Two Years

"Boss, a second serving please!"

A customer, sitting at the table before the counter of a small ramen restaurant, raised a hand and shouted almost impatiently after finishing his first serving of ramen.

"The same as before?"

A male figure asked lightly in return from behind the counter. This figure was obviously the 'Boss' the customer was just talking to.

The owner's appearance was young, at least when you consider the fact that he was running the whole place all by himself.

The man looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had short, raven-black hair that went well with his light-coloured skin. The hair was spiky in appearance and swept back slightly, save for a single group of bangs which hangs over his forehead.

His coal-coloured eyes were clouded in a strange calmness, which gave someone the mysterious feeling that there wouldn't ever be anything to break it from its current state no matter the situation.

In the depths of those eyes though contained a sharpness; one that could remain hidden from even those who had careful observation skills. It was akin to a sword in its sheath; just waiting for the right moment to display itself to the world.

The light, relaxed expression the guy had on his face when conversing with people was a great representation of the carefree side of his personality, which was in fact the majority of the time.

He was rather tall actually, standing at a respectable six foot and possessed a lean muscular figure; Not too bulky and not too thin.

The man was currently wearing his restaurant uniform, consisting of a black shirt with the restaurant's name and logo ('Akatsuki's Ramen' w/ a bowl of ramen in the background), on the back and left chest area of his shirt.

Below, he wore a white apron over his waist and underneath that was a simple pair of black trousers along with a pair of brown, luxury casual shoes.

This person was, of course, our protagonist Zero Akatsuki.

After receiving a quick nod from his final customer of the night, Zero went back to get him a bowl.

He carefully prepared the noodles in the bowl first, before adding the toppings along with a cutlet of pork after having deep fried it.

As the finisher, he gently poured his special broth over the top as the intoxicating scent of pork ramen spread through the restaurant air once more, making the remaining diner drool.

"Alrighty. A big serving of Akatsuki's tonkatsu ramen complete with soft noodles, just as you ordered sir. Please enjoy yourself."

Zero gave a professional smile as he placed the bowl of ramen on top of the counter for the customer to take.

Then, he began to do a final cleanup of the store before it was time to close for the day and whilst doing this, he began recalling the amount of time that had passed since he had entered this world.

"Two years already, huh?"

The saiyan murmured, before remembering what he saw on the status screen when he decided to check his progress this morning. He then went into deep thought as he was reminded of all the things that had occurred during those two years.

<Status>

[Name]: Zero Akatsuki

[Title]: N/A

[Gender]: Male

[Age]: 21

[Height]: 6 ft.

[Race]: Saiyan

[Talent]: <Protection of the Mind>

[Ki]: 2,000,000/ 2,000,000

[Magic Energy]: 1,500,000/ 1,500,000

[Lvl]: 3 (3rd Mortal Realm)

Power: c (850)

Endurance: c (900)

Dexterity: c (850)

Agility: c (950)

Magic Power: c (999)

[Base Power Level]: 4,000,000

[Overall Power Level]: 200,000,000

[Skills/Abilities]:

- Scan (Observe)

- Stealth (Concealment)

- Ki Sense (Perception)

- Spirit Pressure

- Cooking (Expert)

- Instant Transmission

- Gravity Magic (Advanced)

- Space Magic (Advanced)

- Shadow Clone Technique

- Oozaru Transformation (Great Ape) (x10 base power level)

- Super Saiyan (x50 base power level)

After two years of intense training, Zero had finally reached a point where he was barely satisfied.

He had gotten to Level 3, where his body and base power were at the level where he'd be able to naturally transform into a Super Saiyan without having to experience a flux of angry emotions.

Gaia, his System Fairy, had mentioned to him that his base power level was about as strong as an Ultimate Class being in this world, whereas his strength in his Super Saiyan form equalled to that of a Super Devil or Heavenly Dragon; Deities within the upper ranks are included also.

Apparently, a Deity/Super Devil/Heavenly Dragon had a power level of approximately 100,000,000 to 250,000,000 depending on their strength.

The weaker gods would be at the lower end of the spectrum, whereas Super Devil's like Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub would be at the higher end, most likely around 200,000,000 power level.

The Heavenly Dragons on the other hand, according to Gaia's estimate, had about 250,000,000 power level at their peak.

