Gerald ducked at the last second by bending backward and the sharp edge just barely missed his nose, taking out just a few strands of hairs from his head. At the same time, he swung his sword at the Hobgoblin.

With a clank, the sword bounced off of the metal plate on Hobgoblin's stomach.

Gerald clicked his tongue in frustration and then quickly stood up and turned around. 'This is completely different than in movies!'

But he didn't have time to lament. His opponent was already preparing for the next swing. Gerald gritted his teeth and gathered his Mana, waiting for the opportune moment to punch out.

When the Hobgoblin came close and was just about to swing his battleaxe, Gerald roared, "Wind Blast!"

The Wind Blast was an upgraded version of Fist of Wind. It required three times as much Mana, but it was way stronger because of it.

The blast at such a close range was quite devastating. The Hobgoblin was thrown in the air and fell back down a few meters away. Gerald did not lose any time and quickly cast a Fireball at the grounded opponent.

The Hobgoblin was quite quick to jump back to his feet, but he still collided with the Fireball. He got blasted backward once again and rolled on the ground. The flames unfortunately only singed his fur and the leather and iron armor and he did not catch on fire.

The battleaxe flew to who knows where, but he was not concerned about that at all. The Hobgoblin jumped back up and quickly dodged the next Fireball by ducking and rolling to the side. Now he was on the opposite end of a dangerous situation.

Gerald kept using his Fireball and kept the Hobgoblin on his toes. It did not last long, however. The Hobgoblin was nimble and fast and he quickly shortened the distance between them. When he came quite close, he pulled out the sword from the scabbard.

Gerald had no other choice but to defend himself with his sword in hand since the enemy was already too close for comfort.

Clang!

The two blades collided and Gerald was almost knocked over by the heavy impact. His hand felt numb just from a single strike.

He had no choice but to avoid the next slash. The Hobgoblin was slowly getting irritated more and more. He started growling and aggressively advancing.

Every time Gerald tried to defend himself and block the incoming hit, his hands barely managed to hold onto the blade handle. It was getting to the point where he could just move backward and his sword was getting smacked from side to side.

"Grah! Die human!" the Hobgoblin roared. It was the first time Gerald heard him speak. The Hobgoblin accelerated forward and once again, the swords collided. This time, it seemed that he used his full power and Gerald's sword flew out of his hand.

Gerald was shocked and he tried to dodge backward, but the Hobgoblin was too fast and the tip of his sword slashed across his chest. Although the wound was not lethal, it was now getting really dangerous.

Gerald had no choice but to use his personal Mana once again, "Wind Blast!" With this spell, he got himself a few precious seconds to catch his breath as the Hobgoblin tumbled to the ground.

With the shaky hands, he reached into his pocket and took out a bunch of charged Earth Crystals, and started pelting the Hobgoblin with all he got.

"Stone Shower! Stone Spike! Stone Shower!" He was casting spell after spell, with no regard for the intense pain in his head. Every spell demanded a toll on the mind. And when a human was using too much magic, a headache would start.

Gerald had no choice but to continue or he would die.

Fortunately this time, the Hobgoblin was not able to avoid the massive amount of projectiles that came flying at him.

Granted, he was not a weak individual and he also wore armor. Whenever a Stone Bolt would hit a metal piece it would shatter into pieces, leaving only a dent behind. Still, the kinetic energy of dozens of projectiles was no joke.

Besides the flying stones weren't the only danger. The Stone Spikes Gerald Gerald cast, came out of the ground, trying to impale the Hobgoblin.

"Cursed human! Stop hiding behind your magic and fight me! You coward!" the Hobgoblin roared and screamed, he had no choice but to defend himself from the stones that rained down on him from every direction.

The leather connecting the armor pieces together eventually tore apart and that's when the real pain began. When the metal pieces fell off, the skin and fur presented no obstacle for the sharp Stone Spikes which easily pierced through the flesh.

Gerald was completely spent. The empty Earth Crystals fell to the ground around him and he himself collapsed to his knees. His breathing was hard and his vision was blurry.

"Over… It's finally over." he gasped.

He had barely any strength left when he took out another Healing Potion from his pouch and slowly drank it. Then he just laid down on the ground and closed his eyes. His head felt like it was at the edge of bursting apart.

He did not sleep, and besides, the headache wouldn't let him do that anyway. He just rested for a while. His shirt was soaked in blood, but the potion soon took effect and the bleeding stopped quite quickly.

His Mana also slowly regenerated so he was able to cast just one healing spell on himself, just to speed up the recovery. He couldn't afford to cast more or his head would explode from pain. Not literally though, but it would feel like it, probably.

He got up a few hours later when he felt rested enough and the headache also somewhat subsided.

He looked at where the Hobgoblin lay as anger and hate were clearly visible on his face as he walked towards him and said, "Time to dispose of the trash."