a method up until now. But I firmly believe that there must be some solution. It just needs to be thought of.”

Suo Jia turned around to say to Nicole, “Nicole…go out this minute and draw a single Great Icebear over. No matter what, I want to probe around completely first and then see if I can come up with any countermeasures!”

Nicole nodded and swiftly entered the concealed state, rushing over towards Icebound Valley. At the same time, Xiang Yun asked in confusion, “Captain, I don’t really understand. Why must we get near those prehistoric remains? If this was such an easy task, tan people would’ve visited the place hundreds of years ago!”

“Haha…” Suo Jia chuckled and explained, “Actually, my goal isn’t the prehistoric remains, but those Great Icebears. I need their monster cores to quickly boost my Diamond Dragon’s strength!”

Suo Jia turned around to look at the Diamond Dragon and solemnly stated, “I’m sure you guys can also tell how useful the Diamond Dragon is. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to get here!”

“Yeah…” Xiang Yun excitedly replied, “I understand now, Captain. In reality, once the Diamond Dragon is powerful enough, we can pretty much pass through any obstruction on the Greater Trade Routes. That’s why…the Diamond Dragon’s might is an irreplaceable support to us!”

To this, Roger finally reacted as well. He laughed, “I also understand now. If the Diamond Dragon’s strength suddenly rises, then we can save a huge amount of time. We’d be able to get through a month long journey in just 3 or 4 days. The Diamond Dragon is definitely an overpowered existence!”

“Haha…” Suo Jia nodded and firmly stated, “Yes. We can temporarily put off increasing our own strength, but strengthening the Diamond Dragon must be prioritized. As long as it becomes more powerful, our team’s might will increase as well!”

Suo Jia glanced at Xiang Yun and smiled, “In addition, this isn’t just for the sake of our rate of advancement. Even if an enemy struck a battle with us, with the Diamond Dragon as the ultimate shield and weapon, we can advance as we attack and retreat as we guard! It can be said that raising the Diamond Dragon’s strength by a level is equivalent to raising all of our strengths by a level!”

“Mhm…” With a joyous nod, Xiang Yun sighed in admiration, “That’s correct. With the Diamond Dragon as the center, we can work in harmony, attacking while advancing and guarding while retreating. As long as the Diamond Dragon doesn’t fall, our group will not die!”

Up to this point, Xiang Yun suddenly clenched his teeth and resolutely ground out, “In that case…then no matter how troublesome the Great Icebears are, we have to seize them and use any methods to get our hands on a few of their rank 9 monster cores!”

Suddenly, a boom could be heard coming from the direction of Icebound Valley. The three of them turned their heads, only to see a 6 meter tall, giant white bear rapidly chasing behind Nicole. It was heading towards their direction.

Seeing this, Xiang Yun and Roger hurriedly entered their combat states. At the same time, Suo Jia used telepathy to notify the Diamond Dragon of this, telling it that it must be careful. If it couldn’t withstand against the bear, it should immediately release its Glacial Armor and flee into the air. Protecting its own safety was the number one priority.

Swiftly adopting a battle position, Suo Jia once again told everyone that they must not get within 10 meters of the Great Icebear. Even if they neared it, they would have to retreat outside of the 10 meter radius at full speed once the Great Icebear lifted its feet. Otherwise, they’d get hit by dizziness and would be unable to hold up against the bear.

As everyone prepared themselves, the Great Icebear was getting closer and closer. Just as they were about to welcome it…the Great Icebear suddenly raised its head upon exiting the Icebound Valley, then ran back into the valley.

“F**k!” Suo Jia couldn’t help but let out a strangled curse. This thing was too intelligent. It actually didn’t dare to leave the valley. What were they to do now?

After thinking over this for a long time, Suo Jia finally led everyone to quietly rush to where the Great Icebear had turned back, and then asked Nicole to draw another one over.

Following Suo Jia’s commands…Nicole quickly drew another Great Icebear over. As it swiftly circled around the corner of the mountain, the Great Icebear appeared before them. Suo Jia abruptly raised a hand, accurately blasting an Ice Arrow into the bear’s head.

Having suffered from this sudden attack, the Great Icebear froze for a moment before throwing its head back and roaring into the sky. The next instant…a fierce boom rang out as the entire area trembled. Countless Great Icebears could suddenly be seen running over on all fours from the opposite corner of the mountain.

“My god!” It can even call for its companions! Isn’t it too intelligent?! Hurry up and run…” With a miserable shout of despair, Roger was the first to turn around and run away. Suo Jia, Xiang Yun, and Nicole obviously didn’t waste any time either, hurriedly running off after Roger, who was frantically fleeing in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, the Great Icebears weren’t willing to go far from Icebound Valley, nor were they very fast. Seeing Suo Jia’s party run far away, they didn’t bother chasing any further and simply turned around to return to the valley.

Seeing this result, Suo Jia still refused to give up and sent Nicole to go draw another one over. Only this time, as soon as it saw Nicole’s figure, the Great Icebear let out a howl and a group of Great Icebears began chasing after Nicole. Only after running far away was Nicole able to shake them off.

Nicole refused to accept this result, and directly turned back to run towards the Icebound Valley. Soon, her figure disappeared into the Icebound Valley entrance once more. But even after a long while, Nicole didn’t reappear. Just as Suo Jia and the other were beginning to worry, Nicole walked back out with a bitter expression, with absolutely no Great Icebears following behind…