"BUM BUM!!!"

Dora was almost blown away by the shockwave from Apa as he slammed his hammer to the ground, blasting away the roots that Dora hand created to attack him, leaving a crater in the ground and shedding off some of the bark of the nearby trees.

"Wh-Whoa..." Dora recovered and tapped onto a nearby tree, shooting Vines from the trunk towards her opponent, who had freed his hammer before taking a stance while cocking on the pole, ejecting a shell from the hammerhead. As the vines got closer, a small burst was fired from the back of the hammerhead as Apa swung, releasing another shockwave that blasted the vines away, tearing through the bark of the trees close by while blasting Dora back into another tree, hitting hard enough to leave a dent.

"I recognize you..." Apa said as another shell was ejected from the hammer. "You were one of the kids that Selvester attacked the other day, bum bum."

Dora coughed as she tried to straighten herself.

"Interesting magic you use. A type of life magic if I'm not mistaken." Apa rested his hammer on his shoulders as he looked around. "Don't know much about magic, but even I know that life magic is pretty rare, and difficult since it manipulates plants and stuff. I can see why you'd choose this place to fight since you have a clear advantage."

Apa twirled his hammer and leaped up, descending towards Dora, who summoned roots to shield her, leaving enough time to roll away as the hammer shattered through the wood before impacting the ground, uprooting the tree Dora had hit and blasted her away by the shockwave.

"Unfortunately for you, my weapons Magitek, designed to combat mana users like you," Apa said as he withdrew his hammer, which ejected another cartage. "Personally, I prefer the Giga Hands that monster in human skin destroyed. But, a rocket-propelled hammer still packs a serious punch, I think you'd agree."

Dora struggled up, catching a glimpse of Apa's large body. "....R-rocket propelled....?" She groaned, still dazed from the devastating backlash.

"A small booster in the hammer, once activated, it doubles its power." Apa brought the hammer around, pulling down the lever. "Like so."

Dora scrambled out of the way as Apa slammed into the ground, launching her once again by the intense shockwave, peppering her in dirt from the displaced earth from the strike, and skidded to a stop.

As Apa withdrew his hammer, Dora slammed a hand onto a nearby tree, which grew additional roots from its trunk, curling around where Dora layer.

"That won't save you," Apa swung his hammer again, letting off another shot, blasting away the roots with the shockwave. Dora however, wasn't behind it. "Oh... She's run off again." Apa ejected the cartage and then took out large shells from his pouch and loaded them into the breach of his hammer. She couldn't have gone very far.

Apa strode through the forest, keeping his guard up as much as he could. She has some sense running into this forest due to her magic. Had she been a little older, or more experienced, this would put me at quite the disadvantage.

As he passed by, Dora remained where she was, hidden within a hollow, hiding from her quarry. Just keep quiet, She told herself. He'll go away... and then....

Dora clenched up, gritting her teeth. I.... I'm no match for him.... What do I do? He'll kill me at this rate.

****

A few miles away on the opposite end of the forest, Fred ran as fast as he could, ducking as an explosion erupted every now and then, just missing him.

"Quite running ya little shit!" his opponent, Doc, yelled as she charged after him, loading another round into her mini-crossbow before firing at Fred, who jumped out of the way as the shot hit the tree behind him, knocking him back with the backlash. "Finally." Doc breathed as she loaded another shot.

Fred however recovered quickly and began to run again.

"Aw geez," Doc sighed as she continued to chase after him. "Is runnen all you can do, little Shit!" She called out. "Why the hell am I doing this!"

Fred then suddenly stopped, causing Doc to stop as well.

"Finally done running?" She asked as she turned around.

"W-Where pretty far out know..." Fred said timidly as he slowly turned around, trying to act braver than he actually was. "I-I know these parts better than you.... S-So you can't call for help." He pulled out his slingshot, causing Doc to chuckle.

"That works both ways you little idiot." She said. "And I doubt I'd need any help against a snotty kid with a slingshot."

