Jan 5, 2024 19:46:57 GMT -5
Post by Ryuji on Jan 5, 2024 19:46:57 GMT -5
Ryuji would be gasping for air heavily as he stood on the soft, sandy beach of the Kame House. Having gathered enough money doing his milk runs, the little hero managed to go out and buy himself a real serious set of weights. He even had enough to go the extra step and get them made to his specs, so he was able to get a super awesome vest just like the one his dad gave him back home! Wearing it now, along with ankle and wrist weights, it wasn’t so bad for the first couple days. But now, today, he had come to Master Roshi early this morning, before his milk runs. In his infinite wisdom of wisdoms, his teacher had procured a classic tool used by the many great students who had come before him. Ryuji was presented with a 50kg Turtle Shell to wear along with all his other gear. Thinking it no real issue to add on a little more poundage, he smugly took on the challenge and began his run in earnest. It was only once he realized that the extra weight totally imbalanced the rest of his gear that he truly understood the task at hand. He had to increase all of his weight in order to even out, and all the added gear made surfing island to island an incredible task to accomplish. Through sheer willpower and determination, the pint sized hero managed to pull through without breaking a bottle.
Standing and leaning gently on his knees to catch his breath, Ryuji stared across the sand and into the horizon, really feeling the wear from such an intensive workout. Master Roshi, ever ambivalent and quiet, was nearby as well, though he hadn’t spoke since congratulating the youth, giving him a chance to really recover as he assessed his plan for today’s training. Looking over the boy, he could sense the strength of spirit that pervades him, the depth of his courage and ability seeming much farther than what his current form belies. Wishing to truly attempt to tease that power out, he knew these ground-up lessons were of the utmost importance. The lack of complaint and act of even searching the old turtle hermit out showed that Ryuji was learned enough to understand all the same. He was impressed at the level with which he could perform, but taking into account his heritage it seemed obvious there would be power in his veins. Ryuji was decently candid with the old turtle hermit, best as he could without too much detail, so knowing that a half Saiyan boy managed to figure out babies with a Majin was not only a direct blow to his pride and fantasies that he would now likely never realize but it also carried a ridiculous amount of potential right away. Still, without discipline and training there would be no understanding, and he would have liked to be able to meet the boy’s father to see what kind of man he could be. Approaching him now, his walking staff would sink softly into the sand beside him. Clearing his throat, he’d speak to the boy who looked eagerly up at him from his semi-crouched position.
“Well then, I’d say you’ve put in quite a workout already today, my boy.” His words had the trill of humor behind them, but they were also sincere. Ryuji would nod a couple of times, gathering the air to speak back. “Yep, all this stuff made surfing real hard but I did it! What’s next, Master?” Roshi would note the excitement in his voice hadn’t faded. “Next you say? You think you’re still ready to keep going? Boy you’re sure bringing memories back to this old man.” Straightening up more, he’d continue. “As you said, next. I’ve gotten a real good knack for sensing the energy that people put out, being that I trained a whole lot of them on how to do it in the first place! Now you’re real good and warmed up, kinda like you’d be for a fight, right? So I need you to take a real deep breath. Remove those weights for a second before we get back to your training.” Upon instruction, the boy would do so easily, the bands and shell hitting the ground with a solid thunk. The vest would follow, leaving Ryuji in his swim trunks. Feeling much lighter and somewhat relieved, he would hop a couple times in place before settling to listen. “Okay, now take those breaths we talked about. Once you’re ready, power up for me like you’re ready to go all out! Show me what you got!” He’d plant his staff in the sand and keep his distance slightly.
