Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

THUNK.

Akira's back pressed against the crumbling stone walls. He dove left, collapsing into a sloppy roll while trying not to drop his swords. Fox hounded after him, slamming his axe into the spot where Akira's head was mere moments before.

The cloud of crushed stone invaded Akira's throat. Fox didn't notice it. He charged at Akira, both axes raised.

When Fox had entered the vault room, Akira blamed Jay for not doing his job in delaying him. After less than a minute of fighting, Akira understood why Fox was in the room so quickly. Quite frankly, he was surprised Jay was even alive to follow him.

Fox wasn't someone you stalled easily. He was a force of nature, a storm to be weathered, not simply palmed off.

But what was a force of nature to a force of reality itself?

Akira pointed at his opponent.

"Fall."

The bricks hanging in the air answered his command. They hurtled towards Fox's head, ignoring the beckoning call of gravity.

Fox raised his arms to block, halting the charge. Akira clawed back a few precious metres of separation. He took his spare second to check on his teammates.

Jay rose from a cloud of mist, stepping out of the birdcage and was running towards Tia and Lyra. Lyra had been pressing her opponent back and looked on the brink of victory.

If Jay can take Tia, then Lyra can go back to the code. Hopefully she's close.

Akira glanced at the timer above the vault.

45

44

Hopefully she's very close.

Jay feinted a punch. Tia bit. She raised her arms, exposing her liver. Jay speared his left leg forward and jabbed his foot into Tia's guts.

She reeled forward but didn't have time to rest. Lyra stabbed with her rapier, aiming for Tia's neck.

Blue light streamed from beneath Tia's tattoos. She whipped her head aside. The blade cut into her shoulder. She dove back and the blue light faded.

"Work on the vault. I'll hold her off." said Jay.

Lyra turned and ran without replying, leaving Jay alone with Tia. The woman tried chasing after Lyra. Ping intercepted her path, forcing her to stop.

Keep her away from Lyra.

Slow her down.

Not long left now.

Jay's task didn't seem too hard. Tia already bore the scars of a gruelling battle with Lyra. Cuts and scrapes sprawled across both arms, although Jay could see some of them already healing themselves. Tia heaved, flicking her eyes between Jay and Lyra behind him.

As far as Jay knew, Lyra's attacks didn't have the lethality of his or Akira's. Her calculated style created minor advantages with each attack while ensuring her safety.

It meant that while Tia was far from defeated, she wouldn't trouble Jay much.

Jay closed the distance, blocking Tia's route to the centre.

She remained still.

Why's she not moving?

Tia pulled her battered arms up in defence, but Jay caught a smile behind them before they reached her head.

Slow her down… keep her away…

Shit. What if she's doing the same thing?

She's got one foot in the grave already, why stand here if I can finish her and help Akira?

Jay closed the gap, annoyed that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

He grabbed both Tia's arms, locking them in place before driving his knee through her gut. He fired another. Her arms jerked downwards.

She really shouldn't have. Her head was more vulnerable, moving her already limited defences away from it was a terrible, illogical, idea. But Jay had learned through a lifetime of non-lethal fighting that logic always crumbled whenever pain was involved.

There were certainly more excruciating attacks than a body shot, but Jay didn't know anything quite as soul-emptying.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Jay's iron grip held onto Tia's wrists as they dropped to her body's defence. He grinned at her now exposed face.

When she tried to pull them back up, Jay didn't let her.

Jay revelled in his opponent's terrified confusion. When Fox had tied him up in the same predicament, Jay earned a headbutt to the nose and a splitting headache.

But Jay didn't have Fox's ridiculous vitality, a headbutt here wouldn't go as smoothly for him.

He did have a flying metal shield, however.

Ping soared in from behind Jay, skimming past his shoulder and into Tia's temple.

Before Ping could even crack her skull, Tia's body vanished into mist.

Two down.

Jay instantly turned towards the vault

8

7

Hope Lyra can solve it in ti-

Wait.

Where is she?

Akira stabbed Jiki forward. Fox batted it aside with his axe. For a berserking gladiator barely able to string a coherent sentence together, the man was disgustingly agile. He didn't just take hits and keep going, half of Akira's attacks didn't even land.

Could use a little help Jay…

Fox reared back his right arm, loading up a giant swing. Akira lunged forward. He wouldn't win this fight by playing it safe. Juryoku soared upwards, matching the axe's swing. Both weapons flew towards each other, but Akira wasn't merely a swordsman. He didn't just swing Juryoku upwards, he pushed.

The sword accelerated faster than it had any right to. At the same time, Fox's swing slowed down. His hand slipped further down the axe's handle. Fox's muscles willed the weapon forward while Akira's magnetism pushed it back.

Akira's sword sliced cleanly through Fox's wrist.

