Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

Jay's eyes snapped open. They shot towards the cave entrance.

Nobody there… for now.

A ruby-eyed crow sat atop the glowing relic. It looked at Jay with an uncanny confusion, tilting its head aside.

Thanks for warning me, buddy.

The crow hopped off the orb and onto Jay's shoulder as he silently rose to his feet. Before taking another step, Jay gripped onto Ping and listened.

The droplets of water dripping from the stalactites faded into silence. The motionless underground air amplified every sound within the entranceway tunnel and brought it to Jay's ears.

First, it carried down conversation. Mumbled, hushed, and inaudible.

Then came footsteps.

Fuck.

Think, Jay. Think!

Jay looked down at the relic in his arms. The beacon that drew the gladiators closer.

I don't have to beat them. I just have to last until the guys get here.

Which means I've got to hide.

Jay's mind raced for a solution. There weren't many good hiding places down here, so what did that leave?

Hiding wherever they won't look.

When he'd first entered the cave, Jay's eyes instantly locked onto the infested jaguar and the relic at the bottom of the lake. He'd barely even noticed the rest of the cavern, not that there was much there anyway.

If he placed the orb close to the jaguar, he might not even need a good hiding spot.

Ping hovered in front of Jay like a floating silver platter. Jay leant closer and touched his forehead against the shield.

Set it down gently. I know you don't want to go underwater, but we need to be as quiet as possible. You can't drop it in.

Jay wasn't sure whether his thoughts would get through to Ping. But he desperately wanted to remain silent. Luckily, she understood, and carried the relic over to the jaguar's infested corpse.

Now where's the best place to hide?

Jay's eyes danced around the cave, but he couldn't spot much from his position. Reluctantly, he began to walk around, watching the ground for any loose rocks that might make noise and the ceiling for any stalactites to hide behind.

Jay rolled his injured wrist. It had mostly recovered, but still didn't feel right. Regardless, he'd be using the Quicksnatch rope to cling to the ceiling.

During a lot of his scrimmages, Jay had often been tasked with ambushing his opponents. It worked well with his blitzing fight style. A fortunate side effect of learning how to ambush was learning how to hide.

And boy had Jay learned a lot.

Whenever someone's expecting an ambush, they look everywhere. If you want to succeed, you need to beat their eyesight. But if they aren't expecting it… they aren't truly checking even if they say they are. They look forward, sure. They look sideways and might even look backwards too.

But they never look up.

When your targets aren't expecting an ambush, you don't need to beat their eyesight. You only need to beat their attention.

Ping resurfaced beside Jay, slowly exiting the lake, careful not to make a splash.

Jay could've reached the cave's ceiling on his own, but if he wanted to get there silently, he needed Ping's help. He flared Eye of the storm, listening out for the intruders while he waited for her to dry.

"You seeing this shit, Arden? They've drained all the fucking water out of it!"

"I can see."

"You still wanna go down there?"

"Yes. There are two relics within the cave."

"Fuck man. What if we get sucked too?"

"We will not."

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Jay scrunched his brow and looked up at the tunnel.

How does he know there's two relics here? Can he track them? Can I even hide anymore? Do I ditch the dagger?

Jay stifled his panicked thoughts with a deep inhalation.

They've probably just reached the first animal. I still have time.

Only two voices though… I thought Karis said there were three of them?

Jay closed his eyes again, placing his fingertips against the ground.

THUMP.

THA-THUNK.

THUMP.

THA-THUNK.

Two sets of footsteps…

The footsteps quietened as Jay's mind returned to the cavern. Ping flew in front of him, still wet but no longer dripping. Jay scanned the ceiling for the largest stalactite he could find and pointed to it.

Can you lift me up to that one?

Ping flew into his arms.

She lifted Jay with ease. They reached the stalactite in seconds, a far cry from their journey to the canopy by the exit hub.

As they neared the spiked ceiling, Jay glanced between his bracer and the rocks above him.

No way to do this silently.

He decided the shooting mechanism was quieter than a punch, so fired the rope upwards when he was within a metre.

Now attached to the rocks, Jay wedged himself between two stalactites. One obscured the sightline from the entrance to him, while the other worked as a wedge to spread out the pressure of his weight. Ping hid in front of him, also using the stalactite as cover, and Karis' raven remained perched atop Jay's shoulder, occasionally rubbing her feathers against his cheek.

Jay let out a slow but silent breath.

And now we wait.

"Well, I'd bet everything I own that that glowing fucker's a relic!" called out a deep, callous voice as two sets of footsteps echoed throughout the cavern. It was the one who'd first discovered the dried animals.

