Kami's fingernails dig deeper and deeper into his staff while watching Bulma unpack her scientific inventions from large crates that poofed into existence from her Capsules. Every new contraption looks more intimidating than the last. All of the lights and buttons seem too complicated to be worth the hassle. What could they do that traditional martial arts instructions could not?
"Alright, that's the last of it," Bulma says.
"Wow Bulma, you've outdone yourself," says Yamcha. "What does all of this stuff do?"
"This is all designed to measure and study ki," she says. "Recording and analyzing data is the quickest way to improve."
"Pardon my intrusion Bulma," says Kami, "but Mr. Popo and I are quite capable of sensing our students' progress."
"With all due respect," Bulma says, "it's been proven that the mind's perception of reality is highly fallible. What we feel isn't as accurate as an outside observer. And hard data doesn't lie. Now I won't claim to know more about ki than you do, but my machines are here to help you make more informed decisions about how to proceed."
"Hmm," Kami says. His hands increase the tightness of their grip on the staff. "I have always advocated for the necessity of change and embracing the innovations of others. I still don't see what place technology has in martial arts training, but I'm willing to try something new. Let's see how today goes."
"Thank you sir," she says beaming. "You won't be disappointed."
Kami nods with pursed lips.
"Alright let's begin," she says. She holds up the scouter the alien was wearing during the day of their encounter. "This thing can read the life force, power level, battle power, whatever you want to call it, of a living being. I'll be using this technology to take measurements of your abilities so we can figure out what's working and what needs improvement. Each device here serves a specific purpose towards that end.
"First of all I want to see how much you've improved so far. Now I only have some of the most recently stored numbers from the scouter's memory cache which include Yamcha and Krillin. It overwrites old readings as new ones come in. And mind you I had to translate these readings from an alien language, but I'm pretty sure I matched all the numbers up right. Yamcha's power level was 177 and Krillin's was 206."
Krillin flexes an arm at his friend and smiles.
"And where are we now?" asks Yamcha.
"Take a stance and let's find out," says Bulma.
He and Krillin nod at each other before striking their poses. Bulma puts on the scouter and pushes the button. It begins beeping as the numbers tick up and the rectocals on the screen zero in on the two fighters. They begin to slow down until they stop.
"Looks like Krillin is up to 293 and Yamcha … 298!" Bulma says.
"Alright!" says Yamcha with a fist pump. "And I'm going to keep pushing it higher."
"Careful Yamcha," says Kami. "That device is only measuring your active ki which is all we can sense as well. There is more to being strong than raising your active limit."
"What do you mean?" says Yamcha. "The alien was way stronger than Goku and Piccolo, and his active ki was huge."
"True but he could not use all of it at once," says Kami. "Goku and Piccolo, however, could put their entire active ki into any of their techniques. And just as you and everyone else here has more latent energy hidden within, so too do Goku and Piccolo. The alien invader did not know how to draw this power out. All of his strength was on the surface without any control over it. Goku and Piccolo know how much total ki they can use at once and worked on raising that amount along with their passive total rather than the amount of their active ki."
"Yeah, Master Roshi tried to explain something like that," says Yamcha. "But I assumed raising your active ki would also raise the amount of ki you could use at one time."
"General training will always make everything a little stronger," Kami says. "What's important is targeting specific things to have a greater impact on their improvement. Goku and Piccolo did raise their active ki limits but not by focusing on it. Instead they focused on how much they could control at one time. As that skill grew, their active pool did so by extension and was therefore never higher than it realistically needed to be. If they wanted, they could have learned to draw out all of their ki to match the power level of the alien, but they would still have been limited by how much energy they could control at once."
"Pardon me Kami," says Tien, "But having a higher active ki pool does mean you don't have to worry about drawing out passive ki during a life threatening situation since it would already be drawn out, correct?"
"Indeed. I'm not trying to say there is no value in a high active ki limit, just that one should be mindful of how they develop their abilities."
"So if we have a high passive pool," says Tien, "it would be good to work on the active side to avoid bottlenecking how much we have access too."
"Precisely Tien," confirms Kami. "Or if someone has a hard time drawing out their inner ki, it would be better for them to push most of it into their active ki so it's ready for use if they anticipate a fight. Of course doing so does risk it slipping away in lapses of concentration such as when struck in battle."
"Woah, woah, woah," says Bulma. "I need a crash course in all this active versus passive ki business."
"If that would better help you assist us, then certainly," says Kami. "Chiaotzu, you have been studying this topic the most heavily, I believe you could provide the easiest to understand explanation."
"I'll try," he says in his squeaky high voice.
