Omar Sana had never really planned to set foot in Japan. Japan had some of the strongest heroes in the world and All Might was the symbol of peace. It would suicide to operate here.
Due to that he always kept his contracts across northern Africa, places where there weren't many heroes. He was given a target, a timeframe, and a price. He finished the job, collected your payment, and disappeared before anyone could trace his steps.
This job was neither.
The call came through an encrypted foreign line from Japan. He normally didn't get calls from here. However, he still spoke the language. When the client named the target, Omar almost ended the call right there.
Endeavor.
Despite not being as popular as All Might, this was still a powerful Hero in Japan.
The reward was absurd. If he was smart, he would be able to disappear for years or even a lifetime. But the risk was too great and he couldn't spend the money if he was dead. He told the client. However, to his surprise, the client changed the target.
If Endeavor was too difficult, then his family would suffice.
Omar understood immediately why no one in Japan had taken the job.
No one wanted to provoke Endeavor. Targeting his family was suicidal. There would be no place for them in Japan if this was carried out.
But Omar considered it.
His funds were nearly gone. His last contract had collapsed before payment. He normally took easy contracts, so the pay was just enough for a few months. If he took the risk here, he would be set for a long while.
So he accepted.
Maybe it was time to take a risk.
Before even boarding the flight, he had already planned his escape route. He needed everything to go clearly.
For the next few weeks, he observed the family. The two oldest always stayed in town and never really left their hotel at night.
The Todoroki family was not careless, except for the redhaired kid, but Omar looked at him, he was a bit afraid. It was like looking at a wild animal. He didn't know why but he trusted his gut. It was what kept him alive. The other he had learned of, Shoto, was clearly Endeavor's favorite. It might be too dangerous to go after him. So, he had three targets in mind.
So Omar waited. He had to be patient. He already set up his flights to escape back. If he couldn't do it, he would just flee.
Then, on the final night, the opportunity came.
One of the boys, white hair, left the resort alone and walked into the forest.
Omar followed at a distance, moving through the trees silently. The boy stopped in a clearing and began training, striking at a tree over and over again with relentless focus.
Omar watched longer than necessary.
The kid had discipline. Precision. Strength beyond what he expected.
Not an easy target.
He waited for the right moment.
Then struck.
–-
Gray didn't see him.
What he felt instead was a sudden, suffocating feeling crawling up his spine, however, it was a few seconds late.
The blade drove forward.
It pierced his chest, but not cleanly.
Gray twisted at the last second, just enough to shift the angle. The knife missed his heart by inches, but the impact still knocked the breath from his lungs.
Pain exploded through him.
"What the hell—?!" he choked, teeth clenched as his body adjusted.
Ice surged from beneath his feet, erupting violently outward in spikes around him like a shield
The attacker was already gone. But there was a trace of blood on one of the ice spikes. He hit, but it clearly wasn't enough.
Gray staggered back, one hand pressed to his chest. Blood seeped between his fingers, but he forced ice over the wound, sealing it shut in a thin, shimmering frozen layer. It wasn't the best method, but it could halt the bleeding for now.
His breathing steadied, slow and controlled despite the pain. He had to be vigilant. The attacker could still be here.
Fast…
His eyes narrowed.
Too fast.
There was no sound. No movement. Just the quiet stillness of the forest.
Then—
A faint crunch.
Behind him.
Gray turned sharply, scanning the darkness.
'Damn it. Can he teleport?' Too many quirks flashed through his mind. Teleport, speed, invisibility…?
"Who are you!!" Gray yelled out.
However, there was no response. Gray remained vigilant, waiting for the smallest chances.
Then-
Movement! He reacted instantly!
Ice make: Hammer! A giant hammer materialized out of his hand, smashing downward towards the sound. However, he hit nothing. He waited once again.
–
'An Ice based quirk. It should be okay if I keep my distance first and wait for an opening.' Omar was getting excited, this fight would be easier. He jumped off the branch he was standing on. 'Good god, he's finding me by sound. What a freak.'
