《Dragon Ball System》 Chapter 1 -system starting up- -locating suitable host User- -searching- -searching- -searching- -suitable host found- -establishing connection- -host original body incompatible for transition- -creating suitable replacement- -creating- -creating- -suitable body replacement complete- -beginning soul transition- ¡°Ugh¡­ I need to stop slacking off till the last minute¡­¡± I said wearily as I rose to a sitting position. There was a number of things the felt wrong. I was also in a forest instead of my home, but my body also feels weird as well. Looking down at myself, I notice I¡¯m in a blue gi. Does this mean that whoever brought me here changed my clothes? I get up to stand as I notice another anomaly with myself, I have a monkey tail! ¡°Wha¡­ What!¡± How the hell did this happen!?! Lets try and figure this out. No need to panic. I just need to think. I was at home. I just finished working on my homework and went to bed. Then I woke up here¡­ -greetings User- ¡°Wha!!!¡± I screamed after hearing a strange voice in my head. I quickly look all around the area to see where the voice could come from. Why did it call me user? Was I in some sort of game? Is this some sort of VR thing? Is VR even that advanced? And why me? What is going on? In my confused state I decided to just listen to the voice in hopes of getting answers.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. -Welcome to the the Human Realm. This world is know similarly to your own world, however there are many differences this world has to your own. One is the martial path that the people of this world walk. Through the power of this system, you too shall walk along that path.- I¡¯m sorry what? The Human Realm? Why is it called the Human Realm? And Martial path? Are you trying to tell me to go learn kung fu? -All that this system supplies the User will be replicant from the DragonBall universe. As such even the User¡¯s race has been transitioned to the race Saiyan for increased survivability and growth.- Shortly after that introduction was an explanation on the ranks of cultivation that this world holds, starting from the Path of Awakening. The path then leads to body, spirit, then soul and seems to repeat that general order throughout. There are 5 levels to advance forward from the Path of Awakening to the Path of Body, but it seems to rise in further parts of cultivation. The system started me on the first level of the Path of awakening and holds a number of useful functions. There is a skill and item shop that can give me stuff found in the anime and manga as well as the skills of the fighters. Next is a quest system that will reward me for accomplishing objectives set by the system, not sure how that works. There¡¯s a disciple system to teach others the techniques and skills I know. Lastly, there is a Dragon ball counter that grants a charge for an event that the system dubs me worthy of rewarding outside of just quests. An example of that is that I got a freebee charge just from receiving the system. Alright, so this is most likely a dream. I don¡¯t have any light switches to check that way and I don¡¯t really know if the pain trick is real. After a moment of thinking on how I can change the light levels around me, I come up with an idea. I cup my hands in front of my eyes and immediately realize I¡¯m not in a dream. I remember from a video I watched that light won¡¯t change in a dream, which means this has to be real. I fall back into a sitting position as I realize that I might not be able to go home. I¡¯m in some forest in some world called Terra with no way¡­ I can make a wish with the dragon balls! I could go home! I¡­ do I want to go back? Would everything even be alright? Doubts start to well up within me about this. I don¡¯t even know what I should do¡­ -Mission: find signs of civilization- -Reward: Skill ¡®Wolf Fang Fist¡¯- Well that¡¯s something I could do. I rise from my seated position and look around. I quickly realize I lack a skill to track Ki like the characters in the show. It seems like I¡¯m starting from the very basics here. ¡°Hah...¡± I sigh as I take in my surroundings again. I notice that I¡¯m actually on the side of a dirt path. With no better plan at the moment, I just pick a direction and start walking. Chapter 2 After an hour or so of walking I finally arrive at a village. While walking I had realized that it might be bad to just show off my tail considering it is a big weakness if it¡¯s grabbed. I remember in the show Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa all had their tails wrap around their waist. It turned out easy to do, but walking became a little harder to do for a moment. I wonder why that gave me trouble when I was originally a human without a tail? Well for now it merely looks like a belt. As I¡¯m walking to the village a voice says in my head, -Mission completed. Granting User Skill ¡®Wolf Fang Fist¡¯- The skill fills my mind for a moment along with scenes of Yamcha using the attack in the show. An attack that relies on rapid punches and scratches, then ends with a double palm strike. As unreal as it feels, I¡¯m certain that I can now use the skill. Well, hopefully I don¡¯t need to use it. After a moment, I continue on to the village. Hopefully I can learn a bit more of this world there, although I need to think up what I¡¯ll tell them about myself. I guess I¡¯ll just steal Goku¡¯s backstory, it can explain my lack of world experience as well. As I¡¯m walking a man with a wooden spear approaches me from the direction village and points his spear at me. He then yells, ¡°Halt! Are you with those damned bandits!¡± I with my hands raised quickly give my refusal. He then shouts at me to prove it, to which I point out that I don¡¯t even have any weapons on me, how could I be a bandit. He thinks for a moment before he starts ordering me around saying, ¡°alright, then let¡¯s head to the village. But you have to stay in front. If you try anything, you¡¯ll get to see how sharp my spear is!¡± Great, my first moments in this world and I¡¯m already a prisoner. At the village, the man greets some other villagers and then after explaining that I don¡¯t seem to be a bandit he begins leading me to the village heads house to explain myself, while still having a spear to my back. Once there, we are greeted by an old man who seems to be the head of this village. He doesn¡¯t seem pleased that I¡¯ve been brought at spearpoint, but then again, they do seem to have a bandit problem. ¡°Why have you come here traveler?¡± he asks warily. Seeing that they clearly don¡¯t want my life story, I simply ask, ¡°I¡¯ve been lost for a while now, I was hoping you could tell me the direction of the closest town?¡± Then the spearman behind me responds with, ¡°directions to the nearest town huh? That¡¯s the direction that you came from!