Fred took out a shot from his pouch and loaded it into his slingshot. "W-well see about that!" he then fired his exploding shot at Doc, who simply moved her head out of the way to let it pass, blowing up on impact on a tree nearby.

"Missed," Doc said as she loaded another bolt into her crow bow and took aim and fired. It passed by Fred by a hair width and impacted on the nearby tree, then exploded, knocking Fred forwards towards his opponent, who performed a roundabout kick, catching while he was flying towards her, sending him tumbling to the left.

"Man this is boring." Doc groaned as she took out another bolt. "Best not waste them. I'll just kill him normally." She loaded it into her crossbow before setting off in the direction she kicked Fred, who seemed to have vanished from where he landed. "Runnen again?!" She called out as she ran in pursuit. "You're really pissing me off, kid! Just come on out so I can make this quick!"

****

BOOM!!!!

Another tree was knocked over by the powerful swing of Apa's hammer. "Not there..." He said as he continued to sulk through the area. "Where are ya, little girl?!" Apa called out, keeping his guard up as much as possible.

Several roots then shot from the ground and tried to immobilize him, but he jumped back and smashed down on the ground, obliterating the roots below while leaving a small crater.

"Bum Bum, I know you're still here, little girl!" Apa withdrew his hammer and went back to observing his surroundings. "I can tell your powers range limited to about 5 or 10 meters from your body," He then blew apart another tree, watching carefully as it collapsed for any kind of movement. "Which means you're somewhere nearby."

He wasn't far off the mark. Hiding in the hollowed roots of a tree next to Apa was Dora, huddled up, trying not to make a single sound, squinting as she hired the devastating sounds getting closer and closer to where she was hiding.

What do I do....? There's no way I can beat this guy by myself!

She squinted and huddled forwards following another burst of devastation from her opponent as he hunted her down.

"Wa-what do I do?" Dora mumbled as she huddled herself closer. She thought in the dense forest she'd have some kind of advantage over her older, larger, and frankly more experienced, opponent, due to the fact that she was in her element.

Her magic was a form of Life magic (magic that could literally create life) that created wood mostly out of nothing and manipulates and strengthens it to lash out at what she desired. It can also manipulate live wood and plants, meaning it uses less mana and can even make what she created stronger. Because she was in a forest, surrounded by trees, she should have the advantage, in theory. In reality, best she could do while hiding was to send surprise attacks towards her opponent, all of which were ineffective without line of sight, and if she tried to look, her enemy would spot her and she would certainly be killed.

"D-Damn it... What can I do?" Dora's eyes began to water as she tightened her huddle. If it were Rodger, he would certainly haven't run and hid in this situation. In fact, Dora could almost imagine the stupid speech he'd-

?! Wha-Why Does he come to mind now!?

Dora's face lit up as she shook her head, trying to get Rodger out of her thoughts. But it was true. If he was here, he wouldn't run or hide. Whenever he gets an idea in that thick skull of his, he would stubbornly follow it regardless.

Guess.... I'm just jealous... Dora thought, letting out a chuckle.

"Found you,"

Dora's eyes widened at the sound of a click, and immediately summoned vines to push her away as the hollow caved in on itself.

The tree that she hid in collapsed as the ground became unstable. As Dora sat herself up, she saw Apa striding through with his hammer resting on his shoulders.

Damn... I gotta get away!

Dora stumbled to her feet and began to run, then suddenly stopped herself. Apa halted his advance when he saw this, putting up his guard as Dora slowly turned to face him.

"I-I'm not gonna run away..." She said in a brave voice. "If I do, I won't be able to face him."

Apa grunted as he lowered his hammer into both hands. "So you're gonna take this seriously? At least this won't be boring." He grinned as he pulled the lever of his hammer to eject the shell in it. "Try making it a little interesting."

****

"Where are ya?!!" Doc called out, looking around the area for her opponent. "AHH, why am I getting so worked up over some little kid...?"

She had lost sight of Fred since she roundabout kicked him earlier. For all she knew, he probably ran for the hills.

