AN: Yap sesh inbound, feel free to skip.

Soooo I just checked the different published intervals in the filter trying to find a hidden gem when I noticed that Tales of Sprout is the most favorited in 'Published in the past 3 months' and fifth in 'Published in the past six months' with it sitting at (as of writing) 61 favorites

I don't know what kind of response I was expecting when I published this story. I just felt like there should be more Dragon Ball fics. Like seriously, how are there only 54,000 when Naruto has 440,000? I'd say Dragon Ball is way more popular, it's been around longer, and is still going (Boruto does NOT count).

Anyways it feels really good knowing that you guys enjoy what I'm writing even if I don't update consistently. Thank you all, really. And Akira Toriama.

Please support the official release.

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Previously:

"Dad, there's gotta be a better way to learn how to fly." I desperately ask him.

He didn't miss a step as he replied to me. "So you figured it out? That buys you a few extra seconds to think of something." He was now standing at the very edge.

"You have about three minutes of free fall to fly, otherwise you'll hit the bottom." He said

"Dad wait-" I begin

He just talks over me and says, "You already have all the skills to survive this, so…" He's holding me directly over the edge now. "Good luck."

He then tossed me like a sack of potatoes straight off of the mountain.

I had never been skydiving before. Never wanted to either. I could barely look out the window of a tall building without feeling the need to take a step back.

So being thrown off of a cliff was firmly in first place for being the most terrifying thing in both of my lives.

So I spent the first twenty seconds of my free fall screaming every single obscenity I've heard.

"Jesus fucking Christ son of a bitch bullshit fucking shit fuck!" I swore to the air.

It took a second to actually form a coherent thought, and when I did I realized that I needed to do something. Anything.

'I'm gonna die.'

It's strange how much clarity the threat of death can give you. The fear was still there, it was just pushed back. It wasn't what I needed to focus on.

'Think goddamn it! How was flying explained in the show!?' I questioned. It took but a moment to remember, as it was the only explanation ever given.

'Goten managed to fly just from hearing an explanation, and I won't let myself be worse than Goten.' So just push my Ki through my feet and let it propel me forward. Easy.

"…"

Why wasn't this working goddamn it? I'm doing what they said. Push it through my feet. Push motherfucker, PUSH-

"Shit!" I yell in pain. Something went wrong and now it hurts like a motherfucker when I push Ki out through my feet. I tried a few more times only for the pain to increase with each attempt.

'Fuck it I need something else. Anything! Think dumbass, who else can fly?' I thought to myself. That's when a really stupid idea hit me.

"Please work, please work, please work." I chanted to myself, hoping that it helped even a tiny bit. So I put my arms to the side, and went vertical with my feet pointing downwards. I built up Ki in my hands and launched two beams of energy straight down into the ravine.

'It works for a man in a giant metal suit, it'll work for me.' I said mentally. I began to slow down, but that was it. I was still falling. The ground was right there. I needed more.

So pushing through the pain I tried to shoot beams of energy through my feet. When the beams finally fired I began to move up.

'Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Eat shit dad!' I rejoiced. Who would have thought that I'd be flying like Ironman.

I'm nearly to the top of the ravine. Once I get out of here I'm going to-

And that's where my train of thought ended, as Bardock had his fist buried in my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

"I told you to fly, what the hell is this shit?" He said "Figure out how to fly properly." Then he let me slide off of his fist, resuming my fall.

As I fell for a second time, I tried to do anything to slow my fall. Fire a Ki barrage, try and use what Gohan said despite the pain, but nothing was working. The ground was coming up fast. I was really going to die. I'm going to die.

Just then I realized something that wasn't really an idea. It was like how you throw your hands up when something comes flying at you, or when you try to grab onto something if you trip and fall.

In this case, I was flying.

Later when I asked my dad about this, he called it our 'Saiyan instinct'. Something that can't be taught, only learned. He said that it's what makes us the universe's greatest warriors.

