Chapter 6

Days passed on as the men, women and children walked the desert. Nearly a month before, the lizard people from the north had taken Fleon facing little resistance. With each passing sun, shedding its heat everlastingly from the sky, with no visible cloud coverage in the entire month, the refugees of Terrinosis pushed onward. No rainfall, no place to stop, no ponds to drink from. It was a one way trip, and hell of a massive one at that. In an appreciable feat of discipline, all of the escaping people led by the soldiers were ordered group by group to take rest on carried carriages and platforms dragged along by the fit and strong. This tactful strategy allowed the best efficiency for combining rest with the most soon arrival for their destination, and avoid any cases of starvation with what little food they carried with them. Marvin knew well that anything and everything they ate came from the homes the refugees fled from, and it was very limited. Children and women were spared most, whereas many men were left behind to starve to death. Though he wasn't viewed as illustrious or any of the sort, it's only the right thing he will do and that is to minimize the casualties.

However, in the current hour, Marvin along with his two co-workers finally saw the walls rise as they approached the protected city. These weren't just any walls. They were reinforced with patrols and a formidable forcefield to keep the ki crazies out and only let in passengers carrying an ID. Luckily for these people, the man in the trench coat had exactly the right thing to allow these people, identification or not, inside the city. This is the famous trade capital of world, bordered a the most northern part of the desert where a sea border occurs. Cevine, occupied by the International Justice Association, lives here where they walked to. It was indeed a long, tiring trip but they have made it.

Marvin tilted his hat up to get a better view of the city walls, partially submerged to the eye by floating dust particles swept up by the wind. The forcefield remained invisible as it usually does, only appearing faintly when a bird foolishly sweeps in, only to bounce off as a crisp corpse, dead to its inability to comprehend its existence. The investigator turned around to get a view of the long trail of hungry women and children. A large portion of what it once was is no longer with them to his dismay. Nobody shall fall behind no more however. They're now in a safe haven, away from the lizard horde.

"Looks like we're finally in luck." Marvin sighed, pulling out a lighter and a pipe. He took a smoke at the moment they knew for sure they would be safe.

Garmogin, the shorter, bulky man paced from close behind. His usual expression was stern and serious, though it felt reassuring, because his moral couldn't easily be trampled. Especially now, where he felt irritated having walked for nearly a month without sleep could always look back to see the brisk man marching along with such a phenomenal determination. The bloody guy could seriously be strapped to a chair and be forced to eat nails and sewage water day and night, and look happy doing it.

"You could use some rest, sir." The loyal Saiyan commented, turning his gaze slightly to his commanding officer.

"You're right about that. The second I get these damned kids sorted out I'll be hitting the sack for at least a week." Marvin responded, puffing out a cloud of smoke. He used whatever drugs to keep on going through each shivering night and dreadfully hot day. It was important that he was there to keep things moving along, and shifts commence properly.

Garmogin couldn't help but chuckle, "Sleep is for the weak."

"Go to hell." Marvin shot back jokingly with a grin, smoking continuously. After letting out another puff of smoke, he turned back to his companion, "Ever figure what it would be like had we indulged ourselves in some rest? The desert would become the worldwide cemetery."

"I'd imagine looting some barbaric settlement. A Saiyan has a great appetite, you see." He remarked.

"And the man likes a good night's rest. We're quite different in certain aspects, but I'm more concerned with your big bloody belly eating up all the scarce resources here. Saite was a greedy little shit during this ride and I'm not impressed with him. He snuck out a few treats and we failed to feed one of the men that could've made it with us." Marvin spoke.

"Haven't you confronted him?" Garmogin asked.

"Nope. I'll be chatting with him once we're inside though."

The two kept walking along, and behind them the exhausted refugees whom showed a great deal of delight at the distant walls. Sooner, when they approached, Marvin stepped forward to the front gate and held out his IJA ID in front of the camera, and as a response, the gate opened, or rather a highly reinforced compact door designed to repel any attack.

Low mumbles soon resounded among the refugees who entered the great wondrous city. Marvin looked out into the architectural brilliance of Cevine, with structures standing high and mighty, crafted skillfully by the builders who brought them into existence. A large populous sound emanated from the city limits as he and the people entered in. Marvin halted at the side along with Garmogin to watch everyone gather, and soon followed Saite, who flew above and landed next to his commanding officer. Marvin saw him approach with his arms crossed, expecting a report on the numbers of the Terronian refugees left compared to what they started off with.

