AN- sorry for not updating. Hope you all had a great winter break. I know I did. Anyways, enjoy chapter nine.

Chapter 9…Myth of the Shakoru

Damn it! Why, of all times, do I have to be tired now! I'm drained, I can't even lift my arms. Ugh, this is so stupid!

"Stop!" yelled Kibito. "That is enough. You have you're Evidence Shin. It is time to stop. I do not want this holy ground damaged any further. Besides, you're choking him to death, although I personally wouldn't mind."

Shin chuckled as he released Aezon and let him fall to the ground.

Aezon glanced at Kibito with newfound respect, and also newfound disgust. Why is he worrying about me? He's not the one taking a beating. And he's more worried about this stupid plane! Ugh!

Kibito is right. We should stop. You are the one I was looking for. Besides, if we were to continue, you would eventually hurt yourself beyond my healing powers. Now hold still." Shin closed his eyes as he placed his hands over Aezon. After a moment, he was done.

"What do you know about your own kind," the Supreme Kai questioned as Aezon stood up.

He looked at the kai with a perplexed look. "Not much. I barely even know what I am, let alone who."

"Do you want some answers?"

"Yeah."

"Then let me train you. Trust me when I say that I can help you find those answers and unlock your unlimited potential."

He considered for a moment. "What about Rocky?"

"What of him?"

"I want him returned safely to Netiga."

"If you wish." He nodded to Kibito. "Kibito will show you to your new quarters. I suggest you train for tomorrow."

"Alright. But tell Rocky that I will come back for him. I will return to Netiga sometime," Aezon told him in utter confidence.

"So be it. Be ready for your first training session tomorrow morning." With that, the Supreme Kai vanished.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"What are these?" Aezon asked, looking at the large bumpers placed on his wrist, ankles, waist, and chest.

"They're weights," Shin said simply.

"Well, they don't feel very heavy."

"That's because I haven't added any weight to them yet."

"Huh?"

"Let me demonstrate. Is 500 pounds each enough? Yes, I think it is," seeing the reaction on Aezon's face. Pointing a finger towards his pupil, the bumpers suddenly had added weight.

"Whoa! These things are heavy! How did you do that?" he asked, astonished. The bumpers were starting to weigh him down.

"Now," yelled Shin, ignoring the question, "fly up and begin your warm-up exercises. You must be loose to train to your maximum and go beyond it."

"Hmm," was all he could say as he struggled into the air to begin. "I haven't felt this slow since I was eight" he complained after doing a few sluggish punches.

"Oh? And how old are you now?"

Aezon paused to think on that. He hadn't really thought about it much since he left for Earth. "Umm, well, seventeen, I suppose."

"Are you sure? Time does not pass the same it does in the mortal world."

"So what are you saying?" Aezon questioned, returning to his stretches and warm-up.

"That you may forget exactly how old you are. Or that you really just don't know. Some people live for a very long time. Sometimes, forever."

"Yeah right, no on can live forever."

"You might be surprised, Aezon Khitari. You know very little," Shin told him, like a professor instructing a student.

"Yeah, whatever."

"I believe you've had enough warm-ups. Now, try to hit me." He said this quite plaintively, as if he did it every day.

"What? C'mon, if I couldn't hit you the other day, I surely can't hit you with these weights…"

"Enough. You will not rest until you do so. Now begin."

Aezon began ton throw himself at the Supreme Kai, but it was useless. There's no way I can do this t with these stupid weights on. If only I could move faster…that's it! Just move faster…

Aezon let his mind go and thought about moving faster. It was his mindset, determination, his goal, his desire, the one thing that he must accomplish. Shin noticed the difference. Dodging was becoming more difficult, although he still had not broken a sweat yet. Even worse for him, things started slowing down for Aezon. It was all becoming much easier.

Soon enough, a malicious grin appeared across his face, full of determination. The Supreme Kai almost got the impression that Aezon was toying with him now. Then he was caught off guard by Aezon's upper cut roundhouse. He flew through the air for several feet before stopping, a frown upon his face. What he saw next was a complete surprise: Aezon was also frowning. It was the last thing that Shin thought he would see.

"You, of all people, should be joyful, Aezon. Not many people get to try and hit me, let alone be trained by me.

"You lost your concentration. You let me hit you. Damn it! Why can't you think straight and not wonder off?!?!" Frustration was not an understatement in describing how he felt.

"Do you really think I was going all out? I have many matters to attend to, and I definitely cannot completely give you my full attention. When you become better, I will try harder. All Aezon could do was scowl.

"Now, try again." He didn't hesitate to go right back to where he left off.

