Sweating heavily and training hard every day, Ethan's dedication amazed even Yamcha. Every time Yamcha rested and saw Ethan still training diligently, he felt uncomfortable all over, shortened his rest time on his own, and returned to training.
Because Ethan did not go to school, he had more time for training. Even if Yamcha did not see it himself, he knew that Ethan was not slacking during that time but training even harder.
After deciding to focus on physical training, Ethan clearly understood what he needed to do. At this stage, whether he had a teacher guiding him did not matter. Having traveled through many worlds, the knowledge he had gained was not useless. He knew how to train his body correctly.
He also did not lack real combat experience. As long as his physical condition improved, it could be perfectly converted into combat ability. In Yamcha's eyes, this situation became "Ethan is a martial arts genius."
As time passed, Ethan's weight load caught up with Yamcha's. He did not wait until he fully adapted to the ten kilogram load before increasing it. Once he felt the ten kilograms no longer affected his movements, he directly switched to twenty kilograms and continued training under that weight.
He persisted for half a year and finally reached the point where he could move freely without being affected.
After that, he did not immediately switch to forty kilograms. Ethan could feel that his current body needed a buffer period. Forcing a heavier load would not produce better results.
So during the following period, he maintained the twenty kilogram load and began sparring with Yamcha.
Yamcha soon realized something frustrating. He could not defeat Ethan. Even when using his special move, the Wolf Fang Fist, it was useless. Ethan could always perfectly avoid his attacks and find weaknesses in his moves to counterattack, preventing him from launching follow up attacks.
However, Ethan could only reach this level. He discovered that Yamcha's ability to withstand blows was quite good, and his own attacks were difficult to inflict enough damage. Simply put, his strength was still insufficient. The current Ethan could only fight Yamcha to a draw, relying mainly on his rich combat experience and techniques, as well as the weight suppressing Yamcha's speed and agility.
Yamcha did not think that deeply about it. He only felt frustrated that he, a martial artist, was caught up to so quickly by Ethan, an outsider.
What made it even more frustrating was that even Yoruichi could often fight him to a draw. Sometimes he would even suffer a big loss if he was careless. What kind of people were these two? Why were their martial arts talents so good?
For a moment he even wondered whether he was not suited for martial arts at all. Otherwise how could others catch up so easily?
Fortunately, at school Yamcha was very popular with girls because of his handsome appearance and strong physique. Many male classmates came to challenge him, which allowed him to correctly judge his real strength.
"Why are you improving so fast?"
After another sparring match, the two sat drinking beverages and chatting casually. Their vests were soaked with sweat and stuck to their bodies.
Mrs. Brief stood nearby with a smile, her eyes narrowed into thin lines as she prepared a rich meal for the two young men.
Because of their large amount of daily training, Ethan and Yamcha's appetites were much larger than ordinary people's. However, the Brief family did not lack money. Eating more food was nothing to them. Mrs. Brief even enjoyed it. Every day when Ethan and Yamcha were training, she appeared on time and prepared large amounts of food and drinks.
"This... maybe because I'm training whenever I'm not eating or sleeping."
Ethan did not know how to explain it. He felt that his progress was not particularly fast. He still felt burdened when using a forty kilogram load, while after training Goku could switch to a forty kilogram Turtle Shell without any problem.
"This... that is true. Can you really become stronger this way?"
"If you do not train hard, you definitely will not become stronger, right?"
Yamcha felt that Ethan's words made sense. Without effort, becoming stronger was impossible. He had seen Ethan's hard work with his own eyes. It was natural that Ethan became stronger.
"It is a pity I cannot see Goku. I wonder how he is doing now and whether he has become stronger. If he saw your current strength, he would definitely be surprised."
Some time ago Bulma wanted to find Goku during her break. However, after flying to Master Roshi's island, she found nothing there. It seemed Roshi had moved, so the trip ended in disappointment.
Bulma was annoyed, but Ethan thought it was normal.
"Maybe it is because of training. That place is too small. Perhaps they went to a larger island nearby."
Unfortunately it was only a short vacation, and Bulma did not want to waste time searching for someone. She chose to return home.
"The World Martial Arts Tournament will start soon. Maybe we will see Goku there."