"Hello sir."

"What are the numbers?" Marvin demanded, scanning the bunched up crowd centred between confused residents of the city.

"We have three thousand two hundred six remaining. Before we left, there were four thousand one hundred seventy-nine. Nine hundred seventy-three people died during the trip due to attrition, sir." Saite reported.

"Nearly a thousand, huh?" Marvin mused, biting his lip as he watched the people who were starving as they discussed manners. "We're gonna have a talk later, Saite. For now, bring these people to the town hall and I'll make sure they'll have a meal prepared." Marvin ordered.

"Yes sir!" The Saiyan responded before leading off with the people with an announcement. The man in the trench coat levitated into the air, looking down at Garmogin.

"Come with me." He said. Without a response, Garmogin followed him.

The two flew above the city buildings, grasping the great extensive size of the beautiful city. At the very edge, they could faintly see the waters that of which the city borders, along with two iconic landmarks. One, a large arena that showcases tournaments of fighting and the town hall itself; a building with an incredibly large, gold-plated dome in the middle with a high-standing shiny silver pillar located at each corner of the rectangular shaped structure. This wasn't only a town hall; it also held home to nobles and is so commonly referred to as the heavenly palace, where even the gods themselves would dream of walking amongst the inner halls of the place. Not only was it a fantastic sight to see, the sheer size of this byzantine structure was enough to hold a thousand people with ease.

Marvin landed directly in front of the entrance of the building. He began to walk over towards the decorated doors with Garmogin pacing close behind. He strolled on into the front hallways of the marbled palace, recognizing all of the paintings neatly hung on either wall, composed from famous artists across the globe. The ceiling showed a convexed styling of design and all the way down the enormous hallway a single painting shows of the sea border that connects to the city from the beach. Marvin always found himself observing the ceiling and the walls every time he returned to this location, because the artwork was simply remarkable.

A branch of hallway connected to the left of Marvin, where a noble walked out with two guards standing close behind. The noble took notice of the man in the trench coat, smiling faintly at the sight of his arrival. Marvin noticed this appearance and nonetheless, smiled back.

"Buddy! You're just the one I'm looking for." Marvin greeted wholeheartedly, approaching him with a wide grin and his arms held wide open.

"Marvin! You're looking a bit tired aren't you?" The noble responded, embracing the man in a short lived hug.

As the two broke off, Marvin rested his hands on his old friend's shoulder, "Gerald, I got favour to ask ya. I need you to prepare a nice big dinner for the three and a quarter thousand refugees from Fleon."

"From Fleon? For goodness sake, that city is thousands of miles away." Gerald gasped, expressing not only concern but shock for the unexpecting news.

"Look, we can discuss it later. These people have no more food and it's urgent that we feed them or else they'll die." Marvin urged, letting go of his friend. With a quick nod, Gerald turned away and headed off for the chefs in the palace to take care of such a deed.

"We shall have a meal prepared so delicious and grand that these poor starving people will no longer suffer from hunger!" The noble cheered on as he quickly made his way down the hallways. Marvin grinned and turned around. Garmogin, who was silent and standing only a few feet away took by his side.

"How could he prepare up enough food to feed several thousand people?"

Marvin chuckled, "You haven't been here before, have you?"

The bulky Saiyan shook his head, "Not at all, sir."

Without hesitation, the man smirked and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a few coins before slapping it onto Garmogin's palm.

"See for yourself. You're dismissed."

The stood at attention and saluted his commanding officer, "Yes sir!"

Marvin headed for the front doors and overheard the loud steps that grew fainter as his co-worker dashed down the hallway. He thought about attending a café to attend to his hunger needs before renting a hotel and resting for a good while. Everything he needed to do was done, and now he can rest peacefully.

. . .