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"Supreme Kai, why do these bumpers still feel heavy?" Aezon thought that the bumpers would gradually become lighter from conditioning.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you that the bumpers will gradually get heavier as you increase your strength and speed. They adjust so that you never gain any speed when you have them on. Quite clever, isn't it?" Shin seemed quite pleased with himself, while Aezon just stared at him in disbelief.

"So, how strong am I then? You always push me to my limit every day, so I don't have time to see exactly how strong I've gotten. Plus, these bumpers are kinds bulky. They're rather awkward to wear. Don't you have weighted clothing I can use?"

"Well, yes, but it's a preset amount of weight. I would have to make it heavier for you. But it is much like a standard fighting gi. It's is rather convenient for conventional training."

"May I have some?" he asked quickly. "I want to use them. That way, I'll become even stronger and faster than I normally would. It will get me into shape."

Shin quirked his eyebrows at this remark. It almost sounded like Aezon wanted to use both the clothing and the bumpers at the same time. And how could he possibly be out of shape? Most fighters couldn't stand for not seeing any improvement. "If you wish. But it will take a toll on your body. Be prepared to for the consequences."

"Trust me," he grinned. "I know exactly what I'm getting into."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Months have passed. Every day goes by in agony. His muscles ache from extortion, but Shin says that he sees much improvement, but the torture is still inevitable. Every day I am training with weights, trying my hardest, only to see nothing come out of it. Each day the weights feel the same. In fact, if something did improve, it was his thinking. The Supreme Kai had attacked him while he had the weights. As if he ever them off. And he was expected to defend himself. The strain was unbelievable. The greatest thought was when he would exceed beyond the training, to finally go venture on his own, if only to see some other planet, regardless of how strange.

Shin walked into the hut of which Aezon now called 'home'. "It is time, Aezon. Today, we will take off the bumpers." His eyes perked up at the thought. Can this be? I've been waiting months, years, it seems like, for this day. Finally, I can really see some results! "Today, however, you will fight me." Oh, this will be good. I believe it is time to repay my mentor.

The sky was a bright, clear blue as he walked outside. Moving seemed so…effortless. It was as if he wasn't walking at all.

"Are you ready, Aezon." Shin had a look of seriousness on him. It must be time to really go at it.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Both fighters stood waiting there for either of them to make a move. The Supreme Kai moved first. He moved faster than he had when Aezon was training, but he found that he had gained much speed now that the bumpers were off. In fact, it seemed quite effortless to dodge his attacks. A grin soon appeared on his face with new found confidence in his own abilities.

"You have improved much," Shin commented. "But can you handle this? Shockwave!" The attack was stronger this time than when Aezon had fought Shin earlier. He felt the mystical power that the attack had. It was then he realized that he could manipulate the attack's energy itself. He put his hands out, concentrating on its power. To Shin's amazement, he actually caught the shockwave in his hands.

"Now," he yelled, "are you ready? Cause here I come!" Aezon launched himself towards Shin with speed that he thought wasn't possible. His idea was to deliver his own opponent's attack right back at him, but Shin was somehow able to predict this. He guarded himself while Aezon launched his onslaught.

"Enough," coughed Shin through the dust. He wasn't used to being dominated against in a fight.

"Enough? I thought you wanted more," he mocked.

"Well, this is enough. You have gone farther in your training than I expected."

"Good. Now you can get me some answers."

"What answers?" He was genuinely perplexed."About me, my race, my kind, why I am the way I am. Surely you must know something. I have the right to know."

"Fine," he said, deciding it was time that he should know anyways. "It is written that there once was a warrior race called the Shakoru. Not much is know about them except that they were rivaled in power only by the saiyans and the Zakhul. Legend says that the Shakoru were 'walking ghosts', although I don't know exactly what that means, except that is what Shakoru means in your native tongue. About 400 years ago, the Shakoru went to war with the Zakhul. They ended up killing apart whole galaxies trying to hunt them all down. No one knows why they did this. But apparently, they were no match for the Zakhul. They were massacred, killed to extinction. Except you. Your bloodline survived. I do not know how, but it did.

"But to this day, no one has found traces of the Shakoru or Zakhul. Not even the kai's are sure if they exist anymore. You are the only trace of either one that I was able to find."

"Why were you trying to find me? What's so important about a lost race?"

"I will tell you in due time Aezon, but not now. You are still too young to understand. The important thing is that I found you."

"But why? Why is it so important? If you're not going to tell me, then teach me your shockwave technique."

"Agreed. I shall teach you the technique." Aezon let out a sigh at the impossibility of getting answers out of Shin. "Shockwave takes a certain amount of psychic ability, so you may have a lot of difficulties with this, but it is also very effective in battle. Now, watch as I demonstrate."