¡± He is clearly on edge and I need to get out of here. Before I can give a response, shouts are heard from outside. The spearman shouts, ¡°Damn! They are finally attacking!¡± as he runs out to join the defence. While I just stand there, unsure of what to do, the village head turns to me while bowing his head and says, ¡±stranger, would you be willing in joining us in protecting our homes¡± I stare wide eyed at the request. I¡¯ve never fought before and wouldn¡¯t bandits be out to kill people! Doesn¡¯t that mean I could die?!? -Mission: protect the village, Answer the call to battle and repel the bandits assaulting the village.- -Reward: 500 system points- The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Even the system is telling me to fight. I don¡¯t even have a weapon! Even if my level in the martial path gives me an advantage, they should still be able to kill me right? But how can I even get out of this village if the bandits are already attacking anyways? Damnit I have to fight! With a grimace I turn to the village head and answer him with, ¡°I¡¯ve never been in a fight before, but now that those bandits are here, I can¡¯t avoid battle with them.¡± The man nods in understanding as we both head out to see the situation. Chaos. Buildings on fire. People fighting and killing each other. Men I can only assume are bandits are dragging women and children away. For a moment I just stare until the village head shakes me. I look to him and see he is now holding two wooden spears and he hands one to me. A chill runs through me as I realize, I have to kill. The village head has already run off to fight for his home while I still stand there, taking in what I have to do. I¡¯m startled by a shout to my right as a bandit charges at me with a hand axe. I hurriedly raise the spear to try and block the blow, resulting in the weapon being split in half. I take a step back and throw the bottom piece at the bandit, distracting him for a moment as I charge forward, stabbing him in his chest with the pointed end of the weapon in my hand. I stare at him for a moment, consumed by what I had done. I just killed that man. I slap myself to break the trance I¡¯ve fallen under. If I don¡¯t fight, I¡¯m dead! I will not die here! There are smaller fights taking place all over, as well as the bandits that are taking people. I could try and help one side, but the other will likely struggle. And if I stay here I¡¯ll be attacked and die, I remind myself. I¡¯m no hero, I just want to live! With that in mind, I charge towards the fighting. I run to a place where there are two bandits cornering a single villager. I shout, ¡°Hey,¡± to get their attention. As one of them turn in my direction, I use Wolf Fang Fist, striking each blow with my full strength. With the final palm strike, the bandit is launched a few feet back while coughing up blood. Either dead or unconscious, he¡¯s out of the fight. I don¡¯t know more techniques, but I do have a greater strength to rely on. I then target the bandit that remained focused on the villager. I grab his weapon hand, then grab his face with my other hand and sweep his legs to throw him to the ground. Then while he is on the floor I curb stomp him. After that the villager whom I aided stabs both men before running to aid the people being taken by the bandits. I take a moment to loot a weapon off one of these bandits. After grabbing a slightly chipped blade, I charge into battle again, aiming to survive this battle in one piece. I charge into group after group. I practically go into a battle frenzy. I differentiate the bandits and villagers by both weapons and clothing. The villagers have simple clothes as well as wooden spears to fight with. Meanwhile the bandits have swords, clubs, or axes as weapons as well as thick leather clothing to provide better protection. For most fights, I strike the bandit that are unaware of me to gain quicker kills to end this faster. I¡¯m unsure of how many there are or how much I¡¯ve killed, but it seems that they started retreating. A good number of the retreating bandits are carrying people with them. Around me a there are many dead, both villager and bandit alike. My gi is stained red. Did my choice even matter? As I stare at the retreating figures, someone pats my back. I turn to see who it was and find the first man I helped. ¡°Thank you,¡± he tells me before he walks off the help clean out the bodies. -Mission complete. Granting User 500 system points.- With that, I let the blade I held fall to the ground and begin traveling down the path I came from. I can feel the eyes of the villagers staring at me, no doubt confused that I just left for no reason, but I can¡¯t stay there any longer. I don¡¯t want to be at a battlefield. Chapter 3 After traveling in the path for a while, I found a river with a stone bridge. Noticing I need to clean myself up a bit, I follow the river for a short while to gain some privacy. While taking the time to clean myself and my clothes, I notice that I have some cuts and bruises on myself and that my gi is also quite torn up. The blood also isn¡¯t quite coming off. I look into the system to see if it could give me some new clothes. It would be great to gain new skills as well, but necessities are necessities after all. I find I can gain a similar gi to the one I have for 50 points, as well as selling my torn gi for 5 points. The difference in value is certainly huge, but maybe reselling damaged goods at a tenth of the price isn¡¯t really that bad. Not that the gi I had before was unusable, but it had various tears in it. As I finished bathing, I finally noticed how late it had become. I realized that the sun was about to set and I didn¡¯t really have any shelter. I didn¡¯t know if I could reach my destination before night fell. There was also my lack of knowledge of the area. Maybe rushing out of the village might have been a bad idea. It would also take a while to get back too. I can¡¯t just leave the river either, what if I get lost. With nowhere to go, I decide to climb a tree and rest on a branch while I have my tail wrapped around the trunk. Let''s hope this doesn¡¯t end badly¡­ In the morning I began feeling very hungry. I check the system shop to see if there is any food items. There were several simple meals I could get for around 5 points. Having a sandwich and some soda and selling the can for nothing. I wish I could get a return for it, but I really shouldn¡¯t just leave things like this around. Returning to the road, it was a short walk to finally reach the town. There seemed to be a lot of people armed for battle assembling for something. I was curious so I walked up to one of the more soldier looking people and asked what was going on. Apparently the local lord was preparing for a bandit subjugation. I mentioned the attack yesterday at the village thinking I could just say my piece and leave, but the man seemed surprised and started dragging me through the crowd. When we finally reached the destination that the man wanted he said, ¡°My lord! This man has news on the bandits!