Preparations and K'un-Lun

"So, you've found the entrance?" I spoke to the man in front of me with somewhat rusty Chinese. The man himself was of average height and built but his face was covered in some brutal scars that spoke of a life of fighting and his head was balder than a baby's. "The Himalayas, right?" I asked to confirm some knowledge.

"Y-yes," he bowed his head, "Young Master truly knows things us normal people couldn't hope to know," he continued with other Chinese sayings meant to please someone but I ignored them as I stood up and pulled out my phone.

The phone rang a few times before someone picked up and spoke in a rough English accent, "Who is it?"

"It's James," I informed the British man before smiling, "I'm calling to get that favor you owe me."

"...Hello, James," the man, Rufus, spoke in answer and his tone had changed from rough to a forced polite one, "What do you need? As per the promise, I'll do what I can. Just please try not to go overboard, will you?" he didn't plead outright...but it was there. In the background. A subtle plea for me to not ask for too much.

...I'm in a good mood, so I can give him that much.

"Go overboard? Me? Rufus, my friend," I chuckled before smiling wide, "Does that sound like something I'd do?" I let the rhetorical question sit in the air for a second before I laughed lightly, "I may be young, Rufus, but don't mistake my age for immaturity. I know not to ask for too much when it comes to favors. It's common courtesy."

I heard a barely restrained sigh through the phone before Rufus spoke up, "...Thank you, James," he spoke, relieved, before continuing with an overall lighter tone to his voice, "So, what do you need?"

"I need you to fake some documents for me, Rufus. Nothing big...just some school documents. You know, decent grades across the board...good behavior, not an antisocial teen--you know that sort of stuff. I also need you to get me the graduation certificates for a decent college somewhere in England. It doesn't all need to be perfect...just good enough that when the layman looks into it, it'll all look perfectly normal," I continued piling onto it but within proper amount, "Can you do it?"

Silence was all I got in reply for a few seconds before a concise answer came, "Yes, I can get it done. I just need one thing, however."

"What?"

"Your last name," he clarified, "I don't think you have one, do you? As you probably know, it's quite unusual for people to not have last names. Orphans, maybe. But normal kids who've gone to school and graduated College? It's not normal."

"Ah, that?" I raised my eyebrows before bringing a hand to scratch my chin, "Uhhh...How about Belmont? I am French, after all. Try and forge some documents that say I was adopted and brought over to England as well. And by decent grades, I mean B, not C, okay?" as I gave myself my new name, I couldn't stop the smirk from coming across my face. It's a legitimate surname...but I can't stop thinking of Castlevania when I think of the surname 'Belmont'.

"That's fine then. But it'll take time, James," he informed me and I shrugged before answering.

"Well, you've got..." I did a bit of mental math in my head before answering him, "You've got about five or six months before I need it all, so you've got plenty of time, Rufus."

Over the phone, I heard him sigh - whether out of relief or frustration, I don't know - "Then I expect to see you in six months, James."

And with that, he hanged up the phone on me.

"Jeez, what a rude guy. What else can you expect from one of the biggest crime bosses in Britain though?" I chuckled to myself before looking to the Chinese man who was still bowing and refusing to meet my gaze, "Lead the way then, Mr. Yang," I spoke to him, seamlessly switching from fluent English to Chinese.

. . .

Looking up at the massive gate in front of me, I wondered just how I was going to get through it and to the place I wanted to go to.

This gate...is the entrance to K'un-Lun. The mystical land where Danny Rand is most likely being trained. A land of mysticism, Chi and martial arts. A place where I could learn so much more about fighting and energy manipulation.

It'd been about three weeks since I unlocked the system and I was making fine progress. I'd made it all the way up till the ninth floor - you'd think I'd have gotten further...but when I got passed the fifth floor, the dungeon levels grew massively. Places that I could once clear in half an hour now took an entire day to fully explore. I could rush through them but that'd mean giving up EXP, and I don't wanna do that.

Still, in the past three weeks, I should've still gotten further than I have, right? That's completely true. But I'm taking it slow for now. I want to get used to my current superhuman ability and most of all, I want to get used to Qi before I progress too much further.

Pulling up my status, I looked over the values on the screen.

[Name: James Belmont]

[Level: 11]

[Martial Rank: Second-Class Warrior]

[Race: Human]

[External State: 360(+)]

[Internal State: 230(+)]

[Unallocated State Points: 80]

I was tempted to put my points into my Internal State to keep it more in balance with my body but I refrained. I had enough Qi to make any other Human jealous and before I got anymore, I'd like to be able to control my current amount with more finesse. Sure, I can use it naturally like I'm breathing...but that's to do with my talent. I feel like there's more to Qi manipulation than what I can do and what I can currently do is no more than the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, my status has increased even without me putting any points into it - which was a pretty nice surprise.

According to the system, every ten levels I gain I'll rank up as a warrior. So, at level 10, I ranked up from a Third-Class Warrior into a Second-Class Warrior. Said rank up gives a certain amount of points to both your External and Internal States...which is a very welcome addition from the system.

These rank-ups are why I've delayed my advancement through the Murim-Dungeon.

