After the Championship

Morning training continued for nearly an hour and a half. After finishing his final set of sprint drills, Goku sat directly on the beach and stretched his feet into the seawater. The water washed over his ankles, then receded, leaving a layer of wet sand over the tops of his feet. Krillin walked near the tide line and rinsed his hands. The sand on them was carried away by the waves, leaving a brief cloud of murkiness on the surface before the next wave quickly smoothed it away. Lin Chen walked several laps along the edge of the beach to steady his breathing, only stopping once his heartbeat had returned to its normal rhythm.

Master Roshi had already set out a small square table beneath the porch, with three sets of bowls and chopsticks and an enamel tray on top. The tray held grilled fish and sliced fruit. He came out of the kitchen carrying a clay pot and set it in the middle of the table. "Breakfast. Eat more. There's training this afternoon."

Krillin was the first to sit down. He picked up his chopsticks, put a piece of grilled fish into his mouth, and chewed twice. "It's saltier than yesterday." He removed a fish bone from his mouth and set it at the edge of his plate before picking up a second piece.

Goku sat down as well. Without taking any chopsticks, he grabbed a piece of fruit with his hand and took a bite. "Is there practice this morning?"

"Rest." Master Roshi served himself a bowl of porridge. "You trained for over an hour this morning. You've used up enough stamina."

Lin Chen sat at the table and took a sip from the bowl of porridge in front of him. It was just the right temperature. The rice had cooked down completely, and the consistency was neither too thick nor too thin. He placed a piece of fish on top of the porridge, broke the flesh apart with his chopsticks, mixed it in, and ate it.

The courtyard fell quiet for a while, with only the clinking of bowls and chopsticks and the sound of the waves. The wind was weaker than it had been in the morning, and the leaves at the tops of the coconut trees swayed a few times before going still again.

"Yesterday's tournament prize money." Master Roshi set down his bowl after finishing half of his porridge. "What are you planning to do with it?"

Lin Chen paused mid-motion with his chopsticks. He had not expected Master Roshi to ask so directly. "I'll save it for now. There's nowhere I need to use it yet."

Master Roshi nodded without pressing further. He scooped up another spoonful of porridge. "Then help me tend the patch of land under the coconut tree this afternoon. I'm planning to plant something there. The tools for turning the soil are in the tool shed. The shovel is leaning behind the door."

Lin Chen nodded. After finishing his porridge, he set his bowl down by the table and used his chopsticks to sweep the fish bones and fruit pits on the tabletop together at the edge of the plate. Then he picked up the plate, stood, and dumped them into the bucket in the corner of the kitchen. He stood by the kitchen windowsill for a moment. There were a few shriveled seeds on it, probably left over from previous seasons. They had dried completely and would crumble into powder with a pinch. He gathered the powder and scattered it into the dirt outside without doing anything else.

The afternoon sunlight slanted lower, and the sea breeze was warmer than it had been in the morning. Carrying the shovel, he walked beneath the old coconut tree. The ground was covered in fallen leaves and broken grass. In several exposed patches, the surface of the dirt had formed a thin crust, cracked with dense, fine fissures. He stepped on it to test its hardness. The sole of his shoe crushed part of the crust, revealing the drier, darker soil beneath. He drove the shovel into the ground and began turning the earth. Clumps of dirt made dry cracking sounds as they flipped over the blade, kicking up fine dust that formed a brief cloud of white haze in the slanting light before drifting through the air.

[ Ding! Picked up Life Skill Fragment ×1. Current Cooking Skill Proficiency: 1%. ]

He felt a brief warmth at his fingertips before it faded. He continued turning the soil, breaking up the clods and picking out stones to toss into the bucket beside him. Severed roots gave off the astringent scent of plant sap, which mingled with the smell of earth and slowly spread through the mildly warm afternoon air.

Krillin came out of the house and squatted nearby to watch for a while. "You're turning the soil?" He raked through one of the freshly turned clumps with his hand. "The soil's softer than I expected. Things should grow here."

"Master Roshi said he wanted to plant something."

Krillin nodded, rose to his feet, and brushed the dust from his hands. "I'm planning to fish at the reef beach to the east this afternoon. Want to come?"

Lin Chen planted the shovel in the ground, straightened, and glanced at the sky. The sun had already shifted far west, and a thin layer of waves glittered with flecks of white in the sunlight. "What time?"

"Now."

He set down the shovel, leaned the tools back against the corner of the tool shed, then followed Krillin east along the coastline. After they had walked for a while, the ground gradually changed from sandy beach to rocky shore. Pools left behind by the receding tide reflected the sunlight in the low places.

Krillin stopped on a flat reef and pulled fishing line and hooks from the cloth bag on his back, winding one end of the line around his wrist. He did not use a fishing rod. Instead, he directly cast the line into a darker-colored cove ahead. The line in his hand hung over the water, swaying gently with the small waves. His movements looked casual, but the timing and angle of his cast were perfect, as if he had done it many times.

"Did the place you used to live have a sea?" Krillin asked.

"No. The martial arts school was inland. The nearest river was a forty-minute walk away."

"Then have you ever fished?"

"No."

Krillin pulled out another spool of line and handed it to him. "Then give it a try. Put these little shrimp on the hook. You don't need to cast too far. The fish around the edge of the cove are active in the shallows."

Lin Chen took the spool and cast the line out, copying Krillin's movements. It did not land where he had intended, falling about two meters off target. When the hook entered the water, it splashed up a small spray, and ripples spread across the surface before gradually settling. Krillin looked at where he had cast. "A little off, but there are fish there too. Just wait a while."

The two sat on the reef and fished. Their lines floated quietly on the surface of the cove, occasionally pushed slightly off course by the current before being pulled back into place. Seabirds flew low over the distant water without calling, leaving only the faint sound of their wings cutting through the air. Translucent waves kept striking the reefs farther away, their sounds seeming alternately near and distant. There was no echo over the open sea, as though the wind had torn the sound apart.