(Otherworld, some time later)
Gohan's voyage along Snake Way was surprisingly short, but he still had time to stretch his senses and attempt to understand how Otherworld worked. To Gohan, it seemed that the world of the dead was an unimaginably large, universe-sized planet. Hell was the earth below the clouds, an incomprehensibly massive expanse of rock that extended far, far deeper beyond the surface. King Yemma warned Gohan not to go beneath the cloud layer, so the young man couldn't see how hell looked from above, but his ki sense told him it was a relatively flat plane that extended into infinity. A billion people could be thrown into a relatively small area of hell and never come across each other. As it was, Gohan sensed a mind-boggling number of souls down there, and they were muted in a strange way, perhaps their ki was limited so they could be restrained.
Above the various realms of hell lay a border-realm of yellow clouds and floating islands, comparable to Earth's atmosphere. King Yemma's palace was built on one such island, for example.
Far above the clouds was Heaven, a colorful void comparable to outer space in the mortal realms. Heaven was mostly empty, like outer space, but held a large number of relatively small planets, with clouds of colorful energies floating between them. Gohan couldn't sense any dead souls in heaven, which was curious, but some of the planets did hold life. In the mostly empty reaches of Heaven it was easy to sense three small ki signatures relatively close to the hall of judgement – Gohan assumed these were King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory, and headed there.
He flew over snake way while sensing his environment, then rose up into the void and accelerated into space-flight. He could sense Shin and Elder Kai on their planet, far, far away, and there were many more concentrations of ki elsewhere in the void of Heaven. Unfortunately Gohan had no time to explore, he was here to meet King Kai and ask for the god's help.
After getting all this power, there was nothing he wanted more than to explore existence and catalog all its wonders, perhaps helping his scientist friends to verify various theories, bring all sorts of sensors and recording equipment to alien stars and planets... but abandoning his quest now would be an extremely selfish thing to do.
During his flight Gohan thought about how strange it was that his father could extend his senses into otherworld so easily. Gohan couldn't sense the mortal universe no matter how hard he tried, and the only thing he could sense from back home was that strange, fleeting ki signature that appeared as a result of Porunga's wish. There was something unique about Goku that allowed him to perform impossible feats, and Gohan had no idea what it was.
Overall the entire journey across Snake Way took about thirty minutes, and the only living things Gohan encountered during the crossing were a cleaning truck and a floating palace apparently full of female ogres. The half-saiyan ignored all these distractions and sped along until he reached King Kai's tiny planet.
After landing, Gohan noted the increased gravity and marveled at the close horizon. The short, rotund form of King Kai was immediately visible under his car – the god of the north was busy tampering with his precious red vehicle along with Bubbles the monkey. Gohan came closer and coughed politely.
"Huh?" King Kai crawled out from underneath the car and looked at Gohan curiously. "Gohan? What are you doing here?" The small god stood up and dusted himself while Bubbles joined him.
"Hello, King Kai," Gohan bowed in respect. The short god was a part of the failing system Gohan detested, but at the same time King Kai helped save Earth again and again, even dying in the process. He earned Gohan's respect. "I need your help."
"Oh? What can I help you with?" King Kai gave Gohan a puzzled look, his antenae twitching. Something seemed... off about Gohan ever since his ritual, but up close he could feel waves of authority radiating from the half-saiyan, as if he was... a supreme kai. The god's eyes widened beneath his dark sunglasses, but he quickly masked his surprise and it looked like Gohan didn't notice his reaction. "Do you want me to teach you the kaioken? It's quite a useful technique, if I do say so myself."
"No, King Kai," Gohan shook his head. "I... well, I need you to teach me how to use the power of creation."
This time there was no hiding the surprise. "What?!"
"Well," Gohan continued, feeling slightly awkward. Explaining his transformation felt strange. "A few weeks ago I underwent the super saiyan god ritual. After the ritual was complete I.. received the ability to create, like the gods do. Later on I used it in combat, but I still don't know how to control it precisely and I can only use it when I'm very angry."
"I see, I see," said King Kai. The rotund god started to pace while thinking, followed closely by Bubbles, who was mimicking his master's every movement. Gohan smiled at the monkey's antics and waited patiently. A few moments later, King Kai turned back to Gohan and angrily shooed Bubbles away.
"I usually require my students to make me laugh," King Kai sighed, "but I think I'll make an exception for you. Let me clean up a little, I'll be right back."
A few minutes later King Kai appeared again, shiny and refreshed. "Would you like something to eat or drink first?"
"No," Gohan shook his head, "thank you. I want to begin training as soon as possible."
A child of Goku who isn't always hungry, thought King Kai to himself, things must really be serious. "Very well," he sighed, "can you please show me what you can do? I need to know what I have to work with."
Gohan looked away, embarrassed. "Alright, but... right now I can do it only when I'm angry, so please don't think I'm going to attack you."
"Oh," King Kai nodded, already trained in evading the power of angry saiyan warriors. The short god ran inside the house, hid behind the round wall and peeped at Gohan from inside the entrance. "Please, go ahead."
