[Zyleth's POV]
"How... How did you just...?" Lila asked as she stared at the perfectly circular hole in the mountain, absolutely shocked by what just happened.
"I think I need to reign it in a little..." I muttered with a slight chuckle.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised as well.
Not because of the mountain, no, the mountain itself was inconsequential. I can blow up multiple planets at once for Kai sake. But the fact that my power grew so substantially in such a short amount of time that I couldn't even fully control it was amazing to me.
Sure, my Super Saiyan form eclipsed my current base even before my potential was unleashed, so I was used to higher levels than even this. But I never really got used to holding back in my base form.
Cooler and I trained every day for eight years, so I never had a reason to not go all out against him. Plus our sparring sessions were usually in space. There was not really any collateral damage to be spoken of besides a few asteroids and the occasional passing comet.
...And the occasional planet, but we don't talk about that...
"You... Were you holding back on Namek?" Lila asks, looking from the mountain towards me.
"No." I answered, shaking my head. "I just... got a gift from a friend."
Her eyes narrow and she says, "Explain."
Yeah, I expected that wouldn't be enough for her to just leave it. And honestly, fair enough, I wouldn't leave it at that either if someone said it to me.
"Remember when I made that wish for Bahamut to return Guru back to his prime?" I asked.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" She asks, confused as to why I brought it up.
"Long story short, Guru can make you stronger by pulling out your dormant potential. He couldn't do that for me when I first arrived because the power I had laying dormant was too much and he was too old, so I made him younger so that he could bring it out." I said, giving a short summary of what I did and why I did it.
She nods her head slowly, her mind still trying to grasp everything I told her before she eventually replies with, "So... what I thought was a completely selfless and kind act on your end was instead an entirely selfish attempt to gain even more power?"
"To be fair, I never said that I was doing it out of the kindness of my heart." I retort, shrugging my shoulders dismissively.
"Yes, but you didn't correct me when I praised you either." She pointed out.
"Course not. What kind of man would correct a beautiful woman gushing about him." I said with a small scoff.
What I was hoping with that comment was for her to start blushing and stammering like every other anime girl who gets flirted with. Instead what happens is she just stared at me with a blank expression, not at all swayed by my compliments.
Anime girls being easy my ass...
"Really? Again with the judgemental stare?" I asked, to which she just continued to stare at me with her unamused expression.
Alright, again, fair enough.
"So when you left for Namek again yesterday, it wasn't to check up on the Grand Elder, but instead for you to have him make you even more ridiculous than you were before?" She asks, looking at me with a raised brow.
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." I nod shamelessly.
Lila just stares at me for a few seconds before shaking her head and muttering, "I don't even know why I bother trying to keep up with all of these things that you're doing..."
"It's probably best to just trust the process." I respond in totally nonchalant manner.
"Yes, because your process is not even a process. It's just plain selfishness and manipulation." She replied, looking at me like I'm some sort of criminal.
Well, I mean, I kinda am one, but not really. Let's be real, am I really a criminal for following the orders of the Emperor of the Universe whilst I was integrated within their ranks?
If anything it just makes me a soldier, and good soldiers follow orders, damnit!
"It's gotten me this far. And it's not pure selfishness. I did revive you, didn't I?" I pointed out to her.
"Only because you needed a teacher." She retorts.
"Hey, you were fully informed when you accepted my offer! You're free to leave anytime you want, I'm not holding you hostage!" I exclaimed, feeling a strange case of deja vu for some odd reason.
"Putting your selfish motives aside." She said, waving her hand dismissively, not even acknowledging my last statement. "How strong are you now?"
Instead of telling her, I might as well just show her. It's much easier that way anyway.
"HRRAAAAAGH!" I yell as I let all my power out, causing the wind to pick up.
Feeling my power rising, her eyebrows shoot up and her eyes go as wide as saucers before I quickly reel my power back in.
"About that strong." I said her, shrugging my shoulders as if it was no big deal.
Her face doesn't change and it takes a bit for her to pull herself together.
"Are all Saiyans as ridiculous or are you just a unique type of basket case?" She asks, seemingly fed up with all the surprises.
"Eh, I'd like to think I'm special." I responded.
"Of course you do..." She muttered under her breath.
Thinking back on the series, no one really comes to mind.
Broly maybe?
Although given that Astral said my ability to stack Evil Saiyan on my transformations puts me in the same league, he's probably not anymore thanks to my overwhelming base power.
"Although there is one that comes to mind..." I muttered.
"Of course there is, because the universe just needs two..." She says, the tone of her voice shifting to one of tired acceptance. "Who would that be?"
Cumber.
Again, the man was just ridiculous.
"He's dead. You don't need to worry about him. But he could probably kick my ass even in that Saiyan God form I showed you." I told her.
Actually it would probably only make him kick my ass harder. That guy did NOT like seeing that form.
"How?!" She asked, this time the disbelief was just blatant. "Does he have the same forms as you?"
"Oh no, he has more." I replied.
"I'm sorry, more?!" She exclaimed.
I just nodded my head.
Currently, I can transform, at will, into Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God, and Evil Saiyan. Although that last one I still can't control yet.
Cumber has Evil Saiyan and all the levels of Super Saiyan except for 4, which puts him ahead of me by one. Unless you're counting the Evil Super Saiyan forms, making the count seven, putting him ahead by four.
"Just how many different colors of hair dye do you people have?!" She asked.
Oh god, that's gonna actually take some time, I have to actually put my mind to this...
"Well, they don't all have different color hair. But depending on how you count it, it's either... fourteen or... twenty-five...? No, twenty-seven..." I said after thinking about it for a decent while, using my fingers to keep track. "Yeah, twenty-seven."
She stares at me for a while, almost wanting to outright deny my words, before she suddenly grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me alongside her as she marched off.
"What the-- Where are we going??" I asked, wondering why she suddenly started treating me like I was some sort of dog.
"Back to the cave!" She yelled out angrily.
"Why?!" I asked.
"So you can explain to me what kind of freaks you and the rest of your species are!"
[Word Count: 1,321.]