Invited to meet the Yardratian elder, the Earthlings saw no reason to refuse the pink Yardratian who introduced himself as Soba, a high-ranking guard in service of this planet's Leader.
(A/N- both their planet and race are called Yardrat, so for simplicity, I will call them Yardratians.)
Flying slowly, the pair closely tagged behind the strange man.
Along the way, Shen couldn't help but wonder about the reason for this celebrity treatment. 'This shouldn't be their first time seeing outsiders, right?'
Still, whatever the case, he found the proposal to meet the elder rather convenient to his own objective going forward.
The city wasn't large; it followed a grid layout, with intersections connecting the narrow feeder roads with the main ones.
A big ki signature could be sensed emanating from the center of the city, and not so coincidentally, they were headed in that exact direction.
Before long, a grand staircase was in front of them that led up to an equally grand entrance connecting to a massive dome-shaped hall.
They walked all the way inside the hall, where they came face to face with an individual, a strange Yardratian, who could only be described as a giant blob of a person. He towered over anyone of regular size, humans being no exception.
"Elder Pybara, I have returned," the guard who had brought them here addressed this person of light blue complexion with reverence.
"Good! Job well done!!.. For the time being, your work is done." Thus, the elder dismissed the guard.
"As you wish." Soba nodded slightly and left.
While the man made his way out, "Hmmm!" The elder keenly probed the two guests. The pair greeted him with a slight bow, and in turn, he merrily returned the gesture.
The elder, if not for some of his notably differentiating features from the others of his kind, shared a ton of traits with the common short, green-skinned variant of their race. He also looked relatively young, very unlike the two Namekian elders whom Shen had previously met.
"You are from a planet called Earth, correct?"
This comment surprised the two. "We really are!!" the innocent Launch exclaimed, fully astonished. "Amazing how you found that out, even though we didn't tell anyone."
"I can tell by just looking at the both of you."
"How's that so? Our race is rather average-looking!" Shen asked, although he was able to guess already.
"That is because we Yardrats have developed many different techniques. Simple clairvoyance for things that are common knowledge somewhere in the universe is but one of such abilities. I myself am the master of many, and there is also that.."
'That?' The two wondered what "that" other reason was, but for the time being, the elder didn't clarify any further. Rather, his attention turned toward Launch...
"Miss, come closer."
"Me?" the girl was naturally perplexed.
"Indeed!"
Launch turned to Sear, who gave a slight nod. "Alright!" Although visibly hesitant, she resolutely steadied herself and walked up to the elder.
Thereafter, Elder Pybara touched his forehead with his index finger, doing the same with the other one on the girl's forehead while remaining concentrated in that position for a minute or so.
"Wonderful, truly wonderful!" He exclaimed, bobbing his head up and down and trembling excitedly like a kid.
"As I thought, two souls are living harmoniously inside you.. Normally, this should have been impossible, but as unbelievable as it is, living proof is unquestionably before me." The joy in his outburst was palpable.
"Is that weird?" Launch asked, distressed to a certain extent.
"Weird? No!.. It's a miracle. There are evidently cases where someone is possessed by another's soul or when multiple people temporarily combine into a single individual, but you, miss, are completely different. No power is forcing you to stay together; it's no different from a naturally occurring phenomenon."
"So, Elder Pybara," Shen interjected, "what does this mean for her?.. Is it advantageous or disadvantageous?" He couldn't help but ask the most important question.
"Even for me, witnessing such a case is a first, so truth be told, it is difficult to discern what her future holds. But although I can't declare for certain, there shouldn't be many problems. Whether it's her body or her dual souls, they are doing just fine.. The souls aren't fighting for dominance; it is like two loving sisters working together."
This sound explanation convinced Shen to let go of his worry, as he breathed a sigh of relief..
He had worried Launch would face difficulties later in life because of her unusual condition. It had been one of the reasons for bringing her to Planet Yardrat, to meet the experts who deeply delved into the realm of souls and spiritual awakenings.
Considering later on, in the actual Dragon Ball Super's plot, Goku and Vegeta would both train under their guidance, this trip certainly wouldn't turn out to be a wasted endeavor.
. . .
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!
Suddenly, while they were busy in conversation, Shen became alert. Launch too followed suit. "I sense something wrong. Many abnormal ki signatures, those extremely evil kinds, are approaching the planet."
"Do not panic. Seems like they have returned.." Pybara reassured.
"Is it a bunch that you are familiar with?" Shen asked, having calmed down.
"Yes, you could put it that way. Have you heard of Frieza?" Sighing, the elder started explaining.
As Shen listened, a frown appeared on his face. Of course, he was aware of the evil Emperor Frieza. What Dragon Ball fan wouldn't be? Recently, a faction of Frieza's hunting dogs had been exterminated by Frieza's own hands.
Saiyans had been nothing more than elite fodders crawling the surface of the Frieza Force. Going deeper underneath, there were significantly more dangerous threats.
