Now that is a tale and a half! With Sight, you'd be able to target spells and ki with unheard-of precision, and ki and sorcery can be blended in literally dozens of fascinating ways!
One example -- literally any offensive technique could suddenly be targeted accurately enough to hit any body part Karen wanted to hit. Another: Ki Healing suddenly can be focused on only the injured parts, for maximum efficiency.
Sorcery in general would be far more effective; Dandelor mentioned that it's sight-based, so making it Sight-based just ramps up its effectiveness in every possible way. It is, essentially, a straight upgrade.
If we ever actually manage to uncork Jaffur, it seems likely that he's going to start developing all the terrifying sorcery-modified ki-using combat techniques.
Also, we may want to consider that Jaffur style might in some way rely on his latent abilities as a sorcerer. We know he hasn't got any formal training in that area, but that would explain why he could do such things with ki at, um... nine? Things that Kakara still can't figure out how to duplicate after years of experience and training despite being an acknowledged 'ki genius.' If what Jaffur is doing wasn't just ki, that would explain a lot.
Some context, then. That video I showed you was of a technique called "Cero Metralleta". It's basically just a regular "Cero" fired at an ultra-high rate of fire (a feat made possible because of the technique-user's overwhelming power and his specialty). A "Cero" in Bleach is the equivalent of a Kamehameha. (See this video or this gif to see the nature of what a single one of those "swarm" beams is.)
The idea, then, is not to invent a new swarm beam, but specifically to fire genuine Kamehamehas at an absurd rate of fire. Is it even possible? If so, how high of a level of Kamehama would you have to be at to enable the move? Is fusion a requirement like with the Final/Big Bang Kamehameha?
The idea, then, is not to invent a new swarm beam, but specifically to fire genuine Kamehamehas at an absurd rate of fire. Is it even possible? If so, how high of a level of Kamehama would you have to be at to enable the move? Is fusion a requirement like with the Final/Big Bang Kamehameha?
I may be wrong, but the destructive force of the kamehameha is primarily driven by the charge time it is given. This leads me to believe that it isn't particularly well-suited to spam attacks. I would expect that if it were, we would see Goku or Gohan use it as such sometime during the run of DBZ.
I think there's an underlying reason why people do not, on the whole, do this in Dragonball Z.
By and large, your ability to generate energy blasts scales with your power level. Your subjective time compression (and therefore your ability to react at super-speed) also scales with your time level.
Suppose that if your power level is ten thousand, you can generate a blast that contains X units of energy in a single second. Suppose that this is divisible in a proportional, linear way. That is, if you have a power level of one million, your energy blast can be charged to contain 100X units of energy in the same second. OR you could, conceivably, generate 100 individual blasts, all containing X units of energy, in that same amount of time.
...
The problem is that if you're fighting a notional saiyan opponent, and you want to spam him with 100 shots... Well, if he's at power level one million like you, those energy blasts that contain X amount of energy pose no more threat to him than a rifle bullet poses to a tank. There are plenty of ways for a tank to hit another tank with a LOT of bullets (shrapnel shells, coaxial machine guns, flechette rounds). The important thing they all have in common is that none of them work on the enemy tank.
So you're spamming a huge number of individual bolts, but none of them actually carry enough injury to affect your target. It's not a useful tactic. Furthermore, because he's as powerful as you, he's also as fast as you, so he perceives each of those individual bolts as a separate attack that he can perceive and evade or block. It's not just like firing machine gun bullets at a tank, it's like firing machine gun bullets at a tank that perceives the world the way Quicksilver perceives his gun-armed opponents in this scene.
You'd do much better to just hit the guy with the most powerful blast you can manage, all at once.
...
Now, if you're fighting a much weaker opponent, all these individual attacks get seen as a massive deadly shotgun blast of terrifyingly powerful bolts. They can't perceive your individual bolts being fired one by one, because they lack the ki power to reach the same level of subjective time compression you operate at. He's living in a bullet hell situation.
