Chapter three - Descent into Solitude

Three days had passed. An atmosphere of sorrow shrouded everybody who stood around the burial grounds of Khoraha. Light rainfall coated the gravestone marking the spot where Master Tahu was laid to rest. Several other graves were strewn across this wasteland, marking the sheer loss of what Jiren and his remaining companions had endured.

Counting Jiren, only ten students remained after the massacre took place. Several other lives were lost in the nearby towns as well - the majority of them being the remaining greys. Jiren was thought to be the last surviving grey on the planet. Nobody could make sense as to why his race was targeted, and those words the evil-doer parted with him continued to haunt him for the remainder of the nights and days that followed…

"You're not weak like the rest of them were…"

Jiren was damaged in more ways than one; his body was bruised from battle and the deep wound in his leg throbbed whenever he moved, but the grief however was on a whole other level. The loss of his master and fellow peers was heavy, making it incredibly difficult for him to speak up without breaking down into tears. He was barely holding himself together as it is, struggling to stay positive in the gloom of the passing days.

Despite all this anguish, he didn't want to let it beat him. He knew that he needed to stay strong for his fallen master. He needed to remain focused on a path for further strength. As long as he and his surviving companions remained confident and hopeful, he believed that they could rise to overcome their weaknesses and ensure that justice was brought to those who fell.

However from what Jiren had overheard, the majority of the fighters were not willing to push on in this quest for improvement.

"With… Master not being here… it doesn't mean we should just... give up. We could continue training to become stronger... together as one."

"Jiren, don't you understand? We never stood a chance against that… thing. Whatever it was, it was far too powerful." One of the survivors spoke out, some of the others averted their gaze to avoid eye contact with anybody.

"He's right - our ki-blasts did nothing. We couldn't even land a physical hit on it. Whatever it was, it wasn't normal… almost as if it were a ghost."

Another student stepped in, "I believe we should retire from this whole warrior quest, it has become far too dangerous-"

"No! I'll never let that demon get away with this! Master would not have given up in the face of evil!" Jiren exclaimed, glaring with his mournful eyes.

A student backfired, "Everybody else was slaughtered as if they were nothing but livestock! None of our techniques made an impact on that ghastly being; Master didn't even stand a chance. Don't you think he would have wanted us to survive? You're just a kid after all..."

Jiren averted his gaze from the others to think to himself, he knew they were right in that regard.

"This is why I believe you should leave it at that, and begin a new way of life-"

"-I can't back down. I know I have the potential to become something greater. You guys would too, if you could just try! Please, don't give up. Join me… anyone…"

The other nine men, both young and old exchanged glances at one another. Some were clearly stressed by what they had been through, while others looked agitated or empathetic at the sight of the ever so stubborn Jiren. They realized they couldn't convince the young grey to back away and give up on his quest for justice.

They silently turned their backs on him in unison.

Jiren looked disheartened as he watched his companions turn to make their descent down the mountainside. He turned away in response, at a loss for words at what he was experiencing.

They gave up. They had abandoned him.

At the thought of being on his own, Jiren felt empty. He appeared void of emotion on the outside but deep within, he was falling further into despair.

He approached Tahu's resting place once more, gazing down at his gravestone.

"Master… I won't back down…"

Jiren was trying with all of his might not to break down into tears. He clutched his chest and trembled with the immense heartache he felt. Feeling himself choke up, he took several steps away from the gravesite in an attempt to breathe easier. He pulled the beanie off his head to have something to clench onto tightly with his fist and he shut his eyes tight.

The heartache that was clawing at him worked its way up his throat. And try as Jiren might, he could not keep it down.

He stopped in his tracks, stumbling in a mixture of anger, helplessness and despair.

Tears overcame him once more and he shattered. His rage, his grief, his loneliness, everything that had built up inside him all burst out in a broken cry. His sorrow echoed out down the mountainside.


The broken young warrior limped down the largely deserted streets he had lived in for the past eight years. He wore a backpack, filled with various belongings from his home. A few townsfolk were out and about, some repairing the damaged buildings caused by the villainous being days prior. But as soon as Jiren's presence was noticed, they vanished behind closed doors, buildings or windows. Not a single person attempted to approach him at his arrival.