Gohan nodded and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his anger towards Beerus and Freeza, all those lives destroyed and twisted by violent and uncaring gods. His aura immediately flared and expanded, radiating immense power and causing the entire tiny world to be buffeted by powerful winds. Gohan's rage increased more and more, and after a few moments his aura began to shift color, from white to purple-pink with a red outline. His hair changed as well, rising up and turning into a pale pastel-pink.
He had to do this quickly, since calming down would prevent him from using creation. Gohan knew how he looked when he was in this state and hated intimidating King Kai, but there was no other way. Before his anger could melt away, Gohan shouted and pointed up into the sky.
A few moments later King Kai came out of the house, Gohan's aura fading back to white and then evaporating completely. The young man's raw power was staggering, similar to that of Goku and far, far greater than the divine energy of any supreme kai King Kai had ever sensed.
"Sorry for the outburst," Gohan apologized, "I really can't create anything unless I'm very angry."
King Kai stared into the sky of his little world, nodding. A massive asteroid now hovered near the small planet, eclipsing it in size. It was brown-gray, and full of jagged edges, broken peaks and deep fissures.
"Umm... not bad for a beginner," said King Kai after a few moments of examining Gohan's creation. "It's much less dense than my own planet... looks like it's a massive rock from Earth. Not bad, not bad..." King Kai continued, thinking to himself.
Gohan's creation talent was unbelievably powerful, but raw and untrained. He had expended an immense amount of energy to create this simple, relatively low-density rock. If King Kai had access to the same amount of energy, he could have created a much bigger object, or perhaps much denser or more complex. Also, expending that much energy didn't seem to tire Gohan at all, which meant that his potential for creation was far beyond anything King Kai had ever experienced. Still, Gohan would have to learn to visualize his creation perfectly and expend energy in a more efficient manner. The last and most important aspect of creation was something else, something King Kai never expected any mortal to possess.
"Gohan..." King Kai lifted his hand, attempting to unmake Gohan's asteroid, but nothing happened. "Oh!" he exclaimed and looked at Gohan in surprise.
"What is it, King Kai?" Gohan asked.
"Err, I need you to unmake this rock you created."
"Unmake?" Gohan asked, "What do you mean?"
King Kai cleared his throat and took a deep breath, automatically going into his teacher mode. "You see, newly created objects can still be unmade by other gods. Unmaking is essentially undoing the act of creation. It takes some time before objects... well, become real enough to be considered permanent, and after that period they cannot be unmade or modified anymore, only destroyed by force. However, a god can't unmake objects that were created by a god of higher rank... and, well, your rank seems to be higher than my own." King Kai coughed in embarrassment, as talking openly about ranks was considered impolite. He guessed it was fine if he was a teacher explaining it to his student, but Gohan was a mortal, he wasn't supposed to be able to create at all, let alone at a higher rank than King Kai. The entire situation was impossible.
Unlike many of the god's recent students, Gohan was completely focused on King Kai's words, not missing a thing. It actually made King Kai feel a little uncomfortable. Apparently he was used to Goku's more lax attitude and instinctive learning.
"You mentioned modification?" asked Gohan.
"Oh, yes," King Kai explained, "It's the same principle as undoing, really, only instead of making an object vanish you simply change its attributes. Any god can modify the creations of another before the object becomes permanent, but it's more polite to ask for permission first. And if the creating god is of higher rank, they have to give their permission to the modifying god or the modification won't work."
"I see, thank you." Gohan nodded and looked toward his newly created asteroid. "So you want me to unmake this rock? Can't I just give you permission to do it?"
"No," King Kai shook his head, "unmaking can only be done by gods of the same rank or higher. Although even if you can unmake something, it's always more civilized to ask for permission first."
"I wonder who made all these rules up..." Gohan muttered, but King Kai heard him.
"Hmm, things were always this way, I guess."
Gohan nodded. "Well, I'll try to... umm... unmake it."
Gohan's aura started to flicker, but King Kai quickly shouted "Wait!".
"What is it, King Kai?" Gohan looked at the god curiously.
"Try to do it without transforming." King Kai pointed toward the gigantic rock.
Gohan nodded. "I'll try." The young man took a deep breath and looked at the asteroid he created. His eyes closed as he concentrated on King Kai's request, and his aura started flaring. The wind flowing away from his body started to pick up speed, causing King Kai to lean forward or risk falling on his back.
Gohan gave up after a minute of concentration, his aura vanished and the wind suddenly stopped. The surprised King Kai fell forward, then was helped up by Gohan.
"Nothing, eh?" King Kai straightened his clothes after Gohan helped him stand.
"No," Gohan shook his head. "I can't feel anything, it's just not working. You want me to destroy it with an energy blast?"
"No, no" said King Kai hurriedly. "We're trying to practice here. Let me tell you what I think is happening. You have more than enough power, obviously, and your mental focus is good enough. What you lack is conviction."
"Conviction?" asked the puzzled Gohan. "You mean, faith in myself?"