A full month has passed, and here he was, day after day, repeating the same rigorous motion he thought he'd never have to endure. Under the same hot sun, which he grew accustomed to over time, he repeated the same training routines. He looked left, feeling the sweat drop down the side of his cheek. His friend did the same thing, only with less weights. Only a week ago the poor guy felt half of that, the things that stacked onto his back to appear like a tower. He looked back down, seeing the moist sand that dwelled with the salty liquid that fell from his aching body. Outside the shadow of his propped up body, the sweat evaporated almost immediately while he kept on producing more. Eventually, the young man thought it would rain back down somewhere, and in heavy loads he could bring about the life of trees in even the most desolate of places. A smirk formed on his face at the thought of that ridiculous thing, even though his exertion was enough to put him out of consciousness.

Ryal's eyes signaled drowsiness, and even though he continued his everlasting motion of push ups with dozens of bricks stacked onto his back, he dozed out. His eyes closed, and he thought of how and why he got to where he was, somehow. By some remarkable display of luck he was given the privilege to have this opportunity, and also have his life saved at the same time. The same could be said about his companion, Kento, who performed the exact same training methods though only with less weights.

- One Month Ago -

They walked for hours, and with little resources. They dropped off the unconscious girl and found the food there to be spoiled. An ant colony formed where the groceries were left, and what little they salvaged was enough to get them to a nearby settlement that lies just ahead of them in sight. Both Ryal and Kento knew well of the risks that took place here, and how the Saiyans were a bunch that cannot be predicted easily. They need more food to get to Cevine, a city that exists thousands of miles away and even Ryal would require a large number of hours to travel that far given the weight he would have to carry, the lack of nutritious food, the alarmingly hot weather, the soreness he got from the battles he engaged in previously. Even at this point a bruise remained from the searing hot beam that was fired at his hip which would greatly affect his speed. In terms of deciding, all of the options imposed risks. Either he got the resources from a small, isolated settlement or risk death by running across several miles of sand with nothing in his stomach.

But here they are, deciding that it's a better idea to ask for food by selling another one of Ryal's precious minerals he found in the caves nearby his home. Another one will have to do for this trip. Afterall, life requires risks.

Approaching the settlement, Ryal diverted a lot of attention. The reason was simple; he had hell of a lot of blond hair, a trait that Saiyans lacked. Kento's concern grew because had Ryal been a black-haired individual, it was possible that he could get away with pretending to be a Saiyan given his strong build. But nope, blond hair and blue eyes gave it all away.

Kento stood directly behind Ryal, careful not to engage in any affairs with the settlers because he was most vulnerable. If an attack were to occur, he was at the biggest risk. Ryal on the other hand, had a chance. Not a significant chance, but a chance he did have.

They received glares. A lot of them. Some more than others, many of them telling the same kind of story. They were unwelcomed, just as he predicted. As they entered the inner limits of the settlement, Kento approached Ryal quietly, whispering into his ear.

"Look over there. That must be a place where they sell food"

Ryal nodded in agreement and began to stroll over to the front of the shop, ignoring more glares from the commoners. He slowly opened the door, peering in and trying to avoid being the centre of attention. To his dismay, however, the second he walked in, all of the Saiyans that sat at the bar turned their gaze and noticed the blond lad sneak his way in through the door.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the males shouted out, puffing his chest out and leaning over his friend's shoulder to get a better glimpse of Ryal. It was quite clear that the man was tipsy to say the least, seeing as he was loud and abrupt enough drive everyone's attention to the newcomers. Immediately as Kento entered, his heart sunk like a ship, noticing that he and Ryal blissfully walked into a bar of all places, not just any place that sells food.

Ryal halted in his tracks, noticing the man call him out front across the room. "None of your business." He said bluntly, before approaching the counter with a frightened Kento close behind.

"Hey, kiddo. Aren't ya a little young to be comin' here?" One of the Saiyan men questioned. Before Ryal turned to answer, another man bummed in on the statement.

"Silly goof. He ain't young. He's a human. Look at his hair!" The man next to him rebutted.

"Oh, why that oughta explain why he looks like a bloody toothpick! Haha!" The Saiyan joked, followed with a series of laughter between the two tipsy men. Ryal gritted his teeth a little, but paid it no mind.

The bartender leaned in on the counter with a smirk, "May I help you?"

Ryal saw his opportunity arise and grasped the jewel in his hand, "Me and my friend are stranded out here, and we were wondering if any of you guys sell food around here?" Ryal asked cautiously, trying not to attract too much attention.

"Pal, we sell drinks here. The market is on the other side of town." The bartender broke out, taking one of the empty glasses and cleaning it down with a rag.

