A Certain Scientific Magician ①

Prologue

Someone that released his own dreams

The_Ice_Illusion.

A heavy rain was falling. The puddles in the soil reflected the sky at nightfall, colored grey. Despite being just July 10th, there was an abnormal cold. The walls in the alley were cracking, while a thin layer of ice expanded itself like a white shadow on the outside walls of the buildings that surrounded them.

Two people were there. One of them, lying on the ground, was crawling out of the alley, leaving a trace of blood behind him. His eyes covered in tears and his cold sweat creeping down his forehead denoted that he was trying to run away from something that endangered his life.

But, who was it? Who had the power to wound so seriously a sturdy man that, additionally, was armed? Why didn't the bullet penetrate the stomach of the other man? These questions just created a bigger confusion.

The other person, who hadn't moved a muscle until now, advanced slowly. He wore a long cape with a hood that covered his face, giving him the appearance of an RPG mage. With each step, the ice on the walls expanded and cracked. The blood on the ground turned dark, drying with the extreme cold that apparently emanated from the hooded man.

When the man in the cape reached him, he felt a horrible chill. His nerves were inflammating due to the sudden temperature change, and his limbs were getting numb. Shivering, he turned and begged:

"P-Please, have mercy... I-I'll do whatever you want!"

"That is exactly what I was expecting to hear", said the hooded man answered. "I need information about Skill-Out".

The man on the ground didn't answer. His silence was not due to the intense cold, but to the sudden fear that scaled up his spine.

"Is Skill-Out involved in the recent murders of Ability Users?", asked the man in the hood. "I don't have any wish of torturing you until I got the information, so you better speak now".

Aggressively, the caped man took the other by the neck of his shirt, pulling so strongly that the cloth ripped.

"A-Alright! Just d-don't kill me!", sobbed the wounded man, trying to loosen his opponent's grip.

The hooded man let him go. A white frost mark remained in the shirt of the wounded man, who sat on the ground, defeated. How could he, a Level 0, defeat an Ability User with those magnificent ice powers?

The man in the cape nodded, expectant. A menacing aura in his person caused horror to anyone who looked at him.

"In Skil-Out w-we are always in disadvantage, y'know?", explained the guy, shivering. "You Ability Users a-always look at us Level 0s with revulsion in your eyes... W-We are tired of being Academy City's garbage!

Suddenly, the man threw a handful of dirt at the hooded man's eyes. Backing off to the surprise attack, rubbing his eyes so strongly that it looked like he was going to scratch his cornea.

A hurried noise indicated to him that his victim was running away. Nonetheless, being so close to obtaining information, he wasn't planning on giving up. With reddened eyes, he ran from the alley, while his cape waved on the wind.

He was able to see his prey stumbling with other people on the street. It wasn't too late yet, so it was normal to find the streets crowded even after sunset. There was one hour left before the curfew, so he had some extra time for the questioning.

Not caring about all the people in the surroundings, the caped man kicked the ground. The terrain, like obeying a mute order, cracked. As if having enormous underground pistons, the slabs of the ground raised and dropped again to their places, pushing to the air anyone who was over the stone plates. Several passersby dispersed abruptly, escaping of what, if not a lethal blow, definitely would break some bones.