'I can't fucking believe it.' I thought in wonder. I was suspended only a few feet above the bottom. It was surreal.

"Glad to see you figured it out." Bardock said, appearing from nowhere. "I'll let you get a bit of practice in before we head back for dinner." With that, he floated to the top of the ravine, and I decided to practice while thinking about how flight works exactly.

An odd tidbit I remember about Dragon Ball was that there were actually different flying techniques. I even remember Piccolo saying that his was better than everyone else's.

The way I was flying was completely different from how Gohan described it. For one I wasn't even expelling any Ki. All I was doing was 'tugging' on the Ki inside of me in the direction I wanted to go. 'I wouldn't go as far to say if mine is better or worse, but it feels right.' I thought.

Once I was able to speed up and come to sudden stops I decided that I had enough practice and it was time to head home.

I thought about what I would say to my father when I saw him. I could tell him how much of a bastard he was, how he must have been dropped on his head as a baby, how his parents must have been closely related to produce offspring that would throw his own child off of a cliff.

Strangely, I wasn't mad at him. In fact after the initial panic attack of being thrown off I had never felt a rush as addicting as that had been.

So I sped up the side of the ravine before yelling to my dad "Race ya!" Before I flew as fast as I could towards home.

Bardock had let me win, but he doesn't need to know that I know.

When we got home the first thing my mother said was "Look at you go." The second thing she said was "How did you burn your feet?" I had completely forgotten that I had injured myself until she brought it up. I was too swept up in an adrenaline rush and my excitement

We didn't have any cream for the burns, and it was too late to go out and get some, so I just had my feet wrapped in gauze and I had to fly everywhere to avoid putting pressure on them. It was good practice at the very least.

Dinner wasn't quite ready, apparently I had picked up flying quickly. Though after looking at my dad's face I got the distinct impression that mom didn't actually know how I learned. As dinner was being made I was telling Raditz about the spartan who became a god of war. If babies can hear Mozart while still in the womb, then I'm sure that he could hear my stories while in the incubation pod. Even if he couldn't, it was still nice to talk about my previous life, even if it was a roundabout way.

I had only just gotten to the part where the god of war tricks Kratos into killing his family when Gine announced that dinner was ready. The spread was spectacular. There was a giant bowl of salad, an abundant but limited assortment of fruits, and most importantly about two horses worth of meat. Despite how grand it was, it was still demolished by the three of us in only forty five minutes. After no one had said a word over dinner, Gine finally decided to bring up what I was most excited for.

"Presents!" I yelled. Then I swiftly apologized when I saw the look Gine had given me.

Despite having lived long enough to almost make it through college in my last life, I often found myself acting like the child I now was. I was emotional, quick to feel anger and sadness, but also quick to cheer up. It was frustrating in the beginning, which combined with my lack of emotional control made for a bad combo. That was until I decided to just enjoy being a kid again.

Being a kid is awesome. Being a saiyan even more so. I no longer had random pains, I could run faster than the wind, learning was easy, it's great. I would say the best part is I have no responsibilities other than the assigned reading Mr. Nappa gives me, but it's interesting enough that I don't count it as homework. Being an adult sucked ass.

Bardock went into his and Gine's room and returned with three presents wrapped in the wax paper the meat distribution center uses. Even though saiyans are nowhere near the evil, backwards, barbarians that people where I was from thought they were, birthdays still weren't really celebrated. Which means there wasn't any actual wrapping paper anywhere on the planet.

"Open this one first." Gine told me. She seemed more excited than I was. It was a thin rectangle with a weird squarish bulge in the center. So having no reason to refuse I viciously tore into the paper to see what they had gotten me.

In my hands was a large stack of papers bound by three metal rings. The gift also contained a pencil sharpener, an eraser, and a bunch of mismatched colored pencils that included nearly all colors of the rainbow.

