Decent Talent

Late-stage Planet Vegeta was a dangerous place. The famous "planet seller," Frieza, might already have his eye on it.

Roland knew that the most important thing now was to figure out what point in time he was in, then leave Planet Vegeta as soon as possible. But when he glanced at his short arms and legs, he realized that plan would have to wait.

Being stuck in a child's body was a real pain. He sat on the ground, grumbling, and the only thing that comforted him was that he probably wasn't in any danger of dying just yet.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Roland instinctively reached for the Scouter by his ear, but his fingers found nothing.

Only then did he realize that his Scouter had been taken away, too. All he had left was a child-sized battle suit.

"Now I don't even know how much fighting power I have."

If only he knew how to use Ki Sensing like the Earthlings. Vegeta had learned to sense ki just by observing others, without anyone teaching him. Roland wanted to give it a try, but after spending ages at it, he still couldn't even figure out what ki was.

Looks like I'm still a long way from being a genius!

Roland pursed his lips and clicked his tongue. There weren't many geniuses like Vegeta on all of Planet Vegeta. If learning an Earthling technique were that easy, aliens across the universe wouldn't all be using Scouters.

Ki Sensing had to be incredibly difficult.

Roland consoled himself. He refused to believe he lacked talent.

In fact, Roland's talent was quite good. Being classified as an intermediate warrior at birth was already impressive. Among Saiyan newborns, those born with a fighting power below 50 were lower-class warriors; those between 50 and 100 were intermediate warriors; and those above 100 were Saiyan geniuses, classified as upper-class warriors.

Upper-class warriors were rare among the Saiyans. There might not even be one in a hundred newborns. Every upper-class warrior was a talent who received close attention and training. They would never be sent to a training corps, for instance. Even if they were orphans, the clan would take the best possible care of them.

Below the upper-class warriors came the intermediate warriors, who would become the backbone of the clan. They made up only eight or nine percent of newborns, so there weren't many of them either. The remaining ninety percent were all lower-class warriors, and more than half of those were noncombatants who would never reach a fighting power of 1,000 in their entire lives.

Generally speaking, a Saiyan's birth determined to a great extent how strong they could become. Even with good training, lower-class warriors usually had a fighting power below 2,000 as adults, while intermediate warriors ranged from 2,000 to 5,000. Only upper-class warriors could reach or exceed 5,000.

That was why upper-class warriors held such a lofty status among the Saiyans. They were the elite of the Saiyan race, its most powerful fighters.

At present, there were no more than five upper-class warriors on all of Planet Vegeta with a fighting power above 10,000. Without exception, they were among the Saiyans' very best.

"According to my memories, this body originally had a fighting power of 134. Reaching that level at just over three years old is already impressive. I should be able to reach at least 3,000 as an adult. Too bad the lack of nutrient solution held me back so badly."

Thinking of the treatment center's callous practices, Roland was filled with disgust.

If he'd been given the highest-grade nutrient solution, he dared say his fighting power would already be 180!

Then again, if his previous owner had been that strong, there wouldn't have been an opportunity for him to transmigrate into this body.

"Hmph. Ki Sensing is too complicated for me to figure out, but I should be able to use an energy blast, right? Let me think. I remember using one before. It went like this..." Following his memories, he circulated the energy within his body. A dazzling glow quickly appeared in his palm, then formed into a bright blue energy ball.

"It's floating! An energy ball!" Roland cried excitedly.

But the next second, the sudden movement aggravated his injuries. Roland stumbled, and the energy ball flew from his hand.

The blue-glowing sphere shot out like a bullet and slammed into the forest hundreds of meters away. A deafening rumble followed. The moment the energy blast hit, it unleashed terrifying energy, sending countless rocks and clouds of dust billowing through the air until the whole area turned hazy.

The energy blast's explosion instantly wiped out a vast stretch of forest. A powerful shock wave spread outward from the center of the blast, flattening countless towering trees and ripping them out of the ground by their roots.

When the dust cloud cleared, a vast, exposed patch of sand and stone, nearly a hundred meters across, lay before him, the landscape utterly transformed.

Roland stared, dumbfounded by the destruction he'd caused.

"That was way too powerful. It's like the place got hit by a missile."

That kind of destructive power had to be far beyond a fighting power of 134. Nearly dying must have awakened the potential within him—no, it must have drawn out the potential that the nutrient solution had given him before.

Roland grinned foolishly, a fire burning in his heart. At that moment, Frieza, Majin Buu—none of them seemed like a big deal. He could beat them with ease.

"Bah! What am I dreaming about? Why would I go looking for trouble with them?"

Roland slapped himself. He was asking for trouble. The most important thing now was to stay alive. He had to find a way to leave Planet Vegeta as soon as possible. Staying here was too dangerous.

With that in mind, Roland started thinking about how to get a spacecraft. He couldn't steal one by force, so he'd have to sneak one—but even if he managed to steal one, he wouldn't know how to use it! What a headache!

Well, he'd better focus on getting stronger first. Once he had enough power, everything would be easier.

That was just how cautious Roland was.

The Dragon Ball world followed the law of the jungle, and strength came first. Now that he'd become a Saiyan, wouldn't it be a waste if he didn't make good use of his talent?

So, in the days that followed, Roland lived alone in the forest. Fortunately, the nearest Saiyan settlement was only a little over a hundred kilometers away, and the Saiyans had already cleared out the forest's more powerful beasts. He could use the safety of the forest to get used to his strength.

"Today is my 135th day since transmigrating. I got thoroughly beaten up again. My opponent was a rabbit with long ears. What a weird place— even the rabbits on Planet Vegeta are this strong! Just you wait. I'll remember this grudge and roast you alive someday."

"I had a delicious lunch, and my fighting power has definitely increased a lot. I feel like I'm already stronger than Tien Shinhan was at the World Martial Arts Tournament. No wonder the Saiyan body is so strong. Its physical abilities are incredible. Maybe I'll surpass that King Piccolo guy before long."

"Damn, this is the Dragon Ball world... I can't get cocky."

"Better keep my head down for a while longer."

"I'll head back to the settlement in a few days and take a look. I can't afford to waste any more time. I have to leave Planet Vegeta as soon as possible. But I'm undocumented now. How am I supposed to fix that?"

"Basking in the moonlight, I feel full of energy!"

Roland lay on a bed of broken leaves, recalling the hundred or so days he'd spent on Planet Vegeta.

The area around him was a mess, as if a storm had swept through and left everything in disarray. Judging by this body's condition, he was nearly three and a half years old. Fortunately, even without enough nutrient solution, he was still growing on schedule, thanks to his daily training.

Roland was happy.

All in all, he had pretty good talent.

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