The first thing Lisette did after her awakening was to begin training her body for combat.
In the world of Dragon Ball, power was everything. Without it, she would remain a bystander to the cosmic conflicts that would reshape the universe in the years to come.
Lisette had never thrown a punch in anger, never learned a martial art, never even been in a playground scuffle. But as she recalled from her inherited memories, raw power often trumped technique in this universe. Frieza had conquered galaxies with natural talent and overwhelming strength. Majin Buu had destroyed worlds with childlike movements guided by instinct alone. Even the Saiyans, for all their warrior heritage, seemed to rely more on their innate battle sense than formal training.
I can learn technique later, she reasoned, flexing her small hands and feeling the potential that hummed beneath her skin. Right now, I need to build the foundation.
The answer came to her from those foreign memories: weighted training.
From Goku's turtle shell as a child to the weighted gi he received from Kami, from ten times gravity to a hundred times gravity, the principle was simple. Strain the body until it adapted, then remove the burden and feel the explosive difference in capability.
In her previous world, such training would have been impossible. Ten times Earth's gravity would crush a human instantly, collapsing blood vessels and organs in a matter of seconds. But this wasn't her previous world. Here, the laws of physics bent to accommodate the impossible, and mortal bodies could endure stresses that would shatter mountains.
•~•
Lisette began her transformation methodically.
Using her sewing skills, a talent she was grateful to possess, she crafted weighted bands from strips of cloth and metal scraps. Iron plates sewn into hidden pockets, steel bars woven through the fabric of her clothes, lead weights bound to her ankles and wrists. What started as a few pounds gradually increased as her body adapted, growing heavier week by week until she carried the equivalent of a small boulder everywhere she went.
Living in a remote farming village proved fortuitous. Physical labor was expected of everyone regardless of age or gender, and her family's work involved tree cutting, field tilling, and hauling massive loads of grain. Her weighted training blended seamlessly into daily life, dismissed by the adults as a young girl's method of building work strength.
In the city, they'd think I was insane, she thought, hefting an axe that now felt light as a feather in her enhanced grip. Here, they just call it being practical.
The first year brought steady progress. Her limbs grew dense with compact muscle that remained hidden beneath her youthful appearance. She could outwork grown men in the fields, tilling soil with her bare hands faster than they could manage with proper tools.
By the second year, the metal weights weren't enough. She began carrying stones, first the size of her fist, then her head, then boulders that required both arms to lift. The villagers grew accustomed to the sight of their "Rock Girl" hauling impossible loads, their initial stares giving way to casual acceptance.
Humans really can adapt to anything, Lisette mused, adjusting the massive stone strapped to her back as she helped with the harvest.
The third year brought a revelation. During a village festival, she arm-wrestled the strongest man in town, a blacksmith whose arms were thick as tree trunks from decades of hammering metal. Even when he used both hands against her single arm, she won without effort, the table creaking ominously under the force of their contest.
Her body remained that of an eleven-year-old girl, slender arms, soft skin, no visible bulk, yet she possessed the strength to shatter stone with her bare hands. It was exactly like the warriors from her memories: Krillin lifting buildings despite his compact frame, Tien moving faster than lightning while maintaining the build of a gymnast.
The human physiology here must be fundamentally different, she concluded. We're not the same species as my previous world, just similar enough to fool the eye.
•~•
At eleven years old, she made the decision that would define her path forward.
"I'm leaving," she announced to her parents over dinner, her words cutting through the comfortable evening atmosphere like a blade.
Her mother's spoon clattered against her bowl. Her father's weathered hands gripped the table edge until his knuckles went white.
"Lisette," her mother whispered, "you're just a child. The world is dangerous,"
"I know." Lisette's golden eyes met theirs with unwavering resolve. "But I can't stay here. I can't live a small life when there's so much more out there. I need to see the world, experience everything it has to offer."
The argument lasted seven days. Tears were shed, voices were raised, and desperate negotiations were attempted. But in the end, faced with their daughter's absolute determination and her clear physical capability to survive on her own, they relented. The condition was simple: she would return home once each year, no matter how far her travels took her.