He floats forward looking down at the floor as everyone's eyes fall on him.
"Imagine ki as a weight," he begins. "And let's say we have two people with two hundred pounds of ki each within the core of their bodies. This is known as their passive ki. Both of them are able to draw up to one hundred pounds of this power out of their cores and use it for superhuman feats like increased strength or flight. This is known as their active ki.
"Now imagine that in order to utilize their active ki, they must be able to lift its weight. Though they have the same total and enough strength to hold the one hundred pound mass, their skill at manipulating it is different. When person A tries to use all of his active ki at once, it feels like a massive ball taller than himself. If control is represented by the size of this ki object, then his lack of control makes the ki unmanageably big. There is no lifting technique that would allow him to get an object of this size and mass off the ground.
"Since he can't reduce the size because of his poor control, he must resort to using smaller pieces of it light enough for him to lift instead. In the end, the largest piece he can get his arms around and legs under to lift is twenty pounds. So even though he has one hundred pounds of active ki, he can only use twenty percent of it at a time.
"Now person B has much better control. His one hundred pound sphere is only the size of a sports ball thereby making it much more manageable to lift. With a proper technique, he can pick it up off the ground fairly easily. Therefore, he can use one hundred percent of his active ki unlike person A."
"Okay, that makes sense," says Bulma. "It's almost like how potential and kinetic energy work. Your total active ki would be the potential of power you could use, while the kinetic power comes from how much of it actually gets released. It's not a perfect analogy but it kind of fits.
"Kinetic ki," says Krillin. "I like the sound of that."
Bulma smiles.
"Uh, I do too," chimes in Yamcha.
"Alright, kinetic ki it is," she says. "And I have something that can measure such a thing. Hang on a minute."
She begins setting something up with great enthusiasm. A tripod with a post sticking straight up from it acts as the main body. A rod runs at a ninety degree angle from the top of the post. A yellow tarp hangs down from the rod with wires running from the bottom to a display screen on the tripod. She pushes a few buttons on the control panel next to the screen.
"Okay Yamcha, you're up," she says. A big grin is on her face.
"Uh, what do I do?" he asks.
"Punch it as hard as you can of course," she says. "Strike it right here in the middle." She points to a box in the center with white lines marking it off from the rest of the mat. "That alien's armor was made out of an interestingly flexible material which I learned how to synthesize and created this fabric from."
"Okay. I'll give it a shot," he says. "I can't promise I won't break it though."
He raises his arms while crouching. Everyone but Bulma feels his life force rise and radiate outward before settling in his right fist. He charges forward delivering a punch with his full body weight behind it. The tarp easily gives under the force, absorbing and diffusing it as rippling waves across its surface. The display reads out a number, and Yamcha steps back to see his results.
"164," says Bulma. She taps the number into the touch screen of a tablet she carries. "Awesome. Your kinetic ki is nearly as strong as your active ki used to be. Okay Krillin your turn."
"Uh, yeah," he says with a nod.
He slides his left leg forward towards the device while raising his right hand behind his head away from it. There is no swell of energy like with Yamcha's attack. Instead, the others feel its mass gather in the bald man's core. He leaps forward with his striking hand swinging around as his body uncoils until his arm is straight. The energy transfers from his center through the extended appendage. It makes contact in the same fashion as his friend's before him.
"205. Nice Krillin," Bulma says. Again she records the data and smiles. "Just one point shy of your previous active ki limit. You've improved a lot."
"Uh, thank you," he says with a slight bow. "Your machine is very impressive."
"I know right," she says gleefully. "And it's working better than I hoped. I'll have you boys whipped into shape in no time."
Yamcha clenches both his fists while his head drops a little. Krillin looks over to him and then quickly averts his eyes.
"Alright, Tien and Chiaotzu. Would you both step up next?" Bulma says.
"Wait," says Yamcha before they can barely fidget at the sound of their names. "I'd like to try one more time."
Before she can answer, he is already taking a stance, this one different from the last. Both hands remain open with the fingers curled forward like claws. He shifts more of his weight to his back leg rather than evenly between them. The others feel a fiercer ki this time. One that does not burst outward from his body but merely fills it. He drives at the mat once again. His aura takes the shape of a wolf as it swirls tightly atop his skin.
"Rogafufuken!" he howls.
Bulma raises an arm over her face as the winds kick up from him rushing by her. She does not even see the attack land. All she is left with is the number on the screen, 295.
"Wu-wow," she says. Her voice is nearly a whisper. "That was fantastic Yamcha."
Krillin cannot suppress a fist pump at the show of force.