Jay pressed his back into the stalactite, resisting the urge to turn and look. The gladiators had taken a while to walk down the tunnel. But Jay reckoned his teammates were still several minutes away.

"Indeed," replied the second familiar voice.

"I'm gonna jump in and get it. Hope that jaguar doesn't come to life while I'm underwater! Creepy fucker would probably scare the shit outta me!"

Jay's lip curled up at the gladiator's comment.

"Morgan, start swimming. I'll watch over you from above the surface. Ashar, set up the relic locator but keep an eye out on the entrance."

"Aye aye, captain."

Jay heard another voice grunt quietly.

So there is three of them…

Shit.

A crash of water disturbed the cavern's near quiet. A rolling shockwave rippled across the surface below Jay, displaced water crashing into the dead jaguar.

Jay silently waited as the splashes drew closer.

They've got someone setting up a relic finder… I can't hide here forever.

The splashes grew louder. The waves grew bigger. Jay stared downwards as an enormous figure swam through the lake.

He had to be at least nine feet tall and packed with more muscle than two Jays combined. His uncovered back was a tangle of knotted brown muscles, and had a gigantic, double-headed axe strapped above it.

The giant, who Jay assumed was Morgan, swam surprisingly gracefully across the lake, approaching the orb's position before diving down to collect it.

Behind him, a pale, robed man floated above the water, the fringes of his trailing robes hovered millimetres above the wave crests behind his ally. He had his thin, greying hair tied into a tail above his neck and looked surprisingly like the Wizard version of himself that Jay had fought in the trial by fighting.

Guess that's Alden then. Bet he's the reason there were only two sets of footsteps.

Jay ran through his memories, searching for anything he could recall about these three fighters. He remembered that Alden was an earth mage but couldn't remember much about his team. He knew that Ashar was the second lowest ranked gladiator in the tournament, above only him, but that wouldn't exactly help in a fight.

Jay released the Quicksnatch from the rock. He rolled it back into the bracer, preparing it for another use, and held onto the rocks with his own strength.

Below him, Morgan grabbed the relic.

He swam back upwards.

He looked directly upwards.

His eyes widened.

Fuck.

Jay had tried to camouflage himself with a coat of dirt earlier, but that was before his underwater playdate with the blood-sucking tendrils.

Right now he was a bullseye made of bright red and gleaming silver.

And Morgan was staring up at him with a giant glowing orb in his arms.

Jay leapt off the rocks. He pointed his bracer upwards while still within two metres of the ceiling and fired. The Quicksnatch shot towards a stalactite, anchoring Jay to it and flinging him towards the cavern's only exit.

He whipped forward, releasing the second end of his rope as he reached the peak of his swing. Momentum carried him to the shore.

Ping shot in front of Jay. She smashed into the base of Ashar's skull while he crouched over the relic finder.

Jay followed her up with a punch to the neck. He released a torrent of electricity into Ashar's spine. Paralysing him before the man could even react.

The streams of unleashed chaos ran through Ashar's nervous system like a pack of hungry wild dogs. Jay smashed his shin into the man's downturned nose. Flipping him over and ragdolling his limp body across the rocks.

One down.

"There's someone abo-"

A mouthful of swallowed water cut Morgan's warning short. Alden didn't need it.

Three stalactites broke off from the cavern's ceiling, floating mid-air for a moment before darting towards Jay. He dove right. The javelins shattered against the rocks beside him. Karis' crow hopped off Jay's shoulder before he crushed it. It flapped its wings and darted towards the tunnel.

Jay chased after it.

CRASH!

Stone shards and dust sprayed over Jay's shoulder. Ping pressed into his rear, pushed back by the stone lance Alden hurled at her.

Jay kept running.

The exit was within touching distance.

He pounded his legs into the stone, pushing his muscles to their limits.

The ground dropped beneath Jay. His foot collapsed into a pool of loose pebbles. They spilled across the ground, sweeping his foot behind him.

Jay's momentum carried him forward and he dropped to all fours to avoid a face full of rocks.

Above him, Jay watched the crow slice through the air.

A wall of stone sealed the cavern shut seconds after it escaped.

Jay turned to face his two opponents, happy to have at least taken care of one before things escalated. Morgan crawled out of the lake, his hulking body dripped with water as he set the relic aside. He drew his axe and bared his teeth in a voracious grin. Alden stood next to him; arms raised in a focused stance. The shattered remains of several stalactites orbited the mage, all oriented towards Jay.

Ah shit…

No hiding from this one.