After greeting each other, Akira and the Ox King stared at each other. Although they were both smiling gently, they were analyzing each other.
Akira could better sense the strength of the man in front of him, and even though he couldn't pinpoint it exactly, he guessed that the Ox King had twice his current strength.
'He's never been shown much in the anime, but just with his strength and experience alone, that already puts him far ahead of my current self... Well, just give me a few more days and I'll reach his level!' Akira thought, as he imagined his next animal hunt.
The Ox King had not trained his Ki control, always focusing on his physical strength, largely due to a lack of knowledge, which made him not have a sharp enough vision to sense Ki. But he was still someone with decades of experience, which gave him a sharp instinct.
He couldn't tell how strong Akira was, but he knew that the young man was far above normal people and even most martial artists. In his mind he had defined Akira as a martial arts prodigy, even though he had never seen him practice.
While this small exchange of analysis was happening, Chi-Chi who was leaning on her father, finally took a step forward, still looking at Akira with her red face. The girl was wearing a white cotton shirt, with pink sweatpants.
"I-It's a pleasure to meet you... Akira..." Her voice filled with shyness sounded, as her eyes repeatedly escaped his gaze.
The Ox King smiled, then his hand gently rested on Chi-Chi's back, as his gaze passed over her and stopped on Akira "You already seem to know her, but this is Chi-Chi, my precious daughter! She will be turning 14 this year. I wonder how old you are, young man?"
Akira's gaze had a sincere smile on his face as he said "I turned 18 this year" His gaze slowly returned to Chi-Chi "I'm glad to meet you too"
A shy smile appeared on the girl's face as she remained silent, unable to say a single word.
The Ox King who had his own interest in getting to know this interesting young man, coupled with the fact that his daughter also seemed to admire the boy's appearance, wanted to form a good relationship with him "Do you want to come in and eat something? The atmosphere inside is better for us to talk" His deep voice sounded sympathetic.
Hearing the invitation, Akira's smile intensified slightly. Chi-Chi was very excited to hear that as well, "Daddy's right, it's really hot outside, let's go in!"
A drop of sweat could be seen running down the girl's forehead, not strange given the huge burning mountain beside them.
Akira nodded his head "Well, if it's not too much trouble, I'll be happy to come in"
...
Akira's plan had gone very well, he had created a simple story, which would not be at all difficult to believe and even if one day someone suspected, they would never be able to discover the truth.
With the three of them sitting at the dinner table, Akira drank some coffee while telling his made-up story.
His made-up story was quite simple. He was born in a small, unnamed village. After living a simple life for 16 years, he discovered his talent for martial arts, so he set out to train, wandering the world for the past two years. He said he was an orphan, so he had no family to return to.
His white lies wouldn't hurt anyone, so he told them as if they were the pure truth. And since father and daughter couldn't even imagine the truth, they completely believed every word.
Chi-Chi was a little impressed by the story, although simple and short, Akira's fake life seemed exciting. King Ox thought it was amazing that the young man had never had a master.
The Ox-King himself had spent many years training with Master Roshi, and knew how important it was to him. Even though he didn't know Akira's full strength, he knew that he wouldn't be able to match him at the same age, much less with just two years of self-taught training.
How shocked he would be if he knew the truth, that the boy in front of him hadn't even trained for a week yet.
"Yeah... Akira doesn't have anywhere to stay, right?" Chi-Chi asked with her face reddening after hearing everything.
Without waiting for a response from Akira himself, the girl looked at her father, with a pleading expression "Can he spend some time at our house, daddy?"
Being stared at by his daughter's bright eyes, the Ox King knew there was no way he could refuse. He himself saw no problem with it, so all that mattered was knowing the young man's own opinion.
"Akira, if you want, you can spend a few days with us" His voice carried a slight questioning tone.
A smile appeared on Akira's face "I appreciate your kindness, it will be nice to spend some time here!"
Chi-Chi almost jumped in her chair with joy as she looked at Akira's handsome face "For your first day here, I'll make dinner this time! You'll like it, I promise!"
A slight sign of surprise appeared in Akira's gaze. "Have you learned how to cook yet?"
Akira himself only knew how to cook very basic things, so he would hardly risk making dinner. Although it wasn't anything out of this world, it was still surprising to him that a 13-year-old girl could already cook.
"Of course I can cook!" Chi-Chi's voice sounded a bit proud.
