"You know, I thought we'd be training in something really mystical. Maybe we'd stare at a wall for hours, trying to find a mysterious pattern that would give us greater power. Or maybe we'd get philosophical and meditate.
I didn't think we'd just be trying to get an object from you, Master Karin!" Lazuli complained. Her body was hunched over, her hands on her knees. She was covered in sweat and breathing heavily.
It was the first day of training. After chatting among themselves, they decided Lazuli would be the first to train. Unlike Bulma or Goku, Lazuli hadn't been a martial artist for very long. However, she had a much broader foundation than Letty, so she was perfect for demonstrating the type of training they would start with.
"Before you run, you must learn how to move. Your movements are so bad that it pains me to watch," Karin said. Karin set aside his previous calm and affectionate side, adopting a manner much more akin to a strict but playful teacher.
"Okay, I understand. You want us to improve the way we move. I understand that perfectly. But what was that spell? I can't use my energy! I feel like I did when I first started training," Lazuli grumbled. The cat smiled as he rubbed his whiskers.
"We'll teach you how to use your energy to move later. I won't teach you the basics of Ki, but I want to help you regulate your mindset.
Remember: no wasted movements. Use precise movements to get the apple from my head. Be aware of your resistance. Your current weakness will even become temporary if you follow that advice," Karin said, pointing to the fruit on his head. It was perfectly attached to his body and didn't shake at all.
"Okay, I'll do it," Lazuli said, taking a deep breath before clenching her hands into fists. Her eyes were completely focused on the apple, ignoring everything else around her.
The blonde moved quickly, reaching out her hand to grab the fruit. However, Karin moved one step to the side, allowing Lazuli to pass by. She turned around and tried again, but the cat simply bent his body slightly to avoid her.
Lazuli made several similar attempts, but she failed each time. Karin only had to make slow, simple movements to prevent Lazuli from catching the apple, which made the situation entertaining for the spectators.
Not far away, Goku laughed out loud at how easily Lazuli was outwitted. If it were him, he would have gotten the apple in an instant!
Bulma held back laughter as she watched Lazuli's frustration grow. The blonde let out a few scattered screams, but no matter how upset she got, she couldn't achieve her goal.
Letty had a small smile on her face. However, it wasn't because she was mocking her mother, but because she was focused on Karin's movements, trying to learn from them. This had borne some fruit.
"Keep your senses alert and your attention on everything around you. Perceiving Ki does not mean neglecting your natural gifts as a living being. Don't focus only on your target but on everything around it." As if to exemplify his words, Karin wagged his tail and hit the blonde's knee. She stumbled and rolled several meters.
"Okay, I don't want to continue anymore. Your weird spell is making me use up my stamina quickly," Lazuli said, breathing heavily as her chest rose and fell sharply.
"It only works on you because you don't have the technique that Goku and Bulma use. Holy cow! I never thought Muten Roshi's apprentice would create something so interesting," Karin replied as he watched Bulma approach her girlfriend with a bottle of water.
"We can stop using it, Master. This training could be useful to us. We could even add extra gravity," Bulma commented before passing the water to Lazuli.
"Increased gravity?" That might be good, but not now. If you don't know how to move in normal gravity, you won't learn how to move in an environment where your entire body is supporting twice or three times its normal weight," Karin said, evaluating the idea before shaking his head.
"It's not just about gaining strength and speed; it's about knowing how to use them. I want you four to remember this: No matter how much power you may wield in the future, the correct application of your abilities is something that will always remain with you.
May the lessons I teach you today and in the future become basic components of your combat system.
Believe me when I tell you that high-level battles aren't just about shooting Ki blasts. If you limit yourself to just accumulating energy, you will fail miserably," Karin explained calmly before looking at Goku with a mischievous smile.
"Young Goku, weren't you laughing just a moment ago? Do you think you can do better than young Lazuli? Why don't you come and try?" the Immortal Cat asked provocatively, causing the young Saiyan's tail to wag vigorously. He was clearly interested in seeing how he would fare in this type of special training.
"All right!" Goku approached Karin. As he walked, a strange fluctuation appeared in his body, making his presence feel much less material.
"Interesting. I understand a little of the technique created by Son Gohan. It makes the user more anchored in the world, making their ki more difficult to manipulate and affect. Although like all techniques, it has its limits, this one is undoubtedly exquisite," Karin said, praising the technique. He even had the desire to descend from his tower to meet Son Gohan, the creator.
This technique was effective against many abilities that affected the user. Even Karin had to rely on his arduous energy control and willpower to resist certain effects. However, he could sense that this technique was better than his own methods, at least for now.
"Okay, now let me cast the spell on you," Karin said before pointing his claw at Goku and firing a small beam of energy that covered the boy's body.
Sounds similar to shackles could be heard at that moment, and then Goku felt his exuberant ki become completely inert. Even his powerful physique was reduced to a fairly low level.
