Talent Skill

Time passed, second by second.

Reke kept waiting. He had already witnessed Lan Xin's willpower, and now he wanted to see the limits of Lan Xin's body.

This time, after Lan Xin fell, he never got back up. He hadn't passed out, but he could no longer make his body move.

Reke wasn't surprised.

Most people in the universe were like Lan Xin. Only a tiny minority, like the Saiyans, had bodies without limits.

It was impressive that Lan Xin's body had managed this much during his first training session. He was above average, at least.

With training, people like him could gradually push their physical limits higher, until they reached the peak of their species.

Seeing his son's hands covered in wounds, Uti fought back tears as she carefully took him from Reke.

She wouldn't stop her son. Uti had experienced firsthand how hard life was at the bottom, so while she worried to see him hurt, she still supported him in this hard-won opportunity.

"That's enough physical training for today. Once he wakes up, he'll have his academic lessons this afternoon."

After giving her instructions, Reke headed straight for the dining table.

Don't think Reke had spent the whole morning just supervising Lan Xin. In fact, he'd also been contemplating the properties of ki.

That was what confused him most right now. He had absolutely no clue, and the original story hadn't explained it either.

Reke could at least make a few guesses about the Myriad Nation Shocking Heaven Palm and Solar Flare. Even the Kikoho was something he could speculate about.

But the Spirit Cannon, that divine skill, was beyond him.

He couldn't understand how Krillin had developed such a powerful technique.

It had erased a gap of hundreds of times, all with a single technique and without any outside help.

Krillin had been able to take down Frieza, who had a power level of several million, despite having a power level of just over ten thousand. It was simply unbelievable.

Reke had tried condensing his ki and making it spin faster, but he could feel that the two were fundamentally different.

Of course, his contemplation hadn't been fruitless. After all this time,

he had vaguely sensed an energy inside him that was a level above ki. Judging by the original story, it should be Origin Energy.

That gave him hope. It meant he was making progress, even if his power level wasn't increasing much.

That was because he didn't want to increase it too quickly just yet. He wanted to build a solid foundation.

Reke didn't supervise academic lessons. He wasn't Lan Xin's father, after all. He couldn't oversee everything. Instead, he plunged into the Gravity Chamber.

He focused on how his body felt under thirty times gravity. Whenever he noticed something out of balance, he trained to address it.

He did his best to make up for his physical shortcomings and keep himself in peak condition.

If he fought someone much weaker than him, even subtle flaws might go unnoticed. But against someone at his level, those flaws would be magnified, potentially leading to defeat—or even death.

So Reke didn't mind the effort, nor did he blindly chase a higher power level. Instead, he slowly refined himself under thirty times gravity.

Unlike others, he knew exactly how strong he would become in the future. His path ahead was clear.

Sometimes Reke even imagined fighting Kakarot one day, picturing himself beating Kakarot to a pulp. The thought made him laugh in his sleep.

That was all the more reason he had to learn to endure the solitude.

Nine months later.

Lan Xin was fighting Bellis.

You read that right. The two of them.

Reke spent three months building Lan Xin's foundation. During that time, Bellis came by every few days to pick a fight with Reke.

Every time, Reke managed to rile her up until she was practically fuming.

Lan Xin got to know Bellis during this period.

Unfortunately, whenever Bellis got upset with Reke, she took it out on Lan Xin under the pretense of helping him gain combat experience.

As long as Bellis didn't interfere with his training plans for Lan Xin, Reke would usually just watch Lan Xin get beaten, laughing as he pointed out his mistakes.

But things changed last month.

Whenever Bellis tried to attack Reke, Lan Xin immediately stepped in to stop her. The two of them would fight back and forth for ages.

"Lan Xin, kick her in the butt."

"Come on, how can you be so dumb? Don't you know to go for her eyes?"

"Her chest! How can you not see such a huge opening? You're getting extra training tonight."

"Dodge! Why are you just standing there like a log?"

"What's with that punch? Didn't you eat? Why's it as limp as a woman's?"

Reke's taunts made Lan Xin's face flush red. He kept sneaking shy glances at Bellis.

The more Bellis heard, the angrier she got. She shouted, "You country bumpkin, can you shut up? You just hide behind Lan Xin and run your mouth. Are you even a man? If you've got guts, come fight me yourself!"

"Hah! The loser's barking."

Reke curled his lip and mocked her.

Bellis finally snapped. Purple light flared around her as she activated her Talent Skill.

Her speed instantly doubled. She rushed up to Lan Xin and punched him in the stomach.

The blow made Lan Xin spit up bile, and pain surged through him.

Just as he tried to put some distance between them, Bellis drove a knee into his stomach, striking him again.

His body doubled over, and he dropped to one knee, clutching his stomach.

Bellis didn't stop. She knew Lan Xin could still fight back.

Her spinning kick caught Lan Xin on the cheek and sent him flying.

As he was knocked away, Lan Xin's eyes rolled back and he passed out, losing the ability to fight back completely.

There was not a trace of joy on Bellis's face. Instead, she stared intently at Reke, searching for an opening.

"Wow! Shaniu, I didn't know you had that hidden up your sleeve. Took you long enough to use it."

Reke covered his mouth with one hand and yawned.

Bellis ignored him and kept searching for an opening.

She couldn't find one, no matter how long she looked. She didn't dare drag this out, either. This was only the second time she'd activated her Talent Skill, which doubled her speed.

Her Talent Skill couldn't last long. She had to win within five minutes, or she'd be left unable to fight back.

"Whoosh!"

Bellis couldn't wait any longer and attacked.

She moved to Reke's left and swung her hand like a blade at his neck.

Reke lightly tapped the ground with his toes and vanished from in front of Bellis. In an instant, he was behind her, making a face.

Bellis knew she'd missed as soon as she felt no impact. She twisted at the waist and whipped a rising kick behind her.

"Not good enough. You're way too slow. I'm about to fall asleep," Reke taunted, taking a small step back.

Bellis slammed her left foot into the ground. The turf exploded, and a crater ten meters wide appeared as she charged again.

"Hey, hey, hey! Fight all you want, but don't destroy the place! Can't take losing, huh?" Reke said, pained at the sight of the crater.

Damn it, my turf! I'll go make Pat pay for it later.

"Enough talk. Die!"

Bellis charged up to Reke and aimed a punch at his waist.

As her fist drew closer and closer, coming within 0.1 centimeters of Reke's waist, a flash of delight crossed Bellis's face. She cried out,

"Swish—"