...
The dinner prepared by Chi-Chi was pleasant, although it was not the best food he had ever tasted, it was still better than the food he prepared himself.
When he complimented the girl on the food, she blushed instantly, very happy to have been recognized by Akira.
It was cute to see how Chi-Chi was acting in his presence, it was evident that the girl had made him her first crush. Akira was satisfied, figuring that this had already secured his future.
After dinner, they gave him a futon to sleep on in the living room, but he didn't intend to sleep any time soon.
With his special ability he had gained a lot of strength, that was exciting, but that didn't give him everything. Even if he was currently more advanced than Goku in strength and Ki control, that wouldn't be true forever.
To ensure that he would always be the strongest, Akira couldn't leave everything in the hands of his special ability, he had to train as well.
While the Ox King snored loudly in his room and Chi-Chi dreamed of Akira in hers, he sat on the futon and began to practice his Ki control.
The hours passed slowly without Akira's mind losing focus, as he made the Ki move in his body, becoming more and more familiar with it. This process was far from fast, even with all its advantages.
Because it was still at the beginning of its journey, its evolution was more evident, like the rapid growth of a baby.
When sleep finally began to take hold of him, Akira laid down on the futon and let himself fall asleep.
...
With the large burning mountain nearby, it was difficult to notice the sunrise, which was happening at this moment.
"Akira! Come here! I'll show you something!" Chi-Chi's sweet, childish voice rang out in a cry, as the girl waved in the distance.
Not far behind the girl, Akira followed in long strides, but without running. On his body was a new shirt covering his upper part.
'This must be the clothes of someone who tried to steal the Ox King's treasures...' Akira looked at his new outfit with a smile on the corner of his mouth.
The white shirt he wore was very close to his body, revealing his muscles. You didn't even have to think about it to realize that this shirt never belonged to the Ox King or Chi-Chi, so it could only have come from someone else.
Over the past 10 years, in addition to protecting his ancient treasures, which are trapped in his castle because of the flames, the Ox King has also acquired some more, taking what the thieves ended up bringing with them.
Although he had only obtained a few gems, he had obtained a lot of capsules. Many of the capsules were vehicles, but there were also houses and everything else, it was in one of these capsules where he found clothes that fit Akira.
Akira actually got a set of capsules, one with a small house, one with a car and one with a trunk full of clothes.
He hadn't asked for any of this, but he felt grateful and received it as gifts. Having a house that he could carry in his pocket was quite useful.
A few minutes of walking, following Chi-Chi, they both came to a small lake, not far from Mount Frypan. This lake had almost crystal clear water, and a few trees surrounded it.
Chi-Chi turned her excited face to Akira, then said "I love coming here with my dad, we have picnics under that tree over there!" She then points to a tree right next to the water.
The heat from the burning mountain was much milder here, creating a very pleasant climate to spend the day, both on the lawn and in the lake.
As a gentle wind blew past them, causing Chi-Chi's long hair to sway, Akira smiled and said "It looks like a pretty nice place. Does you and your father often swim in that lake?"
Chi-Chi lets out a light laugh "Yeah, but that lake is too shallow for Daddy!"
The lake became deeper as one approached its center, but the maximum depth was barely 2 meters.
Akira chuckled, imagining the situation, but let the matter drop. His eyes stretched out into the distance, a calm expression on his face.
"Do you want to swim, Akira?" The girl's voice rang out softly, drawing his attention back "It's still early, but because of the mountain flames, the water is always at a good temperature" She explained.
"Maybe later" Akira replied without thinking much "I want to train a little first... Do you know where there are a lot of wild animals?" He asked.
A slight sign of sadness appeared on the girl's face, but she soon put on a thoughtful expression and said "Because of the fire on the mountain, most animals stay away from here, but there is a forest in that direction, there are many dinosaurs there" She said, pointing to a direction opposite the burning mountain.
Even though it was only for a moment, Akira noticed the girl's sadness 'She's so cute, getting sad because I don't play with her!' He was smiling without even noticing.
Akira forgot for a moment about the future and how Chi-Chi would be a beautiful woman, and just looked at her like a little girl wanting to play.
"Do you want to go with me?" He asked, with a slight smile.
Chi-Chi's eyes lit up, as a surprised and excited expression appeared on her face "I won't get in your way? I want to!"
Akira patted her head, ruffling her hair slightly "Then let's go tell your father"