Baba teleported me to a dark place.
"So this is the forest of terror," I said as I looked around.
The trees that are in the forest are darkish purple and devoid of any leaves.
The sky was dark and there was a moon-like planet in the sky that was also purple.
The lakes and puddles that are present in the forest also seem to be positioned and undrinkable.
"I should stop thinking everything around me is poisoned," I said as I walked around the forest.
Suddenly I am surrounded by smoke from all directions.
Then an unfamiliar figure walled out of the smoke.
But I knew who it was.
He was wearing a pink gi that had the word "Crane" Imprinted on it and was the man that Baba said would kill me in the possible future.
Tao Paipai.
I think that is what he looked like.
The Tao Paipai that was in front of me was a bit unclear, especially around the face.
As I have not met Tao Paipai in real life the person that I am seeing is my imagination of him instead of a real one.
The fake Tao Paipai attacked me.
I was unable to fight back and fell onto the ground.
Just as I was preparing to fight he pointed his finger at me and pierced my heart.
I blacked out.
*****
After some time I was able to open my eyes and realized that I was still in the forest.
"One attack. That is the difference between me and a real martial artist." I said as I got up.
"I should keep on searching," I said as I got up.
My body was a little stiff. I knew that the damage was not real or at least lethal since was able to survive an attack to the heart.
But it still hurts.
As I continued to walk another unfamiliar figure appeared in front of me.
I was not planning to get one sidely attacked as I continued my search for the herb so I decided to prepare for a fight.
The figure in front of me was a tall green alien whose face was unclear.
But his clothing gave away his identity as he was wearing a sleeveless blue gi that had the word "Demon" written on it.
"Demon King Piccolo. So these are the guys that have been in the back of my head even without meeting them." I said to myself.
It makes sense as both of them are major antagonists in the early Dragon Ball story and all are far above my current strength.
So my subconscious is making me fear them even without me having any connection with them.
It's only natural since both of them are people that I probably won't get along with.
"Beating them would make me get over my fears. Right?" I thought as I threw a punch at Piccolo.
But he caught my punch with one of his hands and smiled.
"I knew it would not work," I said while having a nervous smile on my face.
He then throws me into the air using the arm that I just used to try the o punch him.
Then he did not give me any breathing room and immediately launched a powerful ki blast from his mouth in my direction.
The attack directly hit me as it inflicted a huge amount of pain on my body.
The last thing I felt before I lost consciousness was that my body got blown up into pieces.
*****
"Ahhhhh," I yelled out when I woke up.
There was a difference between dying due to an attack directly to the heart and getting your body blown up to pieces.
"So. That's why he has still afraid of Frieza for a long time," I said after finally being able to sympathize with him.
I felt my body was still burning from the Demon King Piccolo's attack.
My heart was beating very fast like it had never before. I have never encountered a situation like this before.
I have been beaten up, broken bones, and hurt both physically and mentally in my former and later life. But it was the first time that I had this feeling.
I thought I didn't have any real fear and the fears that I had felt throughout my life were just obstacles for me to ignore or destroy but it seems that I was wrong.
I was afraid of dying and even dreamt about being killed but it was all in the back of my mind and I didn't fully feel what it would feel like to die brutally.
I just have not felt any fears like this just yet.
Should I give up? After all no matter how much I try I wouldn't be able to defeat those two with my current strength. An idea popped into my mind.
I wanted to reject the idea that popped into my mind but my subconscious was telling me to give up and just try a new path.
*****
In the real world.
Baba was looking at Kei's progress through her crystal ball.
The unconscious body of Kei was lying by her side.
This was because the forest of terror was Baba's creation and not a real place, things like Paradise Herb that exists at the place can be still brought back to reality but real human bodies cannot enter it.
So she sent Kei's consciousness into the forest while his body was left in the real world.
"This is bad for him. He is starting to doubt himself." Baba said as she continued to look at Kei who was conflicted.
"But still that green entity with the gi that has the word Demon on it seems familiar. There is no way that it's him. Right?" Baba questioned herself.
"It shouldn't be him." She reassured herself.
Fortune teller Baba has never met Demon King Piccolo but as a powerful magic user, she knew of his existence.
"Oh, he is getting up again." She said as she noticed that Kei was starting to stand up again.