Chương 13: Chapter Thirteen
Moving out to the lone tree that Hit likes so much, you decide to meet up with the assassin. Wondering what's so important that he'd ask for you specifically, you greet him as he's apparently meditating or at the very least napping while leaning against the tree.
"Sup Hit. You asked for me?"
"Actually yes." He opens his eyes.
"I've been thinking about that whole Universe 9 debacle. You've handled yourself quite well back there. But as for your dealing with the Gods I'd say I don't agree."
You frown at that. "Why?"
"It was none of your business to step in, yet you did."
"I just couldn't sit by and watch them being sent back into that shithole!"
"Normally I'd agree... however what you did was quite reckless. You've been quite lucky thus far. But make no mistake that luck will run out sooner or later. And you'll experience the true dread of a Destroyer. If you'll listen to me you'll stay out of their business as much as possible."
"Says the guy actively working for him..."
"I don't work for him. I take contracts from him. And I'm different. Because if it came down to it I could defend myself. You... couldn't."
"...I'll try to keep that in mind. But I think you worry too much Hit."
"That's my job... But this is not why I actually called you here."
"Hmmm?"
"Back on Arcosia I sensed that your power skyrocketed and reached beyond the level I predicted you'd have... What was that about?"
"I... I saw the Universe 9 guys use their Ki and I learned it myself."
"Just from seeing it once, huh? Interesting.
You're a decent copycat or an excellent learner. Whatever it is, it might be your greatest strength."
You shrug. "I don't know where it comes from.
I always sucked at studying. Been a college dropout even."
"Perhaps you just haven't found what you're good at. But now you clearly did. And I remember promising to teach you. Now I'm interested in that. If you're as good as I think, you'll be able to push me to greater heights like I'm pushing you now soon enough. What do you say? Are you interested in my techniques or are they too... grizzly for your liking?"
"I learned from my mistake of judging you. I won't do that again!"
"Good. Then follow me, I got something to show you-"
"Actually... could it wait for a bit? There's something I wanted to ask you first."
"Hmmm? What is it?"
"Back on Arcosia... When fighting those tools.
I felt... I'm not sure what I felt. It felt as if, for a moment time stood still for me. That allowed me to dodge an incredibly dangerous attack and come out victorious. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"
Hit stares at you without emotion like he usually does. But perhaps this time his eyes were a bit more dull and clouded than usual, suggesting he's lost in thought. "I've heard of such a phenomenon. When fighters of high caliber clash, sometimes their well honed senses sharpen even further, making them believe the world has stopped for a second. Hold on-"
You hear some sort of a loud "ping" and for a moment it appears like the world is made out of glass and someone just smashed it. But that's not the worst part, the most terrifying of the whole thing was that you couldn't move a single muscle while that was going on. Once it stopped and things returned to normal you grabbed your knees and started gasping for air. Hit then continues.
"But it seems like that's not the case with you."
"Wha-what the hell did you do?!"
"I stopped time. You were only able to perceive it because you yourself broke through it once." Hit then frowns. "But to think you could accidentally pierce the time barrier is ludicrous... Regardless, you are now experiencing and perceiving time differently to most. Whether you realize it or not."
"And that's something... I can learn?"
"You already did... Now it's just a matter of bringing it out of you."
What follows that little exchange is one of the most brutal beat downs you could ever imagine and one of the most terrifying to boot. Stuck in place, fully aware of Hits timeskip you watch as he mercilessly beats the ever loving shit out of you over and over and over again. His reasoning is sound: To put you into a situation where you awaken the power through necessity.
And you try exactly that, you really do. Vibrating your whole body you try to break free of the time stop but you can't. Perhaps it's the overwhelming fear of not being able to defend yourself against such a brutal opponent, perhaps simple anxiety. It matters not. No matter how hard you try, you don't make any progress what so ever.
Hit finally stops to pulls his fist back and you collapse on the ground. Panting you look up at him. "I... Can't!"
"It's okay... It took me decades until I figured it out. For you to be able to do it at all is a small miracle. But we should stop." He says as you spit up some blood on the blue grass. "I purposefully didn't hit any of your vitals but the pain is already a bit much for your body.
If we keep going we might do some permanent damage to it."
Wiping your mouth clean you attempt to stand up but can't until Hit lends you a hand. "T-Thanks..."
"N-No..."
"What?"
"More... One more!"
Hit shakes his head. "You must've lost your mind. That or the pain is making you delirious. At this point if I strike you one more time with this intensity you'll suffer permanent nerve damage.And hitting you with less won't have any effect in your development."