"Man, we got some stranded folk out here boys. Maybe we oughta' teach em the rules around here, eh?"

"Yeah! It's the 'proper thing' to do, right? Ha!" Another one shouted, erupting more laughter among the Saiyans at the bar while the rest sitting at tables simply spectated without much concern.

"Let's go, Kento." Ryal whispered to his friend. He nodded in response, and the two quickly turned around and made it for the door. However, it wasn't long before one of the Saiyans took notice of this.

"Rule number one, don't turn your back!" One exclaimed, before grabbing Ryal's shoulder. A bit irritated, Ryal turned his head around to confront his followers for once, only to meet with a hard fist directly to the face. The blond lad crashed through many of the tables, before hitting the wall with a great thunk, causing empty glasses to fall over and shatter on the floor. The laughter boomed across the room once again. Kento widened his eyes in fear, feeling his heart thumping out of his chest and his legs loose all feeling. He was next, and it wasn't going to end well for him.

"Buffoon! Those are rules in a fight! Not 'proper etiquette' around here!" Another exclaimed, erupting more laughter. Some slammed their hand on the bar, face planting themselves down in laughter.

With a chuckle, the Saiyan retracted his fist, "Oh, my bad." He said with a smirk. They thought for sure that Ryal was completely out, perhaps to the point where he may have accidentally killed him.

"Hey, you should 'help him up' y'know? And say you're 'sorry'."

"They say it's respectful to dig em a grave, yeah? I think it's 'bout time we give him a proper burial right guys?"

As the laughter and jokes continued being thrown around, Ryal groaned as the pain stung in his cheek. He's never experienced a hit like that before in his life, and he least expected it too. He's lucky to still be conscious despite all that he's been through. Maybe it was the adrenaline that kicked in earlier, knowing what kind of situation they walked into just a minute ago.

The blond lad began to pull himself off the ground. A large, purple bruise appeared on the left side of his face, and his head felt like it was lit in a microwave, but he still felt every nerve in his body. He wasn't too dizzy, afterall. Eventually, he got up on one foot, and began pushing himself up with the assistance of a nearby table.

Soon after, with everyone's gaze returning to the blond-haired individual, the crowd whistled and cheered. The Saiyan who hit him however, just stared blankly. Another one leaned onto the man's shoulder and spoke into his ear.

"Why aren't you a bit rusty, huh? You can't even knock out a human." The man spoke in his ear, causing the Saiyan to grit his teeth in distaste.

"Alright, tough kid. You're commin' outside with me to fight."

Kento, felt like shitting himself at that very moment, unable to comprehend the situation at hand. He felt sincerely bad for Ryal for having to endure this painful torture, and all he could do was sit and watch and wait for his turn to get pounded on.

On the other hand, Ryal couldn't hear a thing. His ears rang louder than any shout or holler that could come from the room. He tried to take a seat on one of the seats to ease his tension, while he squinted his eyes several times to get a better sight of his surroundings. Orientating himself seemed to be a challenge in of itself at this point, let alone fighting a fully grown Saiyan man.

Then it happened.

"Alright, enough. Leave him alone." A large, bulky man huffed from a dark corner of the room. Everyone remained silent instantaneously. Kento couldn't believe it. Did they all just shut up?

"Move." The same voice demanded, causing all of the drunk Saiyans to immediately make way for the colossal giant to move through, or at least that's what it looked like from Kento's perspective. The guy pressed on through, and his arms were ginormous. The guy's biceps are like the size of his waist. More so, he appeared taller than Ryal and wide enough to look like he'd struggle fitting through a door. Compared to the other Saiyans, he wasn't someone you fool around with. He was dead on serious, and he alone could instill fear into all of the trash talkers in that room. It was quite the spectacle to see.

"You, come with me." The large hulkish man insisted. Kento didn't protest for even a second, and nodded his head the instant those words reached his ears. The man reached for Ryal and threw him over his shoulder before heading for the door. He pushed it wide open and hunched his back over, ducking his head to fit through before waiting for Kento to follow his lead.

Kento fought back the urge to through the continuous stream of questions that entered his head. He didn't know this man, nor did he understand the motives behind this sudden occurrence. All he did was freeze the moment that happened in that moment like clicking a button on a clicker, and headed out with him and Ryal while strolling off to who knows where. This has to be either the greatest coincidence to occur in his life, or the worst. Was he going to be captured once again? Or was he going to be released?

