Read the AN, please!
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"Are you Bulma's friend? I've seen you around her, so I guess you must be pretty strong. Your fights are interesting," Lapis said, who was in no hurry to fight, not after seeing Bulma's recent fight and the absurdity of the last confrontation before his turn.
His purpose of getting money to free himself from RR's control had already been accomplished, so now he tried to connect with the boy in front of him, because for some reason, he had no desire to fight him, though he did not understand why.
"I guess we're friends, but that doesn't mean I'm as strong as they are," Krillin touched his bald head with a self-critical smile, as he was also one of those impressed by the power that Bulma and Sensui showed.
"Never mind, at least we can try to be friends," Lapis said without any sense of embarrassment, causing Krillin to stare at him for a few seconds.
"This is the first time someone actively wants to be my friend," although Krillin's tone was as neutral as possible, there was a hint of complaint in his voice.
Lapis didn't have much emotional intelligence, so he preferred animals to people, but even he could sense that his opponent was a guy who might not have had a very good time in the past, so he made a decision.
If before he wanted to befriend Krillin to get to Bulma, now he wanted to befriend the boy, so his posture became more serious, and a transparent colored aura emerged from his body.
"I'm just new to this whole martial artist thing... but through fighting, emotions are exchanged and people can become friends, or so I read in those web novels. So Krillin... let's fight!" Lapis declared, although he felt a little embarrassed by his words, the embarrassment had remained with his younger brother Lazuli, so his face did not change too much.
"Good!" Krillin nodded excitedly, his stance becoming much firmer, and a crimson, flame-like aura slowly emerging from his body.
Krillin, who had a flame-like temperament, left behind his worries about his lack of power, his short stature, or the fact that he had no nose, now he had no worries that constantly came to his mind.
A remarkable trait of Krillin is that despite his fears, doubts, and apparent lack of self-esteem, he is a passionate guy who will not hesitate to fight the strongest, even if he knows he will die.
His heart may have grown cold throughout the original story, due to the unshakable truth that human potential had limits compared to that of the Saiyans or Namekians, but he was the type of fighter who would not give up and knew how to focus.
Like now, his eyes narrowed as his aura battled Lapis', the two invisibly facing each other, looking for the perfect opportunity to attack. Perhaps due to his inexperience, Lapis was a bit impatient, something Krillin quickly noticed and recognized as a weakness, so he made the first move.
His body glided quickly through the air, leaving a trail of red aura as he threw his fist forward. His blow caught Lapis off guard, who could barely raise his guard, using his arms as a shield, but Krillin's blow was quite powerful.
With the sound of the impact, Lapis' body slid backwards, leaving a trail of dust on the arena floor. His right arm, the one that took the brunt of the blow, felt hot as if it had been scalded, but he had no chance to dwell on that, not when Krillin's attacks continued.
The young bald man's fists connected more and more with Lapis' body, who this time managed to put up an effective defense. Lapis' arms were coated with a faint green energy that served as a shield, but Krillin's blows were so powerful that Lapis could feel his defenses slipping away.
Knowing that he had to take the initiative, Lapis shouted and launched a kiai that dissipated the transparent aura of his body and pushed Krillin several meters away, giving him a chance to breathe. With a clear path to attack, Lapis' aura flared again, and this time, it was his turn to strike.
A small crackle, similar to the crackle of electricity, echoed in the arena as Lapis, his arms coated in green electricity, lunged at Krillin, initiating a much more balanced exchange of blows than before.
If there was one thing that had inspired the fighters in this tournament, it was the ability of some of the contestants to mimic elemental properties with their ki, so Lapis, someone who already had some similar techniques, had enhanced that ability.
Though he had occasionally taken punches from Krillin, he had also thrown some in response, and a smile appeared on his face as his strategy was executed.
So, after a full minute of their figures writhing in the same place, exchanging blows, the two separated. Krillin had several bruises on his body, but he was fine overall.
On the other hand, Lapis' skin was red, and steam rose from his body as if he had been bathed in hot water. He could feel that each blow from Krillin was accompanied by an unusually high temperature, which could be a problem if too much damage accumulated, but his plan was already about to work.
"Do you know how the nervous system works?" asked Lapis suddenly, causing Krillin to look at him with a strange expression before giving him a short answer.
"Yes, I've been to school," Krillin had replied before noticing a certain detail, with the knowledge he knew, he realized something almost immediately.
His expression did not go unnoticed by Lapis, and a smile of confidence appeared on the young man's face. Then the green lightning in his arms twisted like a snake and covered his body.
"I was thinking, can the electricity I create interfere with other people's nervous systems? Could it do the same to mine? It was a simple idea at first, but when I saw the fights in this tournament..." Lapis looked over to where Bulma was standing and felt a strange sense of accomplishment and respect.
Achievement because he could draw inspiration from the previous fights, and respect because Bulma opened his eyes to what he could achieve in the future if he continued on his path. If before he only wanted to become strong to protect himself and his sister from RR, now he had another goal: to enjoy the journey as he grew stronger.
