Trunks asked, "Gohan, what was that new idea you mentioned earlier?"
At that moment, Son Gohan was like a selfless teacher, answering his student's questions and guiding him into a whole new world.
Son Gohan said, "Trunks, remember this: no matter what kind of transformation we undergo, our bodies are the foundation of everything—and the most important thing."
"Transforming is just a matter of finding the key to our bodies and activating it, letting us gain great strength for a short time."
"But only when our bodies are strong enough will the power we unleash be stronger. The tougher our bodies, the more power they can withstand."
Trunks nodded, only half understanding. He thought he was beginning to see why Gohan had wanted them to start with the first phase of training.
Son Gohan continued, "So we should train our bodies diligently and persistently, constantly improving our overall physical condition. That way, when we transform, we'll be stronger and more stable, and our bodies will be able to handle even more power."
"Got it, Gohan." Trunks acknowledged the lesson.
Though Gohan seemed to have gone on and on without getting to the point.
Was every teacher like this?
Help~
"As for the new direction I mentioned, it has to do with our bodies' basic attributes and what they're accustomed to."
Trunks perked up.
Son Gohan continued, "Let's make a hypothesis. What if we treated the Super Saiyan state as our everyday base form? We'd train in it, get used to it, and learn to overcome its drawbacks."
"Trunks, what do you think would happen?" Son Gohan asked, looking at him.
Trunks thought for a moment, then said excitedly, "When we transform again, will our strength increase dozens of times, just like when we turn Super Saiyan now?"
Son Gohan: "..."
That was quite the imagination.
Still, at least he was thinking creatively.
Son Gohan said, "It won't be that drastic, but we'll definitely reduce our ki consumption by a great deal and make our bodies capable of withstanding much more power. The process will be difficult, though. We'll need to spend a lot of time adapting and overcoming the challenges until we've mastered it."
"Now I'm excited too, Gohan! I'll do whatever you say." Trunks slapped his thigh, fired up.
"Let's eat first," Son Gohan said.
"Oh, right. I'm getting a little hungry too." Trunks paused.
After eating, the two of them trimmed their hair and began their first attempt.
First, they transformed into Super Saiyans, then let the aura around them fade.
They tried to hold the state like that.
Unfortunately, they failed after just a few minutes.
After all, once they transformed into Super Saiyans, they became irritable, quick to anger, and eager to fight.
But as soon as they suppressed their auras, their angry, agitated minds quickly settled.
And once they calmed down, the transformation automatically faded.
That made it difficult to maintain the state, let alone turn it into a habit.
Time flowed like water. A month passed.
In the plaza of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber,
"This is so hard, Gohan! I can't keep it up for long at all." Trunks bent over with both hands braced on his knees.
"Keep practicing." Golden-haired Son Gohan slowly went through a bizarre series of punches.
It looked odd to throw punches with only one arm.
Another month passed.
"Haha, I'm finally doing much better! I can keep it up for most of the day now." Trunks laughed.
"Your big brother Gohan can keep it up for several days already. Keep working at it."
Trunks wilted like an eggplant hit by frost. "All right. I'll keep trying."
Six months later,
"Gohan, Gohan! I've gotten used to it now. I can even sleep in my Super Saiyan form!" Trunks proudly announced to Son Gohan.
"Excellent, excellent, Trunks. You've made a lot of progress. I'm very pleased." Son Gohan gave him a hearty thumbs-up.
"It's not easy to get praise from you, Gohan," Trunks said with a sigh.
Son Gohan only smiled faintly and didn't answer.
After half a year, Trunks had finally reached the point where everything fell into place.
As for Son Gohan, he had actually completed the second phase of his training three months earlier.
Looking back on that time, their cooking pot had broken, their bowls had broken, and their bed had broken.
It had certainly made for some amusing memories.
If the Hyperbolic Time Chamber hadn't automatically refreshed itself, the two of them would have been distressed by all the broken furniture alone.
In the blink of an eye,
a full year had passed since the master and student entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train.
"Gohan, what do we do next?" Trunks asked after they finished eating.
Son Gohan said, "We move on to the third phase: consolidate, review, and learn from what we've already done."
Trunks: ???
What was that supposed to mean?
There was no sense of time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Another six months passed.
Trunks had grown into a handsome young man.
