The bandit leader swung his sword swiftly, going straight for Gerald's neck right off the bat.

Clank!

The sword harmlessly bounced off his skin.

"Ow, that really hurt you bastard!" Gerald rubbed his neck where the sword had struck him. The Stone Body was already soundlessly cast, protecting him almost perfectly.

"What?" The leader stared at his sword and then at Gerald. His brain just couldn't process what just happened.

He was expecting his sword to slice through Gerald's neck cleanly, with no issue, but instead, he felt like he had struck a rock. And the lad in front even complained about it and called him a bastard.

Pure absurdity!

The leader was struck silly for a second, but he quickly recovered his wits and ordered, "Don't just stand there you fools! Attack!"

"Yes!"

"Hah!"

"Get him!"

All nine bandits attacked at once with swords and daggers in hand.

"How foolish... Your tactics might work on normal people of this world, but I'm far from it!" Gerald scoffed and waved his hand, "Now scram!"

Woosh!

With a single wave of his hand, three Wind Blasts were triggered at once, expanding away from him in a semi-circle.

The wind that came from it was immensely powerful, knocking the men away like they were dried leaves in the autumn wind.

"Ah!" A man screamed as he tumbled to the ground, hitting his head on a stone. He started to bleed, but it wasn't a serious wound.

Too bad for him though, Gerald simply glanced at him and Stone Spikes shoot out from below the poor bastard, piercing him between the armor plates. He had no time to react as he was skewered on the stone stakes.

His iron armor was completely useless against the sudden attack.

During the last week, Gerald's control over magic increased, and so did his precision. Instead of just mindlessly pounding on the armor, he just targeted the weak spots.

"You beast!" Another man screamed and tried to attack Gerald from the back.

Gerald spun and made a roundhouse kick in retaliation, but instead of connecting with his attacker, another Wind Blast was triggered, this time from his leg, blasting the man backward.

The leader saw they were in trouble so he quickly yelled orders, "Don't give him any space to move! Circle him and hold him down, he can't focus on all of us at once!"

Instead of being concerned, however, Gerald's mouth formed a mocking grin, "Useless! All of your tactics are useless before real power! Now burn!"

He lifted his hand and a flame ignited on it.

Woosh, woosh…

Fireball after Fireball flew out with just one second of pause in between them. The bandits scrambled to dodge the flames.

Although their metal armor would protect them from the flames, the same couldn't be said about the cotton clothes underneath.

"You think you can just run away now?" Gerald lifted his hand and Stone Bolts shoot out of the ground like a flock of birds, going higher and higher in the sky.

"Aah! He's one of those powerful mages! Everybody run for your lives!"

The bandits were horrified by the speed and amount of spells Gerald was casually throwing out, so they completely disregarded the orders of their leader, trying to save their own skin.

But Gerald didn't give them any chances. He already let a few Blood Sun Viper thugs escape once and he was not going to repeat the same mistake again. Letting an enemy escape would never bring anything good anyway.

The ground trembled and a three-meter-tall wall rose from the ground, completely surrounding the campsite.

The bandits were trapped!

"Wait! We are the Stone Faced bandits and our wealth is quite substantial, we can talk about this! We can compensate you for our inability to recognize the great person before us!" The leader realized the situation they were in and tried to negotiate.

However, Gerald just laughed in his face, "Oh, now you wanna talk, eh? It's a bit too late for that! Not to mention that you insulted me and tried to kill me, now that you know my secrets you can't be left alive no matter what!"

"So just stand still and die!" Gerald waved his hand and the Stone Bolts in the sky started to accelerate down, simultaneously producing popping sounds as pressure bubbles exploded behind them, propelling them forward at an even greater speed.

Woosh! Bam! Bam!

"Gaah!"

The stones fell like rain.

Many of the poor thugs here were hit by the Stone Bolts and they suffered severely. Stab wounds and blunt trauma were visible all over their bodies. They were bleeding and in pain, completely losing the ability to fight or resist.

Gerald unsheathed his Fire Sword and aimed it at the fallen men. A Fireball formed at the tip and then shot out in a straight line.

Boom!

A small explosion sounded out and flames engulfed one of the guys.

Woosh, woosh!

Two more Fireballs flew out and soon even more followed while Gerald kept pointing his sword at different parts of the stone cage and lighting it aflame.

People died a horrific death, being burned alive, but such was life. One mistake and it could all quickly change.

Just when you think everything is under control, suddenly, it all comes crashing down.

Soon only the leader was left standing as everyone else was already dead.

On his face, fear mixed with anger, as he watched his people die, their lives so easily extinguished.

"Guild's lapdog! After all that magic, your Mana must be almost exhausted, I refuse to believe you can continue with your tricks!" The bandit leader shouted at Gerald and then threw his sword at him.

Gerald simply turned his body slightly, dodging the sword. His face was expressionless as he looked at the bandit leader. He already considered him a dead man.

But to his surprise, the leader made something that attracted his attention.

"I'll show you the real power of Stone Face!" the leader roared but then quickly started a short chant, "Grow around me hardened stone, protect my body with flintstone rock! Stone Armor!"

Crack! Ka-cha, ka-cha!

The ground lightly shook and the stones around the place lifted and floated to the bandit leader. It appeared almost like his body was attracting the stones, as they stuck to him like glue.

Layer after layer of stone scales formed themselves on the surface, covering him completely from head to toe, except for the eyes.

"Oh~ Not bad, Stone Face! I like the look of your stone armor, but is it any good in practice?" Gerald mockingly asked. But he was genuinely impressed. The armor looked quite pleasing to the eyes and the amount of control for such a detailed spell had to be quite great.

"Mock all you want, your fire and stones can't touch me now! Making the stone walls and trapping us inside was your biggest mistake! Now, taste my fist!"

Stone Face ran forward in his new armor and punched with his right hand at Gerald's face.

Bam!

Gerald blocked with his right hand, but the force behind the punch was much stronger than he expected and he almost lost balance.

Obviously, when Stone Face first swung his sword at Gerald's neck, he didn't use all his strength.

"Interesting! Show me what you got!" Gerald's eyes shined with excitement and his mouth formed a smile. He quickly stabilized himself and returned a punch.

Bam!

His fist landed on Stone Face's shoulder, breaking a few stone scales.

They continued to exchange punches for a while and stones flew all over the place.

Stone Face was much stronger than Gerald, so the latter had to either block or dodge his punches and kicks. Even though he was covered in stone, the leader's speed did not diminish, only his agility suffered somewhat.

Gerald had to admit that the armor of his opponent was quite good at defending. If he continued using just his fists, with the strength he had now he would never be able to break through it.

The Stone Armor could shift the pieces around, always replacing the broken parts.

"Heh, I'll have to use something different then!" Gerald grinned as he dodged another punch. "You are quite lucky, Stone Face! You will have the privilege of experiencing my new creation first-hand!"