Kamehameha, Initial Mastery

When the two closed the distance again, Goku's punches were half a beat faster than before. As Lin Chen dodged continuously, he felt his footwork adapting to this rhythm. The time it took him to reset after each evasion was shorter than before, as though his body were automatically adjusting the range of its movements. When one of Goku's heavy punches grazed his shoulder without landing cleanly, Lin Chen turned with the momentum and used his shoulder to bleed off the remaining force of the blow. At the same time, his left hand shot up from low down and slapped the outside of Goku's forearm. The force was not great, but the timing was perfect, catching Goku just as he withdrew his fist. Goku's arm was knocked a few inches off course by that slap, delaying his next attack for a moment.

"You've started using little moves to disrupt my rhythm," Goku said. He drew back his arm and gave it a shake, as though checking whether the joint had been caught, then resumed his stance. "But your defense is getting harder and harder to break through."

The two continued exchanging blows at the center of the ring. Their footwork left crisscrossing marks on the wooden boards, stirring up dust that soon settled back down. Most of the spectators had risen to their feet. Someone in the front row shouted, "Go, Goku!" but the cry was quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise. Lin Chen's defensive posture had tightened further during the previous exchange—his arms were positioned farther forward than before, reducing the range of his blocks and minimizing the gaps in his defense.

After one of his straight punches was knocked aside, Goku suddenly retreated two steps, opening a distance of roughly three meters. He once more drew both hands back to his waist, palms facing each other, as blue-white light gathered between them. This time, the light was more solid than in any of his previous attempts. The flowing patterns across its surface were more even, as if compressed to a greater density, with almost no leakage around the edges. The instant he thrust both palms forward, the beam was narrower than before but visibly faster, as though it had sliced a narrow seam through the air as it shot straight toward where Lin Chen stood.

Lin Chen did not dodge. He crossed his arms in front of himself, and the moment the beam struck, he felt scorching heat spread outward from the point where his arms crossed. The impact drove him half a meter backward, his knees bending slightly as his soles dragged a pale streak across the boards, but he did not give much ground. He lowered his arms. The scorch marks on his gi sleeves were deeper than last time, while the exposed skin of his forearms was conspicuously red, as though it had been seared by fire.

[Ding! Endured a high-density energy attack. Obtained Kamehameha fragments ×15. Kamehameha synthesis progress: 62%.]

[Ding! Obtained Constitution Light Orbs ×8. Constitution +32.]

He felt the burning sensation in his arms receding, replaced by a warm current of heat—more enduring than any of the pickups he had experienced before. It was as though some mechanism within his body had begun operating on its own, accelerating the relief of the discomfort caused by the intense heat. He could feel his skin returning to normal temperature and the scorch marks fading.

[Ding! Sage Body Constitution · Beginner passive activated. Minor injuries are beginning to recover. Estimated time to full recovery: three minutes.]

[Ding! Kamehameha synthesis progress: 72%.]

Goku stood where he was and took several breaths. He was breathing faster than before, and obvious sweat had already seeped from his forehead, running down his temples. "That just now... felt a little like what I fired. You weren't just defending. You were absorbing its structure."

Lin Chen lowered his arms. The red marks on his forearms had already begun to fade. "You have to see it clearly before you know how to block it."

Goku straightened up and adjusted his stance again, lowering his center of gravity slightly. "Then take a closer look at this one." He brought his hands together at his waist once more, blue-white light blooming from his palms. This time, the light between his palms flickered out for an extremely brief instant as he charged it, then stabilized again, shining brighter than it had in any of his earlier attacks.

The moment the beam fired—a more concentrated stream of energy—it flew almost flush with the ground, its shockwave pressing a dark trail into the surface of the wooden boards along its path. Lin Chen did not block this time. When the beam came within roughly two meters, he raised his right hand, fingers spread and palm facing forward. When the beam struck his palm, his body tipped back slightly. His heel briefly lifted from the floor, then settled back into place. The beam paused before his palm for a moment, then scattered to either side, like water flowing around a protruding rock. When he lowered his hand, his palm was visibly red, but there was no obvious burn. The redness was fading at a visible rate. He flexed his fingers, his knuckles making faint cracking sounds, his movements smooth.

[Ding! Endured a limit-level energy attack. Obtained Kamehameha fragments ×20. Kamehameha synthesis progress: 92%.]

[Ding! Sage Body Constitution · Beginner passive remains active. Current recovery progress: 65%.]

Goku let his hands hang at his sides and looked at Lin Chen. "You caught my full-power attack." There was no surprise in his tone, only a statement of what he had just witnessed.

Lin Chen lowered his hand. "You taught me well."

"I taught you?" Goku froze for a moment. "When did I..."

He did not finish, because he saw Lin Chen raise his right hand, palm facing forward and fingers slightly spread. Blue-white light slowly gathered at the center of his palm—the light initially resembled a small, flickering flame, then gradually drew inward. Its shape changed from indistinct to clear, rotating slowly in his palm like a ball of energy compressed to the size of a hand. Although it was far dimmer than the Kamehameha Goku had just fired, the way its light fluctuated was exactly the same.

"Huh?" Goku stepped half a pace forward. "That really does have... the feel of a Kamehameha."

Lin Chen closed his hand, and the ball of light flickered once between his fingers before dissipating. "It's still not stable enough. I only saw the path it took just now."

Someone in the front row of the audience stood up, squinting in the sunlight in an attempt to see more clearly, only to have someone beside them tug on their sleeve.

Goku watched the last strand of light pattern fade from Lin Chen's palm. "When you said, 'You have to see it clearly before you know how to block it,' this was what you meant. You can learn the Kamehameha after seeing it once. If Krillin found out, he might not be happy."

"Those shots he fired earlier were already very complete. Every step from beginning to end was clear. After watching them a few times, it was only natural that I remembered them."

Goku fell silent for a moment. "It took me nearly half a year to learn this."

Lin Chen lowered his hand. "Your energy wave is stronger than mine."

Goku lowered his head and thought for a moment. "That's true." When he looked up again, his gaze was more serious than before. "But if I run into you again next time, you might fight even better than I do now."

He took another step toward Lin Chen and resumed his stance. Sunlight rimmed the edges of his gi with a pale golden glow. Lin Chen adjusted his stance as well. The residual warmth from that ball of light still lingered in his palm, slowly cooling in the morning breeze like embers that had just gone out.