"Hey… he's that tough kid… one of the surviving warriors…"

"I thought all the greys were wiped out… how did he survive?"

"Didn't he come from that planet where the greys went extinct?"

"That evil being must have followed him to our town!"

"What if the monster comes back for us!?"

"He might be… cursed…"

Jiren could hear the gossip all around him. He wasn't able to make out the full quotes being said, but he did pick up on some words and sentences, enough for him to take it to heart.

Hurtful words pierced through his fragile mind, allowing negative feelings to taint him. The sight of people moving away and watching from afar put immense pressure on him. Fearful eyes staring from a distance only added to his survivor's guilt.

He came to the conclusion that everything was his fault. Believing if only he was stronger, then none of those terrible things would have happened.

"My parents wouldn't be dead... if I weren't so weak.

Master wouldn't have made that sacrifice… if I weren't so weak.

I could have saved everybody… if I weren't so weak.

The surviving students would have joined me… if I weren't so weak."

He despised knowing that he wasn't strong enough.

He hated the loss with all his might.

He loathed himself for it.

Jiren grew more and more frustrated. Weakness; it disgusted him. His eyes glared at the ground and he trembled once more. Loneliness; there was nobody left by his side. No one remained to put his trust into. He only had himself to rely on.

Strength was one thing left that he believed he could attain. Master Tahu told him he had it in him. The potential to become much greater as a warrior.

Even the demon claimed he wasn't weak.

Jiren looked up into the cloudy sky. His expression was a maddening combination of sheer determination and strong-will. No way in hell was he going to give up and remain a weakling - or a coward. His fists shook uncontrollably, readying himself to leave the past behind to begin anew elsewhere.

"...I will find a way to become stronger... on my own…"

Furious ki erupted from around his entire body, engulfing himself in a glaring red aura, and he immediately took into the gloomy sky, tearing through the atmosphere and into the depths of outer space.


The following days were not easy for the grieving youngster. Miraculously, he had managed to find a route back to his home planet, although he had passed out and crashed into the planet's surface upon entry.

After recovering from the rough landing, he wasn't entirely sure how he was able to pinpoint it through the vastness of space. Perhaps its location was imprinted into his mind from birth or from the various visits between the two planets over the years.

Nevertheless, instinct had led him right back to the canyons in which he and his people once inhabited. The ruins of their homes were still present in his view, yet decaying and covered in dust. For obvious reasons he didn't want to settle there, as it would only add to the trauma he was already enduring. He needed to remove himself from the past.

Jiren took to the air in a frantic search to find someplace else to set up a new home, before he would become too exhausted from his injuries and the toll which space travel had taken on his tired body.

He discovered a large island near the equator, where the seasons would remain fairly mild and comfortable. It was a sub-tropical, heavily forested land, scattered with mountains and lakes. Large animals were absent as the island was mostly occupied by small avian and reptilian critters, as well as insects. Fish and other aquatic life filled the lakes and flowing rivers. Geothermal activity was present there also.

Jiren had to learn to be self-sufficient and independent, immediately starting to build his own home here a piece at a time after making a clearing in the forest with a precise ki blast.

Thanks to the camping trips his Master would take them on beforehand, he already had some knowledge on how to survive off the land. There was no shortage of natural resources here and the diverse and plentiful array of flora and fauna meant he had a wide variety of food all year round.

Jiren remembered which herbs of Cal'or were good for medicinal use, especially for the injury in his leg that had refused to heal. An infection had taken hold and weakened him over the past week due to neglect, so every bit of knowledge he had for survival truly helped in this solitude ahead of him.

There was nobody else to compete with for resources, and the wildlife was fairly harmless and generally left him alone. Besides the relentless amount of sandflies and mosquitoes, which he repelled with his own ki whenever necessary.

The days, weeks and months that followed were a test of Jiren's will to thrive. He recovered and became physically well enough to resume training. However the absence of companions did take a huge toll on him, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.

Tears were often shed, especially when the memories of lost loved ones would resurface, spawned by nightmares or from depressive thoughts. His species was fairly social by nature, so it wasn't easy for him to adapt to this solitary life all of a sudden.

He longed for the comfort and warmth of others but at the same time… he resented it. The feeling of abandonment filled him at every moment; only intense training would help take his mind off the sadness that plagued him through the lonesome days that followed.

