4 Teacher North

As his voice rang through my head, so did confusion. Why in the hell was one of the main characters of Dragonball before.

No matter how hard I thought to myself, I couldn't think of a rational reason. With my egg in hand, all I could do was stare at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

[Hello??? I want my question answered!]

I didn't even know how to respond… Before that, I didn't even know how to respond. We were in the vacuum of space. There was no sound.

I had motioned my hands allowing him to acknowledge my situation.

[Soooo. You are capable of destroying a planet… yet you don't even know How to use telepathy?] He said in mild frustration and confusion. In turn, I shrugged my shoulders showing him the palm of my hand.

[I can't believe this… Alright. Listen closely. You are a lot more powerful than me so you should understand after I guide you through this. Are you paying attention?] I nodded my head in affirmation.

[Good. Imagine you Ki circulating throughout the entirety of you… wait. You Saiyans refer to it as energy… Let me start over. Imagine your energy circulating throughout your body.

Think about your organs, muscles, and bones.

Also, for the exercise of this ability, I want you to close your eyes.]

Following his instructions, I did exactly what he asked. It was but a simple task.

He then wagged his fingers from left to right then up and down as my eyes followed.

His Ki… It was different. Sensing King Kai, I knew for a fact that I was stronger than him… But his Ki somehow felt clean… It felt… bright and lighter. Looking at his aura felt like looking at a shiny polished gem. Comparing him to others, their ki reminded me of ocean water that was heavily polluted while King Kai's Ki reminded me of pure, filtered water that was found in a supermarket… no… His Ki reminded me of a cloud while the Ki of Aka reminded me of sludge.

[Looks like your Ki control is nothing to be toyed with. I bet you can see me right now, Right?]

He asked which I promptly nodded my head.

[This is good… Should make it a lot easier on me… Now that you have that step down, I want you to slowly, and gently flow your energy up from your tailbone… well… for you, that would be your actual tail.]

He said while pointing at my red appendage.

Nodding, I complied.

[I want you to imagine your internal energy being like a river. Slowly and gently flow your current from your tail up your spine.]

[Next, I want to GENTLY… I cannot stress this enough. Gently, Flow that energy to your brain stem. Your life depends on how gentle you are.]

I couldn't help but to slightly get nervous at his words, but as I had been doing previously, I calmly followed his instructions.

[Now… I want you to physically move that energy to the forefront of your mind as if you were creating an energy blast, almost. Aim the energy at the center of your forehead, like a third eye.

Then tap into my Ki signature, aiming that blast directly towards me… Think about the words you want to convey to me.]

I then let the words that I wanted to say flow through my mind. [OKAY. IS THIS GOOD.]

At my words, he jumped in shock. His calm and collective side instantly turned off.

[Too loud!!! Reduce your energy output! Reduce your energy output!] He screamed inside of my head.

It was now my turn to jump. Cutting off my telepathy, I looked at Kai's face with sympathy, Trying to inform him with my body language that my goal wasn't to harm him.

[Are you trying to make me overload?!] I shook my head in a way that conveyed sorrow.

[Just… be careful. When you use this ability, you're literally injecting energy into their brains. If you're not careful, then you could kill someone.]

I then nodded my head showing that I understood.

[Now try again.] This time, I limited the Ki output.

[I… I'm sorry.]

[It's okay. Past is the past… Since I gave you a technique, I expect my question to be answered.]

[Right… You asked me about the planet… Well, it blew up because I got into a little spat with somebody.]

[I'm assuming that this 'spat' that you were in wasn't a verbal one.]

Stated King Kai as he tilted his head and pointed to Planet Ice.

[In all fairness, it started out verbal.]

[As all fights do.] King Kai commented.

[Yeah… then… it got physical.]

[That isn't telling me much.]

[Was this planet important to you, or something?] I asked.

[Honestly… No. The rock isn't even the reason I'm here, to begin with. That planet was owned by a clan of people who I wasn't too fond of anyway… I met you by chance… but now, I want to know your reason behind its destruction. It would impact my next few decisions. Decisions that would Impact you as well.] He shrugged his shoulders.

[This entire situation isn't my fault. I'm the victim in it, although it doesn't appear that way.]

King Kai looked at me with skepticism.

[Look, the reason I'm asking you about Ice is that you have a relationship with it. I don't really care about the planet itself. I'm more interested in you.]

[Well… I might not be an open book, but I am one none the least. Ask whatever and I'll answer the best I can.]

[I can work with that.]

[For starters, I sense a strange Ki within you… A very peculiar Ki… Energy, I mean.]

He then started to float circles around me.

[Now I have witnessed a lot of things in my days.

Believe it or not, I am much older than I look. Far older… and through my travels, I have met one other person with energy that was even slightly similar to yours… That one person is a special case, however. With that being said, his energy remotely matches your own… But still very different. With my amount of experience and knowledge, that's saying something.]

