Jay crushed the arrow’s shaft and let the splintered wood drop to his feet.

If Jay's catch surprised Davad, his face didn’t show it. Jay's opponent held three more arrows in hand, one drawn halfway back and ready to fire. Another arrow flew towards Jay as soon as he started moving. He didn’t bother blocking this one, a single sidestep and half a twist was enough to send the arrow sailing behind him.

Jay spared the arrow half a glance, it crashed into the invisible barrier wall before collapsing onto the ground.

Two arrows down, maybe it’s time to start fighting?

What use was speed if he never used it? Jay forcefully set his feet into the gravel, calling the electricity within his body to arms.

The relentless electrical storm bared its teeth and hounded the cage that was Jay’s body. Demanding him to rush in. Jay waited. The electricity didn’t control him. The essence of the fighter was rooted in discipline, Jay only moved when he spotted an opportunity.

The window opened. Davad brought his arm up to the bowstring, and Jay waited.

He pulled the arrow back, and Jay waited.

Jay waited until Davad’s entire focus was trained on him before taking his first step. Jay knew he could dodge the arrow, which is why he waited until his opponent was in the worst possible position to retreat before making his move.

Jay raised his fists and pressed his feet into the ground. His legs, fuelled by the relentless surge of electricity, swiftly accelerated to a full sprint.

What’s your next move Davad?

In an instant, Jay was halfway to his opponent. Zara would’ve already retreated by now, Davad hadn’t taken two steps. For a moment, Jay wondered how the archer would respond. He couldn’t hold back a smile when Davad’s first retreat was a large leap backwards.

Predictable.

People often resorted to familiarity when under pressure, and little could match the pressure of Jay's charging advance. Limbs ablaze with the white radiance of electricity, Jay closed down his opponent.

Davad had undrawn his arrow, fully focused on the retreat. Jay saw the emerging signs of an opening when a navy-blue flash reminded him that fighters weren’t allowed to get complacent.

Well, fighters that wanted to live anyway.

Davad’s floating shield glided out from behind him, swinging around at Jay.

Jay slowed down a fraction, hoping the giant metal frisbee would whiz right past him.

The shield slowed too. Altering its trajectory and still aiming true.

Jay waited until the shield was close, before ducking at the last moment and unleashing a burst of speed. The flying shield couldn’t match his acceleration. Jay left it in the distance as he placed Davad in his sights again. The archer had readied another arrow. He fired it as Jay closed in.

Jay knew the arrow was off as soon as it left the string. He didn’t even need to move. The metal projectile sliced through the air above Jay’s shoulder, and he couldn’t help but smile.

This is too-

Jay lurched forward as his lead foot scuffed the gravel, rapidly decelerating. He whipped his neck backwards. This arrow didn’t look like the first two, and in all the tape Jay had watched Davad had never whiffed a shot that badly.

He wasn’t likely to start now.

Directly behind Jay, the floating shield had repositioned itself. Its lightly engraved metal exterior stared him in the eyes and Jay could almost feel the shield's attacking intent. Davad’s arrow shot towards the shield. Morphing into a sphere of liquid metal just before it hit. The projectile shoved all its built momentum into the shield.

The shield shoved back, redirecting the arrow straight at Jay's chest.

He was too close to dodge. His body had already twisted to face the shield.

Raw electrical energy sparked Jay's arms to life.

He couldn’t dodge, but Jay was far from defenceless.

The trembling clang of metal on metal sent a shockwave down Jay's arm as he smashed the Conqueror’s fists into the former arrow. Jay redirected the ball for the second time in under a second, sending it flying into the barrier wall with a knuckle shaped indent behind it.

The lightning shield flew back to its owner, who now held four arrows again, and returned to its regular orbit. The archer’s new tool was certainly helping him out in this fight, and thoughts of how to overcome it whirled around Jay’s mind.

Another thought sat there too. Keeping to itself, laying low amidst the heat of battle.

I’m gonna love fighting with that thing.

Another arrow disrupted Jay's strategizing. He deflected it off his steel fist and kept both eyes trained on Davad’s bowstring.

Jay had already determined his opponent’s speed. Davad was faster than all his previous fights, but he was nowhere near Zara. Jay’s first encounter with the shield only gave him more information. His first attack didn’t end the fight, but it wasn’t unsuccessful. The pieces were appearing, Jay just had to click them in place.