¡± Crap!!! Now everyone here is looking at me! I already told you, why did you drag me into the center of attention. ¡°Um¡­ The village down the road was attacked¡­ just yesterday...¡± I managed to say while sweating. The guy that seemed like the leader in front of me was really strong! He¡¯s really tall, with short hair and really clear eyes. He also has shiny armor on as well as a blade on his hip. I feel like I could be killed if they think I lied! ¡°Is that so! We don¡¯t have time to wait any further then! All forces advance!¡± He commands. Being in the center of the pack, I end up being brought along. So close to the town, but so far¡­ -Secret Mission cleared. Granting User 1000 system points- -Mission: Aid bandit subjugation- -Reward: 5000 system points- And now the system has to chime in. Wasn¡¯t the first mission a tenth of that? I might just die this time¡­ My thoughts drift back to the people being taken from the village. Perhaps they were so prepared for to fight was because reinforcements would be so close. Why would those bandits target this village anyways? It seems like they were seeking death or something? Do they have some secret hideout or something? As I spend time pondering this, I fail to notice how when we reach the village and march on while tracking the bandits. The distance really was under half a day¡¯s travel, could this be an ambush or a trap? Whatever it is, I¡¯m stuck in the middle of it¡­ It wasn¡¯t long till something strange happened. The sky began to darken as though it was night time. The sun was just up though, so this must be some sort of curtain of darkness, like when shenron was summoned. Something tells me this isn¡¯t caused by a wish granting dragon though.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°This is¡­!¡± The leader I spoke to said. Based on the reactions of the people around me, this must be something quite dangerous. -Warning! Warning! Spatial ruptures detected.- I¡¯m in for a bad time, aren¡¯t I. ¡°We have to hurry! If we can¡¯t find these dastards, then demons will be loosed on the land!¡± The leader shouted. Demons¡­ Actual demons. Maybe I should have killed a few more of those guys¡­ Everyone is actively rushing to reach the end of the trail left after the attack on the village. It couldn¡¯t be too far if the villagers kidnapped were required for the demons. I just hope it¡¯s not a sacrifice to open this portal and more of a gift to the demons. That leaves a chance to save those people. -- Everything feels strange. We finally found the bandits that are causing this. They were using tents as housing, so it¡¯s clear that they prefer to be mobile, yet here they are ready to make a stand. There is also a violet light beginning to radiate from above their camp. I think that the light might have something to do with the demon summoning. There were two instances directly involving demons in the DB timeline. First was Demon king Piccolo, who was a namekian and not a real demon. The next encounter was with Demon King Dabura, whose power was boosted by the magician Babidi. Either case would have an enemy far beyond me. ¡°Prepare yourselves! They have cultivators among them!¡± Our leader shouted. Things would be different this time. The enemies would definitely be stronger than myself. I don¡¯t even have a weapon this time. The only real attack technique I have is Yamcha¡¯s move, and Yamcha is easily the weakest of the Z-fighters! His move isn¡¯t even used past Dragon Ball! Very quickly, everyone begins clashing. In some places there are people dueling with weapons. Some people are fighting utilizing unarmed techniques. All I have is a single¡¯s battles experience! It seems that there are at least some of the bandits without cultivation to tackle. I noticed after the last fight, the resilience of a Saiyan is great even now. I only hope that I can avoid the notice of the enemy cultivators, even as a bandit, they¡¯ll have more training in fighting than I do. Soon everything changes. At first it¡¯s that the fodder enemies that I¡¯ve been facing begin to laugh and stop even reacting to attacks. A moment after I notice that, I also recognize that the non cultivators in our group also seem to be in some kind of trance. The purple light that has been present since the beginning has become brighter and deeper, as though to draw you in¡­ Come. Join us. All that you want. All that you seek. Great power. Women. Money. We can grant you all of these things. You can obtain your every desire if you just join us. Join us and create the beautiful chaos! A strange, unearthly voice says in my head full of delight. I¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t need it¡­ I am a Saiyan. I am a Saiyan warrior! I am a Saiyan warrior! I can earn all the power I could ever want! I can gain my own desires on my own! Anything I fall short on can still be might through the power of the dragon balls! You think you can get away with trying to fool me with offers of things I can already have! ¡°Rrraaahhhhh!!!!!!¡± I scream out in rage! I clenched my fists and drew out all my strength. -Path of Body, Level 1 achieved- The voice of the system spoke, but it didn¡¯t even register as I began feeling around for the source of the voice I heard. That evil feeling the voice held was all around me, it wasn¡¯t hard to guess why, but I needed the source. After a moment I realized what it had to be, and driving my senses there, I could clearly tell that I had guessed right, The center of the violet light is what was causing this! I leap towards the center of the light using my full strength. I¡¯m caught slightly off guard with my own speed from my leap, but I quickly act out my original intent and punched forth at the source of this corrupting force. As I punch out, I faintly hear the sound of a great beast¡¯s roar from within me. -Skill, Penetrate! Cost reduced due to user comprehension.