Chapter 2

Foraging was hazardous as all Hell in the Jungle of Suirpalam, as I found out almost immediately. I'd been at this for maybe a half an hour, grabbing a handful of fruits that were probably not poisonous, judging by how some of the local herbivores were munching on some of them when my scouter beeped again. Three Power Levels were rapidly approaching from the east, one at twenty-five, one at thirty-three, and one at thirty-five. While I could probably take them, there was no real need to risk yet another injury that would require even more of my Attack Pod's extremely limited supply of Aerosolized Healing Liquid to heal.

I immediately stopped my current task, which was to say that I paused gathering a handful of purple, peach-shaped, fruits from a bush and scurried up the nearest tree. As I did so, a trio of fast-moving, packed, reptilian, Predators came rushing through the undergrowth. They had the sail-backed torso of a Demetrodon, the horns, and crest of a Styracosaurus, and the spiked tail of a Stegosaurus, all with a mouthful of fangs and tusks. I was feeling fairly good about my decision to avoid tangling with things that had multiple methods to impale me when the predictable happened.

I was alerted, not by my Scouter, of course. Nothing could be that simple. But by the sizzling of the dripping, acrid, spittle that dropped down from the branches above me to sizzle into my shoulder, eating through a spot on my jumpsuit and giving me a small burn. I immediately looked up and spotted my would-be predator. It was a large, many-legged, insect, its mottled carapace shifting to camouflage itself against the branch. Its mandibles dripped with sizzling, acrid, spittle that could probably dissolve the skin off most species. As I watched it, the damned thing seemed to sense that I had spotted it and it reared up on its back half and made an ungodly screeching noise. My Scouter suddenly flared to life, numbers indicating that it had a Power Level of forty popping into view.

Then it lunged forward, dagger-like mandibles dripping with acrid spittle ready to strike, pincers seeking my throat. It was all I could do to fall backward off the branch I'd been standing on to avoid its sudden strike. My scouter had been completely useless, which likely meant that this Centipede On Steroids also had some kind of instinctual knack for hiding its power. I grumbled as I realized that this must have been how Vegeta had felt when he'd first come to Earth and gotten wrecked. I never thought I'd ever have sympathy for Vegeta, but here we are.

Regardless, the Centipede-Thing followed me, scuttling down the trunk of the tree with speed. It hit the forest floor just before I did, and lunged for my throat. I had to land in a crouch to avoid that, the many-legged body sailing over my head as it did so, all six feet of it. The Centipede-Thing crashed into the ground as I drew upon my power to form a Ki Ball in my hand. As the Centipede-Thing reared back, I thrust my palm forward and let fly with my Ki Ball. The Centipede-Thing may have been out of position, but it was so quick that it managed to spit a spray of acrid spittle at me even as my Ki Ball connected with its vulnerable array of eyes, hitting the Centipede-Thing's weak point in a flash of energy, literally blowing its brains out.

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to avoid the spray of acrid spittle. My right shoulder and pectoral muscle got spattered with a thick gobbet of it, and the jumpsuit burned away even as my skin started to dissolve and the muscle underneath was burned by the acrid chemical spittle. I roared in anger and pain, swiping away the spittle, and no small amount of bloody skin, muscle, and blood, with my makeshift spine knife. Once again, the wildlife here had utterly kicked my ass, and it was all I could do to gather a few of my dropped fruits and head back to my Attack Pod.

Once there, the Aerosolized Healing Liquid sprayed into the bloody mess that the acrid spittle had made of my shoulder and chest, working its magic as I fell asleep. I awoke another two hours later to a setting sun and a warning that I had used up a third of the available Healing Liquid in the Attack Pod's onboard tank. Grumbling at that, I decided that was enough for one day. Contenting myself with the fruit I had gathered and decided to spend the night in the Attack Pod. The fruits were good. They were pretty sweet, though, like Lychee mixed with Mango.