His axe clattered into the stones, shortly followed by his dismembered hand.

Nic-

It wasn't over yet.

Even without a hand, Fox could still attack. His arm pressed forward, unburdened by weapon or fist, and already behind Akira's defence. Fox smashed his nub of a right wrist into Akira's jaw.

Akira collapsed to the floor, dropped by the unorthodox attack. His skull whipped into the stones below, sloshing his brain inside it. Fox's blurry outline towered over Akira. The man's right hand was already beginning to grow back. He raised his left in the air, his second hand axe loomed inevitably over Akira's neck.

Time slowed. Akira froze. He idly watched as Fox's axe dropped closer towards his body.

Akira had lost this fight, but hopefully he'd earned Lyra enough time. Fox stood over him. Grinning.

Until a rapier skewered through his heart.

Fox's expression faded from voracious hunger to utter confusion. Akira was confused too, half at what the hell was going on, but also at how the hell Fox was still alive.

An axe crunched through Fox's skull, dissolving his body to mist and dispelling half of Akira's confusion.

Lyra!

But that means…

Akira flicked his eyes towards the vault.

3

2

1

Time.

"But we won!" argued Tia, slightly more annoyed than the past two times she'd proclaimed it.

"Yes, but you're also dead." Lyra replied.

Jay sternly watched the two women argue over the outcome of the scrimmage. Lyra's blunt tone and emotionless eyes scared him.

He couldn't forget what she'd said to him and Akira before they'd entered the Primordial Resurgence compound.

"We're not going in there to fight. We're not going in there to spar, or train. We're going in there to improve our chances during advancement.

"Don't forget our real goal.

"We're practicing for that."

You're prioritising killing our opponents over the given task. That's fine, I am too. But will you prioritise that over me or Akira? If it comes to saving us, or killing them, who will you choose?

Who will you choose Lyra?

…

Akira sat beside Jay, also deep in thought. Was he worried too?

"Let's go over the battle." said Alf. His deep voice cutting through Jay's troubling thoughts.

"Good idea." said Jay. "Should we go over team strategy first, and then take a look at everyone individually later?"

After a round of nods, Jay described their group's plan of action. Everything from deciding their roles to their individual focuses during the task. He left out Lyra's true intentions, although if she maintained that strategy, Fox's group would figure it out soon enough.

Jay's former opponents mulled over his words, before Alf broke the silence.

"I agree with your group reasoning, but I think your personal strategy was a bad idea, Jay."

Alf's teammates nodded in agreement, with Akira joining them too.

"Why do you say that, Alf?" asked Jay, eager to hear why everyone thought he messed up.

"It may have played to your strengths, but it played to ours even more. If you found me alone, you could have surprised me and gained a huge advantage, but the moment you realised that that wasn't an option then you should have retreated. Drawing Fox alone is exactly what he wants, and removing yourselves from the battlefield makes Akira's task much more difficult. Two against three is far more manageable than one against two.

"You're much more effective in a quick exchange compared to a drawn out one. I don't think that was the right idea, it's not something you should look for during the tournament."

Jay mulled over Alf's words, thinking about how his strategy could be improved. The scrimmage ended well for him, he took down both Alf and Tia, but Akira had held Fox off for far longer than he'd managed. Would it really have been a better idea to simply sit and wait? Was he so desperate for a strategy that he ignored the optimal solution?

Jay kept quiet about his other motivation — measuring himself against Fox. He'd never admit to it after losing so thoroughly.

Alf's analysis was something to think on. And a reminder to consider his opponent's strengths just as much as his own.

"What about me?" Alf asked, "You got past my plants so easily, how?"

"Just because it was quick, doesn't mean it was easy. How adaptable are your plants? Against someone like me, making sure I can't move is more important than hiding behind a barrier. You almost had me at the end."

A part of Jay baulked at divulging his weaknesses, but winning the next scrimmage wasn't his real goal. He gained nothing but bragging rights from wins down here. In fact, he wanted his opponents to know exactly how to defeat him.

Weakness was temporary, and he'd rather die here than in the coliseum. He didn't have long left to prepare now, and pride wouldn't help him survive.

As the discussion moved onto Fox and Akira, Jay clenched his fists and pressed them into the imitation stones. Although he trusted his friends, Lyra's words and actions lingered in his mind. He couldn't rely on her to always act in his best interests. The coarse brick pressed into Jay's knuckles. As good as friends were, his own two fists had brought him this far, and he never had to worry whether they'd turn on him.

Fantasising over potential futures wouldn't help Jay over the next few days though. He needed the five gladiators in front of him to help him grow strong enough for Advancement.

Jay didn't yet know what he'd learn from the next two weeks of scrimmages, but he knew he'd learn a lot.