To Train Oneself

Gelus had been busy laying the groundwork for his takeover of Earth's Arctic Ice Services. So much so, that he hadn't even considered his own health lately. The Arcosian CEO sat in his office on the eighty-seventh floor of Earth Ice Services, at the site of his newly built company headquarters. He was dressed in a finely tailored black business suit with a blue tie, his silver scouter with the golden lens resting comfortably on his head. However, his formal appearance belied a false sense of confidence. His vision had gotten blurry from his lack of rest. The Arcosian mindlessly sipped a glass of scotch while he mumbled to himself, listing off his various tasks that he would have to complete in the coming weeks. He felt the weight of his task weighing heavily on his shoulders. For the first time in his life, he thought that he could perhaps use a vacation; and not just a thinly veiled business trip disguised to look like a vacation. He needed a real one. With a sigh, Gelus stood from his desk and walked to the window, having a look at the mining operation that had been marching forward at full force these past few weeks.

'Father would be proud.' He thought sarcastically with a dry chuckle. He knew that his father's pride was a hard-won treasure. He doubted that he would get it that easily. Perhaps once Earth Ice Services was the only ice company on the planet, he would get that coveted clap on the shoulder. As if.

"So, about that vacation..." Gelus stepped back to his desk, pressing the red button on the communication device on his desk. After a brief trilling noise, a voice came from the speaker. 

"Yes, Mr. Gelus?" This was his secretary, Mrs. Kane. She was a middle aged woman with much experience in this sector. Being a native to Earth, Gelus also found it useful to keep her around for that reason. 

"Cancel my six o'clock. Also, clear my schedule for the next two days. I'm going on vacation." He pressed the button again, ending the call. Mrs. Kane was reliable, so there was no need for her to confirm the details. Gelus knew that she would get it done. Good thing, too. Reliable help was hard to find these days. Stepping out onto his balcony, Gelus took to the air, hoping to find something new to do to help him unwind. As he was flying over the wastelands of Earth's western sector, his Scouter's early warning system sprang to life with a mechanical trill, beeping as it locked on to two sizable powers. 

"Battle power... thirty thousand and... sixty-five thousand?" How interesting. He had come to learn that Earth was home to some freakishly huge powers. While these were on the lower end of the scale, they were nowhere near powerless. His curiosity had officially been piqued. It didn't take the Arcosian long to find the source of these energy readings with his Scouter guiding him. The lower battle power belonged to a Heran. Gelus and his father had dealings with their people in the past. There were few in the galaxy that could match their strength. The company made good use of them as hired muscle and bodyguards in the past. The one with the higher power was interesting. His appearance was very similar to that of an Earthling, but the mechanical parts and the facial scars made it difficult to determine their heritage. Landing on the ground near the two, Gelus put on his best smile. 

"Training, you say? Whatever for? I find it far simpler to pay the strong to fight for you. However, if training is what you seek, I might be willing to lend my prowess to this pursuit. Forgive me for saying so, but I don't think you would last long against this one." Gelus gestured towards Yangcong. He chuckled warmly.

"Forgive my rudeness. I am Gelus of Clan Ais, CEO of Earth Ice Services. Charmed, i'm sure."

---

TWC: 670

Resources: Wealthy, Supremacy, Durability

Power Level: 24,000

Hit Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 270%

"My name is Yangcong, I am a former soldier of both the tuffle and saiyan army. Most would say i'm a turncoat but the army life is behind me."

Yangcong would rest his arm on his hilt. He would lightly crack his neck from side to side when the arcosian had showed up to introduce himself.

"How's about a fun sparing match huh. You and Gelus versus me."

Yangcong knew that arcosian had many forms at their disposal, the question was whether or not Gelus was in one of his forms or was he in his default form? Only time would tell as Yangcong would ponder the thought. Yangcong would casually breath in air into his lungs as he flicked his thumb towards his hilt and popped the obsidian sword from his sheath.

