Author's Note: For those interested, there are now five advanced chapters (we're on chapter 34) and a poll about drawing that we will be requesting in the future for this story on my on P-atreon, which you can read and vote for just $5.
I also finished the first volume of my other story, "Welcome to the Alternate Multiverse Chat Group."
So if you can, please go to my profile and check it out.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
X-X-X-X-X-X
Third Person P.O.V
Upper kick to the chin, dodged when the old man jumped back, somersaulting.
Russian hook to the face, blocked by a palm before hitting its target.
Spartan kick, avoided by destabilizing the center of balance with a faster kick to the other leg.
Headbutt, blocked by slamming the palm into the forehead mid-strike.
Jumping knee, intercepted by the old man's knee.
Low leg sweep, avoided by a leap followed by a kick to the jaw.
No matter how hard Leek tried, all his blows were either evaded, intercepted, or blocked without connecting, and with that final kick to the face as a counterattack, it was clear who had the better technique and more experience between the two opponents.
Leek needed a break, but as he lay on the ground, trying to reorient himself, he saw the sole of a shoe heading straight for his face, so he rolled to the side, avoiding the trampling.
The Saiyan rolled a few more times before standing, but the dizziness made this an impossible task, so the most he managed was to stay on one knee while his other leg was stretched out, halfway to an attempt to stand.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going to break every bone in my body?" The pity or sadness that had previously been in the old man's voice was completely gone, leaving only a man eager to crush the pride of an arrogant young man.
"Well... ugh... it's a... ugh... work in progress." Leek replied, not letting the man get the better of him, if he lost control and let his anger get the better of him, his attacks would likely be more powerful, that was true, but they would also be more erratic, and he doubted the power boost from simple frustration would close the gap between them enough.
In this situation, against a martial arts master of this strength and level of technique, he would need something stronger than just a small, momentary power boost.
"But... I think I'm getting the hang of it." He said, opening and closing his fists a few times before covering his body with a layer of ki and launching himself back into the fight.
The old man narrowed his eyes at the boy's stubbornness and threw his fist forward, ready to hit the arrogant young man's nose, but contrary to his expectations, Leek ducked just in time, avoiding the blow and launching an uppercut to his enemy's jaw.
But before the blow could connect, the old man's palm caught his fist, however, the Saiyan wasn't done, even with his right fist trapped, he swung his left arm, launching a palm strike to the old man's stomach, who while still holding Leek's fist spun in place, destabilizing the Saiyan before launching his own palm strike, hitting his cheek and making the young boy take several steps back.
"Ugh... ugh." Leek breathed heavily before spitting out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth and wiping his chin.
The old man, on the other hand, squinted at the back of his hand; there was a small scratch there.
When his palm hit Leek's face, he reacted by trying to grab one of his fingers, his pinky, to twist it like a lever and break it before moving away, but his movement took a little longer than he expected, and he barely managed to scratch the old man's skin with his fingernail.
The nameless man's brow furrowed, and he decided to test a theory about what had just happened in this last exchange of blows.
Taking a step forward, and a blink later, when he was at Leek's side, he launched a sidekick to the young man's side, but he also noticed something.
The Saiyan's eyes followed his movement step by step, and before the kick connected, Leek fell backward, watching as the older man's leg passed a couple of centimeters away from his face, and when this happened, he launched his own attack.
Still lying backward, he put all his weight on his left arm, leaping forward, and driving his leg forward in an attempt to kick the old man in the face, but the attack was avoided when the man took a step back, his eyes following the movement of Leek's leg.
And as he took a step forward, his eyes moved to the Saiyan's face, who, while still in the middle of finishing his kick attack, raised his right hand, aiming once again at the old man's face, and fired a ki sphere.
The man raised his hand in time, striking the ki sphere with his palm, causing it to explode and raising a small cloud of smoke the size of a beach ball.
With his vision blocked and the foot he'd kicked barely landing on the ground, the Saiyan's eyes opened when a palm pierced the cloud of smoke, dispersing it and revealing the old man, who was aiming the blow directly at his face.
"Eat this, old man!" The young man shouted, moving his head to the side to avoid the attack and grabbing the old man's arm, spinning and throwing it away from him as he mimicked the previous attack, adding a palm strike to his face as a parting shot.
