Moss clung to the rough bark of the withered trees, their branches twisted and gnarled, resembling skeletal fingers that loomed overhead - almost reaching into the sky. A blanket of fog enveloped the area, amplifying a heavy sense of foreboding.

Faint glimmers of moonlight pierced the dense canopy above and formed ominous shadows, illuminating the form of a young teenage boy garbed in rags. This boy was Raiyan, well in his youth.

His face was thin and sickly, lacking any of the power he had in his old age, and exemplifying his previous lifestyle as a kid who hated going outside.

Suddenly, Raiyan's eyes flickered, quickly snapping open with unrestrained vigilance. As he surveyed his surroundings, the initial haze in his slowly vision cleared, a glimmer of clarity overtaking his confusion. He sat there a while, contemplating his situation.

Within many legends throughout the multiverse, whispers about the power of the Super Dragon Balls could be found. Myths of their overwhelming and absolute power were at the tip of these whispers, but the knowledge regarding them was thin.

As someone who spent almost his entire life researching everything about them, not even Raiyan knew the truth.

Many would argue that his findings, a few decade's worth of research, were nothing when compared to those who studied them for thousands of years. But the difference between the two was that he had access to almost all of the past and future and still had no definitive answer.

To reach his goals, he couldn't rely on them. How could he, when he didn't know if their power was greater than the king of all - Zeno? 

If Raiyan simply wished for Zeno's death and it failed, he would be dead without a chance. But now, staring at the sky, he was sure of it. The Super Dragon Balls were not all-powerful!

It seems that reversing time used up most of its power, as it couldn't even properly grant my second or third wish. Raiyan sighed to himself. He even used a loophole to make it come true, and it didn't work.

He asked the dragon to change reality, reversing time and shifting events around to the whims of his multiple wishes. Each wish was written within a book, and the dragon simply had to follow the instructions to a tee. With this, he could gain multiple wishes and return those summoned to their original worlds.

None of them deserved to be put through this loathsome world again.

Yet, upon waking up here, he could instantly tell that this place was not on the list of places the dragon should've transported him to if applicable.

As a time patroller who spent all his life doing battle in multiple historic places, all of the important planets with a red sky could be counted on one hand. And with the multiple moons that loomed above, it was clear that he wouldn't recognize where he was in the slightest.

Aside from that, he also didn't have any of the multitude of abilities or items he wished for. Even the wish for a more healthy body hadn't taken shape.

Perhaps it was the nature of the wish. Or some other, unknown reason, like the Angels somehow interfering with his plans. It wasn't clear.

Raiyan shook his head. However, it's not as if the super dragon balls being limited would be a surprising outcome. If they were truly all-powerful, the gods wouldn't allow mortals to gather them. His feelings of anxiety and disappointment faded with this thought. 

To be free of the time patrol and even have his youth back was already a precious enough treasure.

In his years of being a time patroller, it wasn't just his lack of martial experience that caused him to be much weaker than others. It was that the time patrol themselves were stifling his innate gifts.

Each of the warriors summoned by Shenron had an ability unique to them, and so too did he. Why else would Shenron summon him out of the billions of more qualified individuals?

I wonder if it's still here… Raiyan mused, sitting up off the wet grass. Narrowing his eyes, he focused his intent on the seed of energy deep within his core.

Status.

=[Status: Raiyan]

-Race: Human

-Power Level: 3 | Magic Points: 7

-Unique Ability: Harvest

-Perks: [-]

-Skills: [-]

Although he was aware it would happen upon making the wish, he couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle at his status window. From perks to skills to even his magic points…

Everything had been reset.

This was it - the precious ability that kept him from losing hope over the years of hardship. At the same time, since his ability displayed itself in a holographic form, it only fueled his childish delusions.

Back then he wholeheartedly believed that he'd be able to become omnipotent thanks to this system-like ability, but he was completely wrong.

If he met the fundamental requirements to acquire it, he would be granted a Skill. And by repeating that action, its Skill Rank would rise, and its efficiency and power would increase.

Each Skill Rank explicitly granted a certain function to that specific Skill, and sometimes even granted Perks if they were particularly difficult to master Skills. F-Rank of Combat Mastery, for example, provided him with the ability to evaluate how much stronger or weaker an enemy was than him.

However, the page didn't show how close he was to increasing his skill's ranking. It simply displayed his current rank and nothing more.

Lateral thinking, for his skills at least, had a limited use. Having a deeper comprehension didn't improve his skills in any way shape or form, thus limiting him until he met the required amount of repetitive action.

And the worst part? The amount of repetition he needed to upgrade a skill only got worse and worse: If he wanted to get F-Rank Combat Mastery? Just defeat 10 enemies of equal strength or higher in battle. Not the easiest thing to do, but he'd eventually do it.

Oh, but if he wanted to go from C-Rank to B-Rank? He just had to defeat a measly 10,000 enemies of equal strength or higher! It was virtually impossible to get higher skill ranks the natural way at later stages.

It was an ability designed to function hand in hand with his Unique Skill - Harvest. The ability that the time patrol restricted him from utilizing.

After using it a few times here and there, his Unique Skill was reported to the higher-ups by his jealous peers. Once the gods learned about it, they labeled it a demonic skill and had Chronoa personally seal it away. It was only through traversing time that the seal was finally broken.

Or perhaps the dragon itself unsealed it. Chronoa was supposed to be someone whose powers transcended time.

Finally, I can gain the strength I was rightfully supposed to have… But where should I even begin? With this thought, his situation started to feel complicated. His brows wrinkled as he went into deep thought.