"Ah, screw it," Doc sighed as she turned around. "One kid won't be much trouble. May as well go help the-"

Suddenly, something hit and exploded on her back, knocking her down to the ground.

"Sh-Shit...." Doc growled as she forced herself back up, some of her clothes singed. "You're gonna pay for that!!!" Doc hissed as she reached for her crossbow and fired into the tree behind her aiming for the branches, the explosion ripping through the branches. Seeing nothing falling out of them, besides the foliage that had been blasted apart, Doc clicked her tongue in annoyance as she loaded another bolt.

"Where are ya, ya Coward?!!" She spat as she fired that bolt into the tree next to the one she fired at. "No way you could beat me in a fair fight so ya just hidden out ta stab me in the back!!!" She reloaded her crossbow and fired it again at another tree nearby. "Come and face me ya piece of shit!!!"

As she continued her rampage, Fred slowly peeked down from his perch on one of the branches of the tree on the pissed Doc.

He wasn't the bravest person in the world, even Fred would admit that, and it would be a fair assumption to call him the wimpiest kid in all of Sterland Village. He wasn't particularly strong and was one of the few who couldn't use magic or even control his mana, which was why he settled to using a slingshot, though mostly because it was the easiest thing to use.

He was also very indecisive due to his stutter. He would often get goaded or forced to go along with Rodger outside the village and would be forced into agreeing with Dora when she snapped at Rodger for being stupid or reckless (Which was most of the time) without giving him a chance to speak himself.

The main reason he was out here, trying to save the chief and Dora's grandfather was mostly due to Rodger insisting that "the Walloping willows should assist the humans in their venture to save their village chief," and pushed all three of them out of the village before Dora could find the time to object.

And after a struggle to make it this far (which included fighting against a golem, running from the King of the Forest, falling into an underground lake) he was forced into a fight, on his own, far far away from any help, against an opponent that was very much intending to kill him.

After being kicked he immediately scrambled up the nearest one in an attempt to hide. He could've stayed hidden until her opponent decided to abandon her pursuit, but something stopped him from doing that.

His friends had never treated him like he was a burden. What he lacked in courage he made up for in analysis, something both Dora and Rodger always credited him for. If he runs, then she would go back to where Rodger was fighting the leader, Dolton, so he had to beat her here and now, and he had set up what he needed to do.

"H-Hey!!" Fred emerged from his spot and fired a shot at Doc, who turned around and put an arm up as the projectile hit, cracked and covered her in a slimy substance.

"Wh-What the.....?" Doc muttered in confusion. "Was that an egg?" She took a whiff of the substance. "AH, that stinks!!"

Enraged, she fired at the tree, knocking Fred off it by the shockwave generated by the explosion.

Fred let out a yelp as he crashed into the ground.

"Is that seriously all you got left, rotten eggs?" Doc asked as she loaded another bolt. She then began to take a menacing step forwards-

"SON OF A BITCH!!!!"

-Before scheming and jumping back, with a sharp tac embedded into her foot piercing right through the sole of her boot into her foot. The ground before Fred was littered with small tacs, which Fred threw after letting himself be caught in the blast. With his opponent distracted by pulling the tacs out of her shoe, Fred ran off again, taking cover behind another tree.

"Oh I get it," Doc spat as she picked her crossbow and moved around the tacs. "Can't fight me seriously so ya have'ta fight dirty, little shit!" She approached the tree Fred was hiding behind, putting her back to the trunk as she scuttled around slowly, trying to take him by surprise.

She then quickly rushed around, aiming her crossbow at Fred-

"What?!"

-Only to find he wasn't there.

"Damn that kid," Doc looked up, pointing her crossbow up, then a small led ball struck her in the back of the head.

After letting out a yelp and rubbing the back of her head, she turned around and spotted Fred running around her, firing another shot, catching her in her forehead. Doc was knocked back slightly, holding her forehead. She then turned to Fred who was still running and fired another explosive bolt, which landed and detonated a few feet from him, knocking him off his feet.

