Sparring Upgrade

The training routine at Kame House continued without interruption. Lin Chen had lived there for two weeks now and had fully adapted to the schedule.

He got up early for hot porridge. Once the mist had completely cleared, he ran a round trip along the coast with Krillin, then swam out to White Reef and back. He no longer needed to consciously think about these steps. At certain times, his body automatically entered the right state, like a biological clock calibrated by the sea breeze. His dry martial arts uniform rested against his skin, and he could feel the difference in temperature between the cloth and the air.

As he returned to the house to change, Krillin stopped him in the hallway. "Goku said he wants to fight this afternoon. The three of us—you, me, and him."

Lin Chen hung up his wet uniform. "How do three people fight?"

"A free-for-all," Krillin said. "No fixed opponents. Anyone can attack anyone. You can team up temporarily or switch targets whenever you want. There's only one rule: whoever gets knocked past the edge of the yard loses."

At lunch, Goku sat by the courtyard gate with his bowl in hand. After every couple of bites, he looked up toward the distant shore as if measuring the distance. Sunlight shone across the courtyard, shrinking the shadows beneath the table legs until they were nearly gone. Heat shimmered up from the ground, and even the sea breeze felt stifling.

Just after two in the afternoon, the three of them stood in the open space at the center of the yard. The ground was covered in sun-heated sand, and warmth seeped through the soles of their shoes when they stepped on it. Goku stood at the front, rolling his wrists and neck. His shoulder blades shifted beneath his uniform as though checking how loose his muscles were. Krillin stood half a step behind him, legs shoulder-width apart, center of gravity kept low, his hands hanging naturally at his sides.

Krillin moved first. He took a quick step toward Goku and threw a straight right punch, though it was not particularly fast, more of a probe. Goku turned aside to evade it while raising his left hand, striking the outside of Krillin's wrist with an upright palm. Krillin withdrew his fist and changed moves. With a twist of his wrist, he brought his fingers together and chopped at Goku's forearm—two light, muffled impacts sounded in quick succession.

Lin Chen did not rush to join in. He stood at one side of the yard and watched. After two weeks of continuous training, his physical condition was noticeably better than when he had first arrived, and his joints moved more smoothly than before. Krillin's movements were clean and sharp, while Goku seemed more relaxed, as though he was still warming up.

After Krillin and Goku exchanged two moves, Krillin suddenly changed direction and pressed toward Lin Chen, his feet making short, crisp sounds against the sand. Lin Chen raised his arm to block, and Krillin's knife-hand landed on the outside of his forearm. A faint warmth spread from his forearm to his shoulder. This was the standard sensation when the system collected fragments. It differed from the external heat generated during training; it did not disperse, but instead felt as though the warmth had been redistributed inside his body, guided along a fixed path.

"If you won't make the first move, I'll come to you," Krillin said, withdrawing his hand and opening the distance again.

"Your knife-hand is heavier than before, but after you exert force, the outside of your arm stiffens briefly. It's easy for someone to catch that opening."

Krillin paused for a moment when he heard that. "You can see that?"

"I just noticed it," Lin Chen said. "Maybe I'm used to watching from the side, so I pick up on changes in rhythm more easily."

Goku cut in from the side and punched toward Krillin's rear shoulder. Krillin twisted aside, then drove an elbow back at Goku's arm. The tip of his elbow grazed Goku's forearm, knocking his punch off course. The three of them exchanged blows rapidly in the yard, their footwork stamping rings of messy tracks into the sand.

During the fight, Lin Chen discovered that he could notice the sequence of his opponents' exertion more quickly, and his body reacted faster than before as well. The effects brought by continuously collecting fragments were gradually settling in, becoming part of his body. After exchanging several moves with him, Krillin noticed it too. "Your reaction speed is much faster than when I first met you."

Lin Chen did not answer directly. "It is faster."

Goku closed in from the other side again. His fist was faster than before, carrying a rush of air with it. Lin Chen turned aside and let the punch pass, then guided it forward with his right hand, making Goku lean slightly forward before withdrawing his hand. The movement was small, but it made Goku spend a moment regaining his balance.

Their three-way melee lasted about half an hour. No one was knocked out of the yard, but when they reached the forty-minute mark, Krillin took the initiative to stop. "That's enough for today. If we keep going, it'll be dark."

Goku lowered his hands and took a few breaths. "That was really fun."

Lin Chen stood at the edge of the yard, flexing his right hand, which had remained clenched throughout the fight. His palm felt hot, as though the residual warmth from their repeated contact and exertion was slowly dissipating between his fingers, leaving a dry warmth in the air.

At dinner, Master Roshi picked up a piece of fish. "You made quite a racket in the yard today. I could hear it all the way from the back courtyard to the front." Goku set down his chopsticks and described the afternoon's melee. After listening, Master Roshi nodded. "Then keep training tomorrow. Extend the stone-step route a little farther. There's a steep slope over there. Run up it and then back down, and make one extra trip every day."

Krillin acknowledged him and continued eating. Outside the window, the distant sea had gone completely dark. Only a faint line of light remained near the surface, like the lingering trace left along the horizon after the sun had set. Starlight gradually emerged in the dark sky, one star after another, as though slowly filling the entire night. The wind blew in from the sea, carrying away the lingering heat in the yard.