His statement made me raise my eyebrow. What did my Ki have to do with anything? As far as I knew, I was just a bit stronger than most people. Did he catch on to my immortality somehow?

[Let me say this, I know what Ki is. I studied it for a while… I may not be as proficient with it as YOU, but I know it well. Any abnormalities I have with my own Ki can be attributed to the fact that I came into this world with it.] Before I continued, he interrupted.

[Oh? Now, this is interesting. The way spoke just now emphasizing the word, 'you', makes me believe that you're putting me on a pedestal for some reason… Why would you go and do that? Is this your attempt at flattering your elders, or is it something else?] He asked while slightly smirking.

[Maybe I am trying to flatter you… Maybe not…] I said, returning his same smirk.

[Ambiguity aside, the reason I said what I said in that demeanor was that I can sense your Ki as well… I know that it has abnormal properties likewise. I just can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps you were born into this world like that, Perhaps it's for another reason.]

[Oh hoho] He chuckled with intrigue.

[You have good eyes… quite the decent set, if I may] He stopped smiling.

[Now tell me, without avoiding my line of questioning this time. Why did you destroy that planet?] He now adopted a stern expression. He was far sharper than I recalled.

[As I said before… I'm the victim.]

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I then told him of my tale of being stranded On planet Ice. Excluding all the parts that were involving the egg.

[Hmm.]

[Yeah… That's about it.]

[What a story…] King Kai pondered for a few minutes.

[But even if that story was entertaining… I still have questions.]

[Go ahead.]

[How did you end up there? You said yourself. You had no space pod. After you tell me that, I want more detail on how you fought Aka… I don't understand how you managed to overcome him. You glossed over that part. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but you were very vague on the details… ]

[Umm…] I scratched my head in hesitation.

[You see… About that. I was an infant when Planet Vegeta exploded…]

I was intentionally vague regarding the status of my body. How could I not be… I was immortal. But the more I spoke to King Kai, the more I began to trust him. He was a Kai, after all. They were the embodiment of good morals.

Perhaps it was finally time to share with someone my full story… My story of trauma and loneliness. Perhaps it was time to stop sugar-coating the pain that I had been feeling… Perhaps, it was time that I made a friend.

And so… I retold my story in great detail. I shared what it was like to have your face melted off as a child. I told him what it was like to be left alone in space. I told him what It was like to want death more than anything. I told him what it was like to feel undying rage. I told him about How it was being me.

I spilled everything except the fact that I had come from another multiverse.

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[King Kai?]

King Kai stood there slacked-jawed. I was speechless.

[King Kai!]

He stayed motionless, hunched over in shock. I honestly felt bad… Perhaps, I dropped too many bombshells on him at once.

[King Kai!]

Part of me was worried that he'd look at me differently after I explained how I killed two people in cold blood.

[What???!!!!]

He screamed in return.

[It's just… you weren't responding.]

[How was I supposed to? Go ahead. Tell me?]

He said with panic written on his face.

[Just give me a second… I need to process this…]

As per his request, I gave him a moment to catch his breath, metaphorically speaking.

[So you mean to tell me that you are actually immortal… Immune to death.]

[I mean… Do you want a demonstration?]

[Well… I would prefer that as to words. It's better to see and believe rather than having blind faith, for sure.] Said King Kai.

I then tossed my egg at him for safety, which he caught.

[Well… I guess I could do this.]

I then started to construct a tiny concentrated Ki ball. As it grew in size, I forced my Ki to condense.

Each time that it reached the size of a yoga ball, I would condense it to the size of a baseball. After condensing the ball, I created a Destructo disk-like saw that rotated so rapidly that it looked frozen. It was like I created a mini planet.

Then, I finally decided it was ready.

[Um… What are you gonna do with that? That's quite a bit of Ki built up.]

[You'll see… Oh yeah. Before I forget… Do you mind stepping back?]

Following my command, he took a step back… Literally.

[When I said take a step back… I meant about 1,000]

[Oh… I knew that. Duh.] He said, hitting his head after taking my advice literally.

Once he got at a comfortable distance with my egg, I then gave him A thumbs-up, which he returned.

[You ready?] I asked.

[Yea. Wait, are you gonna chop your arm off or something?] He asked with a voice of concern.

[What? Of course not~]

I said patronizingly.

[Wait… what's up with that tone?]

Then, putting the Ki ball to my head, I smiled.

[Wait WAIT WAIT!] King Kai yelled, Flying as quickly as he could to my location.

But before he could even get halfway, it was too late. I had launched the ball, which instantly obliterated my skull. My brain matter was vaporized, as the ball went through my body with little to no resistance at all. The reason I had condensed the Ki ball so much was that a regular Ki ball would not have cut it. I needed something strong because my skin, bone, and overall flesh were far too tuff. My Saturn ball did the trick.

The Saturn ball blasted off faster than the speed of light in the distance, Then, as if the sun exploded, a bright eruption flashed our area of space, Illuminating everything around us.

