Chapter 7 — The Child Who Learned Too Fast
The days on Mount Paozu stopped feeling like days.
Time, for everyone living there, began to feel more like a continuous blur of chaos punctuated by explosions.
Morning meant Goku and Azer fighting over breakfast.
Afternoon meant Goku accidentally breaking geography.
Evening meant Azer angrily rewriting physics to avoid losing again.
Night meant Grandpa Gohan questioning every life decision he had ever made.
And in the middle of it all—
Mints remained completely relaxed.
Tea in hand.
Expression unchanged.
Watching everything like a man observing mildly interesting weather.
"…You're enjoying this too much," Paula said while hanging laundry.
Mints blinked. "I'm observing."
"You smiled again."
"I have resting smile face."
"You do not."
Azer suddenly crashed through the roof and landed beside them.
"I'm going to kill him."
Goku dropped in immediately afterward.
"Again?"
"Yes. AGAIN."
Grandpa Gohan screamed from inside the house.
"STOP BREAKING MY ROOF!"
Mints sipped tea.
"Minor structural damage builds character."
Grandpa Gohan fainted.
Paula sighed.
—
### **A Different Kind of Growth**
Inside the nearby forest, Goku sat cross-legged on a tree branch.
Azer hovered nearby with his arms crossed.
For once, they weren't fighting.
They were thinking.
Goku tilted his head.
"Hey Azer."
"What."
"Why we strong?"
Azer frowned.
"…Because we are."
"That not answer."
Azer clicked his tongue.
"Because that man," he pointed toward Mints' distant presence, "keeps forcing us to get stronger whether we like it or not."
Goku nodded slowly.
Then smiled.
"I like it."
Azer stared at him.
"You're insane."
Goku stood up suddenly.
Then—
He jumped.
Not forward.
Not downward.
Upward.
Straight into the sky.
Azer's eyes widened.
"…What are you doing?!"
Goku was laughing while falling upward instead of down.
His body instinctively corrected gravity mid-air.
Mints suddenly appeared beside Paula, eyes narrowing slightly.
"…Huh."
Paula looked up.
"He did it again?"
"Yes."
Azer shouted from below.
"STOP BREAKING PHYSICS!"
Goku landed upside down on a cloud before falling normally again.
"Cloud soft!"
Silence.
Then Mints spoke quietly.
"…He adapted to air resistance."
Paula blinked. "That's not normal for a child."
"No."
Azer landed beside them.
"He's cheating at life."
Mints nodded. "Correct."
Then he added:
"And it's accelerating."
—
### **Grandpa Gohan's Breaking Point**
That night, Grandpa Gohan sat outside staring at the destroyed remains of his house.
Again.
Roshi sat beside him drinking sake quietly.
"…So this is your life now," Roshi said.
Gohan stared blankly.
"I used to train martial artists."
Roshi nodded. "And now?"
"I babysit natural disasters."
From the forest, an explosion echoed.
BOOOOM!
Goku and Azer were fighting something again.
Roshi sighed.
"Those kids are not normal."
Gohan looked at him tiredly.
"You think I don't know that?"
Roshi lowered his voice.
"I checked their energy."
Gohan froze.
"And?"
Roshi hesitated.
"…I have seen God-level fighters before."
Gohan blinked.
"And?"
Roshi looked toward the forest.
"…Those children are approaching that level already."
Silence.
Then Gohan whispered:
"They're six."
Roshi nodded.
"…Yes."
Inside the house, Mints casually cooked food while Paula helped.
Azer suddenly crashed through the wall.
"I demand a break!"
Goku followed immediately.
"I still winning!"
Azer pointed aggressively.
"You don't even understand rules!"
Goku smiled brightly.
"No need rules."
Mints calmly placed food on the table.
"…Eat."
Both children froze instantly.
"Yes sir."
Roshi stared.
"…Why do they listen to him instantly?"
Gohan replied flatly:
"Because he turns them into babies if they misbehave."
Roshi dropped his drink.
"HE DOES WHAT?!"
Paula sighed.
"He exaggerates."
Mints nodded. "Only slightly."
Azer muttered, "He absolutely does not."
—
### **The First True Instinct Awakening**
A few days later, Mints took Goku alone into the mountains.
Azer followed but stayed hidden.
Paula observed from afar.
Grandpa Gohan refused to come.
Roshi came anyway out of curiosity and regret.
Mints stood in front of Goku.
"Today, no techniques."
Goku tilted his head.
"Hm?"
"Only reaction."
Azer whispered from a tree. "That sounds worse."
Mints snapped his fingers.
Instantly—
A storm appeared.
Not natural.
Controlled.
Lightning struck randomly around Goku at insane speed.
Goku panicked at first.
Then—
Something changed.
His breathing slowed.
His body stopped reacting emotionally.
His eyes sharpened.
And suddenly—
He moved.
WHOOSH.
Lightning missed him.
Another strike.
He dodged.
Another.
He stepped without thinking.
Mints narrowed his eyes.
"…There it is."
Roshi froze.
"Wait… is that…"
Paula whispered softly.
"Instinct."
Azer clenched his fists.
"…Again?"
Goku's movements became smoother.
Faster.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just motion.
Like water avoiding cracks in stone.
Lightning stopped.
Silence returned.
Goku stood calmly in the center of the storm.
Then smiled.
"I did it?"
Mints stared at him for a long moment.
Then—
He smiled slightly.
"Yes."
Azer's eyes widened slightly.
"…He actually approved it."
Paula looked surprised too.
Mints rarely gave direct approval.
Goku jumped happily.
"Again!"
Mints immediately replied:
"No."
"WHY?!"
"Because you'll break it too fast."
Azer muttered, "He means the universe."
—
### **The Angel Watches**
Far above Earth, Whis observed the scene with quiet amusement.
Beerus sat nearby eating while glaring at the staff projection.
"That kid is dangerous."
Whis nodded gently. "Very."
Beerus narrowed his eyes.
"If he keeps growing like that…"
Whis finished the sentence calmly:
"…he may surpass the limits of mortal progression entirely."
Beerus grunted.
"That's not normal."
Whis smiled faintly.
"Nothing about Cousin Mints is normal."
Beerus sighed.
"I hate that family."
Whis chuckled.
"But you're fascinated."
Beerus immediately denied it.
"I am NOT."
Down below, Goku was now trying to dodge lightning while laughing again.
Azer tried to copy him and got struck immediately.
BOOOOM!
"…I hate him."
Mints watched silently.
Then spoke softly:
"He's learning too fast."
Paula nodded. "Is that bad?"
Mints paused.
"…I don't know yet."
For the first time—
Even he sounded uncertain.
—
### **A Future Shifting**
That night, Goku slept peacefully.
Azer sat nearby glaring at him.
Grandpa Gohan patched holes in the house again.
Roshi left quietly, shaken.
Paula rested beside Mints.
And Mints stood outside alone.
Looking at the stars.
Somewhere in the cosmos—
Frieza still ruled.
The Time Patrol trained the rescued Saiyans.
Universes continued their endless motion.
But something fundamental had changed.
A child was learning too fast.
And a father who had seen the end of universes…
Was starting to wonder if even *he* could keep up with what he had created.
Mints smiled faintly.
"…This might get interesting again."
And far away—
Goku turned in his sleep.
Silver light flickered for a moment around his body.
Then vanished.
But the universe noticed.
And quietly…
It began to prepare.