Ki Horizons - [Litrpg, Adventure, Power Levels]

"Rabahgahdan. Rah-buh-gah-dun. Come on now Mutai, you gotta say it right." I mumbled to myself as I entered the Dojo.

Carrying all the bags and backpacks made it a pain in the ass. It wasn't the weight, I could probably lift a few dozen times this, but the sizes of everything was awkward. It took multiple trips and by the time I was done, my room felt like a cluttered mess. It made me smile. A lot of things in my life carried a sort of emptiness or purity to it. Fight, train, try not to die, owning not a single item. I felt like I'd lived at least the last year like a monk disconnected from the world.

I did not care for that. And now this was a little break from the monotony of it all. I didn't need much but not having anything… it has a way of enflaming the desires. Just looking at the rice cooker I bought filled me with so much pride that I nearly cried.

In a way, hadn't I earned this? Master had pushed me beyond my limits for a very, very long while. Even nearly killed me and sent me to a hellish hole in the ground for six months. If we think of this as my 'payment' for all that abuse…

I laughed. The payment was my power, this was just a way to soothe the annoyance at that transaction. I swear, I'm never leaving this Dojo with Master without that backpack again.

I smiled warmly as I grabbed two items. It was late and normally, both Master and Vincent would probably be in bed.

They weren't. Whether my hearing had become enhanced or the walls were thin, I could practically feel Vincent and Master currently fighting. The fact that it had lasted more than a microsecond was shocking to me. Had Master really toned it down that much? Gods… he must've really been hating me…

I traveled down the stairs into the semi-secret training arena. Well, more like awkwardly placed more than anything…

I saw why Vincent was lasting more than a moment now. Master was fully on the defensive and only casually fending off Vincent's blows. That still meant Vincent was bleeding heavily and an arm seemed broken already but that was incomparably light wounds compared to before.

The second I walked down, Master turned, an ice cold expression on his face. Vincent punched his face but he didn't even so much as blink or flinch. Scary, unnerving even. But I'd gotten used to it by now. Well, kinda. I still felt a chill go up and down my spine as he looked at me. Vincent also turned, staring at me with a competitive flaming spirit. I just smiled gently.

"What part of 'go away for a week', did you not understand?" Master asked coldly.

"I did, I will, but today's special Master. I just found out a little while ago."

His expression remained unchanged but Vincent's eyebrows rose.

"Why?" He asked.

I pulled out the two presents I got for them. The shop had been more than willing to wrap the items considering the date.

"Merry Rabahgahdan!"

Vincent seemed shocked still and Master…

He stared at me like I was a monster, his mouth actually opening a little.

Alright, not the reaction I expected but we'll just have to push through.

"I uh, I went out to see the city and go buy some stuff and I realized that today is rabha- Rabgah- The Winter Solstice. So I uh, well, I thought I'd get you two a present. I know it's not much but, well, it's something right?"

Vincent just stared at me, dazed.

"It's Rabahgahdan?" He asked, his voice shocked.

"Yeah."

He stared at me and the present like pure electricity had gone through him. Shocking and paralyzing him to his core. His eyes were wide, his mouth was fully open, and I got the sense I'd truly lost him.

Master stared at me in what could only be horror.

This was not going well.

The seconds ticked by, each more awkward than the first. In something that stunned me, Master actually looked to Vincent first. As if trying to escape rather than for guidance. It was the single most bizarre thing I'd ever seen in my life. I felt like a slime had just busted out of a wall and demanded fifteen chickens for its slimy slime farm.

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"I…" Vincent finally spoke. "My family… my family would… always celebrate Rabahgahdan. The children, my, my siblings. They all loved it. We'd all gather around, all of them, all of the clan. We all gathered in the manor beneath the orbs. My cousins would cry with joy and…" Vincent trailed off.

Vincent trailed off and then… began to tear up.

Oh… oh no. I didn't… What am I supposed to do?