So at least for now, with Zero's present strength, there wasn't really a need to worry about the majority of upcoming dangers in the world.

Of course, this didn't mean that the guy would stop training as there were still a few beings within the world that could overpower him easily.

Imagine the shock he had felt when Gaia told him that Ophis and Great Red's power level was at least a whopping 2,000,000,000!

How the fuck was this world considered a low realm?

Luckily though, those beings only really cared about each other and wouldn't pay attention to an ordinary guy like him. *Cough Cough.*

Okay… perhaps if the Infinite Dragon ever found out about his power level, she'd take an interest into him, but the saiyan was confident he'd be able to avoid her detection; at least till the canon starts anyway.

So yes, training was still a necessity, but at the level of strength that he currently held in this world, it would allow him to tone things down a bit rather than training like a madman as he did previously.

There was still a lot of time in his hands, so he decided to give himself some relaxation.

Thinking of all the training he did in the first year though, Zero shook his head; He honestly felt stupid.

The saiyan was too focused on training that he had forgotten to check the system store if there was the Shadow Clone Technique available. With the overpowered ability that came from Shadow Clones, life would've been so much easier if he had just gotten it sooner.

When he asked Gaia why she didn't remind him, he was given that annoying response that every other System would give when asked the same question: 'You didn't ask.'

So unfortunately for a year's time, Zero trained without the use of Shadow Clones. In fact, it wasn't all that bad, but knowing that he could've been more efficient in his training left a bad taste in his mouth.

Aside from training his body regularly in various ways, though mainly with the foundational exercises such as running, pushups, situps and squats under intense gravity, the saiyan also utilized the Dungeon to get stronger.

Killing monsters inside the dungeon gave experience, which was actually some sort of energy that enhanced his body and overall power.

One monster didn't exactly give him much, but as there were plenty inside the dungeon, the experience ended up accumulating to the point where he was able to notice a visible increase in his own strength.

Sadly though, it just wasn't as effective as using gravity.

Zero once asked Gaia why that was the case and had been told that 'the Dungeon was mainly to enhance the System host's combat experience' as a response.

And she was correct, as the monsters inside the dungeon had a variety of different skills and techniques which left him having to react according to what technique they possessed.

It was even harder as he started to test himself against multiple opponents at the same time. All of this tested his ability to evade, defend, counter and knowing when it was appropriate to strike.

There were almost no monsters in the dungeon that allowed him to just run up and attack; He had learnt that the hard way, having to tread near the line of death a couple of times when trying to sneak up on the stronger mobs.

Of course, there were always Ki-blasts which he could utilize from afar, but where was the fun in that? He was a saiyan; close combat was his forte.

Since the Dungeon was supposed to sharpen his combat experience, there wasn't really a point in just firing a large amount of compressed Ki at the monsters inside in order to destroy them easier as that would defeat the original purpose and it wasn't like his opponent would stand still like an idiot waiting for the attack to hit them; those guys possessed enough intelligence and awareness to know that much.

So yeah, even after two years, Zero hadn't developed a signature technique like the Kamehameha yet as there wasn't a need to.

For his initial entry of the Dungeon, Zero couldn't deny that he was a little nervous when he saw an army of monsters up ahead of him.

Fortunately, they were all spread out and had different aggro ranges so he could fight one enemy at a time; it almost felt like he was playing an MMORPG game.

His Talent <Protection of the Mind> also gave him tremendous help against the mental pressure he was experiencing as he fought for the first time.

Struggling in the beginning from the weakest mob, Zero worked his way up the stronger ones and eventually he was able to take on several at once without taking too much strain on both his mind and body.

Through every day repeated combat, comparable to the one mentioned above, the saiyan was able to develop some useful skills such as Ki Sense and Spirit Pressure.

With enough ki control, something which was steadily developed in combat, Zero was eventually able to learn how to sense it.

Ki Sense enabled him to sense the location and strength of an enemy along with being able to quickly perceive an incoming attack just from the opponent's ki or energy flow alone.

In a sense, the skill is similar to a technique in the <One Piece> anime called Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) and is extremely useful in combat as it allowed the saiyan to react faster in order to either evade an incoming attack, defend or even counter with his own.

Spirit Pressure was a skill Zero accidentally learned when he mistakenly stepped into a monster's aggression range.

