17 Journey Part 5: Pushing before deep training

The following day was eventful. The natural heat of the desert and sun have already dried up a good portion of the rainfall in the area. A few atmospheric devices by Bulma prevented overall damage to what was accomplished before.

A decent breeze and sparse clouds kept enough moisture to help further. Another day or two to check develop before leaving would be best. Passing back a few months to review the development would allow further changes to be discussed.

"Hmm?" Kakarot paused as a buzzing seemed to emit from within. The collection of Negative Energy reached a peak point. 'My Soul: Intuitive Adaptability finished something up that I reconciled already. Did I just need to train a little more to hit that point?'

*Fwoosh! Fwoosh!* Waves of Dark Magic flowed around briefly before cutting off immediately after. For the briefest of moments, his Magic dropped to almost nothing as it funneled directly into his Ki. He needed a lot more Magic to reach whatever state that was possible.

"That... was unpleasant." Rubbing his brow, the pulsing around his extremities dissipated. "Something yanked the power away almost?"

It felt that way anyway. Towa sent a message to him via Telepathy.

'It is one of the accomplishments to become a Dark King further. Soon you should be at the bare minimum to attempt the next chance. A lot of Dark Magic is trying to bleed into the area. A few months from now, a door should open to allow you inside to take care of it.'

'That sounds eventful.' Kakarot thought back to what it could be, and only the Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle came to mind. 'Stopping the crazed Lucifer from conquering Earth is defintely a good thing. Taking control of that Subsidiary Dimension is definitely the right choice for the future.'

Towa agreed completely. Earth was fine and dandy, but a place with the continuous natural air like the Demon Realm was much better for her. Plus, it would put Kakarot in a steady environment to stimulate his growth with adverse terrains.

The mental conversation was brief. Some more training with Nam and the others helped pass the hours. Kakarot learning Nam's signature technique. The Cross Arm Dive.

Bulma came around enjoying the quiet time and had a few questions she wanted the answer to. Having waited until the training and talks were finished.

"Kakarot.. how old are you? Not your soul, of course, but physically with the body you have now." Nam walked away, not hearing any of the conversation taking place. Bulma scouter picked up the change in the man briefly. 'He has Magic now, and decent energy levels.'

Nam: Human (Unlocking Potential)

Spirit: 8,784

Ki: 97

Magic: 4

"Should be.. going on 18 soon." Rocking his head side to side, he checked his notes and double-checked with Towa. "Yeah, my mistake, just matured to 17 physically. I lost close to a year when I was in a Vat recovering. Had to add it up correctly."

"You look no different than a teenager." Bulma looked him up and down while circling around him. An appraising look in her eye with a twinkle as she nodded to herself. He was a fine specimen of a man, tail and all. "Chichi said Saiyans age slowly, so it was hard to tell."

"Yeah.. that is true, but the use of Magic might have disrupted that some. Plus, puberty for the race hits between the age of 14-16 like humans generally do greatly. Stimulation of puberty could also cause a change in rapid growth spurt or... emotional state."

"What would cause that again?" Mai asked, coming over. A towel wrapped around her head from swimming in the new lake that formed.

"Experimentation of oneself or.. a need to survive." Thinking about different Saiyans, Future Trunks came to mind. "A half-breed was about this height and physical markers around 14 or so. So a lot goes into it. Unlike most of the species that are surviving, besides overwhelming force itself killing me, I will be damn near immortal."

"Say what!?" Bulma stopped looking at him from behind and looked over his shoulder. "Your Magic is just not fair!" Her eyes were looking at his tan skin that looked youthful despite the constant training.

Mai felt the same but didn't say anything on the matter.

"Loud much." Rubbing his sensitive ear to stop the ringing, he defintely needed to finish adjusting. He would swear he was hit with a Ki attack just then from the loud voice. "If you keep increasing your Magic, defintely can stay youthful to. That or give it to someone else."

"Wait, you can transfer magic to other people?" Bulma wonder if Chichi did that to her to help start them both in Magic. Her sister defintely had more skills in that department than she. The simple nod causes food for thought later. "My dad is young thanks to high nutritional diet like my mom but if you can do that for them that would be nice."

"Sounds good, just need to tell me how much and to do it by and offer up the magic." Kakarot didn't see the harm in doing so. Especially with Dr.Briefs being a top scientist, he wouldn't mind talking to him personally.

"Payment here and now." Bulma handed him the blueprints for a gadget she was tinkering with. "I already made a prototype, but I will do the finishing touches later. With this, you should be able to make your own."

"Thanks, the Micro Band blueprints are defintely a marvel. Will make sneaking into places with our abilities easy." The thought of robbing the various superpower organizations was defintely a good backup plan. "Tiny with extreme speed movement, that is perfect, don't you think?"

"Yeah.. yeah, it is." Happy for the exchange, it was getting late, and she wanted to turn in. "I am going to clean up and head to sleep. Night."

"Night." After she went back inside, Kakarot decided to meditate. 'The more Spirit I have, the better to defend against outside influences. The higher my Magic and Ki, the better I find myself using my Aspects better. Taking her Magic and using it to fuel the Longevitity Aspect will be easy. The ratio will be the issue to figure out as I go.'

