Limit Collision

Lin Chen slept deeply on his first night at Kame House. The sound of waves outside continued without pause, like a constant layer of background noise beneath the night. Occasionally, wind slipped through the crack in the window, making the edge of the curtain tremble softly. When he woke, it was already light out. Sunlight slanted in through the window, spreading a rectangular patch of brightness across the edge of the bed as dust drifted slowly through the beam. When he rolled over and sat up, his muscles felt more relaxed than usual, as though they had been thoroughly restored during a deep rest. The sensation was somewhat different from normal.

He pushed open the window, and the sea breeze rushed at him, carrying the morning's distinct chill and moisture. A thin mist over the distant ocean was dispersing, revealing the dark blue water below. Krillin was already training in the yard, repeatedly performing the same sequence on the beach: step forward, punch, withdraw. His rhythm was as steady as a pendulum, and every time he withdrew his stance, he paused briefly, as if confirming the completeness of his exertion. Farther away, Goku was doing push-ups. After each set, he stood up and jumped twice before dropping back down to continue.

When Lin Chen went downstairs, Master Roshi was sitting in a bamboo chair on the porch, drinking tea from an enamel mug with a small chip along its rim. Seeing Lin Chen approach, he gestured toward the small table beside him with his chin. "Breakfast is on the table. You can take a walk by the sea after you eat if you want. Once they finish training, the three of you can practice working together on the beach."

Breakfast was simple: a bowl of plain congee, a small plate of pickled radish, and a boiled egg. Lin Chen sat at the table and took a sip of the congee. It was still hot, sending up white steam that formed a broken, wavering line in the morning light. While peeling the egg, he broke the shell into several pieces. One fragment fell onto the table, and he brushed it to the edge before picking it up and placing it on the empty plate.

After breakfast, he did not immediately head to the beach. He first took a lap around Kame House. The house backed against a low rocky hill, and a row of tall coconut trees stood to one side. Their trunks still bore several old marks that looked as though they had been trimmed with a machete. The thickest tree had a ring of chisel marks around its base, as if rope had once been tied around it. Several stone bricks in the steps leading from the front of the house down to the beach were loose and swayed slightly when stepped on. He crouched down and pressed one of the loose bricks. It sank slightly beneath his hand, then returned to its original position.

The old refrigerator hummed in the corner of the kitchen, with a thin layer of frost coating its interior. He opened it and checked inside. There was not much: a few eggs, half a bottle of milk, and an opened packet of salt. He ran his fingers over the condenser pipes at the back, confirming the appliance's basic structure, then closed the refrigerator door again. The seal made a faint suction sound as it shut, like a rubber gasket pressing tight against a metal frame.

[დინ! Acquired Mechanical Repair Fragment ×1. Current Mechanical Repair Skill: 1%.]

A faint warmth spread across his fingertips, as if they had briefly been rinsed with hot water, before quickly fading away. He lowered his head and glanced at his fingers. There was no obvious change.

Goku and Krillin were still training on the beach. As Lin Chen returned to the shore, Goku had just finished a set and stood up. Upon seeing him, Goku ran over. "How did you sleep last night? The beds here are a little harder than the ones at the dorm."

"Not bad."

"Then let's fight." Goku said, "I won't go all out. I want to try that Afterimage Fist you used yesterday." As soon as he finished speaking, he ran back to the center of the beach and assumed a fighting stance, moving so quickly it was as though he feared Lin Chen might refuse. Krillin stopped his movements farther away and came closer as well, but said nothing. He simply stood off to the side and watched.

Lin Chen took off his martial arts uniform jacket and draped it over a wooden post at the edge of the beach, then walked onto the sand in the short-sleeved shirt underneath. The sand felt slightly cool beneath his feet in the morning sunlight. Its fine surface grains had been dampened by last night's tide, and he could feel a thin layer of moisture seeping up through the soles of his shoes with every step.

The two clashed again on the beach. This time, Goku did not use his full strength from the start. His attack rhythm was slower than during yesterday's final, as if he were testing Lin Chen's condition in this new environment. Lin Chen also adjusted his defensive approach. Rather than favoring the hard blocks and direct clashes he had used in the final, he relied more on turning his body sideways and drawing in his abdomen to let the force of Goku's punches slide past. They rapidly exchanged attacks and defenses across the beach, their steps leaving a string of footprints of varying depths in the wet sand.

During their third transition between offense and defense, Lin Chen evaded and smoothly performed that afterimage movement. His body left a blurred outline where he had been standing, while his real body had already shifted roughly two steps to the side. Goku's fist passed through the afterimage and struck empty air. His body tilted slightly forward as his force found no target, and his foot pressed a deeper imprint into the sand. After regaining his balance, he turned to look at Lin Chen's new position. "That move was smoother than yesterday."

Lin Chen settled his weight back between his feet. "Sand is softer than wooden boards, so it puts less strain on my ankles when I land."

"No wonder you land more quietly than you did yesterday," Krillin interjected from the side. "But your Afterimage Fist still needs work. When your real body moves, the afterimage appears first and then disappears. There's about half a second of delay. A true Afterimage Fist appears simultaneously."

Lin Chen flexed the leg he had used to push off. "There really is a delay."

Krillin walked over and planted his feet on the sand. "I'll demonstrate." He spread his feet about shoulder-width apart and leaned forward slightly. Then his figure flashed, and two Krillins appeared on the sand at the same time—one on the left, one on the right—with perfectly synchronized movements. The two afterimages lasted for roughly half a second. The one on the left began to fade first, paling from the edges inward like fading ink, and then the one on the right faded as well.

"See?" Krillin said. "Appear at the same time, disappear at the same time. Right now, your afterimage appears only after your real body has already reached its position."

Lin Chen nodded without asking anything further. He took his stance on the sand again, adjusted the placement of his feet and his center of gravity, then tried once more. This time, the afterimage formed a little faster than before. Though there was still an obvious sequence to it, the interval had narrowed.

Krillin watched his movement. "You're improving fast."

Master Roshi took a sip of tea in his bamboo chair on the porch, then rested the enamel mug on his knee. He watched the activity on the beach for a while, lowered his head for another sip, then tapped the bottom of the mug against the armrest, producing a soft clink. Sunlight made the footprints on the beach stand out clearly, each mark sharply defined like notches time had left upon the sand.