"You're so dead." Doc spat as she loaded another bolt. "With this, I'll make damn sure there won't be anything left for anyone ta find out." She leveled the crossbow at Fred, who was forcing himself back to his feet.

"Y-You c-can probably smell it now." He stuttered as he gripped his slingshot.

"What you going on about?" Doc asked as she took a quick sniff. "Huh?" She then lowered her crossbow as she took another sniff, looking around. Around her was a very distinctive gassy smell, which she noticed was leaking out of a snail shell nearby that appeared to be leaking something that distorted the air around it, similar to a gas leak.

"A s-special shell that can only be found here," Fred explained while glaring at his opponent rummaging through his pouch. "It e-emits a flammable gas that we use for torches. I u-used my slingshot to spread those around the a-area after you kicked me."

Doc's eyes widened in horror as she realized what was happening. During the time she spent hunting Fred, he'd been filling the area around her with gas. In other words, searching around, she'd been lured into lowering her guard, and into a spot where the gas was the thickies.

"You didn't notice cause of that egg I sh-shot at you." Fred pulled back on his slingshot.

"Y-YOU LITTLE-"

Doc brought up her crossbow to fire at Fred, but he'd loosed the round first, which zipped past her and impacted on the tree behind her. Combined with the gas the entire areas around Doc burst into a blazing inferno.

Doc simply vanished in seconds as she was engulfed in the flames. Fred had retreated just far enough to be outside the area of effect, but was caught in the resulting shockwave from the explosion, and was sent flying like a leaf in the wind, smashing against two trees before finally hitting the ground hard.

".......Ow....." Fred muttered as he tried to sit back up. Both his helmet and slingshot were not on his person, and his clothes were burnt on the front where the scorching shockwave smacked into him. It also felt like his right arm had been dislocated and it felt as though he brock some bones from the impacts on the trees.

"M-Maybe that wasn't a g-good idea...." He'd been blasted several feet away from where he was before, but he could make out the scorched area where he ignited the gas. There was literally nothing green left, everything had been singed black, the trunks of the trees had been turned into charcoal.

It wasn't the best plan, but given the situation he was in, he didn't see any other option. The woman he was fighting was gone, either eviscerated by the flames or was blasted away like him, either way, the fact was he won.

"I..... I actually did it," He then collapsed back to the ground, rolling around on his back. "I did it Rodger.... I-I beat one of Celtic Hoard o-on my own...." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I-I can't move.... Need to... rest.... For a bit...."

****

"Bum, Bum!!"

Apa released another burst of his hammer and swung it in a crescent arc, obliterating the roots that shot out around him.

More than sprouted below his feet trying to tie him down, but he dodged by jumping back and slamming his hammer down onto the ground where the roots had sprouted.

Dora ran around, slamming her hand into a nearby tree, which sprouts out roots to lash at Apa, who sidestepped out of the way and lunged himself forwards towards Dora, swinging his hammer in another arc, letting out another boost to increase its power. Dora ducked out of the way in time as the hammer shattered through the tree she had used.

Dora barrel rolled, summoning more roots to keep up her attack while Apa recovered from his swing, only to have him pivot on his foot and sweep through the roots.

"Not much variety little girl," Apa said as he lunged once again at Dora, who put up a shield of roots to protect her. Apa grinned and pulled on the lever, letting the rocket boost add some extra power, blasting through the roots, and while Dora had scampered out of the way, the backlash of the resulting shockwave blasted her several feet away, coming to a stop close to a collapsed tree nearby. The battle had almost uprooted almost every tree in the vicinity, mostly because of Apa's hammer. The ground had been blasted away, leaving small craters with bits of wood scattered from the wrecked trees and Dora's ability.

Unfortunately, Dora hadn't made any real damage on her opponent, reasons being that Apa was far more nimble than he looked, and that accused hammer. She wasn't hit by it, but was blasted away on several occasions by the shockwaves it generated following its boost.

"You really haven't had much experience against someone like me, have ya girl, bum bum," Apa said as he heaved his hammer out of the ground. "Using the same attack over and over my works on monsters or creatures with low intelligence, but against someone like me who's seen more action than you have can start reading your movements."

