403.
I finally broke through the 400 power level mark. When I recovered from my injuries by that giant bird, I had barely passed 300. It was a good thing the six-legged creature and the pig were injured, otherwise, the fight wouldn't have been easy even with my advantage of being able to use ki.
Although it was used much in the series, I kind of liked seeing my strength as power levels. The rise of power in feeling was already addicting, but through numerical evidence, it added an exhilarating kick to it.
In the past two weeks I had used the abundance of strong aliens – or rather the inhabitants of this planet - to increase my strength. I have been fighting almost every day apart from one or two rest days in between.
I would go out and target any creature that was barely stronger than me and challenge it to a fight to the death.
'Surprisingly', most creatures were reluctant to engage in mortal combat if their enemy appears to be as strong as they were. They would rather bolt and remain uninjured than fight. Of course, they would risk their life the moment they had offspring to protect.
Another thing I learned about these animals was something rather unexpected to realize. They could somewhat sense ki. It wasn't like they could track movements through the wall, but the animals here knew how dangerous I was depended on how much of my ki I was suppressing.
It wasn't like they would completely disregard me as a threat when I suppressed my ki as low as I could, but they definitely lowered their guard somewhat.
It shouldn't have been a surprise that they weren't willing to ignore my presence even when my ki was suppressed, especially after I almost lost an arm by a plant that had a low power level.
It should have been obvious that there are things in this world that were dangerous despite the low power level. For example, there were poisonous or venomous animals and plants which couldn't be disregarded.
Speaking of poison, I have made a habit to eat some of them to develop my resistance to a variety of toxins.
Despite how stupid it sounded to eat poisonous animals and drink the harvested venom of some other animal, it actually worked. The toxins lessened in their sting and at some point, it didn't register in my mind as something dangerous.
Of course, I didn't overdo it, but it was more like eating something spicy or sour. Now I could identify some toxins by smell and taste alone and it opened the idea to season my food with it.
I wouldn't say I was the best cook, but with the toxins, the delicious meat became even better and gained a richness that wasn't there without it.
Honestly, I felt like I was an ancient forager treading through unknown lands and explore the immediate environment for nourishments.
This was everything I imagined what it would be like to be voluntarily dropped off on a lonely island. It was exciting to see something new every day. Becoming stronger and faster than humanely possible was more than a nice bonus as well.
This lifestyle was more than addicting. I was almost concerned about not wanting to leave this planet when I reached the top of this world, but when I remembered how many strong opponents, I would be able to face in the future I was getting more and more excited for the future.
Obviously, I was worried as well, but learning from my Saiyan side to not worry too much and just do my best was enough to not leave me paralyzed with indecision, specifically because of the tournament of power and all that jazz.
My Saiyan temperament was good in getting me to move, no matter if it was to train, hunt, or even build a shelter. Saiyan's were doers not talkers and it was ingrained into my being, which brought some problems as well.
It was a lot harder to sit down to think and plan for something if it didn't concern training. Like Meditation to be in control of my emotions, to be more grounded was somewhat difficult to get into.
It wasn't until I thought of my routine as a way to quickly master the Super Saiyan transformation that I was able to not be as affected by provocation or even the aftereffects of the Oozaru transformation.
If I didn't control emotions, I would probably do something rash like blowing up an audience just to get a good fight. Honestly, I was not sure why I had such a hard time keeping it together.
I always used to be good at preventing myself from doing something detrimental and I only got better when I was in prison. Having to watch everything you say to someone, kept me grounded. Now my efforts to keep me grounded felt like I was trying to hold down a plane from taking off.
I wanted to be frustrated about my instincts, but I also knew that it had already saved my ass several times in the past few weeks, even if it also put me in danger.
On another note, it seemed like there were more moons orbiting this planet. 3 to be precise. Which meant that every 2 weeks a full moon would be shining in the sky, at least that was what my scouter told me after two days' worth of scanning.
The scanning process would have been faster, but it was only a spare scouter, an older model, which meant that any functions it had weren't as optimized as the ones in the new models.