But the underlying problem your opponent faces isn't "my enemy just fired 100 bolts at me in the time it takes me to blink." The problem is "my enemy has like 100 times my power level." Anything you did would have worked ludicrously well in that situation. If you fly up to the guy and punch him, he's toast. If you fly up to the guy and grab him from behind, you have him in a chokehold before he can blink. If you hit him with one bolt that takes as long to charge up as one of his bolts, trading shot for shot... His bolt pings harmlessly off of you, like a rifle bullet off a tank. Your bolt obliterates him, leaving nothing of him except a spiky saiyan-haired Hiroshima shadow on the molten ruins of the mountain you were using as a target practice backstop. You had a LOT of options for wrecking this guy, and "hail of individually powerful (on his scale) bolts" was only one of them- and far from the simplest or least time-consuming.
...
So in addition to any concern that a swarm beam isn't a practical modification of the kamehameha attack, you have the very nature of Dragonball Z combat (where more powerful, skillful fighters are faster and more durable and have greater firepower). That ruleset makes swarm beams one of your less effective options, except as an area effect weapon for which they're not really better than firing a continuous beam of attacks or a single attack with a huge blast radius.
Some context, then. That video I showed you was of a technique called "Cero Metralleta". It's basically just a regular "Cero" fired at an ultra-high rate of fire (a feat made possible because of the technique-user's overwhelming power and his specialty). A "Cero" in Bleach is the equivalent of a Kamehameha. (See this video or this gif to see the nature of what a single one of those "swarm" beams is.)
The idea, then, is not to invent a new swarm beam, but specifically to fire genuine Kamehamehas at an absurd rate of fire. Is it even possible? If so, how high of a level of Kamehama would you have to be at to enable the move? Is fusion a requirement like with the Final/Big Bang Kamehameha?
I think a "swarm beam" is possible, but as others have said, it's not going to be just "lots of Kamehamehas" for various reasons.
I think replicating Cero Metralleta would be more akin to modifying a technique like Hellzone Grenade.
Also, the CM seems to be able to just...spawn from midair, almost? I guess the guns are still there as focal points, but still...
I think it's possible to make an attack that's at least likeCero Metralleta, it's just going to be more complicated than "fire Kamehameha really fast several times".
Some context, then. That video I showed you was of a technique called "Cero Metralleta". It's basically just a regular "Cero" fired at an ultra-high rate of fire (a feat made possible because of the technique-user's overwhelming power and his specialty). A "Cero" in Bleach is the equivalent of a Kamehameha. (See this video or this gif to see the nature of what a single one of those "swarm" beams is.)
The idea, then, is not to invent a new swarm beam, but specifically to fire genuine Kamehamehas at an absurd rate of fire. Is it even possible? If so, how high of a level of Kamehama would you have to be at to enable the move? Is fusion a requirement like with the Final/Big Bang Kamehameha?
Essentially as others have said, regrettably no. Finite power pool and throughput capabilities mean that the Kamehameha just isn't suited to it. Now, faster firing -- even significantly so -- is something you could conceivably take as an Elite+ talent, but not on that level, no.
That said, there are some really cool swarm techniques out there for Kakara to learn or invent.
There are plenty of uses for the mass-beam attacks, btw, though the tank vs tank comparison is spot-on.
But remember: your opponent is human(ish) and has a human-like brain: unless they're very experienced, such an assault will shake them and possibly give them mild shellshock (or severe, if they're very green).
I dunno. A massive barrage attack of shots that have virtually no chance of actually hurting the opponent, but which temporarily distract them long enough to get close and apply a nonlethal technique* could work well with that.
*(e.g. wrestling holds, grabbing people and teleporting them into jail cells, or Solar Flare which I figure has to be somewhat range-limited)
I still want to figure out non-lethal, non-harmful Ki Beams. Some sort of stun attack? We saw with Frost that poison can be useful, so figure out "poison Ki"?
So if Poptart keeps the deadline we're at T minus 0125 right now. But since deadlines are really more of guidelines I'd say is more of a T-minus 010125. Always assume they need time and a half.
Edit: I can't math. That's double time, not time and a half
[X] Okay, okay, this is fine. Just go see somebody else. Fennella? Yeah, her. She would have felt the fight, she probably wants to chat (mini-event socializing with Fennella).
-[X] Maybe hit a lake beach?