The old man's eyes widened in surprise, spinning in the air at the last second, but although he avoided a direct hit, when he landed on the ground, he ran his thumb across his cheek and noticed a thin trace of red.
The nameless man's gaze sharpened, confirming the thought that had crossed his mind earlier. "You... are... copying me and learning?" He asked as if he couldn't believe it.
Leek sneered loudly as he sneered. "What's wrong? Can't you learn in the middle of a fight? Can't the so-called 'genius beyond geniuses' adapt on the fly? Let's continue, old man. You'll be an excellent training dummy to refine my martial arts!"
A vein throbbed on the old man's forehead, this disgusting brat was using him as a simple boost?
Him? Who sought to oppose the wise emperor?
This shame could only be washed away with blood!
Leek's vision barely caught the old man's next move, one second he was fine, and the next, he felt like a spear had run through him, the muscles and skin on his left shoulder burned as if he'd just been stabbed or branded with red-hot metal, and because of this, his arm fell limp.
"Aaaaahhh!!" The young man screamed in pain, but instead of retreating, he continued forward, throwing his right fist forward, but it stopped when it hit the old man's forearm.
"It doesn't matter if you're learning to counter my style or copying me, do you think you have the time to do something like that? Do you think because I've shown you compassion until now, I'm not going to do what must be done to save everyone from the Sage Emperor?" He said coldly, his two fingers moving at full speed, and this time was Leek's right shoulder that suffered the attack.
"Aaaahhh!!!" Leek's right arm was rendered just as useless as his left when the pressure point was struck, causing pain and paralysis of the limb.
Leek fell to his knees with his teeth clenched, breathing heavily as he tried not to fall to the ground and writhe in pain.
"You moved to the side at the last second to reduce the damage to your right shoulder, didn't you?" The man asked with a calm expression, though inside, he couldn't help but be even more surprised.
Once, he had used his maximum speed and acupuncture attacks just once, and this child had already begun to react to his attacks by the time he launched the second one?
He had never seen anything like this happen before, and reluctantly had to admit that he had encountered someone who undoubtedly surpassed several of the greatest geniuses he had ever seen.
"But it's useless, stop struggling, think of the lives that will be saved, and give me your body without resistance to end your suffering." He added coldly, no matter if this boy was a genius or had keen instincts, against him, all their attempts were meaningless.
Leek responded to the request by muttering something before leaping with his right knee aimed at the old man's face.
He couldn't use his arms, but that wouldn't stop him; he still had his legs!
But before he could connect, once again, the old man's palm caught the Saiyan's knee with just enough force to stop him.
"It's usel-!!!" The old man was about to say this when the young man's scream interrupted him.
"ME HAAAA!!!"
And along with that scream, a beam of energy shot out from the sole of Leek's right foot, propelling his limb even further.
The old man, taken completely by surprise by this unexpected action, couldn't increase the strength of his grip in time to stop Leek's new momentum, and the knee slipped beyond his grasp, striking him in the nose and pushing him backward.
His eyes widened in surprise, and he took a couple of steps back, his hand moved to his nose, feeling a painful sting as he touched it, and when he looked at his palm, he noticed that the red liquid stained not only his hand but also his clothing, which was once pure white, was now stained with some of the blood that fell from his broken nose.
His eyes expressed disbelief, frozen for a few seconds, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened, as if his brain couldn't process the idea that he'd been hit, which cost him dearly when he looked up and saw Leek advancing toward him.
The Saiyan leaped forward, spinning in the air, launching a kick that caught the old man in the chin, sending him stumbling backward before the young man attempted another Spartan kick, this time managing to connect, sending the man flying, and finishing with a "new" move.
He inhaled as much as he could, puffing out his chest slightly before expelling a blast of ki from his mouth, hitting the spiritualist in the chest and pushing him until he hit a mountain, where the attack exploded, causing a landslide of destroyed rocks.
"What did... you think of that?... Asshole." He said with a smile between breaths.
It was a bit of an improvised attack, but increasing the power of his attack by expelling a kame hame ha from his foot, turning it into what was basically a small missile, had proven unpredictable enough to work.
He'd noticed it just a few minutes ago, but unlike when he was in his own mental space, where he had exactly the same capabilities as in the "real" world, it was easier for him to control his own energy in this place, so he was able to launch his roar attack even if every attempt outside had ended in failure.
