"Shouldn't we let your parents meet Letty first?" Lazuli asked Bulma, who was eating a small jar of strawberry ice cream as if life had no problems.
When you're one of the smartest, most beautiful, and richest people on the planet, everyday stress hardly affects your mood. She was the ultimate example of what we might call 'idleness.'
"It'll be after we climb this thing," Bulma replied, pointing to a large white tower in the distance with her spoon.
"It's really huge! Wow! It's taller than the clouds!" Goku, who was looking up, noticed that even with his excellent vision, he couldn't see the top.
"Magnificent." Letty was still getting used to the language, so she usually only said a few words. However, she felt that one adjective wasn't enough to describe the visual impact of this building.
The legendary Karin Tower! In some places, it was known as Korin Tower, but those were just regionalisms. After all, even if Earth were unified, there would still be areas with a strong cultural presence.
For this reason, there is often debate about the names given to things. For example, there were regions where avocados were called 'palta,' and people debated which term was the main one.
Lazuli knew the legend of the tower, but she called it 'Korin Tower,' while Bulma and the others called it 'Karin Tower.' It was only one letter different, but it sparked much conversation between the couple during the journey.
They had already spoken with the tribe that guarded the tower, which allowed them to climb it. Anyone could take on this challenge as long as they were willing.
Legend has it that atop the tower dwelled an immortal who could impart strength and incredible treasures. Thus, people come from time to time to climb this wonder of the world. However, the last person to reach the top was centuries ago.
"Who would've thought that old Roshi was the last to climb this thing?" Bulma, who had just finished her ice cream, approached the tower and patted it, trying to feel its material.
Although it appeared to be stone, it was clearly made of a superior material. However, she could sense a subtle wave of energy coming from the building. From what she could tell, the energy increased the building's strength.
"Can't we just fly up there?" Lazuli asked, kicking the tower. The force of the blow rebounded back, causing her to stumble several steps backward. She was taken by surprise.
"Oh? I didn't expect that. But we can't fly, at least not before we climb up for the first time," Bulma replied. She clapped her hands and shrugged her shoulders without taking her eyes off the top.
"With our strength, it will be easy. We'll finish this soon," Bulma said confidently. But when she tried to grab the tower, a terrible weight fell on her.
It wasn't gravity; she was used to training under increased gravity. This weight was as if a strange rule had been imposed, forcing her to use more strength and Ki than usual to counteract it.
"I feel so heavy!" Goku complained. When he tried to climb the tower, he was taken by surprise by the sudden heaviness of his body, causing him to fall.
"This isn't in the legends. Could it be Kami-Sama's doing?" Lazuli muttered. They didn't have to look for an answer. It was obvious that the god didn't want to make things easy for them.
"Looks like this is the real Tower of Karin, huh? Even if I wanted to fly, I couldn't," said Bulma, noticing this particular detail.
As long as she was near the tower, it was impossible to fly, or at least, as long as she intended to climb it. Instead of feeling uncomfortable or annoyed, however, a smile appeared on the blue-haired girl's face.
She liked surprises like this! Especially since the Tower was only a one-time resource, with a little strength and flight, it became a mere ornament.
It did seem like the challenge imposed by the Immortal, who wanted to test his future apprentices. Her interest in Karin increased again. Was Karin really an 'Immortal' as in the legends?
The Sora path enveloped and integrated everything! If there were more esoteric Ki methods on Earth, he could certainly integrate them. If there were divine doctrines such as Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego, then why wouldn't there be powerful paths for mortals?
Thus, the group's journey began. But first, Bulma had to call her parents to tell them about their feat. It could take days.
After all, who knows what other surprises Kami-Sama had in store for them as they climbed? The height of the tower could be greater than they expected, so they had to warn them to avoid problems.
"Let's get started, then," Bulma declared before beginning to climb the tower. This time, she was ready to face whatever came her way.
...
The journey began slowly but steadily. During this time, Letty, the weakest among them, received theoretical lessons on Ki and the Sora Way. This laid the groundwork for her future training.
She could also use this experience to teach herself the flagship technique of the Sora Path: Entropy. Having chaotic Ki was no excuse for a lack of control if one had good guides to help improve.
Letty's learning took place under a terrible weight and changing weather. As if God were pushing them to their limits, an unprecedented storm unleashed itself upon them.
The raindrops were like bullets, and the lightning bolts were charged with the energy of the world, striking as hard as a Ki attack. The wind sometimes turned into razor-sharp blades that cut their skin or cannons that threatened to blow them off the tower.
The sun seemed to focus all its energy on them, forcing them to climb in intense heat. But the nights were no better, with a sharp drop in temperature.
Interestingly, Ki could only slightly lessen the effects of these environmental changes, as if its activity were suppressed by a higher force.
This was the power of a god! In a sense, it was understandable why only divine Ki could be used to fight these superior beings. It wasn't just because of the energy's quality, but also because of their control over mortals.
