The monsters were massive. They were at least two and a half meters tall, and they weren’t lanky by any stretch of the imagination. With bodies like they’d been sculpted out of stone, each of their muscles rippled with power. They were so large I could make out the strength in them, even hidden behind the thick brown pelts that they wore around their bodies.

They shared the same green skin as their lesser cousins, but the colour was a much more lush, earthy green. Nothing like the pale, sickly colour of the other goblins. Their jaws sported two overgrown canines, like the sabre-toothed tigers of Earth, and from their fingers sprouted claws that looked like they wouldn’t lose out to any tiger in the world.

The mystery of who had exploded the ground under me in the village was soon solved as the first of the goblins arced his arm back, a round cannonball-like rock in his hand, before whipping it forward with incredible speed. The only reason I was able to roll out of the way was because I had started moving before the goblin let go of the rock.

The ground where I had stood once again erupted as the cannonball struck the ground with easily enough force to rip my body to shreds.

I shot up to my feet as soon as I completed the roll, my mind slipping back into the trance of a fight. The monsters were powerful, undoubtedly so, but my confidence was unfazed. A grin spread on my face as I faced down both the monsters, ready for the fight to come.

Almost entirely on instinct, Ren and I got into a position that suited our styles, with me taking front and center on the stage while he slipped back unnoticed.

Although I was left facing the two monsters alone, at least at first glance, I knew that he would do more damage hidden than he could if he was fighting out in the open beside me. And I would be lying if I said I was annoyed at the fact that I had to face the two monsters on my own. It wasn’t like I had to kill them on my own, just keep them busy and get as much damage as I could get in; my blood ran hot with excitement at the mere thought of it.

With a thought, fire erupted all around my arms and my pole, the bright orange apparently signalling the goblins to start the fight. They both burst forward with more speed than was fair for their size, rushing at me together as they brandished their claws.

I didn’t know if they had both chosen me first because Ren was simply so good at hiding that they’d already forgotten about him, or if it was because they had decided that they’d simply deal with me first – likely it was a mix of both of them – but the fact remained that they had chosen me as their target, which meant I’d have to work doubly hard to make sure I stayed alive.

Wanting to get some distance to start the fight, I took a step towards the monsters before leaping off the ground, using my flames to assist my jump. I easily clear three meters off the ground, flying over the goblins’ heads and landing on the other side, rolling forward to soften my landing.

Without taking a moment to breathe, I whipped around and tried an idea that had just sparked in my head. I swiped my flaming pole in a horizontal arc in the space in front of me. The goblins were too far to be in my reach, but I hadn’t been meaning to hit them with the pole at all. Instead, I pushed the fire off of my pole in the shape of a crescent blade. The fire moved exactly the way I wanted it to, travelling at a breakneck speed as the wide edge of the crescent struck the goblins’ back.

Unfortunately, the blade wasn’t sharp enough to actually bite into their skin, but the fire was still searing hot. The force the fire hit them with brought the two to their knees while the greedy flames latched onto their pelts and began to eat away at them.

But the goblins didn’t let the fire burn long. Quickly getting back to their feet, they both stomped on the ground in unison, and the wind generated by their combined stomps was strong enough to stifle the flames. Still, the pelts smouldered and smoked, no doubt incredibly uncomfortable and hot on their skin.

With a wide, taunting grin, I lit another fireball in my free palm and faced down the enraged beasts. The success of my newest move gave me a kind of high I knew I’d forever be chasing. There was nothing else in the world that was quite like the feeling of knowing that you were stronger than you’d been before, even if it was only a tiny step forward.

I didn’t have too long to revel in the feeling, however, since the goblins rushed me again almost immediately. This time, one of them hung a few steps behind in case I tried the same move again, but I wasn’t planning on it. There was another idea that I wanted to try, and these goblins were proving to be the perfect test subjects.

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Instead of dodging again as the first goblin came at me, I burst forward in as quick of a lunge as I could perform. As I raced through the air towards the goblin, I readied a flaming fist and then exploded my arm forward igniting the Flux behind my elbow. The effect was beyond just noticeable; my fist sped up fast enough to throw me off balance as my body was dragged forward by my arm. Still, despite my stumble, I managed to land my punch square on the goblin’s chest, hitting him with more force than my body could ever generate on its own.