Drawing a line in the sand with his toe as he slides into stance, bubblegum boy would take a final breath before summoning his aura. A fierce, bright pink would emanate from his body, sending the sand around him scattering slightly but making reasonable waves around the island. Master Roshi would be watching intently from behind his signature sunglasses, nodding to himself softly. After a few moments, Ryuji would calm himself once more, letting the energy go and breathing a bit roughly again. “Your aura is impressive, I’ll admit. But you’re missing a little something that you’re gonna need to be able to get the most out of my training AND your body. You said you were real strong ‘back home’ yes?” The boy would nod quickly “Yeah, I never really had trouble just doing whatever, I just got lots of good training.” The old hermit would nod and fix his shades. “You see, you’re used to wielding a real huge amount of energy all at once and condensing it down, I’d say. But what your problem is here, well, it’s that you don’t know how to control what little you have properly. Not to say you’re weak of course my boy, rather that you’re using a firehose attached to an old house spigot.” Ryuji would be looking thoughtful at what the old man was saying. He hadn’t really considered control to be one of his faults, but he kinda got what he was saying. “So you’re telling me I need to learn how to lay off the gas, gramps?” He’d nod. “You’re putting everything you got in every shot when you need to learn how to measure out and temper yourself if you’re gonna master yourself at such a lower level.” Ryuji would think back to his fight with Goji, the big lizard he fought a while back. He barely used his power he felt like, but even just fighting him off wore him down almost completely in a rather short time. Nodding a bit, he’d stretch out his limbs and crack his neck a bit. “So what do I gotta do?”
The Turtle Hermit would point to the weights. “We’re going to do a slightly more intense exercise today. One that’s going to test your spirit as well as your body. I’ll start it with you so you can get the rhythm of it down, but after a while you’ll be doing it while I supervise. Keep holding your power at its top and get dressed again.” Ryuji would oblige, sighing a bit as he’d put on all the weights minus the shell. Once they were back in place and the vest on proper, he would activate the weights, slowly returning them to their proper weight. Once he was more comfortable again under the duress, he would shoulder the turtle shell with a sigh of exertion. Walking over to a flatter section of beach, Master Roshi would plant his staff next to him. “All right, now pay attention for a minute, and I’ll walk you through the proper kata, get you in the real practice of the Turtle School of Martial Arts! Once you’ve got the form down for the first four sets, I’ll begin to supervise and call out sets. The whole time I want you at peak combat power, but you’re gonna try to hold back as hard as you can and take it real slow for a while. Once you’re ready you’ll speed it up. Ready?” The boy would eagerly nod. “Okay, here we go! Your Turtle School lesson on how to control the body!”…
Hours would go by as the two trained. Ryuji had proven himself quite capable of the basic instructions that Roshi would provide younger students, areas such as academics were already covered in his education, and as goofy as he may carry on it was obvious that the lad sported a serious intellect when prompted and required of him, so no time was wasted on other pursuits. Ryuji took to the training like a fish to water or a dragon to the sky, even surrounded and suffocated with so much training weight as to make it seem impossible. But such a struggle was the precise nature of this exercise, as Master Roshi instructed his every move and mirrored them for the first couple hours alongside his energetic apprentice. Each motion was executed with well worn precision, hundreds of years of experience and many more worth thanks to his other students, now being channeled into this aspiring hero. When his body began to wear down and his muscles crying in fatigue, he pushed onward at the request of his master, relying instead on his spirit to carry him through. He couldn’t allow anything to leak out or be wasted, lest he succumb to the depths of exhaustion entirely. Pausing only for a meal and a short rest, the Turtle Hermit would advise against over training before allowing him to continue.
They would train until the sun’s last light flickered away at the edge of the water, leaving only the dim glow of moon and star upon the waves of the horizon.