IS NOW REALLY THE BEST TIME FOR THIS?!
You drag your hands over your face, still keening in frustration. You cut yourself off with an aggravated grunt.
Your schedule is in shambles. You haven't had unscheduled time in years.
Crapbaskets. I HATE THOSE SCOUTS SO MUCH!
A part of you wants to simply wrench yourself back on track. Go to Maya's house anyway, get her away, and get training.
The greater part of you realizes that she's almost certainly grounded for leaving home without permission, and your presence would be unwelcome.
"Okay!" you say, throwing your hands up. "Okay! This is fine! TOTALLY FINE!"
And if your voice is an octave or so higher than it usually is, that too is no cause for concern whatsoever.
"I can just...go somewhere else. Crap. Where do I go?" You start pacing, the ground cratering slightly under your feet. "Maybe I could get some Sight trainin- no, Sensei would kill me if I did that when he's not around. I could go meditate. No. I'm not in the mood." You come to a halt, scowling at nothing.
You are going to do something productive today. The world may be conspiring against you, but you don't care. You are going to do something constructive, that advances your plans, and even if you're going to be twitching in frustration throughout, it won't matter, because even though you won't be able to take your mind off of all that training your supposed to be doing with Maya, it'll definitely be more productive than just going somewhere and-!
* * *
"Hell-? Ack!"
Fennella claws at the swimsuit suddenly obscuring her vision and stares at you in disbelief as you stand on her family's front porch.
"I got you a present. Wanna go to the beach?" you say, voice flat.
The older girl gapes at you. "...wha?"
You sigh, shrugging. "I had a really bad day."
Your friend shakes her head. "Did you just throw a swimsuit at me?"
You give her a pleading look. "Really bad day?"
She rolls her eyes. "Ugh. Fine. Let me ask. Mom!"
You tilt your head back and look into the sky as your friend vanishes back into her house and try to ignore all those productive things you could be doing right now. You're here to have fun.
...no matter how much you want to be out doing things and gah thisissoannoyingyouregoingtobesotwitchySTUIPDSCOUTS-
You shake your head violently and grumble to yourself.
Fennella comes back to the door. "Mom says it's fine. You have a suit?"
You hold up yours wordlessly.
She nods. "Alright. Let's go, Kari."
You hum in agreement and follow her as she walks out.
Both of you are under Masque; for whatever reason, the Peats elected not to evacuate to the Hall, so you're in a human neighborhood. As such, you're left with only the option of walking, rather than flying.
"This is so slow," moans Fenella. "How do humans stand it?"
Your head snaps up. "Shh! There are people here!"
She rolls her eyes, but lowers her voice. "Fine. Nobody's close, though."
"Still!"
She snorts and ruffles your hair.
You jerk your head back. "Hey!"
She chuckles. "So, what's wrong with you today?"
You cross your arms. "Lost a fight."
She blinks. "Wait, you lost that?"
You curl in on yourself a little tighter, scowling.
"Wow, I thought you were taking it easy," she says. "Why didn't you just power up more?"
"Dad said not to," you say. "Then he told me to do it anyway, but..." You shake your head. "It was a mess. But we got him."
"One of the aliens?" she asks.
You nod. "He surrendered. Now we need to figure out what to do with him."
"Wow. Well, at least there's that, even if you had a bad time in the fight."
You heave a long sigh. Out of the corner of your eye, you see her giving you and assessing look.
She leans in. "Sure there's nothing else bothering you?"
You frown at her. "Yeah."
"Positive?"
"Yeah, I'm positive."
"No boys?"
Your scowl deepens, and you turn away. "No!"
"You sure?" she asks, a sing-song tone in her voice. "'Cause I think I know that look. You don't have a cute guy bothering you?"
"Fenn!" you say, rolling your eyes.
"Hey, I figured you might have your eyes on somebody," she says, nudging you. "After all, you're getting older. I'll bet they're starting to notice you."
You flush bright red and decide to fire back. "Yeah, and what about you? Asked Dillon out yet?"
Her jaw snaps shut so fast you hear her teeth click, and she straightens. You giggle. Score one!
"I don't like him," she says, voice flat.