"I want my regular strikes to hit that hard," he says. A focused look remains on his face. "Kami, that's my new goal. To make full use of my active ki with every punch, just like Goku."
Kami nods in approval.
"That was impressive Yamcha, but there's something I'm not understanding," says Bulma. "You just used an attack of 295 but your power level reading didn't drop by that much. How does that work?"
"Ki is not a one to one currency," says Kami. "A skilled user can do more with less ki. And an unskilled user would do the opposite, using more ki to do less. Each technique whether it's flight or just hitting harder, are different skills that can be mastered to different degrees of success."
"Interesting," says Bulma flicking her fingers across the screen of her tablet. "Okay, let me measure Tien and Chiaotzu's current performance and then we can get down to more serious matters."
The two nod at each other.
"Alright let's show everyone the results of our training," says Tien with a white aura bursting forth from his body.
"Right," says Chiaotzu doing the same.
"Woah," says Bulma. "Tien's up to 381 and Chiaotzu's power level is 316."
Tien does a flying kick with his extended foot striking the pad. He bounces away as Chiaotzu spirals in with a headbutt. The screen flashes out 266 followed by 173. They smile to one another.
"Nice job Chiaotzu," says Tien. "Your hard work is paying off."
"Yeah, but I'll never be as good as you," says Chiaotzu.
"It's not about being better than someone else. Self improvement isn't a competition," Tien says placing a hand on his companion's head and rubbing it until Chiaotzu's hat slides down over his eyes. The childlike psychic peeks out from under it grinning ear to ear.
"Alright, got it," Bulma says.
"Excellent," says Kami. "Yamcha since you have already decided to increase your, uh, kin-et-ic ki, why don't you go with Mr. Popo and begin. Krillin and Chiaotzu, I want you two on target practice again. Bulma, I think your input would be very useful for Tien's current training would you please come with us."
"Sure thing," she says trotting over to the Guardian. She calls back to Yamcha as she goes. "Good luck, Yamcha. I'll catch up with you later."
She smiles and waves. Yamcha manages to wave back before putting his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet over to Mr. Popo away from her, Kami, and Tien.
"Shall we begin, Yamcha?" asks Mr. Popo.
"Sure," says Yamcha with one last look over his shoulder.
Kami explains something to Bulma with Tien speaking afterwards. He sees Bulma's mouth move to join the conversation.
What could they be doing over there? he wonders. Man I wish she was helping with my training.
"Yamcha, I need you to focus your mind," says Mr. Popo.
"Yeah, yeah," he says closing his eyes and breathing.
…
"Tien has been working on improving his Shishin no Ken technique," says Kami. "It has a lot of potential, but Goku demonstrated it has a weakness making it a liability rather than an asset. When Tien divides his ki among the clones, they are very susceptible to being defeated individually even when they are working as a cohesive team."
"Yes. Unfortunately I haven't been able to come up with a solution to this problem that lets me use it in battle," says Tien.
"I'm hoping your technology can give us some insights," says Kami.
"Okay, leave it to me," says Bulma. "Let's get some data and go from there."
Tien performs the Shishin no Ken. Bulma has him go through the routine from before. She confirms the limitations when the four clones each show a battle power of 95 and kinetic ki of 66.
"From what I've observed, and what I've learned today," says Bulma, "you may have already solved your own problem."
"What do you mean Bulma?" says Tien.
"Remember earlier when you said there could be some advantages to having a higher active ki even if your kinetic ki isn't high enough to use it all?" she says. "This seems like the technique it's made for. You should try drawing out all of your passive ki that isn't being used anyway and give it to your clones to use. Then you'd be maximizing your full ki potential instead of keeping some of it held back because your active pool is full. Of course you'll still have to figure out how to get the kinetic ki of the clones as strong as your base kinetic ki."
"Thanks," says Tien. "That helps a lot. It gives me a place to start at least."
"Sure thing. Sometimes you just need someone else to look at it from another angle."
She leaves Tien and Kami to figure out the details and walks over to Krillin and Chiaotzu. She is still in awe of how the temple can float above the Earth completely undetectable. Then again, after all the things she has seen hanging around with Goku and their friends, nothing really seems that impossible anymore.
She sees the two shortest fighters practicing aiming their ki blasts. Chiaotzu is mentally levitating spare tiles she assumes are used for replacing those of the floor they all stand on. The tiles zip around the air as Krillin tries to hit them with yellow energy spheres. When the exercise finishes, most of the tiles are nicked in the corners and edges but none have suffered heavy damage.
"Hnn, I'm still not getting it," says Krillin tossing aside the last square of flooring he examines.