Davad fired his second arrow as soon as Jay moved. Jay lunged to his left as he advanced, letting the arrow fly far wide.

In boxing, the most effective evasions were always the smallest, even if they were also the riskiest. A wide sweeping dodge used up too much energy and killed any momentum a fighter had. A slight dodge saved energy and maintained speed.

But Jay didn’t need to do either.

Compared to Zara, Davad fought like he was wading through treacle. Cutting angles, maintaining speed, and planning several steps ahead were essential to entering Zara’s range during sparring. Against Davad, Jay didn’t need to take those risks. He didn’t need to fight tooth and nail just to maintain speed, he was already fast enough.

And what use was saving energy when he could finish the fight in the first minute?

The arrow snapped harmlessly into the barrier wall.

Jay continued to stalk his prey. Now that he was aware of Davad’s limits, and the shield was no longer a complete mystery, Jay began to tighten the noose around his opponent.

Azure glimmers of electricity emerged through Jay's irises, Eye of the storm sparking to life. The essence of electricity within Jay begged him to recklessly charge forward, but Jay held back the storm.

A fighter’s manifestation of speed varied greatly to electricity’s, despite being a core pillar to both of Jay’s essences. Electricity’s speed was limitless. A rapid directionless rush of energy, expressing power through an undeniable force of nature. A fighter’s speed was measured, controlled, carefully doled out only when necessary. A fighter couldn’t go at full pace all the time, he didn’t need to. His speed manifested itself through acceleration. Every fight had lulls, every fight had moments of quiet where the world stood still, and the fighter’s speed lay dormant.

Resting, but not asleep. Silently waiting for its time to strike.

Jay sank deeper into the depths of quiet as he slowly suffocated his opponent behind his measured advance.

Davad retreated with another great leap backwards.

Again?

Had Davad not realised the weakness in his retreat? To Jay, watching the film and standing opposite the archer, it seemed blindingly obvious. Evidently Davad hadn’t noticed. Being self-critical was a part of being a fighter. A difficult part, especially in a life-or-death arena like the Second Chance Coliseum.

If you’re still alive, you’ve never lost. If you’ve never lost, why change anything?

You’re about to find out.

Jay kept to his opponent’s tempo, holding back his speed as he shepherded Davad into position, within a metre of the barrier. Jay leapt forward, the electricity within him cracking its expectant eyes open.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Davad dodged away from the wall. Obviously.

That’s why Jay had placed him there.

When people think of controlling someone, they often think of aggressive domination. Enforcing your will on your opponent by physical might.

Jay, and every other ring general, had a different take. They controlled their opponent’s moves by only giving them one good option.

Jay didn’t have to adjust his rush to account for Davad’s sidestep, he’d adjusted before the step was even taken. Davad launched into a diagonal leap backwards, drawing back an arrow as he retreated from Jay’s range.

He fired rapidly.

Barely even aiming.

Jay didn’t stop.

He kept up the chase.

But the arrow came closer.

Jay couldn’t stop thinking about the arrow.

The lingering survival instinct poking the back of Jay's mind whispered that it was coming his way.

No it’s not.

Jay stared directly at the arrow. Eye of the storm helping him calculate its trajectory in real time.

It’s missing.

Jay took another step forward.

If it’s missing, then why am I-

Jay flicked his eyes from the off-target arrow to the wide-eyed face of Davad.

He knew it too.

When he’d fired the arrow mid retreat, he attacked with his domain simultaneously. Scrambling to lodge a spike of doubt within Jay’s mind.

And it had done absolutely nothing.

Jay's face twisted into a maniacal grin. He’d even stopped his advance out of pure shock.

Was that it?

Zara said she’d barely practiced the technique, but her influence dwarfed Davad’s. When she aimed his way, Jay's mind screamed danger.

This was more of a suggestion.

If Jay couldn’t read the shock colouring his opponents face, he wouldn’t have believed it. He couldn’t have believed the special technique he’d practiced so much for was so hilariously weak. The only thing now between him and victory was a few, easily closable, metres.

Well, a few metres and a flying blue shield.

Faint wisps of electricity trailed the soaring shield rushing to defend its current master. Jay felt its defensive resolve intensify as it swung towards Jay's right flank, fiercely protecting Davad.

