Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 677 Saiyan Special Training Class Begins, Intelligence Investigation Request!

"It's more intuitive to let you experience it for yourself than to just talk about it."

As Broly spoke, he bent down and picked up two pebbles from the ground, handing one to Bell and the other to Lily Luca.

"Now, each of you must throw the stones in your hands with all your might at the trunk of that tree over there."

Broly pointed to the large tree that had been transplanted to the family's residence and said.

"Yes."

Belle and Lily responded and threw the stones in their hands with all their might.

Two loud thuds were heard as the tree trunk was hit.

Depending on the force applied, the bark sustained varying degrees of damage.

"This is simply a difference in basic ability values."

Broly picked up a stick and pointed to the tree trunk where the two men had hit him with stones from different places.

"Bell, you are stronger than Lily, so the stones you throw cause more damage than the stones Lily throws."

Now, following my instructions, throw the stones again. Bell, you go first. First, swing your arm wide and imagine your arm is a whip.

Not only should you use your arms, but your waist and hips should also contribute. When throwing the stone, concentrate all your strength in your fingertips as you throw it…

Broly demonstrated the movements, and Bell imitated them, only to have his movements corrected by Broly. After his movements were mostly corrected and his techniques for generating power were mostly explained, Bell continued to demonstrate.

"Pfft~"

The pebble thrown by the white-haired boy again did not bounce off the tree trunk this time, but instead went straight into it.

It not only broke the skin but also created dents where it hit, greatly increasing both its penetrating power and destructive force.

"Did I do this?"

Bell could hardly believe it.

"Although it's not perfect, it's already pretty good. This is the simple way to improve strength through technique, and it's the most direct way to become stronger."

Okay, Lily, come over here and experience the charm of this technique. Relax your body and follow my movements.

Broly stepped forward, approached the little girl from behind, and began to lead her in a power-generating motion.

"Brother Broly, aren't you being a little biased?"

After the stone was thrown and caused more damage than the one he had thrown, Bell looked over with some regret.

"Why is it that when you teach me, you only give verbal instructions and correct my movements with a stick, but when you teach Miss Erd, you teach her hand in hand?"

“Bell, if you could grow to the same size as Lily, I can teach you step by step.”

Bell looked at himself, then at the little girl over there, compared their sizes, and could only helplessly accept the result of this education that resulted in differences in size.

"Alright, now that you understand the function of power generation techniques, I will teach you how to integrate these techniques into your daily combat behavior."

"Oh!"

Bell was excited, while Lily Luca had some doubts and raised her hand like a primary school student: "But Brother Broly, I use a crossbow. It doesn't seem like there's any use in me learning these techniques. After all, loading a crossbow with more arrows won't increase its power, right?"

"Yes, so, Lily, you need to change your fighting style. For example, practice swordsmanship or throwing techniques."

Broly nodded, drew his Fire of Joy from his waist and handed it over. This sword was made for him by Hephaestus according to his size. Since he and Lilyluka were about the same size, it was quite handy when the little girl took it.

"But I have never fought with a sword."

Lily Luca was a little confused.

"It's alright, I can teach you swordsmanship from scratch and guarantee that you'll master it in a short time."

Broly has a lot of teaching experience. He is confident that he can teach anyone who knows how to wield a wooden stick to quickly master some of the sword techniques he knows, starting from scratch.

“Miss Erd, Brother Broly is very skilled. He taught me swordsmanship.”

Bell's presence and personal example boosted the little girl's confidence in learning swordsmanship.

"Hum-ha, ha-ya..."

In the front yard of the Hestia Familia's residence, the sounds of a dwarf girl and a white-haired boy swinging their swords with all their might, their chests exhaling air naturally making a sound in their throats as they moved, could soon be heard.

For the entire morning, the Saiyan used his experience and insight to guide the two in practicing sword techniques from various angles, maximizing their power.

By noon, Lily Luca, a novice swordsman, was already able to perform the four basic offensive sword techniques—thrust, slash, point, and parry—quite well.

If she learns and can skillfully use basic defensive sword techniques such as Hang, Cloud, and Twist, then she will be a qualified junior swordsman in the Six Dimensions World.

Such rapid progress is due in part to the sufficient base stats provided by the ability points, and in part to the hands-on guidance of his swordsmanship teacher.

However, compared to Bell, the little girl's progress was only mediocre. The effect of her eager anticipation was terrifying; in just one morning of sword practice, Bell's swordsmanship level went from beginner to intermediate.

Moreover, he is not just at the average intermediate level, but is developing towards the level of an advanced swordsman. Although he practices offensive swordsmanship, he may not be very good at defense yet, but it is perfectly reasonable to call the young man an intermediate swordsman of the Sword God style.

"Okay, we've practiced enough, we can stop now."

Broly's words made the two, who were covered in sweat and somewhat tired, stop swinging their swords.

"I never imagined that just swinging a sword in the air would be so tiring."

Bell slumped down.

"We should get a stamina recovery potion."

