Goku rarely got nervous. This only happened at specific moments in his life or when certain important people were around, such as his sister Bulma or his wife Chi-Chi. Aside from those instances, he seldom felt that kind of emotion.
This time, however, he felt like a bundle of nerves, all because of one particular matter. He was going to teach! To anyone else, this might seem simple. You just have to show people how to do something and hope they understand.
But in the world of martial arts, teaching was a momentous event. It was one of the most significant status changes for a warrior. He was no longer just an apprentice, since one learns throughout one's entire life, but also a master and a guide.
For martial artists, a master is a special entity. They were responsible not only for teaching a fighting style, but also for imparting a spirit, a creed, and a faith. Furthermore, for some, a master was as important as a father—sometimes even more so.
Goku was about to become that figure! His nervousness at that moment was surpassed only by what he felt on his wedding night, when he was, as he was now, a complete novice.
However, he had to take that step because the people he was going to guide were two beings connected to him by blood: his son, Gohan, and his older brother, Raditz. Goku didn't value blood ties over brotherly bonds. For him, the importance of someone in his life went beyond sharing genes. However, he cared about those two people.
The first was his son, whom he loved dearly and would fight to the death to save. He had seen him born and was watching him grow up. Goku hoped to be there for Gohan until he could stand on his own two feet.
His relationship with Gohan was not only that of father and son but also that of teacher and student, which strengthened the bond they shared. Although today was the first day he would formally teach Gohan, their relationship had been established from the moment he learned Chi-Chi was pregnant.
On the other hand, there was Raditz, his older brother, who had been absent from his life for many years. They maintained a simple yet important relationship: They were brothers! However, that didn't mean Raditz was important to him.
After all, Goku wouldn't deny that Raditz's evil Ki was a beacon to his senses. He was very wary of his older brother and maintained a certain caution around him, though he didn't show it.
For example, the day before, when Goku went out to find a dinosaur tail for dinner, he left a trail of ki in his home, which served as an alarm. Had Raditz stood up and walked through the door to the kitchen, Goku would have sensed him and rushed back home.
Luckily, nothing happened, and they had a pleasant dinner. That's how Goku became his older brother's teacher. Now, the three of them were in a small clearing by the riverbank deep in the mountains.
Gohan sat on the ground wearing a training suit similar to the orange one his father wore. The kanji for Sky (Sora), 空, was printed on the back, where his little brown tail swayed gently.
An important detail is that his cap, which featured a Dragon Ball on the tip, had been set aside. The little Saiyan had taken it off due to the courtesy rules taught by his mother. It was rude to wear a cap when speaking to someone important or engaging in a serious activity, such as a lesson with his father or his teacher.
Raditz stood with his arms crossed. He wore casual clothes and an exasperated expression. Clearly, the Saiyan was not comfortable with the idea of being an apprentice, especially since his teacher was his younger brother.
Especially since his teacher was his younger brother. He wasn't a martial artist and hadn't grown up in that culture. However, teachers inevitably have a certain overbearing aura toward their students. Consequently, one could argue that he didn't like being under his younger brother's thumb.
'Just because he knows more about Earth techniques than I do, does that make him my teacher? Wait, yes, it does! Damn it! Why did I agree to let him be my teacher? Oh yeah, because of Launch,' Raditz thought. Suddenly, the image of the blue-haired girl appeared in his mind, making him nervous and turning his cheeks a little red.
To clear his mind of her, he focused on his older brother, who was moving back and forth, his tail turning like a windmill, which bothered Raditz a little.
"Can you stop wagging your tail like a cat? It's embarrassing," Raditz remarked rudely. Goku stopped thinking when he saw his brother's provocative gaze.
A giant monkey, an Ozaru, appeared behind Goku. It roared at the sky with great fanfare before looking at Raditz. Raditz was astonished because Kakarot hadn't shown this strange technique during their fight.
"Outside of our training sessions, Raditz, you can be as disrespectful as you like. But here, under my tutelage, you must respect me. Otherwise, I will refuse to teach you key techniques. I might even expel you," Goku declared sternly, looking directly into his brother's eyes.
Goku was taking his role as a teacher seriously, establishing his authority through his actions and words. An important aspect of being a teacher is commanding respect; otherwise, teaching wouldn't be worthwhile.
Raditz stood still, shocked to see an Ozaru manifest in that form. Upon hearing Kakarot's words, Raditz instinctively adopted a posture typically seen in soldiers. Then, when he realized this, the Saiyan felt uncomfortable, but he could no longer simply back down.
He decided to imitate his nephew and sit on the ground. Despite everything, his imposing figure still stood out quite a bit in the clearing. Gohan looked up at him curiously but looked away when he noticed Raditz watching him.
Goku calmed his energy, dispelled the Ozaru projection, and sat down in front of his two apprentices. He held out his palm, and a small red energy sphere appeared and floated gently before transforming into a stick figure that waved to everyone.