"That one's from your Aunt Fasha." Gine began to explain. "Apparently you mentioned to her that you wanted to learn how to draw, so she tried to pick supplies from the planets she went to." She turned to Bardock and nudged him with her elbow. "Of course your father here also helped."

The best part of gifts isn't how I now have 'more stuff' to use. As cliche as it sounds, the part of a gift that I enjoy the most is the thought behind it. Because it shows that they care about you, and to be reminded that people care never fails to make me feel nice.

'I need to get her something awesome for her birthday.' I thought.

"I'll need to thank her the next time I see her." I tell Gine. "Do I get to pick the next one?" I asked. Gine nodded and I began to try and guess what each gift was before I decided to open anything.

The one on the left was a misshapen ball. It seemed that whatever was inside was round in overall shape with some edges. I hadn't the faintest idea what it could, so I went to pick it up and shake it to see if it made any noise.

"Careful," Gine said quickly, "That one is fragile, s-so just please be careful."

"Yup, of course." I told her. I felt around the gift and could quickly tell that whatever was inside felt to be L-shaped. Judging by mom's reaction it also seems to be expensive, or maybe hard to find? I don't know, but it really made me want to open it.

I look at the gift on the right and… that's a book, no question. Thick slab shaped, wrapping gets loose on three sides, and after picking it up it was heavily as hell. Definitely a book.

'What book is that big though? It's as big as dad's torso, and thicker than his bicep.' I pondered

After much thought (barely any), I decided to open the L-shaped one first, as I at least knew that the other one was a book.

Remembering how mom reacted earlier I opened this one with a lot more care. When I finally cleared away all of the wrapping paper I couldn't believe what they had managed to get me.

"How did you get me a scout scope!" I shouted in surprise. "They're only available to those in the Cold Force right now."

Gine then said, "I have a friend who deals with scrap and she was glad to get rid of some junk." She continued with, "It took a bit to figure out how to put one together, and it still isn't fully functional, but it's got most of the features."

That statement threw me for a massive loop. "You know how to make scout scopes?" I asked her.

"Well not technically." She said, "After I became a noncombatant on Team Bardock I underwent basic maintenance and repair training along with first aid so I could stay on the team." She went on saying, "If I hadn't then I would have had to leave the team, and I wasn't ready for that."

"Soooo…" I started, "What did you do as, uh, support?"

She answered by saying, "I mostly performed maintenance on the pods and the built-in scout scopes in them. So I was able to rebuild one."

"That's so cool." I muttered in disbelief. I'm ninety nine percent sure that wasn't in any source material. It just goes to show how much more in depth the world I find myself in is.

Gine seemed to be really happy when I said she was cool. "Y'know," she said, "I can teach you how to repair it if it ever gets damaged, if you want?"

Learning how alien tech works? Hell yeah! I just hope my bachelors level mechanical engineering degree can help me out with this one.

"Really? Awesome! You're the coolest mom!" I yelled as I gave her a quick hug.

"Uh huh, we'll see if you're still singing that same tune once you open your last present." She said

Right, right. The big ass book. So with a massive smile on my face I opened the last gift much like the first. Throwing caution to the wind.

Inside was something that I only thought was a plot device in Dragon Ball Super, not something that really existed.

Namekian Book of Legends: A Compilation of the Universe's Greatest Myths

237th edition

And right underneath the title were the authors.

Dragon Clan Member Sinota and Warrior Clan Member Kujina

"Wha…what is this?" I asked dumbfounded. How the hell was this in my hands?

"That," Bardock started, "Is one of the rarest books in the entire universe."

"And you're just giving it to me?!" I half asked and half yelled.

"Well technically it's on an indefinite loan to you, but yeah it's yours." Bardock answered

This is insane. Complete lunacy. Bananas. Cuckoo. Where are my marbles?

"What makes it so rare? And why are there so many editions?" I asked him. I was going to ask more, but he quickly stopped me.