"What'cha you guys working on?" asks Bulma standing over them.
"I want to improve my ranged attacks by shooting them faster and with greater accuracy, but I just can't get the hang of it," Krillin says.
"And I'm doing a little of the same while building the endurance of my ki for longer usage," says Chiaotzu.
"Hey Krillin, have you tried adding spin to your shots?" Bulma says.
"Whaddya mean?" he asks.
"I've seen you bend your ki beams before, so I know you can affect their motion," she says. "I was wondering if you could make your ki blasts spin as you release them."
"I probably could, but why?"
"Basic ballistics states that spinning a bullet over its horizontal axis allows it to cut through the air quicker and hold its trajectory longer. I'm not sure if the same principles apply to ki though."
"It's worth a try I suppose. Alright Chiaotzu let's go again!"
Bulma watches as Chiaotzu prepares the tiles while Krillin practices applying spin to an orb that hovers in his hand. It takes him a moment to get it to spin at all. When it does, it sporadically changes directions until he gets it to only turn one way. He looks up to the sky where the tiles dance. He throws one ki ball after another alternating hands. Each sphere punches through a square shattering it into pieces with small explosions.
"Alright! Thanks Bulma."
"Hey no problem. Happy to help," she says giving a wink.
"Alright, my turn," Chiaotzu says. A devious smile creeps onto his face.
"Oh no," says Krillin.
"What's wrong," says Bulma.
"It's my turn to move the targets around, but I have to hold them with my hands since I can't levitate them."
"Oh. Well, good luck with that," Bulma says giving him a pat on the back.
She watches as Krillin flies around with a terrified look on his face and his arms fully outstretched holding the tiles.
"Dodonpa!" Chiaotzu says at the top of his tiny lungs and points a single finger.
A thin yellow beam shoots forth from the tip of the digit. It misses a square, but does not relent. The laser chases Krillin around as Chiaotzu continues to pour ki into it. Bulma sees sweat droplets appear on his forehead. One slides down his pale cheek to his chin. And just when she thinks he is going to explode from the effort, his beam cuts clean through a tile. Chiaotzu immediately stops the technique and bends over placing his hands on his knees. His lungs completely flatten with each exhale to make room for as much new air as possible.
…
The day of training finishes when the sun turns orange in the west. Bulma walks towards a single room portable home from one of her Capsules. Yamcha hurries after her.
"Hey Bulma, wait up a moment. I've been trying to catch you all day," he says coming to a stop.
Bulma turns around.
"Yeah, sorry about that," she says. "It's been a busy day, and I was excited to help out."
"You were awesome," he says smiling.
A silence settles in.
"So, uh, I was wondering," Yamcha says. "I mean, there's something I want to show you. If you have time, that is?"
Bulma giggles.
"Of course," she says. "I'd love to. But, uh, what more is there to see up here? I can see from one side to the other."
"Let me show you. It's great."
He leads her over to the eastern side of Kami's palace. He sits himself on the edge of the platform allowing his legs to bend over it at the knees. Bulma hesitates for a moment before doing the same. She moves slowly and deliberately with one hand on Yamcha's shoulder to steady herself. She kicks her feet back and forth nervously one after the other. She leans back on her palms so she does not accidentally fall forward into the endless sky.
"So, um, what are we looking at?" she asks peering into the navy backdrop.
"Just give it a moment," he says.
They sit wordlessly. Bulma's stomach still feels queasy while Yamcha seems to enjoy the unobstructed wind blowing through his shoulder length hair. She gives the sky another once over still not seeing what the big deal is. A white star twinkles into existence. Then another and another. The navy gives way to black as the stars pop up faster than she can count like someone is poking holes in a dark sheet. It is the clearest night sky she has ever seen without the light pollution of any cities to obscure it.
"Wow! It's beautiful," she says.
"It gets better," says Yamcha looking at her rather than the sight above.
As the seconds pass, other colors besides white and black fill the sky with brilliant auras of electromagnetic radiation. It feels as if there is no separation between the Earth's atmosphere and the universe beyond it. Multicolored clouds of neon gas pass slowly before them drifting by the pull of gravity instead of air currents. The scene plays out like a shifting variegated marble.
"You've been able to see this for the past three weeks?" she says. "I'm jealous."
"Well now that you're up here too, you can see it every night," says Yamcha.
He leans back to rest on his own palms while Bulma continues to marvel upwards. He places the ends of his fingers on the tips of hers. Her body starts at the unexpected touch, but her fingers do not pull away. She looks down and then back at him with a smile. Then they both turn their heads to the sky once more as their hands join as one.