- All around me the darkness I charged into began to gain blue cracks. The change was astonishingly quick. I began falling to the ground with all of my energy spent. Even as I landed on the floor, I barely had the consciousness to feel the impact. Then that too flies away. Ch. 4 Who am I? What is my name? Why can¡¯t I remember? Who were my family? Did I have siblings? Why am I here? Is this a dream? Or was my past the dream? Can I find a way home? Was there ever a home? Should I find a way back? Should I find a place here? What do I do? I am a human? No I am a saiyan. Why am I a saiyan now? Saiyan¡¯s shouldn¡¯t even really exist. Can I become a great ape? Can I attain a super saiyan form? Could I return to the person I was before I came here? I have begun to fight¡­ I fought people¡­ bandits stealing and killing¡­ as well as some sort of demon worshipers? Do I want to go back? I don¡¯t know¡­ Can I go back? I might be able to with the dragon ball¡¯s power¡­ I¡¯ll wait till then to decide. But what is my name? Slowly I wake up with my head pounding. I sit up and notice that I was on a bed. Looking myself over, I realize I¡¯m also without a shirt. Checking further under the blanket covering me, I see black slacks, much different than the blue leggings that went with my gi. Plus my tail isn¡¯t wrapped around my waist! There goes that secret¡­ Well, at least I¡¯m not in some cage or prison cell, so I should be fine for now. Hopefully. Well I am still placing my thoughts together, the door opens and a lady dressed as a maid walks in holding blue clothes. ¡°I will inform the lord that you have awaken,¡± she said as she left the clothes on the bed and left. After confirming that the clothes were my gi, I quickly put them on. It seems that the places that were cut in that battle were mended as well. Actually, doesn¡¯t my body feel lighter somehow? With My tail once more wrapped around my waist, I stretch out my arms while waiting for the maid to come back. It sounded like whoever has me was waiting for me to wake up after all. Given that I had nothing to do, I stretched out my body a bit. It feels lighter than ever before. How is this even possible? -Due to user overcoming the temptation of the malicious entity, user¡¯s power exploded outward. This resulted in user jumping straight to Path of Body, level 1- THe system¡¯s voice shocked me for a moment, causing me to jerk. luckily I am alone right now, otherwise I¡¯d likely be questioned about that. But my power exploding outward huh? Sounds like I got an anime power up. At least this means I have more power to handle whatever is thrown my way. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Actually, there is something I realised I haven¡¯t done yet! I quickly check the skill store as well as the balance of points I have. Once I find what I¡¯m looking for, I immediately buy the skill Kameha wave for 300 points! It may seem like it¡¯s too good to be true, but this is the base Kameha, and not the super kameha like what Goku or Gohan used in beam clashes. My lack of mastery with the skill also means that I couldn¡¯t do any neet tricks with the Kameha like direct the blast, like Goku did in his battle against Raditz. I might be able to hold a delayed Kameha like Goku used against Frieza, but I doubt that the move would be practical in combat. I won¡¯t even pretend that I can surf on someone else¡¯s attack with the move like Goku. I wonder what other moves I should learn. There are a few moves similar to the Kameha like the Masinko or Galick Gun. A more destructive move would likely be better. A move like the Destructo Disk or Special Beam Cannon. Krillin or Piccolo might have even been able to kill Frieza on Namek with those moves, just thinking about them is getting me excited! To think I¡¯d really get to try out the techniques from Dragon Ball! Before looking to gain anymore new moves, I should probably look at the item list as well. There is the power pole, flying nimbus, and even senzu beans! But the Senzu beans are around 10000 points! Expensive! Then again, they are one best things in all of DB with how they can completely revitalize someone despite the level of power they possess. Everything else was pricey too, so I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll buy more skills for now and save up a bit. Plus having new items now would likely be very suspicious. Being bored of just waiting for someone to come back, I decided to test out my strength. I began doing push ups on the ground. Before I knew it, I was reaching the tens with my counting! It was practically effortless! I begin to try one handed push ups, then on finger push ups. The difference in my strength from before is amazing! I¡¯m loving this! My body feels amazing! The fact that I can grow stronger than this as well! I¡¯m actually getting excited to train and be amazing!
Soon the maid returns and informs me that I am being summoned by Lord Henry Bredon, whom I assume it the person who has been looking after me so far. After being lead through several halls, we arrive at an office. A well dressed man was seated at a desk looking over several documents. He had a gentle air about him, but I could sense a great strength from him. As we entered the room, he looks up and with a smile said, ¡°Ah. Good, you are finally awake.¡± ¡°Now, may I know your name?¡± the lord asked me. For a moment I hesitated, as I couldn¡¯t quite remember my own name. I thought hard, but I couldn¡¯t recall it at all. Then, almost instantly after I started thinking of my name, another idea for one popped into my head. Given the fact that I needed to say something, I went with, ¡°I¡¯m called Terra.¡± A name that felt oddly fitting, though I am unsure why. Update Alright so good news and bad news. I wrote 2 new chapters! But, they are meant for much later in the story and are likely to be edited and changed to better fit the characters as I actually reach that point in the story. If you all want i''ll give you all that chapter tomorrow. I also plan to finish and release the actual next chapter soon. I got a job recently so I won''t make any promises on a release schedule. I also plan to write character bio''s to better plant them in my head and avoid messing stuff up. I have a good bit of the story planned out, so look forward to me not having that as an excuse to not write. Especially considering the 2 chapters could very well be the last to for book 1, and would lead to book 2. Also should I remove the harem tag for now? There will only be one girl for the first book, and I''m still at the start of the first book.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Ch. 5 ~Terra perspective~ ¡°Very well, Terra. Let me start by thanking you for aiding my realm and protecting my son.¡± Lord Henry said. He reached down under his desk and seemed to be opening a drawer. After a moment of fishing for something, he pulled out a ring. ¡°Allow me to award you this as a gift for saving my son. And for your service to my town, I name you Hero of Bredon.¡± What¡­ Hero¡­ Who me? ¡°Me a hero? What do you mean?!?¡± I exclaim, very surprised at this result. I helped out in the fight, but why am I being singled out as a hero?!? The lord laughed at my recoil and said, ¡°It¡¯s not everyday that I get to meet with a humble cultivator.