Nothing remained above my shoulders… But even though my head was gone, I could still function. I could see King Ki vomiting his guts out.

In moments my head started to grow like a fleshy meat balloon. The sight was as if my face was melting in reverse. To any onlookers, this probably looked horrid.

After a while, King Kai gained his composure.

[What… The… Hell was that!]

[Well…display of my immortality.]

I said tilting my head.

[I thought this was what you wanted to see.]

[No… That is not at all what I wanted to see.]

He said with quivering lips.

[You could have just cut your finger and I would have believed you. There was no need to exhibit how much of a machinist you were.]

[As you said… The past is the past.] I shrugged.

We then exchanged looks.

[So? What now… You never told me what you were looking for. Why did you end up coming this far out.]

[No need… I already found him]

[Me? Or the egg?] He then Tossed me back my egg.

[No… Not that guy. You can keep him… What I was referring to was you.]

[Why…]

[It doesn't matter… I got what I needed.]

[Well… that's slightly unnerving… now that you know about me… What are you gonna do with this information.]

He then gave me a comforting smile that put my heart at ease.

[Nothing. Nothing at all. Ya see, I decided you're good people. I legitimately enjoyed my time with you…] From a smile to a frown.

[You might not believe it, but I resonated with your story. I know you saw it… In case you didn't, you pulled a couple of tears out of me, Djin. I was at one point stranded on a planet full of isolation myself. Unlike me though, you dealt with it as a child… The world was crude to you from the beginning and for that, I respect the fact that you were somehow able to stay righteous the full way. That type of suffering breaks minds… From one loner to another, I'll keep this little secret to myself… See ya around.]

He was about to fly away before I interrupted.

[Wait… ]

[Hmm?]

[I have no idea where I'm going. I could be stranded here for a lifetime.]

[So what? You're immortal. You can't die, as you just displayed.]

[That's not the problem… I have things to do… I've just been endlessly roaming up until now. The first home I had was a moon that mutated me into a giant blood-red monkey… The second just was destroyed. I need help.]

[Are you saying you wanna crash at my place?] He said while raising his brow.

[No… Nothing like that. I don't wanna stress you out further… It's just, I want to belong… I heard there's a planet by the name of Earth. Is it possible for you to take me there? Or at least point me in the direction.]

[hmm...]

He thought to himself for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted.

[Ya know… I forgot to say thank you.]

[For what exactly?]

[Well… Firstly… Teaching me that ability. You're an amazing teacher. I know that with the ability that you just taught me today… I'll be able to make leaps in terms of training.]

He smiled while doing a shooing motion.

[Awee, shucks… think I'm a sucker, do you?

I'll have you know, compliments will get you everywhere with me, kid.]

[I also wanted to say thank you… For being the person that you are. For hearing my story… For feeling even the slightest bit of empathy while I told you my tale… You're amazing for that. Thank you…]

I said slightly looking down on a bowing motion.

[If you want to be my apprentice, just say it.] He said with a toothy grin.

[What do you mean?]

I was confused.

[I was already thinking about it. Sure, I could send you to that planet, but what if I trained you more? You complimented my teaching, which made me realize that I was already in the process of being your mentor. Why not make it official?]

'This… is the opportunity of a lifetime. The only reason I hadn't asked was that I wasn't sure if I would be accepted. I know I'm a decent person… but I killed… and I probably have to do it again… and again… and again…'

[Come on. Don't leave me hanging. I know you're already strong, but I guarantee that if you train with me, I can change you-]

[Yes.]

[You didn't let me finish my monologue.]

[You didn't need to. I think you're good people as well. I know that under your care, I'll be safe.]

[Well… Fair enough. I guess the next thing to do is-]

He then grabbed onto my shoulder, then in an instant, our surroundings changed.

From space to on King Kai's planet.

[-bring you to my planet.]

As we arrived, I was consumed by the atmosphere. Not because of the ten times earth gravity, This was absolutely nothing to me. But the fact that I was in an anime.

In front of me stood Bubbles and Gregory with grocery bags in their hands with King Kai's car behind. I scanned my surroundings.

"I know it's not much, but it's home."

"That's now why I made that face… I just think everything looks nice here… The pavement road, The grass, The trees… And even the house. You gotta remember that I was in a frozen wasteland for most of my life."

"Hehe. You and your flattery… Ya know, I try. The boys here help out too from time to time." He humbly bragged, putting his finger under his nose.

"Speaking which, Gregory, Bubbles. Can you two go prepare food? The big guy here must be hungry." Before he continued, halted him.

"Oh don't worry about it. Due to me being a freak of nature, I really don't need to eat, drink water, Or breathe for that matter. Another thing. I don't sweat. So technology I can't get dirty."

The Kai raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"It's weird, I know."

"Yeah… it is." King Kai said with confusion.

"Then how do you get nutrition? Are you like a plant or something?" He asked. I could only shrug my shoulders in confusion.

"You know how my body works just as well as I do, honestly."