Beerus knocking out Goku, who had grown stronger since the Majin Buu incident, with a single touch, was no small feat. It was a visual representation of the enormous difference in power and, above all, status between them.
Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't weak gods. Sometimes, though, raw power isn't the best measure of things. However, Kami-Sama's test revealed something.
As the days passed, Bulma continued to climb with great difficulty. Her clothes were worn out; that was her fifth outfit of the day. Seven days had passed since she started, and a white glow was brewing in her blue eyes.
Kami-Sama was a god, but Bulma was human. Moreover, she was a mutant and an interdimensional being with a different way of seeing the world.
Was this kindness or part of his tests? Kami-Sama allowed Bulma to learn a little more about the complex applications of energy. This was more valuable than destructive techniques because it was a way to reach new heights.
Bulma wasn't suddenly going to receive an increase in power. However, this process allowed her to absorb much of the knowledge, ideas, and research that sometimes overwhelmed her.
For the first time in a long while, she was at peace, with nothing on her mind but what was in front of her. She no longer had to meditate on dimensions, space, energy, or other highly complex topics.
All that data had been transformed into information she instinctively assimilated and integrated. Her fighting style, based on the Sora Way, became more diverse and adaptable, though she didn't need to fight to prove it.
Perhaps the best lesson from this whole experience was learning to moderate her temper. Although they did not have increased perspectives, the others did learn a lot from this experience, and their tempers were also tempered.
Even Letty's ki had become calmer. As a Bio-Warrior, she had already seen and understood more than her own kind. With the addition of the selfless guidance of her two mothers and uncle, her control over her energy increased.
The savagery that had always emerged from Goku's body was not restricted, but rather, tamed. Now, he could better control his mentality. Although he couldn't say he could control it, if he transformed into Ozaru, he would no longer go into a frenzy like before. This allowed him to achieve his desire to become one with that power.
Meanwhile, Lazuli had the idea of creating an extremely devastating, electricity-based attack for some reason. She and her brother could convert Ki into electricity without losing its destructive power or potency.
Of course, Lapis was better at shaping energy; even without extensive training, his shields were quite resistant. Now that he had learned a lot from Muten Roshi and Son Gohan, his energy constructs had improved.
Lazuli excelled at energy attacks and was very skilled with them. This test helped her understand the power of nature, giving her an idea for an incredibly powerful special move, but that is for the future.
They could already see the end of Karin Tower, and the last test had arrived. For some reason, the sky was clear; the heaviness in their bodies had disappeared, and the cool breeze allowed them to regain some of their exhausted energy.
The last test had arrived.
...
Why keep climbing? Couldn't they just take advantage of the good weather and rest here? Or better yet, why not fly? Because they clearly felt they could, and it's not like God would notice, and even if he did, wasn't he their friend? Surely he wouldn't say anything!
However, for some reason, Goku felt that there was something wrong with that line of thinking. Why did he suddenly feel so eager to sleep or take shortcuts? In fact, a thought popped into his mind: he could just let himself fall; he could climb another day.
'No, something's wrong here,' Goku growled mentally, and even if tame, a terrible beast will always be that, no matter what.
Suddenly, the Saiyan's eyes glowed with an intense red light, resembling that of dawn. Bulma had told him a story when he was a child: a monkey named Sun Wukong, who could see through everything with his bright eyes.
Something in that story resonated with the Saiyan. Was it how different Son Goku was from the other monkeys? Was it how restless he was? How much did he love battles? How irreverent and capricious he could be? Or that, like him, he had also stolen certain tasty peaches?
So Goku decided to emulate him, creating a technique that, when used, allowed him to see things he normally couldn't, thus obtaining his own version of Sun Wukong's 'Fiery Golden Eyes.'
Using this technique, which he called 'Red Eyes' after an anime he had seen where ninjas had special red eyes, he could see a black mist surrounding him and the girls, but he wasn't the only one who noticed the strangeness of the situation.
Electric arcs covered Lazuli's body, constantly stimulating her nerves. Bulma's eyes glowed with a powerful white light, and vaguely, the image of her Plant version appeared behind her.
While Letty, as a Bio-Warrior, had an unusual constitution and hardly felt human needs such as sleep, when she realized she was yawning, she was the most drastic of the group, banging her head against Karin Tower in an attempt to clear her mind.
'The greatest test is never in the outside world, but in the inner world. Why don't you delve into your own consciousness and see what is hidden within? Only when you can realize this and fight against it will you be able to completely ascend the tower.' A powerful, ancient, ethereal voice sounded in the minds of the three, and it was clear that it was not Kami-Sama's.
Were these a god's trials, or did he simply add a grain of sand to what had already existed for a long time? It was not for nothing that Earth was a mysterious and dangerous planet despite the power level of its normal population!
The Karin Tower was more than it seemed!