Dora slowly got back to her feet, using the fallen tree for support.

"Not sure if it's me losing my edge, but I'm impressed you've lasted this long, especially since I ain't holding back." he then lowered his hammer and prepared to charge in. Suddenly, roots struck out from below him and gripped onto his hammer.

"Huh?"

Before Apa could tug it free, the roots suddenly contracted inwards, crushing through the hammerhead and snapping the shaft.

"You should take your own advice," Dora said with a smug look, putting a hand on the fallen tree. Four sharp pieces of wood then fired from the trunk at Apa, who put up his big arms to protect his body, allowing the projectiles to embed into his arm.

"I see," Apa muttered.

"You should never underestimate your opponent!" Dora slammed her hands down, summoning a vast amount of roots to shoot out and travel at high speeds towards Apa with his arms still held up, all impacting on the spot, shooting up dirt in the spot it hit.

"Alright, I got-"

Before Dora could celebrate finally getting a hit in, Apa suddenly repaired to her left.

"Can't believe you forced me to use Quickstep."

As Dora froze in terror, a fist impacted on her left cheek and launched her away, bricking through the trunk of one tree while impacting hard on the one behind it.

She bounced off, all air escaping her before collapsing back to the ground.

H-How....? I got him.

Back where she was, Apa suddenly collapsed to his knees and threw up. After he finished, he got back to his feet, wiping his mouth. "Unfortunately, using quickstep even once makes me hurl... That's why I try not to use it if I can avoid it."

He then strode over towards the immobile Dora. "I definitely underestimated you if I had to resort to that. Not even that kid from yesterday could force me to use it."

He loomed over Dora and picked upper up off the ground, holding her by her tunic. "You have to have seen this coming, or did you really think you kids had a possible chance against us?"

Dora began to chuckle again, unsettling Apa.

"What's so funny?"

"R-Rodger said.... w-were gonna win!"

Roots then shot up from the ground and struck into Apa's arm, causing him to drop Dora as he tore his arm free.

Dora landed on the ground with a thud as Apa took a few steps back, his right arms bloodied by the roots that had struck. "Still got some fight left in ya, bum bum."

Dora struggled back to her feet; using the tree she had crashed into to support her. "I-I told you I won't run...." She said in a strained voice. "I-I won't be able to face him in I do!"

"By 'him' you mean that idiot who's fighting the boss?" Apa grunted as he pulled back a fist. "Fine, I wasn't gonna just let you go, BUM BUM!!!"

He then swung his fist towards Dora, which was halted as 5 roots grew out of the tree trunk, curled in front of Dora before shooting point first into Apa's fist, who was forced to jump back, not before maiming his hand. D-Damn! Apa grunted as he grasped his ruined hand. The two of his fingers were gone and one root had caught him between the knuckles, almost splitting his hand.

"Without that hammer you're defenseless against my 'Plant life.'" Dora said as several roots began to grow around her. "You may as well surrender, and I might let you live."

Despite the situation he was in, Apa started to giggle. "You're probably right, I don't stand a chance now." He then pulled out a combat knife, the only weapon he had left. "But I can't back down either. A matter of pride for a worrier you see." With a grin, he charged at Dora. "So you're just gonna have'ta kill me, BUM BUM!!"

Without reacting, a root circled around Dora, snapping the blade as it hit.

"I won't kill you,"

As Apa prepared to swing his remaining fist, roots shout out and wrapped around his legs and pulled him down into the ground, burying him up to his neck.

"I'll just leave you like this," Dora said as she began to walk away, almost tripping over from her injuries from being launched away earlier.

"Don't want to dirty your own hand aye," Apa said, surprisingly calm despite his situation. "I could still escape you know."

"In that condition?"

"He, not at this moment." Apa closed his eyes. "You'll be long gone by the time I get out, and this battle will probably be over by then. We've lost, badly."

Dora didn't look back as she continued waddling away, summoning branches to support her when she stumbled.