"The first topic of our class is simple: What is Ki? Gohan, you've probably only overheard bits and pieces of the adults' conversations, so just give your best guess. Raditz, you have a lot of experience. Tell me your understanding of energy." Goku asked this and the following questions in a calm tone, but his words made Raditz angry all over again.
'What kind of question is that?!' Raditz couldn't believe they had started with such a silly topic. Although there were many discussions on the forum about energy, he had never focused on them. Instead, he focused on things that could help him, though he didn't know why.
Yes, he had meditated, channeled his energy, and devised special attacks, but to him, his ki was merely a tool for becoming strong. It wasn't something that needed an explanation since he wasn't a scientist or scholar who always wanted to know what everything was.
He was uncomfortable because he believed that Kakarot would teach him a practical application of the power, like the technique that summoned the image of Ozaru. Those were the things that should be taught, not useless things!
However, Gohan was the complete opposite of his uncle. He was genuinely interested in what Ki was and why it was important. In fact, his father had taught him to sense it before anything else. What was Ki? the young Saiyan repeated in his mind.
Raditz looked at the ki sphere with interest and reached out to touch it. Goku made this easy by controlling the sphere and causing it to float toward Raditz. Then, much to Raditz's dismay, Gohan burst out laughing.
"Dad, that's an easy question. Since ki is inside you, Uncle Raditz, Mom, Aunt Bulma, and I, ki is part of our bodies. It's something we can control, just like I control my tail," Gohan replied coherently. This was quite unlike other children his age and was a testament to his intelligence, even though he was a bit of a crybaby.
"Good job, Gohan! That's the right answer. You really are a little genius," Goku said sincerely, since the boy's answer, though flawed due to his lack of experience and knowledge, could be considered valid.
Goku ruffled his son's hair, then looked expectantly at Raditz, who simply shrugged as he formulated his response, one that reflected his own thoughts and past experiences.
"Energy is a tool to strengthen myself, to defeat my enemies, and to achieve my goals. Does its true nature really matter? What matters is knowing how to use it, not what it is," the older Saiyan replied, believing his words would be dismissed before Kakarot launched into a lecture on Ki. However, he received an unexpected response.
"You're right, too, Raditz. Did you think I'd disagree with you? No, because from your perspective and experience, ki has fulfilled those functions. Therefore, that's how it is for you. That's valuable since it's your own definition, and a valid one.
Of course, energy has a concrete existence and definition, but it also has the unique quality of taking on many other meanings. Its concept expands with every answer to the question, 'What is Ki?' making no answer entirely wrong." Goku drew the crimson energy sphere back into his palm and made it spin rapidly on its axis.
"Specifically and verifiably, Ki is a unique energy of biological and spiritual nature found in everything around us. Living beings, inorganic objects, and even the sun possess Ki." At that moment, Goku guided the sphere toward a small rock. Contrary to his words, however, it was clear to Raditz and Gohan that the rock had no Ki. Their master had already anticipated this doubt, though.
"Ki encompasses many meanings and concepts, but essentially, it is like fuel for reality. Can things exist without Ki? Of course! But only in our perception. Because if Ki is present in the sun, what does it mean when we perceive something as lacking Ki? Simple. You must adjust the frequency of your senses." The apprentices didn't know this, but Goku had adjusted the frequency of his energy perception and sensed a faint trace of Ki in the rock.
"In that sense, Ki is like radiation. Just as we're all made of atoms that constantly emit radiation, which we can't see and can only detect with special equipment, Ki is always present. Ki is always there, everywhere. You just have to be able to sense it, even though there are many things where we can't feel it, like that river." Goku returned his perception to its normal state because he was more accustomed to sensing only the ki of living things.
"If you don't believe me, I can make sure that by the end of the day, you'll be able to sense the ki of that river," Goku declared, causing Gohan and the recently arrived Raditz to look excited.
The Saiyan had used everything he'd learned from his various masters to plan this first lesson, and it seemed to be working. It seems he wasn't so bad at being a teacher after all!
Goku spent the morning explaining the basics of ki to Gohan and Raditz. He kept it simple so both could understand, as they were practically complete beginners.
Over the course of those hours, they absorbed the knowledge, since neither of them was stupid. Gohan was a small child, and Raditz barely understood how the energy he used in battle worked.
By the end of the lesson, at lunchtime, the pair had mastered the beginner's level technique of shifting their Ki perception frequency. Thus, they could vaguely sense the energy of the nearby river.
Goku kept his word by enabling them to achieve this feat.
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AN: TheAnPlayer2 gave me a tip: Promote my original stories every 5 chapters. So, read my original novels: Steam and Heart, Lunar Mechanism, Blood Sequence, and Witch's Adventure. You may or may not like them, but give them a chance. c: