“Black may be the clouds about you

  And your future may seem grim,

  But don’t let your nerve desert you;

  Keep yourself in fighting trim.”

  Edgar Guest, English Poet

  “Are you telling me you don’t miss Cerberus?” Rain asked Xavier in disbelief. She snapped her fingers, and her iron spheres flew across the beach, piercing the green slime and shattering its core. “I can’t believe that. We’ve only been on this island for a few days, and I miss Anchovy so much. And Cerberus is such a little cutie.”

  “He’s a pain in the ass,” replied Xavier dismissively, hurling his earth-infused blade towards the red slime twenty feet away. It spun like a boomerang and carved straight through the slime before returning to his hands. The slime exploded, but Rain and Xavier stepped back to avoid the fallout. “Cerberus – he’s just another weapon. Another tool to help me survive. Not that the mutt helps that much right now. All he does is bark and poop.”

  “He’s just a little puppy,” Rain reminded him, charging up her fire magic to strike the grey slime that had turned its attention towards them. “And you are so full of it. I know you see Cerby as more than a weapon. I saw him sleeping at your side when you were in the hospital. You can fool many people, Xavier. But you can’t fool me.”

  “He’s a pain in my ass, Rain. You got Anchovy when he was fully grown and trained. Cerberus wasn’t. It took me two weeks to get him to stop pooping on the carpet. Lazy ass Tutoria gave me a half-assed pet.”

  “Maybe Tutoria was trying to teach you patience,” Rain challenged. “After all, patience isn’t your strong suit, Xav.”

  Xavier casually dodged the molten metal projectile lobbed by the grey slime.

  “… Are you going to kill that fucking slime or not?” Xavier asked, avoiding the conversation.

  “See, no patience at all,” Rain answered smugly, her point proven. “But fine. I’ve been working on something I’ve been wanting to show you. Check this out.”

  Rain raised her hands towards the sky and created ten thin threads of flame from the tips of her fingers. The threads weaved themselves together in an intricate pattern, forming winds, feathers, talons and beak, until a phoenix the size of a housecat flew above her head. Its eyes burned with intense fire. Xavier flinched away from the heat.

  Rain pointed towards the grey slime. “Go get it, Birdy!”

  The phoenix launched itself towards the slime, its flame-formed wings spending sparks into the air behind it. With an agile dive, it dodged a molten projectile and landed atop the slime before it could strike again. With claws and beak of flame, the phoenix tore viciously into the slime until its core was exposed.

  “Birdy, obliterate!” Rain shouted. Fire billowed forth from the phoenix’s eyes, filling the wound it had torn open with intense heat and superheating the core in seconds. With a sharp crack, a fissure appeared across the core and, a heartbeat later, it shattered into a thousand pieces. The slime exploded, leaving behind a molten grey puddle and an unharmed phoenix.

  “Well?” Rain prompted Xavier with a prideful grin.

  “Birdy?” Xavier answered with feinted disappointment. “That name is as bad as Anchovy. No, it’s worse. Definitely worse.”

  “Oh, you’re no fun,” pouted Rain, ending her spell with a casual wave of her hand. The phoenix disappeared in a puff of smoke, snuffed out like a candle.

  “If I’m no fun, why do you keep spending time with me?” mumbled Xavier, eyes fixed on the three remaining slimes.

  “Well, someone has to keep an eye on you, and I drew the short straw,” Rain replied with playful sarcasm, earning an irritated grin from Xavier. She gave him a gentle punch in the shoulder. “It’s because I actually enjoy your company, you idiot, despite my better judgment.”

  “Yah, well… I don’t need a babysitter,” Xavier spat, avoiding her gaze. He tilted his head, as if hearing a voice that she could not, and his features softened. “But… thanks.”

  “Was that gratitude?” Rain asked with mock surprise. “Who are you, and what have you done with Xavier?”

  Xavier unconsciously tensed, earning a curious look from Rain.

  “Umm… can we finish this fight?” Xavier deflected, watching the blue and brown slimes bound down the beach, quickly closing the distance between them. “We can beat another four packs of these things before supper if we hurry.”

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  “I don’t have any magic that works against the water one, Xav, so it’s your turn. I showed you Birdy, so it’s your turn to show me something new. And I expect better than you screaming ‘Elemental Shift’ like you’re an anime protagonist.”

  “I use that talents that work, Rain. I’m not here for your entertainment,” Xavier said dismissively.

  “Yes, you are. You just haven’t accepted that fact yet,” Rain insisted. “Now show me something cool, or I’m going to assume you’ve put all your talent points into advanced-level brooding.”

  “That’s not a real talent.”

  “Oh? How would you know? Have you already searched for it? Go on. Show me something different.”

  “… Fine,” Xavier reluctantly sighed. He held his blade in both hands and buried the tip in the soil. He closed his eyes.

