" Agghhh... "

A brown-haired boy slept in his room, dreaming again about something haunting him for some time.

" No no... " the boy dreamt, the nightmarish dream.

In that nightmare, he sees himself, in an old man's body, holding a woman, an unknown woman but felt familiar in his eyes, this woman seems to have the same face as him, almost familiar.

" No no no, Carla... " said the boy as the old man unknowingly as he held the woman's poor body, filled with blood. 

The dream continues, forwarding in time, where the boy and the woman he holds have become different versions of themselves but still maintain similar attributes in their previous versions, repeating the same moment time and time again.

" Carla, why!!!? " the old man cries, calling her name as he drenched himself in tears, hugging the woman in front of him.

"( This dream again...? )" said the boy as he thought of this scene.

"( I have been dreaming this for weeks, months even... )" said the boy as he saw his reflection through the body of the old man, witnessing what the old man looked like through the reflections of the woman's flowing blood.

"( This old man, he looks just like..., me... )"

"( He even has the same 'ahoge'*, like me... )" said the boy in confusion as the scene changed again but repeated the same moment. An old man and woman brutally beaten and poisoned bled to their demise in every repeated moment.

"( I don't understand, what is this? )" said the boy as he dreamt this too many times.

As the boy wonders, some random memories come to him, showing a vision of a Valkyrie, a Heavenly Maiden Warrior for the Divine, shining so bright, as the memories show the woman defeating many demons countless times with the assistance of the old man.

After scenes of showing her victory, another scene shows the boy how, after those victories, the gods sentenced her too death, poisoning her with a ‘Divine Poison’.

“ You have grown too powerful, Divine Hero… “ said a voice with a ‘domineering tone’.

“ In order to keep the balance, we must kill you before your power becomes too great. “ the memory ends as the boy then returns to scene where he’s currently in.

"( What's this, some memory of the previous lifetimes or something, is this my previous life? )" the boy wonders as he then sees a blinding light from the skies.

"( These lights, aren't these from the gods? )" the boy wonders as he sees the gods in his dream, descending from their Pantheons.

"( Are they gonna help them? )" the boy wonders but suddenly, he sees the old man stand up, holding the poor woman in his arms, facing the divine.

" I'm sorry, my dear... "

" Grandpa should've been stronger, more powerful... "

" If Grandpa were more vigilant, then this wouldn't have happened to you? "

" You would've had a better life, my dear 'light' Carla... " said the old man as the gods descended towards him, radiating their light with divine judgment instead of divine grace. 

" This time, it would be different...! This time Grandpa should fight against them, against destiny if Grandpa has to! Grandpa promises you! "

" Come here! " As it happens, the old man stands against the Divine, while the boy sees it and gets terrified for the old man, shaking his head at the foolishness he was about to do so, fighting the gods.

"( Hey old man, leave!!! Are you nuts!? )" the boy screams, but realizes his voice doesn't even manifest from his mouth. His mouth is covered with black clouds, disabling any form of speech as he watches things unfold while the Divine approaches them. The dream becomes light and engulfs the whole scene, awakening the boy in screams.

" WAAIIIIITTTT!!! " the boy screams in horror. He awakens with his left blue eye showing tears, unlike his right brown eye.

" Another dream...? " The boy tries to hold back his tears.

" The old man and the woman..., "

" .... "

" Carla... " The boy tries to remember the poor woman from his dreams, trying to remember what she looked like.

" I swear that woman looks just like me, especially the old man. "

" Just who are they? Why do I keep dreaming about them since I- " his murmur was interrupted as there was a knock on his room's door.

" Ragna, your breakfast's ready! " 

" Ah, Grandma...! " The boy jumps up from his bed, checking on his pants and some stuff, worrying if there's any liquid there.

[ Name: Ragna Orion 'Miraikuru' Kent ]

[ Age: 12 ]

[ Birthday: September 6th, 2009 ]

" Ok, ok, coming right up...! "

"( Thank goodness there's no white liquid there, I always feared that would appear in every dream during my puberty phase. )" 

...

...

...

[ Kent's Family House, Dining Room. ]

" Morning, Ragna! Seems you have another dream again... " The Grandma said as she placed the breakfast on the table, flicking her dark brown-black hair as she served some Shawarma and Shakshouka, two of Ragna's favorite foods.

[ Name: Rorriana (Rory) Dahlia Kent ]

" Morning, Grandma Rory... " Ragna comes out as he wears his suit, ready to do his work.

" Sorry for the wait, being a Hunter needs preparation. Need some items, weapons..., especially since I- "

" Lost your Gift Powers... " Grandma Rory immediately allocated some of the meal to his lunchbox.

" I know it's hard, Ragna... " Grandma Rory tells him.

" But, despite wanting to be the strongest Hunter like your Uncle, Grandma still believes it's unwise to do Dungeon Raids in your current state. "

" Especially since you have no god to replace your disappeared Gift Ability- "

" Grandma, I can't wait anymore! " Ragna immediately raised his voice while picking his meal from the table, feeling insulted.

" I'm already a B-Rank at twelve now, I'm on a good track to be an S-Rank like uncle! "

" To be the No. 1, S-Rank... " Ragna says as he clenches his teeth, suddenly having a flashback where he and his Uncle had a fistbump before his Uncle had to leave for a certain Raid with the other S-Ranks.

"( Uncle said he will come back, and when he's back, he will ask the gods using his S-Rank Hunter status to be the god who sponsors me, to replace my gone Gift Ability... )"

"( But where is he...? Did something happen to him...? )" Ragna wonders, immediately going out with a sour look. 

" Ragna! " Grandma Rory calls him, worried about his grumpy grandson, who immediately leaves the house without saying goodbye.

" Ragna... " Grandma Rory felt saddened, not because of Ragna's bad attitude, but because of Ragna's reason for having a sour attitude these days.

Ragna's a Hunter in the Hunter Association. An Association where people could be great and rich just like Streamers, Entrepreneurs, and Aristocrats; a place where strength, power, skill, intelligence, and achievement become the primary factors to raise one's status.

Unlike many at his age, he was a prodigy even in his younger years; he was a runner-up in the association, aside from being a nephew of the Strongest Hunter. But alas, tragedy struck on a raid where he eventually lost his powers, a cursed power he once managed to control via Divine Items given by his Uncle.

Thus, after the loss, Ragna began to feel weak; he had to live like a normal human from that day onwards. His Uncle promised him to help him become powerful again by trying to plead with a god on the Earth Pantheons using his S-Rank Hunter status, hoping the god would gift and share their powers with him to make Ragna powerful again.

Thus, after remembering what Ragna had done in the past. Grandma Rory could only think of how sad Ragna was, adapting to his weakened state aside from his good past.

" That child had been rising so well... "

" But why..., why is it when things go well for him... "

" The universe immediately goes all of its way to take everything from him by force... "

" Just like his parents..., just like... "

" Why... gods? "

_________-

Extra:
*The ahoge is that one stubborn strand of hair that refuses to stay down, rising like a little antenna atop a character’s head. 

I'm going to use this term to describe Ragna's hair, because describing it perfectly will make me had to write more words than worth, hope you're all cool with that.