Dragon Ball Z: The Beast Within - CH27

[Escarot POV]

I woke up to the same pitch-black nothingness as before.

It took me a few seconds of blinking, thinking I was still asleep to remember where I was. The planet that despite having multiple suns, was incredibly cold, and covered in seemingly endless darkness. This place was weird.

Even after a good night’s rest, I could feel my body tensing automatically as I looked around at the darkness, expecting something to jump out of the dark.

Yawning, I stretched my senses out, feeling for those ki signatures I’d picked up last night. Still there. A few more than before, but still distant. Still weak. They hadn’t moved much toward us, which was good news… probably.

I didn’t know what to make of them yet.

After all, even now, I couldn’t be sure what I was sensing.

Animals? People? Beasts? Ki was hard to read when it was this low, and considering the messed-up nature of this place, whatever lived here might have a whole bag of weird tricks ready to go.

Hell, they might even be suppressing their power entirely. Wouldn’t be the first time someone played possum in the Dragon Ball universe. Besides, it wound’t be that bad of a tactic for a hunter to lower their energy before ambushing their prey.

Not everyone had to be a fighter. I’d imagine some creatures in this vast universe would rather go for the kill instead of a fight.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, I sat up, stretching my arms overhead, my muscles popping lightly. My tail lazily curled around my waist, flicking now and then.

I kept my breathing even, adapting to the heavy, cold air. It wasn’t so cold that it was dangerous, but it was cold enough to be annoying when awake.

I could hear Okara waking up nearby — a loud yawn, followed by the rustle of her armor as she stretched out.

"Damn…" she muttered. "Is it me, or is it somehow darker in the morning?"

She paused.

"Wait—" her voice sharpened a bit. "Is it morning? Or night? This place is messing with my head."

Now that was a fair question.

“No clue,” I replied.

I felt fine. Rested. Alert. But hell if I could tell what time it was by looking around. The blackness hadn’t changed at all. No sunrise. No shift in the air. No nothing.

The entire place felt exactly as it had felt yesterday.

"It's morning," Garlik’s voice called out from a few meters away. His face glowed faintly under the light of his datapad. "Around… three hours and twenty minutes before midday — or what would be midday here. I checked the planet’s data again just to be sure."

He tapped something on his pad, his eyes flickering between readings.

"I also did a few more scans while you two were sleeping. There’s something... strange going on with the atmosphere," he said. "The suns are working fine. Standard G-type stars. But something happens to the light when it hits the planet’s surface. It's being absorbed or... distorted somehow."

Not sure he needed all the science research to figure that out. But whatever makes him happy.

"Don't worry about it," I said, waving him off. "I'm not losing any sleep over it."

Sure, it was unsettling. Besides, I kind of liked weird, weird was good, weird was nice, weird was the kind of thing every young saiyan needed for their training.

"But hey, if it bugs you that much, feel free to figure it out while I beat my body to a pulp training," I added with a grin.

"HELL YEAH!" Okara roared, her ki flaring up in a sharp burst that lit up the nearby rocks for half a second before fading again.

I chuckled, already feeling the itch to start moving, to start working, to start fighting something.

"That's the spirit, my young padawan," I said, smirking.

There was a long pause.

Then:

"THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME?!" Okara barked, looking personally insulted even though she had no idea what I was referencing.

I snickered.

"Nothing important," I said casually.

"Was that an insult?" she pressed, fists clenched like she was ready to throw hands.

"In some cultures, it’s a term of endearment."

Garlik snorted quietly from his spot. "Don’t encourage her, sir."

"Let me have my fun."

Okara huffed, crossing her arms with a heavy thud of her boots against the ground. “I will pretend it was a compliment.”

I tilted my head, scanning the horizon again — not that it helped. Same endless dark… I had a feeling we would crash into the terrain more than not before we adapted to this place.

"Alright… We’ll split training into sections," I said, falling into leadership/teacher mode. "Strength, endurance, ki control, lunch."

“It’s going to be hard sparring against you if I can’t see you,” Okara replied, before adding with an excited tone. “I like it.”

"Exactly," I said, nodding to myself. "This place screws with our senses. So, we’ll train against it. Turn a weakness into a strength."

“Ready when you are,” Okara replied, cracking her neck. “I really need the training with my ki sensing and the sooner I get a jump on that, the sooner I’ll be kicking your ass!”

Garlik finished packing up his scanner and stood. "Fight junkies… While you beat Okara, sir, I’ll focus on maintaining the ships and gathering more data," he said dryly.

"Works for me," I said, stretching my arms again.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, jackass,” Okara barked at him.

“He’s being realistic, can’t fault him for that,” I replied.

“That’s it! I’m biting your tail the first chance I get!” Okara growled, her power increasing.

"Just for that, you don’t get seconds of whatever I cook today," I said, cracking my knuckles.

—-----------------------------------------------------

Without wasting any more time, Okara launched herself at me, screaming, “Die!” and I could almost picture a wild grin on her face as she crossed the distance between us in a blink.

I didn’t move.

Not at first.

I waited until she was within striking range, her fist pulling back, ki flaring around her knuckles. I could feel the air crackle around her punch as she threw it forward with all the force she could muster.

And then, I simply leaned to the side.

Her fist missed, the force of it stirring my hair slightly as it sailed past. Before she could even react, I shifted around her and tapped the back of her head with two fingers.

"Dead," I said casually.

Okara stumbled forward, growling low in her throat as she spun around to face me. "I wasn’t ready!"

"You screamed your attack like a B-grade fighter," I said, smirking. "Be glad I’m not actually trying."

"Then stop holding back and fight me properly!"

I snorted. "You need to learn, and for that, I need to hold back."

She growled, her ki flaring again, brighter this time. Determined. Stubborn.

Good.

Without waiting for another invitation, she charged again, this time trying to suppress her energy slightly, trying to move without blatantly flaring up before attacking.

Better.

But not enough.

I could still read her movements coming a mile away. She had grown a lot, but she was still predictable. Her every step, every flex of muscle, every bit of intent she had, was simply broadcasted like a beacon to me, and anyone who could read energy.

Still, she was leagues above her starting point.

I closed my eyes. Dodging a few strikes, before slapping a ki blast she had hurled my way to the side.

Maybe what she needed was what Nail had given me during our training.

In his own way, he had guided me, explaining the art of sensing the world without sight. Feeling the rhythm of movement. The flow of power, rather than the flash of it.

Okara’s fist came at me again.

I dodged easily, sliding to the side.

Another punch. A follow-up kick.

“STOP DODGING!!”

I avoided both with minimal movement. Realizing Okara’s main problem.

There was a lag in her movements.

Every time I shifted position, I could feel it… Okara’s energy locked onto where I was, not where I was going. She would sense me, aim, then attack—but by the time the attack came, I was already gone.

It was like she was always half a second behind me.

"You are using Ki sensing like a scouter," I said, ducking another punch. "It should be as natural as breathing."

"Am not!" she snapped, throwing a ki blast blindly into the dark.

I side-stepped it without even trying.

"You are," I said, flicking her forehead with a finger as she overextended. She stumbled back, rubbing the spot with a glower.

"You’re locking onto where I was, not where I’m going. Sensing energy isn’t about finding a dot on a map and chasing it. You shouldn’t have to lock onto me so often, you should be able to know where I am; at all times."

Okara threw her arms up. "That’s easier said than done, genius!"

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, no one said it’d be easy." Though, I don’t recall struggling with this part. Once I started sensing energy, the rest came relatively easy, I think.

She muttered something very insulting under her breath.

“Just… don’t think, this is all about instinct.”

Okara rushed again, pushing herself harder this time.

Her movements were sharper now. More fluid. She wasn’t thinking as much—just moving, reacting on instinct.

I let her get closer this time.

Her fist grazed my cheek.

Progress.

Still, she was overcommitting. Her body tensed too much before each strike, her energy was telegraphing her movements like flashing neon signs that screamed: Dodge!

I ducked low, sweeping her legs out from under her with my tail. She hit the ground with a grunt, the impact rattling through the cold rocks beneath us.

She was tough, though. She popped back up fast, teeth clenched, fire in her eyes.

"Again!" she barked.

I grinned.

"Good. That’s the attitude."

She came at me again, and again, and again. And I kept dodging, countering lightly, forcing her to adapt without outright beating her down.

Every mistake she made, I tried to point it out.

Every hesitation, I exploited it. So that she wouldn’t do that in a real battle.

Every wrong read of my ki, I punished her with a flick, a shove, a trip, a slap. Nothing serious. Just enough to make her feel the consequences and get her angry.

"You’re focusing on the pressure of my ki," I said, catching her wrist mid-punch. "But you’re ignoring everything else. You should be able to feel my intent before my body moves."

Okara struggled against my grip, then tried to knee me.

I caught that too, spinning her and tossing her away with a casual flick of my arm. She landed on her feet, sliding back.

"Intent?" she asked, breathing heavily.

"Yeah," I said. "Ki isn’t just energy. Its thought. Emotion. You can feel when someone wants to hit you or kill you. You have to read it, not just see it."

She stared at me for a second, then nodded slowly.

"Again," she said.

I smirked.

We kept going like that, trading blow after blow, her attacking and me dodging, guiding her, pushing her limits.

Little by little, her reactions began to become sharper, as her lag got smaller, and the hits got closer.

Not close enough to actually land. Or do any damage if they ever did land, but enough to show some real improvement. Enough that I didn’t need to fake effort dodging anymore.

In the back of my mind, I felt the planet’s distant ki signatures, most of them remained unmoving. But there were a few signatures, moving towards our location.

That didn’t feel like a coincidence.

“Dodge this!” Okara screamed in a frenzy, releasing a massive wave of ki my way.

I sidestepped the attack, wondering how to proceed if the locals were not friendly. My Saiyan instincts told me to proceed with extreme prejudice, but that didn’t seem very diplomatic of me.

I was on their planet after all.

I guess it would all depend on their approach. I was a reasonable guy.