A week later, and many more hours spent at the edge of the waves, Ryuji would be slipping onto the sands at the edge of Roshi’s island as he had every day before. But each day felt different, and today was especially so, for some reason. The boy wasn’t sure what had brought him such a calm demeanor that day, but he felt… good. Different in a way. He went about his morning routine in a cheerful manner, and managed to milk the cows and clean things up in time for delivery. With a pep to his step, he managed to make all his milk deliveries smoothly, making his way across the waves in a gentle daze, and here he now ended, taking his last bottles over to the porch. As he set them down, he would hear the sound of Master Roshi from his kitchen, and so he would redirect and knock on the door, calling in before entering. “Mornin’ Master! I’ve got you your milk for the day!” Roshi would nearly leap from his skin as Ryuji entered, not nearly ready to expect the boy. He had been preparing a breakfast for them, and would turn to see his beaming protégé holding up two large milk bottles. “Heavens boy, what’s gotten you up and moving so early?” The old man would say, taking the bottles and thanking him with a slight bow before returning to his preparations. Ryuji would seem confused as he’d speak. “Early? I got here same as I always do?” He’d question, as his eyes searched for the clock. “I start delivering at seven, and I get here at around nine-“ He blinked a couple of times, an almost monkey like noise coming from his confused expression. Eight-o-seven. Seven minutes past eight. “Huh?” He would stare at it for a second before he would cock his head a bit and look back at the Master. “Is it like, daylight savings or something?” The Turtle Hermit would rest his utensils and wash off his hands. “No my boy, it doesn’t seem to be that.” He would approach him and grab his staff by the door. “Come on, Ryu, outside. Breakfast will be waiting when we get back, I’ll finish it then.” The old man would walk outside and to the edge of the sand as he had every day recently, with Ryuji following. “Now then, I want you to come over here and tell me how you feel.” Walking up to the water’s edge, the boy wound shrug. “I feel good today I guess? Why?” He’d nod. “You’re not tired or worn out already?” The squishy boy would shake his head. “And you’ve been wearing those weights the whole time?” Again the boy would nod a couple times. “I even remembered my turtle shell and everything.” The old hermit would gesture at the weights. “Well, my boy, it’s sounding to me like your body has finally woken up a little bit. Your power feels much more calm and contained this morning, I didn’t even notice you when you showed up on my front doorstep. Try taking those things off and getting a feel for it.”
Taking a few steps back to set his weights on harder ground, Ryuji carefully removed each one and put them in an orderly stack, leaving him in his T-shirt and shorts. He felt kinda wibbly wobbly after doing so much in those hefty things, but got hold of himself quickly and went back to the sand. Taking a deep breath, Ryuji reached into himself like his father taught him, teasing out the bubbling feeling of energy in his body. The sudden eruption of aura shocked both the boy and the old man, as his bright pink aura would shoot vividly around him. He would bring it back down to what he felt was a current ‘normal’ level, feeling how much easier it was to take control. “That’s it my boy! All those lessons on movement and focus paid off! You feel a whole lot stronger than you before already!” The boy would be looking at his hands and flexing a bit smiling with a mischievous glint to his eyes. “I think I can go higher!” Roshi would look a touch concerned. “Careful boy, my house is still right over there!” Grinning wide, Ryuji would clench his fists and curl in slightly. His aura would start to focus tightly around his body, before small sparks would emanate from him in a rhythmic fashion. His aura would become jagged and intense, with the feeling of his influence spreading waves close by and stalling the wind slightly in his direction. Ryuji could feel it there, right in the pit of his heart. He had more. He could feel the temptation to really lay it all out, but he found what he was looking for already. His first wall was being overcome rapidly, and with this level of control he almost felt normal again, if lacking in straight power. Curling into himself slightly as his power rocketed higher, Ryuji would cold stop the power up, letting the energy disperse safely as the wind swept back into its groove. Hands on his hips, the boy would look extremely pleased and excitable. If doing just this much with the old man was capable of bringing him this far, he could really see why he’s the master. “It’s no wonder all your other students are so strong, we’ve barely done anything yet!” The old master would nod, fixing his shades. “That’s right, my boy. And we’re gonna make sure to turn you into a real hero too, if you’re ready to keep going.” The Turtle Hermit sighed inwardly, keeping it from reaching his features. In truth, he had taught the boy the majority of his basic combat lessons already in such a short amount of time, he was certain that the little gremlin was going to exhaust him over the next few weeks, with the more direct lessons coming on fast. Ryuji would be nodding rapidly. “Well then,” Roshi would say with a light stretch, “leave those weights where they are and come inside. I’ll have breakfast done real soon, and we can talk more training.” With a skip and a jump, the bubblegum boy would reply “Yes sir, Master Roshi!”