Ice javelins ripped through the bark of the tree. Omar had just left, the tree he was just standing on exploding into splinters. He leapt again, higher onto another taller tree.
"But why me?" Gray demanded, trying to steady his breath.
"Well, it's just you and me out here," the assassin called back, voice echoing between the trees. "Guess I'll tell ya. I'd be dissatisfied too if someone killed me and I didn't get to know why. It's that dear old dad of yours, Endeavor. He arrested someone dangerous. Not dangerous because of their quirk, but the people he knows. He's a bigshot with all sorts of connections to the underworld. And he put up a bounty. Not just on Endeavor, but his whole family too. Naturally, no one wants to take such a dangerous mission and risk being burnt into ashes. But with my skill set, I think I could pull it off."
Gray's lips curled into a sharp grin, the pain from his wound dulled by the heat of defiance.
"Guess you're pretty unlucky then," he said, voice low. "Cause you picked me first."
Omar raised an eyebrow. That was when he noticed Gray had stopped bleeding. The wound on Gray's chest was already frozen shut.
"An eager one, aren't ya? Maybe if you were at your peak and I was stupid. But you spent all night training. You probably have only a few attacks left in you at best."
Then the man vanished.
Instantly.
His body blurred and disappeared.
But the snow betrayed him. Gray could hear him, the crunching of snow from soft footsteps. The sound got closer to him from behind.
Gray spun, his body moving before thought. He waited patiently till he was close enough. The sound got closer and closer. Gray opened his eyes.
"Ice Make: Hammer!"
A massive crystalline warhammer materialized in his hands, formed from solid ice in an instant. He swung it wide. Gray felt his hammer connect with something and followed through.
Omar took the full brunt of the impact. His body was flung through multiple trees, breaking trunks like twigs before skidding across the snow.
He coughed once, wiping blood from his lips as he stretched his body, checking himself for any major injuries.
"Not a bad swing."
"Your quirk is some kind of camouflage or invisibility quirk, right?" Gray commented coldly. "You're not very stealthy though.
The assassin rolled his shoulder, expression amused despite the blood.
"I only know how to walk silently on hard surfaces. Snow is a bit tricky. It's my first time. Looks like I'll just have to brute my way through." Omar suddenly vanished. Not from his quirk. Sheer physical speed.
Gray tracked him with his eyes as Omar leapt from tree to tree, trying to predict his next move.
'Damn…this guy's fast. I'd have a hard time catching him even if I wasn't tired… but hes not as fast as Natsu is.'
Omar suddenly landed on the ground in front of Gray. Gray prepared to attack but suddenly, Omar slammed his foot into the floor, kicking up a blizzard of snow around him into a whiteout wall.
Gray slammed his hand to the ground. A geyser of jagged ice erupted forward, exploding outward to cover the area.
But before the chill could settle, Gray felt something sharp tear into his side.
Bottom left abdomen.
A fresh pain. Warm blood spilled fast. The assassin's smirking face flashed briefly in front of him before vanishing again.
Then another strike. A slash across the stomach.
Blood burst from the fresh wound. Gray gritted his teeth and launched himself skyward, creating a pillar of ice beneath him to escape.
He hit the snow hard and tumbled. He could feel the energy draining from his limbs. Gray's breath came in ragged gasps. He could feel he was truly at his limit. The assassin appeared again standing a bit away from Gray.
'Damn, I can't get a full deep cut in.'
Gray forced himself upright. His body trembled with effort, every muscle screaming.
Still… he grinned.
Omar was creeped out. 'Why is he smiling??'
"Comeon, I can do this all day-"
Suddenly, the snow beneath his feet shifted. The edge of the cliff gave way.
Gray slipped and went into freefall.
The assassin blinked, then scratched the back of his head.
"It's too dark. I didn't realize he was at the edge of a cliff either. I just need to confirm his corpse at the bottom and I can collect the money and leave this country before Endeavor finds out…"
—
He plummeted.