¡± His power is crazy strong! I know I¡¯m only able to faintly make it out, but even with that I can see a huge difference in strength between us. ¡°Make no mistake, you have rendered a great service to myself and my lands. If fact many would find it unjust for you not to be awarded a title for the aid you have given us.¡± He sets the ring down on the desk on the side closer to be and gestures for me to take it. I do grab it, but the whole time I have a cold sweat on my back, nervous I may do something that indirectly insults him and places me in a terrible situation. Then Lord Henry turned towards the maid, ¡°my son Aiden seemed to want to talk with Terra after his recovery as well, would you escort him?¡± The maid gave a small bow and replied, ¡°very well.¡± and began to walk off. I followed behind, glad to not be so close to someone that strong. As I follow the maid I place the ring on a finger and then hear, -integrating with storage ring- Storage ring¡­ that sounds like something rare. Plus there might be stuff in it¡­ calling me a hero as well¡­ This doesn¡¯t sound real. Plus all that fighting I¡¯ve been doing. What kind of fairy tale have I fallen into? Next thing you know, I¡¯ll be saving a princess from a dragon, or fighting a demon king. What happened to earth? Why can¡¯t I remember? I continued to have such thoughts as we traveled to our destination. Soon we walked out to a courtyard where several people were training. I recognized one of them as the one who lead the battle against those bandits. He notices me and the maid i¡¯m standing with and walks over to us. ¡°Ah! It¡¯s you! We haven¡¯t gotten a chance to introduce ourselves, I¡¯m Aiden Bredon. And you are?¡± Aiden asked. ¡°My name is Terra it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± I¡¯m still feeling uneasy from all this, but the least I can do is be polite. He¡¯s apparently a noble as well, and isn¡¯t it better not to be a nobody and be enemies with nobles? ~Aiden¡¯s perspective~ ¡°Well then, since we¡¯re here, why don¡¯t we spar?¡± I ask Terra. He seems surprised at the offer. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s unwise to have someone whom has just recovered from their injuries ¡± The maid, Alice states with a reproachful look. ¡°Now now Alice, there¡¯s a reason to this!¡± I quickly say with my hands raised, hoping to cool her off, ¡°he had a major breakthrough with his cultivation, this spar is just to help him stabilize himself.¡± With a sigh, Alice responds with, ¡°very well.¡± I lead Terra onto the training field. Off on the side, Alice watches while clenching her hands on her skirt and looking over here with worrying eyes. Her worry likely isn¡¯t for Terra¡¯s safety, but from the danger he presents. He directly absorbed all that demonic energy with fainting being the only consequence. Is he secretly a demon? Or will the energy take over him in a fight? Even now he seems fine, but will that stay the same throughout our bout? Everyone else here has stopped their own sparring matches and are watching over us in case of an emergency, but Terra doesn¡¯t seem to notice the hostility in their gazes. I had taken a practice sword for this fight and ready it to face Terra whom stands in a fighting pose with his raised level with his shoulders, ¡°I¡¯m ready for our fight, you should retrieve a weapon and then we can start.¡± To my surprise, he answers with, ¡°I don¡¯t really have much experience with weapons, I can give you a better fight with my fists.¡± From his tone, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s lying, and he also didn¡¯t have any weapons on him when he first alerted us to the demons early attacks. ¡°Very well then, let¡¯s begin!¡± ~Narrator perspective~ Surprised by the sudden start of the match, Terra stayed in place as Aiden charged towards him with a downward slash. Having lost the chance to try and dodge, Terra raised his arms in a cross above his head to block. As he was slashing, Aiden lowered his opinion of Terra¡¯s fighting sense, with how he was trying to deal with a sword strike. That is, until his sword clashed with Terra¡¯s arms. It was then that he realized Terra was using his energy to wrap around himself to protect him. While this alone wouldn¡¯t be so impressive, his energy spiked at the area he was being struck at while the blow was being struck, weakening the power of the blow significantly. For their training purposes, this defence perfectly safeguarded Terra from the attack. What¡¯s more, Aiden didn¡¯t even detect when Terra activated such a technique for this. Did it mean that Terra learned to have his energy protect him like this passively!?! The greater surprise for Aiden was that this also meant that Terra couldn¡¯t possibly be hiding any demonic energy without it being detected. While this all went through Aiden¡¯s mind, Terra had long since parried the sword and released his own attack. It was a simple punch that ended up up knocking Aiden to the floor, as well as snapping him out of his thoughts. Everyone¡¯s eyes turned towards the pair. Fights stopped mid blow and Alice showed a shocked expression. Terra had an felt uneasy, wondering if he accidentally committed some slight against a noble house. Aiden just started laughing. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Sorry, even if we were just warming up, I let my guard down too much and suffered for it.¡± Aiden said merrily as he reached his hand up. Terra grabbed it and pulled him up while thinking, that was just him warming up? ¡°Well then, shall we continue?¡± Aiden asked excited to see more of what Terra has to offer. ¡°Master Aiden, isn¡¯t it time for you to move onto your other duties?¡± Questioned an old butler whom walked up after Aiden stood up. ¡°Thomas! Oh I was just helping Terra here with stabilizing his breakthrough! I really should keep at it since we just started!¡± Aiden quickly stated, only to receive a swift response, ¡°Ser Terra there seems to have stable form and ability, and you also don¡¯t need to be his opponent for him to work with.¡± Aiden sighed in defeat, ¡°Very well, but lets bring Terra along!¡± he said grinning. ¡°If that is your wish,¡± Thomas said in a tired tone. Terra started feeling drained, first meeting a someone really powerful, and now he¡¯s dealing with the antics of his son. ¡°What exactly are these duties Aiden?¡± Terra asked. ¡°Hm? Oh, you¡¯ll see when we get there¡± Aiden responded which gained a sigh from Terra. After traversing various hallways, they finally arrived at¡­ another hallway. ¡°Alright we¡¯re here.¡± Aiden said to Terra, earning a quizzical look from him. ¡°While we were clearing out all the remnants of that group we fought, we found someone that they had taken prisoner.¡± Aiden explained. