Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

What do I do now?

Morgan's bullrush saved Jay the problem of thinking. He didn't have the time.

The titan pounded the ground with his meaty legs, rearing back his axe for a huge horizontal swing. Jay watched him charge forward but kept half an eye on Alden too. Morgan's axe was the more immediate threat, but Jay knew the real danger lay with the captain.

Of course I end up fighting a fucking earth harmoniser underground.

A sliver of rock skimmed through the air; Ping deflected it before it hit Jay's head.

Of-fucking-course.

Jay ducked beneath the swing, shifting to his right. He made sure to keep Morgan in between him and Alden. Partly as a meat shield, but mostly to avoid getting sandwiched between his two opponents.

If he were facing Morgan inside the coliseum, Jay would've relished the chance to fight him up close. To invalidate his range advantage and use the behemoth's weight against him. Morgan didn't have the tools to harm him in a grapple but his giant, hulking arms gave him the tools to keep Jay still for a few seconds.

With an armada of stone poised to fire at him, Jay couldn't let Morgan grab a hold of him.

Morgan launched an overhead swing.

Jay sidestepped. He focused on Alden, knowing that Morgan's boulder-like body no longer protected him from the mage's attacks.

The stalactites orbiting Alden remained trained on Jay, but they didn't fire. The earth harmoniser stood as still as a mountain, almost inviting Jay to run and attack him.

Bait…

Jay resisted, although he didn't rule out attacking Alden. Blitzing an unexpected opponent had already worked once in this battle, and Jay would be a fool to totally ignore the option. It complemented his skillset and was probably the only way Jay could defeat both his opponents.

But they surely knew that too. They knew that in a grinded out dogfight, two would always beat one.

But four also beats two.

Jay didn't have to win this battle on his own. He just had to last until his friends bailed him out. If Alden and Morgan wanted to play the slow game, Jay was happy to oblige.

He just couldn't let them figure that out.

Jay stepped back, placing his meat shield in front of him once more. He darted inwards and poked a stiff jab into Morgan's bare stomach as he picked his axe from the ground.

It felt like punching a wall.

A jolt coursed down Jay's forearm. Shaking his bones and sending ripples through his arm. He backed away. Morgan grinned as he loomed over Jay.

PING!

Rocks showered Jay from above as his shield intercepted another stone missile. Jay squinted his eyes as the dust cloud enveloped his face. He took a panicked step backwards.

Cold stone pressed into his back.

Fuck.

Loose rocks crunched beneath Morgan's feet. He dropped his axe and lunged at Jay.

Jay flared Eye of the storm, trusting Ping to guard him from Alden's stone spears while he fully focused on the behemoth in front of him.

Can't go backwards. Can't go forwards.

Can I?

Morgan cornered Jay against the wall. His smothering arms stretched wide, stifling Jay's escape routes.

Not unless I do something first.

The dagger? No, I should save it.

The armour?

Jay spent a split second deliberating whether to use his armour's emergency escape. It would protect him until his friends arrived, but did he really need to use it? Could he get away with saving it for later?

Think of something else.

Morgan planted his lead right foot two metres in front of Jay. It thudded into the ground, almost bouncing Jay airborne.

Power crackled within Jay's legs as he prepared the electricity inside them to react.

Morgan raised his rear leg.

Now!

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Jay lifted his knee up to his chest and stamped on the inside of Morgan's calf.

The knee was a better target for dealing damage. But a lower target made sweeping Morgan's base away far easier. An easier attack meant a shorter wind up, it meant less time for his opponent to counter it.

Jay shoved Morgan's only anchor point aside with the base of his foot, collapsing the giant. He hopped into the air, kicking off the stone wall behind him and diving over Morgan's falling body.

Ping disintegrated another oncoming stalactite.

Jay sprinted towards Alden. Three more spikes broke off from the ceiling and surrounded him like a corona of stone, the earth mage smirked as Jay ran towards him.

Jay clenched his fists.

He didn't need to finish his opponents. That didn't mean he couldn't try.

A stalagmite beside Jay toppled over, collapsing in his path.

Jay hurdled over it easily.

Is that all you-

Ten more broke off. They speared towards him, mid-air, propelled by Alden's Harmony.

Ping tanked the three behind him. Jay curled into a ball, ducking his head as the other seven shot towards his body.

A deep, crushing agony throbbed out as each stalagmite crunched into Jay. His Orivian silk shirt cushioned the impact on his back and torso, but it couldn't save his arms and legs. The splintered stones rattled his knees with each hit, sending nerve-deep tremors through his bones.

Jay clenched his teeth together to avoid biting off his tongue. He fell to the ground but he couldn't stop moving. It only made him an easier target. He rolled over his shoulder and started running again.

Each step sent pulsing soreness up Jay's legs. He pounded them into the ground, forcing himself forward.

Ping shot towards Alden, breaking through three of his stone guardians. The earth harmoniser retreated. Jay let him. He curved his path before pivoting to keep both his opponents in view.