Since Goku loved martial arts so much, he probably would not miss such a grand event for martial artists. With Goku's strength, he would most likely participate.
Yamcha had already decided to join the tournament, so he had been training even harder recently.
"Ethan, are you really not planning to participate?"
"I only started training recently. My current strength is still too weak. Participating would be meaningless."
In terms of raw strength, he could not even defeat Yamcha yet. If he participated, he would only make a brief appearance. If he was unlucky, he might not even pass the preliminary rounds. After all, besides Yamcha and Goku, this tournament also included Krillin, who trained under Master Roshi, and Roshi himself disguised as Jackie Chun.
To defeat these people, Ethan would at least need to complete the weight training he planned. According to his plan, the heaviest set of weighted equipment he prepared weighed one hundred kilograms, the same weight as the equipment Goku wore when training with Kami.
"What was Goku's power level back then? I think it was over three hundred."
Thinking about how power levels later became immeasurable, Ethan felt that he had not even stepped onto the path yet. He had not even crossed the threshold.
Did his current power level reach five? It probably did. Unfortunately he did not have a scouter. Even if he built one based on the concept, he would not know the exact standard used by Frieza's forces.
"Should I build a scouter myself?"
After living in Bulma's house for so long, Ethan and Dr. Brief became increasingly familiar. Besides training, Ethan was not idle. Occasionally he served as Dr. Brief's assistant.
Dr. Brief noticed that Ethan possessed a wide range of knowledge and strong practical ability, so he often asked Ethan to help with his work.
Since he was already receiving free food, lodging, and almost unlimited pocket money, Ethan could not refuse Dr. Brief's requests. After some time, the place Ethan became most familiar with, aside from the training room built specifically for practice, was Dr. Brief's laboratory.
There, Ethan also learned a great deal about the technological knowledge of this world.
The Dragon Ball world contains a large amount of advanced technology, and Capsules are only one example. As a super genius, Dr. Brief could quickly analyze and master even alien technology and integrate it into his own knowledge system.
He could study the small spaceship Goku arrived in and build an enlarged version, even adding various facilities without affecting the spacecraft's performance.
Because of the era in which it was created, some technology in the Dragon Ball world seemed slightly outdated in Ethan's eyes. Occasionally he used laboratory materials to create small devices for himself.
For example, a multifunction wristband that integrated a Dragon Ball Radar. The radar appeared as a glowing spherical display projected above his wrist.
He also made glasses with communication, magnification, thermal imaging, and other functions. Aside from not detecting power levels, these glasses were not inferior to the scouters used by Frieza's forces.
Strictly speaking, Ethan did not invent these devices himself. The technical knowledge had long existed in his memory, and now he simply reproduced it.
In addition, the small gadgets he developed brought him considerable income. Using Capsule Corporation's production capability, many of Ethan's inventions sold well. After deducting costs, the profits were counted as Ethan's personal income by Dr. Brief. Even if Ethan left Bulma's house now, he would not have to worry about living expenses.
However, he had grown used to living there. With Yamcha as a sparring partner, he had not considered moving out.
Whether he would move out in the future could be decided later. For now he was quite satisfied living there.
Time passed as he continued training and occasionally assisting Dr. Brief. Soon the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament arrived. Yamcha and Yoruichi removed their weights, packed their luggage, and prepared to leave for the competition venue.
Mr. and Mrs. Brief were not interested in this kind of competition and would not accompany them. Bulma, Ethan, Puar, and Oolong went to watch the event, while Yoruichi and Yamcha participated as competitors.
Ethan only recently learned that Yoruichi planned to compete. She had not told anyone before they departed.
"Of course I did not tell anyone, because I decided to participate at the last minute."
On the plane, Yoruichi revealed the truth, leaving everyone speechless.
"I thought that traveling all the way to the competition venue just to watch would be too boring. It is better to go fight myself."
As for winning, she did not care. She knew her current strength was not very impressive. She could only defeat ordinary people. Against real martial artists of this world, she had almost no chance of victory.
Then she encountered Jackie Chun in the preliminary rounds.
Looking at Yoruichi standing beside him in the audience with a depressed expression, Ethan said something that made her even more depressed.
"You are really unlucky."
(To be continued.)