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Chapter 6: Hidden Potential​

I floated down from the sky, leaving my capital ship in orbit. The world was a beautiful green gem. The green waters were filled with fish, crabs, even large dinosaur-looking creatures and serpents that looked like dragons. I could also see lots of birds flying around in the air and dinos on the ground. It was different from what I expected to be honest. Some places seemed dry or desertified, but most of the world was healthy on the surface at least. There was an ominous nature to the desertification though. Magical even.

I learned something called Spirit Control from my master, though it was basically just a blanket term for something I already had naturally. Using my Spirit to manipulate and control Ki. Anyway, it was just a more honed and advanced version that took a little while to train. Not that I've mastered it, but I've got time. At the very least, I could definitely feel the weirdness of the world.

What kinda disaster could have occurred that was powerful enough to kill off most of the Namekians? Especially if the past Namekians were more powerful than the current ones. It only takes 10k Power Level to blow up a planet. If you have thousands of Power Level, then you should easily be able to survive nuclear explosions and potentially move FTL. They had starships and were involved in trading with other civilizations in the galaxy, so why the fuck did they get wiped out by a planetary cataclysm? It doesn't even make any sense unless there's some magical bullshit involved.

"Halt!" A loud voice shouted as a green-skinned, bald-headed elf-eared dude with antennas on his forehead quickly flew up in front of me. Well, he wasn't only green. The Namekian had bright pink shoulders, biceps and abs. Looked pretty cool, not gonna lie.

Spoiler

The outfit was also pretty badass. Baggy white pants, pointy brown shoes, blue sash around his waist, long purple sleeveless cape-shirt-vest thing, bunch of white cloth around his neck… Typical Namekian clothing. Was weird seeing him in real life though.

"Why have you come to Namek, Stranger?" He frowned and crossed his beefy arms in front of his chest, emanating a powerful but surprisingly subdued Ki. I could only feel about 4k on the surface, but sensing deeper, I could tell that he had about ten times that much Battle Power.

"Although I've heard the crabs here are to die for and the sights are quite beautiful… I think it's pretty fucking obvious that I'm here to make some Wishes." The moment I said that, the Namekian scowled and got into a fighting stance. I rolled my eyes and complained, "Even Slug didn't last a few seconds against me. You think you'll be able to slow me down at all?"

"I don't know who Slug is, but no matter how powerful you might be, I won't go down without a fight!" He released all of his hidden Ki and the world around us shook from his power! Then it went silent as he was pressed down from the sky and face-planted onto the ground.

"Seriously." I floated down calmly and casually, landing next to his head as he struggled to push off the ground, "You're gonna have to train a little harder if you wanna have a chance at facing me. Hell, maybe your leader will be interested in trading for some training equipment and technology?" I walked over his head and back, then kicked off his ass and sent him down into the depths of the planet. The world shook, but it wouldn't break. Not that big of a deal really.

"So the time has come…" A deep and powerful voice entered my mind as I approached the weird white bug-like building. The door automatically opened and I floated inside, looking at the giant and ancient fat bastard who was struggling to open his eyes to look at me.

"Probably not the way you expected, huh?" I smirked and hovered in front of him, crossing my arms as I asked, "Are you disappointed?"

"No." He opened his mouth and the room shook, "The future I saw was far more… Tragic."

"It always is, isn't it?" I shrugged, "Prophecies love to catastrophize shit. Show us the worst possible futures. Well, maybe not the worst future, but pretty damn bad. I just hope this version of events doesn't lead to the whole Universe being erased from existence or the entire timeline being obliterated."

"You're very wise for one so young." Grand Elder Guru chuckled and then coughed a few times, "And very kind, for one so powerful."

"I'm older than I look." I smiled wryly and shrugged, "And much weaker than I seem."

"Aren't we all?" He looked into my eyes for a few seconds, likely noticing the strangeness of my existence. But he didn't comment on it. Even the Yardrats didn't seem to care about my past life bullshit, because in Dragon Ball… That was actually pretty standard. I mean, reincarnation is literally something that everyone here has experienced many times. Whether they remember their past lives is another matter. They're not supposed to… But having past life memories also isn't very strange.

"I'm curious. Why didn't you ask Porunga to resurrect your people?" I rubbed my smooth chin, "Or at the very least, help you make more new ones. Could've even asked him to bring Slug and Kami back. Could've raised them on Namek."

"It was their time." He spoke calmly and solemnly, "Just as it will soon be my time to pass onto the next world, the next life… A new adventure." He shook his head, "I've been holding on for so long. Same as my elders before me. There comes a time when you must let go… My many siblings and cousins sacrificed themselves so that I may live. So that I could have enough strength to perpetuate our race." He coughed a few more times and let out a long sigh, "We could not stop the devastation, could not reverse it afterwards… It was inevitable and necessary."

"In other words, they didn't really die. They're just a part of you now. So you couldn't really revive the younger generations because… I get it." I nodded calmly and sensed deeper into his body, his Spirit. I could feel the separate parts of him. Like thousands of strands of rope tied together to make Guru strong enough to hold up the fate of his people… But now they were old, weathered and frayed. He was dying, naturally, and he didn't want to live forever.

"I knew you would come here for Porunga, though this is much sooner than I expected." His voice was raspier than before. He reached out with his gigantic right hand, "Come… Let me unleash your hidden potential… While I still have the strength."

"Grand Elder Guru!" The Namekian finally emerged from the ground behind me and rushed over to stand between the two of us, "Stay back!"

