EPIC Side Story: Dragon Ball

Chapter 6: Quantifying

As the only one remaining in the dining room, Vahn offered a casual smile as he manifested a pot of coffee out of thin air and asked, "Didn't get much sleep?"

Furrowing her brows, Bulma briefly studied Vahn's face for any signs that he might be alluding to her nightly activities. In response, Vahn raised his brows in mock confusion as he emptied the entire pot of coffee into a thermos.

Though Vahn's reaction appeared genuine, Bulma couldn't shake the feeling he was pretending. A faint blush began to color her cheeks, and, though part of her didn't want to know, another part of her was too curious not to ask, "Were you…awake last night…?"

Understanding what she was actually asking, Vahn's smile curled up at the edges as he said, "Don't worry. There is a special enchantment on each of the beds. Not only do they make themselves, but, so long as you don't damage the base materials, they even clean their own sheets…"

"Oh Kami…"

Covering her hastily reddening face, Bulma promptly squatted down as if she were attempting to shrink into a form too small to see. Fortunately, not that it made much of a difference if he wanted to see, Bulma had changed into a loose-fitting, dark-pink nightgown the previous night. The fabric extended all the way to her ankles, so, even when she squatted down, nothing was visible.

Restraining the urge to laugh, Vahn placed the thermos on the edge of the table before pulling out a plate filled with pastries and sliced fruit. Then, without further comment, he teleported outside to find Sarina in the process of teaching Goku how to stretch. She was, at least for the time being, the strongest human on the planet, so, while Goku would quickly catch up once his potential had been awakened, Sarina was currently his Senior Apprentice/Senpai.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Vahn purchased a green, AT Model 34 Scouter for a surprisingly modest 8,000 OP. He could have created one, but, with a functionally infinite and ever-increasing supply of OP, Vahn wasn't too concerned with spending it.

"Now, let's see what we're working with…"

Placing the Scouter over his right ear, Vahn was marginally surprised when microscopic holes in the Scouter's cushioning formed tiny vacuum seals against his skin. This created a surprisingly powerful suction force, so much so that a normal person would need to press a release valve on the side just to remove it.

"That's pretty neat…"

As it was something he had always been curious about, Vahn was rather pleased with the relatively trivial discovery. In the very next moment, however, he shifted his focus to the actual display before pressing the button at the center of the earpiece. A surprisingly high-pitched sound then assaulted his eardrum, and, judging by how both Sarina and Goku shifted their attention his way, it was easy to surmise they could also hear it.

Adopting a wry smile, Vahn mused, "Not the stealthiest piece of technology I've ever worked with…" before pressing the button a few more times until the HUD indicated the Scouter was in detection mode.

"Is that a Scouter? I didn't expect you to bring one out so soon."

Recognizing the device the moment she saw it, Sarina's tensions began to build as she approached Vahn with an excited smile. Goku also walked over, but, unlike Sarina, he had a somewhat airheaded look on his face as he innocently inquired, "What's a Scouter? Could it be that weird-looking thing on Uncle Vahn's head?"

Restraining a light chuckle, Vahn's smile became marginally more prominent as he explained, "It may be a little lacking in the aesthetics department but this little fella has the ability to quantify a person's strength in a numerical format. It's generally better not to rely on things like this but it's pretty useful in the early stages of training. Now, hold still a moment…"

As the HUD display flickered and produced yet another high-pitched sound, Vahn waited patiently until it 'dinged' to reveal a surprisingly low value of 14. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected, but, after seeing Goku kick Bulma's car flying, he assumed it would be much higher. After all, a fully grown adult man had an average power level of 5. Unless they were something along the lines of a bodybuilder or a skilled martial artist, there was no way a normal human could withstand bullets or total a car with a kick…

Surmising that Goku's power level fluctuated tremendously depending on his emotions, Vahn made a mental note to keep tabs on the young Saiyan's growth as he shifted his attention to Sarina. Her face practically lit up the moment he looked at her. This was pretty par for the course when it came to the beautiful brunette. This time, however, she was focused more on the Scouter than staring at his face…

*ding*

"Oh? 492 without Ki training? That's pretty impressive."

As even Master Roshi only had a power level of around 180-200 at the beginning of Dragon Ball, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Sarina was currently one of the strongest people on the planet. In fact, according to a small notification that had appeared on the HUD, there were only two power levels above her.

With his intent allowing him to peer across vast distances if he were there, Vahn could see that one of the power levels belonged to the gigantic figure of the Ox-King. Even more surprising was that his power level, despite being submissive to Master Roshi, was a whopping 902.

Recalling that even Kami and King Piccolo should only have power levels ranging between 260 and 440, Vahn couldn't help wondering why the Ox-King wasn't able to step in and defeat the tyrannical villain…

Dismissing that thought for the moment, Vahn shifted his intent to the next power level. When he saw what it belonged to, a look of astonishment flashed across his face as, rather than a person, the power's origin belonged to a dark purple, egg-like object covered in pulsating veins…

"What's wrong?"