But perhaps because Vegeta's genes were so strong, Trunks wasn't especially tall or broad.
With a refined face and a lean build that hid his muscles, he was the quintessential puppy-faced heartthrob.
Son Gohan, on the other hand, hadn't changed much. He was already in his early twenties, and his body had long since finished growing.
Still, a year and a half of training had made him look more muscular.
The lines of his face had become more defined, giving him a cool, handsome air.
The scar across his face added a touch of wildness.
Recently,
Son Gohan had noticed that his body seemed to have hit a bottleneck. His strength was growing extremely slowly.
It was almost as if he'd stopped progressing altogether.
He knew that haste made waste.
The two of them had made tremendous progress over the past year and a half.
If they forced themselves to keep training, something could go seriously wrong.
Balancing work with rest was important too.
Sometimes taking a proper break worked better than pushing yourself nonstop.
So Son Gohan stopped trying to force it.
After asking Trunks what he thought, the two of them left the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
Mr. Popo was already waiting outside.
His face was completely black, making it impossible to see his expression, but his surprise was still obvious.
He looked at the golden-haired Son Gohan and Trunks, marveling.
They'd changed so much!
Just standing there, they seemed unfathomable and inscrutable.
Seeing Mr. Popo, Son Gohan greeted him. "Mr. Popo, why are you waiting by the entrance?"
Mr. Popo snapped out of it and looked at the two of them.
"I was worried you'd stayed too long, so I came to remind you. I didn't expect you to come out a day and a half early. Heh, still, it's amazing that you managed to train inside for a year and a half."
If it weren't for the bottleneck, I could've trained for two and a half years, Son Gohan thought.
But aloud, he said, "Thanks for looking out for us, Mr. Popo. Things were fine in there, but the food wasn't great. Next time, it'd be even better if you could prepare some meat."
"Exactly," Trunks chimed in enthusiastically.
"Heh, I'm sorry, but meat can't be stored in there. I'll go prepare some food for you both now. Mr. Gohan and Trunks, please wait a moment," Mr. Popo said.
Food?
At the mention of food, Son Gohan and Trunks began swallowing greedily.
For a year and a half, they'd eaten nothing but rice balls and flatbread.
They were about to lose their minds.
Meat! I want meat! Lots and lots of meat!
The two of them had several little voices in their heads shouting wildly.
Right now, they felt like they could eat an entire dinosaur.
A little while later,
Mr. Popo prepared a huge feast.
The two Saiyans wolfed down the food like starving men, devouring everything in sight. The chaos rivaled an epic battle.
Mr. Popo stood off to the side, completely dumbfounded and deeply shocked.
The sight was strangely familiar.
It took him back to the time Son Goku had lived and trained at Kami's Lookout.
Mr. Popo had lived for countless ages, and his cooking was excellent. Son Gohan and Trunks both managed to eat their fill—about five times over.
"Thank you for the meal, Mr. Popo," Trunks said politely.
Then the two of them leaped off Kami's Lookout and plunged toward the world below.
The wind howled in their ears as they returned to the gray, gloomy world.
"Trunks, are you full?" Son Gohan asked, turning his head.
"No, Gohan," Trunks said, patting his stomach.
"All right, then. We'll get some barbecue first, and once we've eaten our fill, we'll take out the Androids." Son Gohan smiled.
"Yeah, sounds good," Trunks replied.
They landed in a forest and spotted one of the dinosaurs that were common throughout the Dragon Ball world.
"Trunks, you're up." Son Gohan found a tree to lean against and gave Trunks a look.
Trunks understood and dashed forward.
He picked a lucky dinosaur at random, gutted it, and set it over a fire to roast.
Before long, the dinosaur was glistening with fat, its skin golden brown. Its mouthwatering aroma filled the forest.
"Gohan, here."
Sweating profusely, Trunks tore off an entire dinosaur leg and handed it to Son Gohan.
"Mmm, delicious. Let's make up for the year and a half we missed."
The master and student feasted. Before long, only a clean skeleton remained of the dinosaur.
Just then,
a broadcast came from a nearby city.
[We interrupt this broadcast with the latest news about the Androids!]
[The town just attacked was Taikula Town, 200 kilometers south of the eastern city...]
Hey, looks like we've got a job.
The master and student, full and satisfied, grinned.
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