However, since I never used the other functions with the newer model either I wasn't really disappointed by the results. I was just glad I had them.
Another thing that happened was catching my new pet. It looked like a fat ugly pug with pink skin and no fur. Honestly, it was one of the ugliest creatures I have seen on this planet, but I thought it was nice to have some company.
The little fucker, however, escaped the first time I took it out on a walk, even though I had fed and given it water. As soon as I find him again, I will eat him.
Anyway, I was preparing for the next moon. I feel like I wouldn't be able to master it at the coming full moon, but I kind of needed the practice. Since I was going out to train and fight almost every day, I was getting injured a lot and even though I was healing faster than a human, it was a bit slow for my taste.
The Oozaru transformation seemed to have healed my injuries the last time and I figured I would use it to heal again, besides I needed to master the transformation anyway and it would be better to do it earlier than later. I didn't want to transform and accidentally blow up the earth just because I hadn't mastered it already.
It was already critical to do it here since I didn't have someone else to keep me in check in case I go berserk. Fortunately, even though I would become the strongest creature on this planet, with a power level of 4000 I still wouldn't be able to destroy this planet.
I just hoped that the distance I put behind me and my attack ball would be enough. I had put my scouter in my attack ball since I didn't want it to get destroyed. I only had my remote with me, tucked away inside my armor, which was fortunately expandable as I figured out the last transformation.
My ki sense proved itself invaluable on my way to a secluded area as I was able to avoid any life force that would prove themselves beyond me. I also kept my ki suppressed, which was training in itself.
I suppressed my ki as much as I could the entire time since it improved my mind to ki connection by being aware of it most of the time.
My movement speed decreased as a result by a lot, but I had time according to the last update of my scouter. I had two days when I started walking. Now the full moon should show itself in less than a day.
All this effort just so my attack ball would be safe. *Sigh* I could have shot it into outer space to be a satellite, but I would rather have the attack ball close by in case of an emergency.
It also wasn't recommended to have it orbit the planet one was visiting as it messed up the rechargeability of the attack ball or something. Yeah, apparently the attack ball was able to refuel itself by being in the atmosphere.
The manual didn't give a precise description, so I just knew that it could refuel and that it would take a few months for a substantial amount.
After walking for one and half days at a pace equivalent to Usain's top sprinting speed, I reached a grassland with normal-sized trees sprinkled here and there.
It was rather idyllic, which would, unfortunately, change after I ravage it as an Oozaru. I stopped walking and started training as I waited for the sun to go down and the full moon to rise.
After I was fairly exhausted, I sat down cross-legged to adjust my mental state as much as I could. A while later I stood up again and opened my eyes to see some birds in the distance landing on a tree.
I quickly ignored them and everything else as I started to look up at the moon outshining the stars in the sky. Like the first time, it was as captivating.
I felt my heart start pumping ferociously as power filled my body. The ground seemed to become more distant, but the moon seemed as far away as before.
The wounds on my body disappeared as I grew more powerful. I knew that I was holding on better than before, but I wouldn't be able to remain conscious as I felt my control slip through my hands like sand.
My mind grew more distant with every second as my consciousness faded into the background. It wasn't until it was but a whisper when I noticed a buzzing in my head that wasn't there when I transformed the first time.
…
When I woke up the next day inside a humanoid crater, I found myself with a light headache. Honestly, it felt too much like a hangover. I stood up and observed my body that seemed to have healed.
I was exhausted and a meal would do me good, so I quickly caught myself a creature with a power level in the dozens and ate my fill.
I took my remote out of my pocket and sigh out in relief after seeing it intact. I then called my attack ball towards my position. It didn't take long until it arrived in front of me and opened the door automatically.
I had already put my food crates into my cave as I wasn't willing to waste it for now, since it would be still edible after several months. I didn't order the attack ball back to my cave and just let it sit in this crater for now.
I decided I would investigate the other corners of the world. I couldn't just sit in the jungle the entire time I was living here.
The highest power level in the jungle was in the 600s and it was significantly stronger than the other creatures in the jungle which hovered around the 500s. It was a bit too high for me now, but it shouldn't be too hard to overtake it soon.