"That boy, must be important to ya, eh?"

Dora stopped before glancing back at Apa, who smirked at her. She ignored him and continued on. Got to get back.... And Help.... Rodger.

Rodger vs. Dolton

"Seems we're all accounted for," Nel said as she reunited with the group. "Looks like you took quite a beating."

"Us? What about you?" Cliff asked.

"Oh...." Nel had forgotten that she still had blood on her face from being slammed into the ground. "I.... Was caught off guard." She responded sheepishly.

There was then a grown from Max, who lay prone nearby.

"Stay still!" Melvin instructed him, trying to heal the hole in his chest. "Just what the hell was up with that guy?"

"I'm not sure," Faust was the one to answer. He was leaning against a rock nearby. "Waze was always an enigma, but that...." He paused as he considered his answer. "That power.... It didn't seem natural."

"Yeah, it's like he was possessed or something," Shay said. He and Apa were sitting together with their hammers, resting beside them.

"So..." Nel glanced over to the three men, scratching her chin. "Who are they?"

"Long story..." Cliff said, waving at her not to ask anymore questions.

With the exception of Nel, they were all completely exhausted. The fight with Waze, in particular, had completely drained Max, Melvin, Faust, Shay and May, while Cliff was suffering the after-effects of the Level Up.

"Ok, it's closed," Melvin said, slapping Max's body.

"Thanks," He said as he sat up, feeling the spot where he had been shot.

"Best not to move around a lot, it's only a temporary fix. And I only had enough to close that one."

There was still the slash and piercing wounds he received from Gal, which had only just clotted but was still bleeding slightly.

"Say... Where's Allisa?" Max asked, looking around.

"Over there," Nel answered, pointing towards Allisa who was running towards them in visibly better shape than the rest of them.

"Hey!!" She called out waving, stopping short of Nel while she panted to catch her breath. "Are... are you all ok?" She said between pants.

"Yeah, just," Cliff said. "You beat that girl with the bandaged arm?"

"Huh? Oh, uh.... No." Allisa muttered as she stood back up.

Cliff looked a bit confused since Allisa was mostly unscathed. "You let her go?"

Allisa looked back down to the ground. "I think it's more like, she let me go." Her battle was interrupted when she realized who she was, followed by being restrained by the twin assassins. That said, she had doubts whether she could've actually won.

Faust then spoke. "Did this woman have a bandaged covering her entire left arm?"

"Yeah, that's her." Cliff nodded. "She's with Celtic Hoard right?"

Faust shook his head. "I don't know much about her, she only showed up the day before yesterday, along with two girls wearing masks." Nel twitched at the mention of the twin assassins that caught her off guard. "They claim to be associated with the one who hired Celtic Hoard to destroy that village, Yensin, the terrorist."

"Yensin?" Max said, scratching his head. "That sounds familiar for some reason."

"Of course it is, we were talking about him yesterday," Melvin said in an exasperated voice.

"Um.... Wait," Allisa then pointed towards Faust and his two companions. "Aren't you the guy's we fought in the ruins?" She asked.

"That is correct milady," Faust said with a bow. "I apologize for my actions back then."

"Oh yeah, you're the chick who nicked my hammer," Shay said, giving Allisa a friendly wave along with May. "No hard feelings, right?"

"Uh...." Allisa didn't really know how to respond. She quickly looked to Melvin, who simply shrugged. There was then the thundering sound of footsteps, followed by a dark shadow of a beast looming over them

"We've got company!" Nel said with urgency as she drew out her blades.

"AHAHA!! It's that thing!" Allisa screamed as she recognized it as the 'King of the Forest', a Giant behemoth that chased them down in the ruined city.

"Hold your horses," Cliff said, not putting a lot of urgency into his voice. "That thing's with us, apparently."

"Huh?" Both Allisa and Nel shot a confused look at Cliff.

"Hey Dug, you're ok!" Max said as he approached the Behemoth, who kneeled before him.

"D-Dug....?"

Allisa and Nel shot a quick glance at Melvin.

"Don't ask." He said with a sigh.

