The fight began without a word as we rushed each other. I stayed in my standard form with my horns out as always, not pushing myself to the next stage.

Across from me, Goku runs at me looking serious and determined. He is wearing a green shirt, grey pants and a nice pair of sandals, all clothes I made him myself. He looks much more mature than his counterpart, which reminds me of what GT Goku looked like after being wished younger.

(Picture)

my thoughts come to an end as the fight begins. Goku gives me no handicap and comes in quick moving for a straight poke with the blunt end of his staff, but I backstep, out of reach, but  to my surprise Goku uses the weight of the staff as a center of gravity and launches himself forward catching me off guard as I block his foot with my staff, but he isn't done and he brings the staff back around delivering a solid overhead hit, the force of which rattles my bones, but my quicksilver staff holds firm, and protects me.

I try to retaliate while Goku is midair, but he uses the staff as leverage every time, moving his body in unorthodox ways. I'll miss him or hit his staff while he counterattacks my openings. It wasn't long before he landed his first clean hit, driving the blunt end of his staff into the center of my chest, blasting me away. The deceptively strong attack not only knocked the air out of me but also broke my defense easily which is concerning.

When I stand up I see Goku waiting and not dogging me down, he seems confident that he has this in the bag, but I have tricks of my own.

As I'm charging towards Goku I mentally prepare myself and use my transformation magic to not change my form, but instead loosen the bonds of my body giving my form a liquid like state that I can manipulate at will.

Goku strikes first aiming to crush my left shoulder with a two-handed vertical swing but I let him as I go for solid hit to his chest. His fancy new staff hits nothing as my left shoulder just moves out of the way by sinking into my chest while flowing like water, Goku seems too stunned to respond properly and now I blast him off into the distance with a solid hit of my own.

   Goku-" What was that!?"

   Ryan-" A much more stressful environment that you wanted. Now Prepare yourself!”

   Hours later Goku and I drug our battered and in his case bruised body back to the compound. While I can heal quickly I'm still uniquely sore from this spar.

   Goku-" So Ryan can you tell me how you were able to move like that?"

   Ryan-" It's just a different application of transformation magic. Normally I would transform with something in mind."

  Goku-" like when you made extra arms?"

   Ryan-" Exactly. The technique first starts with loosening the bonds that make my normal form, then you would rearrange them or even fold them upon themselves to become smaller or stretch them to become larger, but what happens if you don't do the second step and stay in that loosened state? Well, I wasn't so sure but I am now. As long as I can maintain my focus I can actively move my body while in that loosened state as if I was made from a liquid. It doesn't make me stronger quite the contrary, but it helps add some unpredictability to my fighting style."

   Goku-" Then why didn't you dodge everything?"

   Ryan- " That's simple, I can't split myself into two parts Goku. Any wide sweeping attacks I can't shift out of the way from have the potential to cut me in half, or worse should I try to move out of the way by splitting myself into two parts accidentally. My defense is weak during those moments as well, Remember, I have to loosen my bonds in order to move like that, my defense during those moments is entirely dependant on not being hit."

   Goku-" Hmm, I understand, high risk high reward."

   Ryan-" Indeed."

   Goku-" Thank you for the staff Ryan. It means a lot to me."

   Ryan-" You are more than welcome Goku. By the way, did you notice that it cuts through my quicksilver's defense every time you landed a hit?,"

   Goku-" Does that mean more steak?

   Ryan-" Yes it does, but it also means that your staff has some subtle magic negation properties. Every time you struck me I could feel my quicksilver's defense strain sometimes or snap, even from relatively weak strikes. When we get out of here I'll need to look into it.”

   ---Timeskip---

   Our first year in the room saw us making fast gains by developing what we know and making connections from various different techniques. But right now I'm studying more than I ever believed I would when I came to this world.

   Goku-" Another book really? Let's do some real training!"

   I look up towards Goku and suppress a chuckle. He has finally hit his first growth spurt but it was short lived, no pun intended.

   Ryan-" I am training Goku, this knowledge gives me a launching point for new magic."

   Goku walks around me and reads the title of the book in my hands.

   Goku-" Gain mediums and optical pumping. Ryan, that's not training, that's torture."

   Ryan-" It will be for my first victim."

   Goku-" What did you say?"

