A Temporary Alliance (20.1)

Game

Thoughts

"Talking"

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Gray opened his eyes, a white ceiling greeting him. He grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position, pushing off the soft bed under him as he looked down at his body. He was shirtless, wearing just his Saiyan under-armor pants. His body itself looked almost completely healed, with just a few bruises coating his previously marred hands.

The room around him was small with blue walls - the bed being the only object in there.

Where the hell am I? Is this the lookout, or am I fuckin' dead?

He quickly pulled up his stat sheet, glancing over at it.

Due to barely escaping death, your [Zenkai Boost] skill has been activated!

[Zenkai Boost] - Your body grows stronger by fighting.

For surviving against an opponent over twice as strong as you: +100 to all stats.

Due to your near-death being self-inflicted through [Ki-Sickness]: Zenkai Boost is 95% less effective. Stop trying to cheat the system!

[Alert!] A 1% LUK event has been hit! [Zenkai Boost] is twice as effective!

Gray Tanaki:

[Saiyan D-Class Recruit]

Age: 15

Wallet: 119,650 Coins

Lvl: 17 (80,000/750,000 XP)

PL: 171,465,200

Available Points: 50

HP: 241,600/241,600

TKI: 457,225/457,225

STR: 525

AGI: 710

END: 460

INT: 575

CHA: 215

LUK: 515

KI: 795

HREG: 496

EREG: 496

Skills: [Observe LVL 5], [Running LVL 6], [Determination LVL 4], [Ki Control LVL 9], [Ki Gun LVL 6]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 4], [KI Suppression LVL 5], [Ki Sense LVL 3], [Pushup LVL 5], [Punch LVL 5], [Kick LVL 5], [Jump LVL 4], [Flight LVL 4], [Prediction LVL 2], [Zenkai Boost LVL 1], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 1], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 1], [Mouth-Beam LVL 1], [Ki-Blade LVL 1], [Cooking LVL 1], [Ki Array LVL 3], [Ki Explosion LVL 1]

Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]

Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 2]

Party: [Saeko, Celia, Asuna, Ranfan]

Not dead. I get that it's to prevent cheesing the system by repeatedly injuring yourself and chugging Senzu beans, but I wasn't even trying to, damn game. I just almost died from using all my Ki.

Gray blinked.

And, a luck event? I'm glad the points dumped in luck are paying off, but why does it have to pay off the one time the Zenkai gets nerfed to shit? How unlucky can I be?

Gray didn't have any more time to think, as the blue door on the wall swung open, a voice hollering in, "Finally awake?"

Gray was not prepared for who walked through the door, using all his willpower to keep his face controlled as a green man walked through the door.

[Stern] Piccolo:

[Namekian Warrior]

Age: 9

PL: ?

HP: ?

TKI: ?

Reputation: 50/100 (Positively-Viewed)

[Stern] Modifier - Individuals with this modifier will be naturally stern and unbending.

Piccolo?!

For a second, Gray had a surreal feeling. It was one thing to see a side character, like Ranfan or Nam, or to see a couple-episode villain like Raditz, but seeing one of the core cast members was entirely different. A character he'd spent countless hours watching on a screen was now in front of him.

Standing in the doorway was a tall green-skinned man, fit with a purple training uniform with a large white cloak wrapping around his neck.

He's the fourth power I sensed up here? I didn't even think he was alive - I don't know why Demon King Piccolo would've spit him out if Goku isn't here.

It wasn't like he could ask the man. Gray simply tensed his arms as he stared at the man.

"Why'd you help me?" Gray said, keeping his face blank.

I'm glad he did, but I didn't expect that. Maybe they're super grateful I saved Ranfan and Nam?

"Hah, I wasn't going to. Don't feel like you owe me anything," Piccolo responded bluntly, "I just went down after I sensed that attack of yours. It was impressive."

"...Thanks?" Gray said, feeling like there was more coming as Piccolo stared at him with a deadly serious look in his eyes.

"How'd you do it?"

The [Ankoku Rasen]? He must mean the spinning part. I just kinda ripped it off from Naruto. Honestly, there wasn't much thought behind it. I just had a feeling that a spinning attack would be more effective at ripping through his defense.

