Chapter 6: Me or him ?

Isaac clutched the hilt of his katana, his breath coming in short gasps, his heart pounding against his ribs. Facing him, the hobgoblin grinned, revealing its yellowish teeth, covered in slime and blood. The monster was massive, much bigger than he had first perceived, and the mass it carried seemed to weigh a ton.

Isaac swallowed hard. He knew that the slightest blow from that weapon could break him in an instant. His body shook with adrenalin and fear, but he tightened his grip on his katana, silently repeating the same phrase to himself over and over again.

- Strength, honour and courage.

The hobgoblin lost patience and charged brutally, brandishing his mace above his head. The next instant, the weapon came crashing down on Isaac, who dodged in a clumsy leap, his breathing ragged. The ground cracked under the impact of the sledgehammer and the monster roared in frustration.

- Fuck...' Isaac muttered through clenched teeth.

Even though his body had been strengthened by the statistics and his awakening as a hunter, he was still weak, and the mass coupled with the monster's power would be enough to send his organs flying off the walls.

The monster turned its head towards him, its eyes gleaming with malice. With a backhand, it swept the air again with its mace. Isaac rolled onto his side, narrowly avoiding the impact. He felt the gust of wind from the weapon's passage brush against his skin, his hair bristling instinctively as he felt it.

He had to strike back.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when the mace was still embedded in the ground, Isaac retaliated. He leapt forward and lowered his katana towards the monster's hip, aiming for an opening in its imposing musculature.

His blade met the hobgoblin's thick skin... but laughed instead of cutting cleanly.

- Crap! Too hard!

The hobgoblin turned suddenly, a carnivorous smile on his lips, Isaac's face suddenly pale. The monster sent a powerful backhand from his mace. Isaac was too close to it to dodge completely. The weapon grazed his side, but the mere contact was enough to make him cry out in pain.

He was thrown to the ground, rolling several metres before coming to rest with difficulty on one knee. His breath was short, his vision blurred and the stabbing pain in his abdomen made him grit his teeth.

- Strength, honour and courage... he said again before charging at the monster.

Isaac gasped, his breath short and burning as he tried once more to bring his katana down on the monster. He put all his remaining strength into the attack, hoping to finally break through the hobgoblin's defences. But once again, the blade only slid against the monster's thick skin, emitting a frustrated squeal. A derisory scratch. A simple mark, barely visible.

His arms were heavy, his legs wobbly. His stamina diminished with every movement. 

With his katana forward, he charged, again, again, again, again, dodging the Hobgoblin's frontal mass to the side and trying again to slice his skin, he gritted his teeth, adjusted his grip and tried a quicker blow, this time aiming for the knee joint. Nothing happened. That damned sound of the blade ripping again.

- FUCK!

In his anger, Isaac forgot that the monster was waiting for an opening and his mace didn't wait, a hiss sliced through the air as it came towards him at high speed. 

In panic, Isaac struggled to dodge the blow by throwing himself aside, but the mace grazed him again and inflicted a new gash in his side that burned him with a dull pain, oozing a trickle of hot blood that seeped under his tunic. A purplish bruise on his shoulder throbbed with each attempt to strike. His breath was coming in ragged gasps as his ribcage struggled to rise.

Even more alarming than his injury was the fact that his reflexes were starting to go dull and that, if he carried on like this, it wouldn't be long before he was that bastard's dinner. 

While the fight left him no time to breathe, Isaac was now taking more and more blows. A backhand claw cut into his cheek, leaving a bloody trail across his skin. A bruise on his thigh sent him staggering. An ill-fitting blow from a sledgehammer grazed his torso, but the shockwave was enough to take his breath away. He felt his sternum vibrate under the impact, a dull pain radiating up his torso.

The hobgoblin grunted, his yellow eyes flashing with sadistic pleasure. He advanced slowly, savouring his opponent's gradual agony. Isaac stepped back awkwardly, stumbling over the corpse of a goblin. His body felt heavy, every muscle screaming exhaustion.

He felt a warm trickle slowly run down his forehead. His own blood, mingling with the sweat beading on his skin. His vision blurred, red flooding his eyes. He blinked, trying to keep his attention on the monster. But everything seemed to be wavering. The ground, the hobgoblin, his own grip on his katana.

- Fucking bloody shit dripping into my eyes!' he snarled before suddenly stopping his movement.

His eyes.

The only part of the monster that wasn't covered in that damned tough skin.

Her golden pupils, menacing slits that stared at him with amusement.

- Why didn't I think of that before!

A spark of hope reignited in him. If he could reach the eyes, then he had a chance. Just one chance. He tightened his grip on his katana, taking a deep breath despite the pain in his side.

- Strength, Honour, Courage.

The Hobgoblin felt his hope returning and frowning, he growled and charged forward towards Isaac.

Isaac put his katana back in front of him, blade up. He waited patiently and when the monster was a good distance away, he too ran towards it.

The Hobgoblin took this as a sign of defiance and let out a roar that shook the walls of the cave.

The veins in his biceps contracted and he swung his mace at Isaac faster than he had before.

Isaac plunged to the ground in a controlled slide between the monster's legs, the mace coming down a moment later and throwing his body slightly off balance.

Isaac quickly steadied himself, got back on his feet and jumped to grab hold of the tunic of the Hobgoblin, who didn't like this at all.

He dropped his mace and tried to grab Isaac and knock him down. 

Isaac held on, put the hilt of his katana between his teeth and tried his best to climb up the monstrous, muscle-filled back.