But you refuse him outright. "My ancestors would frown on me if I was too scared to put my life on the line! No pain! No gain!"
Shoving the assassin away, you struggle to keep a steady posture without support. At first Hit looks like he's about to dismiss you for your stupidity but then notices something in your eyes. Though your body is weak, your eyes are still burning with the passion of a man who wishes to improve himself. A passion he understands very well.
"Very well..." Hit responds and raises his arms in a strange stance. "But you'd better be ready for this because this will leave a mark if it hits."
"WAIT!" You stop him quickly. "I want to do something first!"
Clenching your fists you begin to grunt and groan as you start exerting yourself and bring out your ki. The white vapor around your body expands until it's a proper blue aura like those of Cabba and the other Saiyans. To say that it's natural however would be a lie, if anything the vein popping out of your forehead is a good enough indicator that you are forcing the matter.
But you're not content with just that. Taking a deep breath you also focus your mind until your body is brimming with psychic energies. The Ki around your body begins to move unnaturally, bending and curving around randomly in the air. Now bearing your white teeth as you're gritting you roar at Hit.
"DO IT!"
He nods.
Time stops. The world becomes like glass once more and you see the assassin springing into action. His fist coming down on you like Gods judgment. It's quick. Incredibly so. Fast enough that Hit wouldn't even need his Time Skip to be capable of killing you with it. But that's how it should be.
Every part of your mind strives for that one singular thing and every cell in your body moves according to that overwhelming, unifying will. The will to survive. At first it's a twitch in the finger, then a movement in the hand and finally as the wall crumbles brick by brick your entire arm unfreezes and moves to intercept the incoming attack.
You catch Hits hand and as a shockwave washes over you and causes your hair to flutter you manage to let out a cocky little smile before your body goes back to being stiff and rigid as the Time Stop resettles. Finally color returns to the world and the strange glassy environment disappears. Hit pulls back his hand and swiftly pockets it.
"Well look at that." He smiles. "Looks like I was wrong after all."
"Heh... Thanks for the compliment.
Now if you'll excuse me... I'm about to shit myself!"
But as you're about to take your leave and collapse from exhaustion you hear footsteps coming up from behind you. "Hello boys! Are you two having fun?" Vados speaks up.
"What's wrong Vados?" You ask her, seeing how she's clearly worried about something. Or at the very least slightly concerned.
"I just received a notification and thought you might be interested to hear it. Apparently somebody just shattered the space-time continuum. Strange, isn't it?"
You start whistling nervously. "Gosh who would do something like that?" You try your best not to sweat... and then sweat real hard.
"What's wrong with him?" Vados asks Hit.
"He thinks it's him because we were practicing time skip."
"Oh? Oh! Good for you! And how is it going?"
"He just pulled it off."
"Ara ara! That's very nice. And kinda adorable how you think it's you. But if that were the case my wand would beep whenever Hit left the house. No... It was from Universe 7."
Hit raises an eyebrow. "Goku?"
"Most likely."
"Can you show me?"
"That's the strange part. I can't. The amount of power being thrown around caused too much interference. But it was enough to break space itself. I dare say, that's probably even more power than what was thrown around in the Tournament of Power."
"Are you saying Goku surpassed Jiren?"
She shakes her head. "I don't know. Either that or he encountered someone who did."
Hit closes his fist and squeezes it hard.
"If that's the case I'm even more behind than I thought." He turns to look at you. "I'm glad we met. I think our little training sessions already helped me grow. So we must do this more!"
You nod. "Sure thing but... allow me to pass out before that!"
"Oh dear!" Vados reaches out and catches you before you fall. Placing her wand on you, she restores you to full health. "Poor thing.
You really pushed yourself too hard. Just come to me and I'll kiss your boo boos for you."
"Heh... Don't tempt me or I might regularly start falling down some stairs."
She chuckles and pats you on the back.
"Run around now! I believe Cabba is getting a bit impatient."
"Okay mooom!"
Heading over to the Saiyan you immediately notice that something's... off about him.
His usual uniform has been replaced by a long sleeved shirt and he's wearing actual pants instead of his usual shorts. And to complete the look he even has a cape attached to his armor this time.
"Are you going to a party?"
"S-Sort of... This is our formal uniform."
He hands you an envelope.
Opening it you start reading it out loud.
"Dear Recipient! By order of His Majesty, King Sadala you've been invited to the royal court to present the Case of- Yada yada yada...
So... an invitation to the King eh? You think you're getting promoted or-"
"N-No..." Cabba then pulls out an envelope eerily similar to the one in your hand. "This is mine. That's yours..."