A few years passed and the more time he spent alone, the more resentful he appeared to be on the outside. Depression was ongoing, yet his fighting spirit and his will to live was strong.

Physically he was tough and well-built, with muscles growing more defined as he aged. Being only in his teenage years, he still had much room to grow. He wore hooded native-styled robes that he had found or thrown together from fabrics picked up while on travels around the galaxy. He liked to try and stay concealed from view.

Jiren trained alone and rarely came across other sentient beings. He explored outer space rather frequently - seeing that his home planet was just not a suitable training ground for the likes of him.

He came across various planets in nearby solar systems devoid of life; the perfect grounds for training to further enhance his techniques without disrupting others. He would also practise flying amongst dense asteroid fields to improve his accuracy among an assortment of objects at high speed, and to observe hazards all around him and how to avoid them. Being able to survive in space was a huge advantage for his training - he even discovered planets with much higher gravity than Cal'or. The high gravity helped push him to greater limits with the added weight to his body, allowing him reach further potential through vigorous training, on land and through the skies he flew.

Despite being able to survive in space with his own aura, he would still need to replenish himself with oxygen from time to time, otherwise he became exhausted.

In his ever growing mind, he mapped out the various planets in which he had visited around the galaxy, such as those which contained a breathable atmosphere, or were ideal for intense training. Ca'lor was imprinted into his mind, so he never had the fear of becoming lost in the vastness of deep space.

Nevertheless Cal'or remained his true home and comfort, returning there whenever he needed to rest and replenish. He was getting used to being on his own, becoming numb to the feeling of loneliness. He appeared to no longer care for such emotions, especially with his mind heavily fixated on becoming a greater warrior. Emotions meant nothing of value to him anymore.

He was well aware of his growing power, knowing the progress he had made on his own in those few years of solitude. Perhaps he was right about not needing anybody else to attain greater strength. Whenever he thought back to when he was abandoned by those he had trusted, it made him feel bitter at the world around him.

"Hmph. I didn't need them.

Companions will only bring me down and hinder my progress.

I will find that evil and take it down my own way.

I will never lose to anybody."

By now a life of solitude was what he had firmly stuck to. Those he had trusted had long since perished and it wasn't like he could hold onto the hope of them ever coming back, it was that nothing in this universe had the power to make things the way they were. So, he was against the idea of forming connections with another person again. It was an effective method to avoid the risk of going through the same kind of anguish all over once more. It just wasn't worth the trouble. Strength was all that mattered in the end.

Outsiders rarely visited his home planet. Rumours all around the galaxy claimed Cal'or to be haunted, so very few people would attempt to visit. But there were odd occasions where Jiren would have to deal with unwelcome guests…


Age 754
Planet Cal'or

A foreign looking spaceship hovered above the atmosphere of planet Cal'or. Alien beings from the inside stood around a large monitor, viewing their findings. It displayed a wide array of valuables, ranging from gemstones to fuel sources. The information showed that the planet was full of resources, clearly having never been exploited before.

A strange, red skinned looking fellow with a moustache stood by, wearing a black pinstriped suit of sorts while his crew wore more casual looking attire. Their ship broke through the atmosphere to enter the skies of Cal'or.

The boss along with two men exited their spaceship out of a hangar down below. They flew out into the sky and looked down upon the surface, seeing a vast range of forests and mountains all across the horizon.

"Hmm, we will need to need to clear the area if we're gonna excavate the hell out of this place. Gearson, prep the nukes for drop-off!"

Just as the boss had made his orders, the figure of a teenage grey appeared right out of the blue in front of the three men. Jiren had decided to make his existence known to the unwelcome visitors.

The two men accompanying their boss were stunned, eyes wide and mouths open. The boss turned his head around to eye up the grey, while his two minions gawked on with a look of surprise.

"Oh damn! Where did this punk come from?" One of the men exclaimed.

"Ha, he must be one of the natives!"

Jiren's eyes locked onto the trio of aliens, appearing emotionless. There was one thing in his mind that he needed to say.

"Leave."

The blunt order fell onto the ears of the three men, and the leader of them simply scoffed.