"To make it spin? I just moved it around with my hands. I'm sure anyone could do it, but it hurts like a-"

"Stop playing around!" Piccolo cut him off abruptly, an annoyed look on his face, "Not the spinning part."

"...Then what part?" Gray asked blankly, genuinely not knowing why the Namekian seemed so confused about his technique.

"...Seriously? You're being serious?" Piccolo said, looking at him disbelievingly.

Am I missing something here?

"Yeah?"

"You just did that? You did it, without even knowing what you did?" Piccolo asked incredulously, his green face twisting.

"Can we stop talking in circles? Just tell me what you're talking about," Gray sighed, pushing himself off the bed as he stood up, locking eyes with Piccolo.

"How did you get this strong and you don't know?" Piccolo muttered, "Whatever. Follow me."

Gray nodded, following Piccolo as they left the room. They walked down a long white hallway, and then stepped out into a large open area. The area was circular, cutting off at the edge into freefall through the clouds below. There were trees scattered around, but besides them and the large building they just left, the area was barren. The bright sun shined down upon them, letting Gray know that he'd probably only been out for a couple of hours.

So, I am on the lookout.

Piccolo walked over to the edge of the circular area, staring off into the horizon, "You know what energy is, right?"

"Of course," Gray said, then stopped as he thought about it.

Actually… I don't? I kinda just feel the Ki and use it. This might be a good time to understand it more.

"But, give me the run down anyway," Gray said before Piccolo could speak again, "I'm an alien, y'know? We probably don't think about it in the same way."

Piccolo sighed, "Whatever. Everyone has energy flowing through their body, right?"

"Yeah, but only some people can control it, and it's called 'Ki.'" Gray continued.

"That's what the human martial artists call it. I just stick with 'energy,'" Piccolo replied evenly, not questioning why a Saiyan called it Ki as well, "You can channel that energy through your body to enhance it, and then outside your body to create energy attacks, like this."

Piccolo held his palm out, firing out a small Ki blast that exploded a few feet in front of him, "That was a weak blast. Even if that connected with someone, it wouldn't do anything if they had a decent amount of Ki enhancing them. You know why, right?"

"Because the blast doesn't have much Ki in it?" Gray answered.

"Right. It's a quick attack, that only takes up the minimum amount of Ki that your body can thrust out at once," Piccolo nodded as he held up his hand, "You can condense that minimum amount into a smaller area to make an attack that pierces deeper, like the one you used to finish off that man."

"The Ki-bullet," Gray nodded.

I pretty much just do a normal Ki-blast, but smush it down into a tiny bullet shape.

"Then, if you want a stronger technique, you need to charge it. You channel that minimum amount to one central point, and then do that repeatedly until you release it," Piccolo said, as he raised his palm to his head. He tensed his hand for a moment, and then a vein popped out of his face as he shouted abruptly, "[MASENKO!]"

An orange beam shot out from his hand, extending out for a few moments before it exploded into a wave of orange flares.

So, you have a limit as to how much Ki you can release instantly, and I'm just spam-funneling that amount of Ki into my attack?

The theory behind it made sense, as Gray was just forcing his Ki to funnel into his Kokuyo. When he needed more power, he'd just force more into the attack.

"Right," Gray nodded, still not seeing why Piccolo was so confused about his attack, "I don't get where this is going. You just explained it, right? That's what I did when I did the final attack against Dorro."

"No," Piccolo shot down his words as he continued staring into the sky in front of them, "Your attack should be impossible. Our energy is our life force. Every living thing needs energy to survive. When we channel our energy into techniques, our body prevents us from passing a certain threshold to protect ourselves. Even if you put everything you could into an attack, you wouldn't die from it. If you really forced it, you might pass out, or even become crippled, but your body would never allow you to expend enough energy to risk death."

Huh? But, Chioatzu and Vegeta literally blow themselves up in the show. Even Kolra tried to self-destruct on me.

"That's wrong," Gray said simply, "I've seen a fair share of opponents blow themselves up to try and take someone down with them."