  The earth began to pulse beneath his feet, and ripples formed in the sand around him as if he were a stone thrown in a pond. Rain staggered, as if a tiny earthquake had suddenly struck the beach. An unnatural wind blew across the battlefield. The sky grew dark, and the world around them grew silent.

  Rain’s hair stood on end, as if the air around her had been supercharged with electricity.

  “Watch closely, Rain,” Xavier whispered, his words crisp in the silence. He raised his blade towards the sky, and an eerie purple halo formed around his weapon and body. “You might miss it.”

  Taking a deep breath, Xavier focused his will on the blue slime a hundred feet away. He opened his eyes, now filled with intense darkness.

  “The Shadow Man Cometh,” Xavier growled, his voice an octave deeper than before.

  Thin columns of shadow materialized across the battlefield – a thousand pillars of deepest nothing, each paper-thin yet infinitely deep. As Rain watched in stunned silence, Xavier pressed his foot against the nearest shadow pillar.

  “You’re dead,” Xavier promised the slime. “Elemental Shift: Earth.”

  He vanished.

  Rain blinked, and when she opened her eyes, Xavier was behind the blue slime, transported to the closest shadow. He cleaved through the slime with ease, intentionally missing the core by a fraction of an inch. A quarter of the slime slopped to the ground and began to soak into the sand.

  A fist of water shot out from the blue’s mass, but Xavier touched the shadow pillar again and disappeared before the blow landed. He reappeared from another pillar on the other side of the creature and sliced off another slab of slime.

  Again and again, Xavier teleported between the pillars and methodically sliced away the slime’s outer shell. His movements were so fast – the teleportation between the pillars so seamless – that Rain struggled to follow his motions. His speed and precision were extraordinary. In the span of a few seconds, Xavier had systematically removed the slime until all that was left was its core.

  As the final bit of slime fell away, Xavier punched the core with his bare fist and shattered it into a thousand pieces.

  “Xavier, that was…” Rain started, but Xavier wasn’t finished. His eyes flashed over to the last slime – a brown – near the shoreline.

  “Elemental Shift: Wood,” Xavier snarled, his voice rumbling across the beach. He touched the nearest shadow pillar and reappeared beside the brown. With a single, powerful thrust, he struck deep into the brown’s mass and shattered its core. He disappeared before the slime exploded and reappeared near the edge of the forest.

  The darkness lifted and the shadow pillars disappeared. Xavier’s breath was heavy, and forehead was drenched in sweat.

  “There. Is that… what you wanted… to see?” Xavier gasped, gazing at Rain with satisfaction. He held his blade at his side, residual slime dripping into the sand.

  “… It was adequate,” Rain said casually, strolling towards Xavier. She looked down at the slime corpses along the way with feigned criticism. “But that talent really wears you out, doesn’t it? All that effort just to kill a couple slimes. Such a waste.”

  “Oh, you are… just impossible,” Xavier said with agitation. “Why do I waste my time with you?”

  Rain reached Xavier’s side. Without warning, she pulled him into a tight hug. Xavier, shocked at the show of affection, let the blade fall from his hands. It fell into the sand, momentarily forgotten.

  “Thank you for showing me this,” she whispered as she hugged him. “I know you keep your powers close to your chest, so it means a lot that you shared this secret with me.”

  “Yah, well… you’re welcome,” Xavier replied hesitantly, leaning ever so slightly into the hug. “Don’t mention it. Seriously. To anyone.”

  Rain released him and made a zipper motion over her lips. “My lips are sealed,” she promised.

  The battle victory screen appeared between them.

  Rain squealed with excitement.

  “It’s about time,” Xavier grumbled. “We’ve been hunting slimes all afternoon. These monsters aren’t giving us enough experience. We need to get off this island soon, or I’ll fall behind.”

  “Oh, relax Xav,” Rain said dismissively as she opened her sub-class screen. “It’s only been three days. We’re sailing to the arena in the morning. Now, let’s see what sub-class the system have offered me.”

  Xavier peaked over her shoulder. “Let me see. I’m good at this stuff. I’ll show you how to maximize your power and… what the hell?”

  “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Rain breathed, already scanning through the sub-class’s benefits.

  “No, it’s shit,” Xavier countered, unimpressed. “This contest is a battle to the death, Rain. Not an opportunity to live out your dreams.”

  Rain reached over her shoulder and playfully pinched Xavier’s lips shut. “Quiet you. Not all of us want to spend this game fighting.”

  “You’ll fall behind – way behind – and it will get you killed,” Xavier countered, genuinely concerned.

  “Maybe… but it’s worth the sacrifice,” Rain said solemnly. “With this, I can help everyone survive.”

  The Non-Canonical Aftermath:

  "Clever girl," The Seed whispers in his ear. "We have underestimated her."