"Ha. At least this primitive life form can speak. Nevertheless my boy, we're going to need to clear the area out for harvesting. Sorry, but that's just how the galaxy rolls. It's all about survival of the fittest - and the richest!"

The boss grinned deviously all the while Jiren stared back, unfazed by what was being said to his face. His eyes remained locked onto the alien visitors.

While Jiren looked on, the leader of the gang turned to face the spaceship above them,

"Drop the nukes, boys!"

A shaft opened from beneath the dropship and a large nuclear warhead immediately succumbed to the pull of gravity. But before it could even make it several metres into its descent, Jiren raised his hand and fired a sphere of orange ki towards it, latching it onto the warhead immediately. With a simple gesture, Jiren directed the growing fireball up high, deep into space before detonating it. The nuke exploded spectacularly, briefly lighting up the area around them.

Jiren turned his attention back towards the goons, having one simple request left for them to follow.

"I said leave."

The two minions occupying the boss were left speechless, mouths agape at what they had seen. All the while, their boss looked irritated, beginning to draw out a futuristic pair of pistols from his trench coat

"You little bastard! I'll make you eat lead for coming between us and our riches!"

"Boss? This kid creeps me out…"

"Yeah uhh… perhaps we should ditch this joint. Maybe there is a reason nobody else has claimed this planet-"

"Shut your traps!"

Their boss fired his pistols at Jiren, who made no effort to dodge the incoming gunfire. As the bullets made contact with him they did nothing but get deflected right off of his body. Jiren remained floating in the air, unmoved.

The boss' eyes now widened, to match with his pair of loyal followers. He put a halt to his gunfire, lowering both his pistols down...

Jiren appeared in a flash in front of the foe, grabbing him by his suit and pressing his face right up against his. The man became intimidated by Jiren's intense eyes, sending shivers down his spine and dropping his guns in reflex. The other men immediately fled back inside their ship, and Jiren simply tossed their boss back towards the opening of their transportation. He crashed into his fleeing minions and stumbled over inside the ship like ragdolls as the hangar began to close up.

The spaceship was quick to scurry away like the cowards they were in Jiren's mind.

"Hmph, survival of the fittest. How pathetic."


Age 758
Outer space

Jiren's thirst for strength intensified more as he grew with age. He was far from satisfied. The galaxy he resided in wasn't enough to further enhance his strength and skills. He craved for more challenges, obstacles and dangers to throw himself into. His speed and endurance in space had grown remarkably over the years. With such immense ki, his aura was now able to behave much like a small atmosphere. Thus, he was able to go without replenishing oxygen for a longer period of time. This remarkable adaptation helped him greatly with his deep space training. It also aided in his plans to travel towards another galaxy.

Jiren realized that the less matter that lay between him and his point of interest - the quicker he could travel across the vastness of deep space. Large empty voids lay inbetween the many galaxies abroad. Thus, the long distance trips were not as daunting as they appeared to be.
And so, he made the first jump towards the nearest galaxy, the first step in expanding his horizon across the universe.

He explored right across the cosmos to expand his field of training, to put his already unbelievable speed and endurance against the ruthlessness of deep space. He uncovered more planets with ridiculous amounts of gravity and weather conditions. Even more so, he discovered cosmic curiosities such as the vast assortment of stars in varying stages of life. Including those of which had already collapsed into a black hole, or a neutron star. Or those that were on the verge of releasing a supernova.

These sorts of natural phenomena fascinated Jiren, yet he tended to avoid black holes, as he wasn't sure what kind of impact they would have around him. Not to mention, they appeared to distort space-time, and seemed to disappear not long after being found for unknown reasons.

Yet neutron stars were something he was most curious of; the intense gravity and heat of such small celestial objects was so intense, that it was simply dangerous to approach them. The gravity on the surface of one of these strange stars was billions of times the gravity of the average planet, a mind-boggling realization to anybody who could comprehend it.

So even with Jiren's power, he still had to take caution around these miniature stars. The size of these neutron stars was only a few kilometres in diameter, so they weren't something he would come across all that often and were quite easy to miss.

But Jiren, being the risk taker that he was couldn't resist a good challenge.