As the two of them relaxed the early morning away, Roshi cooking and Ryuji sitting and going through some of his important things, like finances and other things. His money was looking good, his strength was increasing rapidly, and overall he felt he was doing pretty well. Since arriving here, he’d felt all kinds of different powers, and he was wondering when another might make an appearance. Pulling out one last item to go over before breakfast was served, he’d get to the most important, his list on how to become a hero. He’d smugly mark a big fat check next to one stating ‘learn from a Master’, and look thoughtful before adding one next to it. ‘Learn a legendary technique’. Smiling softly and dreaming of big waves, he’d put the list away, a slight tinge of melancholy coming over him as his thoughts drifted towards home. But only for a moment.
It is Breakfast time, after all.
————-
TWC: 2930
Power Up! 2x
Super Heavy Weights - +75%
Master Roshi Training Bonus - +5%
1 TP Spent
learned [ST1] - Ki Control
Standing and leaning gently on his knees to catch his breath, Ryuji stared across the sand and into the horizon, really feeling the wear from such an intensive workout. Master Roshi, ever ambivalent and quiet, was nearby as well, though he hadn’t spoke since congratulating the youth, giving him a chance to really recover as he assessed his plan for today’s training. Looking over the boy, he could sense the strength of spirit that pervades him, the depth of his courage and ability seeming much farther than what his current form belies. Wishing to truly attempt to tease that power out, he knew these ground-up lessons were of the utmost importance. The lack of complaint and act of even searching the old turtle hermit out showed that Ryuji was learned enough to understand all the same. He was impressed at the level with which he could perform, but taking into account his heritage it seemed obvious there would be power in his veins. Ryuji was decently candid with the old turtle hermit, best as he could without too much detail, so knowing that a half Saiyan boy managed to figure out babies with a Majin was not only a direct blow to his pride and fantasies that he would now likely never realize but it also carried a ridiculous amount of potential right away. Still, without discipline and training there would be no understanding, and he would have liked to be able to meet the boy’s father to see what kind of man he could be. Approaching him now, his walking staff would sink softly into the sand beside him. Clearing his throat, he’d speak to the boy who looked eagerly up at him from his semi-crouched position.
“Well then, I’d say you’ve put in quite a workout already today, my boy.” His words had the trill of humor behind them, but they were also sincere. Ryuji would nod a couple of times, gathering the air to speak back. “Yep, all this stuff made surfing real hard but I did it! What’s next, Master?” Roshi would note the excitement in his voice hadn’t faded. “Next you say? You think you’re still ready to keep going? Boy you’re sure bringing memories back to this old man.” Straightening up more, he’d continue. “As you said, next. I’ve gotten a real good knack for sensing the energy that people put out, being that I trained a whole lot of them on how to do it in the first place! Now you’re real good and warmed up, kinda like you’d be for a fight, right? So I need you to take a real deep breath. Remove those weights for a second before we get back to your training.” Upon instruction, the boy would do so easily, the bands and shell hitting the ground with a solid thunk. The vest would follow, leaving Ryuji in his swim trunks. Feeling much lighter and somewhat relieved, he would hop a couple times in place before settling to listen. “Okay, now take those breaths we talked about. Once you’re ready, power up for me like you’re ready to go all out! Show me what you got!” He’d plant his staff in the sand and keep his distance slightly.
Drawing a line in the sand with his toe as he slides into stance, bubblegum boy would take a final breath before summoning his aura. A fierce, bright pink would emanate from his body, sending the sand around him scattering slightly but making reasonable waves around the island. Master Roshi would be watching intently from behind his signature sunglasses, nodding to himself softly. After a few moments, Ryuji would calm himself once more, letting the energy go and breathing a bit roughly again. “Your aura is impressive, I’ll admit. But you’re missing a little something that you’re gonna need to be able to get the most out of my training AND your body. You said you were real strong ‘back home’ yes?” The boy would nod quickly “Yeah, I never really had trouble just doing whatever, I just got lots of good training.” The old hermit would nod and fix his shades. “You see, you’re used to wielding a real huge amount of energy all at once and condensing it down, I’d say. But what your problem is here, well, it’s that you don’t know how to control what little you have properly. Not to say you’re weak of course my boy, rather that you’re using a firehose attached to an old house spigot.” Ryuji would be looking thoughtful at what the old man was saying. He hadn’t really considered control to be one of his faults, but he kinda got what he was saying. “So you’re telling me I need to learn how to lay off the gas, gramps?” He’d nod. “You’re putting everything you got in every shot when you need to learn how to measure out and temper yourself if you’re gonna master yourself at such a lower level.” Ryuji would think back to his fight with Goji, the big lizard he fought a while back. He barely used his power he felt like, but even just fighting him off wore him down almost completely in a rather short time. Nodding a bit, he’d stretch out his limbs and crack his neck a bit. “So what do I gotta do?”