"Before you bombard me with more questions than I can handle, how about I tell you the story of the book and you can save your questions for the end, deal?" Bardock said.

I don't think I could have shaken my head any faster. This was something I needed to hear.

"Alright, let's start with the Namekians." He said, "It's believed that they've gone extinct as no one has seen one in over five hundred years. Before that however, they were famous for sending the warrior and scholar pair Sinota and Kujina to different planets to make records of their culture. Once they got everything they could, they would create a single copy of everything they had to leave on the planet. They would then leave for the next world with the promise to return with the completed, final edition."

Bardock took a brief pause before continuing. "This part is why everyone thought they were wiped out. One day, people just stopped seeing them. They completely vanished all through the galaxy. That's why the books are so rare. There never was a 'final edition', which makes books with a higher number more valuable. Over the years these books have been either lost or destroyed, making the remaining ones all the more rare."

That makes sense I think. It'd explain why it felt like everyone in the show knew what a Namekian was and could recognize them. When they disappeared also lines up with that drought that killed everyone except Guru. Maybe the authors were recalled or something and died. But what about when they recovered? Why didn't they continue with the book?

"Were the Saiyans ever visited by the Namekians?" I asked Bardock. I knew the answer of course, as the legend of the Super Saiyan God was in whatever edition Shenron quoted in the Battle of Gods movie. I'm asked in hopes that Bardock would elaborate.

"They did, and we had a book." He said, and then released a sigh of disappointment. "Unfortunately it was destroyed along with our original home world. In fact it was one of the primary reasons for the war happening at all."

That last statement confused me a lot. "How could a book start a war?" I asked him.

"Well when the Namekians first arrived there were some… disagreements." Bardock said. "Ultimately it was decided that we would contribute to the book." He scoffed and said, "Not like it mattered. The book was destroyed not even three hundred years later, and we never received the final copy."

"Do you know why some were so adamant about not adding to the book?" I asked my father.

He said, "Other than a brief overview of our culture and history, the only thing of note that was added was the tale of the Legendary Super Saiyan." Bardock said that last part with what sounded like reverence and desire. If only he knew he was retconned out of being the first Super Saiyan.

I was curious so I asked him, "Why is the Super Saiyan so important? Aren't they just a myth?"

There was a look that flashed across Bardock's face. Like he just realized that he shouldn't have said something, but it was too late. Why? It better not be because I'm asking too many questions, 'cause I'm not gonna stop until every one of them is answered.

"The Super Saiyan," he said slowly, "Isn't just a myth. We know of several points in time where they could have existed, and very few where we know they had."

"The reason why he is so important to us is because of what he represents." Bardock explained. "Strength, honor, prowess, and the fact that anyone could be the next Super Saiyan. He is the pinnacle of our race of warriors. The strongest man in the universe. Unparalleled. Unrivaled." He went on saying, "That's why he is revered among our race, and feared across the galaxy."

"Wow…" I couldn't help but whisper. The way he talked about it was so passionate. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed, and his voice was so full of pride and hope that I couldn't help but admire the legend as well. Even if I knew exactly what a Super Saiyan is.

"Is the legend in this book?" I had found myself asking him.

After calming down from whatever he was caught up in, he grew somber before answering me. "Unfortunately no. Despite that one being the most recent one in our possession, it doesn't have the legend. The saiyans were among the last planets to be visited by the Namekians, so the few that included it have likely been lost or destroyed." He went on saying, "There is a transcript of it in the royal archives that you can read however."

"I see," I muttered, "Can I start reading now? Please?"

Bardock just leaned over and ruffled my hair and said, "Of course Sprout, just be sure not to stay up too late."

Hearing that I quickly hugged both of them. I said goodnight to Gine, Raditz, and Bardock. Then I literally flew to the tiny room we had built that connects to the kitchen.