The incredibly large Saiyan brought them across town, towards the outskirts towards a hut, much like Sheryl's in appearance and size. The only distinguishable factor was the size of the doors that lead in and a fairly higher roof, which was there for obvious reasons. He didn't even grasp the doorknob at the front once approaching it; he just touched it with his titan finger and thumb and gently gave it a twist before retracting the door slowly, treating it like a flimsy thing while trying not to pull the entire house apart. It was perhaps one of the most amusing things he ever saw in the entirety of his lifetime.

The two entered the hut, and without sparing a second, the giant dropped Ryal's body onto the couch, who was barely able to tell what was going on at this point. The poor fellow must have suffered a concussion from that sucker punch earlier.

"Sit down and relax. You're safe now." The man softened, grabbing several glasses of water and a bag of ice from his bar refrigerator. He came back into the living room and handed Kento a glass of water before setting the other two between himself and Ryal respectfully.

"So why did you do that?" Kento questioned, trying to settle the confusion and sudden fright he experienced earlier. He direly needed answers, and felt like he was going to go through some kind of mental breakdown if he didn't.

The large man leaned in closely, "There's only one other man with that kind of hair that can survive a hit like that." He stated, tempting Kento to look over to Ryal, who appeared to be sleeping. The large bruise alone stung to watch, giving Kento the shivers as to what would happen if he received that blow. However, that answer only gave rise to more questions. How was that supposed to be relevant somehow?

"You must be thinking of more questions," He continued, hitting the nail on the head. Kento felt a bit relieved, knowing that his feelings were met with understanding. The man reached over and took a sip of the water before setting the glass down, preparing his tongue to speak. "I feel like this kid is a direct relative of a man I once knew."

Kento raised a brow, interested in hearing more. "What makes you think that?" He asked further. Given his facial structure, the large man looked like he was middle-aged, meaning he had quite a bit of experience and knowledge to share to the world. He also wore an eye patch, a detail he never really payed attention to beforehand, which also meant that he had a lot of experience in combat.

"Simple. He looks nearly identical to a guy I knew. It's not just the damn hair. It's everything. He's got the clothes, the height, that sword on his back, those eyes, and the fact that he remained conscious after a grown ass Saiyan slugged him across the face without a single expectation of it." He explained very clearly, making it seemingly obvious and conspicuous. Kento didn't say anything, only expressing a lot of interest at the idea while maintaining his skepticism. "If that kid isn't related to him then I got no clue. I could be a crazy old geezer who gets mixed up all the time. One hundred and five is a long time to live afterall."

Kento's eyes widened, "What!? How are you that old?" He exclaimed.

"Saiyans naturally live longer kid. It's only been about thirty years since I lost most of my youth. I still got about another forty before I'm completely old." He remarked, resting on the couch and taking a deep breath.

"So who's this guy you keep talking about?" Kento pressed on, extracting information to his content.

"Rodrick Flint." The Saiyan answered upfront, pausing a little before beginning to elaborate. "I've talked to the man and fought alongside him a few times. He often likes to disappear for no reason, and fights like a champion. Hell, he is a champion at fighting. He's won some pretty high leveled tournaments way back, especially with that punch fighting they called boxing. I remember seeing him knock the hell out of top fighters and receiving all of the fame for it. And with that, he had a lot of challengers confront him. Then he got fed up with it and left for a good decade or so. I swear on my soul that he spent those years hiding away raising a kid like that. I mean, he looks pretty young and fit, but clearly unrefined in power. I bet his daddy got bored and went off to go dick around somewhere like he usually does."

Hearing the man ramble on, Kento couldn't help but think about the many times Ryal liked to mention his father around like he's some sort of deity. Now he understood why, or so he hoped. This father figure seems pretty accurate to the man's guesses, so it would be reasonable to think that Ryal's father was a world class fighter given all of the praise he got from his son.

"So you wanted to save his son, huh?" Kento presumed, receiving a nod from the larger man.

"Absolutely. Call me Kuro, by the way." He greeted, extending his giant paw forward. Kento brought his hand forward, engaging in a handshake in which Kuro tried his very best to not crush him.