"ENOUGH!!" And to respond to his insult, the mountain trembled as the old man's voice, this time filled with fury, echoed throughout the place.
The mound of stones caused by the collapse, where he was now buried, exploded, and the man flew out, straight at Leek, who couldn't react in time and was grabbed by the neck.
"INSOLENT BRAT!!" The furious old man shouted, throwing the Saiyan against a mountain, extending his palm, and launching his pressure attack, crushing Leek against the stone.
But he didn't stop there, he did it again, and again, and again until he finally vented some of the anger that flooded his being.
His once immaculate clothes now bore a hole in his chest, showing the slightly burned skin from the last energy attack, while his nose continued to bleed, and a thin red line ran from the corner of his lip.
He couldn't believe that a young man with less power than him had been able to take him by surprise and make him bleed.
He couldn't accept it, and he wanted to make sure he made the wretch who took advantage of his goodwill to lure him into a trap like that pay.
He was so furious that he almost felt he might fall dead on the spot from his rage.
He was about to launch another attack in an attempt to vent, but he stopped himself before doing so.
He couldn't kill this wretch; to take over this body, he needed him to voluntarily accept being absorbed, or be brought to the point where he was on the verge of death, so that his willpower would be as weak as possible and he could assimilate him without any adverse effects.
Luckily, it seemed he had fulfilled the second scenario; he could still sense him; he was still alive, albeit barely, so all he had to do was absorb him and subdue his ego to take over his body, absorbing all his memories and abilities.
His hand rose, and with the use of his soul force, he "grabbed" the boy by the throat before pulling him away from the mountain where he had crashed and bringing him closer.
Leek was a bloody mess, his clothes shredded, showing multiple wounds, especially those on his shoulders, where the muscle and skin seemed to have sunk slightly due to the strong impact.
The young man could barely breathe through his mouth, emitting a rasping sound.
"This is as far as you go, kid." The man said, holding the motionless Leek in his hand.
From his limb, inscription patterns expanded, covering the Saiyan's entire body, which began to glow a faint blue.
Similarly, the old man's eyes and mouth began to glow yellow, but even in that state, the man could see Leek slowly move his neck until he was looking directly at him from below before opening his mouth.
The old man, who had seen this move before, couldn't be caught off guard, so he tilted his neck, and the ki sphere that emerged from Leek's mouth flew past, flying into the sky.
"That won't work, just give up." The old man said with a hint of mockery in his voice. He no longer felt bad about what he was doing; Leek's attitude and the fact that he had hit him had taken away any goodwill he had toward the young man.
"No... I was... aiming for you... idiot." The Saiyan said with narrowed eyes and a bloody grin.
"??!!" The old man sensed something was wrong, and when he turned his head, he saw that the energy sphere continued to advance rapidly until it reached the clouds, exploding and dispersing them, revealing the moon that lit up the sky.
The moment Leek's eyes saw the satellite, he knew his plan to use his last resort had worked, and he felt as if something inside him had clicked.
His heart began to pound, his pupils turned red, his canines grew, his breathing quickened, and every muscle in his body began to swell, pushing against the sunken area in his shoulders until it returned to normal, regaining mobility in his arms.
"W-what's going on?" The old man asked nervously when he saw the inscription patterns stretch and glow, trying to contain the boy, until, as if they were solid objects, they shattered when the energy that the Saiyan emitted surpassed the restrictions.
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!" The spiritualist released Leek and was pushed several meters back when, along with the scream, a huge burst of energy shook the entire place.
The energy released was so powerful that it was clearly visible; the ground beneath the young man shattered, and pieces of rock levitated as if gravity didn't exist.
"AAAHHHHH!!!!" Leek's eyes turned completely red, and the voice he screamed with became more bestial as his body began to change, his jaw stretched into a snout as a row of sharp fangs replaced his human teeth, his body grew in height and musculature as fur covered him completely.
The power grew as if there were no limits, causing the entire place to shake more and more, the surrounding mountains showed cracks from the tremors, and the clouds dispersed as the energy trail grew to the sky.
And just over a hundred meters away, the old spiritualist could only watch with wide eyes as everything unfolded.
Even at this distance, he felt the pressure emitted by the young man's new form, who, until just a few seconds ago, had been completely defeated.