I wanted a denser area with plenty of strong animals that I could duke it out with. I just took a direction and started walking.
I already noticed that these crow-like birds were following or rather observing me since the day they had delivered their message, but I wasn't going to find whoever wanted me to find him, not until I was the strongest creature on this planet.
I would train until nothing that this planet could throw at me would be able to take me out. Other than that, I also wasn't in the right mindset to meet someone this pretentious, who wanted to hide behind a bunch of weak birds.
Either way, I wasn't going to meet the bird leader for quite some time.
…
So, here I was, a few days later heading deeper in the dark cave in which several 500s and 600s were gathered. There was a power level of 674 living deeper down, probably the strongest of these moles, but I decided not to meet it until I wanted to.
The darkness of the cave system was quite the adjustment to make, especially since there was no light source down here at all. I already found out that my Saiyan eyes were highly adaptable to dim lightings, to the point that I could claim to have night vision.
Down here though was something else. I couldn't see shit except for the times I used my ki, which was also effective in completely blinding my opponents. In fact, blinding them with my ki was so effective that they were easy pickings.
It took me a day and a half until I realized why these mole-like creatures in this cave system were comparatively strong.
By avoiding the surface world, they didn't have suitable prey. They were sizing about 1 to 2 meters, which made worms and other small insects unable to sate these carnivores. At some point in their development, they have resorted to cannibalism.
Due to constant combat between themselves, their power level had risen but also evened out across the species somewhat.
They would only live in small groups and then hunted and killed the other male moles until none of them were left, after which they would take the females and children to integrate them into their group.
Honestly, I didn't feel much remorse about killing any creature on this planet, even after getting to know that the six-legged creature from a few weeks ago was only protecting its younglings, which had made it more territorial, but killing these moles was somewhat enjoyable.
I felt like I delivered judgment upon their actions. It also helped that they weren't the tasty type and had little meat on them.
Anyway, I started moving between the cave systems and started eradicating several groups as my daily training routine. Of course, I didn't forget to train with every conceivable training method that I had learned in my past.
Not relying on my eyes was a wonderful experience as well. Although it limited my senses, I couldn't help and feel liberated by not being able to see. My ki sensing abilities went through the roof and my ability to hear the surroundings for cues and act on my gut instincts were developing nicely, to say the least.
I felt on top of the world when I dodged the digging claws of two mole-like creatures that were above me in terms of strength, having a few dozen power levels on me.
It wasn't effortless but I was getting comfortable in battling these creatures, I thought as I shattered their wrists with a few karate chops.
I am already getting used to the idea that power levels were somewhat meaningless. Of course, there was the fact that some animals used poison or weapons like their claws or their comparatively strong jaws to gain an advantage and punch above their power level, but even if they didn't have that, their power level didn't represent their combat capabilities.
Though it was hard to wrap my head around it at the beginning, I realized that their power level was just the amount of lifeforce the scouter could detect. They just weren't efficient in using their lifeforce like I was as they didn't refine their skills. It was like a bodybuilder trying to fight an experienced fighter or try to outrun a sprinter.
The bodybuilder might be stronger and have more muscles but would still get smoked by the fighter and the sprinter. It was just a matter of specialization.
I was certain that I wouldn't be able to dig as fast as these moles would, but in a fight, I had the upper hand especially since they couldn't rely on ambushes as I was able to detect them even through the ground.
Obviously, if my opponent was twice my power level, I wouldn't have the chance to survive. There was just a limit to how much skill could bridge the gap between physical capabilities. However, creatures that were somewhat in my power level were increasingly easy to handle.
In the future, I needed to either find creatures that were much stronger than I was or creatures that could utilize their ki efficiently as well.
It wouldn't take long until I would be able to challenge the strongest creature on this planet even if it was several hundred power levels above mine.
Anyway, I might as well head deeper into the cave to slaughter the stronger ones of this species…
It took me a month to wipe them out and it almost felt too easy. I thought as I held up the dying mole leader with one hand clenching its throat before I threw it to the side.
