Zeke reached to the rocky sky and gave way to a mighty yawn. He rubbed his redden eyes for the umpteenth and tiredly lumbered out of his cave. The forest looked back at the sleepy man, it swayed gently as it displayed the full spectrum of the colour green, it was calm and undisturbed.

This was getting on the man's nerves.

Several times, ...that's how many times Zeke had been jolted awake last night. Since a day ago, Zeke had been preparing for an invasion that never arrived. He had been fully expecting a horde of goblins to been knocking on his door at the light of dawn or some un-godly hour of the night.

Needless to say, any abnormally loud noises the forest produced had pulled Zeke from sleep and super-charged his body with adrenaline. Whether it was a tree falling over, an animal howling or an insect crawling on his legs, Zeke had been shocked awake for all of it.

Despite sleeping for longer than usual to get a proper 8 hours, he still felt tired, but without being sleepy, his eyes also refused to open fully. Long story short... he felt like shit.

With glazed eyes, Zeke double checked the defences he erected, the armour he created and the new weapons he looted, he even made a few extra javelins for extra measure. He was as physically prepared as possible for an attack.

"Status" He spoke to the treetops.

Zeke Level 8, Survivor +3

Health: 224/224

Mana: 42/42

Skills: Avarice, Blood Regeneration, Mana Concealment

Classes: Spearman 1, Bludgeoner 1

"Attributes" he added.

Strength: 45

Endurance: 35

Agility: 28

Intelligence: 45

Affinity: 25

Zeke idly thought about the 3 points yet to be distributed.

He clambered up of the entrance of his cave where he had once ambushed the slizard from and sat in his well-known meditation pose. It had been a while since he'd furthered his talents in magic. With a quick thought he added all the free points into affinity.

+3 Affinity (28)

Now he had a little more mana to work with (42/48).

Zeke descended his mind into the flow of mana, it was warm and welcoming, the perfect place to retreat to and think. As long as he didn't try to manipulate his magic he could stay inside his flow for days on end without running out of mana. So with that thought, he started to think.

What's the best way to kill a goblin? Smash it, obviously, Zeke knew that.

What's the best way to kill a group of goblins? Stalk it and attack the weak points obviously, Zeke knew that.

What's the best way to kill an army of goblins? He wasn't sure.

You need an army to fight an army, he mused. He needed something to bridge the gap in numbers. They were many, he was but one man. He needed to focus on the few advantages he had over the goblins.

First and foremost was intelligence, goblins were smart, about as smart as a fresh turd, but still smart. Unlike the goblins Zeke could plan, he could evaluate the pros and cons of a situation and act accordingly. Zeke had already fortified his home and created his armour, he also knew that retreat was a viable tactic too, if he was desperate enough. To his knowledge, he had exhuasted every possible measure his 45 intelligence provided him.

He was far stronger and quicker than the goblins, a better constitution too. In a one on one fight, Zeke would never, never ever lose. Then again, what were the chances that an army, of goblins no less, would arrive and challenge him to 1000 consecutive duels? He imagined they were low.

Zeke knew what needed to be done, he needed to defy the odds, he needed to develop his magic into something proactive. A way to kill enemies at the cost of mana, not health. He had blood regeneration and mana concealment, while both fantastic and essential skills, were not lethal by their own means.

The mana in Zeke's body swelled and gain speed as he pondered the best path to achieving his goals. The most glaring issue was that his mana was not deadly as it was now, he needed to make his magic dangerous before it could be turned into a weapon.

He thought of flames, the fire that devoured the world and snuffed life from all who crossed it.

Zeke allowed a tiny plume of mana to exit his up-turned palm, after all, he wouldn't to start a mana-fire in his own body. He examined the plume, it was warm, which was a good start, but he needed it hot, enough to boil the blood of his opponents. Zeke tried to constrict the plume's size and retain the same output of power, hoping for some sort of mana-friction to ignite the magic and produce fire.

Zeke watched with a single open eye at the mana exiting his hand, it went from a pale blue to a rich deep-sea navy, the edges of the plume became more defined and it condensed it's appearance into one akin to a candle flame. Good! it was more flame-like now. He then glided his free hand through the condensed magic to test it's changes. The mana flame latched on to Zeke's fingers as they ran past and a new flame sprung to life in Zeke's palm.

+1 Mana (30/49)

With a surprised yelp, Zeke flailed his hand away from his face, trying to extinguish the mana, but it stuck to his hand like a fly to shit.

It took Zeke a few frantic seconds to realise that the mana wasn't actually burning him, just a subtle comforting warmth. With an amused look, he watched the small and sticky mana flame dwindle into nothingness, which took a good twenty seconds, much longer than the translucent mana-glove he made many days ago.

