Axis and Leman Russ sat cross-legged together atop a massive snow-capped mountain, breathing evenly.
They placed their hands on their knees and closed their eyes as Axis tried to guide Russ to sense the "Ki" within his body.
"Ki is the most fundamental energy inside a living being," Axis said slowly. "It exists within every cell, and through training, you can gradually perceive and control it. Try to feel it, you should be able to sense it."
With this cheap old man's power level as high as 1700, Axis figured that with a little guidance, he should easily be able to grasp the power of Ki.
"Alright, what exactly should I do?" Russ nodded.
"You need to calm your mind first. Feel the flow inside your body, find the source of that energy, and then try to circulate it within you," Axis instructed.
Russ furrowed his brow and earnestly followed Axis's instructions.
He closed his eyes, focusing hard, trying to sense any change within.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't perceive the "Ki" Axis was talking about. It was as if he had nothing like that inside his body.
'Strange, why can't I feel it at all?'
Russ, a bit unconvinced, tried again.
Still, there was nothing, no sign of the Ki Axis described.
"Little cub, I can't sense this 'Ki' you mentioned. To me, it's as intangible as air, I simply can't feel any power from it at all." Russ opened his eyes and spoke.
Axis also opened his eyes and looked at Russ, a little helpless.
That didn't make sense!
Just during their recent fight, Axis had noticed that his discount old man was clearly a super fighting genius.
No matter what kind of moves Axis used, Russ could resolve them perfectly, using flawless technique; it was not just something that came from just experience, especially since, as far as Axis knew, no one else on this planet could even spar with him.
So, besides being an absolute powerhouse, his cheap old man was also a genius warrior.
A battle genius like this, with just a bit of guidance, should have been able to master Ki with ease.
Even someone like Vegeta was able to comprehend the power of Ki after just a single fight with the warriors on Earth.
Russ had his own unique training methods, so there was no reason he shouldn't be able to grasp this.
"Forget it, my little wolf cub. There's no rush. I guess this thing called Ki probably isn't something you can master in a day," Russ said, standing up. "I'll keep training with you. You just keep teaching me this special power!"
Russ was confident in his combat talent and mental acuity.
If this power really could be learned, then by training with his cheap son, he'd surely be able to master it in time.
"Alright, there's no rush! Let's just keep training, one day, you'll learn it through fighting," Axis nodded.
In the days that followed, besides eating and sleeping, Axis would head out into the wild with Russ for sparring matches.
After each training session, the two would return to the mountaintop, where Axis would continue teaching Russ to sense the power of Ki.
Yet when it came to using Ki, Russ remained utterly clueless, he couldn't even sense its existence.
Axis said that this was a power possessed by every living being, but to him, that didn't seem to be the case.
This power appeared to belong solely to Axis, something unique to him alone.
Feeling anxious, Axis even tried channelling his own Ki into Russ's body, hoping to help him perceive and comprehend the power of Ki.
But strangely enough, his Ki could exist within Russ for only a brief moment.
Like water without a source, it simply couldn't last. In just a matter of seconds, the Ki Axis injected into Russ would dissipate and vanish.
Russ could clearly sense this energy, but he simply couldn't grasp it. It was as if his body instinctively rejected it, he just couldn't accept such a thing.
How could this be? Was it possible that the people of this planet were fundamentally incapable of learning Ki?
'But that shouldn't be!'
According to the logic of the Dragon Ball universe, as long as you were alive, you should have Ki.
Unconvinced, Axis conducted another experiment.
He picked out several tribal warriors whose power levels exceeded 10 and began teaching them the principles of Ki, even channeling his own Ki to guide them.
The tribal warriors were diligent and put in great effort, but just like with Russ, they were unable to comprehend the power of Ki.
For a full six months, no matter how Axis taught or how hard Russ and the tribal warriors tried, none of them could master the power of Ki.
In the end, everyone simply gave up on learning Ki.
"Give it up, my little wolf cub. It seems that this power belongs only to you. No one else can learn it." Russ patted Axis on the shoulder as he spoke.
He was now completely convinced: this thing called Ki was unique to his little wolf cub, something no one else could learn, as if it were a power he was born with.
"This is just too strange! Logically, the power of Ki should be present in any living being," Axis said, rubbing his chin.
"Looks like I'll never be able to control this power. Still, it wasn't all for nothing, at least your power has grown a lot," Russ remarked.
Over the past six months, Axis's power level had skyrocketed by 350 points, bringing his total up to 500.
Thanks to frequent Ki practice, Axis had even developed the ability to fly, Mastering the "Sky Dancing art" (Bukūjutsu), and his control over Ki had become much more skillful.
"It seems you won't be able to master this power any time soon. Russ, I actually think there's something strange about this planet itself," Axis said.
Having lived here for a year and a half, Axis had learned a lot about this bizarre world.
There were traces everywhere of past colonization.
Once he'd learned to fly, Axis had spotted obvious mechanical wreckage from the sky, clearly abandoned for many years, but exceptionally advanced, unmistakable signs of an interstellar civilization.
Furthermore, one year on this frozen world was equivalent to over three Earth years, an entire 40 months.
Yet the people here still calculated time using a 365-day year, with each month standardized to 30 days.
They didn't even use the planet's own orbital period to reckon age, but instead followed the Earth method.
This planet, Fenris, just felt a bit too much like Earth.