Reflections on the Warpath - [An Isekai Progression Fantasy]

The crowd erupted. Only the expectant E graders stood in silence.

The winged man held out a hand. The noise simmered down to a low chatter.

"I am Orion. The arbiter, and conductor, of this year's advancement tournament." His booming voice swept over the crowd. Jay sensed there was some enhancement to it, but it felt different to the announcer at the Moontide auction.

It wasn't that his voice was amplified to the crowd. No, Jay felt it captivate him, pull him in, almost like Orion was forcing him to pay attention.

"This year there are eighty-seven entrants into the tournament. Over the next two days, we shall see how many leave…"

A collective ooh escaped the crowd.

A task based challenge…

Eighty-seven isn't divisible by four or five either.

As much as Jay hadn't intentionally focused on the tournament's structure. He'd been living with Lyra for the past month. Some of her analysis bled through.

If there wasn't a set number of advancements, then it must mean that the gladiators weren't explicitly competing against each other. Instead, they were all vying to complete the same task.

What is it though?

Orion raised his arms, silencing the crowd once more.

"First, before we learn of the contents of our trial, let us find out where it shall be held. Many of our E grade gladiators this year are recruits. For a lot of them, it will be their first time leaving Arenara Fortunis."

A giant system screen appeared above Orion. The biggest Jay had ever seen. He could barely fathom its size, and it blocked most of the coliseum from his view.

The golden screen transformed into a picture of an idyllic cove. Waves began to lap against silken white sands. The picture slowly came to life as the camera zoomed closer to the shore.

"The slumbering Titan lies waiting…" said Orion. His words caused ripples in the crowd.

"… Waiting, for one to emerge and grasp it's power. But we shall not dance across his grave tomorrow. The Titanic Shores will not host the advancement tournament. The Titan still sleeps."

A roll of murmurs undulated through the crowd behind Jay. He didn't understand why they eagerly awaited every word. They'd be fighting each other anyway, regardless of the battlefield.

The camera flew over the island. The screen became an endless ocean but Jay could see the camera accelerating rapidly over it.

Navy blue made way for azure as the camera began to slow down. It tilted upwards, revealing a bleak grey coastline of pebbles and shale. The camera kept going, past the beach and immediately into a desolate wasteland of dust and rocks.

"Civilisation may have emerged from the Wilds. But it has not since returned. The dragons of our past lay buried beneath the sands of time and the winds of the void. The D grade advancement tournament… will not be taking place in the Ancestral wilds."

A cheer erupted from the crowd. Again, Jay didn't know why. He watched the camera turn around, heading back towards the ocean.

It skimmed across the endless waves, slicing through a storm with ease, occasionally brushing past an island for a split second.

Again, the camera slowed. It approached an unspoiled, sunlit beach. It looked similar to the first setting they'd seen, but wilder. Untamed.

They flew past it.

The camera dropped lower. Barely a few metres above the ground as it flew deeper inland. It weaved through thick teak trees, hanging vines and orchid blooms. Whipping past them without stopping.

The camera continued, rushing through a myriad of different biomes before slowing down in an expanse of hilly grasslands, packed with swaying, willow green grass a metre high.

"But while the Titan rests, and the ancient dragons of old join him, there exists one region that refuses to stand still."

The crowd grew quieter.

Jay felt their attention narrow in on Orion.

The screen shot black.

It stayed black, until a pair of green eyes emerged from the darkness.

"The dragons settle down, eager to indulge in their twilight. But twilight marks the ascension of the emerald jaguar."

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The darkness faded. New light illuminated the jaguar's yellow fur, setting it apart from the dense greenery behind it.

The jaguar kept still. Silent. Unmoving. But far from lifeless.

It stared directly forward, peering through the lens at the masses that watched in the safety of the coliseum pavilion.

"The Verdant Frontier is a fount for limitless life. Where else would the Second Chance Coliseum host its celebration of youth?"

Orion smiled, revealing an immaculate set of brilliant white teeth. The crowd barely reined in their cheers, awaiting his next words.

"The Verdant Frontier… Will host the E grade advancement tournament."

The ground shook.

The air shook too.

The cordoned off zone almost buckled from the crowd's pressing weight. The gladiators looked up towards Orion and the coliseum. Jubilant fans encased the rest of their reality.

They weren't the ones set to enter a brutal deathmatch tomorrow.

Should be an interesting setting, thought Jay, reflecting on the little he knew about the Verdant Frontier.

It's a more exciting battlefield than a bunch of mountains and uptight people, I guess.

"Settle down."

Orion's order instantly quelled the raucous crowd.

"You still don't know the challenge yet.

"Would you like to find out?"

The crowd's wordless scream conveyed their answer.

The screen began to move.

Jay eagerly awaited the information, but it froze on the jaguar, and the wildlife behind it blurred.