"Well at least it looks the part" Zeke said to himself. He then wondered when this 'talking out loud' habit started, guessing it was probably just a consequence of prolonged isolation. He gave his head a light shake in attempt to banish the unnecessary question from his mind, he had better things to do.

So far, he had achieved a darker, stickier and longer lasting mana-flame, he just needed the heat and his goal of true flames would reach fruition.

Nothing particularly promising came to mind, constricting the plume was his epiphany on creating heat, which failed miserably. Zeke spent many hours considering the predicament. Of course he delegated a portion of his mind to take notice of the world outside, incase that goblin army happened to show up.

He had a lofty idea on how to get the heat he needed, it was a discovery he made a few days after his first 'awakening'. The idea was really just wishful thinking, both figuratively and literally.

He thought back to when he had once plunged into his own spine, he had seen his mana, it was him, it was his soul. It carried all of his emotions in it's endless flow, it was probably why Zeke felt so comfortable and 'at home' when he practiced magic. If he wished hard enough, with any luck, maybe he could just 'will' the spark into an inferno.

Zeke outstretched his palm from himself and faced it towards the forest. He took and deep breath and firmly closed both eyes. Mana from all reaches of being was directed into his palm, but he didn't release it yet, he'd let it build up a little.

Zeke began to whisper fiercely to the winds.

"flame flame flame, fire fire fire, burn burn burn, ignite ignite ignite and devour."

Zeke noticed a change in his mana, it now boiled with conviction.

With his mental steeled and newly-made lucky mantra spoken, Zeke unleashed the absurd amount of harnessed boiling mana in his hand, out into the world beyond.

+ Skill Earned: Fireball

'FFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffFFFFFBOFFTT" was the sound that preceded the mental notification of gaining a new skill.

A sea of dark blue consumed Zeke's vision and a deafening blast left his ears ringing. The heat from the ridiculous explosion charred his hand and choked the moisture from his eyes and throat.

The vast world of rich blue flames quickly faded back to the forest that Zeke was now intimate with. A forest that was now partly on fire. Calm blue flames burrowed into the dead twigs and leaves that coated the floor, even the living bushes, grass, bushes and trees weren't exempt from the flame's touch. The fire's brightness was unreal, bathing the forest's umbra night in a calming blue luminance that penetrated even the darkest of shadows.

"Oh shit" Zeke said with dawning realisation.

"I just set the forest on fire didn't I?"

A drawn out second past and the only response was the silent flames that hungrily licked at the life around them.

With a fear-fueled speed Zeke jumped off his perch and rushed to the burning forest. He skidded to a stop near the closest fire and furiously stomped an unlucky patch of grass.

"Fuck"

"Fuck"

Not matter how much Zeke attempted to scatter the fire or snuff the heat, the blue fire didn't extinguish. Zeke gave a dreadful glance at the rest of the forest, half expecting it to be fully ablaze.

It was still on fire, burning with all it's etherial blue brilliance, but Zeke relaxed at the sight.

While it was... still burning, the flames had died down into only smouldering remains, even the dry forest floor didn't seem to fully catch alight. It was just then, the would-be magician noticed that since he ignited the forest fire, it hadn't once spread beyond where it originally landed.

A magic fire that only burned what it landed on, maybe it was too sticky to spread? He felt like that wasn't the correct answer but at least it was something.

Zeke calmly walked to a charred tree that was still burning merrily. Zeke marveled at his own creation. There was no sizzling or crackling, but there was an intense heat that was immediately felt from even a meter away. The most impressive feature was easily the colour. It was harsh and kind, it tempted one's gaze with beauty and then dried their eyes, forcing them to look elsewhere. Similar to his mana flow, but in fire-form, it's splendour had increased tenfold in this physical realm compared to mana in his body. The intertwined dancing blue sparks still mesmerizing to watch as the embers faded.

A twinge of pain shot through Zeke's heart when the last of the brilliant blue winked out of existence, such a shame it couldn't be allowed to burn forever.

He immediately slapped his forehead in his own stupidity. He had forgotten that the magical fire which enthralled his heart was now at his beck and call. It was so out of this world, it didn't seem like such a thing could even be in the hands of a mortal and not some God of Fire.

Zeke hurriedly retreated back to his abode and conjured another fireball. He contained the fire into his hand without launching it out, once again marveling at the magical cinders and unbearable heat.

The flame-seduced man forcibly fell asleep moments later. Not because he was tired, well he was tired, but because his Mana had reached 0. The mental and physical depletion coaxed his resistant consciousness into the darkness. Zeke's last thought of the night was him cursing how often humans needed to sleep, every second asleep was a second not observing the wonder of his magic................................................................................................................at least his mana would be full when he wakes up.