Fear often arises because, deep down, one knows they are incapable of doing something.
Fear of heights… is no different.
When Yamiru was still weak, if you suddenly asked him to climb over 100 meters high and look down, he would definitely be scared—because such a height could kill him if he fell.
Now, Yamiru could easily jump over 100 meters high without breaking a sweat, so there was no fear at that height anymore. In his mind, a height of over 100 meters had become nearly equivalent to ground level… As for people like Son Goku, they were exceptions. His innate courage, his fearless heart, was something Yamiru couldn't compare to.
Looking down from the exit of the first floor of the Korin Temple, one could almost feel as though the place was floating in the sky. Using the high-altitude clouds as a reference, there was a sense that the temple was about to collapse.
The main body of the Korin Tower was connected to the very center of the Korin Temple's bottom, and from this angle, it was completely out of view.
A sheer drop of tens of thousands of meters… Even for Yamiru, who couldn't fly, just looking down made him feel dizzy and lightheaded.
He stepped back, surprising both Bardock and Gine's souls.
"What's wrong?"
"Let me catch my breath…" Yamiru raised his hand and took deep breaths. This was so embarrassing!
"…" Korin seemed to just realize something. It scratched its face. "I just remembered. Those who climb the Korin Tower usually take a Flying Nimbus down."
"Flying Nimbus?"
"Don't you fly down?"
Gine and Bardock both expressed their confusion.
Yamiru sighed, "I can't fly…"
Korin shouted towards the sky, "Flying Nimbus~~~", and soon, a large patch of golden clouds gathered toward the lower part of the Korin Temple.
Yamiru and Korin exchanged glances.
"......" Korin, seeing Yamiru stand still for a while, wondered, "What are you staring at me for? Just take a Flying Nimbus and go~"
Yamiru, feeling defeated, said, "Goku has a Flying Nimbus, which Master Roshi gave him… I'm not sure if I can sit on it now. I couldn't do it before."
Korin encouraged him, "Even you, your heart can improve~ Try it, what if you can sit on it?"
"Even me?! Also, what if I can't sit on it, huh?" Yamiru complained. "Wouldn't I just fall to my death? I think there should be another way… Wait a second, let me get used to it. I should be able to jump from the exit to the pillar of the Korin Tower. Ugh! Ugh!" He spat twice into his palms and rubbed them vigorously.
"You're really troublesome…" Korin also complained. After nineteen months of their teacher-student relationship, they got along quite well.
"Wow~ This is so fun~ Bardock, you should try too~~"
Suddenly, a wave of energy came from outside.
Yamiru and Korin were both startled, rushing to the exit to look down. They saw Gine's soul had somehow drifted out and was hopping on the golden clouds, behaving as if it were a real, physical entity. Her fiery, flame-like soul was bouncing joyfully with every move.
"Can it do that?" Yamiru incredulously pointed at Gine's soul on the Flying Nimbus and asked Korin.
"Although Flying Nimbuss can carry pure things…" Korin rubbed its eyes in disbelief, confirming again that it wasn't mistaken. "But I've never seen anything like this before… Maybe it's because, under normal circumstances, a soul as pure as Gine's would immediately be sent to heaven to enjoy its afterlife. There's no opportunity for it to appear in the mortal world. The probability of a soul interacting with a Flying Nimbus is even smaller…"
Seeing that Bardock was still confused, Yamiru briefly explained the Flying Nimbus's setup.
As he spoke, Yamiru suddenly felt a sense of familiarity—Flying Nimbus, pure heart, pure heart… hadn't these elements appeared somewhere else in Dragon Ball? Wasn't there somewhere in Dragon Ball that required pure hearts or something like that??
Yamiru racked his brain.
"......" After hearing the explanation, Bardock's soul fell silent for a moment. Then, he finally said, "I can fly. Whether alive or dead, I can fly."
Yamiru was intrigued by Bardock's words. He clapped his hands in delight and said, "That's right! Uncle Bardock, you can teach me how to fly! If I learn to fly, I shouldn't be afraid of heights anymore…"
"You're afraid of heights?"
Gine's soul, having had enough fun, flew back from the Flying Nimbus. She asked curiously, "What does that feel like?"
Yamiru was speechless. Perhaps the genes of races that could easily learn to fly didn't include an option for fear of heights...
Bardock agreed to teach Yamiru how to fly.
However, as he put it, flying was an incredibly simple skill. To be honest, there wasn't much to teach—essentially, it was just a matter of building up strength, imagining the sensation of lifting your feet off the ground, and naturally, you would fly. All Saiyans learned this way.
Yamiru: "......" What expression could he make?
"But that was my understanding before," Bardock's soul emitted a subtle wave of energy, "but over the past eight months, I've learned some things from this cat sage. I think I can take this opportunity to reassess the skills I once took for granted…"
"Cat Sage! It's Korin!" Korin jumped up.
Yamiru beamed, "Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle Bardock!"
"I can help too~" Gine's soul emitted a joyful wave of energy. "I'm also good at flying~ I used to really enjoy flying freely in the sky."
Her soul floated around the Korin Temple.
Yamiru felt a gentle sensation from Bardock's soul—he imagined Goku's face with a cross over it, then pictured Gine smiling gently.
"This works too. Learning the art of flight will also help you understand ki," Korin nodded.
Yamiru pondered, "Speaking of which, even though I haven't mastered ki yet, I can still use the Kamehameha. Is flying the same reason?"
"The 'ki' you're talking about is actually two completely different concepts," Korin corrected him. "In your context, the former is the goal we've been pursuing for over a year. It's a martial arts realm. The latter refers to the response to the latent energy inside your body. This response is roughly divided into two stages. The first is the perfect mastery of your own power, and when your strength is great enough, you naturally begin to sense external forces... Of course, as you progress, the two will increasingly resemble each other."
—When Son Goku truly mastered ki, he could even point out Tien's posture and demeanor while Tien was completely still, even with his back turned. This clearly wasn't something that could be done by merely sensing someone's energy.
Yamiru understood and nodded. "I get it. So, Uncle Bardock, Aunt Gine, let's begin."
Bardock recalled his flying experiences when he was alive, comparing them with the insights he gained from listening to Korin's teachings over the past eight months. He shared the fragments of his understanding with Yamiru.
Gine occasionally added a few words.
Yamiru nodded repeatedly, feeling that Aunt Gine's explanation was easier to understand. Bardock's explanations were more abstract, while Gine seemed to play the key role in giving the important hints in the way a detective series character would… Gine's simplicity and honesty strongly reminded Yamiru of a female version of Goku. He shook his body, trying to get rid of this odd thought.
---
The art of flight was not difficult.
At least it wasn't as hard as the Kamehameha. In the manga, Videl had mastered in just a few days from scratch, so there was no reason for Yamiru to take longer than that.
In just two days, Yamiru's feet left the ground without relying on any external force...
"......"
Yamiru looked down, gently swaying his feet, which were only a few inches off the ground. Born bound by gravity, he smiled with genuine joy.