Orion opened his mouth, but Jay heard nothing.

His ears felt nothing but garbled fuzz, like his head had suddenly been dunked underwater. He barely even heard the crowd.

Jay glanced to his right. Akira looked just as confused as he felt. Jay saw the crowd swell behind Akira, but had no idea what they were reacting too.

"Sorry about that."

Jay whipped his head back up to Orion. The winged man beamed down at the E graders with a knowing smirk.

"You guys have to wait until tomorrow."

The crowd laughed.

"However. Today you will decide the teams you will be competing in. In fact, you'll be doing so right now."

—

The gigantic screen, which had been stuck on the jaguar's eyes, became a giant table. On it were the names and ranks of every gladiator competing in the advancement tournament. Amaya, Lyra and Ezekiel occupied the top three spots. Jay saw Akira's name a few rungs lower. And at the very bottom his own.

The only name outside the top hundred.

"Tomorrow's trial shall be conducted in teams of three." Said Orion. "The teams shall be decided with a draft. Our top ranked gladiator is the first team captain. They get to pick whomever they please as their second member. Then the second ranked gladiator, provided they weren't already picked, picks their second teammate.

"Since there will be eighty-seven competitors, there will be twenty-nine groups of three. Once the twenty-ninth captain has picked their first teammate, we will return to the first gladiator. They then make their second pick, completing their team. The draft will continue until all twenty-nine teams are formed. Does everybody understand?"

Jay heard a few murmurs of discontent from the gladiators behind him, presumably the lower ranked ones. He somewhat understood, since the draft structure was heavily weighted in the favour of the higher ranked competitors.

"Isn't that unfair?" said Lyra. Jay, along with everyone else in the pavilion turned to face the second ranked gladiator. "This arrangement puts the lower ranked gladiators at a severe disadvantage."

Jay was glad she'd spoken up. Nobody could accuse her of being scared since the structure favoured her. Jay wanted to see what Orion had to say.

The winged man looked down at the gladiators. He addressed all of them, not simply Lyra.

"Nobody said it would be fair.

"If you don't believe you're the strongest out of your peers. If you feel you need favourable circumstances to advance. If you don't have the ultimate faith in your abilities…

"…Then you should never have signed up to this tournament."

Jay nodded. Fair fights didn't exist in the coliseum. They weren't about to start now.

Orion floated down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, twenty-nine small pedestals arose from the ground behind him.

"May the number one ranked gladiator, Amaya Ironglove, step forward."

Orion gestured at the leftmost pedestal. Amaya walked up to it, stepping up and turning to face the crowd.

"For my first pick, I select Ezekiel, the Soulsnatcher."

Jay clenched his fist and tried to ignore the cheers and applause behind him. He hadn't heard her voice since it had goaded Vega at her deathbed.

Ezekiel walked up to the pedestal. He didn't wear the gigantic slab-like sword this time around, instead opting for a pair of claymores, mounted next to each other on his back. He reached Amaya's side and turned around.

The Soulsnatcher didn't scan the crowd like his partner.

His emerald eyes were constantly trained on Jay.

After the applause died down, Orion gestured at the pedestal next to Amaya.

"May the number two ranked gladiator, Lyra Twinstrike, step forward."

Lyra walked up to her spot. Jay already knew who she was choosing. Along with preparing for specific scenarios during the tournament, Lyra had prepared contingencies for situations before and after it too. She knew there was a chance the groups would be decided with a draft, so why not prepare for it.

Jay wasn't exactly the hottest commodity. And unlike Akira, he had no chance of potentially becoming another team leader.

"For my first pick, I select Akira Kurosawa."

Akira walked forward, resting his hand against his sword's handle and making sure everyone could see it.

He took his place by Lyra's side, refusing to look at the gladiators beside him.

"The number three ranked gladiator, Ezekiel the Soulsnatcher, is already on a team." Said Orion. "May the number four ranked gladiator, Malin the Blizzard, step forward."

Jay watched a man whose skin looked like clouded ice walk beside Lyra and announce his pick.

Jay patiently waited as captains were called to their pedestals before choosing their seconds.

Fox was the captain for the sixth team, and he chose Alf to join him. Zara was also picked by the eleventh captain. A man who looked at least sixty and had a beard that drooped down below his waist.

After the twenty-ninth team captain resignedly announced his first pick, he spared a glance at Jay. Like he was wondering if that's who would be left for him.

Jay gently shook his head.

Probably not buddy.

Jay turned back to his friends. Lyra nodded slightly, as if there was any doubt who her next pick would be.

"May the number one ranked gladiator, Amaya Ironglove, announce their second pick."

Amaya paused.

"For my second pick…"

She surveyed the crowd.

Her eyes darted between each of the remaining gladiators.

"…I select…"

Finally, they landed on her target.

No way.

"… Jay Lightning Leonard."

[ End of arc 3 ]