EPIC: Path of Demons and Dragons

With a little less than a half hour passing, one of the older monks at the temple ascended one of the four stages and drew everyone's attention to him with a microphone. What followed was a very brief explanation of the rules before everyone was asked to draw lots, resulting in Vahn being put in block two with the number 37.

"Number 36 and number 37, please step onto the stage!" shouted one of the monks serving as a referee.

"Looks like we're up. Good luck, you two," said Vahn, ruffling Goku's hair as the young Saiyan's number had similarly been called up to participate in the first match on the third stage.

"Alright! And good luck to you as well, Vahn...!" exclaimed Goku, smiling happily before making his way up to his stage where a nearly 240cm tall man with the burly build of a wrestler awaited.

Turning his attention to his own opponent, Vahn discovered a man with sharp blue eyes and neatly styled blonde hair standing shirtless atop the second stage in baggy blue pants and black martial arts flats.

"You're my opponent...?" questioned the man, narrowing his eyes as Vahn casually hopped onto the stage, sporting a black and grey martial arts gi with his seven-winged golden circle emblazoned on his back and the kanji for Ryu(Dragon) on his left breast. And in place of a black belt or sash, his was pure white, which, more often than not, denoted someone as being a novice in martial arts.

"Unfortunately, you're not mine..." responded Vahn, exhaling faintly from his nose as the man glowered at him and got into a strange, mantis-like pose.

"Begin...!" shouted the referee, making a cutting gesture that prompted the blonde-haired man to rush forward, shouting, "It's you who isn't my opponent!" before striking at Vahn's forehead with his fingers and thumb pressed together like a beak. Vahn permitted the strike to land, but even without his Aura of Karmic Protection activated, it barely felt as though his forehead had been tapped.

Since he didn't want to injure the man too severely, Vahn moved his left hand in what he perceived as slow motion to cup the man's exposed right side. Then, applying very slight pressure, he caused the man's body to gradually deform around his hand before sending him flying off the stage with a casual push which, to everyone else present, resembled a lighting swift smack that strangely produced no impact sound.

"T-The winner is nu-nu-number 37...." stammered the referee, taken aback by Vahn's display of power. It wasn't uncommon for people with abnormal strength or special abilities to appear at the Tenkaichi Budokai, but he had never personally witnessed someone on Vahn's level.

"Uwoooooooh...!"

Drawing the gazes of many, the opponent Goku was fighting was similarly sent out of the stage, ostensibly having lost his balance. In reality, he had been casually tapped in the calf by Goku, who, unaware of how strong he had become after Muten Roshi's training, left two dark and bloody bruises on the man's calf, reminiscent of being struck with reinforced rubber bullets at close range.

"Wow, talk about luck...!" exclaimed Krillin, waiting for a confused Goku in the crowd between the second and third stages.

"I don't think that was luck..." muttered Goku, staring at his right hand before looking up at Vahn as he approached through the crowd, which rapidly gave way as he moved through it.

Regaining his smile, Goku exclaimed, "Oh, hey! Did you already win your match as well, Vahn?"

"That's right," affirmed Vahn, offering a curt nod before shifting his gaze to Krillin and adding, "And Goku didn't win because of luck. You're both a lot stronger than nearly everyone else here.

"As if," said a bald, arrogant-looking man with dark skin and the same six-dot pattern on his forehead as Krillin.

"Wh-wh-what are you guys doing here...?" stammered Krillin, fidgeting nervously and taking a step back as the taller man approached with his shorter and fatter companion, similarly dressed as a monk with six dots on his forehead.

"That's what we should be asking you," said the taller monk, stepping forward with the intention of placing his left hand on Krillin's bald head before Vahn inserted himself between them, smiling as he stated, "These are the hallowed site of Tenkaichi Budokai, not a children's playground. If you have something to say or prove, do it with your hands and fists in the arena."

"This is the Orin Temple's business, friend. You would be wise to keep to yourself..." warned the monk, clenching his fists and approaching a little closer as if planning to bump Vahn with his chest but ultimately avoiding direct contact as he didn't want to be disqualified.

"Are you done...?" asked Vahn, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. He barely exuded any enmity, but that was evidently more than the monk could take as his eyes widened to their limits, and he fell backward, his pupils dilated and his complexion notably paler as if he had just seen a ghost.

"H-Hey! What happened!?" exclaimed the fatter monk, hurriedly kneeling at his friend's side before glaring up at Vahn, ostensibly to lash out at him before immediately freezing like a deer in headlights when the former met his gaze with a calm but disapproving gaze. From the monk's perspective, however, it was the cold gaze of a predator or an executioner, and he had the grave misfortune of being well-fed prey...

Turning away from the two monks, Vahn looked down at Goku and Krillin with a smile, suggesting, "Should we relocate somewhere less crowded? Though, with each match having a one-minute time limit, it may be better to stand here and wait."

"I'm fine with staying here," responded Goku, seemingly oblivious to what had transpired. As for Krillin, the young monk swallowed nervously before agreeing to relocate, albeit not too far, as he was called up for his match with the taller monk less than five minutes later. To his surprise, despite the taller monk's attempts to intimidate him into forfeiting, he won with a single kick...