"...WHAT?!"
"A-After I made my report and sent the evidence back to HQ we did a raid.
It was a resounding success. But after the SDF confirmed that it's indeed Tuffle tech they... got antsy. Now King Sadala got wind of it and wants me to present the case for him."
"BUT WHY ME?!"
"B-Because..." He starts scratching his cheek.
"I may have mentioned you in my reports."
You bury your face in your palm hard. "Urgh...
So now I've gotta appear before royalty?
Is that what you're saying?!"
"Y-You don't have to. Technically. Since you aren't SDF. B-But please... Don't let me do this alone! I'm so nervous I'm itching all over!"
You grumble under your breath. "Okay fine... but you owe me. AGAIN!"
"Oh thank you thank you thank you Eric!
I don't know what would've done without you."
"Just a minute while I get some snacks and call the girls."
"Erm... Caulifla and Kale can't come."
"Why?"
"They are wanted fugitives..."
*sigh* "You know you are pissing me off to no end right now..."
After grabbing your stuff and putting on a uniform which hasn't been stained to all hell, you enter Cabbas ship and he begins to debrief you about the situation. "Basically after we liberated planet Smog we got to dismantling the crime rings that were running things up until that point. It was difficult work but we managed. What's more important however is that we started squeezing information from the grunts that worked under the bosses."
"And I assume one of them started singing."
"Like a little bird. We got information about how they make the trade, what they give in exchange of the tech, how often they strike a deal, so on and so forth. Basically we already have an entire plan not to just stop this outflow of forbidden tech but to do some real damage at the source."
"Yeah, that's all well and good but I still don't get why you need ME!"
"Look... It's no secret that you played a crucial role in the whole thing. I'm afraid us saiyans are not so good at espionage."
"So you want me to help with this little plan of yours? Is that what you want?"
"B-Basically. But King Sadala wouldn't want to ask such a thing from you over a scouter or anything. He already knows the whole plan, so the presentation will be more for the court than anyone else. Once we showcase our plan he'll probably ask you to aid in it."
"Couldn't you just hire someone like Hit?"
"We could... but you've already proven yourself! You're a good person and most importantly, reliable. That means more to us Saiyans." Cabba then looks out the window and speaks up. "We're here! Planet Sadala!"
The planet was a lush green paradise, and by green you mean REALLY green. The vast majority of the planet is covered in water like Earth but the rest is almost exclusively covered in forests. Snow is present at the caps and scattered throughout the planet are patches of grasslands, savannas and various other types of vegetations but no deserts.
"Whoa..."
"Impressive huh?"
"You could say that. Say... Are those rain forests or regular ones?"
"What's a rain forest?"
"Thank... GOD!"
Cabba then brings the ship down to a landing pad after asking for landing clearance. As the ships ramp extends he stands up from the captains seat and leads you out there. Taking a few steps out of the ship he stops to take a deep breath. "Ahhhh... Smells like home!"
Meanwhile you let out a few odd coughs.
*cough cough* "Man... This planet sure is rich in oxygen..." *phew* "Give me a minute... I need to adjust. Also, do I feel heavier?"
"Oh... OH! T-The gravity here is ten times that of Earth! Sorry I forgot to mention that!"
"THAT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT DETAIL YOU TWAT!"
"Hold on I'll get you something, pretty sure there are spare gravity compen-"
"mine, mine, mine, mine, Mine, MIne, MINe-"
"Do you hear something?" You ask Cabba.
"Oh no....."
"MINE!" Suddenly you see a shadow jumping out at you and pounces on Cabba. You see the boys body being lifted up and squeezed REAL good. "LITTLE CABBA! I KNEW I FELT YOU! Oh how I missed you! We've got so... much... catching up to do!"
"GAH! E-Eric! H-Help! Can't... B-Breathe!"
*crack* You hear his spine.
"Oh noooo... Hold out Cabba I'm coming..."
You say as you're writhing on the ground, struggling against the gravity. "It's okay... don't help me anyone. I'm okay. Only about to shit out my organs but otherwise I'm fine." Gritting your teeth you focused your ki around your body, trying to fight the effects of ten times, fucking gravity. Luckily you manage to stand up and get to watch the show as this Saiyan girl is playing Cabba like a bagpipe.
The boys lungs expel the air through his mouth, causing him to let out a little wheeze.
"Oh this feels right! Maaan you haven't changed a BIT!"
Crossing your arms you speak up. "D'awww what a cute couple."
