My flames burst forward as I laughed maniacally. I moved my arm in wide, sweeping motions to keep the five at bay, my fist like a flamethrower as flames constantly poured off of it.

The searing heat of the flames was enough to put a halt to most of the goblins, but the closest of them wasn’t able to stop in time. The fur of the pelt he wore around him caught on fire almost immediately, but the goblin was smarter than I had expected. He quickly dropped to the sandy floor, rolling around as he tried to snuff out the flames.

As he did, I leapt over him and into the fray, sweeping my pole in wide arcs as I landed in the middle of the four goblins. I managed to knock two on their heads in rapid succession, but the other two were more nimble. They ducked under my swipes and lunged at me with their daggers. Knowing there was no way out for me without taking damage, I focused the flames around my fist and reached out for the goblin trying to slice down on me. Almost simultaneously, both goblins reached me, the first burying his dagger hilt-deep in my thigh. The other goblin’s blade sliced down on my palm, biting deep but eventually coming to a halt.

Gritting my teeth against the sudden, overwhelming wave of pain, I gripped the goblin’s dagger in my hand, curling my fingers around the blade. The raging fire around my fist encompassed the goblin’s hand as well, making the thing screech out in pain. The goblin tried to pull its dagger away, but I didn’t let it budge. Instead, I pushed the fire off of my hand and onto the goblin before it realized that it should leave the dagger and run. The flames travelled down the thing’s bony arm and hit it in the chest, knocking it down to the ground.

At just about the same time, the other goblin had just managed to free its dagger from my thigh, but I wasn’t about to let it escape unscathed. Just as it pulled away, I brought my flaming pole down on the beast’s head. It struck true, and the mixture of the blunt force and the heat dazed the creature long enough for me to jab at its chest with the pole again.

As I did, I pushed the fire off the pole in a swirling column of fire. The fire carried the animal far back before dropping him down near the edge of the jungle, a scorched circle in the middle of his chest.

Without taking a moment to breathe, I turned back to the goblin that had fallen next to me, his screams still puncturing the air as the fire on his chest raged on.

With a steely look in my eye, I planted the pole into the sand and used my free hand to wrench the dagger out of my injured palm. Blood spurted out and showered the ground, but I paid the pain no heed. My eyes were glued to the pain-filled eyes of the goblin, watching the light of life flicker in them.

Ruthless, I thought to myself, taking in a deep breath. It’s us, or it's them.

My gaze never wavering from the goblin’s eyes, I bent down and plunged the crude stone dagger deep into its chest, right where I assumed its heart was.

The goblin’s screams halted almost immediately, cut off by a wet gurgle before bluish blood gushed out of its mouth. My eyes didn’t leave its eyes for a second, watching unblinkingly as the life in them dimmed and flickered out.

The weight of a life taken weighed on me, but eventually, I stood up, leaving the dagger buried in the dead goblin’s chest. A deep breath escaped my lips as I stood for a second, basking in the second of peace I had before going through a much-needed Revive.

The wave of pain hit like it always did, never getting the tiniest smidge easier no matter how many times I did it. Still, it passed like it always did, and in its wake, I was left with the cool refreshment of a body made whole again.

A quick survey of the battle told me that there were only two goblins left – at least, only two that still posed any kind of real threat. The leader and the other goblin that had caught on fire first had quietly been taken care of by Ren at some point during my fight. I’d taken care of two more, so all that was left was the two who I’d knocked out in the beginning.

However, the goblins were more cowardly than I had given them credit for.

Instead of continuing their futile effort in an attempt to avenge their fallen brethren, they simply turned tail and ran for cover in the jungle.

Watching their small forms scramble for safety made me pause for a second, something inside me not willing to hit something fleeing in the back in such a manner.

Ren, however, had no such qualms. His dagger hummed with power as purple smoke gathered around the blade. I watched in curiosity as he held the blade, as if ready to strike, focusing a scary amount of Flux on his blade.

Finally, when he judged that it was ready, he swiped his blade in the air. The purple smoke left his blade as he did, condensing into a crescent-shaped blade as it travelled at breakneck speed. The fleeing goblins had no chance in the race, and the blade reached the one on the right in a matter of seconds.

The blade sliced right through the torso of the creature, separating the goblin into two bloody pieces. The blade continued on, cutting through the thick trunk of a palm tree and deeper into the underbrush before vanishing into the darkness.

The other goblin managed to make it safely into the jungle and vanished as well, safe from our reach.

A silence settled over the beach for a moment, before Ren and I both let out a breath in unison.

“Well, that was exciting,” I said finally, breaking the silence.

Ren laughed. “Yeah, it was. Congrats, by the way.”

I raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Killing that goblin. It’s a good first step. You’re gonna need to get over that hesitation in killing people at some point, you know. I’m not always gonna be there to finish people off for you. And unless this world just happens to be all sunshine and rainbows, you're probably going to have to kill someone at some point.”

I nodded somberly. “I know, I know. I just…I don’t know what it is. ”

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Ren nodded patiently. “I mean, you have time for now. Who knows how long it’ll take to get back to any kind of human civilization? If there even is some kind of civilization at all.”

I laughed at his last remark. “It really is kind of insane to think that we are on a different planet. There are so many things that might be different from what we’re expecting. What if humans aren’t even the dominant species on this planet.”

Ren nodded. “And then there is the whole problem of language, too. I have no idea how we’re going to talk to whoever we meet.”

A sigh escaped me. “Well, all that is a problem for later. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But, more importantly, what’s up with that slash thing you do? Where’d you learn to do that?”