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'Well, this is an unexpected development...' thought Vahn, sporting his characteristically relaxed expression as his third and final match pitted him against none other than Yamcha, sporting long and severely unkempt black hair and a sparse goatee. The man had never met Goku and Bulma, but since it was his dream to participate in and win the Tenkaichi Budokai, fate invariably brought the desert bandit to the venue.

"I watched your previous matches. You're strong..." remarked Yamcha, getting into a low martial stance with his hands poised like claws as he smiled confidently and asserted, "But your luck ran out when you met me. I didn't travel all this way to be eliminated in the preliminaries..."

"Begin...!" shouted the referee, making a cutting gesture with his right hand that prompted Yamcha to charge forward with superhuman speed, far beyond the average competitor present.

"Let's see how you handle my Wolf Fang Fist...!" shouted Yamcha, the illusory image of a wolf forming around him as he impacted the center of Vahn's abdomen with his hands forming the shape of a wolf's jaw. To his credit, Vahn felt the attack permeate through him as a weak shockwave, but while Yamcha had definitely exceeded the limits of ordinary humans, he was only around the level of a newly reincarnated Devil.

Seeing Vahn unmoved by his attack, Yamcha's eyes gradually widened to their limits. Fortunately, Vahn didn't immediately send him flying as he had his previous two opponents. Instead, he calmly affirmed, "Do not take this loss to heart. If you cleanse your heart and dedicate yourself completely to your training, you have the potential to become the strongest human in the world..."

Punctuating his words, Vahn casually gestured to the stairs leading up to the stage with his right hand, giving Yamcha the opportunity to depart on his feet rather than being sent flying. The raven-haired warrior frowned at this, but since his most powerful attack had barely ruffled Vahn's clothing, he understood continuing his assault would just embarrass him before the martial artists gathered. As such, he eventually took a step back, cupped his hands together, and gave Vahn a courteous bow before departing with flames of determination burning deep within his obsidian-black eyes. With that, Vahn became the first in his block to advance past the preliminaries, making him one of eight who would participate in the tournament proper...

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After a brief intermission where all the other competitors were asked to leave, Vahn found himself in a room with Goku, Krillin, Muten Roshi in his disguise as Jackie Chun, the bronze-skinned desert native, Nam, a large bipedal pteranodon with blue and yellow skin, Giran, the biohazardous human, Bacterian, and a fairly attractive woman with frilly orange hair and a petite and tight figure, Ranfan.

"Hey, handsome. Once this tournament is over, how about accompanying me back to my hotel~?" asked Ranfan, her pale lavender eyes flashing the moment she set eyes on Vahn.

"I appreciate the invitation, but I'm afraid I have a previous commitment," responded Vahn, offering a faint smile and raising his left brow slightly as Ranfan grabbed his left arm and deliberately squished her breasts against his bicep. Her figure wasn't bad, but since she dolled herself up a little too much with makeup, he wouldn't call her a natural beauty.

"If you're looking for company, young lady, I'll gladly join you," chimed in Roshi, causing Ranfan to frown and cutely conceal herself behind Vahn as she answered, "Oh, you little rogue. You're old enough to be my grandpa's grandpa. But it's good you're still energetic."

"You have no idea, missy..." hummed Roshi, caressing his white beard with a meaningful glimmer in his eyes that caused a tiny bead of sweat to form on the left side of Ranfan's face.

"Alright, can I get everyone to gather here? We're about to draw lots to determine who your opponents will be in the first round...!" exclaimed a sunglasses-wearing man in a blue suit with a red tie and combed-back blonde hair. Despite his name never being disclosed, any fan of Dragon Ball would recognize him as the spirited announcer for virtually every on-screen Tenkaichi Budokai, so he was a fairly significant character in the series.

Prompted by the man's words, everyone gathered around a monk with a large box positioned atop a stool. Then, one by one, they were called up draw lots, Vahn's being number 3, indicating he would be participating in the second match against Muten Roshi's alias, Jackie Chun.

Seeing that he would be facing Vahn in the first match, Roshi closed his eyes, exhaled a sigh, and muttered, "Well, that's that..." as he knew there was no way he could defeat Vahn in his current state. He might be able to kill him with a full-power Kamehameha, but he could sense that Vahn's Ki was superior to his in both quantity and quality. Fortunately, he had only joined the Tenkaichi Budokai to prevent Goku and Krillin from winning and developing an ego while they were barely starting their journey as martial artists. With Vahn present, there was no way either of his students would win, ultimately completing his objective, albeit at the cost of the 500,000 Zeni prize pool...

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With Krilling defeating Bacterian fairly handily after realizing he didn't have a nose, Vahn and Roshi waited for the 20x20m square arena to be decontaminated before entering as their names were called.

"Hey, look over here, Vahn! And gimme a smile and strike a pose while you're at it...!" exclaimed Bulma, positioned at the front of the standing area behind a hip-high brick wall.

Though he was a little taken aback by the sudden request, Vahn smiled and struck a pose by shedding the upper half of his gi and spreading his arms, much to the satisfaction of the few female spectators. Nearly 80% of those present were male, but that would change once the event grew in popularity and the victors began receiving movie deals and the status of global celebrities.

'Holy crap...I sometimes forget how hot he is...' thought Bulma, her face flushing and her throat tightening as she instinctively squeezed her thighs together. Fortunately for her, unlike the other thirsty women present, she didn't have to imagine what it was like to feel his warm and muscular body against her own...

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