Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

Jay swung both gates open after paying the Pits' entrance fee. The 500 Contribution Point hit felt a lot less daunting compared to a month ago. The Second Chance Coliseum didn't expect new D graders to fight so soon after Advancement and granted each gladiator 50,000 CP and a two month visa freeze. Everyone picked as a Luminary got double that.

Heads perked up and twisted his direction upon entering the pits. Several people walked over to him but Jay politely rejected each of their sparring requests.

The ominous oak doors glowered at Jay, the challenger walking towards them.

I'll get you this time.

He pressed both palms into the wooden panels, leaning closer and tapping his forehead against his rival. Previously, Jay had used acceleration to try and open the entrance doors. He'd managed a crack before, but Jay wouldn't retread that path today. Jay had once thought challenging the doors to a fight would never work. He could punch and kick at them and the imposing oak slabs might even swing back, but at the end of the day they were still inanimate objects.

But while the door in front of him clearly wasn't a fighter, opening it was undeniably a fight. It didn't end in life or death but would certainly end with victory or defeat.

And that was enough for Jay.

He didn't push the doors. He fought them.

This battlefield wasn't the boxing ring, and it certainly wasn't the Second Chance Coliseum, but in the moment none of that mattered. Because Jay was there, and there was something in his way.

That made it a fight.

Jay bared his teeth as his fingertips crumpled against the wood grain. A primal urge inside him begged him to punch, kick, rake his nails through the enemy before him.

He cowed the urge with a battlemaster's composure. Silencing it beneath discipline. Quick fists and fleet footwork couldn't win this fight.

The door spilled back an inch. Jay kept in control. He refused to let the minor victory distract him from the battle.

Exhaustion crept into Jay's muscles as the door relentlessly pushed him back. It could push all it wanted, Jay was gaining ground.

He won another inch.

But although Jay was pushing the door back, he knew his advance couldn't last forever. His arms cramped, thighs shook, his heel rebounded against the gravel in a ceaseless jitter.

So he switched gears.

Jay kicked out his right leg, wedging it in the gap between the double doors. He leaned all his weight onto it, pressing his boot into the ground before twisting his torso and ramming his shoulder into the doorway.

It struck back.

Both doors clamped onto Jay's foot, trapping it inside and continuing to squeeze tighter.

Jay tried to push the door further inwards using his foot as a brace. His strength failed him. The doors pressed harder. Before they could snap his foot in half he jerked it out and backed away from the entrance.

"Next time… next time I'll get you," said Jay. He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and stared at the door, waiting for it to open.

Good effort. Try again next time.

Jay grumbled to himself and kicked a small cloud of gravel into the air, acknowledging the grey system screen.

The doors opened, revealing Austin stood behind them, one hand resting behind his back.

"Great effort Mr. Leonard. I'm sure you'll have it on the next try. Samira has been expecting you, I presume you're here to meet with her?"

Jay nodded and thanked the butler. There was no use being rude when it was entirely his own fault that he couldn't open the door. He followed Austin deeper inside the building and calmed his mind, preparing for the next battle.

Warm light rained into Samira's office from a stained glass window covering the back wall. It depicted a man clad in gold armour raising a spear to the heavens, parting the clouds above him. Ornate weapons sat on brackets drilled into the stone walls, almost sparkling beneath the golden light.

Samira and Cyrus sat behind a spartan desk at the room's edge, a sanded slab of oak with four iron legs jutting straight down into the stone floor. They both smiled as Jay entered, although their expressions couldn't have been more different.

You're not my friend, Samira. Bringing Cyrus along won't fool me.

Jay nodded at Cyrus before meeting Samira's calculating eyes. She gestured at a third seat across from her, a flat bottomed chair that matched her desk's austerity.

Jay took it and sat down. After meeting with the storm sage, Jay had all but guaranteed he'd join Limitless Ascent for their fight. He trusted his eccentric mentor and ached to learn what the sage had planned for him during the battle.

But he couldn't let them know that, of course.

"Congrats on advancing Jay. Welcome to D grade!" said Cyrus. A wide smile parted the man's scruffy beard after he spoke. Cyrus' words calmed Jay and he couldn't help but smile back.

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"Indeed," said Samira, "I believe you will be chosen as a Luminary this year. Well done."

"Thank you," Jay replied.

Even though he knew the meeting's outcome already, Samira probably still thought she was pitching her alliance to Jay. He stood firm, refusing to give the B grade gladiator anything to work with. If he acted reluctant, perhaps she'd give up more information in order to sway him their way.

"Before we start, I have a gift for you." said Samira. She reached below her desk into a drawer that appeared invisible to Jay and pulled out a large ceramic bowl. She placed it before Jay and he saw that it was filled with a strange liquid metal.

Jay kept still. He wouldn't let Samira dictate the negotiations so easily. Jay wasn't beneath a little bribery, but Samira couldn't sway him that easily.

"Don't worry, there's nothing sinister about it," she said with a smirk, surely knowing how sinister she sounded.

Jay faintly huffed as he craned his neck and looked into the bowl. He wouldn't put such a blatant and obvious lie past Samira, but he also trusted the storm sage not to send him to train with anyone too dangerous.

If the sage had prompted him to join Limitless Ascent then they couldn't be that bad.

"What is it?"

"A replacement for the Conqueror's fists. Dunk your hands in and take a look," Samira replied.

Jay studied Samira's face for several seconds before switching over to Cyrus. The man gently shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's not a scheme, alright," he sighed. "It's a liquid metal weapon that morphs to your fists. I went and collected it myself. Now can you two stop being so coy and suspicious and start talking so we can get this meeting over with?"