"I'm Kento, nice to meet you Kuro. Thanks for saving me and my friend's ass back there."

"No need to thank me kid. It's all in the day's work." He responded, taking another sip of water. He reached for a remote and clicked the power button, turning on a primitive looking TV on one side of the living room.

"I find it surprising that you have electricity and signals all the way out here." Kento commented, receiving a great laugh from the giant.

"We get our power from our Saiyan might. Just a handful of us could light up entire cities. Our signals? We use satellite. I'd say it's pretty convenient." He responded, breezing through channels on the rather small television set. Kento didn't exactly understand how the 'Saiyan might' thing worked, but it was best not to question it.

He later stopped at a news station airing in Getsus, where they showed footage of Arcosian invasions reaching through many of the towns in the eastern area of Terrinosis. It looks like they have expanded far deeper than Kento initially thought.

"When they tried to take Fleon without causing any attention to neighboring countries, the IJA was able to shine light onto the subject. They were pretty smart in attacking at night, but it just so turns out that knocking off all the lights in a populated city is pretty noticeable from space." He talked on through, while Kento watched the broadcast intently.

"I also forgot to mention the other thing." He added, as replays of the older battles began to show. At first, there was the discovery of a few individuals singlehandedly taking on a large plethora of Arcosian soldiers, with one in particular dressed in a trench coat. In one scene from above, shows a small figure hopping across buildings while fleeing from a scene that was engulfed in flames. Kento narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses, getting a closer look at the TV. That person hopping rooftops was more than just 'familiar'. That was Ryal during the night of the shutdown in Fleon.

"Now you know every reason why I'm interested in your friend. It seems to me that he, and perhaps you have an interest in stopping this lizard threat."

Kento said nothing, watching the broadcast more to see the Arcosian threat growing increasingly large. They were actually nearing his home town, which was deeply concerning to his family's well being that lived there. It wouldn't be far fetched at all for the young traveler to admit to being against the advancing threat, especially since he had an interest in getting stronger with Ryal.

"I just so happen to be the expert at removing lizards, and you do it in one way. Fighting. Now I'm far off my prime, so I wouldn't mind lending a hand to you and your friend in some training to go serve your country a good deed." Kuro continued, now looking straight at Kento.

"Training?" A soft grunt spoke from behind the two. They both saw Ryal with his eyes barely open, having just tuned into the conversation. Kento grinned at the sight of his friend recovering from the strike earlier much better than he expect.

"Yeah, I'm up for training." Kento said, feeling a sense of excitement rush through his body.

- One Month Later -

In one moment to the next, Ryal knew he'd be going down a very different path than he anticipated originally. He didn't know exactly why or how, but it lead to him performing extremely difficult training routines under the guidance of an ex-military soldier, who definitely showed no remorse for the kinds of things he'd throw at him. Every night, they would sit around a campfire and the old man would tell his stories with a lot of passion. During the day, in between long lasting training sessions, they sat around in the shade and rested in the nice cool breeze that always seem to favor their location. When they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they were blessed to have pleasantly tasty food brimming with freshness, much like the meals Ryal prepped up from his hunting trips. He distinctly remembered the satisfying feelings he got from temporarily breaking off from constant training. His body felt good and warm, flexible and just, better. Everything he did gradually became more effective. It was fairly similar to the training he experienced at a young age, when his father pushed his limits over and over, where he'd feel his body grow given time. Above all else, the experience during the past month was rewarding in the end, because he knew that with his strength increasing, he'll surpass the obstacles he found to be troubling beforehand.

Suddenly, a foot connected with Ryals forehead quite harshly. Being snapped out of his daydream, the young man fell flat onto the ground that he worked prolongedly to prevent.

"Stop your sleeping and keep your eyes open, kiddo. You may think your body can autopilot but in a fight it can be a complete detriment to your health." Kuro spat. Ryal simply took a mental note and pushed himself off the ground once again and continued his training.

"Besides, it's time I oughta' kick things up a notch. The both of you have been training with

me for exactly one month! It's time I test out both of your progresses, so take the weights of and get up." He added.

Both Kento and Ryal went by the command issued by Kuro and leaned over to the side a bit, letting the bricks slide off and hit the sand. The two let out a sigh for relieving themselves of the weights before getting to their feet rather quickly, waiting for orders to be given.

