Wishes, Wishes and even more Wishes

"Outsider, your strength is truly remarkable," the Grand Elder said slowly, his ancient voice resonating through the chamber. "The enemy who seeks to destroy Namek in the future would be no match for you. Go now and find Nail. I've instructed him to gather the village Elders who guard our Dragon Balls."

With a respectful bow, Karnel left the Elder's dwelling and emerged into the Namekian daylight.

Nail stood waiting, surrounded by seven Namekian Elders, each cradling one of the planet's magnificent Dragon Balls.

"I have followed the Grand Elder's instructions," Nail announced, his tone still cool with suspicion. "The seven Elders have brought forth our sacred Dragon Balls."

Karnel observed Nail with a slight frown but remained silent.

The group proceeded to a clearing in the village where the Elders carefully arranged the seven Dragon Balls in a circular pattern. As they came together, the orbs began to pulse with golden light.

Nail reluctantly stepped forward, his distrust of this powerful outsider evident in every movement. After a moment's hesitation, he faced the seven glowing spheres and called out in the ancient Namekian tongue: "Come forth, Porunga! Appear and grant our wishes!"

Namek's perpetually green sky suddenly darkened as storm clouds gathered. Thunder rumbled across the landscape, and a brilliant bolt of lightning erupted from the Dragon Balls, spiraling upward like some cosmic genie escaping its lamp. The mighty dragon of Namek, Porunga, materialized in the sky above them.

"Well, that's certainly different from Earth's dragon," Karnel muttered, craning his neck to take in the sight of the colossal entity towering thousands of meters overhead. "Shenron looks almost elegant by comparison. Porunga here seems built for intimidation rather than aesthetics... impressive nonetheless."

"Those who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls," Porunga's voice boomed as his crimson eyes glowed menacingly, "state your wishes. Any three desires within my power shall be granted."

Nail stared at Porunga with wide eyes, clearly awestruck despite having heard stories of the dragon his entire life. After several seconds, he regained his composure.

"Outsider, this is our sacred dragon Porunga, created by our Grand Elder. Tell me what you desire."

"Nail, ask Porunga to grant me eternal youth," Karnel replied, a wave of anticipation surging through him. His eyes gleamed with excitement.

No being truly lives forever, Karnel thought. Though he was barely into his second decade of life with plenty of growth potential ahead, even if he matched the longevity of a Destroyer God like Beerus, his Saiyan physiology would eventually fail him after a few thousand years. Powerful as he was, death would find him eventually—unless he changed that equation now.

Hearing that such a profound wish would be used to grant immortality to this stranger, Nail remained silent for a long moment before reluctantly speaking to Porunga in the ancient Namekian dialect.

"Porunga, my first wish is to grant eternal youth to this man before me."

"This wish is easily within my power!" Porunga's eyes flashed brighter as he appeared to contemplate the request. After a prolonged silence, he declared, "Your wish has been fulfilled!"

"Outsider, speak your second—"

Before Nail could finish, Karnel felt a remarkable transformation within his body. An immeasurable surge of vitality flowed through him, permeating every cell with perpetual renewal. His entire being seemed to resonate with unending life force.

"My second wish," Karnel interjected eagerly, "is to gain the ability to survive in the vacuum of space or any other environment."

Nail blinked in surprise but translated the wish without comment.

"This wish is simple to grant," Porunga replied, his eyes flashing once more. "You have one final wish remaining."

"For my third wish," Karnel said, "I want to learn the Instant Transmission technique like Yardrat's inhabitants possess." The teleportation method he'd heard about on planet Yardrat had been in his thoughts for some time, the ability to travel instantly across vast distances would be invaluable.

Following his role as translator, Nail conveyed the wish: "The final wish is to grant this outsider the instantaneous movement ability known to the kings of Yardrat."

This time, Porunga fell silent. The massive dragon seemed to freeze in place, his entire form becoming oddly still...

"This wish... cannot be fulfilled by my power," Porunga finally declared.

"What?" Karnel exclaimed in disbelief. "Such a simple wish is beyond your capabilities? Why?" The last thing Karnel wanted was to spend his newfound eternal life confined to the tedious limitations of spacecraft travel. Even vessels that exceeded light speed would take years to reach distant planets. No technology could match the elegance of instantaneous teleportation.

"The technique of Instant Transmission is not an ordinary skill," Porunga explained, unusually forthcoming with his reasoning. "It involves cosmic mysteries that lie beyond the scope of a single wish. State another desire."

In other words, Karnel realized, it wasn't impossible, just too powerful for one wish to accomplish. He silently berated himself for not using his second wish to learn this technique. If he ever faced an enemy capable of planetary destruction, the ability to teleport would be invaluable—both for tactical advantage and, if necessary, a strategic retreat.

But it was too late now. Regret wouldn't change his situation.

"I suppose I'll have to visit planet Yardrat myself to learn their version of teleportation," Karnel muttered, consoling himself. "It may require ki sensing unlike Instant Transmission, but it has its advantages. I could still teleport to people I know rather than just places."

The disappointment on Karnel's face quickly faded as his self-consolation worked surprisingly well. Looking up at the imposing dragon, he declared his third wish: "Porunga, transport me to planet Yardrat."

"This wish is easily granted!" Porunga's eyes flashed brilliantly. "Your wishes have been fulfilled. Farewell, gatherers of the Dragon Balls."

With those words, Karnel vanished from planet Namek in an instant.

Having helped the outsider make his three wishes, Nail watched the space where Karnel had disappeared, a complex expression crossing his features.

An outsider with eternal life... The universe had just become a more complicated place.