My armor was now drenched in purple blood, some of it had already long dried, but most of the blood came from the last-ditch effort of this race. Two weeks into my systematic slaughtering, they started to notice it.
They started to fear my silhouette as they herded together under the leadership of the strongest mole. A mutant mole that grew to an impressive size of 2 and a half meters.
The same leader mole was now a cooling corpse in this soon-to-be-forgotten maze of a cave. The last week was getting somewhat stale as I only went through the motions, so I had decided to just attack their main cave while eliminating the side caves with a ki blast to save some time.
There were some close calls, but there was only so much they had learned from the past encounters. There might be some survivors, but I was getting tired of these caves, so I couldn't help but anticipate leaving the underground.
I had some injuries, but my mentality had suffered the most in a month of slaughter. I didn't skip on my meditation but there was only so much an hour or two a day could help with days and nights of slaughtering and training.
I needed a rest day or two for once. I ignore the paths dug by the moles and just blasted through the ground before I quickly arrived at the surface. I kept my eyes closed as I knew that they would be sensitive after barely being used for a month.
After I broke out of the ground, I noticed that the light shining through my eyelids wasn't too bright. I slowly opened them, only for my vision to be noticeably blurry. It took me several minutes to adjust.
As I looked around, I realized that it was nighttime, and the moon was brightening the surroundings. I didn't dare look up since it was a full moon. I only knew that because I had my scouter with me. I would skip this transformation as I didn't want to accidentally destroy my scouter.
Besides I wasn't mentally prepared for another transformation. I needed a little vacation before I made another attempt in mastering the form again.
I headed in the direction from which I heard running water and sprinted towards it.
As I ran towards the water while suppressing my ki, I once again noticed that I was faster than a few months ago. I was getting more and more efficient with my ki. Hence, I could go faster and longer with less ki than before.
Even though my power level had only risen by around a hundred eighty, I was incomparable to before even with suppressed ki. By slowly using my ki in tandem with my body in training and fighting, my control only grew and that's not even mentioning the gains I got with meditation.
Unsurprisingly the increase due to a Zenkai boost from a near-death situation didn't come with perfect ki control and needed time to readapt it according to the increase.
The loss in control wasn't too bad, just noticeable. I figured that it had something to do with me 'not earning' this power. My increase of strength with combat, training, and meditation was a conscious effort.
A Zenkai boost was a sudden increase in mass and pure strength. I would have no experience in using the newfound strength as readily as before. It was just that, a sudden and permanent increase of a Saiyan's base power. Being able to recruit said power efficiently was the only 'problem'.
On topic, I will have to find a way to abuse this early on without actually dying.
The Zenkai boost doesn't seem to help much in the later stages. Maybe until I get the Super Saiyan transformation it will remain useful, but from there I wasn't quite sure about that.
I obviously hoped that it will remain relevant as it helped Zamasu contend against the Saiyan God duo. I wasn't sure if that detail was accurate, but the chance of abusing Zenkai well into godhood wasn't something I would say no to.
As I finished that thought, I arrived at a small creek that was barely enough to clean myself in. It took some time to scrub off the dried blood from my armor, but I got it done after putting in some elbow grease.
I hung up my armor to dry before I made myself a little bed made of leaves. I made a campfire and lay down to sleep. I wasn't worried about ambushes anymore.
After living in a cave maze while hostile moles could be bursting through the walls at any moment, my sense of danger easily warned me from hostile enemies.
It was quite fascinating to realize how much my body was aware of. I could be in a deep sleep and still instantly wake up battle-ready.
Additionally, with a power level of 580, I was already confident of escaping even the strongest creature on this planet. I could just detonate the surroundings and then escape in between the debris.
Well, if my opponent had ki sense there wasn't much I could do, but I could play hide and seek with any other creature.
All in all, I was quite satisfied with my progress. Of course, my progress probably could have been even better if I had a master of ki to teach me but having an instinctual affinity to it would have to do for now.
Because there were just so goddamn many moles, the main progress of ki attacks I had was with simultaneous attacks. Releasing a ki attack that would divide into multiple smaller ones was quite the effective crowd control.
