Chapter 5: The Crucible of the Void
A single year had passed in the outside world, but within the Transcendental Rift—a pocket dimension Vados had "borrowed" from the celestial archives—a decade had screamed by. In this realm, the ratio was 1:10. Every month on Sadala was nearly a year of hellish refinement for my disciples.
I stood on a floating obsidian platform, my arms crossed. The air didn't just vibrate here; it sang with the frequency of high-level combat.
"Again!" I roared.
The Five Outliers
I hadn't just stopped with Cala. Following my soulbinding, I had scoured the jagged moons of 6-Vampa and the gravity-crushed slums of the Sadala fringes. I had found them: five Saiyans whose ki was so volatile it had been labeled a "curse."
Cala: The heart of the group. Her instability had been a surplus of S-Cells she couldn't channel.
Kohl: A silent brute who could absorb kinetic impact.
Vane: A tactical genius who used ki as thin, invisible blades.
Mira & Jiko: Twins whose power levels multiplied exponentially when within ten meters of each other.
The Golden Standard
In the center of the rift, the atmosphere was no longer breathable oxygen; it was a pressurized soup of golden ki.
Cala stood at the epicenter. She was no longer the scrawny, dying girl from the slums. Her muscles were lean and defined like corded steel. Her hair didn't just stand up; it cascaded down her back in a jagged, electrified mane of shimmering gold. Her eyebrows had vanished, replaced by the prominent, predatory ridge of a Super Saiyan 3.
"Maintain the output, Cala!" Vados commanded, her staff creating a barrier to protect the nearby observation deck. "The SSJ3 form is a leak. If you don't compress the energy into your core, you'll burn through a week of life force in ten minutes."
Cala let out a guttural scream. The golden lightning arcing off her body was so intense it began to melt the obsidian platform.
"I... I can't... hold it!" she gasped, the sheer weight of the form threatening to crush her own skeleton.
The Feedback Loop
As she struggled, I felt a sharp, invigorating sting in my chest. Because of the Soulbound link, her growth was feeding directly into me. Every time she pushed past a limit, my own base power surged.
In just one year (ten within the rift), the Universe 6 Development Index had skyrocketed. My strength had climbed far beyond that initial 10\%. I felt faster, denser, and more attuned to the vacuum of space than ever before.
"You aren't just a Saiyan anymore," I walked toward her, my God of Destruction aura flaring purple to counter her gold. "You are the benchmark for a new era. If you fall, the reputation of Universe 6 falls with you. Push back!"
With a final, earth-shattering roar, Cala snapped her eyes open. The chaotic lightning retracted, hugging her skin in a tight, controlled hum. She had mastered the stabilization.
The State of the Union
Vados floated over, checking her celestial ticker. "Impressive, My Lord. A squad of Super Saiyan 3s. Though, I must warn you, the food budget for this dimension has surpassed the GDP of three solar systems."
"Worth it," I grinned, feeling the raw power thrumming through the link. "Cala, power down. We're leaving the rift today."
The girl collapsed to one knee, her hair fading back to black, her chest heaving. "Are we... are we ready to face Universe 7, Lord Champa?"
I looked at my hand, watching the purple Hakai energy dance with a new, golden undertone—a side effect of the bond.
"Facing them isn't the goal anymore, kid," I said, looking toward the exit of the dimension. "We're going to make them realize they've been playing in a sandbox while we were building a fortress."