Yamcha was still reeling from everything that had just happened. At Raditz's words, his face flushed red, then pale, and he apologized sheepishly. "Sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn't have barged into the Gravity Chamber."
"Hey! You think this is just a matter of barging in?!"
Seeing that Yamcha still hadn't grasped how serious things were, Raditz fixed him with a stern look. "Wanting to get stronger is a good thing, but you have to take it one step at a time. There are no shortcuts with the Gravity Chamber. You have to adapt gradually, starting at a low level and working your way up."
"Going straight to the maximum like you did was basically suicide!"
Yamcha had no answer. He lowered his head, knowing that his recklessness had nearly cost him his life and caused trouble for someone else.
His former pride and confidence in his progress had been completely shattered after he'd come so close to death.
"I understand." Yamcha's voice was hoarse. "Raditz, thank you for saving me."
Seeing that he'd genuinely learned his lesson, Raditz softened his tone. "Get some rest. You can use the Gravity Chamber if you want, but take it gradually."
Yamcha nodded and staggered to his feet, his thoughts still hazy. Then he remembered something and couldn't help asking, "By the way, Raditz, how did you save me just now? I was in such bad shape..."
"Oh, this?" Raditz took out a Senzu Bean. "A miracle cure for injuries. I got it from Korin."
"You met Korin?!" Yamcha's eyes widened in shock.
He'd heard the legends about Korin Tower from Master Mutten, and knew that meeting Korin meant climbing the tower. It was so tall that the challenge seemed impossibly difficult, and he'd never had the courage to try.
Looking at Raditz's confident, unruffled expression, Yamcha felt a mixture of unwillingness and helplessness.
"I've really been completely outclassed."
Yamcha hardly slept at all that night.
Early the next morning, he said goodbye to Bulma.
"You're leaving already? Why not stay a few more days?" Bulma asked, surprised.
"No, thanks." Yamcha shook his head. "I'm going to keep training. It looks like my previous training wasn't nearly enough."
Bulma looked at him, then glanced at Raditz in the Gravity Chamber not far away. She seemed to understand. "All right. Don't forget about the World Martial Arts Tournament. Everyone will meet at my house beforehand."
"Of course I won't."
When Raditz saw Yamcha getting ready to leave, he came out to say goodbye.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah." Yamcha nodded, looking much more composed than he had the night before. "I've thought it over. I'll hold off on the Gravity Chamber for now. I'm not ready to handle it."
"I'm going back to basic training." He paused, then asked with some embarrassment, "Or maybe I'll try climbing Korin Tower too. What do you think?"
By now, Yamcha no longer saw Raditz as a boy, but as a peer with plenty of martial arts experience.
"That's not a bad choice, but be careful. I nearly died several times while climbing it. It's no easy challenge." Raditz spoke seriously.
"I understand." Yamcha took a deep breath. "Thanks, Raditz. See you at the World Martial Arts Tournament."
"See you there."
Raditz watched Yamcha and Puar disappear into the distance, then turned and headed back to the Gravity Chamber.
"I didn't expect Yamcha to want to climb Korin Tower already. Did I push him too hard last night?" he muttered to himself.
In the original story, Yamcha didn't challenge Korin Tower until the three-year training period after this World Martial Arts Tournament. That meant he'd be doing it several years early.
"I've warned him. I hope he knows his limits."
The days passed in a monotonous, painful, yet fulfilling routine of training.
Raditz's life had fallen back into the same cycle, day after day.
Fortunately, with only a month left before the World Martial Arts Tournament began, Raditz had more or less adapted to the tenfold gravity.
He still wasn't as agile as he was under normal gravity, but he could complete full training routines without struggling.
"My training can take a break for now. Time to see how strong I've gotten," Raditz thought.
He hadn't used his Scouter in a long time. Ever since he'd learned to sense other people's ki at close range, he'd been deliberately honing his sensitivity.
"Based on how I feel, I should be around 500."
It was just as he'd estimated, give or take.
Raditz had reached this battle power a long time ago, and it hadn't increased in ages.
Even though he trained every day until his body reached its limits, sometimes even bringing himself to the brink of death, his battle power barely increased after he recovered by eating a Senzu Bean.
It seemed the Saiyan ability to recover from near-death and double their battle power had stopped working.
"Maybe it has something to do with my age," Raditz mused.
His body was still in its adolescent years, after all. It hadn't finished developing, and he'd already pushed his potential as far as he could for now.
"But it's enough to deal with the problems Earth is facing at this stage!"
Raditz stopped training for the final month. After keeping his body tense for so long, he needed to relax and let it recover from the prolonged strain.
Seeing Raditz "freed" from the Gravity Chamber, Bulma couldn't resist teasing him. "Well, well, you finally decided to come out of your castle, young master!"
"Haha, don't be like that. If Miss Bulma needs anything, I'll come running," Raditz said with an ingratiating smile, scratching his head.
"Hmph! You'd better."
Raditz had been staying at Bulma's house for so long and had barely spent any time having fun with his young "landlady." He knew he was in the wrong, so he did his best to appease her.
Over the next month, he went shopping with Bulma, strolled around town, watched movies with her—in short, he was always there whenever she wanted company.
The results were immediate. Judging by her light steps and the little tunes she hummed, he seemed to be doing a pretty good job as her playmate.
With just one day to go before the World Martial Arts Tournament, Bulma's house grew lively.
Krillin was the first to arrive. When they met again, he looked noticeably more muscular than before.
"Raditz, long time no see! You look like you've gotten a lot stronger!" Krillin seemed to sense the aura around him.
"You've gotten stronger too, haven't you, Krillin?" Raditz replied with a smile, making no attempt to deny it.
He couldn't suppress his ki, and its fierce aura was constantly on display, making him hard to miss.
Before long, Master Roshi arrived with Launch and the others. He was still wearing his sunglasses and floral shirt, looking as lecherous as ever.
"Ohoho! Bulma, you're as beautiful as ever!" He made his usual flirtatious remark, earning an exasperated glare from Bulma.
But when Master Roshi narrowed his eyes and sized up Raditz and Krillin, surprise flashed across his face. He nodded with satisfaction. "Very good, very good. It seems neither of you has slacked off on your training, especially Raditz."
Goku and Yamcha hadn't arrived yet. According to Master Roshi, they would head straight from their training locations to the World Martial Arts Tournament venue.
Early the next morning, everyone boarded a plane together and headed for the island where the World Martial Arts Tournament was being held.