Panicking, anxiety racking up, I couldn't think of what to say or do. This wasn't something I could punch. My mind and body froze, practically becoming a stone statue.

Vincent took a step forward, awkwardly, slowly. He reached out, hands shaking, tears in his eyes, and then looked at me with a look unlike anything anyone had ever peered at me with. Those eyes…

"Thank you Mutai." He said, voiced lace with heartbreaking gratitude. I felt my own eyes become a little wet, visions of my family floating through me.

"I… miss my family too." I finally said.

He nodded. He understood me and I him. We missed our families so damn much it hurt. But we still wanted to remember them.

Carefully, slowly, he opened the present. Inside… was a blacksmithing hammer.

He stared at it with a sad smile.

"I… you said your family were martial artists and metalworkers." I said. "I thought… this might remind you of home a little."

"Thank you Mutai. I love it." He said. He walked towards the exit, putting the hammer down, before returning. No doubt not wanting it to get damaged.

As for Master, he seemed, more uncomfortable than I'd ever seen him.

"Master, this is for you." I presented the colorful present. I even made sure to have it wrapped in black and red since those seemed like his favorite colors. Although they did have little stars and orbs on them to represent The Great Night but that was normal.

"Why have you done this?" Master said, eyes glued to the present like it was a snake going to bite him.

"Well…" I said, my voice unsteady. "Well, we're all… a kind of family right? Not a good one maybe, but, Master. You've taught me and trained me. You've never given up on me. You've always believed in me and pushed me to my limit, even if it meant I might die. You're awful… but I think… I think you believe in me more than anyone else, even myself. You saved me and I… I wouldn't be here without you."

Master winced.

My thoughts spun. I'd suspected it for a long while but… the one Master wants me to kill…

It's Vega, isn't it?

That's his 'hidden' enemy. That's the only reason he'd train me so fervently in my goal. Why he'd work so hard to find someone with more potential than him. And the reason he'd want to kill Vega but couldn't… even Master must have had a family at some point. Five hundred years… is too long not to have one.

To be called family by me…

"Never do this again." Master said. "Even for me… this is fucked up."

I'd clearly opened old scars but still, he took the present. He unwrapped it, slowly, clearly unhappy. When he finally unwrapped it, it revealed… a small cat. Not a biological one, but a small robotic one. It meowed, looking up at him with nothing but love in its eyes.

I'd remembered him flirting with that android and despite not owning much, he still owned a healing tank and a pretty advanced Vambrace. He clearly knew, intimately, how to use both. He complained about how people used to use a thing called 'cell phones'. I had a feeling Master actually liked technology, at least a little bit. If I felt this amazed by Capsules, how amazed must he be after over five hundred years?

Master… besides us, he was all alone. I doubted he had any friends or many other disciples. Family was also clearly out of the question. He was just a lonely old man with loads of power but not enough. What did he even do when we weren't here, watch TV? I never got the feeling he really trained anymore.

Hopefully, a cat would cheer him up a little. And it was a robotic one, with the same mind as a biological cat. So he wouldn't even need to clean up after it, just play with it a little and sometimes feed it a battery or two! It was perfect.

"You… got me a cat."

"Yeah." I said.

The cat meowed and snuggled into Master's hands. I felt a brief panic of worry. Master was unpredictable but… surely he wouldn't just… destroy the cat or something right-

He squeezed his hands and-

Gently petted the cat.

I felt my heart nearly kill me at the whiplash. Sudden panic and relief flowing through me.

"Go away Mutai. You too Vincent."

"Uh-"

"Just… go away." Master said, voice defeated, eyes never leaving the cat.

Vincent was the first to leave, looking at Master with complicated eyes. I was sure he picked up on his melancholy as well. He picked up his Blacksmith's Hammer, gave a small, sad smile, and then walked upstairs.

I stayed for a moment more, staring at Master and how he petted the cat, before turning around and leaving without a word. As I was leaving though, I heard one final thing.

"I'm gonna call you Sparky."

I smiled.

Happy Rabahgahdan Master.