"Mom! Eat faster! Eat faster!"
Mikoto, who had already finished her ramen, urgently hurried her mother, Misuzu, who was the only one yet to finish. Playtime was precious; every minute delayed now meant one less minute of play later, something she simply couldn't accept.
Seeing this, Misuzu naturally stopped dawdling. She set aside the phone she had been fiddling with and responded to the anxious Mikoto with her incredible chewing speed. Finally, with a "Thud!!!", the empty bowl landed on the table.
"Alright, let's head out now!"
The family of three quickly rose from their seats and headed straight out of the ramen shop. Young Mikoto worked her legs hard, her speed momentarily surpassing the normal walking pace of an adult.
"Please come again."
The waiter standing at the door pulled back the curtain of the ramen shop with a professional smile. Just as Mikoto happily stepped out first, a noisy commotion outside immediately caught her attention.
"Move! Everyone, get out of the way!"
A young boy, clutching a wallet to his chest, dashed down the street, pursued closely by several Security robots.
Committing crimes like robbery in a high-tech city like Academy City might seem incredibly foolish, but in reality, such incidents were not uncommon, and the situation would only worsen in the near future.
Why?
Because they were low-level Ability Users.
Academy City's history wasn't short, but the large-scale development of Ability Users was a relatively recent phenomenon. Consequently, many people interested in superpowers flocked to Academy City, hoping to develop some exceptionally powerful ability or be identified as a great talent—to become one of those "special people" others talked about.
Fantasy is beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Coming to Academy City to develop abilities was, in a sense, like signing an indentured servitude contract, and those who actually awakened exceptional abilities or talents through scientific development were few and far between.
In the future, when Academy City would have a population of 2.3 million, eighty percent would be students who had undergone Academy City's ability development. Among these Ability Users, about sixty percent were Level 0—Powerless individuals whose abilities had almost no impact on reality.
For those who came to Academy City with high hopes, such a result was akin to a verdict that directly negated their life's value. Especially after experiencing the helplessness of being unable to raise their level no matter how hard they worked, the sense of disparity would cause them to break down.
To mitigate this as much as possible, it was publicly claimed that anyone could raise their level through persistent effort—even reaching Level 5 was not impossible.
[Can one really reach that level through effort? Of course. Misaka-san grew from Level 1 to Level 5 through hard work; she is your role model.]
This psychological conditioning did alleviate some of the anxiety regarding superpowers, but it ultimately treated the symptoms rather than the cause. In the future, large numbers of Level 0s would gather in the corners of Academy City, forming Armed groups of the Powerless.
They comforted one another and huddled together for warmth, asserting their individuality through criminal acts, as if venting their resentment that Ability Users weren't actually all that great.
Mikoto turned her head blankly to watch the boy being chased for stealing the wallet. Seeing him get closer and closer, the fear rising within her left her somewhat unable to move.
"Mikoto!"
Misuzu, just stepping out of the ramen shop, saw this and ran toward Mikoto. Meanwhile, in a panic, Chinatsu extended a hand toward the boy who was about to collide with Mikoto, activating her ability by instinct.
In an instant, a powerful force was applied to the boy. Unable to offer any resistance, his entire body slammed into the ground, and several Security robots immediately surrounded him.
[Arrest! Arrest! Arrest!]
"So this is a high-level ability... If only I had an ability like this. Why don't I have one? A Level 0 can't do anything, nothing at all..."
The boy cried out his grievance through gritted teeth, tears of resentment streaming from his eyes. The passing pedestrians fell into a heavy silence at the scene, Chinatsu included.
Actually, besides the superpowers of Academy City, there existed another mysterious and powerful system of abilities called Magic.
It is said that the origin of Magic was a power created by those without talent to catch up to those who had it. Over time, this system became increasingly refined, and the number of powerful practitioners grew daily.
By nature, both Gemstones and those who artificially awakened their abilities by mimicking Gemstones are judged as 'talented' in the world of magic. Therefore, those who have undergone scientific development cannot use magic; attempting to do so causes severe rejection reactions.
Currently, the group of people in Academy City designated as Level 0 are caught between'superpowers' and 'magic'. They cannot progress in superpowers, nor can they abandon their abilities to learn magic. From this perspective, they are indeed quite tragic.
Chinatsu sighed helplessly and released the force she had applied to the boy. There was no point in dwelling on the messy affairs of Academy City now; she wasn't the type of saintly character who would agonize over things she couldn't solve.
After deactivating her ability, she quickly walked over to the startled Mikoto. Although Mikoto had been frightened by the sudden commotion, she recovered quickly and didn't need any comforting.
"Big sister! Your ability really is amazing!"
Mikoto looked at Chinatsu excitedly, then she extended both hands and puffed out her cheeks, looking like she was seriously charging up power.
Biri~ biri~ bi~
"Hah~ I can only do this much."
Mikoto let out a long breath. Comparing herself to what Chinatsu had just done, she couldn't help but pout.
Seeing her daughter look so adorable, Misuzu couldn't help but laugh. She knelt down and raised a hand to stroke Mikoto's head.
"Little Mikoto, do you want to become stronger?"
"Mhm~ I do!"
Mikoto answered innocently. Misuzu's lips curled up slightly, and then she rubbed Mikoto's head vigorously, as if petting a cat.
"Good! That's the spirit! Although I don't know much about how abilities grow, I've heard that the foundation of an ability is study. That's why I already bought the highest-level introductory textbooks. Let's go home and study!!!"
"..."