Ki Horizons - [Litrpg, Adventure, Power Levels]

Falling down a hole twice in one day was actually starting to piss me off.

Boom!

"Ugh."

Cough cough.

I knocked the pile of rubble that had fallen off me, feeling like I'd been smacked upside the head by one of Master's fists. I was seeing stars and all of my wounds felt sore. My broken ribs and damaged lung especially. The cloud of dust from the destroyed floor and stairs sent me into a coughing fit that wouldn't stop. Even my bullet wounds felt like they'd torn open a little.

On one hand, I felt like shit.

On the other hand, I could miraculously see down here and wasn't buried beneath a whole building's worth of stone and dying trapped underneath a hostile and angry company.

I'd take the win.

Standing up, unable to stop coughing, I looked around, trying to get some of the dust and rubble off me.

Wherever I was, was different. Just looking up made that clear. Because the hole? It wasn't close. The stairs were never supposed to lead down this far. I was now deep underground and I was shocked I hadn't broken any more bones from the fall. If I just knew how to use Ki I could just fly up but…

I was in a metal room but it was more like a wide open empty space than anything meant for, well, anything else.

"Of course." A voice spoke up. "Back to here already."

I turned, eyes going wide, only to see the Kitsune from before. He looked… tired. Not 'just in a fight to the death' tired but more, emotionally and physically drained kind of tired. He was slightly leaking blood from his mouth and his clothes were damaged but that was the extent to it. Damn. Triple digit power users were just built different.

He was looking around, a tired look on his otherwise peaceful face. And then he turned to me. Those calm and piercing blue eyes peering deep into my soul. They weren't like Master, not his icy cold blue. No, these were more like… the sea. But they radiated coldness all the same.

He raised his arm at me, palm outwards.

Everything in me that could scream, did.

"Wait wait wait! Friend! Ally! Not your enemy! Wait, wait, wait!"

"A Smile Scientist saying they're my friend? How amusing. Sadly for you, I've heard that before."

"No no, wait!"

I quickly took off my lab coat, revealing my destroyed clothing underneath. I didn't stop there, terrified I was about to be blasted to pieces, tearing my shirt off and showing my wounds.

"Look! Look! You can see it right? Bullet holes and here, all these lacerations, these didn't come from the fall! I'm not your enemy, I was just wearing that as a disguise!"

My heart was pounding. This man was going to kill me if I didn't prove myself at least not an enemy right now. He'd almost done so purely by accident just by being near me. I'd seen how fast Master could move and how hard he could hit, just while holding back. If this man wanted me dead I'd simply be dead before I had time to even understand what had happened.

He tilted his head slightly, like a curious fox might, and then a small orb of blue light appeared in front of his palm.

My eyes widened and my senses went into overdrive. My body naturally got ready to dodge. Maybe I could, I could, I'd figure it out. I'd have to. If he came for me fighting was out of the question but maybe I could-

The light died down as the orb disappeared and he lowered his arm.

I nearly collapsed to my knees in relief.

"It's unlikely you're an enemy then. Too many incongruities. Good, I did not want to kill someone so cute."

He said all of that not exactly monotone, but with an air of dispassion and disinterest, like a cool ice beauty. So it took me a few seconds to understand what the hell I'd just heard.

"What?"

He was already turning, examining our surroundings. I hesitated. Shaking off the nonsense that had just flown into my ears, this man was actively trying to destroy The Smile Company. That made him my ally in a way, even if I wasn't currently his. He was also extremely dangerous and there were currently enemies after him that I was not ready to even be near that were sure to follow him down here.

On the other hand, as I watched him slowly walk away, I realized that if the police or just a few strong Smile Company employees or security saw me down here, they'd most likely kill me and ask questions never.

I sighed, just once, for what my life had become today.

"Hey, hey wait up!"

He turned as I sped up after him.

"What is it?" He asked.

I had no real answer to that.

"Safety in numbers?"

He snorted.

"I require no need of your assistance."

"I didn't say your safety."

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"Pathetic. A weak sounding mindset, seeking shade underneath others."

For a split moment, I tried to hold my tongue. It simply did not last.

"Well no need to be a dick. You're the one that knocked me down here. Least you can do is make sure a triple digit doesn't kill me until I can climb my way out of here."

He looked at me, a cold expression radiating off him, and I truly thought he was about to kill me. My body readied itself for my inevitable demise, prepared to go down fighting… before he chuckled at me and turned forwards.

"Cute."

My brows furrowed. So weird, this guy. Was he truly just mocking me like that? Maybe it was because I was prepared to fight him. I was multiple magnitudes weaker than him. But damn it, if I don't go down fighting, how else was I supposed to go down? Just let it happen? Asshole.