"Technically, we're the first to experience this new technique, but I think it's time to see its results," as Lapis said that, the world seemed to slow down in his eyes, his perceptions seemed to increase, and his mind started to process information he had ignored before.
But this whole process was under control, rudimentary due to the unpolished nature of the technique, but a rather useful way to overcome his physical limitations. things were different for Krillin.
The world was twisted for him in ways he had never seen before, he was dizzy, his eyes hurt, the noise outside was as painful as a hammer repeatedly hitting his head, and his entire skin was itchy. Everything he could feel, he felt in overdrive.
Worst of all, he couldn't concentrate to relieve the effects of Lapis' energy on his body, and even if he could, how could he clear his nervous system? he had never experienced such an attack in his life!
In such a state, Krillin was unable to effectively defend himself from Lapis' attacks on his body and took quite a bit of damage. Each blow hurt a lot; his nerves were too sensitive, and a simple touch made him scream in pain.
Although he knew that this was a fight, he never thought that a technique could become so cruel, but then, under the flood of pain, with so many confusing signals, he heard someone's voice.
"Come on, Krillin, you can do it!" Goku's voice broke through the garbled sounds that overwhelmed the bald fighter and settled firmly in his head, giving him some clarity.
Not only that, but the voices of Yamcha, Chi-Chi, and Bulma could be heard as well, and the flame in Krillin's heart burned brighter than ever, even erupting his aura.
Lapis had to break away as this happened, watching as Krillin's aura seemed to turn to fire before his eyes, but they were not mere flames; Krillin's outer aura simply behaved as such.
Krillin never tried to turn his ki into fire, why? But he made it generate a lot of heat, and by focusing all his attention on that one burning sensation on his skin, Krillin forced his body, shaking with pain, to be under his control.
At that moment, he felt Lapis' Ki approaching him and reacted in time to stop the attack. He didn't even have his eyes open, but when you're a martial artist, do your eyes matter so much? They had the ki perception to fight!
Relying on this perception, Krillin prevailed; despite the pain caused by Lapis' attacks and his movements, his will allowed him to continue fighting. He was a monk! Though he was never an ascetic, the teachings in the temples were much more painful than those of Muten Roshi, so of all Master Roshi's disciples, his pain threshold was the highest.
This resilience to pain was also in the way he dealt with trauma, he was someone who could suffer an impalement and fight back without worry, and even with the same enthusiasm as always when he recovered, with little or no psychological damage.
In time, he was able to open his eyes and endure the tearful reaction caused by the intense brightness he saw. His exchange with Lapis was much more complex, but it was obvious that Krillin's experience was much greater than his opponent's.
Yes, they were both young, but Krillin had been training and fighting since he was little, while Lapis had barely had time to practice martial arts; it was his genius that allowed him to keep a similar pace as Krillin, but that was over.
His stamina was much lower, his energy was lower, his experience was almost nil, and so even when Krillin suffered from Lapis' technique, he was able to overcome it and even hit with full force with one of his Ki attacks.
A ki attack that Krillin had prepared, taking into account Lapis' inexperience in perceiving ki properly. One of Muten Roshi's teachings was that they should learn to focus energy.
This lesson came with a demonstration, something he chose to emulate at this time, perhaps out of respect for his master, or perhaps as a way to guide this young fighter named Lapis, who had made him suffer greatly.
Krillin's single fist hit Lapis as usual, but this time it was different. Lapis could only realize it at the end, but it was already too late. Krillin's blow hit him right in the chest.
A thin beam of energy passed through his body without breaking his skin, exiting from his back and causing a shockwave that left a thin line on the hard arena floor.
Lapis looked at Krillin strangely, feeling as if he had little strength left, and the beam disappeared from his body. He didn't have to say it. during their fight, he felt the toughness in Krillin, a toughness he recognized and felt he should learn, so he simply presented his fist to Krillin and waited.
Krillin clenched his fist in response, accepting the gesture. Lapis smiled, his eyes rolling back in his head before falling backwards into the arena. There was a moment of silence in the arena before the crowd went wild and began screaming like crazy.
"Fighter Lapis is unconscious! The winner of this match is Fighter Krillin!"
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AN: I would really appreciate it if you could picture me as a guy sitting in front of his computer with his left eye closed, because I don't wear glasses when I write these days, and the glare from the computer just makes my eyes hurt. I'm complaining, someone reported my Avatar fanfic and I got the cover removed for alleged pornographic content, even though there are more suggestive covers on this platform than just a rather large cleavage. Fuck you, boy or girl or entity that reported me. On the other hand, I'll give you the cover I have on Royal Road, but I'll have to wait a few days for it, so enjoy the tasteless cover by default.
Other than that I don't want to say anything else, I don't know if you have noticed that I don't post AN anymore or that I barely respond to comments except to like everything you comment or put a "Lol", well there's no reason, I'm just a fucking loner with too much imagination in my head but no one to share it with. The comments are great, keep it up, but it's not like I'm going to make friends here either, although there are several people here who are nice and I'd really like to have as regular contacts.
What else can I say, it wouldn't be funny to tell you to read my original novel, so I won't. Just enjoy the fanfic.