The little troll only had minuscule power level compared to him at the time, so he wanted to avoid it due to the monster being useless as it no longer provided any help towards him getting stronger.

Annoyed by this, the raven-haired saiyan unknowingly leaked out a bit of invisible aura towards the troll as he glared at it, which scared the little guy making it back away on instinct.

Surprised at the unexpected situation as he was just about to fire a ki blast at the monster, Zero stopped what he was doing and came to a realization that he could do the same thing as those unique few in <One Piece> - Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki), which is essentially the ability to exert your willpower over others.

So with his superior comprehension, he immediately recalled the process of what he had done previously and it didn't take very long for the saiyan to use the technique on the very same troll as before; Though this time, with a much higher force.

The result didn't deviate from what Zero expected as the monster collapsed instantly; it's willpower not being able to resist the pressure exerted from the saiyan.

Gaia then proceeded to explain to him that Haoshoku Haki was just a simple application of the soul, using it to affect another's consciousness. The stronger the person employing it, the stronger the pressure exerted.

Zero only ended up calling it Spirit Pressure since it was easier to remember.

The second year was when things got a lot easier and this was obviously due to him finally buying the <Shadow Clone Technique> from the System Store.

While the saiyan couldn't really utilize them to help train his body, the shadow clones were major assistance towards sharpening his skills and abilities.

These abilities included <Gravity Magic> and <Space Magic>, the latter being bought from the System for 250,000 system points; it made travelling far distances easier and consists of an innate teleportation skill, allowing Zero to teleport within a small range or through a space mark left by him in a specific location.

Speaking of things being bought from the System, the <Shadow Clone Technique> cost an immense 500,000 system points.

Though the current Zero wouldn't complain about spending so many system points on something useful, as the 2nd floor of the Dungeon comprised of monsters which gave more system points per kill (compared to the 1st floor) along with useless drops that could also be traded in for system points, a year ago he was just a poor boy and 500,000 system points were still worth a lot for him.

Nevertheless, the saiyan still ended up buying the technique and surprisingly found out that the shadow clones created were an upgraded version of the shadow clones belonging to the <Naruto> anime.

Essentially, Zero's version of the technique got rid of the majority of negative effects caused by using it, which aside from the overpowered training efficiency the technique gave the user, made it worth the high price.

His Ki and Magic energy could be distributed among his clones freely, without dividing his overall energy for each time a clone is created, and the best part is that the shadow clones could take more than just a hard hit before dispersing.

The only downside to the technique was the dizzy side-effect the technique user experiences when he recalls the clones in order to gain their memories, though Zero's <Protection of the Mind> Talent shielded him from that.

With the shadow clones available at any time, Zero was finally able to multi-task.

It enabled him to concentrate the majority of his energy towards training his body while at the same time developing his magic and after two years, he could practically use both his <Space> and <Gravity> magic without the need for magic circles, hence the 'Advanced' indicator next to them.

Both magics had additionally become stronger as a result.

During the timeframe of two years training, Zero also practised using his sword <Excalibur> in almost every Dungeon run.

He didn't exactly have anyone to teach him so all he could do was depend on himself.

There was always the System if he ever wanted to buy a particular sword art of course, but Gaia had specifically told him that comprehending the sword alone and making the skill/technique/art suited to himself was better than relying on another's created arts, something the saiyan agreed with wholeheartedly.

While he couldn't exactly be called a master at using swords, Zero was at least decent; the same went for martial arts.

In fact, he didn't even own or train in a martial art, but being in combat long enough had honed his fighting skills to the point where he's already able to be on par with masters if they were to ever spar.

As for battles involving life and death, let's just say that he has had his fair share of difficult experiences in the past two years, which at the same time also allowed him to quench his bloodline's inner battle lust.

Thankfully, he had <Avalon> to help him in those situations, along with providing him with a good amount of zenkai boosts every time he survived those near-death encounters.

Technically, <Avalon> could just keep healing him as he fought, since being an EX rank armament it was considered overpowered, especially when it came towards defense and healing department, but where was the fun and point in that?

It was better to learn to adapt without using <Avalon> and save it as a hidden trump card instead. That way, he'd get the most out of those zenkai boosts.