He would grin at the aspect of approaching these dense stars and fly within a 'safe' zone of them to test the strength of his flight, as well as the overall power of his body. Flying near these neutron stars several times over provided him with a great amount of exercise. The gravity and heat they gave off pushed him to greater heights, forcing him to set off a powerful aura to protect himself from the elements each time he flew by.

The workout he got from this training was immense. He wasn't able to compare the danger of these naturally occurring training grounds to anywhere else in the universe.

Either way, this sort of training could only go on for so long at a time, and he would need to take a break on a breathable planet. Curiously, he could not find these neutron stars again after leaving them behind. He wasn't sure if it was because of their small size, or because they eventually disappeared much like the black holes.

And so he was forced to further expand his horizons, and always be on the lookout for new challenges and dangers to put himself up against. He would also train within the large voids in space where little to no galaxies occupied the area. This was where he could put his energy blasts to the test, without the risk of doing something like accidentally destroying nearby planets or imploding a star.

Here, he was free to experiment with the use of his ki. He didn't name his techniques, but he took a liking in using ki blasts that took on the look of solar masses. Like a sun, scorching and intense with glaring light. He was fascinated by the naturally occurring power of these astronomical objects around the universe, so it was no surprise his attacks resembled them.

He was becoming a master of ki control the more he experimented with it being able to control the temperature, mass and power with extreme precision. He could even create his own stars if he wanted to, but chose not to due to the unstable nature of such large amounts of ki.

Jiren's speed became greater the more he trained, so fast that the world around him appeared to be coming to a standstill. He would dive into this state whenever he trained ferociously in the cosmos, being an efficient way to get the maximum amount of training out of the shortest period of time. Many hours of traditional training done in mere minutes, the more he remained in this mind state.

This was especially handy due to the limited amount of time he could spend without oxygen in space, yet moving at such speeds did come as a cost of stamina, and the risk of accidentally destroying cosmic objects around him. Sometimes his thoughts couldn't even keep up with his own pace.

Yet, he still craved for more of a challenge. He needed something to give him a dash for his life, something thrilling and intense.

And he may have gotten that opportunity after stumbling across a supermassive star at the brink of its life cycle. The solar mass was gigantic and very unstable. Many times larger than most stars he had come across. He was curious of what was to come, and so he used a nearby planet in the solar system as a temporary training ground.

The solar flares from the dying sun were flickering and tearing away at the doomed rocky planet, and Jiren used these grounds to further enhance his will to survive. The surface was unforgiving; there was no oxygen or relief from the searing heat. Jiren's powerful eyes protected his vision from the blinding light, as they always had. So training so close to this red supergiant was not an issue for him.

Jiren had no fear. His energy shielded his entire body from heat as he dodged and sidestepped all around the dying planet, watching it crumble away in a molten landscape lit up by the bright orange skies. Asteroids and other space debris landed all around him as he avoided each one with impeccable timing. It was quite a thrilling experience for the fearless warrior. Although at the same time, he had been without air for quite some time now and was becoming increasingly worn down by the minute.

Suddenly, the massive star bloated, expanding out so rapidly that Jiren was forced to ditch the planet as the sun began to swallow it whole.

The planet crumbled.

A beat passed before shockwaves akin to intense solar winds were sent flying past Jiren along with the remnants of the planet. Jiren shielded himself from the waves, before he spotted a much larger and far more intense mass of heat heading in his direction. And for a split second he wasn't sure which way to dodge - hell, he wasn't even sure if he could survive the blast at close range on such a short notice.

"No force of nature can bring ME down!"

Jiren glared stubbornly at the incoming danger, focusing the heat within his soul his aura growing ever so brightly right as the wave of the massive supernova explosion impacted him. He braced himself and his focused power erupted into a fearsome flash of light to aid in shielding himself from the impending danger.

The wave of the explosion passed through and his aura had completely shielded the entirety of it all. He opened his eyes and lowered his arms to witness what had happened, and found that he was completely unscathed. His energy was no longer a single shade of red - yellows and orange lit up all around him. He appeared like he had been set alight by flames, painted the brilliant colours of molten lava.

Then something flashed at the back of his mind amongst the chaos.

His eyes widened and mouth agape, he hastily turned around to look into the direction of where the supernova's blast was headed. He witnessed several lifeless planets smashed and torn asunder by the raging wave of energy. The sight of it all reminded him that there was a heavily populated planet in a nearby star system, directly in the path of the wave.