After all, if I keep on getting stronger, how am I going to get used to my strength and my Qi? So, for long-term benefits, I'll slow my progress for now. Quite a far-thinking guy, ain't I?

"Though...how am I gonna get through this gate, I wonder?" I asked myself before pacing up to it, the wind blasting against me and throwing snow into my eyes. Yet I didn't even blink or react to the cold - Qi truly is marvelous. I practically stopped feeling the cold as soon as I began to move my Qi throughout my body. And even without my Qi, my physical body wasn't all that bothered by the cold either.

Haah~ Being a superhuman with Qi sure does make stuff easier, huh?

Getting to the gate, I placed a hand on it and pushed a little. This 'little' amount of force was still herculean by normal human standards. Just this much force would crush a person's head. I would know - after coming to China from the underground fighting pit that was in Europe, I subdued a few local gangs and triads to use them as an information web. And a search party for the gate to K'un-Lun.

...The subjugation process was a little, uh, messy at times.

Yet this inhuman force couldn't force the gate to budge even a little. Clicking my tongue, I scowled before I got ready to throw a proper full-powered punch at the gate.

I knew it only opened every 15 years...but you can't fault a guy for trying, you know? I really wanna study their fighting styles and assimilate them into mine, you know?

But I didn't get a chance to throw the punch before the gate cracked open and a tall and slender Asian man peaked his head around the opening. When he saw me, his eyes narrowed before he spoke with barely veiled hostility, "What do you want, outsider?"

Surprised someone was opening it, I wondered if I'd gotten the date right in a spout of luck but quickly shook my head - it was definitely passed the time when Danny Rand crashed here. I'd seen it on the news that he was missing. So why was the door opening before the 15 years had passed? I guess...I guess coming here wasn't a waste after all.

"And here I thought this gate only opened once every 15 years. How come you're opening it, insider?" I quipped back at him with humor but all I got in return was a straight face.

"Who told you that? The gate only opens from the inside and it can open whenever the people inside want to open it," the Asian man answered politely but it was obviously that he still help hostility to me by the look in his eyes which pretty much said 'fuck off'. I'd know - I've seen that look quite a lot on my travels.

Shrugging, I wondered how much had changed about this place and how much it differed from the information I had...yet that doesn't matter right now.

"Well, open up, old man. I wanna come in and learn all I can from the masters of K'un-Lun," I played with my intentions in clear sight. No point in hiding my intentions. If these guys are anything like how I expect them to be, being straightforward is the best cause of action.

"Learn from K'un-Lun?" the man asked in disbelief before he let out a forced polite laugh, "Your ambition is admirable...but ambition doesn't help when it comes to learning the things in K'un-Lun. Leave, outsider, before you embarrass yourself."

"Fucking hell," I whispered to myself before walking closer to the gate. Clasping the now opened gate, I pulled and since it was open...it opened even further.

I tried it the polite way. That should count for something.

The Asian man tried to stop the door but even with his Chi enhanced strength, he couldn't hope to stop my brute strength. Backing off and back into K'un-Lun, the man barked to his left and then to his right, "Erika! Mani! Intruder!" and within seconds, a tall black woman and a short white man appeared at his side.

All three of them looked like capable martial artists and they were definitely very strong...for humans.

The three of them ran at me in a sort of formation but upon seeing it, I knew it wouldn't be a problem and I walked to meet their charge. The first to attack was the woman who threw a strong palm strike that was aiming for my throat. With unnatural ease, I dodged the attack by shifting my head back a bit before I slammed my fist into her chin. Obviously with enough force to knock her out but not enough to kill her or leave any lasting damage.

Just as quickly, I lifted my right arm up and blocked a kick from the short Caucasian man. With the kick blocked, I brought my left hand up and formed a fist before throwing a devastating hit toward the man's hip, shattering it on contact.

In case he could somehow still get up, a swift kick to the face while he was down was more than enough to knock him out.

With the original Asian man still charging fiercely at me, I simply used my overwhelming physical advantage to send a kick to his head before he could react as soon as he was within my attack range. He went down easily enough.

Looking at the three people that would have caused me so much trouble only a month ago, I sighed. It wasn't that they were inherently stronger than the me from a month ago...but having a supernatural energy just made you that much stronger in this world.

Whatever.

Shaking my head, I turned around and went back to the gate before I closed it. If I found I couldn't open it later because of some specific way you needed to use your Chi/Qi to open it, I'd just force someone to open it for me at that time, so it didn't matter too much.

As I turned around, I heard a force speak from not far off, "You fight well, outsider. Your style is simple...yet efficient. Crude...yet strong. I would like to spar with you but such a thing will have to wait. The Council of Elders wishes to meet with you and discuss your reasoning for coming to K'un-Lun."

The man who appeared was a tall Asian man but unlike the other Asian man, this man was robustly built and much broader. His skin was a darker tone as well.

He looked strong. And not just for a human. He just looked...strong.

I want to spar with him as well. I could probably learn a thing or two off a guy like this. So, with that in mind, I gave a nod before walking over to the man who didn't seem capable of smiling. All he did in response to me walking over was nod.

Well, time to be domineering and force some martial artists to teach me their knowledge. Ahh~ Just like the old days~!