He couldn't attack, with the power he had now, his palm technique was the only one he could use from a distance, and although it had an effective range of almost 100 meters, due to the pressure Leek emitted, it would dissipate before making contact.
He was nervous, watching the place shake; he knew that if they were in the physical world, then there wouldn't be so much destruction, but this mental space hadn't been built to withstand this amount of power.
He could already notice the small cracks in the sky. He couldn't allow the connection to be broken, or all would be lost.
And since he couldn't attack or prevent the pressure from continuing to increase, he could only reinforce the space.
His palms came together in a clap before he slammed them onto the ground, the stone flickered, disappearing for a couple of seconds as if it were only an illusion, and when it reappeared, an inscription pattern originated in his hand, spreading across the ground with him as its center until it covered the entire mountain.
Then, like Leek's aura, a pillar of light shot out from the inscription pattern into the sky, flying for a few seconds until it collided with what looked like an invisible dome, repairing the cracks that had formed in the space due to the Saiyan's power.
"ROOAAAAAARRRRR!!!!" And once again, drawing the old man's attention, the roar of a beast unlike any other that existed in this universe echoed throughout the place.
Measuring at least a dozen meters, the Ōzaru, standing atop what remained of the mountain where Leek had been, roared at the entire world while repeatedly beating his chest.
"You... what in the world are you?" The old man's expression showed a combination of disbelief, caution, and disgust.
He didn't know what he was seeing, this wasn't a fusion with a demonic spirit, and while similar, it wasn't like the Emperor-class demonic beasts either. He... really had no idea what he was seeing.
His words, although not spoken aloud, caught the attention of the giant ape, who, upon seeing him, lunged directly at him with his fist raised.
"WOAAAAAHH!" The great ape shouted as he swung his fist.
But the old man didn't wait for him to finish his move, he couldn't let him destroy the inscription pattern reinforcing this space, or it would collapse in a matter of seconds.
So when the giant ape entered his attack range, he raised his palm, ready to launch his long-range attack.
However, the transformed Saiyan didn't receive the attack, but instead lowered his fist just in time for it to collide with the invisible palm.
The clash lasted only a couple of seconds, with both forces pressing against each other, until, due to the duration of the palm attack, the Ōzaru's fist ended up piercing through I, but due to the power lost in the clash, it didn't reach the old man.
It only struck one side of the mountain, destroying a minor part of the inscription pattern and causing the pillar of light holding the mental space firm to tremble violently.
"NOOO!!" The old spiritualist roared in rage and leaped from the mountain toward the giant ape, launching his palm attack again, and this time, due to the Ōzaru's beastly mind and lack of speed, he ended up taking the attack to the face, being pushed back until his back collided with another mountain, causing it to collapse.
"Fall, filthy beast!!" The old man shouted, thrusting both hands forward, putting all his soul force into the attack.
"ROOAAAAARRRRR!!!" In response, the giant ape opened its snout, and a blast of ki, far larger and more powerful than any other that Leek had fired before, shot out at full speed.
The two attacks collided, neither allowing one to take advantage of the other, while the inscription patterns on the mountain glowed brightly, and the pillar of light holding up the space widened and faltered, trying to withstand the pressure created by the clash of powers.
The space began to fill with cracks, like a spiderweb, spreading further and further throughout the space, while the giant ape's ki beam increased in power, gaining ground on the old man's palm attack.
"NO!! THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!" The man screamed when he saw the cracks begin to consume the entire space as his attack was overcome.
And with one final push, the ki beam exploded, destroying the palm attack along with the space they were in.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, here's a new chapter! We're almost at the end. I'd say about 3 more chapters before we wrap up this arc.
After that, we'll move on to something canon stuff before the next one. And who knows, maybe Leek will finally meet Nie Li face to face, it'll be a fun interaction to write, if it happens.
Besides that, I also wanted to ask you for something else: I'd like to commission a drawing for this story, either a new cover or a fan art of a scene.
That's why I wanted to ask you to please join my P-treon, those who join, in addition to being able to read the 5 extra chapters there, will also be able to vote to decide which of these two options will be the drawing.
If we get 19 people with Legend rank to join, and I add a little bit of what I have saved (because the good artists I've seen on X aren't cheap), I think I'll be able to find a good artist to draw something for this story.
So far there are 11 people, so we need only 8 more, so, if possible, please support me, if not, I still appreciate the reviews, comments, and power stones.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01