*Schup!* As if reading his thoughts, Towa appeared after some time. In her Saiyan disguise as normal. It was starting to seem like the default for her lately. Seeing him at work already, she only floated around checking the Dragonball and the "captive" Mai.

"Wake up Mai." Her voice came out even, devoid of any malice.

"Mmm, what is it?" Mai sat up, not alarmed or nervous in any way. "You are the magic woman." Her eyes were still a little blurry, but the voice helped clarify who she was speaking with.

"How do you know that? I could be in disguise." Towa had a good idea but wanted the woman to tell her mostly. 'The Majin and the Timebreaker Marks are applied but not controlling her the same as the others. Watching over but also gathering Negative Energy from the surroundings minutely.'

To supplement his Magic needs continuously for the future, everyone marked was a battery of sorts. Of course, if they acted up, free will would be lost still. The Goddess of War was clear when they agreed to terms; if he wanted to save people, that is fine and dandy, he had to make sure to still prepare for war.

"Kakarot imparted the information to me to help detect Ki and Magic. As well as rules with that Telepathy of his. I understand the concept of Magic and some Martial Arts from before, but.. I am not there yet fully." Sitting up completely, she looked at the tail but said nothing about it. "I can't keep my Ki concentrated enough."

*Bwoop!* A tiny ball of golden light appeared above her pal. No bigger than a marble before dispersing. The small energy signature had Bulma, who was inside still awake looking outward.

The young genius went back to cleaning up before bed as it wasn't powerful or anything troublesome like that. The home was a secured bunker with automated defense turrets installed on the roof for a reason.

'Pilaf castle is coming up; need to be rested to make sure this goes off without a hitch.' Hugging her pillow, Bulma was kept awake by her thoughts. 'Chichi's plans are dangerous and don't take into effect the number of people that will die in the process. Kakarot plans consider the lives lost but go against what naturally is supposed to happen more.'

The young genius flipped over, annoyed at how complicated the future was supposed to be. Who in their right mind would allow that to stay if it could be helped? Having planted a bunch of surveillance when practicing and upgrading her devices, Bulma knew a lot of conversations she wished she hadn't.

'The Supreme Kai of Time won't like that. Then again... our entire Dimension goes against what she is supposed to do. Then there is that "Barrier" they kept talking about. If it comes down.. how many people will lose their lives?' A few more turns, and she finally became comfortable. Placing the scouter on, it picked up the negative thoughts and turned it into energy. 'I am gonna have to talk to him about that later. Then again... makes sleep a heck of a lot easier.'

Outside, the energy was not going to Kakarot but towards the Dragonball on the table still. The stars were lighting up briefly before turning to normal.

*Bam!* Fists clashed as Towa and Mai fought against Kakarot. The imparting of Fighting Style into the woman Mai needed to be honed after all. Considering she was aggressive with a few words of encouragement from Towa made it worthwhile.

"Humph!" Kakarot did a cross-block stopping a joint kick from the two. With a flex of the muscles, they were bounced off. 'Not bad, but I miss training with Yamacha. That Wolf Fang Fist of his is hard as hell to get a grasp on still.'

That and it was perfect for providing pressure and honing reflexes fasters.

"Here we go!" Mai hefted up a rocket launcher and fired immediately. The propelled grenade lit up with a transparent membrane enhanced by Magic. 'What strange ammunition, I wonder what it will do on contact?'

*Kaboom!* It exploded like normal but also released a type of restricting gunk. The gunk was a pink tye membrane that did not go away easy. In fact, the more he struggled, the more restrictive it became.

"Haaah!" With a quick power-up, the pink gunk was removed with a blast of Ki from Kakarot's entire body. His eyes were wild at the very thought the pass quickly. Charging at Mai to prevent himself from getting shot again was interrupted.

"How do you like the Majin grenades?" Towa smirked as she delivered a heel drop to his head. "Best get use to it for next phase of training!"

'Long as it wasn't the actual Majin Buu, not a problem.' The mere thought of the little psycho creature gave him a sense of dread. "Tch!" Dodging the heel drop, he had just enough time to fire a Ki blast at Mai.

"Yah!" Mai jumped out the way, dropping the rocket launcher. "Whew!" Looking behind at the scuff marks on the ground, she didn't want to test her durability just yet.

*Bam!* Towa's leg movements were just to fast. Afterimages delivering blows powered by magic increased the pressure Kakarot felt. As if he was fighting multiple people coming and going out of reality at once.

Getting distance, he used Volley Burst. Firing 6 blasts of black red ki. Detonating them, the concussive force destroyed the afterimage magic-infused images. Towa just smiled as she swiped her spear staff.

*Sccchhuu!* A slive of air cut directly towards Kakarot. Almost like a vacuum eating the surroundings. Instincts said to dodge, but his mind wouldn't let him do so.

"Ha!" Letting loose a Ki Shout powered up, the slice of air broke apart in the middle. Two parts on each end passed into the distance, hitting a solar panel. "Crazy..." His eyes were zeroed in the effect.

The solar panel was cut in two evenly. A few moments after, several cuts appeared on the remains. it was going to be one of those training exercises this time. Towa was going to kick her attacks up and that meant some time in the Vats to recover.

Meaning something was coming ahead of time that she picked up and his current strength was not enough for it.