"He actually… got it already?"
Krillin stared at Tarin, who was floating about half a meter above the ground. The boy wobbled back and forth like a toy roly-poly doll.
All the explanations Krillin had prepared were suddenly useless.
In the original story, Gohan had spent quite a while teaching Videl how to fly. Even Goten needed Trunks to practice with him before he could truly master it.
Yet Tarin had barely heard the beginning of the explanation. Krillin had not even finished describing the flow of ki before the boy simply… started flying by instinct.
"Wow! Dad, look! I'm flying!"
Tarin shouted excitedly.
The moment he got distracted, the fragile balance of ki inside his body collapsed.
"Ah!"
The little boy dropped straight down like a rock, headfirst, and smacked into the grass. Dirt and grass filled his mouth.
Krillin could not help laughing.
Tarin spat out the dirt and grass roots, jumped up quickly, and instead of looking frustrated, he looked even more excited.
"That feeling just now… it was like swimming in water!"
The boy's dark eyes sparkled with pure intuition.
"As long as I push the ki downward, my body rises up. Is that how it works?"
Krillin nodded, suppressing his smile.
"That's basically the idea. But the important part is stability. What you did earlier was like a jet plane taking off. Too much thrust and not enough control."
"Let's do it again!"
Tarin did not even need encouragement. He immediately closed his eyes again.
This time he did not rush to leave the ground. He took a deep breath. A faint white aura slowly appeared around his small body.
Krillin activated Multi-Threaded Thinking and carefully observed.
In his vision, the flow of ki inside Tarin's body was correcting itself at incredible speed.
That first failure had not been meaningless. Tarin's body had memorized the sensation of imbalance and was instinctively adjusting the frequency of his ki output.
Three seconds later.
Tarin's feet lifted from the ground again.
This time there was no wobbling.
Five seconds later.
He rose steadily until he was floating at the same height as Krillin's eyes.
Ten seconds later.
The little boy even attempted a somersault in the air. He stumbled slightly when landing but did not fall.
"So this is the value of Saitama's genetics."
Krillin suddenly felt a bit jealous.
Back when he had first arrived in this world, the system had practically tortured him while he struggled to adapt to controlling his body and ki.
But this kid had been born with top-tier settings from the start.
"Dad! I want to fly higher!"
Tarin had tasted success and immediately became bolder.
Ignoring Krillin's attempt to stop him, he suddenly increased the output of his ki and shot upward like a runaway missile.
"Hey! Slow down!"
Krillin sighed and instantly followed.
High above the ground, the wind howled.
For the first time, Tarin looked down at his home and the entire city from the sky.
The feeling of freedom was overwhelming.
He laughed loudly as he darted through the air, rising and falling as he pleased. Sometimes he circled around clouds. Other times he chased passing birds.
His movements were still rough. Sharp turns often sent him spinning in place.
Yet the natural instinct for aerial combat was already beginning to show.
Krillin floated behind him with his arms folded, keeping a comfortable distance.
As he watched his son flying freely through the sky, his gaze slowly grew deeper.
Five years had passed.
During those years, he had enjoyed a peaceful life as a husband and father.
Aside from completing the system's strange daily missions, most of his time had been spent with his family.
Such peaceful days could easily dull a person's fighting spirit.
But he had never forgotten the countdown.
System notice. Time remaining until Saiyan Raditz arrives on Earth: 3 days.
The red warning text flickered across his vision.
The great saga of the Dragon Ball world was finally about to begin.
"Tarin. Had enough fun?"
Krillin's voice cut clearly through the rushing wind.
Tarin stopped chasing a hawk and floated in place, looking at his father with reluctance.
"Come on, Dad. Let me play a little longer. I think I've already mastered it!"
"Mastered it?" Krillin raised an eyebrow. "Then try to catch me. If you can grab me, I'll let you eat two extra dinosaur steaks tonight."
"Really? It's a deal!"
Tarin's eyes lit up instantly. As a true food lover, he was immediately motivated.
He kicked the air and shot forward like a purple blur.
Not bad. About half the speed of sound.
For a five-year-old child, that was monstrous.
But in Krillin's eyes, it was barely moving.
He did not even shift his position. He simply tilted his body slightly, and Tarin's hand slid past the edge of his clothes.
"Too slow," Krillin commented calmly.
"Again!"
Tarin refused to give up. He slammed to a stop midair, used the recoil to turn around, and charged again.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
The sun slowly set, painting the sky orange and red.
Tarin was completely exhausted. Sweat covered his body and his ki was almost depleted. Even maintaining flight had become difficult.
Meanwhile Krillin still floated there with his arms crossed, without moving even a single meter.
"I can't do it… Dad, that's cheating…"
Tarin lay spread out across a cloud, drifting slowly with the wind.
"You're basically a monster."
Krillin flew over and grabbed the back of the boy's collar, lifting him like a kitten.
"Remember this feeling of exhaustion."
Krillin looked toward the sun slowly sinking beyond the horizon. His voice had lost its usual playful tone.
"In this world, if you aren't strong enough, you won't even have the chance to run away."
Tarin did not fully understand why his father had suddenly become so serious, but he instinctively sensed the importance of the moment and nodded obediently.
"Let's go home."
Krillin accelerated instantly, carrying his son as they streaked toward the ground like a beam of light.
When they returned home, Bulma had already prepared a luxurious dinner.
As she directed the household robots to serve the food, she complained.
"Where did you two go this time? Tarin is covered in dirt again. His clothes are ruined."
"Just took him out for a little special training."
Krillin smiled as he set Tarin down. The moment the boy smelled the food, he forgot all his exhaustion and rushed to the table.
Krillin did not sit down immediately.
Instead, he walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the brilliant night skyline of West City.
Three days.
Raditz.
The so-called low-class Saiyan warrior with a power level of only 1500. The man who started the Saiyan saga.
Krillin took out a Capsule from his pocket. Inside were the Senzu Beans he had stored for emergencies.
He checked the amount.
Plenty.
"System. Open my status panel."
Host: Krillin
Current Stats
Strength: 5000 (MAX, limit exceeded)
Speed: 5000 (MAX, limit exceeded)
Durability: 5000 (MAX, limit exceeded)
Spirit: 5000 (MAX, limit exceeded)
Stamina: Infinite (Saitama Template ability)
Charisma: 199 (locked at peak human level)
Saitama Template Fusion: 35%
Skills: Serious Series, Multi-Threaded Thinking, Divine Healing, Instant Transmission
Krillin smiled with satisfaction.
During the past five years, he had deliberately suppressed his ki to an extremely low level.
Partly to avoid frightening the martial artists on Earth.
Partly to avoid attracting the attention of higher beings like the Supreme Kais too early.
But in three days, he planned to stretch his muscles a little.
After all, if the man who constantly mocked Earthlings as "trash with a power level of five" did not experience true despair…
Then that delivery of experience points from across the galaxy would be wasted.