"Maybe it's the reason you're able to stand up right now too." He inferred.

"Not exactly… Ya see… On Planet Vegeta the gravity is on par with this planet in terms of force."

"Wow… No wonder why they called you guys the warrior race…"

"Anyway, I guess It's no use doing 2 of my tests then."

"Oh? What test?"

"The test to see if you're worthy of being my student. You're faster than Gregory and Bubbles combined so I guess, there's only one test for you."

"Alright, Go ahead. What's the test?"

I asked.

"I want you to make me laugh… I warn you. This is no easy task. When it comes to comedy, I know my stuff. Some people refer to me as-"

"You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I have three jokes for you right now," I said confidently.

"OH??? They better be good. I mean, I'll probably teach you anyway, but go for it."

'Now time to pull out all the Dad Jokes that I read on popsicle sticks.'

I thought.

"Why was Frieza jealous of his brother?"

"Um… Alright. I'll bite."

"Because his brother was Cooler," I said with a smirk looking dead at the kai's face.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence broke out between us. I could tell that

King Kai was having an internal battle within himself. He didn't want to give into my comedic genius so easily… But he had no choice.

His lip quiver. I watched as all of his facial muscles were violently contorted.

Then, I put a nail in the coffin.

"He was… Cooooooooooooooooler."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He fell on his knees laughing. He couldn't keep his composer.

He stayed on the floor for 30 minutes straight crying and laughing.

I honestly got a little frustrated, until he got back on his feet.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Hehehe. The question is, how could you be? That was hilarious!"

"How could it not be? It wasn't funny…"

"What?!! That was hilarious. Don't Undersell yourself."

"I don't know… I'm just Saiyan…" I said smirking and wagging my tail around until he got my joke. For a moment, his face went blank…then, his eyes locked onto my tail.

"I… Just SAIYAN??"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

This time, I was exhausted. My social battery was running out rapidly.

An hour later, he gained his composure while I sat with my back against a tree.

I then put a sad expression on my face as King Kai walked up to me.

"Hey… Djin. you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah… I've just been reflecting on my family… Did I ever tell you about my grandfather?"

"No… you haven't… tell me what's up?"

"It's just that… On his deathbed, my grandfather said to me, "Remember these two words. It'll open a lot of doors for you in life… Push and Pull." I can't help but think he was right."

"Awe… I'm sorry for your lo-... wait a minute…. Open door?!

AHAHAHAH! You're gonna kill me!!"

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And so… another hour passed.

"Alright… So here's how it's gonna go… I'm gonna list all of the abilities that I know, In order of the difficulty of mastery."

"Alright… Sounds good to me."

"Kai Kai. Magical Materialization. Far-seeing Arts. Healing. Kaio-Ken. Telekinesis."

"Kai is instantaneous teleportation anywhere you put your mind to. It's what I was gonna use to get you to earth."

"Magical Materialization is to create something from nothing, excluding magical things of course."

"Far-seeing arts is what you would have to learn if you want to use Kai Kai.

The skill's description is in the name."

"Healing… You can heal people."

"Kaio-Ken is a technique that multiplies the user's Ki, thus increasing their power and speed and enabling them to inflict serious damage to opponents who are considerably stronger than them. The downside of the Kaio-ken is that it takes a heavy toll on the user's body, making them more vulnerable to enemy attacks. While in the state, the user's aura color becomes crimson… but it won't make a difference on you. The technique requires immense Ki control to handle it properly… So it's only fitting that I hand this over to you."

I nodded. With my constitution, It only made sense that I received this ability.

"The last ability is telekinesis. Pick up things with your mind."

"Okay… So, Which order do you think I should learn these skills in?" I asked, cracking my knuckles. If I managed to unlock Super Saiyan, on top of being able to use Kaio-Ken, Then I was set."

"I appreciate the eagerness… but I'm warning you, don't burn yourself out… These skills are gonna take you years to learn. Just the Kaio-Ken could take you upwards of five. I should know, considering I created it."

"Time is not a… Wait. Real quick, can you tell me when Planet Vegeta was destroyed?"

"Why?"He looked at me with confusion. Understandable, To him, It seemed out of the blue. But to me, I needed to see where the Dragonball Timeline was.

"Well, for starters. I don't know how old I am. I spent 7,300 days on Planet Ice. I don't know how long I drifted in space, nor do I know how old I was when my planet blew up…"

"Well… Since Planet Vegeta exploded, 9 years have passed. You should be in your early thirties… or you could be considered a really big 12 or 11-year-old."

I then pondered. 'Thirties… Goku was about 3 when he was sent to earth, making him 12 now. I have about 11 years until the Saiyan saga happens… I want to be on earth by the time that happens.'

"Okay… Thanks for the info… I want to start with Far-seeing arts."

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6 months later

My bond with King Kai had increased… So much so that I considered him a close friend…

He was my only friend. Well, he and my egg that I had imprinted on. It had been growing as the days went on, not in size, but weight. It was the size of a rock, and now, It weighed as much as a boulder.

