The hobgoblin looked down at him. It was wearing metal armor and swung its ax down on him. Arthur turned his body, but the hobgoblin cut into his body leaving a large gash where it struck him. When the hobgoblin removed the weapon to swing again a mass of plant matter that had once been his wiring left him.

The hobgoblin shouted some words from the goblin language and the other goblins shouted in cheers as they fought on. Arthur pulled mana into his body and felt sluggish. He tried creating a spell, but it caused him a headache. The hobgoblin swung at him again this time towards his head. Arthur rolled to the side out of the way just barely in time. The hobgoblin’s ax gashed the ground and threw up dirt.

The hobgoblin roared out and swung across Arthur’s left side for his next attack. Arthur focused on his mana and cast [Mana Shield] as a pure mana spell. The spell formed around his arm and blocked the ax. The spell cracked as soon as he formed it, but he took no physical damage from the attack.

‘Well, that narrows down what has been damaged. The broken runes must be a part of something that regulates specific affinities. That rules out lightning. I wonder if any others still work or if I have to keep using pure mana spells. I can’t refill my mana either which also limits my mana also.’

After forming the shield, he tried to stand up and get some distance between him and the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin was a bit stunned that Arthur had returned to using magic again. After his last strike, it took two steps back from him and took a defensive stance, and waited to see if Arthur would use some more magic.

Arthur used the hand that wasn’t holding the half-shattered shield to lift himself up. He wobbled a bit as he tried to stand. As he wobbled and was about to fall back over the hobgoblin struck out at him again. It aimed for the shield and brought down the ax once more with greater force. As Arthur fell back he twisted his body and adjusted his foot as best he could before he hit the ground.

The ax grazed the shield and it shattered. Arthur grabbed hold of the hobgoblin's upper forearm with the hand that had held the spell and grabbed hold of the hobgoblin's other hand with his other hand. He gripped tightly intending to crush the hobgoblin’s hands. The hobgoblin was shocked at the change of events and tried to struggle out of Arthur’s grasp.

It kicked Arthur but it didn’t do much because it was only a little blunt force. It wriggled his hands and Arthur only moved a little. Only with a jerk of movement a little bit later did the hobgoblin get out. It used its weight and momentum to pull Arthur down to the ground with it. Arthur tried to adjust his feet to not fall again but the hobgoblin used the opportunity to force Arthur to land on the ground first. It followed up the movements by getting its ax hand free.

Now it was Arthur’s time to be shocked. He had thought that his power as a metal golem would be able to keep the hobgoblin in place. Even though it was physically smaller than him it was just as strong and from its moves, it was close enough to his own intelligence. Despite the goblin nomenclature, it was in a class of its own while fighting. Its bestial strength was melded with a greater intelligence to become one of the hardest creatures he had fought.

Now Arthur once again he lay on the ground with the hobgoblin above him. This time the hobgoblin knelt above him instead of standing. It swung its ax at his open chest again with a fury in its eyes.

Arthur focused his mana and cast [Force Blast] from his chest this time. His mana coalesced from his core this time instead of at his hands and flowed outward from the metal shell as a spell. Arthur felt a newer sensation as it occurred. He had in the past felt the mana within him start at his core, but it was never so … He couldn’t find a word for it. In the past, the spell wouldn’t be connected to his core after it left his fingers except with a few spells but this one was different.

His [Force Blast] spell left his center from only the cracks in his chest and hit the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin was hit with the full force of the spell. It was more concentrated than he had seen it before, and the effects showed that. The hobgoblin was sent flying, and it lost its weapon along the way. The blast continued to affect the hobgoblin as it hit a large rock and broke into pieces. The [Force Blast] continued through the rock and split it in half.

Arthur took a breath of relief as he felt the power of the spell leave him. He felt similar to when he had used the overcharge spells in the past. With the danger dealt with he focused his attention on the battlefield for a moment before dealing with his injuries.

The others had cleaned up the battlefield pretty well and were picking off the last of the survivors. Some of the remaining goblins were running away successfully. He watched their life auras disappear into the forest and soon the only ones left alive were Kendra, Aria, and Lucas.

Arthur tried willing [Plant Growth] to activate but it didn’t budge when it tried reaching his fingers and caused a pain in his core instead. Arthur tried casting from his core instead like he had with the [Force Blast] and it worked.

‘So, I don’t need my metal or plant parts of my body to cast spells. Why is that? Is it because of the runes on the core? Is that why Zoe stopped me from testing the runes? I do need to experiment eventually with this phenomenon at least. Projectile spells may not be great if that form in the center around my shell but there are some spells I can think of that would be very useful if cast in my center. I can already feel my [Plant Growth] spell working faster.’

Arthur continued to wait as his plant wiring was first fully formed within him before he started on the metal. Once he felt the plant matter mostly in place, he tried bending some of the metal back into place. It creaked a little but didn’t budge much. With a bit more force he strained to bend the sides. They bent back into their original positions a little. Arthur watched for his mana usage as he went, and it shot up.

Arthur had gotten it mostly in place when the other walked over to his spot. He was still laying in the dirt and had not moved from his spot.

“You ok?” asked Aria.

“Yeah, I am doing great. I’m just waiting to be fixed.”

“Let me help you so we can get out of here,” said Kendra. “You two collect the materials.”

Aria and Lucas left the two of them to collect materials from the dead goblins and hobgoblins. Kendra focused on helping Arthur. With a spell she caused her hands to glow red. The heat from her hands transferred to the metal quickly. As the metal softened she pulled the metal into its place. When that was done Arthur took over to remake the runes, smooth out the metal, and reseal the gash in its entirety. Once Arthur was mostly done he stood back up. The others had wrapped up their work while he healed.

“Should we get going?” Kendra asked Arthur.

“Yeah. I am almost finished repairing myself, but I can do that while we walk back to the outpost. I should be finished before we reach it.”

“I’ll lead the way then.”