Jay looked around for Austin, but the butler had vanished while he was paying attention to the two men greeting him.

“Are you familiar with the arena moulding abilities of the higher grades?” Yagao asked Vega. He didn’t pay anyone else in the room any attention. “You may select any arena you wish to test yourself in. This facility has similar healing capacities to the E grade arena.”

“You choose. I’ll beat you wherever you want to fight.”

If anyone else had said it, Jay would have dismissed the words as a façade. But Jay knew Vega. Even if it seemed illogical, he knew she felt she could win.

Yagao paused for a moment. “Very well. One should never refuse an advantage on the path to Harmony. Perhaps I shall teach you this lesson today. Cyrus, please keep the others safe.”

Cyrus mock saluted and led Jay and Zara to the edge of the room.

“I hope your friend isn’t a sore loser.” He said, chuckling as he walked.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen her lose.” Jay replied.

“Then keep your eyes open. She doesn’t stand a chance, the only question is how badly she loses.”

Jay turned back to the two fighters. Cyrus also had complete confidence in his prediction.

Well someone has to be wrong.

The white walls slowly shifted blue. Jay squinted; he could make out faint cirrus clouds emerging in the distance. Instead of a plain white floor, he now stood on a ruddy brown cliff. When Jay looked over the edge, he didn’t see the ground beneath him, just an endless expanse of more clouds. Cyrus sat down on the rocks’ lip. Dangling his feet off the cliff and kicking them through the air where the floor was mere moments before. He waved Jay and Zara to sit next to him.

“Your friend really should have chosen her battlefield.” He said, pointing up to Vega and Yagao. They also stood on rocks in the sky but had far less space to move than the three observers. Instead of a cliff, Vega stood on one of seven rocky pillars arranged in a hexagon. Each pillar stood at least five metres apart from the rest, with one singular pillar in the middle. Yagao stood on the pillar directly opposite her.

Jay pulled up Yagao’s rankings. He didn’t know anyone else in D grade, but it would be useful to see at least.

Alias

The Immortal Transcendent Heavenly Mountain Dragon

Organisation

Second Chance Coliseum. Limitless Ascent.

Grade

D

Rank

304

Offence

374

Defence

203

Strategy

367

Instinct

370

Vitality

279

Speed

333

I see why he just calls him Yagao.

But there was something that caught Jay’s eye more than Yagao’s obscenely long alias.

“What does Soulbound mean? And why is he the first person I’ve seen who isn’t Soulbound?"

“Damn you really are new.” Cyrus said, keeping his eyes on the two gladiators. “If your profile says Soulbound, it means you died and were teleported into service at the Second Chance Coliseum. You have to fight consistently until you reach C grade when you get the chance to leave. If you’re from Eterna, and join the coliseum willingly, you still need to fight every week if you want to maintain your ranking but you can leave the coliseum at any time.”

“What kind of psycho would willingly join a coliseum with fights to the death every week?”

“One who wants to get stronger.”

Vega made the first move, throwing an explosive marble at Yagao.

He didn’t move, but a column of rock sprouted from the pillar’s edge beneath him and tanked the explosion before it could reach him.

“If your path to Harmony involves fighting, what better place to pave it than Eterna’s spiritual home of combat?” Cyrus said. “Besides, fights in D grade usually aren’t to the death. We’d run out of gladiators far too quickly if that was the case. It’s only that way in E grade to weed out the weaklings.”

Jay perked up at the good news, not having to fight to the death for the rest of his life sounded great. Knowing he could leave at C grade meant there was an end in sight. Zara didn’t look surprised, but she smiled at Jay's pleased reaction.

By now, Vega had jumped onto the central platform. She kept throwing explosives, but Yagao’s rocks intercepted each one. The D grade gladiator stood perfectly still. He stared directly at Vega, not even shifting his eyes or arms in focus. Daring her to make him move.

Vega jumped closer. A floating wall of rock shot up between the two fighters. The wall shook in the air as Vega slammed into it, but it held strong. She jammed her left hand into the rock, carving her own handhold, and pulled her right arm back.

Orange light pulsated within Vega’s right fist. Jay caught Cyrus’ eyebrows raise in his peripheral vision, his lips curled into the first beginnings of a smile.

She smashed her fist into the wall, breaking a hole in the only thing separating her from her opponent.

Yagao gave the same look of indifference that had plastered his face since Cyrus had stopped ribbing him. If he cared at all about his shield breaking, he didn’t show it.

The orange glow in Vega’s fist grew stronger. The next time she punched the rock wall, the entire structure collapsed into dust.

But without the wall she had nothing keeping her in the air.

An explosive burst from Vega’s palms launched her towards Yagao’s pillar before she dropped too far down. She landed ready to fight, but once the dust cloud blew away, Yagao was no longer there. During the commotion of falling rubble, he’d moved to the opposite pillar without Vega or Jay noticing.

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Vega leapt back onto the central pillar, readying explosions in both hands. Yagao still didn’t move, but the rocks beneath him rumbled. Pebbles skittered off into the clouds as if the ground itself prepared for battle.