It was strange… I took it with me everywhere… I had even named it, Ice. Not because I was bad at naming, but because I didn't want it to forget It'd origin. King Kai judged me for it but it didn't matter. He was a friend.

Although he was extremely corny with his cheesy puns, I couldn't help but laugh at how positive he responded to the simplest knock-knock jokes.

But even if he was a goof most of the time… He had layers under his clown mask.

The job of a Kai was ever so taxing. He constantly had to observe the northern galaxies, watching planet after planet get destroyed. Why? Because it was his job to watch, observe, and document. Not to intervene.

He had seen more destruction than anyone could have ever imagined. He watched true ruthlessness occur day to day. Rape, Murder, Betrail, Genocide… The list of atrocities goes on and on. Sometimes I would catch him vomiting and even crying due to the cruelty of the universe. His heart was too big for this job… but he was conceived specifically for this craft. What else was he to do?

When times got tough, I used my ability of far-seeing to discover wholesome sights. I showed him the wonders of the earth.

I showed him cartoons. I showed him comedy. I showed him that it was more to life and his job. In turn, he showed me how to operate throughout this universe.

King Kai taught me how to read, how to write, and how to speak in virtually every language that the universe had to offer… Which helped me discover that I had a photographic memory due to my evolved brain. My same evolved brain had allowed me to master telekinesis and far-seeing in 6 months. Now I was on bigger and better things.

"You see Djin, The key to magic metallization is first being able to sense magic. Here allow me." King Kai then walked behind me, putting his hand on my back.

As soon as his skin touched my back, he injected strange energy into my spinal cord. While he kept the pressure up… I was able to see it for the first time. New colors that I had never been able to experience before. Heck, I was able to taste it and smell it as well. An entire new world had been unlocked. The world of magic.

"This… This is what you feel like all the time?"

I could hear heavy breathing. King Kai was rapidly losing energy.

"*Sigh*Yes… Beautiful, ain't it?" He then released his hand, falling to his knees.

"North! What's happening? Are you okay?"

"Yes… it's just, the moment I tried to inject magic into you… I felt all of my magic leave my body as if some sort of supernatural force was taking action… feeding off of me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Nah… you're good. I'm pretty sure it's the nature of how your body works. That strange Ki is really something." He said slowly starting to pick himself up with my assistance.

"So tell me… were you able to grasp onto that feeling? Can you still see it slightly?"

Now completely standing on both feet.

"Uh… I still feel the exact same." I said tilting my head.

"Ah… It's to be expected… Magic takes you to take a grasp of. Being mortal, I say it should take you 50 years to grasp its concept. After all… in my early days it took me 30 years to fully incorporate it into my system."

"No… That's not what I meant. The color… The taste of the air. The smell of magic. It still feels the same. I still see it perfectly. I feel it on my skin and in my bones." I said correcting him…

"What did you just say to me!!!!!" I just stared at him. What was the problem?

"I just said that-"

"Shut your goddamn mouth!"

"What did I-"

"You shush! If you value being my student, don't talk to me for the next day. Walk to my bed. I'm too damn exhausted." I was confused as ever.

Was he truly that jealous of me?

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And so, a day passed. I was meditating in front of North's house as his door opened, a look of dread was written on his face.

"Hey, North. Are you good?" I asked, with egg in hand.

"Yeah… I'm good. Sorry about yesterday. It's just… I always prided myself on magic. To see you master it so quickly upset me a bit."

"Upset you a bit?… Do you not realize who my teacher is? It's the great North Kai. The God that helped a mortal master magic in a day. A Day! Ain't that something you should be proud of?" I asked. Instantly, his attitude changed. He was back to his old confident self.

"Hehe. You're right. I am amazing aren't I."

"You bet."

Then, my lesson on metallization began.

*

*

2 years later

"I guess you mastered it. Took you a bit longer than I expected, but here we are."

North said.

Right now I had two Kachin blocks in front of me. It was the hardest material in the universe therefore it was the ultimate thing I could create with my ability. The two ten-foot-tall wide blocks were proof of my mastery.

Currently, I wore all-black combat robes and had two Kachin swords mounted on my back with telekinesis. I took inspiration from time patrol Vegeto in Dragonball heroes, in terms of my robes.

Where Vegeto, I had grey. Where he had black, so did I. Where he had blue, I had yellow. Where he had Potara earrings, I had crescent moon earrings to represent my Saiyan heritage. They were additionally made out of Kachin so I wouldn't have to worry about them breaking. On my back, I proudly wore North's symbol. He taught me almost everything I knew about Dragonball outside of the show. He was more of a father figure than my actual father in both lives.

"I already learned to heal… so, how about teaching me how to use Kai Kai."

"How about… let's not." He said nervously, laughing.

"Well, It's because… It's really hard to master."

"Well, so was magic. What's the difference now?"

