"Let's go outside - it's too cramped in here," Raditz suggested.
Fighting in the gravity room would probably damage the equipment. After all, Super Saiyan power was extremely strong and difficult to control.
So the two flew out of the gravity room and headed to the training ground.
Vegeta planted his feet and powered up with his strongest transformation, not wanting to be outdone. Golden light flickered as his hair shot upward, energy waves soaring into the sky. The ground beneath his feet immediately cracked and crumbled, with debris breaking free from gravity's pull to float around him.
Compared to Raditz, this aura was much weaker - the golden energy alone was much thinner, like cheap booze watered down.
"Come on, Raditz!"
Vegeta dropped into a fighting stance, one hand at his forehead and the other at his waist, his whole body tense like a bow ready to fire.
He didn't dare get careless - he was facing a Super Saiyan.
"Here I come." Raditz wasn't being polite. He chuckled and moved forward.
Suddenly, he vanished from sight.
Vegeta's eyes went wide, his heart skipping a beat. He couldn't see him - with his current strength, he couldn't see him at all! Sensing danger, he spun around and swept his leg. "You're here!"
The leg that carried both nervousness and confidence hit nothing but air, and Raditz's voice came clearly from behind him: "Over here."
"What?!" Before Vegeta could turn around, a large hand pressed down on his head and slammed him into the ground.
It wasn't even a powerful move, but it made Vegeta realize the gap in their strength instantly. He jumped up and kicked suddenly, aiming for Raditz's stomach, but it was like hitting the hardest metal - Raditz didn't budge at all.
Raditz quickly grabbed his ankle, spun him around dozens of times, and hurled him away. While Vegeta was still airborne, Raditz flew up in an instant, clasped his hands together, and hammered down.
"BOOM—" The ground caved in, and the entire training ground along with the surrounding hillsides turned to rubble.
In the distance, Jeice and Burter had just entered the tower and stood stunned as they watched the smoke billowing in the distance. Jeice patted Burter on the shoulder: "Well buddy, looks like it's your job again. Time to get back to work."
Burter wanted to cry. "I just finished repairing the nature preserve..."
Jeice glanced at him with a mix of sympathy and amusement, then walked away with a grin.
But Vegeta, who'd been smashed into the ground, couldn't find anything funny about it. His golden aura had faded, and his body ached too much to muster any strength.
Knocked out in two hits? And Raditz hadn't even used his full strength yet, had he? Vegeta was filled with frustration.
Raditz landed and returned to normal. "Just fighting me won't help. Transforming into a Super Saiyan requires a calm heart and extreme emotional stimulation - like anger."
"Anger?"
"When Vidir wanted to kill everyone and destroy Tumat, I got so angry that I managed to break through the Super Saiyan barrier. Anger is the fuse that ignites the energy."
"Really?" Vegeta fell into deep thought.
Improving strength required talent and practice. As long as you put in enough effort and had enough talent, you'd definitely see good returns. But breaking through to a new level was different. A level was like a piece of paper - it needed to be pierced to get through.
Just a line apart, but the difference was like night and day.
This was especially true for the path of power. The multiplier boost of Super Saiyan was incredibly large. Transformed and untransformed were completely different states. The gap between levels was terrifying.
Vegeta's strong pride stirred up extreme emotions - anger at himself and an overwhelming desire for strength. Gradually, his aura rose again as his power burst forth.
The sudden increase in energy startled Raditz.
"Your energy has increased, but it's still not enough. You need to think about other things - like being beaten by Kakarot, being surpassed by other Saiyans, Frieza..."
"Shut up!" Vegeta roared furiously, his aura flaring up again.
Finally, the golden aura stabilized. His pupils didn't disappear and his reasoning remained intact. Raditz suddenly understood - this was a breakthrough Pseudo-Super Saiyan form!
With just a little push, he'd mastered a new transformation. Truly worthy of being a genius fighter. But this was also thanks to Vegeta's own strength - his power had already reached a certain limit in his normal state, so he could progress smoothly.
It would be much harder for Tarble and the others to do the same.
"Excellent! You're already halfway there!" Vegeta also noticed his progress and was overjoyed. Suddenly, his energy dissipated and he returned to normal.
After going through two transformations, he was breathing hard, but Vegeta couldn't contain his inner joy at his success.
He tried to call up that power again, but found himself unable to do so.
"That's normal. When I first mastered Super Saiyan transformation, I didn't succeed every time either. But it's been carved into your body now - you can fully control it with more practice," Raditz explained.
"Really? Kakarot, I'm going to be one step ahead this time."
Vegeta's talent might be slightly inferior to Goku's, but sometimes timing was everything - and Vegeta might not be any weaker than Goku now!
What Raditz said actually applied to himself as well. After all, he'd just mastered Super Saiyan transformation and gotten a bit more skilled through training, but he hadn't yet reached the level Goku was at when he returned from Yardrat in the original timeline.
Super Saiyan 1 was the stage with the most sub-levels. The initial transformation was the first level, Goku's state when he returned from Yardrat was another level, the Ascended Super Saiyan state was yet another level, and the mastered state was still within the first level. It also included the bulky muscle-expansion form, which was like a sub-level within a sub-level.
So many stages had to be mastered through extensive practice, and eventually break through to an even higher level - Super Saiyan 2!
Meanwhile, on Earth...
Goku was training like crazy under hundreds of times gravity. Nappa, Krillin and the others could no longer keep up with his progress, so they trained together in another lower-gravity room.
His strength had also improved by leaps and bounds. Although he hadn't transformed into a Pseudo-Super Saiyan like Vegeta, his aura was getting stronger and his control was getting better and better. It was clear that Goku just lacked the right opportunity. Once he broke through, his Super Saiyan foundation might be even stronger.
Whether Vegeta and Goku were evenly matched would depend on who broke through first.
"Achoo!" Goku in the gravity room suddenly sneezed, his punches and kicks finally stopping as the training robot floating in the air also stopped moving.
"Wonder who's thinking about me? Speaking of which, Vegeta secretly went to my brother's place, and I don't know when he'll be back..." Goku thought to himself, then continued training.