As Adelard's henchmen tried to get up, Gerald quickly came to give them a helping hand.

He cast Fist of Wind from below, like an uppercut, blasting them high up into the sky. He let gravity do the rest of the tedious work.

While he was preoccupied with one, the others tried to attack him from behind. However, he avoided them with ease, and with each passing minute, they became weaker and slower, meanwhile, he stayed in top shape thanks to the Swiftness Potion.

One of them was actually so frustrated that he took out his sword and disregarded the order from his young master. He was completely ready to kill Gerald.

Of course, that did not sit well with Gerald. He quickly jumped back and grabbed a good-sized stone and threw him against the enraged attacker.

"Hmph, small tricks!" The guy snorted and swung his sword downwards to intercept the stone. To his surprise, however, the flying stone changed the trajectory slightly mid-air, barely missing the blade and hitting him right in the face.

Bam!

A loud crack was heard, accompanied by a scream of pain and blood.

"Aaaah! My nose!"

"No weapons allowed. Unless you want to die!" Gerald sternly warned as he watched his target collapse on the floor in pain.

The whole ordeal happened so fast that the other four guys didn't even have time to react. One of them even broke his leg when he fell from up high and was unable to continue fighting. Most of them had cuts and bruises from tumbling on the rocks and from the hard hugs with the ground.

They were slowly losing confidence in themselves.

'This guy is crazy, what kind of a fight is this?! He is playing with us like we are the leaves in the autumn wind,' one of the warriors thought to himself in despair.

Gerald took out about ten Earth Crystals he collected from the wolves and said, "Alright, enough playing around. Stone Spike, Stone Spike…" He summoned around fifty Stone Spikes and made them hover above and around him.

He lightly waved his hand and five Spikes shoot out, one landing at the feet of each and every warrior. "Consider this a warning, don't try anything stupid or I will be forced to release my friends. Now let's go back and talk to your young master. Move!"

The five warriors groaned and complained, but they had no choice. They were not trained in magic and at the distance that they were, it would be impossible to successfully attack Gerald. Especially now that they were all beaten up.

They picked up the one with a broken leg and supported each other as they slowly made their way back. As the adrenaline was slowly leaving their system, the pain from all that pounding came into play.

The potions Gerald consumed also came to an end, but that didn't matter anymore. The fight was done and the spells were cast. Just maintaining them didn't require much Mana.

Back at the camp, Adelard and Sera were staring at each other. Adelard had a happy, proud, and lustful look on his face, while Sera was angry and worried.

"It's right about time… My boys should have already captured that brat by now. We will see how he tries to defy me when he's on his knees, begging for mercy." Adelard laughed as he imagined himself giving out punishment.

"You will not get away with this Adelard! If anything happens to him I'll hate you for my entire life!" Sera was using her anger to drown out sorrow and worry.

"Hate me all you want, it won't change a thing. Haha, see? There they come!" Adelard stood up when he saw his followers coming back. But suddenly he froze. 'What is going on? Where is that prick? And why are my men all wounded?!' Wild thoughts raced through his mind.

It was really an amazing sight to see. Torn clothes, cuts, and bruises everywhere. Five strong warriors limping about, supporting each other, one of them with a face full of blood. It was quite a shock for both Adelard and Sera.

"By the gods! What happened?!" Adelard asked in horror when he saw them. It was like someone tossed them down a rocky hill and they tumbled all the way down.

The one that was in the best shape came forward and kneeled, saying, "I'm sorry young master, we failed."

"Failed?!"

Adelard was still shocked and confused when he saw Gerald coming about twenty meters behind them, smiling. He was completely fine, apart from some dirt on his clothes.

"You! What have you done to my men?!"

"Oh hey there, kiddo. They wanted to capture me and spank my ass. Who would have known they were so clumsy that they tripped and fell into the sky…about ten times. Haha…" Gerald laughed and teased Adelard, purposely provoking him.

Adelard quickly lost his mind and roared, "I'm not a kid! I'm twenty this year! And what do you mean by fall into the sky?!"

Gerald chuckled and casually walked over to Sera and picked up his bundle of wolfskins he dropped before, saying, "Why don't you ask them? They had first-hand experience."

"Young master, this guy is a devil! He used some strange and powerful Wind magic. We were blown up into the sky every time we tried to approach. We could do nothing to defend ourselves. We are so useless, please punish us, young master!"

The guy kneeled on the ground, banging his head against the floor while explaining what had happened.

Adelard's countenance grew cold. He was not expecting his opponent to be that strong. Still, he couldn't quite accept it and scoffed at them, "What are you crying about? He is just a country bumpkin. He registered in the Guild not even a full month ago. Surely he already exhausted his Mana by now. Go get him!"

Woosh, woosh!

A few Stone Bolts fell from the sky at an amazing speed, landing between Adelard and his kneeling subordinate. The kneeling guy's face quickly lost all color.

"Let me stop you right there. Just for the record, I have enough Mana to kill all of you ten times over, so don't try anything funny. Also, it seems that you find it difficult to learn so let me help you with that." Gerald sternly and slowly spoke and walked closer, Stone Bolts descending from the sky, turning towards Adelard.

"Empty your pockets and hand over all your valuables…and your weapons. Be quick about it, don't waste any more of my šrecious time!" The tone he was using left no room for negotiation.

"Pah, you think I'm afraid of you? I'm Adelard Serrell, son of the Lord of the city of Geldern, Egott Serrell. Do you really think I'll submit to you? A mere commoner?" While Adelard was puffing out his chest, his five warriors, however, wasted no time and quickly removed the swords from their belts and threw them on the ground together with their money pouches.

"What are you guys doing?! You cowards! Did you completely lose your spine?!"

"Hahaha, you should learn from them. You still didn't quite get the situation you are in, did you, Mr. Lard? Your life is now in my hands and you are just buying it back from me, fair and square." Gerald laughed at the young Lord.

With a slight wave of his hand, about ten Stone Bolts floated and lightly stabbed into the chubby figure that was Adelard. It was just a little prick, just enough to draw blood.

Feeling the pain and seeing his own blood, Adelard finally realized the situation was absolutely not under control. He started trembling in fear for the first time and cold sweat started running down his back. His face also completely lost all color.

"W- What do you want?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Gerald rolled his eyes in annoyance. "As I said before; Empty your pockets and leave your weapon behind, then you are free to go."

Not even ten seconds later, Gerald received what he asked for. "See? Was that so hard? It's a pleasure doing business with you, young man. Until the next time." Gerald patted Adelard on the shoulder with a warm smile and collected everything the guys dropped. Then he and Sera casually left, Stone Spikes still hovering around them, just in case.

"Young master…" one of the wounded warriors started.

"Shut up! You useless worms!" Adelard angrily roared and huffed. The fear that was previously in his heart quickly turned into anger and hate. "Gerald! I swear it on my honor, I'll give you a fate worse than death, even if it is the last thing I do!"

A few minutes later, just outside the city, Gerald slapped his forehead, "Oh, Fuck! I forgot to get the herbs!"