"For starters… You need an absurd amount of willpower."

He said, causing me to frown.

"Okay… then we can check that off of the list then."

"It's not that simple… Kai Kai is an ability where you can end up wherever your thoughts stray to… Your concentration needs to be to such a level that the idea of that would be impossible.

What if one day you're eating a sandwich-"

"I don't eat."

"It's a hypothetical…." I shrugged my shoulders and listened.

"Now, what if a person were to be eating a sandwich… Thinking about their day… Then all of a sudden, they think about their crush in the bath. With Kai Kai… They would teleport directly in front of them. A lot in the early stages."

"Luckily, I don't have a crush."

"Stop being difficult…"

"Then teach me. Teach me how to remain calm. Teach me how to not have intrusive thoughts…"

"*sigh* I'll do it… I'll teach you… but there is a condition."

"If you met him… never think about the purple cat man."

'Beerus?' My eyes widened with shock.

Would the god of destruction be able to end me if he wanted to?

'He killed Zamatsu… but that was before he made his wish.'

"Promise me!"

"I promise…" Even though I promised, I knew his face. What If I accidentally teleported to Zeno?!

"Alright… There are two ways to learn this skill…

The easy way, and the hard way. The easiest way is to just teach you the ability outright and just keep screwing up until you get the hang of it… The hard way, Is going into the void. The space between universes. There you will spend what you feel, hundreds of years alone… The reason for this is to empty your mind… It is the way we Kai's learn."

"What do you mean…"

"It's simple… the activation of the ability. We Kai's need to be proficient at our jobs, so we train our minds to hellish extents. One of the ways we do this is to bathe our youth inside the void. We bathe them until they reach maturity… are you willing to go that far?"

"..."

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1 year passes

'It's so… fucking… boring.'

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1 year passes

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'...'

1 year passes

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1 year passes

'...'

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1 year passes

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Emptiness.

1 year passes

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1 year passes

[Djin. You ready to come back yet] I jumped in surprise. The voice of the north rang through my head.

[Oh. Yeah. I think I got rid of them all]

[Rid of what… Oh. You finished early… to be expected.] He said dismissively.

[You remember Ice, right?]

All of a sudden, North appeared in front of me instantaneously.

[Yeah.] I nodded my head confused.

[Well… I think it's about time you met him.] He smiled excitedly, while I was nervous.

[Him? He Hatched?]

[Yeah.]

Then, we arrived on his planet. Everything was how I remembered it… only, there was an extremely high Ki behind me. If I were to measure, it was half my power, which was at a power level of about 9 million considering I effortlessly beat Aka years back. I had also incorporated magic into my body so, in truth, I was probably closer to 11 million… which would make this being all the more impressive.

"What the…" Before me was a tiny black Frieza in his final form that wasn't any taller than my knee and had Ki that was far too similar to mine for comfort. What was strange was that his facial features slightly looked like mine too.

Stragngly, he had 5 primate fingers and toes unlike other members of his race. He was black where Frieza was white and yellow where Frieza was purple. His tail was as large as his body, dragging on the floor… but what instantly caught my attention was his eyes… They were the same ones that I had seen when I looked in the mirror.

My eyes almost bulged out of my head.

I then got down on one knee to pick up the creature that I felt an instant connection with.

"Ice?" The child's tail swayed from left to right as he tilted his head curiously as if heavily analyzing my face.

"Dad?" That question… the pitch of his voice… his size.

My heart was about to explode!

"I-I- I … Y-Yes. D-D-Dad? I'm your dad."

The kid then smiled then broke free of my grip, hugging my neck as tight as he could.

"Dad!" He yelled as he started to nuzzle my cheek with his. I swear… This kid was about to kill me. This is the first thing I came back to?

"I always wanted to meet you… I understand that I couldn't before… King Kai taught me the importance of training so I know I couldn't be selfish. But that doesn't change how happy I am right now."

"Uh-... um… I'm sorry. If I knew you had hatched, I would have come sooner."

"It's fine… I understand already… While you were gone, King Kai told me a lot. He taught me about being mature, how to fly, how to use my Ki, and he was starting to teach me how to control my power so that it didn't leak. He even taught me how to read and write just like he taught you!" He then displayed his ability to fly.

After he showed me what he was capable of, he landed on my shoulder, grabbing onto my hair with his hand so he wouldn't fall. "That's not all either." I then looked to North in panic.

[Explain. What the hell happened when I was gone.]

[Well… two years ago, This little guy hatched out of his egg. Since then, I've raised him in your stead.]

[Two? He's only two?]

"Hehe." King Kai snickered.

2x "What's funny?"

Ice and I asked simultaneously.

[Look at you two… father and son.] He thought smiling while Ice started to get frustrated because he had caught on that he wasn't a part of the conversation.

[The reason I'm laughing is that you and he are cut from the same cloth… quite literally if you think about it. Don't you sense it?]

I looked up at Ice and spoke.