Ren grinned at my question. “Oh, that? Remember when we made that deal, that if you showed me a projectile of fire by the time we landed, I’d show you something equally impossible?”

I nodded, beginning to understand.

“Well, that’s it. It’s the first and most basic skill of proper Battle Mages. To be able to detach and launch pure, condensed Flux in some form. It’s supposed to take about six to twelve months to learn.” He paused then, grinning at me. “Took me a few weeks.”

I whistled in admiration. “Damn, that’s impressive." I paused for a second. "So, you’ve chosen Battle Mage as your thing, then?” I asked finally.

Ren nodded. “Yeah. I think, even if I awaken an affinity at some point, I’ll probably still stick to Battle Mage as my main thing.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise. “Even if you have the opportunity to use an element?”

“Yup. I looked through the stuff they had on Elemental Mages and how powerful they could become, and none of it really called out to me. I mean, it was cool, but it wasn’t really my style, you know? Like fire mages, for example. Every example they had of a great fire mage was someone who was incredibly powerful and destructive, sure, but they were too flashy for me. They were the kind of people who could single-handedly turn the tides of any battle they entered, but they would also instantly be the center of attention. They would be grand warriors, but they won their battles through brute force and destruction.”

My eyes had gleamed over by the point Ren had stopped talking. “And, you don’t think that’s awesome?!” I asked incredulously. He had literally just described my dream, everything I was working towards being. And he spoke of it like it wasn’t amazing.

Ren chuckled at my reaction. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s what you would want to be, but not me. I was trained to be an assassin, and that’s what I’ve been almost my entire life. The shadows are my home. It’s where I’m the most comfortable, you know?”

“But didn’t you hate the people who made you into the assassin that you are now?” I asked. I knew I was pushing into unexplored territory with Ren’s background, but he seemed to be okay with explaining, so I wasn’t too worried.

“I mean, yeah, I hated them as people. But in the end, I’m still grateful for what they taught me. They didn't teach me my stealth; that was mine long before I ever met them. What they taught me to do was use my skills to kill people. And I’m grateful for that, because it gave me the strength to do the things I needed to do. I’m not sure if any of that makes sense for you, but my point is that is what I’m good at. And it’s who I want to be.”

“And being a Battle Mage is the path that will use your skills best?”

Ren nodded. “All the most feared assassins of the universe are primarily Battle Mages. And there are a whole bunch of different paths available, that all use my skills as their base. They all had titles, too, like Ranger, Hunter, Marksman, and Thief. And they had cooler-sounding ones, too, like Shadowstalker, Whisperwind, and Nightwing. I have no clue what any of those mean, how they differ from each other or how you specialize as any one of them, but the point is that they exist. And they all sound much more appealing to me than any class of Elemental Mages.”

I shook my head. “That’s crazy. But I guess that does suit you more than my path.” I grinned then, my mind drifting into fantasies of the future. “We’d make a killer duo, huh? My flames would be so eye-catching that they’d distract everyone, and you could sneak around and pick them off while they’re all busy thinking that I’m the greatest threat. ”

Ren smiled in response, which surprised me. I hadn't expected him to indulge in my daydreaming.

“That does sound pretty fun," he said. "Things weren’t looking so good for us in the middle there, so it’s nice to finally get to look forward to the future again.”

I nodded excitedly. “I know! We don’t have to worry about rules or expectations or money or jobs or anything like that now. All we need to do is focus on getting stronger and surviving whatever this jungle throws at us.”

“Speaking of which, I’d been meaning to say, letting those goblins go probably wasn’t the best idea, you know.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?” I asked.

Ren shrugged. “It’s all speculation, since we have no actual information on those animals, but I think it’s a pretty reasonable assumption that the goblins are pack animals, and those six probably weren’t the entire pack. Which means that there is a possibility that the goblin we let go might return with a larger force. Of course, there are a lot of assumptions there, but I think it's best to assume the worst in our situation.”

I took a minute to go over his words, before eventually nodding. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I didn’t really think that far when I let the little guy go. I just didn’t feel good hitting a fleeing thing in the back like that.”

Ren nodded in understanding. “I know what you mean. But sometimes, for the sake of your own survival, you have to do things that don’t feel great. And that includes eliminating potential threats even if they seem harmless.”

I smiled grimly at that. “That’ll take some getting used to, you know.”

Ren shrugged. “Yeah, it will. But you’ll get there eventually.”

“Anyway, what’s the plan now?” I asked, moving on to more pressing matters.

“Well, I don’t think there’s any hope for us to get rescued by staying here, so I think our best bet would be to head into the jungle, if we want to try and meet some kind of civilization.”

“That doesn’t sound very safe.”

“Do you want safe?”

I grinned. “Not particularly. Safe doesn’t make strong.”

Ren laughed. “That’s one way to put it. But you’re right. We need to get stronger anyway, and hunting in the forest should be a pretty good way to do that. And hopefully, eventually, we’ll run into some kind of city or something on the way.”

I clapped my hands together, my mind already lost in the endless possibilities that awaited us. “Well, that sounds like a plan.”

“But for today, we’ve already wasted too much daylight,” Ren stopped me before I started moving, bringing me out of my thoughts. “I think it’s better for us to spend the night here, and make our way into the jungle first thing tomorrow.”

I chuckled awkwardly, embarrassed. “Of course. Makes sense.”

Ren gave me a small smile in response. “We’ll need to take guard shifts throughout the night, to make sure the goblins don’t come back,” he added.

“And we need to get some kind of shelter set up before we lose whatever daylight we have,” I continued.

Ren nodded. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

I grinned in response, excitement lighting up my face.

“Let’s get to it.”