Phase Two Training

"Huh?"

Watching Popo walk toward them, Kasso and Ausbie looked dumbfounded. Was the second stage starting this quickly?

Popo ignored their reactions and handed a black cloth to Kasso and Ausbie, instructing them to blindfold themselves now and try to snatch the bells from his body.

Hearing this request, Kasso broke into a cold sweat.

Having spent a week with Popo, he already knew that his identity was far from simple. Could he really manage to play hide-and-seek with such a mysterious existence?

Kasso shook his head helplessly.

"Brother Kasso, what's wrong?"

After Ausbie took the black cloth from Popo's hand, she saw the heavy expression on Kasso's face.

It had been a long time since she had seen Kasso look like this.

"N-nothing." Kasso took the black cloth and tied it over his eyes.

"Then, begin."

Following Popo's shout, Ausbie quickly entered the zone, and Kasso suppressed the doubts in his heart, beginning to track the movements around him.

Putting his body and mind into a calm state, he listened carefully for the sound of the bells.

Suddenly, a bell chimed behind him.

Kasso spun around rapidly, wanting to lunge toward the location of the bell, and Ausbie had the exact same idea.

Both of them leaped at the same time.

Bang!

"Ah, it hurts!" Ausbie ran to the side, clutching her little head and crying out in pain.

"Hiss."

Kasso covered his head and gasped.

He had been so focused on the sound of the bells that he hadn't expected to collide with Little Biel.

Too careless!

Compared to the ringing of the bells, Little Biel's movements were very quiet, and he hadn't noticed her at all.

The second stage was indeed not that simple. Kasso began to think; he knew that blindly chasing the bells was useless, as it would only consume a large amount of stamina and be of no use for the perception and comprehension of "ki."

In the first stage, he had already learned to control his physical strength well so that the bells would no longer ring. What was the purpose of this second stage now?

To be faster than lightning?

That must be it.

Kasso seemed to understand why the first stage of training had to be completed before moving on to the second.

First, the initial stage was self-centered, keeping the state of mind as calm as the sky, allowing the self to act as desired without making unnecessary movements—this was the key to why the bells would not ring.

Then, the second stage should be centered on the outside world. First, one must have a calm state of mind to sense the movement trajectories of the outside world. Simply put, it was sensing the "ki" of the outside world. Then, the strike was not really about being as fast as lightning, but about the movements being clean and crisp—which was the same as the first stage's requirement of not making unnecessary movements.

Kasso had roughly figured it out; he had reached the stage of sensing "ki"!

Kasso was still standing blankly in place, while Ausbie was frantically trying to catch the sound of the bells on the other side, but every time she was about to grab them, she was always just a little bit off.

Ausbie rushed over again, but Popo dodged her little hands and then glanced at Kasso.

"You realized it this quickly? Good intuition!"

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Popo's mouth.

Just then, Kasso suddenly moved.

A black shadow streaked across the Lookout plaza, rapidly closing in on the sound of the bells.

As he approached Popo, Kasso's movements were very decisive.

However, just as he was about to grab the bells, the sound drifted to the other side.

It really wasn't that simple, Kasso thought to himself.

At this moment, Ausbie hurriedly moved to where Kasso had just been.

With his face blindfolded, Kasso seemed to sense Little Biel's movement and immediately shifted his body to the side.

When Ausbie heard the bells shift again and wanted to chase them, Kasso pulled her back.

"Little Biel, don't be in such a hurry. Think carefully about what this stage is training," Kasso said.

"Huh?"

Suddenly pulled back by Kasso, Ausbie was a bit confused, but upon hearing him say this, she realized something.

After all, our Little Biel was also very smart; she was just ditzy, not stupid!

Popo looked over and saw the two little students squatting on the ground, seemingly pondering something.

Popo: "..."

The two little brats pondered for a long time before finally standing up.

"Mr. Popo, let's begin," Kasso said.

"Mr. Popo, let's begin!" Ausbie mimicked Kasso, her voice milky and soft.

Soon, two small shadows were darting across the Lookout once again.

Another two weeks passed.

On the Lookout, four figures stood: Kami and Mr. Popo on one side, Kasso and Ausbie on the other.

Kasso and Ausbie pulled the black blindfolds from their eyes.

"Brother Kasso, we did it!" Ausbie jumped for joy.

"Yeah!" Kasso watched Little Biel jumping high, feeling incredibly excited himself.

Over these two weeks, through Kasso's guidance, the two had progressed rapidly. They no longer chased the sound of the bell like headless flies, having gradually learned how to sense it.

Just moments ago, Kasso and Ausbie had completed the second stage of training.

However, Kasso felt a bit puzzled. Although they had learned to sense the existence of "ki" after two weeks, it was absolutely impossible to catch the bell on Mr. Popo!

Looking at it this way, Mr. Popo must have gone easy on them.

Kasso glanced at Mr. Popo.

Mr. Popo happened to look over as well, and the two stared at each other in inexplicable silence.

"Congratulations to you two little ones!" Kami said with a smile.

Kami was so shocked by these two brats that he didn't know what to say.

Having lived for hundreds of years, he had never seen anyone with talent comparable to these two, especially the little boy Kasso; his comprehension was truly hair-raising.

Average geniuses took over half a year to grasp the use of "ki," yet Kasso had mastered it in less than a month.

At this moment, Mr. Popo suddenly spoke: "Actually, there is a third stage: the state of a heart without distractions!"

He paused and added, "But with your current level, there is not the slightest possibility of comprehending it!"

After saying this, Mr. Popo fell silent again, standing quietly beside Kami.

Hearing this, Kami was stunned, as if he had thought of something, but he said nothing further.

Kasso was lost in thought. He knew from the anime that this stage existed and that Goku seemed to have undergone this training, though he wasn't sure what happened afterward.

"You may take off your Weighted Clothing," Kami said, looking at the two with a strange expression.

Kami was well aware of the effects this training method brought. Kasso and Ausbie had suppressed their strength for a full month while wearing the Weighted Clothing, training solely with physical power every day. Now that they had mastered the control of "ki," it was hard to imagine what would happen once they took the gear off.

Kami was looking forward to what would happen next.

"Almost forgot!"

Kasso patted his head, having completely forgotten he was still wearing the Weighted Clothing.

From his initial lack of understanding of "ki," through Kami's theoretical explanations, and then the month of training under Mr. Popo, he could now control the power within his body very well. His perception and understanding of "ki" had also made a leap forward.

Only now did Kasso realize that the reason using Instant Transmission had been so difficult was truly due to his poor sensing of "ki."

Kasso recalled the anime, where Goku and Piccolo wore Weighted Clothing when Raditz invaded Earth. Once they took it off, their combat power rose by an entire level.

He and Ausbie were different from those two; the Weighted Clothing those two wore back then only slightly suppressed their internal power.

Goku first experienced 10x gravity on North Kai's planet and was immediately pinned to the ground.

If Goku couldn't handle 10x gravity, the Weighted Clothing he was wearing now, which reached a full 25x, would surely have an extraordinary effect!

Thinking of this, Kasso was also very much looking forward to seeing himself after taking off the Weighted Clothing.

Kasso and Ausbie exchanged a look.

Finally, they decided that Kasso would go first.