The cliffside blurred into shadow, receding further with every breathless second. The wind screamed past his ears, dragging him away from the ledge and into oblivion.
Gray was falling. Any hope of forming an ice construct to anchor himself was a fantasy. His limbs trembled. His core burned cold. The endless training, the fight, and the wounds had drained him. He wasn't even sure if he was conscious anymore.
If he were at full strength… he could've done something. Anything.
But this?
This was not full strength.
This was the end.
The sky above was a black canvas, littered with stars. Gray stared up as he dropped through the darkness, back-first. The earth was invisible below.
He could hit it any second.
And no one would even know he died here.
"Is there really nothing I can do? Am I just this weak now? I can't imagine—"
The thought cut off as something snapped into place in his mind.
Not a memory. A truth.
Words… ancient and etched into his soul.
His master Ur had spoken about the essence of Make magic. The true concept behind it.
Not technique.
Not raw strength.
Imagination.
A flicker of warmth danced at the corners of his lips.
"Imagine… That's it! It's all in my imagination. How could I forget!"
Suddenly, the cold vanished.
His training had all been building to this. A deeper understanding. A wider horizon.
He had always known the foundations of Ice Make. But he had forgotten its freedom. It's creativity.
His mind had spent too long adjusting to the limitations set by society. He lost his identity as a mage and took one as a quirk-user.
But that wasn't who he was at his core. He was always a mage.
He was a creator.
'I'll broaden it! The freedom of Ice-Make and the interpretation of my quirk! Imagination! The foundation of molding!'
The winds no longer carried him. Gravity no longer mattered.
He had let go of the fear of falling and in its place, he rose.
Just like his former self, a mage in Fairy Tail unshaken by the rules of the world...
He hovered in the open air, arms outstretched. His back shimmered with fractal patterns of ice crystals, forming wings that hummed in the stillness of the sky.
The pressure of death had cracked open the core of who he was.
And what poured out was not fear… but transcendence.
The ice didn't feel cold anymore.
It felt like a breath. Like a heartbeat.
In that silent, eternal moment, Gray was no longer falling.
He had become something new.
He was no longer a mage out of time, struggling to adapt in a world ruled by quirks.
He was Gray Fullbuster the one who molded anything of ice with a mere thought. And far below him, unnoticed by the sleeping world, the very balance of power began to tilt.
At that exact moment…
The strongest Ice quirk user alive was reborn.
—
The assassin reached the base of the cliff, his boots crunching into the snow. He scanned the forest floor. No blood.
No broken body. No twisted limbs. Not even a trail.
Confused, he glanced upward, squinting into the jagged cliffside and the canopy above. No figure caught in branches, no splash of red on the stone.
Just... nothing.
Then-
Crunch. Faint footsteps behind him.
The assassin turned instantly, blade half-drawn.
The forest was still blanketed in darkness until the clouds slid aside, revealing the full moon in all its brilliance. Silver light spilled into the trees.
And beneath it stood Gray.
Motionless.
His head low.
Hair casting shadows over his face.
Then he lifted his head slightly, one eye glowing like turquoise flame in the moonlight, half-covered by windswept bangs.
"Yo."
The assassin's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You're still alive!!?"
"Of course I'm alive and kicking!" Gray beamed, arms wide, his voice rich with manic joy. Every wound was frozen shut, sealed by glimmering crystalline scars.
"Oh man! I thought I was gonna freeze to death with my own quirk! But then I stopped feeling cold! I could make ice again! I froze all my wounds! Even my blood feels cold now!"
His grin widened. His eyes were dilated, fixed on something beyond the assassin.
"It's almost as if I became one with ice! I don't think it matters how cold I get anymore! I'll keep making more ice! I don't feel a thing!"
The assassin narrowed his eyes, wary.
'He keeps blabbering…is he crazy??.'
But the way Gray stood… the stillness of the air around him… something was different. Unnatural.
"That's it! I remembered who I was. On the essence of death. Even without magic! You're going to lose now because you didn't kill me before I fell off the cliff!"