“Your friend might just be the unluckiest person in E grade right now.” Cyrus laughed, still casually kicking his feet over the cliff edge.

“What do you mean?” Jay replied. Vega wasn’t doing great, but he didn’t see anything unlucky about her performance.

“She’s strong. I’ll give her that. But she’s the exact kind of fighter that Yagao hates. A brute-forcer that mixes their essence with physicality.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Jay hoped most people didn’t have a problem with mixing essence and physicality. It was his style too. Although Jay’s approach wasn’t quite as aggressive as Vega’s, it was the only one he knew.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s what I do too. But I’m not currently fighting someone leagues above me. Yagao’s got a rather old-fashioned take on Harmony; one that he never shuts up about.” Cyrus sighed, shaking his head gently. “He was supposed to go easy on her, he has been. But I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

How is he so confident?

“What do you think?” Cyrus asked, prompting both Jay and Zara.

“She’s not doing great.” Zara grimaced. Did she also believe Vega stood no chance? “It’s hard to call without knowing the full extent of Yagao’s abilities. But I’m not hopeful.”

“I agree that it’s hard to tell.” Jay added. “But we don’t know all Vega’s strengths either. If this style isn’t working, she’ll have to switch to something else. It won’t be easy, but I think she’ll pull something out.”

Cyrus gazed deep into Jay eyes, almost as if he could drag out more meaning from the words if he stared long enough. Eventually he gave up and returned to the fight.

“Well, you’re a good friend at least.”

A growling eruption of sound clawed Jay's eyes back onto Yagao. A miniature mountain of rock began to sprout from his pillar, soaring into the air in front of him. An explosive marble detonated on its surface, shattering the rock and catapulting the shards into the distance before they eventually sank into the cloudy abyss. But the mountain still rose.

Vega threw another, larger, explosive at the mountain. It collided with the rock face. A brown cloud of dust followed the orange flare of detonation. The wind inevitably swept the dust away, uncovering a giant crater scarring the mountain’s surface.

But the mountain still rose.

The mountain didn’t heal, it didn’t recover from the attack, but neither did it collapse. It grew. Constantly expanding, the mountain cleaved through the clouds in its way. Nothing could disrupt its ascension.

Yagao crossed his arms. The first movement Jay had seen him make all fight. He looked down on Vega, his previous apathy replaced by contempt. His first words of the fight sliced through the mountain in front of him as if it wasn’t there.

“Your Dao… is weak.”

The mountain collapsed into dust. What was once an impenetrable wall disintegrated into a beige cloud.

Vega’s stone body flew out from the cloud. Her glowing fist cocked back and ready to fire.

Yagao calmly unfolded his arms. Unfazed by Vega’s charge.

He held his palm in front of him, looked Vega in her eyes.

“Your Technique…”

Specks of dust emerged from within Yagao’s drooping robes, clouding his outstretched arm. The cloud solidified, clumping into a clay-like coat. It didn’t stop there. More dust streamed out, settling onto the stony armour of Yagao’s arm.

By the time Vega entered her range, the stony armour had become a whole boulder. Yagao effortlessly held its weight out in front of him. Vega smashed her fist into the boulder, dumping all her pent-up energy into her opponent’s defensive barrier.

Jay felt the shockwave from his distant vantage point. The pulse of energy pushed him down into the rocks.

But Yagao didn’t move.

And his shield remained unbroken.

“… is flawed.”

A snaking arm of stone ripped itself free from the boulder, snapping into Vega’s abdomen. Her body folded, flying back from the impact before she could even attempt another attack.

Vega’s body flailed through the air, launched up by the savage rock whip.

Each limb dragged her in a different direction, none led to solid ground.

After a few seconds of helpless spinning, a carefully placed explosion realigned Vega mid-air. Another guided her to an empty pillar.

She didn’t rush again, she waited. Obsidian eyes locked onto her opponent.

But Yagao was done waiting, he was done toying with his food.

Yagao raised both arms in the air. His brow dropped.

The earth beneath Jay trembled, as if the very rock that made the cliff was being yanked away. Cracks snaked their way up the cliff face and Jay felt himself sink an inch into the now fragile clifftop.

“Fucking hell.” Cyrus pressed his palm onto the floor, still keeping both eyes on the fight. A baby blue pulse emanated from his hand. As it passed through the rocks, they stopped shaking and held strong. They packed into each other instead of being dragged towards the fight.

When he felt the first rumblings of the ground shift, all Jay thought about was falling to his death amidst the limitless clouds below. When the pulse passed through him, suddenly everything didn’t feel so bad. The ground stood still. His mind stood still. Nothing could harm him.

Vega couldn’t say the same.

The earthquake hit her pillar far worse than it had Jay’s cliff. Vega crouched low, all four limbs grasping the rocks, still staring at Yagao. Searching for her opportunity.

Jay knew the opportunistic eyes of a fighter on the ropes, he’d stared down enough to know when a fighter was desperate. But opportunity was only the first layer of a desperate fighter. There was always something deeper. Something more influential.

They might be doused in desperation, but beneath it the flames of hunger still burned.