Alden broke off more stalactites as Morgan rose to his feet. It pained Jay to simply let his opponent's recover, but he knew this fight wasn't winnable alone. Focusing on one opponent would only grant the other a chance to kill him. He wanted to play to his strengths, but right now his biggest strengths were the three gladiators aboveground rushing to save him.

Jay raised his fists, still vigilant of Alden's flying projectiles as Ping smashed another into the ground.

Morgan sprang forward. Jay circled around the cave like a matador in his arena. Fortunately, his opponents weren't pressing their advantage. In their eyes, this battle was little more than a formality. Jay could never win, so why bother risking anything?

Dust coated Jay's hair as Ping protected him from another incoming stalactite. Each time Alden fired one, another replaced it by his side. The mage stood perfectly still, daring Jay to attempt another offensive. Jay declined.

He lunged sideways, evading Morgan's incoming tackle.

THUNK!

A dull spike jammed into Jay's spine as the Orivian silk solidified around his torso. Jay's arm flailed back into cold, unyielding stone. A stalagmite jutting from the ground that Alden had subtly shifted his direction. He pushed off the stone spear before Ping dropped down and cleaved the stalagmite in two.

Jay had fixated on Alden so much that he forgot the whole cavern was packed with stalagmites like arrows in a quiver.

He glanced back at Morgan. The behemoth was barely a metre away.

Fuck.

No time to dodge.

Eye of the Storm's calming presence rushed into Jay's limbs after his eyes instantly assessed the fight.

Power wouldn't help him out of this situation. Precision might give him a chance.

Morgan's arms pincered forward. Jay grabbed one with his right hand, pawing down the other. He dropped to the ground, raising both feet and pressing them into Morgan's hips.

Rough stone pressed into Jay's spine as he hit the floor. He was grounded, but Morgan couldn't stop in time to capitalise. Jay yanked Morgan's arm downwards while simultaneously driving his legs through his hips. Momentum carried the giant man forward. Jay rolled back over his shoulders, heaving his opponent onto the shattered remains of a stalagmite.

Pebbles and dust bounced into the air as Morgan slammed into the loose stone. He wrapped his meaty fingers around Jay's wrist as he fell, clasping them together.

Jay twisted his wrist.

It barely moved.

A flicker of stone rushed into Jay's peripheral vision. Ping batted it from the air.

There'll only be more if I can't free my arm.

Morgan's fingernails dug into Jay's wrist. The giant began to get up, grip clutching onto Jay like a vice.

Jay switched tactics. He rolled over, entering a worse position in order to grab Morgan's wrist.

Jay didn't quite have Morgan's grip strength.

He didn't need it.

He dug his nails into Morgan's skin, injecting electricity into the man's forearm and the neurons within it.

Morgan's extensor muscles contracted, yanking his tendons, instantly straightening his fingers.

Jay slipped his wrist out of Morgan's loosened grip.

He slipped his hand out.

He slipped his fing-

Morgan's palm smashed downwards, it pressed the Conqueror's fists into Jay's fingers, snapping the fragile bones within under his weight.

Jay screamed. It did nothing to stop the agony.

He tried to pull his arm out but Morgan's pressure was inescapable. Pulling his arm free felt like it would tear his fingers off.

Ping dropped from the air. She surged towards Morgan's arm. Anything to break his grip.

A stalactite dropped and knocked her off course.

Morgan's fingers were still splayed out from Jay's electrical assault, but his palm ground down into Jay's fingers, twisting as it shattered his bones.

The goliath finally released the pressure.

In that instant, Jay's agonized mind could do nothing but bathe in the blissful lack of pain. The heavenly relief that came from not having his fingers crushed into the ground like a cigarette stub.

He didn't think about pulling his arm away. He couldn't.

A knee to the stomach yanked him back to reality, and two meaty hands wrapping around his neck began dragging him towards hell.

Jay felt his throat compress as Morgan clamped down on his neck, starving his brain of blood and oxygen. The black claws of unconsciousness burrowed into Jay's eyesight. Sealing off everything but the sick grin of the man strangling him.

CRRK.

Jay didn't bother attacking Morgan's arms. He stood no chance. He flailed his right arm aside, thrashing it into the ground, nerve signals going haywire as he tried to force it down to his waist.

The cool embrace of Orivian silk caressed Jay's brutalised fingertips.

CRRRRK.

Jay floundered against the hem of his armoured undershirt, desperately searching for the tassel of silk that activated his crystalline shield.

CRRRRRRRK!

Got it!

Jay's fingers wrapped around the strip of silk. He tried pulling it.

The knee cinching Jay's stomach dropped onto his wrist, clamping it to the floor.

The silk cord was within his grip, he just couldn't activate it.

CRR-BOOM!

The pressure around Jay's neck eased.

He gasped for air.

Morgan stopped grinning. He craned his neck upwards, eyes wide in shock.

He leapt off Jay. A rush of black and silver steel pushed him back.

Akira panted for breath and flicked his head aside, shaking a lock of ginger hair out of his eye. A bead of sweat dropped off his nose, landing on the stone beside Jay's face. The young samurai looked exhausted but still managed a cheeky smile and wink as he looked down at his friend.

"Miss me?"