"I need to test out my sword skills anyway. I wanna see if my mentor has taught me well in the breathing style."

With a calm posture about him, Yangcong would exhale air from his lungs and awaited for the match to begin. He would casually draw out his sword and holding it with both his hands as he now stood in the seigan no kamae stance. He stared at both of them as he remained calm.

"Ah, I'm not so sure of that," Terra answered Gelus' mistake with a light chuckle; she couldn't recall anyone making that mistake before, but she had not typically dressed for battle until recently. She was not insulted by his error, actually being more amused than anything else. "I speak of an Arcosian clan, not a Heran one. The Eis may have worked with you before, but would be far more likely lawyers and accountants than bodyguards. They tend not to enjoy conflict, for the most part."

"And do not worry. I am well aware that dress clothes are seldom built to endure any true stress." Terra told the Arcosian as he changed out of his suit. Her elegant dress was similarly frail, being more a sign of affluence than anything built for battle. It was also a sign of how she and the Eis had managed to temper any rage within her, visibly standing out from the average Heran. It was almost a shame she would be dressed in this armour far more often.

Yet, she could not focus on these amusing facts for long. A look of surprise and concern flashed on Terra's face as the man told them his name. Yancong. She knew that name, even if she didn't know the face to accompany it. It felt almost surreal to hear him casually drop that. She doubted anyone who knew the name would willingly pretend to be a known war criminal. Yet, there was no way a wanted criminal would be so stupid to simply inform them this way, was there? How had he survived so long if he would reveal himself so easily to strangers?

His power was at least one reason. Even if Terra wished to kill him, she lacked the power to do so. It was theoretically possible she could do so if Gelus aided her in that goal, but she couldn't know if he was willing. Moreover, that was putting aside the risk that they would both die in attempting to do so; their victory was far from guaranteed, and potentially not even likely. It was a needless risk to both of them. Fortunately, Yancong was probably unaware of the call for his head. At least, he seemed unaware that she knew of that call. It wasn't common knowledge to those outside of the Empire, after all.

For their safety, the soldier's recent actions on Arcose were best left unrevealed for now, to pretend she did not know of any recent action. Terra would have to inform Gelus about Yancong's recent actions later, once the Tuffle had left them. That shock swiftly faded to a more neutral expression. "I have similarly heard of you, Yancong. Indeed, I cannot say I expected to ever meet you in person. Particularly not on Earth, of all places." A patient smile accompanied those words, as she feigned wonder at meeting him.

As he accepted the terms of the battle, Terra gave a simple nod while maintaining a patient smile. "Thank you. Just remember, this is simply practice." She reminded them both. It was best if they could avoid escalating further than necessary, though whether either side would do so remained to be seen.

Terra took a more focused stance, giving a nod as Gelus took the lead. "By all means." As the glare brought about an explosion, she wondered how the soldier would react. Hopefully, this would inform her if she had to handle him in the future.

Gelus merely shrugged at Terra's correction that the Eis clan consisted more of lawyers and other non-combatants rather than the muscle he had expected. If there was one gap in the Arcosian's knowledge of his business, it was getting to know his underlings. The way he saw it, however, if you did your job well, he had no reason to learn about you. With that out of the way, their battle began. He had thrown out one of his more powerful techniques, but things didn't go exactly to plan. Gelus growled as Yangcong dodged his attack with ease, landing on the ground as though nothing happened. Seeing the warrior handle one of his specialties with ease filled the Arcosian businessman with annoyance. And his opponent complimenting Gelus's technique actually annoyed him even more than he already was.

'Do not patronize me, fool.' He thought venomously, but instead decided to speak more diplomatically, refusing to let his anger get the better of him.

"Impressive." Gelus said through his clenched teeth, his eye twitching periodically. Yangcong's abilities were not exaggerated, it seemed... but it didn't matter. He could get far stronger than he was right now. And now that he was thoroughly irritated, the time had come to showcase a bit more of his power.