Jiren frantically shot through the depths of space, racing against the speed of the supernova. He could sense the life forces of billions up ahead, all inhabiting a medium sized planet in the star system close by.

Jiren appeared right before the planet and it was clear that the inhabitants had no idea and wouldn't have any idea as to what was going to happen to them. He realised there was no time for any of them to escape.

Normally, Jiren wouldn't care less for what went on outside of his own little world, especially when it came to natural disasters. It was none of his concern with them being a force of nature anyway. And besides, why should he care about a planet full of strangers? They meant nothing to him.

Yet being out there and witnessing sheer destruction in its wake, he couldn't ignore the fact that countless lives were about to be doomed in the blink of an eye. And the idea of just standing by and allowing mass death to take place in front of him was something Jiren disliked immensely.

The supernova fast approached in the microseconds that followed, and Jiren let out a fearsome scream of fury in its wake, coming face to face with the ever approaching threat once more.

The energy around him expanded, becoming so massive that he was able to neutralize the supernova's power in all its might. The remnants of the blast had begun to dissipate, and the entire sector of space fell still upon Jiren's presence.

His tremendous power had ended it.

He opened his eyes to bear witness the sight ahead of him. He looked down at both of his hands, feeling the newly unlocked power flowing through his veins. His molten aura was far larger and more intense than it had ever been in his life. He would have never imagined it to reach such levels.

He absorbed much of the expanded energy back into his body and turned around to face the planet. The dark side of the planet's continents were dotted with lights of many cities, the homes of many inhabitants. He looked by for a moment with widened eyes, coming to terms with what he had just accomplished.

He had saved the entire planet. Billions of lives were spared to live another day.

The population wouldn't have a clue as to who or what had rescued them from the incoming danger, but to Jiren, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had achieved the impossible at this point in time. And it was all thanks to his growing power. The strength he had acquired on his own.

He felt a spark in his despondent heart; a spark of light leading to a sense of pride. It was a warm and positive feeling. Perhaps now he could do something for the greater good in the dark of this universe, to help those who were much too weak to save themselves.

After all these years of feeling empty and bitter at the universe, he shifted his thoughts to realize just how much he had achieved all on his own. It was a massive boost in self-confidence. Sure, he knew there was much room for improvement, but right now he felt that he was ready to take on the many threats of the universe. To make his mark and to show the universe what kind of power he is capable of.


Eyes shot open with astonishment in a distant sector of space, suspended elsewhere near the centre of the eleventh universe. Heavy breathing followed as the strange being's eyes remained wide with amazement, pupils shrunk and alert.

He positioned himself to sit upright, before one of the female companions occupying his bed stirred in her sleep.

"Vermoud, honey, what gives? I was having such a good snooze."

The man named Vermoud did not respond, he remained startled by what he had felt elsewhere in the universe.

He was an odd looking being, having white skin with large red lips and curly ginger hair styled in the way of a clown from the universes where planet Earth existed. He was quite slim with his ribs visible, but fairly athletic and toned elsewhere.

He was accompanied by a harem of scantily-clad female jesters, most of which were still slumbering, laying all over the oversized bed. Another female being stood near the doorway, watching by in content. She was a tall angelic being with blue skin and long white hair tied into a pair of pigtails, with a couple small bangs down her forehead. She wore a traditional looking gown, with purple sleeves, a black cuirass with white and orange symbols. A halo lay suspended around her neck, and she stood there with a sceptre at hand, while overlooking the room.

"Marcarita dear, do come in." Vermoud gestured.

The exotic-looking woman made her way into the room as the clown-like man got out of his bedding to put on a silk robe from his hanger.

"What seems to be troubling you, my lord? Bad dreams giving you a bit of a hassle again, yes?"

"No, not dreams. This time, I know what's troubling me…"

"Oh, is that so?" Marcarita asked, looking cheery in response.

"There's a being in our universe of great strength and potential. He's growing stronger by the day. The longer he exists, the more I can feel his overwhelming presence…"

"I see. Perhaps you would like pay him a visit sometime in the near future then, yes?"

"Yes, indeed I shall. I believe he may have already surpassed my candidate..."