Chapter 112 - 108: The Other Gift Is...A Golden Apple?

Year 733 Grand Kai's Planet

A day had now passed since the Preliminaries ended. The Grand Kai received a direct message into his mind stating that Nao, Miya and the Supreme Kai of Time will touch down shortly. He hurriedly gathered the group.

Only this time, the Galactic Patrol did not join, even after receiving the invitation. The Galactic King was currently heads deep in meetings with other races he had yet to personally meet, in hopes of forming a trade alliance with them. In return, his galactic police would offer protection to deal with alien threats, in the event that would happen.

Henceforth they did not show up. However, the Galactic King still permitted Sayuri to go, since this affected her directly.

Once the group was gathered outside, they saw a huge rainbow pillar descend from the pinkish-purple sky. It landed right next to the dining area located in the middle of the four Areas. This dining area led straight to the Grand Kai's mansion.

This group consisted of Sayuri, Elsa, Isabella, Dia, Oscar, Iona, Nim, Jake, Elena, their four guards, and the Grand Kai, for a total of fourteen people. Dia joined at the last minute, and most of the wounds on her body were now healed. She followed quietly behind Isabella.

Once they saw the group of four, their eyes immediately landed on Nao, and saw his appearance was now vastly different. He also seemed to have a different air around him, and appeared a lot more calm. They also saw Miya appearing much more mellow.

They then remembered that yesterday, the Supreme Kai of Time, who they saw to the left of Nao, mentioned something about a trauma, before they left. His appearance was now similar to hers, perhaps she had taken him in as a student to overcome it?

However, before the group could speculate any more, they saw Iona rush forward, speaking out to him. They heard Nao respond back to her. Before she could speak back, the group heard the light blue skinned tall humanoid behind the three speak out to them. They remembered he introduced himself as Whis.

"Lady Chronoa, Nao, Miya, this marks the end of our trip. I will now take my leave. Nao, we will meet again in the near future, as Lord Beerus has a scheduled banquet with your home world. Farewell for now."

"Take care, Whis."

Saying goodbye to Whis, Nao saw the same rainbow energy surround him once more. A smaller pillar then encompassed his body, shooting right up into the sky in mere seconds, gone from sight. Whis finally left and was bound for Lord Beerus's planet. Hopefully his absence won't cause too much trouble to Beerus when he returns...

The group all saw Whis leave, and the looked up into the sky for a brief moment. Iona then turned her head downward again and looked at her son once more, smiling.

"It looks like the trip went well you two. I'm still surprised you came back dressing like this though, Little Nao. What happened exactly?"

"About that, Mother..."

Before Nao could explain the situation, however, the Supreme Kai of Time walked toward the two, and butted in.

"Let me take it from here, Nao. I recall you are Iona, his mother, yes?"

"That's right, Lady Chronoa. Seeing my son dressed similarly to you, does that mean...?"

Hearing Iona's question, the Supreme Kai of Time nodded her head in confirmation.

"Yep. I've officially taken in Nao as my bonafide disciple. I do have other students and the like but none of them are official. Nao will be my first one!"

As the Supreme Kai of Time announced this, streak appeared on some of the crowd's faces, while the others applauded. The Grand Kai himself, who was still kneeling down nearby, almost had his eyes pop out once again. He then looked up, staring right at her.

Seeing this, a smug look appeared on her face. She then spoke out to him.

"That's right, old man. Even though Nao will only start out as a Kai Attendant, he still technically a disciple of a Supreme Kai. That in itself is still a higher rank than yours, wouldn't you say?"

"Heh, heh, are you really taking in one, Lady Chronoa? You know he won't be able to partake in the tournament any longer upon taking that role, right?"

"You don't need to worry about that! That was one of the things I warned Nao about. He himself accepted it, even knowing that."

As soon as the two finished saying this, more shock appeared on the group's faces. Especially Sayuri, her ears and tail drooped down, hearing that Nao won't be fighting any longer. Even Oscar made his way next to the two, appearing beside Iona and Nao.

"Lady Chronoa, what do you mean my son won't be able to fight in the tournament anymore? What does becoming your disciple have to do with that?"

Oscar was now the one who spoke out to her. The Supreme Kai of Time knew that questions would likely arise from this, so she calmly answered him.

"Well...the situation is a bit complicated. Though last time I did mention briefly that the old man and I are considered Gods...To put it simply, Nao is now at the crossroad of a mortal and a god. Only mortals are allowed to fight here. Nao is no longer considered a pure mortal, even then he still accepted the position."

Hearing this, Oscar tilted his head in confusion for a moment. A twinkle then appeared in his eyes, and actually started to get excited, which further confused the crowd.

"No longer considered a mortal...hold on a minute, Nao! Is it possible your hair turned red while you were gone!?"