Hairline channels of white light streaked down Jay's arms as the murmurs of electricity roused within.

Jay fell into the familiar sanctuary of an orthodox stance as he dropped his glowing left hand. The shield drew closer, vibrating with stored energy, frenzied lightning streaking behind.

Jay channelled as much electricity as he dared through his left arm. He drew it back, arcing his fist towards the shield’s path.

Jay’s left barely resembled an arm anymore. Drenched in brilliant white light, bulging and bubbling against the turbulent energies within, it contorted into unrecognisable shapes.

But it still felt familiar to Jay. It still felt right.

He couldn’t use Eye of the storm to time this one, but he didn’t need to.

Pure electricity powered his body, but it was still his arm. It was still his attack, regardless of the essence fuelling it.

And as long as Jay’s fist was attached to his body, it could still punch.

The same left hook that he’d practiced millions of times hammered towards the incoming shield. Untameable electrical energy in perfect harmony with the calculated discipline forged through a lifetime of fighting.

Jay wasn’t sure what to expect after punching the shield. Would it crumple beneath his fist? Would it ring like a gong, launching deep vibrations through both gladiators? Would the shield completely stifle his punch, leaving him open for a counter?

What he didn’t expect, was a connection.

Even beneath layers of bandages and steel, Jay felt it the moment his knuckles collided with the shield.

A kinship.

A resonance.

A Harmony.

Just as the essence of electricity was blossoming into a part of Jay, he felt it within the very fibres of the shield’s being.

Jay lived to fight; his life incomplete without the irreplaceable aspect it brought to his existence. The shield was designed to protect. It was made to protect. It existed, solely to protect.

Jay simultaneously felt different, but the same, to the shield. They chased different goals, but charged at them with equal fervour.

When Jay’s fist rebounded off the shield the sensation faded, but the sweet taste of unity lingered in the back of Jay’s mind.

The shield hauled itself back to Davad’s side, slower than before, and Jay snapped back to reality. Regardless of how he felt, Jay had a fight to win. He could think about the shield after he won it.

Thinking about the fight meant thinking about his body. In their moment of unity, Jay missed the utter devastation his punch had inflicted on his fist.

The off-white gauze plunged into a deep crimson red. Jay’s curse of bodily awareness revealed the grim state of his left fist.

Arteries: Ruptured.

Muscles: Battered.

Bones: More of a suggestion than a scaffold.

Jay’s arm was beyond fucked up.

Oh well.

The split second of relief on Davad’s face plunged into terror when Jay kept moving forward.

Jay had broken both fists in the boxing ring.

He’d massacred both arms in the coliseum.

Of course he was going to do it again.

Jay’s fractured bones clicked back into place, repositioning and reconnecting themselves. His muscles stitched themselves back together, aligning themselves exactly as Jay wished. His blood vessels carved new paths through his arm. Somehow even more efficient than before.

Jay silently thanked Thane for handing him the bandages. Jay’s stormforged body improved speed and control, not vitality. The bandages that had once brought his arms back to life now kept them there.

Jay didn’t want a repeat of last week. Although he’d learned to fight in ways other than punching, his fists were still his life. Jay’s makeshift handwraps doused his fists and forearms in the essence of regeneration. His evolved body drank up every ounce of healing power and used it all to fuel its regrowth.

Jay ran towards the cowering Davad. Not weakened by the shield. Emboldened by it.

It was time to end the fight.

As Jay rushed in for the finisher, Davad had already discarded his bow. He reached into his quiver, fear and focus painted across his face.

Flashbacks of Zara’s hammer, the harrowing snap of his ribs as they were crushed beneath it, rushed to the forefront of Jay's mind.

“Every long-range fighter has something in reserve for if their opponent gets too close.”

Jay knew Davad’s goal. The issue was how to stop it.

Jay slowed down alongside the world around him as his empowered body made way for an empowered mind. Davad’s fingertips appeared in perfect detail against the blurry backdrop of beige as Eye of the storm bought Jay a few more crucial milliseconds.

Davad’s hand emerged from the shadowy depths of his quiver clutching a hint of silver. The first seeds of a plan began to crystallize in Jay's mind, but there were simply too many variables. What was Davad’s last resort? How would he use it? What was the best way to counter it? How was he supposed to plan for the unknown?

Good fighters learned from their mistakes. The best fighters evolved.