"You are familiar with the Arcosian ability to transform, correct? This form you see now is actually my weakest. It is a form designed to suppress my rather sizable power. I have three more transformations to showcase, each more powerful than the last, and each one unleashing a little bit more of my true strength. Behold!" Gelus let out a roar, a bright blue aura erupting around him chaotically. His body began to change, his arms and legs extending to cause the Arcosian to grow immensely from his rather shrimpy five foot nothing to over eight feet tall. With a grunt of effort, his muscles would then bulge until they looked like they were about to burst. At the same time, his horns grew outward, curving around like the horns of a ram, completing the transformation.

"Well, what do you think? Impressive, right?" The Arcosian's voice had also changed to become much deeper, complimenting his new size.

"And i'm not just larger. I am twice as powerful in this form than I am in the last! I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you're going to find this battle to be far more difficult than it was moments ago." He looked over to Terra.

"Show me what you can do. I shall search for an opening."

---

TWC: 1772

Power Level: 48,000 (2nd Form)

Hit Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 270%

Ki Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 5 / 6 (+2)

Momentum Points
▰▰▰▰▰▰ 2 / 6

Resources: Wealthy, Supremacy, Durability


ACTIONS

Gelus transform into his 2nd Form! New PL: 48,000

6/6 kp / 4/6 mp / 41/250 health bar



"Very interesting to see. You arcosians truly are remarkable when it comes to those forms. The stories always go that when you are fighting an arcosian, always bring back up because their true form is quite scary and dangerous. I wonder how much of that is reality."

Considering that most arcosians he has encountered weren't as strong as he was. He had noticed the voice change and the entire appearance changing before his eyes. He could also sense the arcosian's energy and it was quite strong indeed. Then the Heran had decided to attack and her pink ball was now coming towards him.

"Heran, our people have always been rivals. It is an honor to fight a heran on the battlefield."

As the attack came closer to him, he had infused his own aura into his hands and pressed it against the ki ball. The explosion had occurred and now black smug marks had appeared all over his hand, with bits of burnt marks all over his arms now as parts of the bandages of his arms were burnt off. Checking the wound he had lightly smirked as he could of so easily moved away from the attack.

"There is no doubt in my mind, you are a worthy opponent heran."

211

It was a surprise that Yancong allowed himself to be harmed by the blast, though Terra knew any wounds were superficial at best. She knew he could have evaded the blast, but it was nonetheless a good sign that her attack could do something to his body. She had little experience fighting those as powerful as him even in his restrained state, after all. She maintained her distance, staying largely in place as she prepared another attack.

"Why, thank you. I hope not to disappoint someone as storied as you too much." Terra proclaimed, sounding convincingly sincere as she flicked a finger upwards, gathering ki yet again. Simply accept the compliment, even if she cared little for any given rivalry their races may share. The typical Heran's thoughts were nothing she cared for, holding such thoughts with disdain. Such warmongers had little place in the modern age, no matter how many Herans refused to accept it.

Several orbs of ki began to flit from her fingertip, quickly circling her hand. They were far smaller than the one that she had used on the Tuffle, but nonetheless dangerous to most. She sent each of the ki blasts in sequence, staggering them just enough that they would continually pressure Yancong if he did nothing to stop them. Each one would attempt to land on a slightly different part of his body, bursting against him in far smaller but still notable explosions. While it was unlikely to meaningfully hurt him, it would almost certainly inconvenience him.

Optimally, it might be annoying enough to distract from Gelus' attack, which was far more meaningful than this flurry. Terra had noticed the Arcosian repositioning himself after her attack, and it was only fitting that she continue the assault. That said, he was clearly holding back and he had yet to try an attack of his own. Ideally, he would be satisfied simply dealing with their attacks, but she doubted he would. So, she had to be ready, just in case he did choose to go on the offensive.