Seeing his Father excited like this, Nao could only smile wryly. However, before Nao could answer, anger streaked across Iona's face. This was something he had not seen before, his mother getting irritated! Nao immediately saw her approach Oscar, only to forcibly yank down his ears with her hand!

"Oscar dear, now is not the best time to inquire about that, is it? Just be grateful Lady Chronoa is taking time to explain things to us! Did you forget what we saw happen to Little Nao yesterday?"

"Yesterday...? Oh! That was quite terrible to witness. Son, are you feeling any better? You gave us all quite a scare yesterday."

"Yes, Father. It may still give me some nightmares from time to time, but I'm feeling a lot better. Besides, both Master and Miya helped getting it under control."

Hearing this, Oscar blinked at Nao for a moment, before responding back.

"So you're already calling her Master, huh...?"

"Of course. We did do an official ceremony for that, Father. It's obvious I'd call her Master."

Hearing the word ceremony, Oscar's eyes lit up once more.

"Ceremony...then-!"

However, before Oscar could finish saying his line, he felt Iona's grip on his ear tighten even more, causing him to close his mouth in silence. The group then heard the Supreme Kai of Time cough, gathering their attention on her again.

"That's enough. You must be Nao's Father, right? We did do an official ceremony, but it wasn't something related to that Super Saiyan God thingy. As I said previously, your son just entered the crossroad from mortal to god. It will stay like this, let's say, this 'development...for a while."

"I see...that still gives us a chance to witness that legend! I'm Oscar, by the way, Lady Chronoa. Thank you for bringing our children back safely. We still have a bit of time before the second half of today's matches start, are you going to stick around with us?"

After Oscar gave his thanks to the Supreme Kai of Time, she waved her hand in response. She then shook her head, and told the group her plans.

"I don't think so. I need to head back to my own domain soon. But before that, I will tell you guys a bit about the race I belong to. I still have something to give to Nao, which is something that relates to my race as a whole. I will leave shortly after that."

After hearing this, Nao started to speculate as to what he would receive from her. He then heard the Supreme Kai of Time start to speak.

"I did mention briefly that I am a god. While that is true, I am still part of a race, much like yourselves. We are known as the Core People. However, all of us are born as gods, instead of mortals. We used to have a thriving race long ago, but we slowly died out over time...How many of us remain now can only be counted by our two hands."

Hearing this, the group went silent. Even Iona felt like taking the Supreme Kai of Time into her embrace, wanting to console her. However, she denied that, and continued to speak calmly.

"I thank you guys for worrying about me, but please put your minds at ease. Too much time has passed since then. Returning to my story, we Core People also have our own planet we still live on. It's quite the paradise, really. Unfortunately the Origin Tree that gives birth to our race is dying out, lost to the passage of time. While I do feel saddened by this, I still found some hope for my race to live on. Please look at this, everyone!"

The Supreme Kai of Time immediately drew everyone's attention after saying that. She then snapped her right fingers. Out of nowhere, a golden apple, about the size of a Fuji apple, suddenly landed in her palm. If one listened closely, they could hear small heartbeats pulsating from it!

Seeing this Golden Apple appear, the Grand Kai immediately shot straight up like a rod. Nao also raised his eyebrows after seeing this. 'I can feel Ki being released from this apple, and it also has a heartbeat...Moreover, I remember that the Core People are born from apples...Don't tell me this is a newborn Supreme Kai egg!?', Nao exclaimed in his mind.

Seeing the Grand Kai's reaction, the Supreme Kai of Time smiled. She then continued to speak.

"I was lucky to find this little guy when I made a trip back home before coming here. This apple here is essentially an egg of our race, it's how all of us are born. That means this golden apple will give birth to a Core Person! And not just any Core Person, it will be a Supreme Kai, just like me!"

The group went silent as she announced this, appearing shocked. The Grand Kai was at a loss for words. Even Nao stared at the Golden Apple with wide eyes. Nao then saw her turn toward him, ignoring the group's reaction, and spoke once more.

"Nao, I will be gifting this little guy to you. I do not know how long it will take before the he or she is born. I can't tell its gender either. Would you be willing to raise it as a mortal? I would like for this guy to experience life as a mortal, before moving up the ranks of the Kai, just like you are about to go through. Even I started as a Kai you know."

Nao stood silent, staring at the Golden Apple currently resting on her palm. Nao then proceeded to bow at her, acknowledging her request. He then reached out his hands, taking hold of the Golden Apple. He then gently pulled it back into his embrace.

As soon as he did, a feeling of warmth immediately spread throughout his body, it felt very soothing. Nao then responded back to her.

"I am willing to raise it as a mortal, Master. I will not let you down."