'What to start with I wonder. See if the Tree of Might is in here? Try and find out about Other World? Maybe there is something about that Taceyon hero dude or whatever.' I can already tell that this is going to become my new favorite book.

With their son distracted with his new present, it was now time for the adults to talk about the training Bardock and Sprout did earlier that day.

"So did he like it?" Gine eagerly asked. She really wanted to be there and watch her son fly for the first time, but Bardock can't cook for shit so she needed to get dinner started.

"He was frustrated at first," Bardock said, "But he learned quickly enough." Gine could tell that Bardock was trying to ease his way into a topic that she felt like she wasn't going to like.

The problem was that he was as subtle as a brick, so instead of tiptoeing around the issue she went for the kill.

"C'mon Bardock, just spit it out." Gine said.

Bardock, realizing that he was found out, dropped his shoulders slightly as he began to explain.

"There were some…initial problems with learning the Ki blast and flight." He said

Realizing that he wasn't gonna go anywhere unless she kept pushing, Gine then prompted him to get on with it with her hands.

"When he formed the ball for the first time," he said, "It was hot enough to melt the stone around him, Gine. Ki balls don't have a temperature. They're pretty much just masses of potential energy waiting to explode on contact." He took a deep breath before continuing. "When I went to check the area where he eventually fired the ball, the ground was molten. It just- that's not supposed to happen." He finished feeling lighter having told Gine. Even if he didn't explain properly he knows that she understands. She always does.

"So the burns on his feet, that was him trying to fly?" She asked him. Bardock simply replied with a yes before they fell into a silence.

"So what do we do about it?" Gine asked. "If we tell him not to talk about it, it'll just make him want to tell someone. If we say anything he could let it slip without realizing."

"I already told him that it was normal for it to get hot," Bardock said, "So I think we shouldn't say anything more about it. It probably runs the least risk."

Gine agrees with Bardock. "Ok. Yeah, let's do that." After staying silent for a few moments she asks Bardock a question. "Is he gonna be ok?"

Bardock just looks at her and smiles. "Of course the burns should heal up in a-" But he's cut off by his wife.

"No, not that." She said, "I mean, first he was born with black tails. Then there was his odd behavior growing up. Then we found out he was smarter than any other kid, and now this?" She takes a deep breath before going on. "I'm just worried for him. He's different, and that tends to make people jealous at best and hateful at worst."

Bardock took a second to take in the words of his wife. "I think he'll end up better than most. I'm more concerned with how this might make him act now."

Gine looked confused. "What do you mean Bardock?" She asked for clarification.

"Everyone has thought that they were the next Super Saiyan, even those that wouldn't be considered remarkable in any sense of the word." He said. "Now what if you were someone who was special in every way. You're stronger, smarter, and faster than everyone else. You have strange techniques that come naturally to you. From the moment of your birth you were just a cut above the rest."

Bardock continues by saying, "That's who our son is. My biggest worry right now is for him to become arrogant or complacent. To think that there is no one above him."

Gine seemed shocked. Nothing Bardock has said was wrong, it was just said in a way that painted a rather concerning picture.

"You don't think he'll start calling himself a Super Saiyan, do you?" Gine asked Bardock. There have been many times where someone has declared that they had realized the legend, only for them to get brutally beaten by those they challenged. It happened so much that many people have lost their faith in the myth entirely.

"No." Bardock said. "I'm scared that he is."

AN: Holy shit that was a long chapter. When writing it didn't really feel right to end anywhere other than where I did, even if the chapter ended up being nearly 4,500 words long. That's why it took so long to get this one out.

Did y'all like the book stuff? I tried to come up with a reason why Freza, Nappa, and Vegeta all know what a Namekian was and I thought using the thing that had been mentioned once in the show could be cool.

Probably won't be another chapter for a long while. Finals week starts the day this is uploaded and right after finals my family is taking a two week vacation. Next chapter is probably a bit more than a month away.

Thanks again for favoriting and following and junk. I like seeing the numbers go up.