Goku felt that he could break through this block by channeling the power of Ozaru. However, doing so would defeat the purpose of all this training, which made no sense. He looked at the Immortal Cat in front of him, which tapped the ground with its staff.
"You heard what I said to Lazuli, didn't you? Then begin," he said.
When Goku heard those words, he lunged at Karin, noticing the same thing Lazuli had noticed when it was her turn.
His stamina was being consumed at an alarming rate! He had only made a few moves, yet he already felt as if he had run five kilometers. This distance would normally be easy for him, but now he felt slight pain in his legs.
"Did you notice? It's not so simple, is it?" Lazuli shouted at him as she sat on the ground, using a handkerchief Bulma had given her to wipe the sweat from her face.
"Look, he's already sweating," the blonde pointed out, smiling with schadenfreude. After all, Goku had been laughing at her a while ago.
"However, it makes training better, doesn't it? As Master Karin said, if we just accumulate energy, we could become strong, but we'd miss out on a lot," Bulma commented, watching Goku become a sweaty, panting mess while still trying to get the apple from Karin's head.
"Calm your breathing, stay steady, and execute a precise movement at just the right moment," the Immortal Cat instructed. At that moment, a flash of inspiration seemed to fill Goku's eyes.
In his mind, he repeated Karin's movements over and over again and evaluated his own actions. He may not have been a scientific genius, but he excelled at one thing: his incredibly high battle IQ.
Goku didn't try to grab the apple. Instead, he closed his eyes, relaxed his breathing, and gradually began to recover his lost stamina. His mind began processing all those memories and found certain promising patterns.
"It seems you may be getting the hang of it, young Goku. Why not try out the ideas you've come up with?" Karin urged, noticing the subtle changes in Goku's mindset. This made him smile.
"Okay," said Goku, opening his eyes calmly. However, the hair on his tail bristled, his muscles tensed, and his posture arched forward. He gradually concentrated much of his body's strength but did not release it.
Then, it just happened. Goku moved forward suddenly, like a spring that had reached its limit and was returning to its original shape. His outstretched hand came very close to the apple. When he was about to touch it, however, he passed through an afterimage.
"Well, there are still some unnecessary movements, but you've improved a lot in a short time." Karin, who appeared alongside Goku, patted the young Saiyan on the shoulder. He fell to his knees, exhausted from his previous actions.
"Did you understand anything?" The Immortal asked, looking at Lazuli, who nodded and swallowed audibly.
"What about you, young Letty?" Karin asked. The Bio-Warrior remained silent, simply tilting her head as if she didn't understand the question.
"I'll take that as a yes." Then, Karin turned his attention to Bulma, who offered Goku a bottle of water. He drank it quickly.
"It's my turn, right? Let's do this," Bulma said before the cat could speak. She unleashed the technique she had been using for many years: Entropy. She went through the same process as Lazuli and the Saiyan.
Like the previous two testers, Bulma's ki became inert, her strength was reduced to that of a normal person, and her stamina consumption increased dramatically. However, her empathic ability was not limited, nor was the power of her Plant version. She could use it to free herself from the restrictions she was experiencing.
"The interesting thing about this training is that the more people participate, the easier it becomes. Everyone can learn from the previous participant. So, young Bulma, do you think you can get the apple on my head?" Karin asked, causing the blue-haired girl to smile confidently.
"I don't think so; I know so!" she declared before moving toward Karin. Karin's slanted pupils shrank to their limit because, in a sense, the girl had taken him by surprise.
Just as with Goku, Bulma's hand passed through a residual image left by the Immortal Cat. However, Bulma did not focus on this illusion. Instead, she turned her head to the side and focused on Karin.
She wasn't using her empathic ability to find him, but had decided to follow Master Karin's advice from Lazuli and Goku's turn, applying it from the start.
However, she was cheating a little, because, since meeting Whis, she had been exploring the vague concept of "knowing how to move well." This brought her closer to Karin's ideal of performing actions without waste.
Thus, the chase between Bulma and Karin turned into a display of movement techniques. Although she had the strength of an ordinary person, who says an average human can't do incredible things?
It was her physique that had been degraded, not her martial arts skills! Moreover, Bulma had unusually high body control, enabling her to access abilities beyond the reach of ordinary people, all without exceeding the limits imposed by Karin's spell.
She controlled her muscles to unleash their true strength. The brain limits the use of full muscle power to prevent damage, such as tears. Additionally, under specific circumstances, every ordinary human could unleash something known as 'Hysterical force.'
Although Bulma's face was flushed from the gradual depletion of her energy and the pain she was in, she was smiling because she was enjoying pushing her body to limits she might not have been able to reach because of her ever-increasing power.
She had the opportunity now, and she wasn't going to waste it!
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AN: The concepts used by Bulma came from things I learned over time on the internet. I applied this information in a certain way in my original novel, Lunar Mechanism, and I used it here because I found it useful.