DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super or Dragon Ball Heroes.
EDIT: So, ya boi's an idiot, and forgot to actually read through the document before posting it. I know I said I wouldn't go back and edit previous chapters, but this isn't a previous chapter right now, it's the current chapter and I'm simply doing what I should've done to begin with.
I was initially going to leave it, since INSERT LINE BREAK HERE is kinda funny to see, but in the words of Mr. Perfect Cell. "It's fine, it's fine; it doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me—it bothers me, it bothers me a lot!"
Chapter 18: Different Master, Same Struggle
I almost forgot I was wearing two sashes, having been so caught up in training. The teal one was weighted, like the rest of the teal-colored clothes, but under it I was wearing my gift from Master Korin. A silky, yellow sash, obviously of a different texture from the one Master Kami made. It clashed a little with the brown and the teal, but that was fine.
The Senzu beans were still in their bag, not once coming loose from my hip in the past some-odd months. Only 6 left, and no idea how to get anymore.
But enough about that, I need to reflect on my training, and why I was training this way specifically.
See, there's an inherit flaw to Ultra Instinct, one no one—myself included—actually thought of before. In the show and manga, it's presented as this be-all-end-all goal for martial artists in Dragon Ball, one that grants overwhelming power and speed. The anime treated it like a transformation, the manga treated it like a technique… but it's different here.
So far, it doesn't seem to be either a transformation or a technique. It's a fighting style, a way to fight rather than a weapon to use, or a form to enter. Dodge, counterattack, dodge, parry, counterattack, the principles of Ultra Instinct only follow that sort of style, at least in the Reincarnation Game I'm stuck in. But it had one glaring flaw to it, besides the exhaustion and difficulty to learn.
You can't dodge while attacking.
Sure, you can dodge before the attack, or you can dodge during the attack's setup, but when you fire a ki blast? When you actually land your punch, or kick—or knee—or elbow? There's a window-of-opportunity for anyone expecting it, only a second but that's more than enough for a master martial artist like Master Shinhan to take advantage of.
So far it's been a week of non-stop fighting and getting my ass kicked by someone who knows what they're doing. My current bruises and sore muscles were a testament to that, but the soothing ointment Master Shinhan taught me how to make, as well as how to apply it, was dulling the pain and speeding up the healing process.
This place has the same healing properties that Master Yamcha's desert had, so I've been waking up at 100% for the past few days, thanks to the magic and the medicine. Hopefully it'll fix up my arm faster too.
Oh, and apparently the training grounds were under the effects of having increased gravity. My newest master dropped that little nugget of information on the second day of my training, said it was to help expedite my power growth. He never said how much the gravity was increased, so I've no frame of reference regarding that.
So yeah, training was still Hell.
But right now?
Now was time to rest. Training was done for the day, and the mountain air was cool and crisp. The top of the path I was trying to reach in the beginning opened up to a beautiful view of the mountains, all stretching out as far as the eye could see, and covered in snow and mist. It was like staring at an old drawing of Japanese or Chinese legend, the ones that depict dragons flying through the mountains and bursting through low-hanging clouds.
A perfect place to view the sunset, and a perfect place to think. Here, in this peaceful spot, my thoughts drift to my partner, and my worries grow. A year's a long time, and absence tends to make the heart grow fonder… but I wouldn't be who I was if I wasn't plagued with irrational fears.
Will she still have feelings for me when the year's up? Will I still have feelings for her? Were we moving too fast, or was it the right speed given our situation in a death game?
The training tends to, literally, beat those thoughts out of my head, but I'm not always training.
And yet I'm finding solace in what I'm doing. As starved as I am for romance, I know I don't need it as much as I need friendship. When these thoughts creep into my head unbidden, and usually unwanted, I just remember that at the end of the day we're partners.
And partners stick together.
"The Dodon Ray is all in the way you fire it, instead of how much force you put behind it." Master Shinhan says, having discarded his olive-green jacket for today, revealing his white tank-top underneath. "Yamcha used his pipe analogy, right? The one with the valve?"
"Yes master." I say.
"Good, we're going to use that. When you let your ki flow out of you, do you imagine yourself turning the valve?"
"Sometimes, when I think about it."
"Well, when pulling the valve, I want you to focus on the stream that comes out and imagine it as a river. You're going to try and straighten the river, understand?"
"Y-yes?"
"Don't worry, you'll get this." He says, crossing his arms "Now close your eyes and focus on my energy, ignore your other senses."
Darkness surrounds me everywhere as I focus. No sight, no sound, no smell, no touch, no taste; only ki. A white silhouette stands in the darkness, his arms crossed and his stance strong. The pipes and the valve were in my mind, a slight nudge turning the valve and sending the water flowing. A stream of water, flowing from the pipe end and turning into a magnificent river of possibilities. The river was branching out, forming creeks and brooks.
Straighten the river.
It felt like trying to bend a metal pipe, but you weren't strong enough. So instead, you throw all of your weight against it, trying to force it into the shape you want. The creeks and brooks were receding, but the river still moved in curves. A noise like creaking rust and snapping bones filled my head, as the river inches slowly towards being straight. It still wasn't in the proper position, just a little more—
I can't hold it anymore. All of my senses come rushing back to me, and I need to grab my knees to keep myself from falling over.
