Time passed quietly as Raditz worked up a sweat.
The Gravity Chamber had become like a second home to Raditz.
Day after day, he tirelessly honed his body inside.
Every improvement challenged the limits of his body.
His bones groaned, his organs churned, and his vision blurred. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
Whenever that happened, Raditz ate a Senzu Bean, and his stamina and injuries were instantly restored.
The cycle repeated over and over. Four times gravity, five times... The number on the Gravity Chamber's display rose slowly but steadily.
Raditz's body grew stronger through the cycle of near-death and recovery.
What's more, maintaining a steady, calm flow of ki under such intense pressure was an extremely difficult task.
Raditz's awareness and control of his own ki grew ever sharper. He could even vaguely sense the ki emitted by other people.
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
Raditz could now complete a full training routine fairly easily under eight times gravity.
Less than four months remained until the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament began.
Banners and advertisements for the World Martial Arts Tournament had gone up throughout West City's streets and neighborhoods. The air was charged with the restlessness of martial artists.
One day, a familiar greeting came from Bulma's house.
"Hey, Bulma! Long time no see." The visitor was Yamcha, with his little sidekick Puar as usual.
They looked travel-worn, but their eyes were bright. Clearly, their training out on the road had paid off.
"Yamcha? What brings you here?" Bulma came out of the house, looking surprised.
"My training's finished for now, so I thought I'd stop by while I was in the area." Yamcha smiled and glanced around. "I heard that kid Raditz is staying here?"
"Yeah, he is." Bulma nodded and pointed toward the freestanding, dome-shaped building in the distance. "He's 'in seclusion' in there. He practically lives inside it now."
"In seclusion?" Yamcha raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "Is he doing some kind of special training?"
"My dad built him a Gravity Chamber, and he trains in there," Bulma explained. "He works pretty hard every day, but it seems to be paying off."
"A Gravity Chamber?" Yamcha's eyes lit up.
As a martial artist, he naturally understood what it meant to train under extraordinary gravity.
He was instantly intrigued, and a competitive streak rose within him.
Raditz had only started learning martial arts under Master Mutten halfway through his life, two and a half years ago, hadn't he? And now he was using such advanced equipment? From the sound of Bulma's voice, he'd been at it for quite a while, too.
"Can I go take a look?" Yamcha asked.
"Sure, but don't disturb him. Sometimes it looks pretty dangerous in there," Bulma warned him.
Yamcha walked over to the window of the Gravity Chamber. Through the glass, he saw Raditz moving slowly inside. Each step looked incredibly heavy, as if his feet had taken root in the floor.
His whole body was drenched in sweat, but his breathing was remarkably steady, and his gaze was focused.
On the screen beside him, a bright red number flashed: "8.5G."
"Eight and a half times gravity!" Yamcha's pupils shrank.
He tried to imagine what it would feel like to be in an environment with more than eight times Earth's gravity, and a chill ran through him.
Then that stubborn refusal to be outdone welled up again.
When it came down to it, Raditz had only started learning martial arts under Master Mutten halfway through his life. Yamcha had years of martial arts experience and had studied under Master Mutten, too.
If he could do it, why couldn't Yamcha?
Maybe this high-tech training room was exactly what Yamcha needed to catch up to Goku—or even surpass him!
Once the thought took hold, he couldn't shake it. Yamcha was distracted all afternoon and evening.
He kept picturing Raditz training in the Gravity Chamber, along with that glaring "8.5G."
When Raditz came out of the Gravity Chamber and crossed paths with him, Yamcha didn't even notice. He only gave him a brief greeting.
"What's up with Yamcha? He looks completely out of it." Raditz glanced at the dazed Yamcha and asked.
"No idea. He's been like this ever since he saw you," Bulma said helplessly.
Then she remembered something and asked, "By the way, what are those beans of yours? They look amazing."
"Oh, you mean the Senzu Beans?"
"Let me tell you, these things..."
Late that night, Bulma's family and Raditz had all more or less gone to bed.
Yamcha tossed and turned in the guest room, then finally climbed out of bed without making a sound.
The Gravity Chamber's door wasn't locked. After all, Raditz was usually the only one who used it.
Yamcha slipped inside, and the heavy metal door closed silently behind him.
A faint smell of sweat lingered from the day's training. There was also a peculiar feeling, as if even the space itself had grown oppressive.
The control panel stood in the middle of the room, glowing faintly.
Yamcha walked over and studied the buttons and screen.
"Just adjust the gravity..." he murmured, his heart pounding.
Raditz had worked his way up by gradually adjusting to lower levels of gravity. Yamcha was an experienced martial artist, after all, and his physical abilities had to be better than Raditz's.
"Maybe I can start at a higher level. Raditz is already using eight and a half times gravity, so I'll try ten. I just need to get used to it..."
Driven by a mix of competitiveness and wishful thinking, he sharply turned the manual adjustment dial all the way to the end: 10G!
Vmmm—!!!
A terrifying pressure slammed into Yamcha without warning, as if the sky had collapsed on him.
"Ugh!"
Yamcha only had time to let out a short scream before he was slammed to the ground. His bones cracked with a sickening sound.
His vision went black! He tried to struggle, but he couldn't even muster the strength to lift an arm.
Boundless terror filled his heart. Before he lost consciousness, only two words flashed through his mind.
I'm done!
Almost as soon as Yamcha entered the Gravity Chamber, Raditz, who was meditating in his room, felt a sudden jolt in his heart.
His senses for the flow of ki had become exceptionally sharp, and he could now feel the presence of other people's ki at close range.
He sensed an extremely unstable ki coming from the direction of the Gravity Chamber, and it was weakening at a terrifying rate! It was the same ki he had sensed from Yamcha during the day.
Something had happened! Raditz sprang up and shot toward the Gravity Chamber like an arrow.
He yanked open the door. Yamcha lay sprawled on the floor, bleeding from every orifice, while the number "10G" on the control panel was a horrifying sight.
"Idiot!" Raditz muttered, but he reacted quickly.
He charged into the Gravity Chamber, moving as if he'd plunged into mud. His speed dropped sharply.
I almost made it! Raditz still hadn't adapted to eight and a half times gravity, and ten times gravity was an even greater strain.
Fortunately, it wasn't far. Raditz hit the emergency stop button on the control panel.
The humming stopped abruptly, and the terrifying gravity vanished instantly.
Raditz darted to Yamcha's side and tested his breathing. It was faint, like a candle flickering in the wind.
The situation was critical. Without hesitation, he took a Senzu Bean from his waist, pried Yamcha's mouth open, and put it inside.
Almost as soon as the Senzu Bean dissolved in his mouth, the bleeding stopped. Color returned to Yamcha's pale face before their eyes, and his injuries healed instantly.
He coughed a few times and opened his eyes, still haunted by the fear of death.
"I... I'm not dead?" Yamcha felt over his body. He was completely unharmed, as if the agony and struggle he'd just experienced had been a mere illusion.
"If you want to die, don't do it here!" Raditz hauled him to his feet, his voice stern and annoyed. "Did you think the Gravity Chamber was a playground? You can't just crank it up to ten times gravity! If I hadn't noticed in time, you'd be a pile of mush by now!"