"Now then," The large man began, pacing back and forth between to the two pupils. He gently stroked his chin with his oversized paw and began to back up. He then took a fighting stance after gaining some distance.

"I'll let you guys have a round with me. Let's see if any decent progress was made. Don't disappoint me now, or else both of your training will be cut and I'm sending you off somewhere else so you can do something more productive with your lives." He huffed.

Kento felt sick to his stomach, and immediately felt like throwing up at the thought of physically engaging with a man whose muscle mass outweighs him times three. Ryal on the other hand, went straight into his fighting stance. He felt nervous, yes, but he had this kind of experience before. His father did the same sort of thing, testing out his strength on the occasion.

"Don't be afraid now. I won't hit back." Kuro added with a wide grin. Suddenly, Kento felt a bit better after hearing that statement, widening his stance and bending his knees a bit. He also rose his hands, attempting to adopt a proper fighting stance solely based on the fights he saw in movies as well as the ones he personally spectated.

"There's no reason to fear. Both of your strengths have increased tremendously and it definitely shows, particularly for you Kento. You've certainly packed on some muscle in those biceps." He complimented.

"Thanks." Kento nodded with a faint smile.

"But this will be the only time I won't be hitting in a sparring match, so it's time you make your training seriously count from here on." Kuro stated, cracking his fingers and knuckles as he awaited for the two to make a move.

Kento gulped and didn't assume the first move, confused as to how he was suppose to fight. Presumably, you're expected to throw punches and stuff like that, but the actual art of fighting was never really taught. Instead, he's being told to simply run on in and try to fight the man without any real combat training. Ryal on the other hand, was way ahead in the game. He had combat training and experience, plus a profound level of superhuman ability. He'd fare far better in an actual battle, or at least now he did.

Ryal dashed off for the giant first, leading in with a flying side kick directly towards his head. When he dashed off, Kento noticed that Ryal's speed still remained similar to his eyes. He appeared like a blur, and a very hard one to track too. He questioned if the body building and training that he endured meant anything at all in the grand scheme of things, especially since his progress was significant. If he still had the exact same skills when it came to tracking someone's speed, did everything he do matter at all really? Was he just stronger now but nothing superhuman?

Kuro caught Ryal's foot with ease, before letting go of the blond man. He landed on the ground, and closed the distance even more before releasing a rapid barrage of hand strikes, which of course, Kento couldn't even keep track of. Ryal was repelled however, and not with much effort either.

"Come on kid, I know you're faster than that. Don't hold back!" He barked, encouraging Ryal to speed up his attacks which still nonetheless, got repelled and dodged anyway. He pressed onward however, determined to land at least one hit on his opponent who was clearly out of his league. It didn't matter though, since it was all a test of training. All Kento could do was stare in awe at the sheer speed of his attacks casually being ignored and parried away without much of an effort. Suppose that even though Kento and Ryal were two completely separate in terms of powers and abilities, it's also evident that the man was in his own area of strength. Ryal couldn't get near him at his very best, even with the amazing feats he pulled off in the battles he had a month earlier plus the boost of the training.

"Kento, aren't you gonna jump in?" Kuro shouted from the constant swinging of punches all aimed to hit their target. The smaller man sighed, feeling nervous and unwilling to participate in the current battle. He paused, staring at the sand while lost in thought, trying to muster up the will to charge in and give it everything he had, even if it all seemed pathetic and laughable to the other two who dwarfed him in power.

After another moment or so, Ryal took notice of this and jumped out of the fray, dashing back over to his friend who was frozen in place.

"Hey dude. What gives?" Ryal asked out of concern for his friend.

Kento scoffed a bit, trying to think up of a clear and concise response, only to listen to all of the thoughts rage inside. He felt far too embarrassed to even think of trying, and felt like he'd get in Ryal's way for trying to land a hit. He kept throwing around mental blocks to excuse him from this one training session he never expect would happen.

"Well, look… Just." He stammered, before Ryal gently placed a hand on Kento's shoulder, attempting to grab his attention.

"We get it. You're far behind us and all. Don't be ashamed of giving it your all. Afterall, he is trying to assess our training, right? He can't know how strong you are if you don't try." He spoke, attempting to reason with his friend which he knew well would get through to him. If there was one Ryal knew more than anything when it came to Kento's skill sets, it was his ability to utilize logic and reason better than most if not everyone else he met.