I was dripping sweat! And it felt like I had run a marathon while out-of-shape!
"W-what was that?!" I say.
"That," Master Shinhan says, "was your first attempt at shaping your ki."
"Is this the next step of my training?" This was just as exhausting as Master Yamcha's regime!
"No, we don't have that luxury. Instead, after every combat session we have and while the medicine runs its course, you'll be doing shaping training until you don't need to think about it anymore."
This wasn't Hell, this was a nightmare!
"Good, good! Don't neglect your psychic abilities, use them with your ki, instead of either or!"
Even when he's wrapped in the purple aura of my psychokinesis, he still takes the time to teach me how to fight. Master Shinhan truly is amazing.
A flurry of purple ki bullets fire from my open palms, each one layered in psychic power and a sort of 'pseudo-channel.' The pseudo-channel I came up with is like what Master Yamcha taught me, but using what I've learned from Master Shinhan's shaping training to make them denser. More power in a smaller, spherical package, colored purple by my psychic ability.
Another trick I learned was channeling my psychokinesis into a person's aura, burrowing its way and attaching to their very defense. This didn't actually do anything; it didn't stop their aura, or slow down their movements… but it was probably the most dangerous technique I'll ever come up with.
It's a beacon of psychic energy, and like magnets my psychic ki bullets unerringly fly towards the beacon in Master Shinhan's aura.
Huh, magnets… I'll have to incorporate that into the technique's name later.
The energy blasts slam into Master Shinhan and detonate on impact, but I can feel the moment his ki suddenly vanishes.
Damn, it was another of his energy clones, a technique invented by Master Shinhan where he can divide his ki and make a number of copies equal to the number he divides by. In layman terms, if he divides his power by 4, there's now 4 of him that each have 1/4th of his strength.
Which is still more than enough to kick my ass.
Now that I think about it, I don't think I've actually hit the real one yet.
There's always next time.
Time had stopped, but I didn't stop with it. This was where all my training with Ultra Instinct shines. This was where the past five months culminated into; this one moment!
Conscious thought, with unconscious movement.
It took two weeks before I figured out how to stop time on command, two weeks where every attempt left me drenched in sweat and my head pounding. But I figured it out, and all I needed to do was focus every thought, all of my conscious and subconscious mind, towards stopping everything around me.
Sounds simple, right? That's cause it is, but it's by no means easy!
Last time I tried moving in stopped time, I broke something. The reason why was… I was doing it wrong! I was trying to consciously move during stopped time, but that only moved parts of my body. With Ultra Instinct, my whole body moves unconsciously.
And that's the important bit, my whole body moves.
Which led to this moment, as I swerve under my frozen master's kick and drive my elbow into his stomach!
Keep up the momentum!
A flurry of punches, a whirlwind of motion and movement unburdened by unnecessary thought. Shoulders, knees, elbows, the chest and stomach, my strikes are focused and my aim is sure, batting away at joints and torso with equal amounts of power and precision.
I've managed to pull the Power Pole from its sheath just as time starts back up. Shockwaves occur all across Master Shinhan's body, all of my attacks during stopped time happening simultaneously as I slam one end of the Power Pole in its baton-like state into Master Shinhan's stomach.
"Extend!"
The magic weapon answers my call and starts flying forward, taking my master with it. Several dozen meters away Master Shinhan slams back first into the mountainside, cratering the rocky face as he's pushed deeper and deeper.
With a mental command the Power Pole shrinks just as fast, giving me an open target for my next trick.
"Dodon Ray!"
A yellow beam of superheated ki flies from my outstretched finger, illuminating the dark crater in the mountainside before making the sideways crater deeper and bigger with the attack's following explosion.
There's no way that did him any real damage, but that wasn't the point.
A barrage of yellow beams fly out of the cratered mountainside, forcing me to swerve left, right, down, and up to avoid getting hit. I finally landed a blow on him—the real him and not one of his clones, but training doesn't stop there.
I'm done training for the day when Master Shinhan says I'm done training for the day, and not a second earlier!
AN: A little shorter than the other chapters I feel, but I think it's length is fine for what it is. It's more like a training montage chapter of sorts, at least I hope that's how it comes across.
Anyway I got a couple of cool guest reviews and I wanted to respond to them!
First off, to the guy who called this fic a hidden gem, thank you! It meant a lot to read that!
Second, to the guy worrying about me writing myself into a corner, don't worry I have almost the whole thing planned out… mostly…
Also, this is the first I've heard of Ultra Instinct requiring God ki, since I've only seen bits and pieces of both the manga and anime. But I did some research after you said that and, while it took me a while, I did find that the Ultra Instinct thing that Goku does specifically, in both manga and anime, requires God ki.
I'm not sure what I'll end up doing with that, since I wanted to focus more on what Roshi does in the manga and have it be more like a technique. I'll probably stick with that, for story consistency.
Who knows, I've already veered away from my initial outline 4 times so far, maybe something cool will happen?
If you liked the story be sure to favorite it, follow the story if you want to be updated on when a new chapter comes out, and leave a review to let me know what you think of it so far!