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to talk to her and learn more about what happened and why she was the only one left of the imprisoned, but she¡¯s barely said anything. Maybe you might have some better luck with trying to convince her to talk though.¡± ~Terra¡¯s Perspective~ They want my help with an interrogation? ¡°I doubt I¡¯d be able to learn anything you haven¡¯t been able to.¡± I tell Aiden. ¡°Nonsense, you are the one who stopped the portal that would lead to the the demon¡¯s realm, talking to a girl shouldn¡¯t be that hard!¡± So demons really were going to attack¡­ And why does it sound like he¡¯s trying to hype me up towards asking a girl out! ¡°I¡¯ll do my best, but I can¡¯t promise anything.¡± By Aiden¡¯s grin, I¡¯m guessing that he got the answer he wanted. Inside the room, there is a young girl. She has a small build and a slender figure, her raven colored hair is shoulder length, and her hazel eyes looking towards us with annoyance. I very much doubt I¡¯ll get any info from her. Strangely, I feel something familiar from her, though I can¡¯t quite place it. -Mission- Take the girl as a disciple. -Reward- ??? A mission here? That and a mysterious reward huh. Something strange is going on. To bad playing along is the only way to figure out what¡¯s going on. Though I don¡¯t have a clue how to even get her to accept this. Well let¡¯s start with the basics, ¡°Hello my name is Terra, can you tell me yours?¡± I ask politely. ¡°Eva,¡± she answers curtly. It¡¯s progress though. ¡°Do you know why your here?¡± let¡¯s see where this line of questioning will get me. ¡°Someone has something they want from me.¡± She seems so emotionless, even Aiden, Thomas and Alice seem confounded. Wait, why did Alice follow us? Not important right now. ¡°Do you know why those bandits that had you before imprisoned you?¡± ¡°They had something they wanted from me.¡± I think I¡¯ve found a broken record. ¡°Do you know what they wanted?¡± I am given a curt ¡°no.¡± And there is a dead end. ¡°What do you want?¡± I ask. For once her expression changes as she shows a confused look, ¡°does that matter?¡± she asks. This is finally going somewhere. ¡°Of course it matters. So what do you want?¡± She closes her eyes and thinks. Aiden seems to be excited by my progress while the other two seem to be indifferent. ¡°Strength. The strength to be free.¡± I can see a light of determination in her eyes. Maybe getting her to be my student won¡¯t be as hard as I thought. ¡°How do you plan to get that strength?¡± She seems shocked by that question. ¡°Strength doesn¡¯t just come from nothing. It requires work, and dedication. How do you plan to get strength.¡± She seems to be considering my question. ~Eva¡¯s Perspective~ How to gain strength. How do I start becoming strong? It requires work, but what exactly does that mean. What work do I do to become strong? Why is this man even telling me this? What does he gain? Everyone only acts for what they can gain¡­ what does he gain from this? His next question throws my mind into an even greater disarray, ¡°Do you want me to teach you how to be strong.¡± The others in the room seem to be caught off guard by that question as well. They pull that man, Terra out. Was what he wanted different from the rest? Can I become strong? As I ask that question a feeling ripples through me. I have a chance. I won¡¯t just be taken again. I won¡¯t ever let myself become a slave! ~Terra¡¯s perspective~ ¡°What are you thinking Terra¡± Aiden says angrily. ¡°We¡¯re trying to find out why she¡¯s so valuable to those demon worshipers. For all we know she could be targeted again!¡± A very good point he has there. Let¡¯s use that as well. ¡°All the more reason to have someone train her. She doesn¡¯t seem like she wants to serve them, so having her able to fight means she won¡¯t just live as a doll played with by those she could never resist.¡± Aiden, Alice and Thomas are once again shocked at me. ¡°She clearly has secrets around her. And even if she doesn¡¯t know what those secrets are, she knows they are there. Standing by her side is the best way to learn them without risking making her an enemy and possibly pushing her towards joining the demons!¡± Let¡¯s see if the power of bs will carry me through this. ¡°That makes sense, but are you sure you want to be her teacher, your still very inexperienced right?¡± Aiden asks. To that I respond positively, ¡°A great teacher learns just as much from their student as they teach, what better way to grow stronger!¡± ¡°Only if your a great teacher,¡± Thomas quips, prompting Aiden smirk. ¡°Alright I¡¯ll trust you with this, but it will be up to you to protect her from any forces that try and take her, you know that right?¡± ¡°But of course!¡± I answer resolutely. I might not be the most qualified as a teacher, but I know what it takes to be a great one! Alice left to inform Aiden¡¯s father of what has happened, leaving the Aiden, Thomas and I to head back into the room. ¡°So have you made your decision?¡± ¡°Do I have any choice?¡± she asks. With a shrug I respond, ¡°guess that¡¯s a no¡± and begin walking out the door surprising everyone. ¡°W-wait! I accept!¡± she shouts. I turn back around towards her with a grin and say, ¡°Oh, well ok, it can be hard to understand you with how coy you like to act.¡± She turns away with a frown, clearly embarrassed. With that out of the way I turn to walk out of the room. Aiden quickly follows and stops me before I could get past a few steps, ¡°and just where are you going all of a sudden?¡± Realizing that I¡¯d likely need help with a lot of what I had in mind, just traversing this building included, I answered with, ¡°I want to prepare some equipment for her training. Things like a gi and finding a space to teach her.¡± Aiden gives a sigh and helps me get everything sorted. Chapter 6 ~Narrator perspective~ It had been a couple of days since Terra had gained Eva as a disciple, and so far, He¡¯s made little obvious progress. He would start their training regimen with meditation to sense the ambient energy in their surroundings. He had also assigned Eva to inform him of what she¡¯s learned. Naturally, she didn¡¯t fully understand what Terra was telling her, but to be fair, Terra didn¡¯t know either. He wasn¡¯t sure on how to awaken Eva as a cultivator and he stubbornly refused to ask Aiden about it. It wasn¡¯t just pride that kept him from asking though. He had already gotten quite a bit of help from Aiden, be it finding a clearing in the nearby forest to helping him get Eva a Gi similar to his own. He could use the system to acquire it, but that felt like it would easily lead to some questions he wouldn¡¯t want to answer. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t trust Aiden, but something about the system made him feel cautious about who he¡¯d reveal it to. Terra shook his head. Just like Eva, he would also practice sensing energy. In Dragon ball Z, the characters could sense energy from various parts of the world. While Terra doubted he¡¯d be able to replicate the feat, he could still increase his skill with the ability. Granted he wasn¡¯t entirely sure on how to teach the skill either. Even Vegeta just had the skill after his battle on earth. Goku did training with Kami on sensing energy, although Terra doesn¡¯t exactly remember the specifics of what happened. As Terra was once again getting lost in thought, Eva was getting extremely frustrated. She couldn¡¯t feel anything at all. She suddenly stood up and screamed out, ¡±This isn¡¯t working!¡± Terra was shocked out of his thoughts by the shout. ¡°Eva, you need to have a little more patience. True strength has no shortcuts.¡± Terra said to try and soothe his steaming student, but then he had an idea sprang up. ¡°We¡¯ll end our meditation early today,¡± it had only been 10 minutes since they started, ¡°instead I¡¯ll introduce you to energy control.¡± Eva¡¯s anger subsided at the prospect of something other than sitting around in silence. She asked what felt like an obvious question, ¡°What is energy control?¡± With a smirk, Terra began his explanation, ¡°As I told you before at the start of your energy sensing training, all life has energy. Naturally, that includes you as well. Our energy control training will be centered around teaching you how to utilize and control that energy.¡± The idea for this training came from Gohan teaching Videl how to control energy to learn how to fly in the show. After confirming that Eva was paying attention, Terra raised his hands to chest height and held them slightly far apart, like if he were holding something. He then gently pulls out his energy, producing a weak glow between them. Eva stared wide-eyed at Terra¡¯s display. ¡°Is that, energy?¡± Eva thought. She began to focus on it with all her senses. She began reaching a hand to the glow, she could almost feel it. ¡°So what do you think?¡± Terra asked. Eva was snapped out of her stupor with that question. Seeing Terra still holding his smirk, her frustration returned. She didn¡¯t like his smugness and quickly thought of a question to throw him off. ¡°What¡¯s so special about showing your energy like that huh? I bet pulling out your energy like that is just a waste as well!¡± Terra began to laugh at the outburst which caused Eva to start seething. After a moment he gave her a response, ¡°you don¡¯t think that it¡¯s useful? Well I¡¯ll let you judge it¡¯s use after you see a technique that uses the concept.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Terra realized she was trying to get under his skin with that comment, but he just so happens to know a skill that similarly shows energy, and he¡¯s just been looking for an excuse to use it. After all, what fan of Dragon Ball hasn¡¯t wanted to use this move. Terra turned to a tree with a strong stance and pointed his hands towards it, one palm resting on the other. He then pulled his hands towards his waist and began charging energy. As the glow intensified Eva was at a loss for words. She had no idea what would happen next. ¡°Ka-Me-Ha-Me-HAA!¡± Although Terra held back on the power he used, a blue beam flew forward as Terra returned his hands to the previous position pointed towards the tree. The beam struck the tree, bursting the trunk and striking another tree behind it, leaving a visible scar on the bark. Eva was speechless, and Terra just felt really satisfied with having one of his greatest dreams granted. ¡°That¡­ how¡­ it was just a small light before¡­¡± Eva mumbled. She then looked down at her hands, ¡°will I be able to do that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get too far ahead of yourself Eva. You still have to learn energy control before you will be able to use the Kameha wave.¡± Terra said with one hand behind his back and the other parallel with his head pointing a finger upward. ¡°Kameha wave¡­¡± Eva said quietly. Terra felt a surge of excitement with Eva¡¯s reverence to the move. He really had to teach her the move. Terra took a deep breath to calm himself. ¡°Alright let¡¯s begin your energy control training Eva.¡± Eva gave her full attention, something that was missing after the first day and she only did a few poses and Energy sensing training. ¡°Alright Eva, first you will find your energy within yourself. This will be similar to the sensing training you have already done, but instead of looking to your surroundings, you will look within yourself.¡± Eva closed her eyes. She tried to look for energy, but she wasn¡¯t even sure what that really meant or how to do that. ¡°Imagine you¡¯re looking down into a pond, various ripples are in the water.¡± Eva wasn¡¯t sure of what Terra was doing now, but she began to imagine it. ¡°Now slowly the water calms, the ripples fade, and the surface can be seen.¡± As the image within Eva¡¯s head cleared, she began to feel different. In the water, she saw a gentle blue surface which faintly sparkles, but deep within a small darkness dwelled. ¡°Now we will get to drawing out your energy.¡± Terra places his hand on Eva¡¯s back, although she doesn¡¯t even register it happened with her focus on her inner energy. Suddenly the pond she saw began to expand! ¡°Drawing on your energy for the first time can be very draining, so I¡¯ll be sharing my energy with you.¡± Eva began to regain her awareness of the world around her. She raised her hands close to her chest and tried to call on the pond she found. A very faint glow appeared, much weaker than what Terra had shown her. But for her, it felt even more special than when Terra had shown her his energy. A smile stuck to her face and for the first time, Terra heard his student giggle. Terra later realized that every character that could sense energy could already manipulate their own energy. Chapter 7 ~Terra¡¯s perspective~ Waking up today I can¡¯t help but think this is all so strange. I¡¯ve already started to have a new life. From training Eva to sparing with Aiden, it all feels natural. Looking at my hand I wonder, have I really been living my whole life in another world? Did I just imagine it? Who am I? For now, I¡¯ll just keep being Terra, but did I have a different name before? I wonder if I¡¯ll ever get an answer. After I get ready for the day, I begin heading to retrieve Eva for our daily training when I¡¯m called out by a maid. It¡¯s not Alice, but just some random maid working here. She tells me that Aiden has some business to discuss with me and that he¡¯s at the training field. I thank her for telling me about it and ask if she can send Eva to the training field too. It would be easier for me later if she¡¯s there to hear out whatever business Aiden has with me than to explain things later. Reaching the training field, there are already men sparing and practicing with their weapons. However, Aiden is just standing around with three other people instead of training. When he see¡¯s me he begins waving me over. ¡°Terra! It¡¯s good to see you!