   Ryan-" Don't worry about it Goku, it's nothing."

   Goku-" Something's wrong."

   Ryan-" What do you mean it's a good book I got it from Bulma herself."
 
   Goku-" Not the book, the air! Can't you smell it? It smells wrong, like when you change it."

   I call upon my magic and analyze the air around us and Goku is correct. It's subtle but the oxygen content has dropped slightly.

   Ryan-” Sharp senses Goku, you are correct, the oxygen content has dropped, it must be another of the rooms training exercises."

   Goku-" See, even the room thinks you are being lazy."

   Ryan- " Fine, you win let's go for a round. But let's stay near the compound just to be safe."

   After we got back to the compound I went back to the project I have been working on. Before me stood multiple oversized cylindrical chambers filled with a gain medium. Each one has something different. One has a common manmade ruby while others have gasses like CO2 or chlorine. One has what is called neodymium doped glass or crystal, acting as the medium, I'm not sure what it is exactly.

There are many more devices, and each one was setup by Bulma herself while we lived at her parents house. I was always too busy to use them and study the effects. I was also way out of my depth. The more I look into lasers the more daunting they are. But if I ever hope to recreate the effect with magic directly or with the help of science, I'll need to broaden my horizons.

   Turning one machine on, the built-in power supply and automatic process fires an invisible beam of light out into the distance at a paper target, which only slightly smolders. While it's still on, I focus the beam of light onto the target better and watch as it gains strength and punches through the paper Target.

I can clear any atmospheric obstructions with air magic, I can even move the air out of the way entirely. With curiosity in mind, I use my magic to create a vacuum between the target and the laser, then I adjust it's aim. The laser fires and cuts through the target without any fanfare, much better than before. This was expected and I repeated the tests with all the of the various mediums I have at my disposal. While also trying out various ranges. In particular, I find the one labeled as a C.O.I.L  the best by far. I'm not sure if it's just power hungry but it had the best range and responded well to my use of magic to clear the air. The only downside is how hot it got, but if my magic can replicate this effect I may be able to improve upon it and I can circumvent the heat issue entirely. 

   With my decision made, I open the capsule with the relevant information about what exactly a coil Laser is and how it works. But the stack of books crushed my spirit.

  Goku-" That's a lot of books Ryan. "

  Ryan-" Haaa..., Yes, yes it is Goku."

I sit down on a nice cushy materialized chair as I open the first textbook. And begin to read over the introduction.

   ---C.O.I.L ( Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser ) ,not to be confused with the C.O.I.L ( Coherent Optical Illumination), is a High power laser that generates and intense beam of light by exciting Oxygen and Iodine molecules in a chemical reaction. This technology is primarily used in military applications much as missile defense, they are also used in industrial and medical applications such as cutting, welding, and laser eye surgery.---

  The first page alone gave me a headache.  But I have the cure, pulling out a giant sealed pack of some edible gummy bears from my hammerspace courtesy of the good doctor I sit back and read the book taking notes of what I need to learn so I can properly digest and comprehend this information, but regardless of my efforts, the boredom got to me and I fell asleep slumped over the textbooks.

   SFX- Munch, Munch, Munch, Gulp, crinkle, crinkle, Munch, Munch, Munch.

   I wake up slowly as I hear something. And I open my eyes to see Goku eating my gummy bears by the handful.

   Goku-" These are really good, why didn't you tell me you had candy?"

   Ryan-" Uh Goku..."

   Goku-" Gulp... Yeah? Munch, munch, munch"

   Ryan-" Those aren't Gummy bears."

   Goku-" Sure they are, look at them!"

   Ryan-" Those are SPECIAL gummy bears."

   Goku-" What's so special about them?"

   Ryan- " Well, I hope you packed your bags, because you're about to go on a trip..."

   

   Goku-"Hahahahah!!! Look at me Ryan, in flying like a birdie!! Woohoo!"
 
   Goku's flight amounts to him levitating a few feet off the ground while flapping his arms and legs as if he was flying through the air. This has been going on for quite some time now.

   Ryan-" Would you like some more water Goku?"

   Goku-" That would be great!"

   Ryan- "Here you go."

I have decided to watch over him either way, nobody should be alone their first time getting stoned, especially when it happens accidentally.