"Uh-huh," you say, still giggling.
"I don't."
"Doesn't look like it!"
"He's stupid."
"Boys do that."
"Kari, I don't like him!"
"I think you're lying..."
"Ancestors- come here, you little twerp!"
You let out a peal of laughter as you duck under your friend's grab and start running away towards the beach. Fennella chases after you, yelling at the top of her lungs.
And for a few minutes, you forget about your shattered schedule entirely.
* * *
A week later, you're walking home from school with Jaron.
"I can't believe you made us miss the bus."
You flush, scowling. "It wasn't my fault!"
"You spent thirty minutes talking to Mister Spartz."
"You didn't have to wait for me!" you reply, folding your arms. "It wasn't like you were saying anything, even though I was asking about our project!"
He grunts. "You asked all the questions I had. I was listening."
"So why didn't you remind me about the bus?"
"I got distracted by what he was saying!"
"You got distracted by school stuff?"
"Science is interesting!"
You roll your eyes. "Jaron, you are such a nerd."
He flushes red. "He- hey! No I'm not!"
You raise your hands. "Fine, fine, you're not a nerd. Mostly," you say, muttering the last word.
"I heard that!"
You spin away from the swat he aims at you. "You're not supposed to hit girls," you say, voice lilting through a sing-song pitch.
He rolls his eyes, face flat. "Please. You throw me all over the mats whenever we spar. You beat everybody. Even Maya."
You put a finger to your lips, frowning in mock consternation. "Oh, but Jaron, I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman!"
He grits his teeth and looks away, cheeks tight.
You snort. "You're too serious," you say, laughing at Jaron. "I'm only joking. You should smile more."
"I am smiling," he says, expression unchanging. You look a little more closely. Technically speaking, there's a slight upward tilt to his lips. On one side.
You roll your eyes, turning back to the sidewalk.
Then your eyes widen as the sudden feeling of sorcery washes through your senses. A hand closes on your arm.
You turn, and see Jaffur standing there. The signs of strain from last time are there again, but lesser. Perhaps it's easier this time.
Jaffur, your Mom sets watchers, you send, wide-eyed.
"Something's...out there..." he says, voice rasping through the effort of speech. He lets go of your arm. "Something..." He shudders, losing his grip, and when the boy in front of you opens his eyes again, he's Jaron. The boy blinks. "Um. Karen-? Ow ow ow. Again?!"
He clutches at his forehead in sudden pain, but you aren't paying attention to him anymore. Your mind is on the message Jaffur felt was important enough to send. You cast out with your senses, and-
Your eyes widen. You dive forward, tackling Jaron off of the path as the world turns white with the roar of combustion and shattering concrete.
He shouts in confusion and pain as the two of you roll into the ditch by the side of the road, and then shouts in outrage as you hit the water at the bottom. He lunges up, spluttering in anger.
Then he looks up, just as you do.
Sleek aircraft hurtle through the skies and zoom in low over the town, releasing munitions and opening up with machine guns. Now that you're focusing, you can hear screams and shouts, along with the sounds of battle.
You gape. "What the...?"
Jaron seizes you by the back of the neck and drags you down with him as he plasters himself to the bottom of the ditch.
"Those are army planes," he says, eyes wide as he looks up. "What the heck...?"
"What, you're a soldier?" you snap, a bit peeved that you didn't recognize them on sight like him.
"I had toys when I was little," he says. "But...why are they here? What's...what's- ow ow ow-"
Okay, stabilized!
You flinch at the sudden voice in your head.
Scion, it's me, Jaffur! I have a few seconds before I lose you again. You're sensing this, right?
Your eyes widen. ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?! Jaron's going to know, now-
He can't hear us! You're talking to me, not him! Now listen! I need you to find my cousins, the Senzus. Cousin Dandelor is a Sorcerer and you can trust my Uncle; they-
I already did! you reply, scowling at the bottom of the ditch. We're working on something to get you out of there! Now can you please wait? The city's being bombed!
Oh please. You're fine, and Jaron's safe as long as he's with you. You already found them? How? Did they-
JAFFUR, NOT THE TIME!
Fine, fine, jeez. We'll talk later, I guess. Dandelor'll probably figure something out soon.
I'll figure something out soon, you say, scowling further. I'm a Seer, jerk. I'm going to be visiting you in a few months once I figure out how to safely. Just don't shoot at me again.
That was you?! YOU'RE A SEER?!
Yes it was me! But we'll talk about that in a few months! Get back in the Seal! Your Mom is going to figure out something's up if you stay here much longer!
Don't get your underwear in a twist, I only have a second left any-
And then he's gone.
Jaron picks up his head, hair wet from pressing it into the bottom of the ditch. "Maybe I need to go see a doctor," he mutters, eyes bleary from the headache of Jaffur getting through.
"Focus!" you hiss, shelving the issue of his lunatic brother for the moment. "We need to get out of here!"
"How?" he asks, giving you a scornful look before pointing to the planes hurtling through the sky.
Then another voice pops into your head. Kakara, it's your father. Are you alright?
I'm fine, and Jaron is with me, you say, glancing up into the sky to buy yourself time.
Okay, good, he says, not sounding terribly worried. There's nothing up there that could hurt you. I'll inform Lady Vegeta. Get home as soon as you can, and try not to do anything too spectacular.
Dad, what's going on?
War, he replies, voice bleak. The nations of Garenhuld have decided to go to war. As if we didn't have enough on our plates already. Get home. It looks like they're mostly hitting industrial areas, but we're seeing some off-target strikes. I'm taking a team of warriors to trace these planes back to their bases in order to do some sabotage. With luck, we can get this ground to a halt without anybody noticing, and then we can see what we can do about getting this de-escalated.
Alright.
You cut the link.
Jaron taps you on the shoulder. "Karen." His voice is serious. You look over and, seeing him pointing at something, follow the line of his arm.
A line of larger planes are swooping low overhead. A bunch of small bulbs ripple into being out of the back of the planes and slowly start drifting towards the ground.
"Parachutes," says Jaron. "Those are soldiers."
"More toys?" you say, the joke ringing a bit hollow in your ears.
"Yup." He sounds no more cheerful.
A shadow passes overhead. You both stare at each other for a moment before looking up.
A cloud made of parachuting soldiers blocks out the sun directly above you.
Jaffur gulps. "We should go?"
"My house is closer!" you say, lunging up and pulling him with you. Sure, you're kids and they probably won't be shooting at you, but...well, accidents happen.
Jaron nods at you as the two of you start sprinting off into the bushes just off of the road. "I'm following you!"
He sounds tense and scared.
Wow, this really is the best timing for war to break out between the human nations, isn't it?
[ ] RUN! A war zone is not the place for a squishy human!
-[ ] At human pace. Don't raise any tricky questions. If you get caught and have to fight, then that's all there is to it, but let's not make things harder on ourselves and show Jaron things he's not supposed to see.
-[ ] ...actually, this presents an opportunity. Power up and carry Jaron. You have the perfect excuse, and him knowing about ki could only make breaking the Seal easier. And it would piss off his Mom, too.
-[ ] FUCK SUBTLE. IT out
[ ] HIDE! Why would your house be more bomb-proof than where you are now?!
[ ] WRITE-IN! You have a better idea!
So, uh...have fun with that.
I hope you all enjoy this update. WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY! I finish moving in tomorrow, so my schedule looks ready to open right up in the near future. Not trying to jinx it, but I think this should be more regular again.
Featured here: a lot of things intersect this update that I've been waiting a very long time for. This update has a lot going on. Now, before you ask: no, there was no indication of an incoming war. Kakara doesn't pay too much attention to that kind of stuff, and even the humans really didn't see it coming. This is meant to come out of left field for everybody involved.
Enjoy!
The unthinkable has happened; war has broken out between the human nations of Garenhuld. With the Masquerade already under threat thanks to the situation with the scouts, what will happen now that the tension has gone up a notch? Meanwhile, how will Kakara shepherd the still-human and powerless Jaron to safety in the midst of a city consumed by war? Find out next time, on Dragon Ball AE!
AS IS TRADITIONAL, WE SHALL HAVE A TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM TO CHATTER BEFORE VOTING OPENS.