Probably the most disappointing thing for Zero in these past two years was the fact that he hadn't gotten access to his divine energy yet, or rather, it was sealed.

Asking Gaia gave him the answer that he wouldn't be able to use divine energy until he reached the first Divine Realm, where he'd be able to gain the power of a Super Saiyan God.

Apparently, the Mortal Realms are there to lay a better foundation for his godhood as possessing divine energy too early will make a saiyan strong too quickly; Goku Black being a similar case.

Although the Saiyan's have high adaptability, it still isn't recommended as it defeats the purpose of a stable foundation, not to mention the fact that the divine energy will conflict with his ki which would make him lose a lot more stamina trying to balance the two; Goku and Vegeta's Super Saiyan Blue transformation is a good example of this.

Possessing God/Divine Ki allows one to have perfect ki control along with absolutely no ki leakage and while the Super Saiyan Blue transformation gives Goku and Vegeta perfect ki control, they are unable to attain the latter as they already use a lot of concentration maintaining a perfect balance of god ki and regular ki in the first place.

This leaves almost no room to control the leakage in their aura.

So when Zero arrives at the initial Divine Realm, his latent and suppressed divine energy that has accumulated over the years will automatically convert his Ki into Divine Ki, saving him from the problems that would occur when possessing both of them.

This also means that when transforming into the Super Saiyan version of Super Saiyan God, Zero will never experience any leak in energy.

{A/N: Magic, on the other hand, belongs to a separate power source so it doesn't produce a conflict with his Ki.}

As for the strangest thing that happened during these two years, it was the fact that he became a qualified chef.

It is well known that Saiyan's have a large appetite and since no one else was going to cook for him, he had to do it himself.

Zero was used to it in any case as his meals in the past had always been prepared by him alone; a skill he had picked up as an orphan.

In the end though, he had to buy the cooking skills and knowledge of <Shokugeki no Soma>'s Saiba Joiichiro from the System Shop.

Now it wasn't like Zero's cooking was bad or anything, and he was definitely not someone who was picky about his food.

Just with the huge appetite that came with his Saiyan bloodline, eating too much of the same similar meals over and over again was beginning to feel bland and he needed some variety for a change.

The saiyan didn't have time to study cooking either as his concentration was mainly on his training, so what better way to solve this problem by buying cooking skills and knowledge from the system, and of someone who belonged to a world which revolved around cooking.

On the other hand, the ramen store was just so he could disguise himself as an ordinary being and at the same time experience a normal life while occasionally being able to interact with others every once in a while.

Training was important, yes… but Zero didn't want to be secluded from the outside world without anybody to talk to for so long.

He didn't know how Goku and co. had stayed in the hyperbolic time chamber and trained for a year straight without going insane.

Of course, the saiyan still had Gaia to talk to, but even she felt bored watching him do the same repetitive exercises every day. The fairy was essentially a newborn and had a personality of a little girl so she was also curious about everything in the world.

A bit of rest and leisure never hurt anybody, not to mention that taking breaks in between training was the correct thing to do.

So that's what he did; he bought a double story house which was only a few minutes walk from Kuoh Park and turned the first floor into a ramen store, leaving the second floor as a space to take resident in.

Zero also secretly transferred the large underground basement he had modified for training in his previous home into the new one with the simple application of space magic, using space marks as a connection point in order to teleport the whole basement there.

The basement was made of special materials bought from the system which was indestructible to those below the 1,000,000,000 power level mark and also allowed for anyone's aura within the place to stay hidden from the outside world; It was essentially the perfect location for him to train.

When he wasn't inside the Dungeon, he used the place to exercise on 500 times the Earth's gravity, which was what his current base power could handle at the moment. Doing this enhanced his ki, body and magic energy at the same time.

It was basically hitting three birds with one stone, as casting such powerful <Gravity Magic> upon himself constantly while training usually drained all of his magic energy, which later gained an increase after being restored, hence the reason for his high magic power stat compared to the other three.

His clones were also usually at the basement every day, either training a variety of techniques or fighting with each other to see if there were any weaknesses or flaws in his fighting skills that he could possibly minimise and improve upon.

As Zero thought back to all his clones who are currently complaining within that basement while he was out here relaxing by himself, he involuntarily let out a chuckle though his thoughts were quickly disrupted by the customer's voice.