On a crisp morning in early spring, Lisette shouldered her pack and walked down the dirt road that led away from everything she had ever known. She didn't look back, not because she didn't love her family, but because she knew that seeing their faces would shatter her resolve.
The real adventure was finally beginning.
•~•
Three years later...
Lisette's body had transformed into something that defied explanation. She could sprint a hundred meters in under eight seconds while carrying a boulder the size of a small building. Her fists could pulverize stone, her kicks could uproot ancient trees, and her reflexes had sharpened to inhuman levels.
When she entered fighting tournaments for prize money, the matches ended so quickly that spectators often missed the action entirely. Her opponents would charge forward with confident grins, only to find themselves unconscious on the canvas before they could even begin their first technique.
But physical power was only the first step toward her true goal.
The Dragon Balls.
In this era, Age 753, the legendary orbs were still more myth than reality. Forty years had passed since stories of wish-granting spheres began circulating, yet no one had successfully gathered all seven and made a wish. They remained the stuff of legends, too fantastical for most people to pursue seriously.
The Red Ribbon Army didn't exist yet. The Pilaf Gang hadn't even been born. Emperor Pilaf himself was likely still a child playing with toy robots in some distant kingdom. Even Tao Pai Pai, the feared assassin, was probably working a mundane job, his murderous career still years in the future.
Lisette had a clear field and unlimited time. Perfect conditions for a treasure hunt that would reshape her existence.
The key to her success lay with Fortune Teller Baba, an ancient mystic who could locate any lost object for the right price. The challenges she presented were laughably simple compared to what Lisette remembered from the original timeline. Her five warriors were competent but hardly extraordinary, and her supernatural brother Ackman hadn't been recruited yet.
Using Baba's information, Lisette spent three years crisscrossing the globe. She dove into ocean trenches that would have crushed submarines, scaled mountain peaks that pierced the clouds, and explored ruins buried beneath centuries of sand and stone. Each Dragon Ball was a victory hard-won, a piece of the puzzle that would grant her the foundation for true exploration.
Finally, on a moonless night in a hidden valley, she placed the seventh and final orb alongside its six companions.
•~•
The summoning was everything her memories had promised and more.
Lightning split the sky as the seven spheres began to glow, their light intensifying until it rivaled the sun. The air itself seemed to vibrate with otherworldly power, and then, with a sound like thunder rolling across infinite distances, the eternal dragon emerged.
Shenron rose into the night like a living constellation, his serpentine body stretching impossibly long, his eyes burning with divine fire. When he spoke, his voice resonated not just in Lisette's ears but in her very bones.
"Now, speak your wish. I shall grant you any one desire."
Lisette had rehearsed this moment countless times, but facing the dragon's overwhelming presence still sent tremors through her soul. She forced herself to stand straight, to speak clearly despite the cosmic weight of the moment.
"I wish to become immortal," she declared, her voice carrying across the valley. "Grant me eternal life and eternal youth, so that I may remain forever at my peak, strong, healthy, and unchanging!"
The dragon's eyes narrowed as he processed her request. Lisette held her breath, knowing that Shenron was famously literal in his interpretations. She had crafted her wish carefully, including multiple conditions in what appeared to be a single request.
The gamble was based on precedent from her memories. When someone wished to "resurrect all those killed by the Saiyans," Shenron didn't count each individual life as a separate wish, he treated the resurrection of potentially millions as one grand request. Similarly, "restore the Earth to its original state" involved recreating countless buildings, landscapes, and objects in a single act of cosmic reconstruction.
If Shenron could be flexible with resurrection and restoration, surely he could be flexible with immortality.
"It is done."
The dragon's eyes blazed, and divine light enveloped Lisette's body. She felt something fundamental shift within her, not painful, but profound, like the sensation of diving deep underwater and feeling the pressure change around every cell.
"Your wish has been granted. Farewell."
With those words, Shenron dissolved back into light, and the seven Dragon Balls scattered across the world once more, now inert stone spheres that would remain powerless for a full year.