"It's okay, little one. The adults are having a private conversation right now."

Ice then looked at me with disappointment.

"What's that look?"

"Well… It's just… I've been waiting to meet you for so long… My entire life, even. I want to have a private conversation with you as well." This little boy… He was bright.

"Well… We can have one in a bit… I promise. I need to talk to my friend for a moment. Can you go play with Bubbles for a jiffy?" I asked. Ice nodded and flew off to the other side of the planet. Presumably to the location of Bubbles.

"*sigh*" Putting up a Ki barrier, I blocked any noise from escaping a certain radius.

"Yes… I sense it. He has my Ki. Him and I share the same flesh… Heck, we share the same eyes… For all intents and purposes, I'm his real biological father. Undeniably so…"

"Mmmm."

"Which is weird… considering Frieza wanted this egg."

"Mmm."

"Which probably means that Frieza is his mother?"

"Well… Not exactly."

"What do you mean? Is his race not one that reproduces asexually? Isn't my ki and flesh what fertilized his egg?"

"No. They aren't fish people… Only the females of his race can produce eggs… Frieza is a male. If anything, the reason he wanted the egg was that he probably wanted an heir… That, or he wanted to eliminate competition, which wouldn't be beneath him. "

"Ah…"

For a moment… I had to pause…. This was a lot.

"Can you tell me about him?"

"Well… I don't know if it's because of his race or the fact that he's been consuming your Ki for such a long time, but that boy is hyper-intelligent."

"Yeah… I can see that."

I gave a nod, commending my hatchling.

"So you helped him read and write, huh?"

"No."

"What do you mean? That's what he said."

"I taught him the alphabet and read him 3 different bedtime stories… That's it. He took it upon himself to read dictionaries and thesaurus in his free time. "

"What the hell?"

"Yeah… I also discovered that he… Is very adaptable."

"In what sense?"

"Well… in the sense that he's extremely mature. I told him about the wickedness of his own race. I told him what Frieza did to your kind. I taught him what true evil looked like… and he was able to comprehend it all."

Now, I was confused

"Okay...go on."

"I gave him history books about different empires throughout my range of view… Books that contained violence that wasn't meant for a child… But his reaction to gore was none existent."

"I don't know how you feel about this… but I literally took him to battlefields full of bloodshed."

North exclaimed.

"I felt guilty at first… But when I looked at him, I realized that he was able to comprehend it all…

All of it…

He knows what's right from wrong. He's capable of feeling empathy… And yet none of that phased him… he understood it. When I talk to him…. It's like I'm talking to you." For a bit, we exchanged looks… mine of surprise, his of confusion and regret.

"*tsk*"

"What is it?"

"I just realized that I compared him to my best friend who is a littoral 21-year-old while I, a Kai, am hundreds of years your senior."

"I guess it is kinda funny when you put it like that."

"You want to know what else is funny?" North asked.

"Surprise me…"

"He's twice as strong as you…"

"Is that a joke?"

"It's honesty…"

"What the fu-"

"It's not by much… But it's a noticeable margin. These past two years, I've been trying to help him with his Ki control. He's getting better at it as the days go by… but it's one of his weak points."

"I-... I guess I should go talk to him now."

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Making my way to Ice, I saw him sitting by a tree stump, resting with his eyes closed.

"Hey, little guy," I said with an honest and welcoming smile.

"Hey… Do you have time to talk yet?" He asked.

"Yeah. Let's catch up."

Ice nodded his head, opening his eyes.

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Ice and I had talked for hours. He was so interested in me. He wanted to know how I grew up. What my childhood was like. What it was like to have friends… then he started to dig deeper.

He started to ask things like,

"What is it like… being one of the only members of your race remaining." He asked sympathetically.

"Well… Let me tell you this… My race does not define me. Heritage is not what makes a person."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Saiyans were a powerful race… They were conquerors. They allowed the weak to die so that the strong stepped over their corpses and arrived at the apex of power… That's not how I would like to operate in this plane... Have you ever played chess?"

"I play sometimes… Gregory says I'm good at it."

"What about checkers?"

"I'm good at that too."

"Well, think of it like this. The Saiyans subscribed to the philosophy that only the fittest should survive… They would sacrifice the pawns so that the king would be able to remain. But that way of thinking is not beneficial in reality. Reality is much more similar to checkers in this way."

"In checkers, any individual is capable of evolution… It's something that Saiyans never accounted for in their monarchy. They were too enveloped with the fittest surviving. Hence why I mentioned pawns… It was referring to the weak Saiyans of Vegeta, who was thrown away and treated worse than garbage.

In checkers, evolution is possible through great efforts. Just like in real life. Evolution increased the chance of survival, which every person in the universe is capable of. With training, the Saiyan's pawns could turn into kings. Low-class pieces could have advanced, tightening the grip of power that their army had.

If one king fell, another would have been at the ready to take their place. If Saiyans hadn't been so fixated on the chain of power and instead improved, their society wouldn't have ended so quickly."