   Goku-" let's have a race Ryan!"

   Ryan-" Sure, that sounds fun, where are we racing to? "

   Goku-" That's a good question, where is everyone racing to?"

   Great, first he's a birdie and now he's a philosopher. I guess that's a logical evolution.

   Goku- " We are like fish in a bowl and everyone is watching.."

   That's it, I'm just going to feed the bugger and let him sleep it off.

   Ryan-" What do you want for lunch Goku?

   Goku-" Ohh we can't miss lunch, it's the fourth most important meal of the day. Right after brunch but right before linner."

   Ryan-" Goku, focus what do you want?"

   Goku-" Chicken and waffles!"

   Ryan- " That actually sounds good."

   Goku-" Hey Ryan, isn't fried chicken just chicken coated in it's unborn young and then once again coated in the same grains it eats and then deep fried in vegetable oil commonly found in those same plants?"

   Ryan-" Goku, you are thinking too much, how about you fire some Kamehameha's off into the distance while I cook?"

   Goku-" Kaaa....

   Ryan-" OUT... SIDE ..Goku."

   Goku-" Ohh.. right..   Umm, Ryan?"

   Ryan-" Yes?”

   Goku-" I can't find my feet."

   Ryan-" Haha...you can fly Goku You don't need feet."

   Goku-" You sure are smart Ryan, thanks."

   As Goku putters along towards the edge of the compound I watch him with glee. A stoned Goku is certainly something I never expected, I hope those goddesses are enjoying the changes, this has to be worth a trophy or something.

   The rest of the night played out as I expected. Once Goku ate lunch he passed out for the night, missing dinner entirely. But it gave me plenty of time to read in peace.

   --- Two weeks later---

  Amplified light is an easy way to describe what a laser is but the process of amplification is difficult and requires precision. The important part are my two mirrors, and the lasing medium. Plus I must mind their relative sizes and positions. The goal is to create and effect called optical resonance. When light is trapped between two mirrors it bounces back and forth in a process called total internal reflection. This bouncing of light creates a wave pattern in the light, called a standing wave pattern.

   In a normal laser there is a component called the optical pump, which is used as a source of light that makes the gain medium reach the necessary state called population inversion. The optical pump to my dismay is a smaller laser. Currently I have setup a prototype laser all made out of materials I made myself using my quicksilver to form the perfect mirrors and frame, while I used air magic to create the gain medium. Normally there is a mixing chamber, but I have no need to have a mixing chamber because I can make the gases on the fly continuously, I also have no need for the gas flow system, cooling system, or power system normally needed.

   With my quicksilver I got everything into perfect position, including the gain medium within the projected resonance cavity.  The only aspect I'm missing is that optical pump. The problem I'm facing is in generating the necessary light even if it's much less intense than the amplified result, making infrared light directly seems difficult unless I want to try ripping molecules apart, which seems like a bad idea. And most likely impossible for me.
  
   The one Bulma gave me as an example had what is known as a laser diode array. The textbook said it used a wavelength of 808nm in order to excite the iodine atoms in the gain medium. But the device itself was even more complicated than  the rest of the laser. Thankfully, I found two possible solutions.

  One was by using a variance of the same technique of electromagnetism I learned for the induction heating. It'll take more power than an optical pump and will have less efficiency and requires me to create an E.M.P to fire the laser. The second alternative is to heat various materials such as silicon, Germanium, Gallium arsenide, and carbon nanotubes, until they put out the necessary light. I have access to each of these in the lasers Bulma designed.

   I head outside and setup more targets.  This time I'm using some granite walls, steel dummies, walls of ice, and various reflective surfaces all at varying ranges.

   Back at the compound I begin by simply heating those materials and using quicksilver mirrors to direct the infrared light towards the gain medium. My initial testing targets are only a few meters away, but I get no good reactions from heating the various materials until I get to carbon nanotubes. Using heat magic I raised its temperature until I got a reaction and the target ahead began to be scorched, holding it at that temperature for a few seconds and then using heat magic once again to shut it off. I then inspected the damage.

   The stone wall showed some serious damage, but not even as strong as the example Bulma gave me. Maybe I should just try to excite iodine atoms directly...perhaps I should take the risk.

   Goku-" Hey Ryan, what are you doing?”