The Turtle Hermit would point to the weights. “We’re going to do a slightly more intense exercise today. One that’s going to test your spirit as well as your body. I’ll start it with you so you can get the rhythm of it down, but after a while you’ll be doing it while I supervise. Keep holding your power at its top and get dressed again.” Ryuji would oblige, sighing a bit as he’d put on all the weights minus the shell. Once they were back in place and the vest on proper, he would activate the weights, slowly returning them to their proper weight. Once he was more comfortable again under the duress, he would shoulder the turtle shell with a sigh of exertion. Walking over to a flatter section of beach, Master Roshi would plant his staff next to him. “All right, now pay attention for a minute, and I’ll walk you through the proper kata, get you in the real practice of the Turtle School of Martial Arts! Once you’ve got the form down for the first four sets, I’ll begin to supervise and call out sets. The whole time I want you at peak combat power, but you’re gonna try to hold back as hard as you can and take it real slow for a while. Once you’re ready you’ll speed it up. Ready?” The boy would eagerly nod. “Okay, here we go! Your Turtle School lesson on how to control the body!”…
Hours would go by as the two trained. Ryuji had proven himself quite capable of the basic instructions that Roshi would provide younger students, areas such as academics were already covered in his education, and as goofy as he may carry on it was obvious that the lad sported a serious intellect when prompted and required of him, so no time was wasted on other pursuits. Ryuji took to the training like a fish to water or a dragon to the sky, even surrounded and suffocated with so much training weight as to make it seem impossible. But such a struggle was the precise nature of this exercise, as Master Roshi instructed his every move and mirrored them for the first couple hours alongside his energetic apprentice. Each motion was executed with well worn precision, hundreds of years of experience and many more worth thanks to his other students, now being channeled into this aspiring hero. When his body began to wear down and his muscles crying in fatigue, he pushed onward at the request of his master, relying instead on his spirit to carry him through. He couldn’t allow anything to leak out or be wasted, lest he succumb to the depths of exhaustion entirely. Pausing only for a meal and a short rest, the Turtle Hermit would advise against over training before allowing him to continue.
They would train until the sun’s last light flickered away at the edge of the water, leaving only the dim glow of moon and star upon the waves of the horizon.
A week later, and many more hours spent at the edge of the waves, Ryuji would be slipping onto the sands at the edge of Roshi’s island as he had every day before. But each day felt different, and today was especially so, for some reason. The boy wasn’t sure what had brought him such a calm demeanor that day, but he felt… good. Different in a way. He went about his morning routine in a cheerful manner, and managed to milk the cows and clean things up in time for delivery. With a pep to his step, he managed to make all his milk deliveries smoothly, making his way across the waves in a gentle daze, and here he now ended, taking his last bottles over to the porch. As he set them down, he would hear the sound of Master Roshi from his kitchen, and so he would redirect and knock on the door, calling in before entering. “Mornin’ Master! I’ve got you your milk for the day!” Roshi would nearly leap from his skin as Ryuji entered, not nearly ready to expect the boy. He had been preparing a breakfast for them, and would turn to see his beaming protégé holding up two large milk bottles. “Heavens boy, what’s gotten you up and moving so early?” The old man would say, taking the bottles and thanking him with a slight bow before returning to his preparations. Ryuji would seem confused as he’d speak. “Early? I got here same as I always do?” He’d question, as his eyes searched for the clock. “I start delivering at seven, and I get here at around nine-“ He blinked a couple of times, an almost monkey like noise coming from his confused expression. Eight-o-seven. Seven minutes past eight. “Huh?” He would stare at it for a second before he would cock his head a bit and look back at the Master. “Is it like, daylight savings or something?” The Turtle Hermit would rest his utensils and wash off his hands. “No my boy, it doesn’t seem to be that.” He would approach him and grab his staff by the door. “Come on, Ryu, outside. Breakfast will be waiting when we get back, I’ll finish it then.” The old man would walk outside and to the edge of the sand as he had every day recently, with Ryuji following. “Now then, I want you to come over here and tell me how you feel.” Walking up to the water’s edge, the boy wound shrug. “I feel good today I guess? Why?” He’d nod. “You’re not tired or worn out already?” The squishy boy would shake his head. “And you’ve been wearing those weights the whole time?” Again the boy would nod a couple times. “I even remembered my turtle shell and everything.” The old hermit would gesture at the weights. “Well, my boy, it’s sounding to me like your body has finally woken up a little bit. Your power feels much more calm and contained this morning, I didn’t even notice you when you showed up on my front doorstep. Try taking those things off and getting a feel for it.”