Jay laughed at Cyrus' exasperated outburst. Perhaps that was the reason Samira had brought him in, to break the ice and hurry things up.

He dipped his right arm into the metal. It wasn't as cold as he'd expected, and felt a lot like the Orivian silk undershirt he was wearing. After a few seconds, half of the liquid metal rolled up his arm before settling into a skintight but flexible band just below his elbow.

He formed a fist. Before his fingernails even reached his palm, the metal band had liquefied and formed a protective shell around his fist. Jay held his fist in the air and commanded Ping to fly into it.

PING!

The sound bounced around Samira's office, lingering in the air. Jay felt his shield's approval.

He dipped his left into the bowl and watched the metal snake around the clockwork bracer before settling into place.

Jay wondered if he could morph the metal into shapes other than his fists, but left the experimentation for later.

Cyrus wanted to get this meeting over with, after all.

"Thanks," said Jay, before quickly changing topics. "You wanted me to join your fight, right? What can you tell me about it?"

"I'll tell you what I can," began Samira, "but first let's talk about the coliseum. You ought to know how each grade works going forward.

"E grade is the Second Chance Coliseum's crucible. It plucks unrealised potential from universes inaccessible by any other means and deposits them in the arena.

"Through a trial by fire and a subsequent advancement tournament, only the elites make it to D grade.

"But if E grade is the crucible, then D grade is the forge. Of the five grades, it's by far the most profitable. By giving gladiators the option of non-lethal fights, it turns them into money making machines that can fight constantly and consistently at a high enough level to ensure the coliseum always has visitors walking down its many avenues."

Interesting…

"How do you advance into C grade then?" asked Jay.

"You discard your safety net. D grade grants you the option of non-lethal fighting, but to advance you have to move past that. Barring a few exceptions, you need to challenge a C grader to a lethal fight and beat them to advance. Once you're there, contracted gladiators such as yourself are required to make three defences before being freed from the coliseum contract. C grade is often considered the pinnacle of one-on-one fighting."

"Okay, but you want me to compete in a B grade fight. How do they work?"

"As you know, B grade fights are fought by alliances rather than individuals. The relationship between D and C grades is similar to the one between B and A grade. The higher tier grants the coliseum a certain level of prestige and legitimacy while the lower tier ensures its profitability. Like most D grade fights, B grade ones are non-lethal for gladiators. Similar to during the E grade advancement tournament, they are transported to a location, given an objective, and tasked to complete it."

So more of the same then.

Samira seemed forthcoming so far, however she was also revealing information that Jay could learn elsewhere. He had to dig deeper.

"What can you tell me about this specific fight?" he asked.

"Not a lot, but that's largely because I don't know much myself. The coliseum keeps most details hidden until the fight starts. I only know the parts I've helped organise.

"Limitless Ascent are fighting against the Smothering Grasp Alliance. A similarly sized alliance that's been an established B grade force with three wins and three losses over the past two years. The fight has a time limit of one month, after which the fight will be declared a draw. The more stipulations you give the coliseum the less contribution points you receive for a victory, so the rest is up to the coliseum's discretion. For reasons unknown to me, the Smothering Grasp were to begin the fight one week before us. They entered the coliseum three days ago."

"How are they supposed to fight when their opponents haven't even entered the coliseum?" asked Jay.

"I have my theories, but that's for the coliseum to know. I suppose we'll find out in four days' time."

"And that's all you know?" Jay replied.

Samira nodded. Jay glanced over at Cyrus for a second confirmation. He nodded too. It wasn't much information, but it sounded like all they had. Jay wouldn't put it past the coliseum to keep secrets from its fighters. After all, it had done the same thing to all the E graders before advancement.

He'd at least gotten a name though. Jay made a note to ask both Akira and Karis about the Smothering Grasp Alliance before the fight started.

"And why do you want me? Maybe I was something special in E grade but aren't there hundreds or thousands of D graders stronger than me right now. Is it a political play? Some kind of marketing thing?"

Jay had somewhat expected the coliseum to gag Samira regarding the fight. This was the real prize he was after.

"You overestimate both my influence and the amount of available and willing gladiators. Only forty gladiators survived the E grade advancement tournament and any D grader not already with an alliance is unlikely to join one now. There isn't exactly a line of people waiting to join us.

"However you're also underestimating yourself, Jay. You might not rank amongst the most powerful gladiators but after your showing during advancement you're potentially one of the more famous ones. Having you on our side is a display of power and influence to other gladiators. It's why we're offering you noncommittal terms. We'd love to have you on our side, but recognise that you're uncertain about committing to us. With this arrangement, we hope you'll decide to join our alliance after the battle, but you'll generate value for us even if you don't."

Samira's answer seemed honest enough, if a little predatory. Jay felt like it didn't cover everything, but that didn't surprise him too much. If he wanted specifics, he'd have to pry them from Samira's lips himself.

Jay held up his right, slowly forming a fist and watching the quicksilver gauntlet worm up his forearm.

"That's not the whole story though, is it?" said Jay. "There's gotta be another layer. Your kind gift looks a lot like my brother's liquid gold armour. So far, you're the only person who's linked us together. To my face, at least. Don't try and play it off as coincidence, tell me what you know about Julian and what you're trying to achieve by linking us together."

Cyrus shuffled in his seat. Samira kept still.

"So you want to talk about the Flash?" she said.

A giant grey screen filled the wall beside Jay.

"Very well then. Let's talk."