"Nail… It's okay. Everything is okay…" Guru breathed slowly and loudly, placing his giant hand on the back of his son's head. With a smile, he told him, "I know you want to hold onto me forever, my Son… But there always comes a time of parting." His eyes glowed and then so did Nail's!

"No! Please, Grand Elder! Father!" The poor bastard started crying very dramatically as his Ki skyrocketed! From about 40k to about 400k! That's fucking ridiculous, right?! Like seriously, that's not a temporary boost but a permanent buff! Judging by how OP Krillin eventually got later, not to mention Goku and Gohan, it was definitely more than just an immediate power boost.

"Amazing." I sighed as Nail knelt down on the floor in front of me, still blocking my way, "Are you sure you wanna unlock my potential? I can wait. I'm not in any hurry…" And I was worried he'd die and I wouldn't be able to use his Dragon Balls.

"I will be fine." Guru beckoned me to come closer with his giant green hand, "Come, Child. Let me unlock your true potential."

Surprisingly enough, Nail didn't stop me. He just stood up and floated to the left side of his father, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. For fuck's sake, the old man just wants to die and reincarnate. If I spent a century in Guru's condition, I'd probably wanna die too. Hell, most humans never live that long in the first place!

His massive hand hovered over my shiny purple head as I closed my eyes. I could feel something in the back of my mind, no, the back of my very Soul, being pulled to the surface. I felt lightheaded and dizzy. Then everything was clearer. It was strange. A weird sensation. A small flicker of something greater. A spark of something I couldn't quite grasp yet.

"It is done." Guru breathed out a long sigh, pulling his arm back and leaning into his gigantic chair. He seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open after that. I tried infusing him with Ki to heal him, but there was nothing to heal. His body was fine, for the most part. It was his Spirit that was weary and exhausted.

"Rest well, Grand Elder." I smiled and turned to the distraught Son, "The Dragon Balls."

"You can wait." He glared at me, "Summoning the Dragon would wake the Grand Elder."

"That's fine. I'm not in any hurry." I really wasn't. In fact, I actually had too much time. I did have some training I needed to do though. Not to get stronger, but to figure out how to condense my Ki more effectively. Make myself weaker, or at least appear weaker on the surface.

Why would I wanna announce my presence to everyone in the Universe? Especially when there were monsters out there that were much stronger than I was…

In the meantime, I should probably figure out just what the fuck my hidden potential actually is? I didn't get 10 times stronger all of a sudden. I just felt like something inside of me awakened. Not sure what. Is it Divine Ki? Divinity? Something else?

Either way, after watching Guru bring out Nail's Hidden Potential and then experiencing it myself, I think I finally understand how it works. There's definitely a cost. It's not like I could or even would freely unlock the potential of random trash mobs. But for my loyal and most powerful subordinates? Especially if I can actually make a few friends. Then… Maybe they would at least have a chance at keeping up with me?

I'm pretty sure there's a power level ceiling somewhere. I'll probably hit it sooner rather than later. After all, something ever present in Dragon Ball is that it's almost impossible to get stronger if you don't have a goal to chase after. Or maybe an enemy to overcome.

After the Cell Saga, the Z Fighters got a little complacent. Even with Goku training like crazy in the afterlife, he still wasn't insanely overpowered. And that was with him actually fighting enemies in the afterlife. He wasn't training himself like a monk the whole time. He competed in some tournament, if I remember correctly.

Then there's Frieza, the real one. For decades he never even considered getting stronger. It only took him months to go from a trash with only 120 million Power Level to a monster capable of fighting Super Saiyan Gods when he didn't even have Godly Ki!

I'm definitely not training that fast. I wouldn't even know how to train that fast. How did the Canon Frieza train? Who the fuck knows? Maybe he pulled a goddamn Saiyama and just did some basic exercises, then the plot pushed him into the Dragon Ball Super bullshit power range?

I'll focus on transformations first, then maybe head over to Earth to learn from Kami? After all, even if he's super weak, he does have a lot he could teach me. As for Planet Vegeta…

Hmm, am I forgetting anything else? I mean, aside from Yardrat, Namek, Earth and Vegeta, are there any other important planets in the Milky Way? I honestly can't remember anymore. Maybe I should ask the dragon for perfect and endless memory? I definitely want Transcendental Immortality like that asshole Zamasu achieved, otherwise I might get deleted from existence sooner or later. Not just my body but even my Soul. Dragon Ball is scary that way.

If I still have a third wish afterwards… I wonder what I should pick?

"Well, I have plenty of time to think about it." I floated in the air above the planet and then picked a random mountain to sit down on the green peak. I looked out at the grass and green water, even the air was kinda greenish. The smell wasn't bad though. It was very natural and comfortable.

"If I ask for magic resistance, will it affect the dragon's ability to grant my wishes in the future?" I rubbed my chin and frowned, "And if I ask for the dragon to teach me how to make more dragons, would it agree. Even if I could create my own dragon, would it be worthwhile? After all, it definitely costs something to Summon the dragon. Do I really wanna risk my life and soul to grant myself a few wishes that I could probably achieve through other means?"

Magic itself was pretty damn extensive in Dragon Ball. I can think of countless examples of magical means that can accomplish common wishes. Even Master Roshi had immortality through other means.

"Maybe I need to ask for Eternal Youth too? But that might also be a double-edged wish. They all might. That's the problem with wishes. Even if it's not as ridiculous as most Genie bullshit, Porunga and Shenron might still fuck me over intentionally or unintentionally."

Have to think of ways to word the wishes to avoid getting tricked. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:because_I_can, admanct, KopiLoki and 191 others