Over the past two weeks, Jay had become intimately acquainted with the futility of plans in the face of undeniable force.

So Jay stepped on the other side of that equation.

The hilt of a blade crept out from the quiver. Jay reckoned he could easily parry any attack Davad launched at him. He didn’t let that thought sway him, he wouldn’t take that risk. Jay reared his right arm, compressing pure force within his muscles. His left arm remained outstretched in front of him.

Free from the stress of rushing thanks to Eye of the storm, Jay mentally chuckled at the irony. Earlier in the fight, he’d criticized Davad’s reliance on using the same patterns over and over again.

Yet here he was, using the first essence technique he’d ever learned.

Jay had barely thought about thunder since his last fight, but there were two parts to commanding essence. He’d learned nothing about thunder, but he’d learned a lot about himself.

He’d learned how to control every fibre of his body in once impossible ways. He’d unearthed a whole new aspect of his essence. Jay thought he’d understood his desire, his urge, to fight before. Now he knew.

A realisation clicked inside Jay's mind as he dusted off his once discarded technique. Fighting wasn’t just about training, about combat, or becoming stronger. It wasn’t about victory, about being the best, or chasing greatness. There was a more primal layer beneath those aspects. One that the warrior scholars like Yagao or Akira might never understand.

One that even the faceless gladiator misconstrued.

It wasn’t the baseline, but it was certainly part of it.

Sometimes, fighting was about facing the person in front of you and doing everything in your ability to erase them.

No matter what.

Jay unleashed his right fist while at the same time pulling back his left. When the steel knuckles collided with each other, no sparks skittered off either of them. The air was untouched by the telltale clang of metal on metal.

Not yet.

First there was compression. The layers of steel pressing on each other, each layer of atoms forcibly pushed closer. Jay watched the world in serene stillness before the expansion. He watched Davad attempt to pull his weapon from the quiver, he watched his fists press into each other, pushing and pushing until it became impossible to push any further.

The calm before the-

A wave of explosive power launched Jay backwards. No warning, just a pulse of pure force.

Both fighters flew away from each other, before slamming into the gravel.

At least Jay had been somewhat expecting it. Davad wasn’t nearly as lucky. Jay’s opponent slumped on the ground ten metres in front of him. The thunderclap had done its job, the silver hilt of Davad’s last resort lay embedded into the ground where he once stood.

Jay took a moment to recover himself, after a pair of laboured breaths he remembered that he was in a fight. That he couldn’t simply take breaks.

After a look at the barely moving body of his opponent, he took a pair more.

Jay walked over to the not-yet-corpse of Davad. Pushing down the errant thoughts creeping up at the back of his mind.

Think about that later.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight.

The shield hovered in front of Jay’s opponent. Putting up a final stand.

Jay stepped towards it; he could feel it had no animosity towards him. If a shield could even have emotions.

It was forced to protect. Compelled to protect its master against anything that may harm it.

Jay reached out, fingertips brushing against the floating shield. He felt its urge to defend, but to Jay that didn’t matter. He had a fight to win.

“No.”

The shield dropped to the floor. The innate will to protect overpowered by Jay’s command.

That was the easy part.

He could think about what he’d just done, how he’d commanded the shield, later. Now wasn’t the time for wandering thoughts.

Jay almost closed his eyes as he neared the bloody mess of Davad’s body. It wasn’t as mangled as the gorilla’s was, but Davad was still alive.

Which made it a million times worse.

The wheezing scratch of Davad’s strained breathing clawed at Jay's eardrums. A savage beg for mercy that Jay was soulbound not to answer.

He knew what he had to do.

He knew he had the strength to do it.

That didn’t make it any easier.

Jay didn’t apologise to his opponent. He didn’t say a prayer before he sent him to the afterlife. He didn’t even allow him any last words.

But at least he made it quick.

Jay closed his eyes. He allowed himself that luxury as he caved in Davad’s skull. Crushing it into the gravel beneath an empowered fist of denatured steel.

He kept them shut, held them shut, too tight for anyone in the world to open. Jay knew what he’d done. He knew why he’d done it. He could probably convince himself he was forced to do it.

Probably not.

Vega might view it as weakness, the other two might be more understanding, but Jay didn’t spare his friends much of a thought. He didn’t really think about anything else. Even thoughts about the fight could wait.

He’d just fucking killed someone.