Anyway, everything had changed in a moment but I had to adapt. For starters…

"What's your name? I'm Mutai."

"Hmm. A name. That would be nice. You may call me as you like."

What???

"What? I mean, I can't just, name you. That's crazy."

"Then I look forward to what you come up with."

This guy was so strange! What on Vega was I supposed to call him?! Icy Kitsune? Cold Asshole? Weirdo?

"Uhhh… how about…" I stared at his white hair with red streaks and sea blue eyes. "Cooler? Wait, no, that's-"

"I accept. From this point on I shall now be known as Cooler."

"No, really, you can take a different name or I can just come up with a new one or-"

"I like Cooler."

Shame washed over me, my face going deep red for the first time in a long, long time as a look of pure agony crawled across me. Pure embarrassment! What was I thinking?! I've ruined him! It just slipped out! He's just so cool, calm, and collected!

I groaned as we continued walking, trying to shake off what I'd done. Now wasn't the time to get bogged down in the… whatever that was. Important questions needed to be asked.

For example…

"So, what's your story?" I asked as we entered a doorway and into a new hallway. The metal down here was different, darker, stronger. I doubt I could even dent it, hell, maybe not even scratch it. It simply felt sturdier, just walking on it. There was no give at all the way even normal stone felt to me these days.

"My story?"

"Well yeah. It's weird to be attacking The Smile Company with your level of power, especially randomly in the middle of the day. You also clearly know this area, judging by the way you're looking at everything."

"Mmm. I suspect that you'll see the answer soon. I advise you to harden your stomach."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

*****

"Oh."

"Indeed."

Death. Gore. En mass. The walls here weren't broken, but they were scorched even further black… wherever there wasn't blood or strewn body parts. People had died here, recently. A lot of people. I'd never seen anything like it. The blood didn't even look like it had begun to dry. All through the hall were torn apart bodies, pools and splashes of blood, burnt corpses, and disintegrated pieces.

It was horrifying and I felt my whole body shake in disgust and terror.

I'd seen a lot of things over the years but I'd never seen anything like this. The closest thing was-

I held the metal wall with one hand as I dry heaved, trying not to fall on my face. It…

My father. It reminded me of my father. Of his last moments. As he-

I nearly puked. It was a close thing.

The metal was still warm from where I touched it, the part holding me up scorched.

"You murdered them." I said, while looking at the ground.

"Yes. They deserved it. They were my enemies. And there is only one response one should give to their enemies."

I pulled myself back together, forcing myself to look at the scene of carnage. I had seen the dead before but I'd never seen this. Nothing like this. The closest was… some very horrible memories that haunted me. I looked beyond the scene, beyond all the dead scientists and workers here.

The door. One of many. Dozens, maybe hundreds on each side. All down this hallway were thick metal doors and one of them was clearly burst open. Each was numbered and despite everything, the area around here was freezing.

"They kept you prisoner."

"No. You have to have freedom to become a prisoner I think. They kept me dead. I was born here and like many, I would've died here."

I frowned heavily at that. Damn Smile Company.

"There are other doors."

"All dead."

I flinched.

"You killed the others like you too?"

He looked at me, with a glare this time.

"Of course not. I am no monster nor savage barbarian. A new test, a new mutation they hoped to impart. That is the course they took here. Taking oddities and birthing oddities. Endless experimentation. It was not the first nor last mutation they endowed on us. I received it many months ago. And then… strength. Over three decades here and finally… I was no longer bound by the shackles they held me with. My strength rose dramatically and I bided my time."

He grimaced.

"A mistake."

"What happened?"

"The injection had become standard. A part of the process. Old and new subjects were injected with it. A simple strength increase with only 'moderate' side effects. I can still hear their screams. I felt it growing, increasing, before it settled. I did not consider how the others were affected. There was no sign the strength increase was as dramatic for them as it was for me. I thought I was simply lucky and them unlucky. I was more right than I ever desired. I was not the strongest or the smartest, nor the first or last to receive the injection. I was simply the one that survived. They all perished not long ago."

Half remembered words came to my mind.

"Did you know there are medicines that can increase your power level?"

I froze. What?

He nodded at my expression.

"Yup. And unlike the usual external methods of growth, they aren't all terrible. Only most. The permanent ones are almost all disastrous but temporary ones are fine in moderation. But these aren't hard rules."

There was real sorrow in the way Cooler spoke. Despite how he talked… I got the feeling he knew more than a few of the other, gods, experimental subjects? This place was even more horrific than I could've ever imagined. I thought those bodies below were kidnapped people but something about having people born just to use them…

My stomach railed again and this time I could not stop myself from puking.

"It's disgusting. What they did."

"Indeed."

He walked forward. There was silence as we passed the many, many sealed doors.

No sounds came from a single one.