Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

"What do you think?" asked Jay. He waited until Karis had left the tavern and scanned his surroundings for any crows before looking at his friends.

"I like him. He seems smart. Gives off good energy." said Akira.

"Really?" said Jay. "I thought he was a bit weird, way too focused on efficiency."

Lyra chuckled. "That's just how Frontiersmen are. Like he said, it's a way of life out there."

Both his friends nodded in understanding, reminding Jay that although he'd gotten used to life as a gladiator, he was still the new kid on the block.

"Yep. Of course!" said Jay. "Would either of you care to explain to me what a Frontiersman is? I assume they're from the Verdant Frontier. But… I don't exactly know what that is either."

Akira began laughing. "Man, I forget how new you are sometimes! Give me a sec, I'll ask Florian if he has a map."

While he walked to the bar, Lyra began explaining.

"Eterna can be loosely divided into what we call the four great regions and two special ones. Of course, there's overlaps between them, and the borders aren't perfectly defined, but in essence there's six. The four great regions occupy around a quarter of the planet each and the special regions sit at the two intersections between all four. Let's start with them first, since they're easier to understand."

Lyra pointed down and tapped her finger on the table.

"Special region one. Arenara Fortunis. Don't need to explain this one too much. People come here to fight, to watch fights, and to run away from things. It's a political non-entity on the global scale, but that makes it a player in and of itself. If that makes sense."

She pointed her finger up, and another one joined it.

"Special region two. The Abyss. It's on the other side of the planet to us. It's also political neutral ground, the main reason being that nobody wants it. It's a bottomless pit inside an island slightly larger than this one. You can go in there if you want, but most of the people who do so don't come out. The local kingdoms from all four great regions have a treaty to always keep watch on the Abyss."

Akira placed a basketball sized globe on their table. Jay made out Arenara Fortunis directly in the middle just before his friend gave the globe a half turn. Sure enough, a black circle signifying the Abyss was there.

"Occasionally, stuff escapes the abyss." Akira said quietly. "I haven't heard much, but what I have heard… It ain't pretty."

Okay… don't go on holiday there, I guess.

Akira spun the globe back around. He traced his finger across a swathe of green running above the equator spanning all the way back to the coliseum. It had no lines denoting borders, rivers, mountain ranges, or even settlements. Across the whole continent, only the border regions were loosely defined.

"This garden of what-the-fuckery is the region we call the Verdant Frontier. As you can maybe tell by the intricate mapwork. We don't know much about what goes on here, especially deep within. People live near the borders, but the environment changes so much that maps only last a few years and people don't stay in power for long. The small city states near the Frontier's edge take advantage of the Frontier's resources, but no civilisation has been able to truly tame the frontier.

"You'll find every single geographical feature and climate somewhere in the Frontier. The entire continent is filled to the brim with pure life that's constantly changing.

"The great regions all have a motto. The Frontier's is 'the only constant is change'."

Doesn't sound like the best holiday spot either…

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Akira's description did help Jay understand Karis' mentality though. In an environment devoid of familiarity, Jay saw how efficiency could be valued above all.

Lyra clinked her fingers against the globe, she pointed to the great region south of the Verdant Frontier. This one had clearer borders but looked more like a bunch of islands than a continent.

"Legend has it, that every island in the Titanic Shores was once a bone of a colossal titan that lived eons ago." said Lyra. "Nobody knows where it came from. A continent-sized creature is too big to be from this world, but it's clearly a skeleton of some sort."

Jay leaned in and scrunched his eyes at the globe. Sure enough, he could make out a ribcage, spine and what looked like a fractured skull from the islands. He spotted some writing beside a few islands that looked like the remnants of a spinal disc.

'Stormhaven'

Wasn't that where the storm sage was from?

Akira jumped in and finished the description. "If the Verdant Frontier is a manifestation of pure life, the Titanic Shores are a manifestation of pure capitalism. They love their buying and selling out there. But you don't need to worry too much about getting scammed. Surprisingly, for a continent full of merchants, they abhor lying. A native who breaks his word is as good as exiled to those guys."

"What's their motto?" Jay asked.

"His death gave us life." Akira paused for a moment, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. "They also really like human sacrifices but that's kinda morbid so we all try and ignore that. Next region!"

Jay thought about making Akira elaborate on the whole human sacrifices thing, but his friend had already started on the third great region.

I'll ask the sage…

If Jay was to take him up on the training opportunity he'd mentioned before, Jay would have to make sure he wasn't being led to a human sacrifice first.

"The third region is called the Infinite Peaks." Akira twisted the globe and now pointed to a large mountainous landmass Northwest of the coliseum.

Have I heard that before?

"You might like it here. Or maybe not. I'm not sure. I think I would!"

Akira had only grown more animated since he started describing the world. Lyra, realising she wasn't going to get another word in, sat back in her chair and lightly smiled as the young man talked Jay through the planet.

"The Infinite Peaks is the birthplace of Harmony. Except, they don't even call it Harmony there, they use an older name. Cultivation. They don't call it essence either, they say they focus on the Dao of an object. It's functionally the same, but with something as subjective as Harmony, even semantics make a big difference."

Yagao.

Jay remembered where he'd heard the term Infinite peak before. During Vega's fight with the D grader.

He wasn't soulbound either. Guess this is where he's from.

Jay didn't dwell on Vega's fight. He kept his composure and continued listening to Akira's explanation.

"Just like how the Shores are a bunch of islands, this whole continent is virtually all mountains. They say when a harmoniser, or cultivator, achieves Harmony, he forms an Infinite peak and Ascends into the sky. Isn't that crazy? Nobody's allowed to climb the mountain after it's formed though, and there hasn't been one created in living memory. So some people think it's all a myth.

"Their unofficial motto is 'Ascension Above All'. I really want to visit to try and understand their view on Harmony. I've heard it's very different to ours."

The final Great Region was directly south of the Infinite Peaks, southwest of Arenara Fortunis. Like the Verdant Frontier, Jay couldn't see any borders marked on the globe. Only a grey patch with the words 'the Ancestral Wilds' on top.

"Opposite the Frontier, we have the second great region that we don't know anything about… Apparently, people live here. But based on how inhospitable the border regions are, some people think it's all wasteland.

"Just like how the Infinite Peaks are said to be the birthplace of Harmony. Apparently, civilisation started here. This claim is a little more concrete though. Occasionally, explorers come back from the wilds with things they call 'Old Era technology'. Creative name, I know, but that's what they call it. The device the coliseum used to bring us here is Old Era technology. Nobody knows how it works."

"Has nobody ever tried to explore the Wilds?" asked Jay. "Do you not find it weird that half the planet is just unmapped?"

"People have tried." said Lyra. "People always try. The reason the map's blank is because nobody's succeeded yet… Now, is the geography lesson over?"

She looked between Jay and Akira. Akira looked like he could keep talking, but Jay was satisfied to leave it there. He could learn more about the regions when he left Arenara Fortunis, but he'd only have the time for that after advancement. There were more important things to focus on. By the expectant look on Lyra's face, she was about to talk about one right now.

Jay shrugged. "I guess so."

"Great. Because we need to head on over to Primordial Resurgence. Hopefully, we're stronger than we were two weeks ago, but that means nothing if we don't know how to fight together. We've spent all our prep time training separately. That changes today. Karis suggested teaming up with Fox. Unfortunately, he's in an alliance and he's already got a squad."

Lyra pressed her hands against the table and stood up.

"I spoke with them yesterday and arranged a block of scrimmages. For the next four days, they're our mortal enemies."