Training

"Big sister, can you tell me what year it is? Also, can you take me away from Planet Vegeta?" Roland wrapped his arms around Sephiria's beautiful, long legs.

Sephiria glanced at Roland with her jewel-like eyes and activated her Scouter to scan him. After a series of electronic beeps, she saw his battle power.

A battle power of 210 was quite impressive for someone his age, even with the potential of a mid-level warrior. Reaching 3,000 after he came of age wouldn't be a problem.

After comparing him with the other warriors, Sephiria found herself looking at Roland with more favor.

"With your strength, you could take on some simple missions."

"Exactly."

"Don't get cocky!" Sephiria shot Roland a glance. "You don't even have any identification right now, so you can't take on missions. First, I'll have to arrange a new identity for you... By the way, where have you been all this time? Why was your identity canceled?"

Roland said gloomily, "I was badly injured at the training corps, and they didn't save me in time. They just tossed me out and buried me. Honestly, I think they could've at least tried to save me..."

Most of what Roland told her was true. He'd only hidden a little.

After hearing his story, Sephiria's aura turned even icier. "You'll live with me from now on. I'll take care of the identity issue and register you as my younger brother."

Sephiria and her parents had left Planet Vegeta on a major mission five years ago. Roland's new identity would be as Sephiria's younger brother, born while she was away. He could even keep the same name; it wasn't as if Saiyans never shared names.

Actually, I think it'd be better not to register me at all.

All I need is a spaceship.

Roland grumbled to himself, still unable to let go of the idea of leaving Planet Vegeta.

Sephiria's home was in a large settlement near the Royal Capital, one of the more developed areas among the Saiyans. In the days that followed, Sephiria arranged a new identity for Roland and obtained a brand-new Scouter from the Saiyan administration.

Fiddling with the Scouter, Roland aimed it at the Saiyans around him, making it beep wildly. When he pointed it at himself, it showed 210. He couldn't help feeling pleased.

That was about as strong as an old King Piccolo.

It seemed his strength really had increased a lot after he'd come close to death. Of course, his more than a hundred days of hard training had helped, too.

He pointed it at Sephiria.

"4,254!"

The number nearly blinded Roland. Upper-level warriors really were something. She was only seventeen and already that strong. In a few years, she might well be over 5,000—far stronger than the other upper-level warriors.

As he followed behind Sephiria, Roland thought about what to do next.

After spending the past few days with her, Roland had gotten a good sense of Sephiria's personality: aloof, cold, and obsessed with training. It suited the Saiyan temperament. No wonder she was so strong at such a young age; it was all the result of her constant hard work.

Even more surprising, Roland had managed to learn about Vegeta. That wasn't difficult; when a genius like Vegeta was born, King Vegeta naturally made a big public announcement.

"Vegeta's the same age as me. He'll turn four in a few months, which means there's only a little over a year left before Planet Vegeta is destroyed."

The date of Planet Vegeta's destruction was easy enough to work out. When Goku's spaceship landed on Earth, Bulma had just turned five. Vegeta was a year older than Bulma, so subtracting the time Goku spent traveling to Earth meant Vegeta had been about five when Planet Vegeta was destroyed.

There was only a little over a year left.

Time was running short. Roland's eyes shone as he thought, I have to get off Planet Vegeta as soon as possible.

"Roland, I've applied for a fairly low-level mission for you. It isn't difficult, and I think you can handle it." After leaving the mission planning office, Sephiria handed Roland the mission slip, along with a modestly equipped spacecraft.

Roland gripped the mission slip tightly, already bursting with excitement.

"Great!"

"But I think you should wait until you're four before you go. You still have a few months, and I need to make you stronger." She wasn't satisfied with Roland's strength, so Sephiria decided to train him.

"Really? Thanks!"

Having a Saiyan with a battle power over 4,000 willing to train him was an offer Roland couldn't refuse. He had no idea that he'd soon regret it. What Sephiria put him through could hardly be called training. It was torture.

In the wilderness.

Roland fell to the ground, bruised and battered, with barely a patch of unbroken skin on his body. He was still very young—in his previous life, he would have been in preschool—but here, he was subjected to inhuman torment every day. And the one responsible for it all was a woman named Sephiria.

Sephiria was his cousin.

He couldn't believe he'd trusted her before, thinking she'd be gentle. As it turned out, she was a lunatic with a sadistic streak.

"That crazy woman's going to torture me to death one of these days."

"Ow!"

Roland touched his swollen chin. It hurt so much he could barely speak.

This wasn't training. It was just getting beaten up. Sephiria had no idea what it meant to hold back. No matter how he was doing, she'd start by giving him a thorough thrashing, without offering any specific instruction. According to her, the first step in learning to fight as a Saiyan was learning how to take a beating. Roland's natural nutrition had been worse than that of other Saiyans, so he needed to work harder and build a tough, resilient body.

Tough and resilient, my ass. Who could possibly look normal after training like this?

The image of Nappa's horrifying appearance flashed through his mind. Thinking of that gleaming bald head, Roland shuddered. Going bald didn't necessarily make you stronger, and he had no intention of ending up like that.

He couldn't keep going like this.

"Get up!" Sephiria barked, staring at him coldly as a fearsome blue orb of energy gathered in her hand.

You think that'll make me obey?

All right!

"Okay." Roland lowered his eyelids and cautiously glanced at her. He sighed silently. In front of her, he was as weak and tiny as an ant. If he didn't want another beating, he'd better do as he was told.

This isn't cowardice!

His battle power hadn't increased much during this time, but his ability to take a beating had improved quite a bit.

"Though you didn't soak in enough nutrient solution, your body is now just as strong as the other children's. Next, you'll learn Saiyan combat techniques. When you go on your mission, a computer will directly upload them into your brain."

Sephiria looked at Roland. That was why she'd focused on training his body instead of teaching him combat techniques.

Roland looked at Sephiria's cold face, and his expression fell.

This showed how little Saiyans valued combat techniques. The strong honed their claws and fangs, while the weak relied on their wits. Only in a "low-martial" world like Earth did people put hand-to-hand combat first. For aliens who could release energy blasts from birth, the amount of energy they had directly determined the outcome of a fight.

What good were punches and kicks?

That view was biased, but it reflected a certain attitude in the universe.

But Roland knew that, at higher levels, skill and ki control were far more effective than simply comparing energy levels.

So during training, Roland had several hundred pounds of weights strapped to his arms and legs. Sephiria watched him casually, said nothing, and smiled faintly as she flung an energy blast at him.

At last, the grueling months of training came to an end. Nearly four years old, Roland was already close to a meter tall. Because of the Saiyan physique, his height wouldn't change much for many years to come.

But while the long months of training as a punching bag had improved Roland's ability to take a beating, they'd also gradually strengthened his physique and power.

Roland's strength had now reached a battle power of 300. That was already as strong as Goku had been in the original story when he defeated the second-generation King Piccolo at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. And Roland had achieved it at just four years old.

That was thanks to his mid-level warrior potential, as well as Sephiria's training and his own hard work.

That day, after finally finishing training with plenty of grumbling, Roland got dressed and put on a brand-new battle suit. Then he climbed into the milky-white Spherical Spacepod.

His destination was Planet Mapa, a remote planet in the southern part of the North Galaxy.

He was finally leaving this damned Planet Vegeta.