Max then patted the creature on the head. It was still grievously injured from the massive piercing wound through its torso. "Hey, ya think you can heal him?" he asked Melvin.

"No!" Melvin replied very bluntly. "I used all I have left just to close that wound a moment ago."

"Allow me," Faust announced as he got back up.

"You can do it Hair dew guy?"

Faust nodded. "I have some mana left," He approached the beast and patted it on the head. "And we owe this proud beast a great debt."

Shay and May then burst into tears.

"WAAAHHA!! That's our bro!"

"AAAHAHAHA!!! So much honor, I'm moved to tears."

Melvin and Cliff groaned and rubbed their temples as though they had a headache.

"We certainly attract some strange individuals," Nel commented.

"Seems so..." Allisa groaned.

****

Rodger skidded back again, slamming a palm into the ground, shooting out a stone pillar towards Dolton, who caught with his hand-shaped into a talon. Rodger kept up his momentum and ran across the collapsing pillar, rocks hovering towards his hammer to increase its size, leaped as it gave way, swinging down at Dolton. He simply sidestepped out of the way before slamming another palm into Rodger's gut and allowed him to bounce away as the air escaped his lungs.

He rolled across the ground before coming to a stop, slamming both hands into the ground, firing a large projectile at Dolton, who caught it with the palm he used to hit him, his feet skidding across the ground under the momentum and force of the projectile until finally coming to a stop.

"Ya pretty persistent, I'll give ya that," Dolton said as he increased the pressure of his grip, eventually destroying the whole thing under his grip. "You're definitely his kid."

D-Damn it! Rodger thought. So far he had not been able to land any kind of damage on Dolton, while Dolton had knocked him back time and time again.

"Haaa!!" Rodger slammed another palm to the ground, shooting out large boulders towards Dolton. With a grin, he mostly backhanded each one with very little effort. While he was distracted, a large boulder was then formed and fired towards him. Dolton simply remained in place and jabbed a finger into the bolder and shattered it.

While distracted, Rodger ran and retrieved his hammer and charged forwards at Dolton while his back was turned. As he jumped to strike him, Dolton turned around and kneed him in the gut, this time hard enough for Rodger to cough up blood as he bounced away his hammer slipped from his grasp, only to be jabbed in the right shoulder by Dolton's finger and hoisted up, crying in pain.

"You're like an open book kid," Dolton said as he gripped onto Rodger's left arm.

"RODGER!!!!" Gimdo cried.

"Your magic is exactly the same as Grahams, you need to physically touch the ground to use it." Dolton continued as he increased the grip on Rodger's arm. "So if I remove your arms, you can't use your magic," He then brought his face closer to Rodgers with an insane grin on his face. "Can't say you'll survive that."

Suddenly, Rodger's pained expression changed to a grin as he grabbed hold of Dolton's right arm. ".... T-That's where... you're wrong!"

Dolton didn't notice, but rocks were floating up to Rodger's feet, essentially turning it into a giant hammer, and while he was oblivious, Rodger suddenly kicked upwards into Dolton's big chin as hard as he could.

Dolton's head was brought straight up as blood squirted from his mouth along with a tooth. Wha.... What the... hell!

He dropped Rodger as he staggered back, who slammed a palm into the ground, shooting out a spike at Dolton, which sent him flying a couple of feet before crashing into the ground.

Rodger chuckled as he got back to his feet. "You shouldn'tve underestimated me. After all, I'm the son of the Great Explorer Graham! And the guy who's gonna kick ya Butt!!!"

"Y-You.... Little brat....." Dolton spat as he got back to his feet. Blood covered his mouth while his coat was torn, and one part had a gaping hole with a small wound that was bleeding.

Both Gimdo and Bush were bewildered. "He... He actually hurt him..." Bush gasped.

Gimdo was equally as astonished. Before, Dolton had fought the two of them on his own without help from his men, and despite their experience, neither of them could so much as scratch Dolton, let alone cause the amount of damage Rodger. The only person he knew to have scratched Dolton was Graham.