Before I drifted off to sleep again, I did one more self-scan. The Numbers on the Scouter flashed across my screen and when they settled, they settled at forty-two. Another Zenkai, though this one was far less dramatic than the fifteen-point jump of the last one. Seven Points, a little under half the amount I'd gained from the last jump.

My last thought before sleep once again was that Zenkais were bullshit and not a sustainable method of growth. . .

XXXX

Brother Bi'raji and Brother Zhi'yangan of the Temple of the Great Kha'zro had traveled through the night stopping at the Village of Mri'lakha in the foothills to rest and gather information on the strange omen. The Southerners there were all dark of fur and face, as their ilk was wont to be. However, this did not make them any less friendly. Indeed, the opposite was true, if anything. The Villagers were gladdened to see Senior Brothers of the Temple in the area. It meant that there were those who might be able to handle whatever it was that had crashed to the south.

Speaking with the Village Headman, an Elderly Southerner named Aki'rama whose dark brown fur had grown gray and grizzled with age, over a breakfast of Spicy Vegetable Noodle Soup and Paddy Flour Bread, the two Brothers of the Temple realized that none of the Southerners knew what had happened either. It had simply happened too quickly for anyone to ascertain anything of note about the nature of the Omen.

"Sha'jong claims to have gotten a good look, but most know he hasn't been right in the head since his Mate died last winter." Offered Headman Aki'rama.

"Poor thing never could keep himself together without Ap'ama's help. Without her, he's been twitchier than usual." Added Headman Aki'rama's wife, Lady So'kipa.

"Even so, anything you can tell us might be helpful." Remarked Brother Bi'raji.

"Are you sure? Sha'jong has claimed things that turned out to be a case of the Stars being Swallowed up by the Night Serpent before. Usually, Ap'ama was around to mitigate that, but recently? Well, I just need to ask if you really want to hear it?" Questioned Headman Aki'rama.

"Truly, anything you have heard might help." Nodded Brother Zhi'yangan.

"Well, he claimed to have seen the craft as it passed overhead." Responded Lady So'kipa.

"So it was a craft?" Queried Brother Bi'raji.

"That's what Sha'jong said. He claimed it was round, like a metal ball, yet small enough that only a single person could fit inside." Informed Headman Aki'rama.

"I see." Frowned Brother Zhi'yangan.

"Is that an issue?" Asked Lady So'kipa.

"It may be. Perhaps it would be prudent to stay close to the Village until we have assessed the situation." Advised Brother Bi'raji.

"If you think it best. I am sure two Senior Temple Brothers such as yourselves can handle whatever may come of this better than we simple rural farmers could." Agreed Headman Aki'yama.

The rest of the breakfast passed in silence. Both brothers knew what a spherical craft with a single occupant meant. After all, the Star-Farers had warned them of some of the threats that stalked the stars so they would know when they were dealing with serious threats. From the Brutish Warriors of the Khunds to the Deadly Scarabs of the Reach, from the Pirate Lord Slug and his Demon Clan to the Mercenary Galaxy Soldiers of the Hera Clan, from the Expansionist Hawkmen of the Thanagarian Empire to the Mysterious Babidi and his Majin Followers. Of these threats, one was known for sending small groups or single warriors in single-person Attack Pods. The Planet Trade Organization.

The Planet Trade Organization was the most powerful of the Arcosian Megacorporations. Ruled by the Cold Family, they sent small teams of Warriors, or sometimes lone Warriors, to depopulate worlds of sentient life, in order to sell them to the highest bidder. The Planet Trade Organization was so powerful, that they even had their own armies and worlds. The members of the Cold Family itself were all powerful enough that even the Guardians of Oa, commanders of the Green Lantern Corps, who served as the main intergalactic police force, treated them with caution.

As Brother Bi'raji and Brother Zhi'yangan mulled over what they had been told, they suddenly realized that this may indeed be an omen of ill fortune. It was not necessarily the truth, of course. This Sha'jong had been known to claim things falsely before, by the Village Headman's own admission, and even if he had seen what he had, the Planet Trade Organization wasn't the only organization to utilize spherical, single-person, Starfaring Vessels, according to the Star-Farers information. Only time would tell, however.

The pair rested in Mri'lakha for six hours before resuming their journey. The trip would take any normal person three days on foot. Brother Bi'raji, however, was stronger and faster than all but the Masters and Abbot of the Temple, while Brother Zhi'yangan could rely on the ancient sagely magics to speed his journey. It would take them only twelve more hours to arrive at the calculated crash site.

When they did, then they would see just what they were dealing with. . .

XXXX

I'd spent most of the day foraging for more food. I'd managed to kill a flying, three-legged, feathered, dinosaur thing and find some wild root vegetables and herbs that the computer of my pod claimed would be edible and was busy roasting the skinned, plucked, and cleaned corpse of the dinosaur thing, which had looked like someone had seen a picture of an Archaeopteryx and decided it needed to be half-again as big as it was and given a third leg with talons that could grip. I'd spotted the thing on a sharpened stick, dusted it with chopped herbs, and added some of the wild root vegetables, shish-ka-bob style, and was slowly watching it cook when my scouter beeped again.

Two Power Levels were approaching quickly from the North. One was at Twenty-one, roughly half my own, but the other was at fifty. I hissed as I saw the numbers resolve themselves in my scouter. Those had to be predators. Nothing in this jungle had a power level that high without being a predator. I cursed my luck. They were probably drawn by the smell of roasting meat and I was about to lose my dinner. That just figured, now, didn't it?

Maybe I could snatch up some of the wild tubers and retreat into my Attack Pod for the night? I'd lose my dinner, and would probably have to eat the tubers raw, but at least I would have something. No, there was no time. At the speed the two Predators were approaching, they'd be here in five seconds. I sighed at that, standing up and cracking my neck before putting up my dukes and resigning myself to a fight.

As I turned to face the direction my attackers were coming from, I was surprised slightly to see not predators, but two locals. Both were Mountain Dwellers, one was clad in Orange-Yellow Robes and stood a full six inches taller than the other, with thickly muscled limbs and wore a steel amulet around his neck. The other was smaller and thinner, clad in purple robes, more wiry than the other. His Amulet was made of stone inlaid with amethyst. I was unsure what the colors of the Robes and the types of amulet meant, though I was around ninety percent sure they were a pair of those Warrior Monks that the Mountain Dwellers had.

Of course, as they spotted me, their eyes went to my scouter, and then to my Attack Pod. They glared at me and I suddenly realized that I looked a lot like I was here to attack and depopulate their planet. As I realized that, the pair let off a brief burst of conversation in their unknown language. I tried to figure out what it could be but gave up on the idea, resolving to try Galactic Standard Basic. Before I could say anything, however, the one in the Orange-Yellow Robes charged me.

And at that point, all I had time for was to defend myself. . .

XXXX

Brother Bi'raji looked at the boy that the Planet Trade Organization had clearly sent. It was a Saiyan, one of the collection of Warrior Races under the heel of the Cold Family, here to attack and depopulate their world. That couldn't be more clear from the make of his Attack Pod to the Battle Scanner he wore on his face. The lack of armor was unusual, at least according to what the Star-Farers had told the Temple, but that could easily be chalked up to the heat in these Southern lands.

"A child. Truly things amongst the Stars are not as they are here. We would never send a child to war." Scowled Brother Zhi'yangan.

"Steel yourself, Brother. Defeat the invader first, worry about teaching him a better way once he is captive." Warned Brother Bi'raji.

"Right, Brother. You know me too well." Nodded Brother Zhi'yangan.

"I will test his mettle. Wait for your opening for the Spell of Slumber." Insisted Brother Bi'raji.

"Of course." Agreed Brother Zhi'yangan.