Taking a few steps back to set his weights on harder ground, Ryuji carefully removed each one and put them in an orderly stack, leaving him in his T-shirt and shorts. He felt kinda wibbly wobbly after doing so much in those hefty things, but got hold of himself quickly and went back to the sand. Taking a deep breath, Ryuji reached into himself like his father taught him, teasing out the bubbling feeling of energy in his body. The sudden eruption of aura shocked both the boy and the old man, as his bright pink aura would shoot vividly around him. He would bring it back down to what he felt was a current ‘normal’ level, feeling how much easier it was to take control. “That’s it my boy! All those lessons on movement and focus paid off! You feel a whole lot stronger than you before already!” The boy would be looking at his hands and flexing a bit smiling with a mischievous glint to his eyes. “I think I can go higher!” Roshi would look a touch concerned. “Careful boy, my house is still right over there!” Grinning wide, Ryuji would clench his fists and curl in slightly. His aura would start to focus tightly around his body, before small sparks would emanate from him in a rhythmic fashion. His aura would become jagged and intense, with the feeling of his influence spreading waves close by and stalling the wind slightly in his direction. Ryuji could feel it there, right in the pit of his heart. He had more. He could feel the temptation to really lay it all out, but he found what he was looking for already. His first wall was being overcome rapidly, and with this level of control he almost felt normal again, if lacking in straight power. Curling into himself slightly as his power rocketed higher, Ryuji would cold stop the power up, letting the energy disperse safely as the wind swept back into its groove. Hands on his hips, the boy would look extremely pleased and excitable. If doing just this much with the old man was capable of bringing him this far, he could really see why he’s the master. “It’s no wonder all your other students are so strong, we’ve barely done anything yet!” The old master would nod, fixing his shades. “That’s right, my boy. And we’re gonna make sure to turn you into a real hero too, if you’re ready to keep going.” The Turtle Hermit sighed inwardly, keeping it from reaching his features. In truth, he had taught the boy the majority of his basic combat lessons already in such a short amount of time, he was certain that the little gremlin was going to exhaust him over the next few weeks, with the more direct lessons coming on fast. Ryuji would be nodding rapidly. “Well then,” Roshi would say with a light stretch, “leave those weights where they are and come inside. I’ll have breakfast done real soon, and we can talk more training.” With a skip and a jump, the bubblegum boy would reply “Yes sir, Master Roshi!”
As the two of them relaxed the early morning away, Roshi cooking and Ryuji sitting and going through some of his important things, like finances and other things. His money was looking good, his strength was increasing rapidly, and overall he felt he was doing pretty well. Since arriving here, he’d felt all kinds of different powers, and he was wondering when another might make an appearance. Pulling out one last item to go over before breakfast was served, he’d get to the most important, his list on how to become a hero. He’d smugly mark a big fat check next to one stating ‘learn from a Master’, and look thoughtful before adding one next to it. ‘Learn a legendary technique’. Smiling softly and dreaming of big waves, he’d put the list away, a slight tinge of melancholy coming over him as his thoughts drifted towards home. But only for a moment.
It is Breakfast time, after all.
————-
TWC: 2930
Power Up! 2x
Super Heavy Weights - +75%
Master Roshi Training Bonus - +5%
1 TP Spent
learned [ST1] - Ki Control