"Thats part of it," nodded King Kai, "but only one part. Let me ask you something before I explain it. What is a god?"
"Umm... well, theologicians and philosophers on Earth have many answers to that question, but from personal experience I can say that gods are powerful beings with amazing techniques. They probably have attributes I don't know about, though."
"Exactly," King Kai said. "There are attributes you don't know about. Gods aren't just creatures of great power, they're an integral part of how the universe works. Gods are a living embodiment of the concept of creation. To create something Gods not only have to have energy and willpower, they also have to realize that they are creation and creation is them. They have to visualize what they are creating and divert their personal energy to the act of creation, but they also have to feel the purpose of what they create. They must have no doubts about that purpose, it must be crystal clear in their minds."
King Kai pointed at a patch of ground nearby, and a massive square plate of gray metal appeared on the ground, crushing the grass with its weight. It was at least 10 feet on each side, one inch thick and completely featureless.
"See how the metal plate is crushing the grass?" King Kai pointed at the smooth metallic object. "I want you to to unmake the plate. Concentrate, draw out your energy, and visualize the plate vanishing. This time, however, I want you to feel the need to restore the grass, to remove all that weight so the grass won't be crushed."
"I'll... I'll try," Gohan hesitated, then remembered what King Kai said about permission. "Oh, may I unmake your creation, King Kai?"
How polite, he actually remembered! King Kai smiled and nodded. "Of course, Gohan. Go ahead."
This time only a faint outline of his aura appeared, and Gohan didn't close his eyes. After a few moments of concentration, the metal plate vanished into thin air.
"Very good, Gohan!" King Kai cheered. "You're a natural at this."
"Thank you, King Kai," Gohan smiled. The unmaking was actually surprisingly easy, although it did require a great amount of energy. It was still nothing to Gohan, but he could have destroyed that metal plate by using a fraction of the energy that was required to unmake it.
"Gods are living beings," King Kai started explaining. How different from Goku, thought the small god. Gohan was completely focused, absorbing everything King Kai had to say. Despite all of Gohan's skill and power, he was completely in his element during these pauses for theoretical explanations. "All actions of a living being have a purpose, or a deeper meaning, they are not just mechanical movements. When living beings look at the world around them, they don't see a bunch of dry and boring materials, they see a green forest on a mountain slope, for example. The universe doesn't know what are forests or mountains, or what the color green is. These are concepts that living beings use to describe the universe. So when gods create, it's not just about material appearing from nothing, it's also about ideas, purpose and concepts.
"I still remember my own teacher, old North Kai," King Kai paused for a few moments, reliving the past. "He used a great metaphor to explain it. He said to me "you are the lens through which the universe sees itself". Such a poet he was."
Gohan nodded, slightly curious about the former god of the north. What King Kai described was a basic concept in Earth philosophy, but Gohan never expected it to have any sort of practical application. No matter how theoretical it sounded, when the purpose of his action was strong in his thoughts, there was a very clear difference in how the creation felt, or the unmaking, in this case.
"King Kai," said Gohan, causing the god to snap out of his reverie and come back to the present. "Why could I create when I was angry?"
"Hmm," King Kai started pacing again, deep in thought. "I guess it was because you had a very clear purpose. Probably combat, to use as a weapon, right?"
"You're right, I did have a purpose." Gohan thought about the moment he attempted to bring back the galactic capital after Freeza destroyed the planet. The purpose was clear in his mind, but his anger made it impossible to visualize correctly. Gohan wasn't sure he could visualize something like an entire planet appearing from nothing, even when he was perfectly calm. In contrast, he could visualize those deadly, sharp spears of stone all too well.
"Ahem," King Kai coughed and made Gohan focus. "You may be very talented, but you're still just a beginner. Your technique is very inefficient, and you're still at a very basic level when it comes to visualizing what you're creating." King Kai pointed at the asteroid again, then looked up at Gohan and smiled. "Try to unmake that thing, then I'll show you where you need to improve."
[Author's Note: A guest reviewer asked if Gohan cares about the universe in general, or just his own galaxy. Short answer: Gohan does care about the entire universe, but he believes training to fight the gods is more important than exploring the other galaxies right now.
Gohan's full speed is something like 15,000 light years per hour on average, which is absolutely ridiculous. In real life, the distance to the closest galaxy (Andromeda) is 2.5 million (2,500,000) light years. Even if Gohan could fly there without resting at all, the intergalactic trip would take an entire week. And we don't actually know if the galaxies of Dragon Ball are closer or more distant. Remember, Gohan acts based on the assumption that his time is limited.
Also, Gohan assumes all of the most powerful mortals in Universe 7 are in his own galaxy. So even if there are powerful villains in the other ones, they probably aren't as much of a threat to the beings who live there.
And last, Gohan is preparing himself to eventually challenge the gods, and he sees the gods - like Beerus - as a threat to the entire universe, not just Earth's galaxy. So Gohan does care about the other galaxies as well, but practical issues of time of distance prevent him from doing anything about them at this point.]