"W-Wha- GAH!"
"Hmmm? What? Oh I'm sorry." The girl then drops Cabba who appears to be win worse shape than you were a moment ago. "I didn't realize you're there. Who.... are you?"
"Name's Eric. Nice to meet you Cabbas girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? Pffffhahahahahaha! That's adorable!"
Cabba stands up and as he does he tries to check if he still has a larynx or not. Letting out some whistling wheezes he attempts to straighten his back as he motions to the lady.
"E-Eric... *ahem* Meet Princess Azuki. First daughter of King Sadala. Azuki this is Eric Asulf, an Earthling."
"Earthling huh? Never heard of you before."
"Trust me, nobody else did."
Cabba then speaks up. "I've been friends with the princess pretty from the day I was born. Were it not for her regularly beating me up, I don't think I would've become one of the Sadala Forces most elite fighters."
"Hah! That's a good way of looking at it little Cabba!"
"That still doesn't mean I like it... But this reminds me, what happened to Caya? I... never would've imagined you two splitting up."
"Split up?" Azuki asks.
"H-HUH?!"
"BIG BRO CABBA!" Suddenly a shorter Saiyan jumps out and onto Cabbas shoulders where she proceeds to choke the life out of him with her thighs.
"That's my little sister. Princess Caya. Nice to meet'cha!"
Cabba continues to get his throat tightly squeezed by a pair of thighs as he screams for help, or at least release from his pain and suffering. "CAYA! C-Can't... Breathe! ERIC! HELP!"
As he continues to struggle however the elder sister turns to you and starts observing you up close. She begins stroking her chin as she hums to herself. "Hmmmm... You almost look like a Saiyan!"
"Yeah. I get that a lot."
"I bet." She then flicks a strand of your hair aside. "But it's still noticeable. Kinda cute with that exotic hair of yours. And with muscles like these... You could make a Saiyan woman yours easily."
Feeling your shirt tighten around your neck, you pull it free so you can breathe freely.
"Oof... T-Thanks, I guess."
"Anyways, what's the big idea?" Azuki turns back to Cabba. "How come you're back little Cabba? Did you miss us?"
"AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her little sister giggles as she continues to choke the life out of the boy.
"Oh right... I should probably stop her."
"Yeah that'd probably be for the best."
"Okay. Caya!" Her sister looks up from her prey and cautiously awaits her sisters command.
"We'll have plenty of time with our favorite punching bag. Let him go!"
"Okay!" The spunky, shortstack girl jumps off from the lucky bastard and he gets to breathe once again.
"T-Thanks Azuki..." Cabba rubs his throat.
"You only get off easy once Cabba, remember that! Anyways I assume you're here to meet father, correct? Huh... You know I was gonna bail on that. But now that I know it's you, we might just check it out."
"Great..." Cabba responds. "By the way, do you know if Prince Sadala will make it?"
"I 'unno. Probably." She then turns to you while still talking to Cabba. "But say, your friend looks like he could use a tour guide. What do you say little Earthling? Interested in the... local sights?"
You look at Cabba who is furiously shaking his head when the two aren't looking. He practically begs you to refuse.
Deciding that trusting Cabba is probably the way to go with this one, you try your best to politely refuse the nice lady in front of you.
"Sorry Miss but I wouldn't want to make the King wait." Cabba lets out an audible sigh but hushes himself when the girls turn towards the noise.
"Aww, that's too bad. In that case we'll meet you at the palace! Come on Caya!"
"See you later Cabba!"
*gulp* "T-Thanks for that. I'm not sure I could endure them for too long."
"No problem." Then you smack him in the face at full force.
"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"The ten times gravity you dumb asshole!
Now help me get this stuff..."
After that you proceed to unload the "gift" you've prepared for the king since you assume that's the polite thing to do when meeting royalty. It's not much , just some breadsticks and some spicy cheese dip for them. But now that you realize how big the royal family is and remember that these are Saiyans... you may have packed too little.
Regardless of that you head straight for the palace afterwards, only barely being able to take in the sights on the way there.
Planet Sadala seems to have a strange mixture between Aztec and Spartan culture, most likely due to their environment and their nature as a warrior race. They built large stone structures that tower over the forests which serve as large mega cities. But the planet has no countries or borders to speak of where everything belongs under King Sadala.
And apparently the people here are really into eugenics since a persons worth is mainly determined by their strength, meaning that the most powerful warriors are quite popular and they often breed exclusively with the strongest females. The simplicity of their culture almost brings a smile to your face. Darwin would be proud.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực