[Zyleth's POV]
When I first saw it, the throne room seemed to have been more or less the same as was during the Super Broly movie, which honestly was not that impressive.
It was long corridor with piss poor lighting and a long red carpet on the floor, which led to stairs, decorated with gaudy gold accents to give an illusion of wealth, with the throne sitting at the very top of said stairs.
The throne itself was even less impressive, just an awkwardly proportioned chair with two small spikes sticking out the back and two longer spikes above those.
As we entered, there were multiple Saiyans standing off to the side, making sure not to stand on the precious red carpet.
Some of them were familiar to me, while most of the others weren't, but that isn't important.
What is important is that they seemed to be very strong. If I had to put a number to what I sense, I would guess that their power levels were all hovering around 5,000 to 7,000 range.
The highest power level in the room was obviously King Vegeta, who felt as though he was just barely above 10,000.
It was honestly disappointing to see. When I first met him, I honestly thought I would feel some sort of fear or something along the line of reverence to a king.
I didn't.
When I had heard a rumor that my father's power level rivaled the King, I just thought it was nothing. Then I met the King and found out for myself that the rumors are actually true. King Vegeta and Bardock's power level are almost exact the same.
It was all just disappointment on my end. And right now, I felt exactly the same as I did I couple years ago, only now on a more grander scale.
If these people surrounding the king just trained a bit, just a little, they would've been able to outshine and overthrow him. It seemed that training was really only a thing that Low-Class Saiyans did, and even they barely did any.
It almost feels weird. I have been doing my due diligence not to piss this guy off, but I will most likely grow stronger than him in the next few months. And as I look at him sitting atop his throne, I genuinely wonder why I even bother.
"No doubt you are wondering why you have been summoned." The King suddenly spoke up.
"Yes, your Majesty." I responded respectfully, bowing my head a bit.
But my personal feelings don't really matter. Power level of 10,000 or 2, he was still the King. Besides, he would be dead in a few years. A few years of mindless posturing isn't so bad when we barely have any interaction to begin with.
"First, there is something I would like to see." He said as he pulled out a Scouter and placed it on his ear.
Seeing that, I discreetly raised my power level to a decently high amount and let it stay there. The King looked directly at me and pressed down the button on the side on his Scouter. A few seconds of silence pass by before he smirks and removes it from his ear.
"Just over 7,000. You have grown well since I last saw you. Good." He praised, looking at me with the same expression I would guess a farmer would have looking at a prized pig.
Some of the other Saiyans surrounding us faces turned sheer white when they heard the number, others brows raised in surprise, and barely a handful of them seemed to have not been fazed at all.
"There's a planet that seems to be causing trouble for our standard troops. I'm sending you there in order to see if you can make the inhabitants more... amicable." He says, causing me to be more than a little confused.
Not by the order, that was self explanatory. Go there and kill everything. Standard Saiyan pratice.
What confused me was the order itself. The King ordered me to go on a mission before, but now he's sending me on a mission that had a high probability of death.
It was blatantly obvious what his intention was. He's sending me out to my death. I figured he would try something eventually, the birth of Vegeta pretty much sealed it, but I guess it was happening sooner rather than later.
"Of course, the high amount of danger that this mission poses allows for some benefits for when you ultimately return." He says.
"Benefits?" I asked, curious as to what he meant.
"Do you remember what you had requested the last time you were summoned here?" He asked, to which I nodded. "I'll grant your request and leave him under your tutelage."
As if. You had no intentions of granting it in the first place. Still, appearances and all that. I quickly kneeled down to the floor and bowed my head in "reverence".
"Your Majesty, this is too generous." I said to him.
"Nonsense. High risk should be met with a high reward." He replied, waving his hand dismissively at my response.
He motioned his head towards some of the Saiyans and they hurriedly left the throne room without so much as a peep.
"They will prepare everything for you. I suggest speaking to your father. He should have his orders by now." The King said.
That managed to make me quirk an eyebrow.
My father? What does he have to do with this?
I quickly got up and bowed my head towards the King once more before walking out of the throne room. As I walked out, I saw my father waiting for me beyond the doors.
"Looks like you are going out on your first mission, and it's a difficult one too." He said with a sigh, scratching the back of his head a bit before adding, "The King has given me orders to teach you something that should help you wipe out the inhabitants. Follow me."
Okay, now I was genuinely perplexed. I don't know what he's teaching me, but if it's helpful in any way then I have no idea what it is that the King is planning. It would be better if I went it as unprepared as possible if he wants me dead.
I followed Bardock outside to one of the docking yards and saw that there was a ship waiting for us.
"We're flying to one of the moons. What I'm going to teach you is too destructive to have you train it on Planet Vegeta." He told me.
Too dangerous? There's only one thing I can think of that's "too dangerous" to train on Planet Vegeta, and that's Oozaru.
We entered the ship flew a few minutes to one of the moons that were orbiting around Planet Vegeta. We landed at what looked like an enormously large training area, which was completely empty except for us.
"This is a training area exclusively for High-Class Saiyan children to get a handle on the Great Ape." He said, causing me some surprise.
Damn, it was Oozaru! Is he going to try and teach me how to remain in control whilst in the Great Ape transformation? This is what the King ordered him to teach me?
Now I'm second guessing my earlier assumptions. Is he not trying to have me killed? Or are the inhabitants of the planet he's sending me to so strong that they surpass my power even as a Great Ape?
"As you know, Saiyans are able to transform into a Great Ape when we stare at the moon that's orbiting a planet, but the planet you're going to doesn't have a moon." He explained.
He motioned for me to stay where I was before walking towards the center of the training area.
"The technique I'm about to show you will help with that little problem." He said as he held out his hand and a white sphere appeared in his palm.
Ah, thats nostalgic.
I remember Vegeta using this against Goku in the Saiyan Saga. What was it called again? The Power Ball?
"Watch me closely, very closely." He told me before sending the Power Ball towards the sky.
"Burst open and mix!"
The Power Ball burst open and a bright white energy started to shine from the above. I made sure to observe the technique carefully before closing my eyes at the last possible second and prevent myself from transforming.
Transforming right now would be a very, very bad idea.
Bardock's power level was about 100,000 when in his Great Ape form. And thanks to my Ancient Saiyan heritage, my power level would far outclass my father at a staggering 180,000.
Since I had never once transformed into a Great Ape, I would most definitely go berserk and attack anything in sight, including Bardock. As much as I would love to start mastering the form as soon as i possibly could, I'd rather wait until the possibility of committing patricide was no longer an issue.
"Seems as though you're aware of the downside of transforming." I hear the familiar, but drastically deeper, voice of my father.
"Yeah, you lose control and attack everything in sight until there's nothing left." I replied.
The sound of a blast goes off and an explosion rings out.
"Open your eyes." He told me.
I do as he says and I was met with the absolutely massive sight of Great Ape Bardock. To say that he towered over me was an understatement. I could only guess that this was similar to the feeling that ants had when they looked at us.
"The technique I just showed you is called the Power Ball. It's formed by combining your energy with the planet's atmosphere. But don't start thinking that it's something that you can use lightly. The technique drains you quickly, that's why it's always better to just use a natural moon, but you don't have that luxury. It's better to use it only when you have no other options. Understand?" He asked.
I nodded.
"Good. Now go ahead and try to do it yourself. And try to keep your eyes closed. I'd rather not have to try and explain to your mother why I had to bring you home unconscious." He said.
Oh, old man, if only you knew...
---
After I managed to get a decent handle on the Power Ball, Bardock had to carry my unconscious body home anyway. He wasn't kidding when he said that the technique drains you. Luckily I had managed to perform it just perfectly enough before I had lost consciousness.
As I woke up the next day, there was already a few High-Class Saiyans standing outside my house waiting to escort me to the docking bay. To my surprise, there was a lone Saiyan waiting for me there next to a fairly decently sized ship.
"Colonel Paragus. I'm surprised that you are here to see me off." I said as I bowed my head.
"I'm here to inform you about a change of plans. Instead of using a pod that we usually send our troops out in, we're sending you out in this ship that I assigned for you to make use of." He told me, causing me to look at him with a little surprise.
"That's... generous of you, Colonel." I said to him.
"Generosity has nothing to do with it. You are the best chance that my son has, and I'll do as much as I can to help you succeed in this task." He stated with a tone that carried no hint of nonsense.
He's a fun one...
I genuinely forget sometimes that he actually cared about his son before his hate boner for King Vegeta came into the equation.
"I understand." I said before walking up the stairs to head aboard the ship.
"Zyleth!"
Hearing my name being called out by the familiar voice of my mother, I turned around and saw that all of my family members were all standing behind me.
"Be careful! Make sure to come home safe!" Gine yelled, worry dripping from her words.
"Make sure to kick their ass, Bro!" Raditz yelled out, getting a smack to the back of the head by our mother.
I chuckled a bit at the sight before turning towards my father. He didn't say a word. He only looked me in the eyes and nodded his head.
I nodded back at him before walking up the stairs, into the ship, and sitting down at the controls. The ships already had the planet's coordinates preprogrammed, so all I had to do was press a button and let the ship's autopilot do the work.
The stairs to the ship ascended and the ship's thrusters ignite. I looked out the window and saw that my family was still there, watching me as I left.
The ship ascends out of Planet Vegeta's atmosphere, and I'm now left in with nothing but the silence of space.
Looking around, I smirked as I was now all alone with no one watching. I stood up and started stretching my arms and legs. Using Kekkai, I materialized weights on my arms and legs, finally ready to begin some grueling training.
It'll take one month to travel to Planet N-937. That means that the journey to and back will take at least two months.
"Two months of unrestricted training, and I'm going to make it count." I muttered to myself before striking and kicking at the air.
[Word Count: 2,260.]