¡± Aiden had a smug smile as he spoke, ¡°I¡¯ve got some work you might be interested in!¡± I scratch the back of my head as I think about what this job could possibly be. Considering I and Eva have technically been mooching off his family for the past few days as well as the foreseeable future. ¡°alright, what sort of job do you have in mind.¡± From there Aiden explained what to expect from his ¡®job.¡¯ He was going to the neighboring beastkin city to investigate the range of the demons¡¯ assault. Aiden¡¯s father has also sent messengers to the other nearby lords to conduct investigations as well as offer aid where they can. My role will be to join Aiden¡¯s investigation as one of his guards. He¡¯s also told me that one of the major tribes in the city are Monkey beastkin. Although it will likely be a fruitless endeavor, he mentioned that this could help me regain some of my memory. Eva arrived shortly after Aiden finished explaining. I gave her a shorter version waited to see if she had any questions. She accepted the work we would be doing, but she asked why a I¡¯d think that a beastkin city would help me rekindle my memories. Needless to say that she was surprised when I showed her that my tail was in fact not a belt. I think Aiden¡¯s other guards were caught off guard by my tail too as one of them asked me why I hide it. He showed a look of disappointment when I told him, ¡°It¡¯s just to avoid someone grabbing my tail during a fight.¡± The journey would begin in a couple of days, so I agreed with the head of the Guard team David that we would secure the necessary supplies tomorrow. He needed to pick out a couple more people to be in the guard unit for Aiden. This also left Eva and I to resume our normal training schedule for the day and plan out any special needs we might have for the trip. As such I lead Eva towards our training spot, there¡¯s a few things I need to talk with her about. As we arrived at our training area, Eva headed towards her meditative spot. While I do plan to continue todays training, our talk is important. ¡°What?¡± Eva asked with a grumpy expression when I called her over. ¡°Eva, I¡¯m disappointed with how you handled yourself back there.¡± I tell her straight. ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± she asked angerly. I respond with, ¡°You didn¡¯t ask a single question back there. For all you know, we could be heading into dangers greater than we can handle, but you didn¡¯t so much as ask about a single detail.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯m your student! Isn¡¯t trusting your judgement on these decisions what I¡¯m meant to do!?¡± Eva countered quite heated. ¡°This isn¡¯t about trust. This is about knowing what you¡¯re getting in to. Just because I accepted this job doesn¡¯t mean you need to follow me. In fact, if you find something wrong, you can tell me, and I¡¯ll be willing to refuse if it¡¯s necessary.¡± I state. ¡°If we have a mission, we should just do it! Why should I question the orders given!¡± shouts Eva. There are red flags in her words there. I think I¡¯ve stumbled on a real issue here, but I need to go farther to tell what¡¯s going on. ¡°Eva! This is an important lesson! You can¡¯t just follow blindly! If you truly want to be strong, you¡¯ll learn to question things!¡± I shout with authority. Let¡¯s hope this smokes out more of whatever is bothering her. Eva began gritting her teeth and was mumbling something. Then she points at me and begins shouting again, ¡°I don¡¯t get this! I never had to ask questions before! I was told to do something, so I¡¯d do it! If I¡¯m told to train, then I¡¯d train! If I¡¯m told to fight, than I¡¯d fight! If I¡¯m told to run, than I¡¯d run! Why do I have to ask questions! Why do I have to figure this out! This should just be simple! Why is everything so difficult now!¡± Eva has begun to cry as she spoke. ¡°I see now Eva.¡± As I begin to speak, Eva glares at me, ¡°You¡¯ve received training before from others.¡± Eva clenches her hands into fists, ¡°I also know why the way you¡¯ve been taught and the way I¡¯m trying to teach are conflicting.¡± It¡¯s easy to tell Eva has her whole attention on me. If I handle this poorly, teaching Eva could become near impossible. ¡°You¡¯ve been taught to just obey, like the one who taught you wanted you to be nothing more than a weapon or a tool for their own gain.¡± Eva¡¯s now slightly trembling. ¡°But now you have to cast all that you¡¯ve been taught aside! Your not a weapon or a tool and you certainly don¡¯t belong to anyone! Right now you are free! And if you let me teach you, I¡¯ll make certain you grow stronger and stronger so you can stay that way!¡± While still shaking and crying and with her head down, Eva softly asks, ¡°You don¡¯t even know anything about me. Why would you do so much for me. Why are you doing this?¡± Here are some tough questions, but I have to answer them. Why do I do so much, I¡¯m not even sure of that myself at this point, but that isn¡¯t the answer. ¡°I know what I need to know about you Eva. Your lost in this world just like me. The only difference is that I have the strength to push through the tough parts, and you don¡¯t. I don¡¯t know your past, but I don¡¯t need to know to be your ally. No matter what happens, I¡¯ll be on your side Eva.¡± Eva begins to shake her head from left to right and laugh. She raises her face and along with her tears is a mad grin as she points to me and says, ¡°You, my ally? No matter what you¡¯ll be on my side? Really? What if I¡¯m another demon like you¡¯ve been fighting huh? What if I¡¯m just another one of the monsters? What will you do then!¡± She then begins to grit her teeth and a dark aura begins to envelop her. Where did I screw this up? Well, if talking won¡¯t get through to her, I¡¯m left with having to act. I walk up to her and raise one of her arms by the wrist, ¡°huh, wha?¡± she mumbles as I continue to act. I pull a knife out, summoned from the system, and place it in her hand. Then I grab her other wrist and place her hands together and point the knifes blade at my chest. ¡°If you think I¡¯m your enemy, then just kill me now!¡± I say with resolution as I stare her straight in her eyes. The dark aura fades and all that I see in her gaze is fear, not of me, but of the fact that she could so easily kill me right now, as well as the fact I am the reason for that. ¡°I told you Eva, no matter what, I¡¯ll be your ally.¡± She drops the knife and leans against me and begins crying. It¡¯s terrible being alone.