The assassin scoffed, drawing his blade.
"I'm going to lose? Our fight is just getting started!"
Without hesitation, he kicked up a cloud of snow and lunged forward, blade flashing in the moonlight.
But-
Gray vanished.
Not a movement. Not a dodge.
Gone.
The assassin halted mid-strike. He felt a shift behind him. He turned fast.
Gray was there. Floating upside down, inches from his face. His feet coated in ice, suspending him mid-air.
'Cryokinesis?!'
Before the assassin could react, ice crawled across his limbs, thin as spider silk but unbreakable. It gripped him tight, slowing every motion.
Gray's body was still inverted, but his arms moved fluidly into his stance.
"Ice Make: Reversal."
A shockwave of cold exploded outward.
The assassin's body was hurled like a ragdoll through a dozen trees. Earth split in a violent trail beneath him. He crashed hard, a thick branch impaling his side.
He gasped, pulling the jagged wood from his flesh, his breathing ragged.
Above him, Gray hovered, dazed and glowing under the moonlight.
"Monster," the assassin hissed, blood dripping from his side.
He rose shakily, scanning his body.
The damage was bad, but not lethal.
"That wood didn't pierce anything vital. Crashing through those trees hurt but the snow cushioned me… I don't think anything's broken…"
He gritted his teeth, analyzing everything.
'…but that kinetic force he blasted me with… he was able to generate ice from outside his body and form it directly on me to control with cryokinesis… that's drastically different from how his quirk worked before… and that blabbering about not feeling cold anymore…'
Studying quirks was Omar's speciality. He was born with a minor camouflage quirk. He trained and developed his physical body and quirk to its limits. He also prided himself in understanding his opponents' quirks when engaging with them. This Haise's quirk felt completely different. He thought back to everything he had read and knew about quirks.
A cold realization struck him like lightning.
'Don't tell me he awakened?! If he really awakened…no…I just need to go over what I know about his quirk. He originally could only generate ice from his body as the source but now it seems he can generate it away from his body…considering how close he had to get to me, it must not be very far since he just learned this ability. He can make constructs and can now control them. And through his newfound cryokinesis, he has a form of pseudoflight. Factoring in all these things and his injuries, they're all things I can handle.'
A confident grin formed on the assassin's face as he readied his weapon.
Suddenly, Gray's gaze sharpened.
No more daze. His eyes locked with the assassin's.
'Something's off.'
And the assassin knew.
This was different.
This wasn't the same person.
His instincts screamed at him.
Run. Run now.
But his legs wouldn't budge.
Frozen.
He looked down.
Ice had already crept across his calves, rooting him to the earth.
'From that far away?! I underestimated his range!'
Gray floated upright now, standing atop a polished platform of pure ice.
A bow of frost shimmered into existence in his hands, sculpted like a weapon from a divine realm. He molded an arrow into place. Ice crystals began to scatter from its tip like frozen petals, the air itself starting to freeze.
The assassin could feel it. The temperature of the surrounding air dropped further. It was so cold his skin was burning under his coat. Even breathing became laborious as the air singed his lungs. Words could no longer escape his mouth.
'Shit…he can control the temperature to this degree?!'
"Ice Make: Super Freeze Arrow."
The world blinked white.
The arrow ripped through the night with blinding speed, piercing the assassin directly in the chest. From his back, frozen spikes burst outward in a grotesque bloom. No blood spilled. Every liquid in his body had frozen instantly. Time began to slow for him. He knew what was coming. He was dying.
Gray dropped from the platform and landed silently before him.
The assassin's fading eyes met his.
"You tried to come after me… my family."
Gray raised his hand and with a single swipe, shattered the assassin's frozen body into a storm of ice shards.
"If it's my family on the line," Gray whispered, eyes sharp and unyielding, "I will be as dark and black a villain as I need to be in order to protect them."
The wind howled across the moonlit battlefield, carrying with it the shards of ice and the death of a would-be killer.
'Damn… I should've stayed out of this country.'