But Jay saw something in his friend’s eyes, something that he’d never seen before. Something that, mere moments ago, he didn’t think was possible.

He saw fear.

The stone monolith swayed side to side like a lone willow caught in a storm. It twisted and morphed in ways Jay had never seen stone move before. But Vega still clung on.

Whirring trails of dust and the click-clack of skittering pebbles pulled Jay’s focus down to the base of the pillar. He thought the pebbles would’ve been flung into the clouds by the swaying pillar.

Instead, they rolled upwards.

Bounding pebbles charged up the stone column like soldiers called to arms. In a way they were. General Yagao commanded his forces to bombard Vega. A salvo of stone, storming towards its mortal enemy.

She tried to push the charge back, launching explosions from every part of her body.

She tried to halt the advance, but how could she? Her explosions couldn’t destroy the rocks, each stone she shattered just continued its inevitable assault as shrapnel.

The pillar’s surface crumbled into a pool of gravel. Vega’s legs sunk into the stone. She tried to pull them out, but the gravel instantly reformed into stone. Solidifying as quickly as it had relaxed. Encased in stone, Vega’s legs were rendered useless.

“Your Harmony…”

The unstoppable onslaught of stones didn’t relent. With her mobility compromised, Vega was helpless against the avalanche rising beneath her. Rocks slammed into her chest while splinters of stone sliced at her limbs. Clouds of gravel rose up and swarmed Vega’s body. Within seconds, her entire lower half was covered. She flailed her arms, desperately clawing at the rising mountain. Soon she couldn’t even flail. The mountain rose, entombing Vega within it. Only her face saw the light of day.

“…is non-existent.”

Jay had no idea how to help his friend, but he had to try.

A rough calloused hand clamped onto his shoulder before he could move.

Jay turned to see Cyrus’ face locked in a cold grimace.

“Calm down. Don’t interfere.”

Jay wanted nothing but to interfere, but he sat still and listened. Cyrus’ iron grip held Jay down.

The authority in his voice kept him there.

“If your friend truly wants to grow, she’ll listen. She’ll listen and she’ll learn. Do not deny her this opportunity. Yagao isn’t being the kindest teacher, but he’s far from incorrect.”

Cyrus didn’t release his grip. Jay matched his cold stare. No matter what the D grade gladiator said, Jay wanted to jump into the fight. He wanted to give it to Yagao, wanted to do whatever he could to help his friend win.

Unfortunately, what Jay wanted didn’t mean shit.

Cyrus was stronger than him. If he said sit still, Jay would sit still.

“Why do you fight?” Said Yagao. Floating on a platform of rock carved from the central pillar. As he glided within inches of Vega, Jay realised that he hadn’t seen the man take a single step all fight.

“For glory? For pleasure?”

Yagao flicked his eyes over to where Zara and Jay sat watching.

“For the affection of others?”

Jay knew he didn’t really care. He didn’t really want to know the answer or even teach Vega, despite what Cyrus said. He was simply rubbing it in.

Vega didn’t respond. The fire behind her eyes burned hotter than any explosion, yet it was equally as powerless.

“The path to Harmony is not one to be taken lightly. Do you really wish to become one with the universe, or are you simply chasing power? Are you content to live the life of a gladiator, fighting for each and every meal, or do you wish to climb higher? Do you climb the mountain to see the world, or do you simply want the world to see you?”

Yagao leaned in until he was barely millimetres from Vega’s face.

She said nothing.

“You will never form an infinite peak.” He said, turning around to face the cliff where Cyrus, Jay and Zara sat. “But perhaps if you follow an adequate path, you may carve out a respectful existence. Austin, please escort our guests outside. Their services are no longer required.”

“Of course, sir.”

Jay snapped his head around to see the butler standing directly behind him. Gesturing his arm towards a black hallway opening into thin air above the cliff.

A cliff that was slowly fading into white along with the sky behind it. Turning back to Vega, Jay saw she was still imprisoned in stone, even as the environment around her returned to the white expanse from before.

Yagao waited for slightly too long before collapsing the mountain into dust and setting Vega free. She didn’t give him the pleasure of crying in pain as she dropped to the ground, but she couldn’t suppress her coughs and splutters as she dropped to her knees.

Vega got to her feet silently, refusing to look anyone in the eyes as she walked towards Austin and the doorway

Cyrus gave Jay a silent nod of farewell. Silence carried through to the rest of their journey as well.

The silence of wonder filled the E graders’ entrance into the manor, the glass gladiators and marble halls awing them into quiet.

Their exit was smothered by the silence of shock. The silence of defeat.

The silence of what the fuck just happened.

Once more, the grand entrance doors opened to Austin. He stood to the side and watched the E grade trio walk out. The doors closed silently behind them.

“Ve-”

“Shut the fuck up Jay.”

Vega stomped off, charging directly for the gates.

Jay chased after her. She turned around just before he’d caught up.

“Don’t follow me.”

Vega held up her finger, pointing it up at Jay's concerned face. She could barely keep it still, her lower lip quivered as she met Jay eye to eye.

“Don’t fucking follow me.”