"Boss, checkout please!"

The middle-aged man raised a hand and shouted after placing his bowl down with a satisfied expression. If one looked inside the bowl, they could see that there was nothing left. The man had literally licked the whole thing clean.

"Oh, are you done? That'd be 1200 yen please for two bowls."

Zero stated casually as he walked back towards the counter after having regained his composure.

"Haha! Yep, the ramen was delicious as always. Thanks for the meal, Boss! I'll probably be back again tomorrow. Hope you don't mind!"

The diner laughed, giving his gratitude and left after handing over a paper note and some coins.

"No problem, have a nice day sir."

Zero bowed politely as the customer took his leave; it was part of Japan's custom.

Recovering from his bowing position, a smile crept onto Zero's face as he took one last glance at the entrance before heading towards the back to rinse the remaining bowl.

The saiyan could sort of understand why some people chose to become chefs and cooked delicious food for people.

Even after a year and a half of doing this job, there was always a feeling of happiness whenever someone praised his food. He didn't dislike this feeling and it was one of the main reasons why he continued to do it.

"Phew, all done for today."

Zero stretched slightly after he stacked the washed bowl on top of its counterparts.

Pondering for a bit, he then locked his gaze towards the little figure sleeping on a cushion atop of the sofa towards the far corner of the store.

Looking closer, the figure was recognized to be an animal; a cat in fact; a black cat. The strange thing though was that the cat had two tails.

"Hey Gaia, when do you think she'll reveal her true identity to me?"

He asked mentally.

[Master, Gaia is not omnipotent so how is she supposed to know? Why don't you ask the cat yourself?]

The beautiful fairy suddenly appeared beside him and replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Nah, it's better to let things come naturally. Asking her straight up will only make her wary of me and she'd also be suspicious of why I let her stay when I obviously know who and what she is.

I haven't exactly revealed myself or any of my powers to her either, so she doesn't know who I am. It would only increase her vigilance further if she found out so I've been keeping it a secret."

Zero shook his head at the fairy's suggestion and sighed when he saw the cat laying there worry-free.

This black cat wasn't an ordinary cat and was also another thing that happened during the past two years.

He honestly didn't know why the little thing followed him around for the past year or so, though he was in doubt if it was because of all the delicious food he had given her daily..

As Zero was lost in thought, he failed to notice someone walking through the entrance of his restaurant. That was until Gaia kindly reminded him which broke him out of his stupor.

[Master, you have a guest.]

"Oh, my bad. I wasn't paying attention."

Zero said to Gaia with their mental connection before turning towards a tall man who was currently walking towards him at a steady pace.

"Ah, my apologies Sir, but the store is currently preparing to close. Please come back to-"

The saiyan paused in his speech as he noticed the aura of the one who entered and unconsciously leaked out a bit of pressure towards the guy before quickly taking it back upon realizing his mistake.

Unfortunately, he had done it too late as the figure had already noticed.

The sudden guest, who appeared to be a man in his late 20s or early 30s with black hair, golden bangs and a black goatee, suddenly stopped and raised an eyebrow at this in mild surprise.

"Well? What do we have here? I just came for some late-night ramen as I've heard the ramen in this restaurant is a one of a kind delicacy around this area and to be honest, I never really expected the owner to be part of the supernatural world; let alone a being on the caliber of an Ultimate-Class at that."

Said the guest as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. He then eyed Zero's figure as if sizing him up before proceeding to speak again.

"Though young man, you must be someone who is very proficient at hiding your aura; I almost thought you were a mortal if it weren't for that accidental slip up of yours."

Referring to the saiyan's leak in aura, the man continued.

"And I have to say, there's something about your aura that I'm very curious about here; It doesn't seem to be human nor is it of any race I know. Although it does have some similarities with those of the Yokai, yours seem to be too tyrannical for you to have any direct relation with them; it's almost like a dragons… hmm… but you definitely aren't a dragon either… Haha, it really does pique my interest!"

The man laughed for quite a bit before stopping abruptly as his face gradually turned serious, locking his gaze onto the mysterious figure in front of him.

Zero only stared back with calm silence, though inside the saiyan was curious as to what the man would do next.

That was when a solemn voice entered his ears as the man asked a simple, yet very direct question.

"So, who are you?"