"Are you sure he's capable of using this technique? Even you can't master it." An alien wondered aloud, using his powers to look down on the world below, where Krillin was currently cowering for his life.
"I believe that this is his path. The technique is suited to him. He will take to it." The cross-legged figure meditating on the ground below replied, also watching.
"You should wait. Let him grow his own way, learn the technique himself. Doing this is dangerous." The standing figure reminded.
"Without a path, his talent will be squashed beneath the raw potential of those around him." The alien on the ground said.
The other one shook their head, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to talk his acquaintance out of what he was about to do. Still, he nonetheless reminded him of one last issue with his plan. "This will be extremely dangerous, you know. Both you and him may very well die from the strain."
"I will be fine." The meditating figure reassured, "Besides… It wouldn't place the boy in more danger than he is right now.
As he noted that, King Piccolo's attack landed, and Krillin whirled around, clutching his bicep in pain.
"Young Krillin." The cross-legged figure closed his eyes, concentrating intently on using a high-level spirit control technique to temporarily speed up the human's mind for rapid conversation.
Already, the figure's face was beginning to turn red from strain, but his breathing stayed solid and regular, the strain not enough to rattle him yet… but he couldn't keep it up for more than a few seconds.
Krillin's response, his thoughts, picked up by the cross-legged figure, was a burst of pure and unmitigated primal panic.
In reply, the figure decided to give the facts straight. The complete, unbiased truth. "You will not meet your end today. Not truly. Even if the Namekian in front of you ends your life and moves on to the city you protect, you, and they, are not in any long-term danger."
Krillin would have sweatdropped… if his body was listening to him. Unfortunately, only his mind had been sped up, so he was currently trapped inside his own head, unable to visibly react at all.
Still, his thoughts reacted loud and clear. "It feels plenty dangerous to me! I do not want to die!" He exclaimed inwardly.
"You likely will die once this technique ends, unfortunately. It will be temporary, but it will be real. There is only one way for you to stop it, and protect the people in that city."
"How?"
"As it stands, Earth is being protected by many beings far above you in power, young Krillin. Despite your raw potential, if you choose to give up martial arts and live a normal life, nothing will stop you. Simply die and wait for revival." The figure offered, "It would be the less painful choice. The easy choice."
"I… I don't want to give up! Even if I never catch up to those Saiyans, to Master, I… Can't imagine a world where I don't at least try my best! What's my other choice?! How do I protect the innocent people in the city behind me? Not just my strength… my heart… I want to try my best!!" The resolve in Krillin's mind wasn't an unwavering drive for self-preservation. It was something much more complex than that. The screaming cry from deep within the heart of someone who couldn't even imagine not doing everything in his power to achieve his goals. To protect West City, to one day stand beside the people who he looked up to as a true equal, a protector and a warrior.
"This will almost certainly kill you."
"I'm gonna die anyways, right?" Krillin inwardly quipped.
"This death will be slow. Excruciating pain like you could never experience otherwise, as your literal soul is broken and reforged in fires that your current mind cannot even imagine, young Krillin. You will not be able to come back."
"...Really…? But… If I survive, I will be able to stand on my own? Protect people?" Krillin asked.
"I will grant you the tools to begin your journey. You will also be granted the title of humanity's champion. Whether you live up to that title… whether you can utilize those tools, will be entirely up to you, young Krillin. If you can truly master them, then one day, you may very well surpass even the gods themselves… Or you will fall, and those who think the human race too weak to produce a true champion will be proven correct. That is the weight that you will carry, are you to accept this power."
"...The whole human race, huh? Dramatic… Or, I can just give up and go home, right now?"
The choice is yours." The cross-legged figure affirmed.
Krillin thought it over for a moment in 'accelerated time'. "How-" The question 'how can I trust you' died in the bald teen's head before it could fully form. He could feel the other's intent. Their entire purpose in doing this was clear… to help him grow. Pure and absolute, there were no ulterior motives, no secondary agendas, this other figure… just wanted to push him.
The only question was… did Krillin want to take on that burden? To push, or die? His entire life, given to the void that was this 'champion of humanity' title?
"...I'll do it."
"Then brace yourself. This will not be pleasant." The figure warned.
Then, the stabbing pain suddenly exploded inside Krillin's head.
The figure was right… the pain was worse than any death. Unrelenting, unabating, Krillin's own ears didn't even have the processing power to listen to the guttural scream that erupted from his throat as the… something, poured directly into his brain like hot, molten lava, turning it to mush and dribbling down his face, not only in the form of a nosebleed, but also as blood from his eyes.
King Piccolo halted in place, confused, as his quarry wilted to the ground of his own accord, screaming with an inhuman wail.
The figure transferring the information fared even worse. Purple blood exploded out of every orifice on his face at once, the blood rushing to his nose, in particular, so rapidly that it literally exploded in a bloody mess, along with an eyeball.
After a few seconds, both figures stopped moving completely, dropping to the ground simultaneously, as if all of the life had been instantly and brutally sucked directly out of their bodies.