Vaske received his reward and decided to go home to gather his thoughts about the mission. He planned on resting, but his definition of rest did not include idleness — it only meant not fighting to the death for a short period. Training, however, would continue.
When he arrived home, he considered buying a new house since he was now rich in Saiyan terms. Even though he received "only" 50% of the mission rewards — because his teammates insisted he take the larger share — it was still an enormous amount. It was rare for Saiyans to sacrifice their portion of conquest pay, though not unheard of.
He showered, ate his nutrient bars, then lay down on his hard bed and experienced one of the deepest sleeps of his life.
When he woke up, he went to the district where properties were listed for purchase and began searching. The most expensive houses were near the Royal Palace, ranging from 600,000 to 2,500,000 credits. He only had 1,000,000 credits from the mission. That meant he could afford something in that outer perimeter — but there were better choices.
One villa closer to the city center — yet still elevated above most structures — caught his attention. It cost 800,000 credits. Perfect. Especially for his and Bardock's training.
Vaske signed the contract and decided to pay everything upfront. He received the keys and left immediately.
When he arrived at the address, he felt satisfied. It was a middle-to-large villa, but what mattered most was the tall stone wall surrounding it. No one would spy on him while he trained.
Inside, he found four bedrooms, one large hall, two bathrooms, and two underground rooms. One underground space was clearly designed for storing massive amounts of food. The other was likely meant for alcohol storage or valuables. Vaske, however, would use it for meditation — or storing anything he deemed useful.
Twenty days passed.
Vaske learned that Kronah was on a mission with fifteen squad members. Full deployments almost never happened — only when a threat was significant enough to endanger the Saiyan race or challenge Cold's authority.
That meant Vaske would have to wait for his next mission. And it wouldn't be some medium-level test. He would likely join the main squad as one of the lowest-ranked members, since he still lacked visible merit and official proof of his strength. Elite Saiyans were not foolish — they knew power level determined many things, but not survival instinct or true combat ability.
So Vaske continued training.
He purchased various weighted equipment and eventually found place for auction and attended one. There he found something unusual — a rare stone from a conquered planet. It could alter the surrounding atmosphere, gradually lowering the temperature.
It was said to be extremely rare even on its home planet. The starting bid was 90,000 credits. Supposedly, it could preserve food indefinitely — a revolutionary discovery for Saiyans.
The bidding escalated instantly.
Vaske did not care about food preservation. He understood that external pressure — extreme environments — accelerated power growth. He would use anything for gains.
The current bid reached 110,000 credits.
"130,000 credits," Vaske called out calmly.
Other Saiyans raised it to 150,000.
Vaske didn't want slow escalation that might drive the price too high.
So he said:
"180,000 CREDITS."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then someone responded:
"185,000 CREDITS."
Vaske didn't recognize him, but the other Saiyan clearly knew something about Vaske. Their eyes met briefly.
Vaske considered surrendering. It wasn't a small amount of money.
But he decided against it and said his bid again.
"190,000 credits."
Silence.
The mysterious Saiyan said nothing further.
Vaske won this stone, he could take it after auction finished.
The auction continued with various items, most of the highest bids related to food storage and rations.
Vaske was interested in some items but didn't bid just waited for auction to end.
Vaske paid for the stone and picked it up. It was a perfect 0.5 m³. Dense. Cold to the touch.
He placed it in his bag and flew home.
He wanted to test its limits. It was said that it could not instantly freeze large areas, but perhaps a smaller enclosed space would react differently.
When he returned, he immediately entered the clean underground room and placed the stone at the center.
He began pouring his ki into it.
At first, the change was subtle.
Then he felt a cooling energy spreading outward. The air thickened. Temperature began dropping rapidly.
Within minutes, the room felt like the coldest polar regions of Planet Vegeta.
Frost began forming along the stone floor.
Thin white patterns crept across the walls.
His breath became visible.
He increased the flow of ki.
Ice crystals formed in the corners of the ceiling. Frost climbed higher along the walls, spreading like veins of frozen lightning. The air itself felt heavier, sharper.
It grew even colder.
Vaske decided it was enough.
He began training.
Bodyweight exercises at first. He used weight he bought, which were put on joints.
His body quickly warmed, steam rising faintly from his skin.
So he lowered the temperature further.
Soon, his hair began turning icy at the tips. His skin reddened deeply from the cold. Frost clung to his shoulders before melting from his internal heat.
The burning sensation in his muscles intensified. But strangely — there was no pain. Only pressure. Only resistance.
The frost thickened along the walls, solid sheets of ice forming now. The underground room looked like a frozen cavern.
Vaske felt immediate benefits.
His muscles screamed for oxygen. His lungs worked harder. His heart pounded violently.
He was hooked.
He trained the entire day before finally stepping out of the underground room.
When he checked his scouter, he found three unheard messages.
Two were from his former teammates, asking if he wanted to meet and train together. The messages had been sent two hours after he began training. He had ignored them for nearly twenty hours.
Vaske had no intention of slowing his progress to train with warriors who were simply not aligned with his ambitions or standards.
He replied briefly that he was occupied with personal training and could not spare time.
The third message contained information about Captain Kronah's expected return.
Two more months of planetary clearing.
Four months of space travel.
Six months before his next mission.
Six months to grow stronger.
Vaske returned to the underground room.
And the frost on the walls grew thicker.
Before he began training, Vaske allowed his thoughts to settle on everything that had been happening around him — his brother's missions, the Queen's cold gaze and malicious questions, and most of all the enemies gathering in the shadows and the ways to deal with them. Every path led to the same conclusion. All roads led to Rome. And Rome, in this case, was strength — the kind of strength that would allow him to crush anyone who carried malice toward him.