Ice stared at me with stars in his eyes.

"So… what you're telling me is that to get stronger, one has to improve his surroundings and overall condition of life so that there is less probability of failure?"

"Yes…" I smiled at Ice and patted his head.

"What that allegory also implied is to make sure that your inner circle is strong. When you decide to make friends one day, never allow them to fall behind. Don't be stupid like the Saiyans."

"So… does that mean that you don't care that they're gone?"

"Realistically speaking, I don't. They were far too stuck in their ways… but keep in mind that I am a product of the Saiyans. I am sad that there wasn't an opportunity for me to meet other outliers like myself… Perhaps there is a small probability a few escaped… who knows?

Heed this though… Always play checkers. It's much safer than chess, Son." As soon as that last word escaped my mouth, I hugged my arm.

"Thank you… I'll remember that."

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He had asked me a few more questions like if I would have ruled the Saiyans, what would I have done differently. I simply replied with, played checkers. He had gone off to bed.

[You gonna stop watching me?]

[Oh? Have you noticed?]

[Yeah… From the moment you started.]

[Well… I just wanted to say, I like what you did right there. I would have never pegged you for the paternal type.]

[Oh? And why is that?]

[You just seemed broken.]

[Wow… glad to see you hold me at such estem]

[No. It's not like that. It's just I know you have been through a lot.]

[I don't take it to heart] I said, shrugging my shoulders.

[Now I believe you still have two techniques to teach me.]

"Yeah-yeah." He said instantly appearing in front of me

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3 months later

"So… you don't feel anything at all?" North asked while he looked at me with my arms crossed. I was coated in a dark red aura that enveloped my entire body.

"Well, I feel a slight tingly sensation… that's pretty much it."

"Try multiplying it again."

"I'm already at 50. You don't think this is good enough?"

"Hey. You should be grateful I even gave this to you."

"Stop whining…. I'll do it. X100."

"*Boom*"

A small crater formed under my feet as my Ki levels skyrocketed.

My aura was so intense that it reached 6 times the height of what it usually got to…

while I felt nothing.

"Wow… This power… I feel like I could lift the universe right now." I said clenching my fist, looking at my vascular arms.

"What… what does it feel like…"

Asked Ice as he stared in admiration.

"It feels hot… internally…. But I can handle it. That aside, I feel invincible."

"Well… I guess that's enough." Said the Kai.

I had mastered all of his skills. Today was the conclusion of my training. I had previously been offered the spirit bomb, but I declined to learn.

I decided that I would rather come up with my own techniques after I had learned the Kaio-Ken

While I had finished my training, Ice had finished learning perfect Ki control. He could almost disappear like a phantom, completely erasing his presence. He was now 2 in a half. Not much had changed besides The bond that he and I had… I was his father now and he was my son. That was our relationship

"Yeah. Guess so." I said powering down.

"Don't be afraid to call. I'll always pick up for you two."

"Thank you King Kai!" said Ice, with a bow as I grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Alright, North. I'll see ya later bud." I waved bye to my friend. Then, I teleported my son, and I far far away.

*

*

*

Kami's Lookout

A lengthy green-skinned aged man with antennas sat at the edge of a massive sky tower that transcended above all could in the heavens. His feet hung over thousands of miles of land while his genie-looking assistant stood beside him on a floating magic carpet in silence.

It was a calm and peaceful day…

Then, all of a sudden, a great sense of dread washed over their bodies as if a blood-hungry predator was about to pounce on its docile prey.

"Hello. You two are Kami and Mister Popo I presume."

Buckets of sweat came rushing down their backs as they felt their impending doom nearing. Interestingly enough, Kami looked like he was about to vomit as he tried to keep eye contact.

The two got up in a defensive position as quickly as they could as their survival instincts kicked in due to the incoming threat.

The problem wasn't that Kami felt a vast Ki pool that was an ocean compared to their puddles, but instead, the Namik couldn't detect any form of life energy within the tailed individual at all. Instead, he detected sentient death.

Every being had life energy… but not the creature in their presence. Kami could feel nothing. He couldn't even sense a beating heart.

Instead, he sensed as if him and Popo were being stared down by the grim reaper himself.

The two men stood bravely as they could and didn't cower in fear… Even though the green man certainly did want to. If the Genie wore the same eyes as the green man, he would have understood the situation a lot better.

The genie quickly flashed behind the tall muscular man restraining his hands behind his back while the green man formed an almost invisible Ki shield on himself and his comrade.

[Dad… these two are weak but attempted to threaten our lives… Do you want me to kill them?]

Ice asked with a Ki dagger construct aimed at the genie kidneys. Although the genie was a flash, Ice was nothing more than a flicker. While the genie's speed could be compared to a sunrise slowly climbing over a horizon, Ice was a lightning strike. He had moved so quickly that the genie couldn't acknowledge his existence until he felt a slight poke at his dark flesh.

[No… they're friends, Ice.]