Then, Brother Bi'raji spiked his power and blasted forward as fast as his legs would carry him. The Saiyan Child just barely managed to raise his arms in a block but it was sloppy. Brother Bi'raji utilized the Circling Hand block-removing technique, flipping his hand over and around the Saiyan's blocking arm in a circular motion and swiping the arm out of the way before blasting in with a straight punch to the throat in an attempt to end this bout in a single strike. Surprisingly, the Saiyan Child threw his other hand up in a dispersing hand block. It was sloppy, but the Saiyan Child had enough power and speed to shore up his shaky technique.

Before he could so much as question how the Saiyan Child had learned such a technique, however, Brother Bi'raji was forced to kick away a leg that the Saiyan Child threw at his knee in an attempt to kick his front leg out from underneath him. The Saiyan Child's lack of sound technique was covered by his power and speed. Brother Bi'raji would have to stop worrying about holding back and giving Brother Zhi'yangan time to watch for an opening to cast his spell. It was clear to him now that doing such would only allow the Saiyan Child to press him harder than was necessary.

As the Saiyan Child launched himself forward in a series of chain punches, Brother Bi'raji dashed to the side. The Saiyan Child tried to keep up, but he was not up to the challenge with Brother Bi'raji using all of his speed and technique. A wild round kick was slapped aside even as Brother Bi'raji rushed in with a knife-hand strike to the Saiyan Child's Neck. One swift blow through the opening was all it took, rendering the Saiyan Child unconscious. The Saiyan Child fell to the ground and Brother Bi'raji wasted little time in binding his arms and legs with rope, not that he expected such bindings to hold at all.

"What happened to wait for my moment?" Questioned Brother Zhi'yangan, wryly.

"Apologies, brother. Somehow, the Saiyan Child knew enough technique to require a more direct response." Retorted Brother Bi'raji.

"What now? Surely you don't think those ropes will hold?" Queried Brother Zhi'yangan.

"No, of course not. How well-versed are you in binding spells?" Asked Brother Bi'raji.

"They aren't my primary focus, but I can perform several if you'll but step back." Nodded Brother Zhi'yangan.

Brother Bi'raji did so, and Brother Zhi'yangan began incanting the binding spell of the Fivefold Adamant Rope. Brother Bi'raji was never one for the more Sagely Arts of the Temple, but he knew enough. Enough to know that the Fivefold Adamant Rope would hold the Saiyan Child until they returned to the Temple. Just in case, however, he also had Brother Zhi'yangan keep a Spell of Slumber on standby, just in case the Saiyan Child should awaken to make a nuisance of himself before they reached the Temple.

As it would turn out, Brother Zhi'yangan only used it once, pre-emptively as the Saiyan Child began to waken after an hour on the road back. Such was the power of his mastery of the Sagely Arts that the Spell lasted the entire rest of the trip back, whereupon the Saiyan Child was placed in one of the Temple's Warded Basement Cells, unable to break out without either disrupting the warded metal door or somehow breaking out of the mountainside. Abbot Sri'kayal would speak with the Saiyan Child when he awoke.

The Saiyan Child's fate would largely be decided then. . .

XXXX

I awoke to pitch darkness without either my makeshift spike knife or Scouter. I frowned at the pain in the side of my neck that still lingered after being struck by the Mountain Dweller Monk as I woke. Somehow, the Monk had known Wing Chun and been better at it than I was by a good margin. Of course, that wasn't too hard given how my knowledge of Wing Chun largely came from my previous life. Most Saiyans were brawlers more than they were Martial Artists, and while the Royal Family and Elite-class Saiyans had their own Martial Arts, and the Mid-Class had some basic Combat Forms, nobody was teaching an Infiltration Baby any of it. After all, we were less than even the Menial Worker Class. Nobody would waste their time.

"I guess it doesn't matter now, though." I grunted, sitting up.

