> 燎子とてASTの隊長。魔術師として、それなりに修羅場を **潜ってきてはいる** 。
>
> ＜プリンセス＞や＜ハーミット＞など、何体もの精霊との戦いに、DEM日本支社を舞台とした乱戦、それら全てを、無傷とは言わないまでも生き残ってきた。
>
> けれど、そんな燎子をしても、この光景は異常に過ぎたのである。
>
> いつもの戦闘とは、あまりにも様相が、規模が違い過ぎる。街の上空全域を舞台とした大混戦。

I know the bold は is contrastive は. But I’m not sure how to understand the
bold てきている.

  1. Is it a combination of てきた (something was continuing from a past time) and ている (stands for a remaining result)?
  2. If so, how is it different from 潜ってきた? My thinking is 潜ってきた indicates that 燎子 has gone through that until now, but doesn’t say anything from now on. While 潜ってきている indicates 燎子 has gone through that until now and will be going through that in the future. Does it make sense?

> だが、それらのコンプレックスも、少し前までの七罪と比べれば、随分と改善され **てきてはいた**
> 。七罪は、あれほど嫌いで仕方なかった自分の本当の姿を、次第に受け入れられるようになっ **てきていた** のである。

I have the same question for this quote.

I have read several similar threads on this topic, but they don’t seem to
answer my questions fully.
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2021-05-03T11:06:51.140
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question
grammar
Understanding てきている and the difference between てきた and てきている
In a case like this, there is not much difference between 潜って(は)きた and
潜ってきて(は)いる. Both sentence say nothing about the future. But the more important
the result of this event in the past is now, the more often the ている form will
be chosen. See my previous answer here: [Why is a verb in the past (た形)
contradicted with ～ていない?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42242/5010)

On the other hand, ていた is the "past perfect" conjugation, and it's different
from the simple past tense or the present perfect aspect. See: [Is 寝る a
stative or active verb?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/57193/5010)

  * 改善されてきていた。  
**had** improved (over time up until some time point in the past)  
(The improvement had happened in the past and its results was important in the
past)

  * 改善されてきた。  
improved / **has** improved (over time up until now)  
(The improvement was happening until now and its results is important now)

  * 改善されてきている。  
**has** improved (over time up until now)
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2021-05-03T13:44:46.387
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answer
〜てきた and 〜てきている are not much different. They are mostly interchangeable.

However, I detect a slight difference in that the former seems to focus on the
changes or experiences the subject (Ryoko in your example) has undergone,
while the latter seems to focus on a certain property the subject has taken on
through those changes or experiences. Ryoko is a veteran of sorts as a
magician now.
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answer