Even if they were only left in a daze, it would be enough to take out one or two of my opponents. Though that won't be very helpful in the future. I would have to invent some heavy attacks for the stronger opponents that I will have to face in the future.
As I thought about the soonest enemy, I might face, I remembered that King Cold didn't give the Saiyan race to Frieza yet, maybe I will progress fast enough I might be able to just kill the Cold family before the Saiyan race goes extinct.
At the very least, I will just use the dragon balls to rescue my parents or maybe some other Saiyans too. I might have to be careful with rescuing the other Saiyans, but if I was strong enough, they will have no choice but listen to me.
Speaking of getting stronger fast, I also felt that another Zenkai would push me even further than the one before. It was like my body was stacking up for the next big increase. It wouldn't surprise me if my strength increased well into the thousands.
Either way, I had already increased my power level by almost 500 in a matter of three months, so even if I wanted to complain I couldn't. In fact, I would be able to qualify as a low-class warrior soon.
Right now, I was no different from the future infiltration baby that my Saiyan parents had heard a plan about. Currently, a baby would be identified to belong to a class according to their power level at birth, but everyone could be promoted as long as their power level reached a certain threshold.
According to the ranks that I remembered from my Saiyan memories, everything between 1.000 and 2.000 pl, were low-class warriors, 2.000 to 10.000 pl were mid-class warriors, and everyone above was part of the elites of which of course only the Vegeta duo would canonically belong to.
As long as my power level exceeded that of King Vegeta and therefore belonged to the elite, the other Saiyans would probably welcome me being in charge.
…
After sleeping for the rest of the night, I got up shortly after the sun had risen. I quickly hunted myself breakfast before I flew up and started flying in a random direction that wouldn't lead me back to the jungle.
I wanted to explore this planet even if it was only a crude overlook. I just leisurely flew through the air at a steady speed while sensing for any high-power levels. I knew that it would only get more difficult to find suitable opponents the higher my strength rose, so I wouldn't shy away from any opportunity that I would get.
As for a little vacation to calm my mind, fighting once or twice a day was already much more relaxed than being prepared for ambushes the entire night only to battle hours upon hours every day.
Though I promised myself that days before the next full moon, I would relax like I had never before on this planet. Just to be at the most relaxed mindset before transforming into a giant irritable ape again.
As I flew further in the direction I chose, I noticed that the surroundings were getting colder, and the vegetation receded somewhat. It didn't take long until I noticed the first traces of snow on the distant mountains.
It was quite a beautiful sight, comparable to only a few views I had seen back on earth. The environment in general was much more enjoyable here. The air was clean, the water and ground were devoid of trash, and the trees were untouched by civilization.
If one ignored the raging beasts that wanted to kill you, it was quite the peaceful experience to live here. Though for me the ferocious beasts were a plus, which was just my Saiyan physiology messing with my worldview.
*SQUEEEAAK*
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. A high-pitched squeak sounded out from a close-by mountain, followed by a shadow that headed towards me at a high speed. I felt that its strength was above mine, but this didn't mean much, did it?
I couldn't help but anticipate its arrival. No doubt a feral smile had formed on my face as I looked at the incoming assailant.
------------------------------
A/N: Hello there.
I had received some comments asking about the universe that the mc is currently in. The mc obviously thinks that he is in the Dragon Ball Universe and therefore plans accordingly. However, that doesn't mean he is in the DB Universe.
I guess you guys have read the synopsis and the novel's title and have figured that he might not be where he is, and you would be correct with that assessment.
In one of the replies, I have mentioned that he is indeed in the DC Universe.
In retrospect, it was something I shouldn't have clarified. It kind of defeats the point of being ambiguous with anything inside the novel if I reveal the answer in the comments, which is why any questions about future settings will not be answered at all.
It is just a way to not spoil others that would rather not know and for me to be left with some wriggle room if I decided to scrap an idea or something.
Of course, if I had already mentioned it but it wasn't understandable, I have no problem in clarifying or add some thoughts to it that would have otherwise not been included.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and have an okay day.