Reborn as Baby

~ Omniscient Pov... ~

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"I heard you were getting married to the Prince of all Saiyans," a girl teased, her voice light and playful, yet carrying an edge of curiosity.

The remark drew an annoyed groan from the young woman sitting across from her. She crossed her arms, her expression a mixture of frustration and resignation.

"Yeah," she muttered, "but I'm not so happy about it, Saya..."

Saya leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand as a sly grin spread across her face. "Oh, come on. You're marrying royalty! What's there to complain about? Power, prestige, endless feasts… Sounds like the dream life to me."

"Maybe for you," the girl shot back, her tone sharp but weary. "You're not the one getting shackled to some arrogant jerk who thinks he's better than everyone else just because of his title."

Saya's grin widened. "Ohhh, so you've met him already?"

"Unfortunately," she said, rolling her eyes. "And he's exactly what you'd expect. Full of himself, doesn't listen to anyone, and has this whole 'I'm the strongest in the universe' attitude. It's exhausting."

Saya laughed, a bright sound that echoed slightly in the small room. "You're making it sound like you hate the guy already."

"Hate might be a strong word," she replied, hesitating for a moment. "But I don't like him, that's for sure. This whole thing feels like a power play, not a marriage."

Saya shrugged. "Well, that's how Saiyans are, isn't it? Always about strength and alliances. If you're marrying the prince, it's probably because your family's got something the King wants. Politics, power… you know the drill."

The girl sighed, leaning back in her chair, "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. I didn't sign up to be some pawn in their game."

Saya's playful expression softened slightly, and she reached out to give her friend's hand a quick squeeze. "Hey, look at it this way—maybe it won't be as bad as you think. Who knows? You might end up liking the guy."

The girl snorted, shaking her head. "Not likely."

Still, as Saya continued to chat and tease, a small flicker of doubt crept into her mind. What if Saya was right? What if there was more to the arrogant prince than met the eye?

She quickly shook the thought away. For now, all she could focus on was surviving the inevitable chaos that this so-called marriage was bound to bring.

"Anyway, I'm going to train, wanna come?"

Saya's head fell back dramatically, and she groaned, waving a hand in protest. "Nope, absolutely not. I trained my butt off earlier, and Commander Fasha put me through extra drills yesterday. I'm beat."

Rei raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Extra drills, huh? Guess that means you were slacking off again."

"Excuse me?!" Saya shot back, sitting up straight. "I wasn't slacking off! Fasha just hates me. She's out to get me, I swear!"

"Sure, sure," Rei said with a laugh, already heading for the door. "Keep telling yourself that."

Saya crossed her arms and huffed. "You're gonna regret making fun of me when Fasha decides you need some extra attention next time."

Rei paused in the doorway, glancing back with a playful grin. "Bring it on. Unlike you, I don't complain about a little hard work."

"Yeah, yeah~" Saya mumbled, flopping back into her seat. "Go work yourself to death, tough girl. I'll be here resting, like a sane person."

Rei chuckled, shaking her head as she stepped out. Despite Saya's constant complaining, she couldn't deny her friend's loyalty—and if nothing else, she appreciated Saya's ability to keep her grounded in moments like this...

"Alright... I'm heading to the gravity-rooms, I'm thinking of hitting a new personal high for my goal this year." Rei added.

Saya flashed her hands, "Alright, shoo~ shoo~ I need my beauty sleep."

"Haha~ Ok, later." Rei waved good bye, flying off...

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~ Omniscient Pov, In the Cavern... ~

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The cavern, once filled with radiant, glowing crystals, was now lifeless and hollow. The once-brilliant structures were dulled to nothing more than jagged gray shards, with some shattered completely and scattered across the uneven ground. The vibrant hum that had once filled the space was gone, replaced by an eerie stillness.

The only light came from a few dim ki spheres hovering near the cavern's ceiling, their faint glow casting long, flickering shadows across the ruined walls...

At the center of it all sat Baby, motionless in a meditative position. His legs were crossed, his back straight, and his hands rested on his knees, palms upturned. His eyes were closed, but the subtle hum of his energy radiated through the room, filling the air with a tension that was impossible to ignore.

Baby's appearance had changed over the past few days. His once dull, metallic skin now carried a faint, almost ethereal luminescence, as if absorbing and reflecting the lost energy of the crystals around him. His purple visor-like eyes were gone, replaced by sharp, piercing red visors that seemed to glow faintly even while closed.

His body had even grown again, becoming larger and more refined. His once-sleek form now held a defined musculature that hinted at both power, speed and precision. His arms and legs were now adorned with the iconic yellow and red bracers he knew of from the original Baby—symbols of his evolution.

The air around him was noticeably heavy, thick with the weight of his transformation, specifically his Ki. His breathing was steady, controlled, yet each exhale seemed to almost reverberate through the cavern like a silent reminder of his currently overwhelming presence.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open...

The red glow from his visor like eyes illuminated the space briefly, the intensity of his gaze like a sharp blade cutting through the darkness. His ki spheres flickered in response, their light dimming momentarily before stabilizing again.

He rose to his feet slowly, deliberately. The faint glow of his skin grew even brighter for just a moment, illuminating the dull remains of the crystals around him. He flexed his fingers experimentally, his ki-claws extending and retracting, testing their power and responsiveness...

"A shame," he muttered, his voice low and resonant, carrying an edge of both disappointment and triumph. "All that power... Wasted in the hands of a species too weak and too inept to use it properly."

His gaze swept over the ruined cavern, lingering on the remnants of the crystals that had once made this place so unique. Now, they were nothing more than a reminder of his recent ascension...

It had been days since Baby had been constantly splitting himself into smaller parts to absorb all the crystals, initially he was worried due to a potential overload in his mind, but the crystals had no mind of their own, but the process was still tedious... But to him, it was all worth it.

'Status...'

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Name: Michael Murphey | Baby

Race: Bio Android parasite / Tuffle 

Height: 144.2 cm ⇛ 165.8 cm

Power Level: 11,172.03 ⇛ 91,106.01

Ki Enhanced: 91,106.0 × 5.2 = 473,751.2

Potential: 29.2 ⇛ 37.43

Latent Potential: 33.5 ⇛ 53.1

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'I feel it, but seeing it is entirely different...' He thought. 

'My power being in the half a million range is already a lot, but to think it's all because of my Ki control being so ridiculously high.' 

Baby smirked, his satisfaction radiating through his form as he flexed his fingers, testing the new strength coursing through his body. The crystals had done their job, enhancing him in ways even he hadn't fully anticipated. Though the process had been monotonous and painstaking, the results spoke for themselves.

"Hehe~ Half a million in power…" he muttered again, his voice now deeper, carrying an edge of pride to it, "And it's not just raw strength. It's all control. Precision." He clenched his fist, feeling the energy ripple through him like a current waiting to be unleashed. Yet, extremely tame. He felt as if his Ki was completely under his fingertips. The sensitivity didn't just translate to efficiency by extension, but also vastly greater control over his it in general...

'I haven't even trained my Ki over the past few days... Yet my control is already leagues better than what it was before... If I train, how much better would I even be?' He thought off-handedly.

He smiled, stretching his body again, thinking to himself, 'Hmm... Maybe I should hunt the final beast that's left... But, that doesn't seem too necessary at the moment. I don't see what perks it could provide me with that I didn't have in spades now either...'

With that, Baby made his way out of the cavern... Making sure to keep his power level suppressed, at least to the level of the hundreds. 

"As I thought..." He smiled, "I can feel them in the distance, hundreds of kilometers away from the cavern... Maybe they gave up in their search for me. If that's the case, I should be able to do a bit more digging for abilities that I might need. I can never have too much..."

He jumped down, walking towards his next destination, while he was doing so, he kept perusing through his status panel; Particularly, his abilities.

'There are definitely changes... My old skills got replaced with better ones as expected... But, my Ki claws... They changed from an Active skill, to a Active/Hax skill. Interesting.' He kept scrolling down the list since his abilities were starting to get a bit lengthy, right until he hit the very end...

This time, he saw a new slot... Skills. And he only saw one ability listed there.

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Skills;

??? (Active/Hax): Focuses all the user's charged energy into one final lethal attack; leaving five tremendous slash marks in its wake… Deals another 5.5-fold increase on top of Ki-Claws damage output.

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Seeing it, he immediately realized what the skill was, 'The panel considers it a final move... Not bad. Still, essentially dealing another 6 times increase on top of my claw damage was interesting... if I do the math, given my current power level; My maximum damage output in sheer power level should be around... 11-12 million, give or take."

He also wondered what he should even call it too...

'Though... Saying that number so casually felt, worrying... That was a bit more than 20 times my current level of max strength; I guess that explains why my arms hurt so damn much after using it in the first place. The after-affects might have been worse if I didn't have the abilities I had... Still, I need to work on that skill a bit. It could be far more refined than it was now.

'So... it's back to hunting and grinding, I guess.'

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END