Lily Luca agreed.

"Brother Broly, what do you think of our training?"

The white-haired boy asked the boy.

"Lily's offensive swordsmanship is at the beginner level."

As for you, you've progressed from beginner to intermediate level, and are almost at the threshold of advanced swordsmanship.

Broly gave his assessment.

"Uh, does that mean I've become powerful?"

"Theoretically, that's true, but in practice, it depends on how well you apply your skills on the spot."

"Shall we go to the dungeon this afternoon and test our swords?"

Bell was eager to try.

"A real-world sword test is definitely going to be done, but not this afternoon. You've only learned the basics of offensive swordsmanship; your defensive swordsmanship hasn't improved at all."

A swordsman's strength depends either on his strongest skill in swordsmanship or on his weakest point.

"Uh, Brother Broly, what you're saying is a bit confusing. Does a swordsman's strength depend on their strongest point in swordsmanship, or their weakest point?"

Bell looked puzzled.

"Does swordsmanship have strengths and weaknesses?"

Lily Luca looked somewhat bewildered.

Swordsmanship can be broadly divided into offensive swordsmanship (Sword God Style) and defensive swordsmanship (Water God Style). Each swordsman has a different focus, which will result in strengths and weaknesses.

What I mean by focusing on strengths is that the strengths must outweigh the weaknesses, preventing the enemy from eliminating you because of your weaknesses.

For example, if your strength lies in offensive swordsmanship, and you can achieve the ultimate offensive, ending the enemy's life before they can even harm you, Bell, do you think you still need to defend?

Upon hearing the boy's question, Bell thought for a moment and then shook her head, replying, "I don't think so."

"This is because our offensive strengths outweigh our defensive weaknesses. However, in actual combat, we cannot predict the strength of our opponents, and we cannot be certain that we can defeat them first."

Perhaps, due to insufficient information about the enemy, we might fail to eliminate them and allow them to launch a counterattack.

In situations like these, whether we can save our lives depends on our weaknesses in swordsmanship—whether we can withstand the enemy's counterattacks aimed at killing us.

Upon hearing this, Bell's eyes widened, and as if remembering something, he asked, "Brother Broly, are you referring to the battle you fought against Goliath?!"

"Well, that can be considered a typical teaching session."

"what are you guys saying?"

Lily Luca was somewhat puzzled.

"Brother Broly, can I talk to Miss Erd about this?"

"of course."

“Miss Erd, let me tell you, Brother Broly, he…”

After receiving permission, Bell recounted what he had witnessed during his first time in the dungeon: the boy's solo raid on the floor master.

"Back then, Brother Broly used his ultimate offensive swordsmanship to completely overwhelm the floor master..."

As Lily Luca listened to Bell's description, her eyes shone with a strange light, as if she could imagine the scene.

"But due to insufficient intelligence, the floor master, whose head had been chopped off, was still able to move, and Broly got punched..." "Ah~"

The little girl exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course, Brother Broly is fine. He blocked the fatal blow and finally completed the revenge against the floor master."

After telling Lily Luca the story, Bell looked at the boy and said, "Brother Broly, I understand what you mean. You're trying to tell us that swordsmanship shouldn't just focus on offense, but also on defense, right?"

"That's what it means."

"When will we start practicing defensive sword techniques?"

"After lunch, in the afternoon."

However, I have to go out this afternoon, so I can only teach you a few times step by step.

Until I return, the two of you will have to practice on your own.

"I don't think I'm among those who teach step by step."

Bell made a sarcastic remark.

"You have good aptitude, you don't need to be taught like this."

"Brother Broly, may I take your words as a compliment?"

"It's just a compliment, there's no need to take it seriously."

"So, the fact that I need to be taught step by step means that my swordsmanship aptitude is actually quite poor?"

Lily Luca asked the question.

"Uh, Lily, your swordsmanship is indeed a bit inferior to Bell's, but as long as you work hard, it's not a problem. At least, reaching the advanced level of swordsmanship is definitely not a problem. I can guarantee you that."

In the Six-Sided World, becoming a Saint-level swordsman is a hurdle, but becoming a Superior swordsman is not. Even ordinary people, as long as they are willing to put in hard work and sweat, and constantly accumulate their swordsmanship experience, will eventually be able to say: "My swordsmanship is nothing more than practice makes perfect."

Lily Luca: "..."

She practiced swordsmanship all morning and it went very smoothly, leading her to mistakenly believe that she actually had a great talent for swordsmanship.

But now it seems that it wasn't her who was more capable, but rather Broly, who taught her.

The little girl sighed. She should have realized long ago that she lacked combat talent.

"Brother Broly, if I master the advanced swordsmanship you mentioned, just how powerful will I become?"

However, Lily Luca was still curious about the strength she could reach, so she asked.

"How powerful is it? I can't give a specific answer because in real-world scenarios, it's often impossible to make simple quantitative comparisons."

However, as long as you can fight normally and have a decent sword, you should be able to take on three guys head-on, like the tanuki who bullied you yesterday.

"Hey, I'm a supporter with pitifully low Lv.1 stats, fighting three adventurers with decent Lv.2 stats like Kanu? Broly, are you kidding me?"

The little girl's eyes widened.

"What's so special about that, Miss Erd? When Broly was at Lv.1, he could easily defeat Lv.2 monsters in the dungeon, and he could even take on large groups of them at once. He could even protect me when I wasn't a member of the Familia and was just an ordinary person."

Bell thought this was normal.

"Uh?!"

Lily Luca looked curious and eager to hear the story, while Bell also looked like she wanted to share her own story.

"Stop, Bell, I have no problem with you praising me, but now we should go eat."

After we finish eating and I teach you defensive sword techniques, I still have to go out and meet up with Lady Hestia.

"Brother Broly, shall we eat out or at the clan's residence?"

"Let's go out to eat. I know a nice little restaurant around here."

The three of them went out for a meal, and when they returned, Broly demonstrated his modified version of the Water God Style basic sword technique to Lily several times, teaching her step by step.

Bell watched from the sidelines a few times, and after confirming that both of them could demonstrate the basic Water God Style techniques, Broly went out.

They met up with Hestia, who had taken the afternoon off, at the potato ball shop. The two of them then went to the base of a so-called absolutely neutral clan that ran an intelligence business.

. . . .

“This is quite a rare guest, Hestia. You actually took the initiative to come and visit me.”

The blond god, who seemed a bit frivolous, feigned surprise upon seeing the loli goddess enter through the door.

"If there's nothing else going on, who would want to visit someone like you who's always peeping at other goddesses bathing in the heavens?!"

"Hey, Hestia, peeping is a man's romance, and besides, isn't a goddess who can be spied on the proof of her great charm?"

"Here's nonsense."

"Alright, but I remember I never spied on you when I was in the Heavenly Realm, right?!"

"Hey, Hermes, you want to fight, don't you?"

This was a friendly greeting between two old gods from the heavens. Hermes, dressed like Robin Hood, immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Alright, I concede. So, Hestia, what brings you here to visit me all of a sudden?"

“Your family is Orario’s best intelligence provider. We have some information we would like to ask your child to help investigate.”

Hestia didn't beat around the bush and stated her purpose directly.

"Oh, so it's business coming to our door."

"Wait, what's with that surprised look on your face?"

"Oh, I thought you came here to borrow money from me."

Upon hearing this, Hestia looked completely bewildered.

"After all, after you came down to Orario, you just lived a life of leisure and comfort in Hephaestus's place, like a homebody god in the heavens."

Ultimately, Hephaestus, unable to tolerate your laziness, expelled you from your kin, and for a long time afterward, you couldn't find any children willing to join your (impoverished) kin. This was quite a topic of conversation at the last Divine Assembly.

Hermes spoke eloquently.

"Oh, is it that Loki guy spreading rumors about me?"

Hestia is getting a bit reddish.

"Yeah, Loki was the one talking the most enthusiastically."

"Damn Loki, he'll get what's coming to him sooner or later."

Hestia was somewhat angry, then pointed at the boy who had followed her in.

"My predicament is a thing of the past. Now I have Orario, or rather, the most outstanding child in the entire (lower) world. His name is Broly, Hermes. You remember this, because I might need you to help spread his name in the future."

Hermes glanced at the boy and nodded: "Alright, I'll remember that. If your child really becomes a great person in the future, I don't mind helping to spread his fame. Now, let's get down to business (the request)."

"We would like to ask your family members to help investigate some information about the members of the Soma Familia."

"Eh, investigating other members of the clan? What do you want to investigate this for?"

Hermes was somewhat surprised.

“I took in a child from the Soma Familia who had been subjected to long-term bullying and exploitation within the clan, and we wanted to stand up for her.”

Hestia explained succinctly.

"Interfering in the affairs of other clans can lead to conflict and retaliation. The Soma clan is not a group of people to be trifled with."

"I know that, but don't worry about it, just tell me the specific price."

"Asphi..."

Hermes didn't make a direct offer; instead, he called out to the outside.

"Lord Hermes, what are your orders?"

Soon, a woman with light blue hair and framed glasses, but with noticeable dark circles under her eyes, walked in and asked a question.

"There's an intelligence business here, and we need you to appraise it..."

Hermes explained the situation.

"The Soma Familia is a production-oriented family, with members whose highest level does not exceed Lv.2. I wonder what kind of information Lady Hestia is looking for to investigate?"

"Information regarding the character of the members and their position in the ecosystem of the Soma Familia."

If you want to take action against the Soma Familia (without a devastating defeat), you need to know which members of the family you need to deal with and which you can win over.

Although Lily Luca provided some information about the internal members, the Soma Familia has nearly a thousand members, including both official members (those with divine favor) and unofficial members (those without divine favor). It's impossible for the little girl to know the situation of everyone. That's why they came to issue the intelligence investigation request.

(End of this chapter)