Lisette stood alone in the valley, immortal and unchanged.
•~•
The first test came immediately.
Drawing a small knife from her pack, she gathered her ankle-length white hair in one hand and sliced through it with a single clean cut. The severed locks fell to the ground like silk ribbons, leaving her with a short, practical style.
Then she waited.
Ten minutes passed before she felt a strange tingling across her scalp. Her hair began to grow, not slowly, as hair naturally did, but with visible speed, lengthening inch by inch until it had returned to its original length.
Immutability, she realized with a mixture of awe and mild frustration. I'm locked into this exact form forever.
The second test was more dramatic. She drew the knife across her palm, opening a deep gash that painted the ground crimson. Blood flowed freely for nearly a minute before the wound began to close, skin knitting itself back together without leaving even a scar.
Perfect regeneration. Absolute immortality. She was now immune to age, disease, injury, and death itself.
I should have cut my hair before making the wish, she thought ruefully, already feeling the impractical length becoming a nuisance. Now I'm stuck with this forever.
But such concerns were trivial compared to what she had gained. Time, infinite, unlimited time to explore every corner of existence.
•~•
Ten years later...
The immortal girl who now traveled the world bore little resemblance to the village child who had once carried stones for training. Her power had grown exponentially during her decade of constant development, unrestricted by the fear of overexertion or permanent injury.
She had mastered dozens of martial arts from every continent, learning from hidden masters in mountain temples and underground fighting rings alike. More importantly, she had awakened to the energy that flowed within all living things, ki, the life force that could be shaped into devastating attacks or used to achieve flight.
The learning curve had been frustrating at first. Where Goku had mastered ki manipulation in three years, and Vegeta had grasped the basics almost instantly through observation, Lisette required a full decade to achieve basic competency. But she had something they lacked: unlimited time and infinite patience.
Now she could fire energy blasts that could level buildings, and she could fly through the clouds with the grace of a bird. Her next destination had been chosen long ago, a goal that would mark her transition from mere strength to true martial artistry.
Korin Tower stretched toward the heavens like a white spear, its peak lost in the clouds. Legends spoke of a cat-like martial arts master who dwelt at its summit, teaching techniques beyond the comprehension of ordinary warriors.
The climb itself was a meditation. Each handheld was a test of will, each step upward a challenge to her determination. By the time she reached the platform at the tower's peak, she felt she had earned the right to request training.
The master of the tower was exactly as her memories had described: a bipedal white cat with short limbs and an expression of ancient wisdom. Korin-sama, the martial arts deity who had trained warriors for centuries.
The overwhelming urge to pet him struck immediately.
"So cute," Lisette breathed, her hands moving before her brain could stop them.
She had intended to make a respectful introduction, to formally request training in the manner appropriate for approaching a divine teacher. Instead, she found herself scratching behind Korin's ears and stroking his soft white fur.
To her surprise, the ancient master began to purr, a sound so adorable that Lisette's heart nearly melted. For a moment, cat and girl simply enjoyed the peaceful contact.
Then Korin seemed to remember his dignity and gently pushed her hands away.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asked, though his tone held more amusement than offense.
"I'm sorry," Lisette said, clasping her hands behind her back to resist temptation. "I just... I really love cats."
Despite the unconventional beginning, she managed to recover her composure enough to make her actual request.
"Please take me as your apprentice, Korin-sama. I want to learn the true martial arts that only you can teach."
And please let me pet you again later, she added silently.
The first half of her request was granted. The second, sadly, was denied.
But as she began her training under the immortal cat's guidance, Lisette felt that she was finally approaching the threshold of true power, the kind that could take her to the stars themselves.
•~•
[Author's Notes]
Lisette's height: 153cm - roughly the same as Krillin, though in the series, characters' drawn heights often differ from their stated measurements.
Q: Why not wish to become a Saiyan instead of immortal?
A: The "immutability" aspect of her wish prevents racial transformation, she's locked into her current form. Besides, if I wanted a Saiyan protagonist, I would have made her one from the beginning.