Frankly, he wanted to keep his skills sharp. What good would he be as a king if he were so easily overthrown? 'There were already rumors of doubt due to his lacking age; a mere 18 years old; as to whether or not he was experienced enough to rule a race of warriors. Though he'd spruced up his face with a manly goatee it still bore the fine etchings of youth. He dispelled this talk by blasting to death the saiyan who'd dared bring it up at his inauguration.
To prove he was not some armchair ruler he attended missions and training with the rest of his elite warriors just as his father had done before him. Even if it was only to boost just how much more powerful he really was.
One particular day while training he ran into something not exactly remarkable -- but interesting enough. He'd already gone through several young 'elites' who'd wished to be recruited to his picky regime without even breaking a sweat. They thought they were good enough, but he merely knocked them or blasted them unconscious with a single attack.
"Is there no one who has the skill to even go a full minute with me?" he demanded. A rumbling voice that still cracked with youth answered and the king turned toward it with a raised brow.
"Kay." An overly tall and lean saiyan teenager with his arms crossed over his chest stood lazily on the sidelines; his tail swishing from side to side as if he was impatiently waiting for something. A short crop of black hair bristled in the light wind. He had a pathetic excuse for a mustache starting on his upper lip and he was still mocked up in training armor. This recruit nodded at the king and smirked, "I'll do it."
"Oh, will you?" the young king tossed the disbelief at the other teenager and then smiled at him in a predatory manner, "..very well. Come and get it."
"Yeah, okay." The challenger nodded as he powered up and came at him. It was the basic attack. Too predictable and straightforward. The king had no problem dodging it and then throwing his own right back at the larger boy. The blow was hard enough to send the other slamming straight down into the ground and crack his armor.
He landed gracefully down next to the bigger boy and went to open his mouth to scold as per usual. "What made you think yo-- wha?"
He stepped back as the other boy pushed himself up to his knees and spat out a mouthful of blood. Wobbling to his feet, the challenger grinned stupidly as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "Heh... you hit really hard!"
King Vegeta blinked a few times before he let out a satisfied smirk, "Yes, I do. Most don't get back up."
"I did!"
"I know..." he continued smirking to himself, "that's very interesting. What's your name?"
"Nappa," his challenger staggered a bit before finally straightening fully, "I'm Nappa. Hi."
"Nappa," the king nodded and then drew back his fist, "If you get up from THIS hit - you're my new sparring partner."
"Really, that's great King Vegeta!", 'Nappa' replied with a smile and didn't even bother to brace himself for what was to come next.