Dolton then began to cackle as his hands began to clench, his fingers digging into the earth. "Don't get ahead of yourself," He then lunged forwards, both hands clenched into talons, "YOU LITTLE BRA-"

Suddenly, the earth below him seemingly exploded sending Dolton flying upwards. Bewildered he recovered in the air and landed on his feet, only to be blasted upwards again by another explosion.

"What... What is that?!" Dolton said as he shielded himself from the sharp rocks that were dislodged from the explosion. As he landed he took a step forward only to be blasted again, and again, and again.

"WHAT IS THIS?!!!!"

Rodger grinned as an explosion knocked him on his back. "It's a new trick I came up with. Basically, I dab a bit of my mana here and there, so when you step on it, the earth just shoots up, ya know, like a mine."

"W-when could you have possibly set this up?!" Dolton spat as he tolled round to his front.

"When you were knocking me around all over the place," Rodger responded as picked his hammer back up. "Earth mold ain't the only thing I know. My ma was good at levitation so I picked up some things from that." Rocks then started to float around him. He then swung his hammer forwards, allowing the rocks to fire themselves at Dolton, who, unable to dodge without stepping on a landmine, hit him, one hard enough to draw blood.

With a large vein bulging on his forehead, Dolton raised his hand up, and clawed it, then let out a yell as he brought the taloned hand into the earth, causing several fissures to erupt, setting off all of Rodgers remaining earth mines. Rodger had to shield himself from the rocks of his own mines.

"I've been taking it a bit too easy on you kid," he spat as he freed his hand from the ground, "but now you've seriously pissed me off!"

He took strove towards Rodger.

"Know how I killed your dad?" He asked in a very menacing voice. "Pierced his skull with This finger." He raised the finger he had indicated at the start of the fight. "It's gonna be a fitting end you brat. Killed the same way your bastard father did."

Rodger's eyes lit up.

"What's with that look, you should be glad that you get to die like the man you admire so much. Something to brag to him about in hell, "hey daddy, I got killed the same way you did, with a fucking finger to my head!" I think he'd love hearing about it don't you?!"

"Don't you dare talk about my Pa like that!!!" Rodger yelled as he lifted his hammer overhead and slammed it into the ground.

Dolton halted his advance, preparing for an earth attack. However, the ground below then caved in, forming a giant hole. As Dolton fell, the rocks began to attach themselves to him, eventually coming around him up to his shoulders.

"Wha- What is this." He was in the center of a 5-meter wide hole, with the debris spiraling around upwards, gripping him in the center, his upper body just visible while the rest of him was restrained beneath. "I-I can't... move."

"I call that my spiral prison. All those rocks from the ground've just circled around your body to hold it in place."

A dark shadow then loomed over Dolton. Looking up Dolton's jaw dropped while all his color drained. At the edge of the hole stood Rodger, and in his hands was a hammer, with rocks attached to it, increasing its size to simply ridicule proportions, towering even over the trees.

"That's for threatening my village and hurting my Grandpa." He said as he struggled to maintain his grip on his oversized hammer, which slowly began to topple towards the immobilized Dolton.

"Y-Your not serious....?"

"And this-"

"H-Hold on kid... you win ok...."

"Is for-"

"S-STOP- UNCLE- I SURRENDER!!"

"Is for insulting my Pa!"

"WAIT-I-GIVE-I-GIVE- AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"100-ton PRESS!!!!!"

The hammer fell with the force of a meteor, shattering apart as it landed uplifting much of the earth around. Rodger was lifted off the ground by the hammer's handle, just freeing his main hammer as his construction shattered.

When the dust settled, just as Dora and Fred, and the humans and the king of the Forest arrived, Rodger stood atop a piece of the earth sticking out, raising a hand and pointing to the sky as a sort of victory pose, with a large grin on his face.

At the center of the impact site, just visible was the broken remains of the man who had threatened the Samiet village.

Dolton Horus, the leader of Celtic Hoard, had been utterly and single-handedly defeated by none other than Rodger.