Chapter 7: Let Me Help You
After dinner, Yuujin cleaned up the dishes and table, then stepped outside to the grassy area in front of the house, preparing for his daily training as usual.
This planet was about to be destroyed by Frieza, and Yuujin felt immense pressure in his heart.
Thus, he decided to increase his training load tonight, hoping to release some of the frustration in his chest.
One-handed push-ups, 6,000 per hand!
Sit-ups, 6,000 times!
Jump squats, 6,000 times!
Horse stance with punches, 12,000 times!
After completing all these exercises, Yuujin was utterly exhausted, lying on the ground panting heavily.
After resting for a while, Yuujin got up, intending to head back inside to shower and then sleep.
However, to his surprise, Seripa was leaning against the upstairs window, seemingly watching him the whole time.
"Kid, you're just a failure without even a tail. Do you think doing such pointless things will make you stronger?"
Seripa mocked him openly from above, her disdain clear. In her eyes, Yuujin was completely wasting his time.
"I will become strong," Yuujin responded calmly and seriously, staring directly at Seripa.
Annoyed by Yuujin's composed reaction, Seripa's expression turned playful as if she had thought of something.
"If you want to get stronger so badly, let me help you."
"Help me? How?"
Yuujin frowned and became instantly alert.
Although they lived together, and Seripa had been the one to rescue him from a pile of trash, Yuujin knew well enough about her malicious nature.
Like other Saiyans, she was a battle-hungry, cold-hearted, and bloodthirsty warrior!
For someone like her to suddenly offer help, it was obvious she wasn't being sincere.
"You should know, we Saiyans are a warrior race born for battle. The more we fight, the stronger we become. Every time we recover from severe injuries on the verge of death, our power increases dramatically."
"As long as you trust me, let me beat you within an inch of your life, and then heal you. You'll surely become much stronger in no time."
Seripa's voice was alluring, as if she was truly thinking of Yuujin's best interests.
But after hearing her words, Yuujin's expression turned cold, and he refused without hesitation.
"No thanks, I'll train on my own."
Seripa was clearly not expecting such a straightforward rejection, and her expression stiffened.
"Tch, boring little brat!"
She clicked her tongue and slammed the window shut.
Standing in the grass, Yuujin's face darkened.
He wasn't worried that Seripa was trying to trick him with this suggestion, planning to "accidentally" kill him. If she truly wanted to kill Yuujin, she wouldn't need to go through such trouble. A simple energy blast would have blown him to pieces, and no one would come after her for it.
The real reason Yuujin rejected her was that she never had good intentions from the start!
It's true that Saiyans become stronger through battles, and recovering from near-death experiences boosts their power significantly.
In the original Dragon Ball, Vegeta, when he first came to Earth looking for the Dragon Balls, had a battle power of only 18,000. After losing to Goku and barely escaping death, his power rose to 24,000. Later, after being defeated by Frieza's subordinate Zarbon and healed, his power increased to 30,000.
So far, this was all reasonable. Vegeta's power increased by 6,000 points twice, roughly one-third and one-fourth of his original strength. But after that, things got out of hand.
The third time Vegeta was severely injured was during his fight with Recoome of the Ginyu Force. After eating a Senzu Bean and recovering, his battle power skyrocketed from 30,000 to 250,000, more than a sevenfold increase!
Later, in preparation for fighting Frieza, Vegeta purposely allowed Krillin to wound him, then ate another Senzu Bean and recovered, and this time his power surged from 250,000 to 2.5 million, a tenfold increase!
This was clearly a flaw in the original Dragon Ball, an unrealistic attempt to rapidly boost Vegeta's strength. If every Saiyan could increase their power like this, they would have created a race of super warriors with power levels in the billions long ago, and Frieza would never have wiped them out!
In this parallel universe, which is based on the Dragon Ball original, Saiyans still have the trait of gaining strength after recovering from near-death injuries, but it's not as exaggerated and limitless as in the original story.
Based on long-standing data, a Saiyan warrior's power can increase by about 50% after the first near-death recovery, by 33% after the second, and by 25% after the third. After that, the power boost becomes much less significant, even with more near-death recoveries.
With this limitation in place, most Saiyans don't use this method to forcefully increase their power. They usually wait until their strength has reached a plateau before attempting it.
It's simple math. If your battle power is only 100, then using this method three times would raise your power to 150, 200, and 250, respectively, for a total increase of 150 points.
But if your base power is 10,000, then using this method three times would give you an increase of 15,000 points. Even the not-so-bright Saiyans can do this basic calculation!
That's why Yuujin thought Seripa had ulterior motives and rejected her offer outright.
With his current battle power of 18, even using this method would only raise it to 45, which wouldn't change the situation at all. He would still be a weakling, and worse, he'd waste three invaluable opportunities to grow stronger.
On the other hand, if he waited until he became truly powerful and then used this method, the gains would be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than what he could achieve now!
Seripa wasn't intentionally trying to harm Yuujin—she probably just found the idea amusing. But if Yuujin had foolishly jumped into the trap, that nasty woman would've been more than happy to give him a push!
Back inside, Yuujin took a shower, set his alarm as usual, and went to sleep.
The next few days would be critical, deciding his fate. He still had too many things to do...
To be continued...
Author Notes: When you think about it, the Saiyan trait of increasing battle power after recovering from severe injuries is even more ridiculous than their transformation ability. When Vegeta fought Frieza, his power skyrocketed by millions in just a day, which makes his earlier life seem like a complete waste. Perhaps because this ability was so overpowered, it was rarely emphasized in Dragon Ball Z after the Frieza saga. Otherwise, fighting Cell and Buu wouldn't have been so troublesome. Therefore, in this novel's 13th universe, I've added limitations to this trait, unlike the craziness of Universe 7.