I couldn't see shit in the darkness, but I could deduce certain things. The cold and damp, combined with the darkness, made me think I was underground somewhere, while the hard surface, and the texture of it, said stone. I could hear the dripping of water from above me, which meant either there was a busted pipe somewhere, unlikely outside of the Royal Residences, as those were the only folks likely to have any form of indoor plumbing, or there was enough condensation from temperature variation to cause that effect. I could also smell rusty metal directly in front of me. A door of some kind, judging by how that was the only metal I could smell.

To sum up, I was somewhere underground, likely in the mountains judging by the temperatures and condensation, in a stone room with a metal door. As there wasn't a hint of any sort of goods stored in here, I could only assume one thing for where I was.

"A dungeon, then." I huffed.

It made sense, it was where you put prisoners you suspected had been sent to attack and depopulate your world if you weren't willing to kill them. To be fair to the locals, I had been sent here to do that. I had no intention of going through with it, of course, but they didn't know that. How could they, when I hadn't had a chance to say a single thing to them before they attacked me?

Footsteps echoed from outside the door and I realized that someone was on their way to see me. Would I finally get a chance to plead my case or would this be an executioner? There wasn't really any way to tell from my position. I'd just have to see what happened. As the footsteps stopped outside my cell, I heard a rhythmic muttering from outside before the door was tapped twice. As the taps on the metal rang out, something set my teeth to buzzing and the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. Magic of some kind? It was the only explanation I could think of and a smart precaution to boot.

As the door opened and light poured in, it revealed a Mountain Dweller who was so old he was starting to go bald, no mean feat for an Anthropomorphic Snow Monkey. His pink face was lined with wrinkles and he wore robes of yellow and jade green. His amulet was made of jade and gold and his eyes gazed down at me consideringly. I suddenly had the sinking feeling that this Monk was to the one who had beaten me, what that Monk was to me in terms of power.

"Can you understand me, Child?" Questioned the Elderly Monk in Galactic Standard Basic.

"I can." I confirmed.

"Brother Bi'raji tells me you are a member of an organization that attacks planets to rid them of sentient life in preparation for selling them to the highest bidder. Does he speak the truth?" Queried the Elderly Monk.

"I was." I nodded.

"Was? Curious that you would use the past tense. Do you not consider yourself one of them?" Asked the Elderly Monk.

"A Soldier of the PTO? No, I never did. I played along with their mission only so I could escape." I informed.

"Indeed? Tell me why you would do such a thing at such a young age." Demanded the Elderly Monk.

"Because there has to be more to life than living under the heel of a Tyrant's Boot. Because I was sent here to die thanks to my People's Survival of the Fittest Ideology. Because I want more out of my existence than to fight for someone who would prefer my entire race dead if it meant he could make more money that way than by keeping us around." I listed off.

"I see. Perhaps you would care to elaborate? I am sure that it would help me make a more informed decision on what is to be done with you." Pressed the Elderly Monk.

So I did. I filled him in on King Vegeta's Ideology, how the weakest Saiyans were sent on suicide missions to get rid of them as soon as was practicable, how that sort of mentality was encouraged by the Cold Family, who honestly didn't care for anything beyond their own corporate empire and the profits and territories it could bring them, and how I suspected that sooner or later, the Cold Family would get tired of keeping us around as vassals and either subjugate us harder or exterminate the entire Saiyan Race. The Elderly Monk listened intently, nodding thoughtfully as he did so, and waited for me to finish.

"You are a very odd child." Mused the Elderly Monk after I had finished.

"All Saiyans spend time in a Gestation Tank after birth. We get information downloaded into our brains by machines at the same time as our growth is accelerated by other machines. I'm biologically three years old, but chronologically? I'm a few months old." I admitted.

"And mentally older still, though I sense that has more to do with the quality of your spirit than it does with any machinery to be found out there amongst the Stars." Remarked the Elderly Monk.

"So, what's the verdict? Do I get to live?" I questioned.