Becoming the strongest wasn't his motivation, but strength was a conduit through which he could accomplish his true goal: To find and exploit Zeno's weakness, and utterly annihilate the multiverse including him.

However, he would be a fool not to take advantage of his current circumstances.

If he was in the correct time frame, there were a ton of things he could learn or steal that would make getting power a walk in the park. Growing at the same speed as his last life would make for a useless regression.

And while there were a multitude of skills he missed, the majority of them required an extensive amount of training to attain. Therefore…

Firstly, I need to get the second level of the Meditation skill. In this wilderness, it's the best fundamental skill for the most benefits.

While there were many other techniques he'd like to acquire, the majority of them were far too difficult to obtain and wouldn't give nearly as much usefulness as the Meditation skill.

And seeing as the condition to upgrade it was just sitting in one position and emptying the mind for a long time, it was quite possibly the easiest skill to grow.

When he first arrived in Conton City, he had no experience with meditation, and as such even staying perfectly still was difficult for him. But now, this was a task that required barely any effort.

The only issue now was surviving long enough to find a place to meditate… in the middle of the night… on an unknown planet.

"How unlucky…" He whispered, glaring at the various moons above.

At that moment, a nearby bush rustled abruptly, catching his attention with its sudden movement.

Raiyan slowly rose from his lying position, staying low to the ground while alert to the disturbance. A few yards away, the same bush rustled again before a small creature cautiously hopped its way into view.

It was an adorable little animal resembling a slim rabbit. Atop its head, however, was a singular sharp horn.

And of course, there's a cliche... Raiyan couldn't help but think to himself. A horned rabbit was one of the most basic starter fantasy monsters around.

Yet, despite this, Raiyan did not ease his guard even slightly. Without knowing anything about it, he couldn't conclude this rabbit was weak. In the world of Dragon Ball, looks were often lethally deceiving. Even a child with a low power level could suddenly be the cause of your death, like how Gohan was the turning point for Raditz's demise.

So until he knew its level of strength for sure, he wasn't going to take any chances.

The rabbit sniffed at the air, peering in seemingly random directions. Carefully, Raiyan took a few steps back, accidentally snapping a twig under his foot.

Internally he cursed as the rabbit's head whipped around and focused on him intently.

"Gruuhgh" The rabbit look-alike gurgled at him, a frothy black substance oozing at the corners of its mouth as its bloodshot eyes quivered in their beady sockets.

Raiyan squinted at the creature, taking in all of its features. A sort of understanding rose in his mind as he recognized these specific traits. Together, the compounding afflictions were eerily similar to the symptoms of a certain condition.

Am I… in the demonic realm?! That was his first thought. But after a moment of thinking, he disregarded that notion entirely. No, if I were in the demonic realm, this creature wouldn't have wasted time in killing me.

All signs indicated the horned rabbit was an unfortunate result of its body rejecting the dark energy that infected it. As a result, its life force was being drained rapidly while power was building up in its ki. Eventually, the rabbit would explode into ash as the dark energy ravaged its body.

A few of his previous companions had even been found in between skirmishes, shambling about while afflicted by this condition. The demons were remorseless, frequently using those they managed to capture in their experiments.

That condition, however, only occurred if one wasn't in the demonic realm. Even if the body rejected the dark energy, if the recipient was in the demonic realm then the realm itself would keep them alive, substituting for their lacking life force with even more dark energy.

Interrupting his thoughts, the rabbit ignored his guarded posture and snapped forward, rushing in a springing lunge. Its head tilted down with its horn thrust toward him.

But the moment the rabbit got into position, Raiyan threw himself to the side and rolled on the ground. The rabbit barely missed him, hurtling through the air at high speeds.

-Crack!-

Its horn dug deep into the trunk of a nearby tree, as it was unable to control itself mid-air. The wild beast thrashed left and right, trying to free itself to attack again, but it was firmly lodged into the bark.

As someone with a lifetime of experience fighting beings much stronger than himself, Raiyan prided himself on his ability to anticipate attacks. If he hadn't learned to watch the minute twitching of muscles, he would've died long ago.

Raiyan brushed the dirt off his clothing as he stood up. Hmm... This might be a blessing in disguise.

He walked over to the rabbit, watching as it struggled even further as he got closer to it. Staring emotionlessly, he watched it struggle for a few seconds before nodding his head at its futile efforts.

Scanning the ground, he picked up a rock he deemed sharp enough and rolled it around in his hand. After finding a good grip, he brought it down furiously onto the rabbit's neck.

The beast gurgled as it redoubled its efforts to get free and pounce again, only making it worse as it dug itself deeper into the bark. The rock barely did anything to it, making the tiniest of marks on its body.

Raiyan took note of the lack of damage but otherwise didn't express his thoughts. He simply raised his arm into the air, undeterred, and methodically slammed it down onto the same spot- 

Again.

And again. 

And again.

-Until the rabbit stopped moving, barely anything left of it besides a mess of blood and viscera. Its dark red blood splattered onto Raiyan's clothes and face, making for a haunting sight under the pale moonlight.

Raiyan panted as he stood over the gory sight, letting out a savage smile as he dropped the rock from his shuddering hand. His current body was indeed trash.

In his eyes only, wisps of red mist flowed from the rabbit into the sky, slowly dissipating into the twilight air. He reached out, grasping the mist as he opened his mouth and spoke with a tone of utter authority.

"Harvest."

And with his Unique Skill, he plucked the horned rabbit's soul.