"Sure, I get that. I just don't want to get in your way I guess." Kento admitted, still finding excuses to avoid being in the current dilemma. Ryal shrugged and gestured his hand towards Kuro, who stood still and patient, waiting for Kento to give it a try.

"Have a go. If it makes you feel better, the amount of strength you gained over the past month is crazy. I think you'd be pretty surprised at how far you've gotten, really. I dunno what else to say." He spoke genuinely, allowing Kento a chance for himself to be assessed with Ryal's own interference. This was it, he couldn't fall back on any more excuses for the matter. His only chance was to either drop out, or perhaps make a fool of himself and keep going. Not only that, a bit of him felt annoyed at Ryal. His attempt at consolidation only triggered his ego. The guy was already way ahead of him. Who was he to say that he, a regular guy was becoming 'crazy strong' or whatever? It's enough that Ryal could disappear before his very eyes and shoot laser beams around.

Kento shook his head, trying to clear himself of his negative thoughts and concentrated at the important matters. Maybe that dirty little feeling he got inside was a good motivator in all of this. He's got to use it to his advantage this time around, because that'll surely make an impact on his training progress. The short man focused his eyes on Kuro, who remained still in a fighting stance. Reluctantly, Kento began his charge, dashing off from his initial starting position and quickly made it down the field.

To his surprise, the distance he was covering was far above anything he expected himself, almost pulling him out of his concentration to think that he was able to go this far with simple training routines. He couldn't pull out now however. It's important to demonstrate the results of his training at this very moment. He focused with all the intent he had, and reached his hand far back just as he got close, and threw it as hard as he possibly could. To his expectation, Kuro caught the hand without much of an effort, but Kento knew well that it's worth all the effort to keep going. He retracted his hand and threw another fist at Kuro, which he parried away. He threw another fist before following up more, faster and faster. Kento had a fairly large interest in seeing how fast he could go with his attacks. He began to count the amount he could throw, and soon found his mind adapting quite quickly with his new-found speed. He counted at speeds he never thought his mind could initially keep up with and conceive of, and his fists flew and made contact with his opponent's parries several times per second. He experimented further and starting throwing different kicks, trying out different ways of throwing the attacks and utilizing his flexible body to continuously throw more attacks. Kento got the hang of this quite fast, and actually enjoyed what his training rewarded him with.

At one point, Kento leapt up into the air, ending up dozens of feet above the ground. He smiled in content, being able to see the ground from great distances simply by jumping. He then brought his foot up, planning to swing it down like an axe towards his foe's skull. However, Kuro took a single step back just before he could land the strike, and instead Kento struck the ground before him.

As a result, large chunks of sand and dirt kicked up from the ground and a fair sized crater formed where he landed. Turns out, when he really tried, he was capable of things that were in fact, superhuman. He just denied it otherwise mentally.

Kuro raised an arm to prevent the sand getting in his eye. Just as Kento brought his foot back and prepared for another attack, Kuro raised his hand to signal him to stop.

"Alright, enough is enough. You both pass." The Saiyan man asserted. A smile formed on the small man's face, as well as Ryal's who sat by and watched the whole thing.

Kento fell onto his back, prompting himself up on his elbows, letting out a few chuckles. "Yeah," He began, panting as he scanned the crater he recently created. "I think I like this." He said, chuckling again through his tired breaths. The brief interaction was exhilarating to say the least, a feeling he couldn't truthfully admit to have felt before.

Ryal approached Kento from behind before sitting down next to him, "I bet that felt pretty good. Just wait 'till you discover things like energy. It'll be a blast."

Kento nodded his head, still staring in disbelief at the crater he just made by swinging his foot down. "I want to see how far I can go with this sort of thing, y'know? I'm not used to anything like this, but I feel like I can tear down entire buildings, when only a month ago I struggled to open up bottles for god's sake."

"Worry not boys. We have all the time in the world to work our way up." Kuro spoke from the distance, tossing both of them jugs of water. Kento and Ryal caught them in unison, before they gulped it down to the last drop. A fresh sigh left the mouths of the two young students before they got up to proceed their training, more motivated than ever to achieve greater levels of strength.