"I believe so, yes. Unless you have some illness you haven't informed me of?" Queried the Elderly Monk.

"So you believe me?" I asked.

"I can see the truth of your spirit plain enough Strange One. I believe you." Nodded the Elderly Monk.

"Rugulo. My name is Rugulo." I informed.

"Is it now? I am Sri'kayal, Abbot of the Temple of the Great Kha'zro here on Wine-Fruit Mountain. Should you wish to stay, you may. Indeed I would encourage it. Learn our Arts, Brother Bi'raji tells me you have a rudimentary grounding in some of them already, though Kha'zro alone knows how. Indeed, I can sense you have power, though you clearly lack the skills to make proper use of it. Should you stay, I feel you would learn such skills." Responded the Elderly Monk, Sri'kayal.

"I'll be allowed to learn your arts? Most Temples I know of wouldn't teach such things to just anyone." I frowned.

"The Great Kha'zro calls upon his faithful to tutor those of strong spirit and open minds, that we might train guardians against the horrors of the past." Intoned Sri'kayal.

"Horrors of the past?" I wondered.

"If you stay, you will learn of them in due time. For now, perhaps a hot bath, fresh clothes, and a meal. You smell as if you have been in a steaming jungle for days without washing." Grinned Sri'kayal.

"You're not wrong." I chuckled.

The Abbot of the Temple led me out of the cell, up a flight of stairs, through a courtyard, and out into a terrace where a series of natural hot springs sat steaming on the snow-capped mountainside. After bathing, I was given a set of Orange-Yellow Robes, with a copper amulet, that I was told represented a beginner on the path to understanding of the Warrior's Path. I was also told that the Adepts of the Warrior's Path wore Saffron Robes, and Adepts of the Sage's Path wore Purple Ones, with Adepts of Both being rare enough that very few Temples had a Brother that followed both paths. When they did, though, their robes were a combination of Purple and Orange.

There were several different amulets representing each step on the path along the way to mastery. Copper first for initiates, then bronze for novices, iron for disciples, steel for elder brothers, and finally silver for masters. The Sage's Path had a similar amulet system, with wooden amulets inlaid with various gemstones. Yellow topaz for initiates, then orange citrines for novices, followed by red garnets for disciples, amethyst for elder brothers, and lapis lazuli for Masters. Gold and Jade were reserved for Grandmasters of the Warrior's Path and Sage's Path Respectively. As with the robes, followers of both paths had amulets that combined the two metals and gemstones.

As I was led to dinner, I asked if I couldn't follow both paths. That caused some debate until Abbot Sri'kayal insisted that it was all right for me to do so. When I returned to the room I was given, a fresh pair of Orange and Black Robes, and a Copper and Topaz Amulet were laid out for me next to my cot. Tomorrow, I would begin my training.

It would be the first day of a five-year stay at the Temple. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so as I said, I have a number of these pre-written. This will be the last one for today, though. I've been in and out of sleep all day and something tells me the night isn't going to be much different.

Here we see Rugulo's first meeting with something that can hide its power level, along with his first meeting with the locals leading to his first real defeat. If you can't tell, the Mountain Dwellers have a bit of a Himalayan Region thing going. What with their Martial Arts Monks, Temple Fortresses, and so on. It hasn't come up much, but the Jungle Dwellers have something of a mix of Hokkien Chinese and Yunnanese Thing going on, while the Savanna Dwellers largely have a Steppe Grassland/Central Asian thing going on. Of course, it's difficult to map alien cultures one to one, but that's a fairly close approximation.

Rugulo will be spending five or so years until his first growth spurt in the Temple. Then he'll head for one of the big cities to see if he can't barter his way onto a ship heading out toward Sector Two-Right-One-Four. The reasoning for this will be revealed at the end of the chapter. It's going to be a lot of training, which is why I'll be doing quite a bit of it via montage.

That will be coming up in the next chapter.

Stay tuned. . .