Hearing Sarina's voice, Vahn immediately returned to his senses before adopting a wry smile and saying, "It would appear this Scouter is a little more advanced than the variety we're familiar with. It was even able to detect the trace amounts of magical energy radiating from a certain bubblegum pink villain…"

Though she was momentarily confused by Vahn's words, it didn't take long for Sarina to realize who he was talking about. After all, there wasn't exactly a plethora of bubblegum-pink villains. In fact, as far as she was aware, there were only two. Majin Buu and Android 21. Since the latter only appeared in a few anime, Sarina highly doubted she was the villain Vahn was referring to.

Bringing his left index finger to his lips, Vahn shook his head to indicate that Sarina shouldn't make mention of Majin Buu. Earth had been closely monitored by the Eastern Supreme Kai ever since he killed Majin Buu's creator more than five million years prior. Some stories even depicted the purple-skinned Kai stepping in when Vegeta, or other threats, had managed to come out ahead against the Z-Fighters. In those instances, he would immediately eliminate any and all threats to prevent Buu's awakening.

While he wasn't even remotely worried about Shin, Vahn would rather avoid speeding things up to the point that people with power levels in the hundreds of millions were popping up when the main cast was still decades away from breaking through one thousand…

Understanding what Vahn was trying to say, even if she didn't fully understand the reason behind his decision, Sarina simply nodded her head. Immediately thereafter, she asked, "Can I try out the Scouter? I want to see what your power level is."

Tapping the release valve, the Scouter hissed for a moment before popping away from Vahn's head without issue. He doubted the Scouter would be able to read anything, but, curious to find out, he showed Sarina how to attach it before giving her a quick explanation regarding its use.

Following Vahn's instructions, Sarina quickly set the Scouter to detection mode before focusing her rather intense gaze on his face. Several strange symbols immediately appeared on the Scouter, but, thanks to the System Template Vahn had gifted her, they quickly transformed into a format she was able to read. In spite of this, she had no way of making sense of the ludicrous number possessing a dizzying number of commas digits…

"Uh…"

Fortunately for Sarina, the System Template was perfect for situations such as this. The moment she began floundering for a response, a voice identical to Vahn's softly informed her, (*Rounded up, the number is approximately seventeen octodecillion.*)

While thanking the System Template in her mind, Sarina's confused expression morphed into a happy smile as she parroted, "It keeps fluctuating, but your power level rounds up to seventeen octodecillion."

Surprised that the Scouter could even analyze his generally incomprehensible power level, Vahn's brows perked up as he muttered a sincere, "Wow…" before promptly suppressing the urge to power up and have her scan him again. After all, as exciting as large numbers were, power levels in Dragon Ball had never been an accurate representation of a person's strength.

"What's an octodillion…?'

Having never even heard of numbers greater than a hundred, Goku had no clue where Vahn and Sarina were talking about. He just wanted to join in the conversation as he had started to feel left out.

Ruffling the young Saiyan's hair, Vahn answered, "In this particular instance, it may as well be a made-up word. For now, let's focus on you…"

Explaining to Goku the basics of power levels and how his own compared to a normal person's, Vahn was able to successfully hype up the aspiring martial artist. Having a basic grasp of where you stood in relation to others was a powerful motivator, so, hearing that Sarina was as strong as thirty-five of him, flames of competitiveness appeared in Goku's hazel-brown eyes as he promptly asked her for a fight…

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Though she had been slightly annoyed when Vahn suddenly disappeared on her, the majority of Bulma's anger vanished when she rose to her feet and found a still-warm breakfast waiting for her. She normally skipped the most important meal of the day, but, recalling how she hadn't even had to use the bathroom since eating Vahn's food, Bulma decided to give it a try.

"Oh, wow. Is this a cheese danish? How can it be so crispy without flaking…?"

As normal pastries were quite messy, Bulma couldn't help marveling as the strangely luminescent danish retained its shape even when she shook it. This was in spite of the fact that it crisped like a potato chip the moment she bit into it.

"How strange…"

Finishing the danish in record time, Bulma opened the thermos to find that the coffee inside was mixed with cinnamon dolce creamer, yet another one of her favorites. A ruddy hue immediately spread through her cheeks. At the same time, largely due to the fact she was alone, a somewhat distorted, ostensibly perverted smile spread across her face. Then, after looking around to make sure no one was looking, she rolled up the back of her nightgown before sitting where Vahn had been prior to her arrival. When she noticed it was still warm, a very small amount of drool leaked from Bulma's mouth before she promptly wiped it away…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Scouter got that guuud succc…','Ox-King is secretly the MC…','While it might be difficult to believe, this is exactly how Bulma behaves in Dragon Ball canon. If you don't believe me, just watch the first few episodes xD…')