Until and unless the menace Frieza and his henchmen were fully put down, their ceaseless violence would continue to terrorize the universe.
Right now, Planet Yardrat was on their radar, according to the elder.
Though Shen found this whole situation odd.
'Isn't this too soon? Weren't they supposed to attack Planet Yardrat much later in the plot? It's a decade too early for them to be here. Furthermore..'
"I only sense relatively weak ki signatures, so how are you being harassed by the like of them?, it shouldn't be difficult for you guys to defeat them for good.." said shen..
"Unfortunately, we can't do that."
"Why is that?"
"Mainly because we don't want to invite their Leader, Frieza, by defeating his men one by one. Although we can effortlessly handle the henchmen, the same won't be the case with that self-proclaimed Emperor of the Universe, at a certain point when the power gap becomes too huge, our abilities are useless."
"Hmm, I thought so.. Well, that does make a lot of sense," Shen nodded.. "But isn't that.." he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "I can't imagine how it must feel for you to see them wreak havoc on this planet, your home, but not able to do anything about it.."
"Rest assured, we haven't reached such a point yet."
"Oh?? Why is that?"
"You see, there isn't any real destruction happening. By messing with their spirits, we put them under hypnosis. For them an unimaginably massive war is happening between them and us. Our people are resisting with all our might and pushing them back, yet all that is contained inside their heads and not in reality."
"Wow!" Shen was amazed, "You even managed to accomplish such a thing, as extensive as that!!" he remarked..
"We certainly did, though this is still a temporary measure." Elder Pybara went on, "This farce has been going on for years already. Soon, they will run out of patience and stronger fighters will inevitably show up, maybe even those with illusionary powers who can counter us."
He continued,
"Ultimately, to ensure complete safety, we are planning to teleport the planet itself to a different star system. But to achieve a feat of that immense scale, many of us will inevitably exhaust our spiritual energy and perish in the process."
"Besides, even that won't solve the problem for good. The teleportation won't take us very far in the galaxy, but it ought to at the very least stall them for a few decades until inevitably, we are found again."
Shen was left speechless, astonished by their ingenuity and just the raw confidence to pull off such a thing.
Hence, knowing time was of the utmost essence, Shen requested the elder to train the two of them without further ado.
Unexpectedly, Pybara agreed to it without any persuasion, seeing no harm in teaching them. Rather, it was beneficial to both parties; the Yardratians would become the Earthlings' benefactors, so the old sage was more than willing.
Moreover, the elder could feel Shen wouldn't use his powers to commit evil, though he had a few doubts about Shen's soul. 'Like the girl's, his soul is also strange. It is heavy, heavier than a normal mortal should have, approximately twice as much. Not that it is a bad thing.. These Earthlings really are full of surprises.'
Following a brief session of filling their bellies with food and rejuvenating their energies, Shen and Launch started their training.
First and foremost, they were both led to a rather strange location. At this place, a forest of spikes protruded from the ground, reaching high into the sky and dominating the landscape.
"Don't tell me you want us to..." the corner of Shen's mouth twitched slightly with apprehension.
Elder Pybara, being a pro, hopped from one spike to another while Shen and Launch carefully treaded each jump... They could fly or use their powers for this, but then, what kind of training would it be?
Moreover, spontaneous gusts of wind swept across the tops; these would occasionally blow them off balance.
Until now, Shen had been confident in his balancing skills, but compared to the normal finger-stand push-ups he would do on flat ground, this turned out to be in a league of its own.
Moreover, Launch was a whole lot worse than him. She had many close calls, having narrowly avoided falling head first onto the skewers multiple times.
In one such accident, "O—oh no!" She tripped and had to grab hold of a spike's pointy tip to stop herself from falling off completely..
Fortunately, the spikes, although prickly and uncomfortable, didn't actually have the capacity to harm them. Their bodies, refined by ki and magic, couldn't be damaged by such insignificant things.
Finally, after much struggle, the two managed to adjust to the difficult circumstances they had found themselves in, be it willingly.
Shen especially was already engrossed in meditation, the tips of his feet touching the tips of the spikes, forming a [V] shape with his legs.
Soon, Launch too was following his example.
Pybara, standing nearby, began explaining what they ought to achieve with this training. "Spirit control, as we call it, is the process of shifting, splitting, and growing one's spirit. You Earthlings know spirit as ki, right?"
The two nodded with their eyes still closed.
"Through spirit control, you can use the spirit more efficiently, meaning, using the same amount of ki lets you do more than previously possible.."
After saying that, Pybara stopped speaking, letting them contemplate his words..
Shen didn't remember the details of spirit control told in the Dragon Ball Super series, so even he was completely new to this whole idea.
'Earth's level of ki control is crude compared to this. Our control is merely instinctual, with no concept of shifting, splitting, and growing the ki particles inside us.'
He focused on sensing the ki inside him and to manipulate it as freely, as he wished.
______
Upcoming Chapters:
57- Catching up with Shen
58- Seven Three