Joy washed over me as I realized that my second experiment had also worked out. I wasn’t sure how the physics behind the trick worked – I’d never been much of a physics person, or even a numbers person – but I was content to know that it worked. I didn't care much to understand more than that.

Unfortunately for me, despite the greater force that my flaming fist packed, the goblin was only slightly pushed back. Punching his chest felt like what I imagined punching a marble pillar would’ve felt like, and I was convinced that I’d hurt my knuckles more than I had his chest.

The monster proved me right a moment later as he instantly counterattacked, swinging his massive arm at me like a bat. I was too close to him for his claws to reach me, but my head was still at risk of taking a heavy hit. I was still off-balance from my own strike, but I just barely managed to duck my head down as I stumbled forward, passing under his strike.

Regaining my footing, I quickly launched another flurry of fiery jabs at the goblin’s exposed chest. His chest was no softer than before, but I figured enough hits would start to wear him down at some point. Not that it would happen any time soon, but – as my burgeoning new life philosophy dictated – enough fire would burn anything down, eventually.

I backed up after almost a dozen punches to the goblin’s chest, leaving his brown pelt on fire and threatening to fall apart at any second.

The second goblin suddenly appeared to my left the moment I took a step backwards. His fist was already racing to my face, and I knew instantly that I wasn’t going to be able to dodge the attack. So instead, I bunched up my shoulders and twisted my body as much as I could, taking the blow to the side of my shoulder instead.

The force rattled my brain as it travelled through my body, throwing me like a ragdoll across the clearing. I crashed into the dirt at least five meters away, rolling on for another two. My entire body ached, and I knew without needing to check that I’d definitely broken more than a few bones.

With a grin of victory, the goblin stalked over to where I lay, savouring the moment like any classic villain would. I smiled to myself as I noted how that was clearly a trait shared by humans and beasts alike.

As the goblin made his way over to me, he left behind his partner, who was still dazed by the beating he’d taken. I was surprised that he was, since I knew that my fists hadn’t done much damage. Which meant that the fire must've done more damage than I had thought.

As I watched the other goblin stalk closer and closer to me, I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes, getting ready to Revive. But then, just as I did, the sound of something exploding out of the tree line came, distracting me. My eyes snapped open again, tracking the black and purple blur of movement as it sped out of the thicket and to the dazed goblin in the middle of the clearing.

Both the goblin who was about to reach me and I watched, mesmerized, as the figure shot towards the goblin, a purple haze trailing after him. He stopped right in front of the goblin, and I managed to catch just the slightest glint of purple as something swiped the air in between the figure and the goblin. Then, with a fierce kick to the chest, he knocked the goblin down to the ground, letting it fall on its back. As it did, the beast brought its hands to its throat, circling its fingers around its own neck like it was trying to strangle itself.

Bluish blood leaked out from between its fingers as gurgling sounds echoed across the clearing. Ren stood above the dying monster; his dagger held loosely at his side as it dripped with the same dark blue blood.

With a sudden shriek, the goblin that was coming at me turned around and burst toward where Ren stood, shaking the ground with every thunderous footstep. Ren looked up at the goblin as he heard it, giving it a small, taunting smile. He didn’t move a muscle as he stood where he was, letting the goblin get closer and closer until it was only a few steps away from him. Then, just as the goblin was about to get into attacking range, a flaming pole crashed into his back like a meteorite, tracing a bright orange arc through the air.

Ren instantly reacted to my attack, launching a kick at the falling goblin’s chest. The kick and my pole’s momentum cancelled each other out, leaving the goblin standing in place, wobbling on his legs before crashing to the ground with a thud and a cloud of dust.

Ren and I locked eyes across the clearing as the goblin fell, our faces sporting wild grins of victory. The fight was all but over now, but more important than our victory was the fact that our debut fight on the planet as a duo had been a decisive success. Our plan had worked beautifully, and although it would need some more refining before we could pit it against more intelligent opponents, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that the goblins were only the first of many who would fall to our team.