"You're right," Piccolo nodded, confusing Gray even further, "There's a way to bypass the threshold. One way is through killing yourself - if your body accepts that it's going to die, then it'll allow you to release all the energy you have. But, there's no going back once you initiate this method. Once your body accepts it'll die, and goes over the threshold, it'll continue to use your energy until you die. Once you decide to sacrifice yourself, your death is guaranteed. The other way is through techniques."

Piccolo placed his finger to his forehead, his face becoming immensely focused. The area became deathly silent as Gray watched Piccolo's energy flood upwards to his fingers, his face sweating in concentration. The seconds stretched on, leading to minutes as the power built up. Then, abruptly, Piccolo shouted again.

"[SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!]"

A thin orange beam shot from his fingers, launching forward with an intense speed. Swirling lines of orange Ki circled it, following it as it shot into the horizon. Another few seconds passed, and then Piccolo lowered his hand, the beam cutting off.

"You see how long that took?" Piccolo said as his breathing became a bit heavier, "If I want to break through my body's natural limit, I need intense focus and time. Doing that while dodging tree missiles wouldn't be possible. I thought you were trying to take him down with you, but you lived. Not only that, you lived with enough energy to launch another finishing attack. You used your energy again, even when doing so meant putting you on the verge of death. It wasn't a fluke."

Gray caught on to where this was headed.

I just kept pumping Ki into the ball until I felt like I was about to die. I didn't need a bunch of time, or to be completely focused. Is it because of the Gamer System? I've gotten low on Ki plenty of times, and the only thing stopping me from bottoming out is myself.

"Then, you're just wrong, right?" Gray asked as he locked eyes with the man, "If a technique like that isn't possible, then that's wrong. I just did it. It is possible."

"Which doesn't make sense," Piccolo bit back, "This isn't just my opinion. They're rules. I'm connected to the man who knows the most about energy on the entire planet - and maybe the entire universe. For my entire life, it's been a fact that you can't surpass your body's natural limit. You can grow stronger to expand it, but never go beyond it. If you do, you'll die. When I created the special beam cannon, I thought I was a genius. That I might be the only person in the entire universe that could push through that boundary."

He turned around, looking Gray dead in his eyes, "Then, some kid comes along and does the same thing. Not just the same thing - you did it better. You did it while dodging attacks, and it didn't even take you a minute."

So, It's probably just because of the system, but I look like a genius?

Gray's eyes widened as he realized something.

No. I'm not the genius. I'm not ahead. This world is just behind.

It suddenly made sense to Gray why Piccolo thought his 'new technique', which was the special beam cannon, would let him take over the world in the show before Raditz showed up.

Because he did what no one else had ever done.

This was a world without Goku - a world where Goku never went to train with King Kai. While these rules might be obvious in this world, you need otherworldly knowledge to go beyond them. Goku learned the Kaio-Ken, something that allowed him to bypass his body's natural protective limits. A technique that willingly hurts its users to give them more power, but also allows the body to not give up.

The fighters here are stronger. They're smarter. But - they don't have Goku leading the charge.

When Goku came back from King Kai's, he showed the world that they were stagnant. That you had to take risks to become stronger. He used the spirit bomb - a technique that didn't use your energy, but the energy from the world around you. Something that no one had ever considered.

Goku pushed the boundaries of what was possible. There hadn't been a Super Saiyan for a thousand years, and then once Goku achieved it, suddenly it became common. Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Goten - the once impossible-to-reach form, which was more myth than reality, can be achieved by a couple of kids.

But, I know.

Gray hadn't realized it - he'd just been mimicking what he saw in the show. Goku battled until his bones broke - until he had nothing more to give, or until he won. He launched Kamehamha's that took everything out of him, pushing him to complete exhaustion. PIccolo had never seen it. He didn't even think it was possible to truly put everything you had into an attack. But Gray had seen it. He knew.

It's like Ultra Instinct. A form that focuses solely on your body's instincts to fight. No one would think of that - after all, why would you try to stop thinking during a fight? Thinking quickly is how you stay alive. No one would think of it - until a stronger being shows up, and says it better. Then, it doesn't sound so dumb anymore.

Gray locked eyes with Piccolo.

So… about those more fighting styles I wanted?

Gray resisted letting a smile form on his face.

"Teach me how to fight, and I'll teach you how wrong your reality is."