He turned and finally looked at Krillin.
"Until I died."
Eyes going wide Krillin stumbled back, staring at horror at Barley…
…who chuckled.
"I ain't a ghost."
Krillin glared at Barley.
"But I did die," he said. "I was dead and gone. But there was no peace. Anyone that tells you that the afterlife is all clouds and feathered buggers is lying."
'No,' Krillin thought, 'its King Yemma at his desk…'
"I was trapped… forever to haunt the world. Weighed down with chains of torment. Imagine the heaviest shackles you can think of… then triple that weight. They pulled me down… made every movement take all my energy. I could hardly walk. Hardly move. Took all my willpower to do so. I had to learn how to gather my strength, to conserve it and make use of every drop I had because I couldn't waste even a droplet."
Krillin tried to imagine it. Tried to picture him covered in chains, desperately trying to reach his friends as they fought against Raditz.
"Rouge though… Rouge. I knew I had to save him from that. I waited til the stars aligned and the barrier between the living and dead was its weakest and reached out to him. Got him to understand that he had to change."
Barley smiled.
"And he did. By George he did. Became a new man. I… I just didn't realize how much. After a few years, after he had done all he could to make up for his mistakes… he began to make up for mine. He worked to balance the scales, despite not even knowing if it would do anything."
"It did," Krillin said softly.
"Of course it did, I'm here ain't I?!" Barley said with a mocking laugh, making Krillin glower. "He balanced the scales. My chains were gone. And when he was given the chance… he swapped with me."
"…swapped?"
"This ain't what I used to look like," Barley stated. "Rouge took my place in the afterlife and I got his body. Only he didn't get trapped in chains. The last words I heard him say was 'I'm so light…' and then… I was here. In his body." He looked down at his hands… his friends hands. "Given a second chance."
"…you're the Repentant Miser," Krillin whispered.
"Ain't as dumb as ya look!" Barley taunted.
"Then… why…" Krillin began only to pause. "Wait… no… it makes sense. You want to make sure the people that seek you out are actually worthy. So you let them go deal with those con artists. If they just accept what they said then they aren't the right people to learn from you. Same if they get mad but only focus on the money they lost. Because they are only worried about themselves. But if they explain to you WHY they want to learn from you… then you'll teach them."
Barley blinked at that.
"Right?"
"…yes!" the old man declared. "Yes! It isn't for shits and giggles at all!" He laughed and after a moment Krillin began to chuckle as well. "You are very wise, young man… very wise… and because of that… I will teach you my secrets. Now then… flare out your Ki."
Krillin frowned. "Flare out my ki?"
Barley's smile fell. "You ain't deaf, are ya? I'd say ya have hair in your ears but ya don't have any on top of that bald head of yours! I have more hair than ya!" He lifted up his hat to reveal the few strands that he did have before plopping it back down. "So show me your Ki! Power up!"
"Right!" Krillin said with more determination and he tensed, tapping into his inner power. At once he felt his power level begin to rise up as strength flooded his muscles, allowing him to fight at a much-
"Stop!" Barley called out, causing Krillin to pause. "Hold onto that, right now!"
Krillin, used to Master Roshi, did as he was asked, focusing on maintaining his power at the level it was currently at. A ki aura was flaring off his skin, crackling and flickering like a bonfire. It always amazed him when he was able to call forth such power; all his life he had been called weak. Pathetic. And yet he was able to tap into power that few in the world could! He glanced down at his arm, seeing the aura and knowing it was a sign of his strength-
"Look at that wasteful use of energy!"
Krillin blinked and snapped out of the power up he'd entered. "What?"
"That aura of yours!" Barley complained. "Did ya see it?"
"Well… yea," Krillin said. "It was pretty impressive, right?"
"Impressive?" Barley asked before letting out a cackle. "Its flashy! That's what it is!"
Krillin frowned. "And that's… bad?"
Barley shot him a dark look. "Ya ever here the phrase "All flash, no substance"?"
Bristling at that Krillin snapped. "There is plenty of substance! That is proof of my power!"
"Yeah, it is," Barely said, causing the young man to once more pause, confused by his sudden change in attitude. Gone was his dismissive attitude and instead Barely was pensive. Considerate. Serious. "It is showy though. And wasteful."
"Wasteful?"
Barley nodded. "That glow you have going? That's your ki leaking out of your body. Released into the air. That's why you have to focus in order to power up… and have to be careful when doing it. No different than performing a KI blast."
"Well… yeah," Krillin said, not getting Barley's point. "I mean, that's what happens when you tap into your ki-"
Barely, without even flexing a muscle, suddenly began to glow.
It was barely there. Just a light illumination coming from under his skin. It was like someone holding a flashlight up to someone's ear. It was nothing like Krillin's power up, or Goku, or Piccolo. Tien or Chiaotzu or Roshi either. He'd… he'd honestly never seen someone power up like that. But what was more startling was just how POWERFUL Barley had suddenly become. No where near Goku of course, or even Krillin himself… but Krillin could sense that his energy levels had rocketed up.
"Do you know what wins fights?" Barley asked. "Endurance. A flashy move might be nice but 9 times out of 10 people win fights by outlasting their opponents. Letting them tire themselves out so you can then end the battle with a single blow as they stand there barely able to remain up and running." He smirked at Krillin, gesturing at his own body. "I will never be the strongest fighter. I know that. Seeing that orange wearing guy with the bed head and the green fellow? I know I'll never match them. Heck, I can tell you are more powerful than me. But… I will outlast you. Let you drain your strength away performing silly moves, flaring your aura, and the entire time letting your strength just leech away… and then I will win."
And suddenly Barley was darting around him, throwing out punches and kicks that Krillin moved to deflect and counter. And while he managed to avoid getting hit by the time Barley ended Krillin could feel his heart pounding… and the old man was standing there, yawning.