Inner Workings of My Mind
Chapter 14
Gohan watched his meditating mentor with rapt attention. The teenage boy had already meditated for several hours and now awaited his mentor's instructions.
With a deep, relaxing breath, Piccolo uncrossed his legs and stood from his former position. The Namekian observed his student with sharp eyes as he reflected on the next step to control the young hybrid's ki.
"Kid, I would like you to increase your ki to your absolute maximum. Keep going until you can't power up anymore," Piccolo commanded.
Gohan merely nodded, slid into a basic stance and tightened his tail around his waist. The air around him glowed blue, and then yellow as he began to rapidly gather energy. With a crackle of blue and golden lightning, the Saiyan hybrid powered up to the second level of Super Saiyan, skipping the first level completely. Despite having reached the second, his power continued to increase as the air around him whirled with excess energy and ki.
Piccolo patiently observed his student and waited for him to reach his limit. Even though both Vegeta and Gohan could transform into Ascended Saiyans, Gohan's ki still outmatched the Saiyan Prince by a large margin. The boy's power was absolutely incredible and was far greater than when he had fought and defeated Cell and Bojack. The kid was truly a force to be reckoned with.
Teal eyes focused on their mentor, waiting for direction as Gohan completed powering up.
"Good, now remove that bracelet," Piccolo ordered.
Gohan breathed in sharply in surprise. "What?" the teenager blurted. "I can't do that!"
Piccolo closed his eyes and gathered his patience. The Namekian opened his eyes to see his student on the verge of panic. The golden-haired boy clearly did not want to remove the bracelet, and the intricate black band was only amplifying the feeling of panic.
"That bracelet only allows you to draw out ki that you can control. You have more power, Gohan, but the magic imbued within the Xealic and Katchin prevents you from accessing it. You will need to obtain that uncontrollable power to reach the next transformation. Obtain the power, then work on restraining it, Gohan. You can't work on controlling what you don't have."
Gohan reluctantly nodded and carefully unclasped the black, metal bracelet from his wrist, looping it around his gi sash. The sudden rush of potent ki make the young Saiyan hybrid gasp in surprise. The lightning swirling around him continued to crackle and the air around him glowed even brighter. The heat gathered within him, and the power was so overwhelming that the half-breed felt the need to let it all out, or he would explode from the pressure.
With a yell, the ki rushed out into the air surrounding him, the pressure creating a crater in the ground. Gohan felt himself glowing brighter and his hair beginning to lengthen and his brow change shape.
And then it was gone. The power left as suddenly as it had come and the hybrid fell to the ground in exhaustion. The attempt to transform had taken a lot out of him and the teenager had returned to his base form. He had almost had the next transformation! He had been right on the border of obtaining it, but he didn't have enough ki control to make that final push and maintain the form.
"Nice try, kid," Gohan heard Piccolo say from above him. The hybrid looked upwards to see his green teacher hovering above him, white cape fluttering in the wind. "A few more weeks and you should be able to reach the third level." Piccolo suddenly grinned and barked a rough laugh, sharp fangs flashing in the sunlight. "I can't wait to see Vegeta's reaction!"
"This isn't working!" Gohan angrily declared as he once again collapsed from exhaustion.
A pattern had developed over the past several weeks consisting of Gohan working with Bulma, training, and failing to reach the third level of Super Saiyan. Gohan was growing more and more frustrated as his ki and emotions became more unstable while he progressed through the stages of Saiyan puberty.
"Why is it not working?" Piccolo patiently questioned.
Gohan ground his teeth as his anger spiked, and the half-breed's remaining ki wavered and threatened to lash out at the nearest person. The volatile teenager quickly slapped the metal bracelet over his wrist and felt his ki calm, but his anger continued to grow, waiting to be released and devour the nearest victim like a monster lurking in the shadows.
The hybrid took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and looped his brown tail around his upper thigh in a comforting position.
"I don't know," Gohan finally said. "It takes too much energy to transform. When I am on the edge of obtaining the next level, I no longer have any more ki or control over my power. I think it is mainly a weakness in the transformation, not my lack of ability."
The Namekian carefully reflected on his student's words and what he had observed the past several weeks. Gohan had immense power, and in theory, he should be able to easily obtain the third level when he had already obtained the fourth level. However, obtaining the fourth level wasn't just about having the necessary ki, Piccolo determined as he eyed his student's tail. It was also about having a tail and mental control over oneself while transformed as an Oozaru.
It was clear that attempting to reach the third level completely exhausted Gohan each time he tried it. The teenage warrior might be correct; the form may cause a Saiyan to lose more power than he gained or drain him faster than reasonable.
"When you transformed to the fourth level," the Namekian warrior began, "how much of your ki did you expend during the actual transformation?"
Gohan shifted and looked at his mentor with sharp eyes. "I didn't lose very much ki during the transformation," the teenager replied. "I did feel a strain on my body, but I suspect that was because of a lack of endurance and inability to control that much ki. My body became tired, but my ki did not decrease as rapidly as when I was attempting to reach the third level."
Piccolo nodded and quickly made a decision. "Then there is no point to mastering the third form, kid. You are wasting time and effort. You may be able to eventually reach the third transformation, but it will take more time then it will to just master Super Saiyan four.
"You are capable of controlling large amounts of ki, with effort. Even though your hormones and the process of puberty are interfering with your ki control, you have trained enough to the point where you should be able to enter the fourth form and begin working on control the ki that comes with the transformation.
"It may take some time before you are able to transform to the fourth level with the bracelet on, because the magic within the bracelet is incapable of allowing you to train when you do not have basic control of your ki in that form," Piccolo concluded.
Gohan nodded in understanding. "Where do I begin, Piccolo?" he inquired.
"We'll begin with having you power up to your maximum without attempting to reach the third level. You will learn to maintain that level of power, control it, and increase it. Once we achieve that, we will begin training your in being able to transform to the fourth level without the full moon or becoming an Oozaru."