Posted the wrong chapter by mistake. I've fixed it
.....
[You have unlocked the Ground Affinity]
[Ground Affinity increased^^^]
[Fire Affinity increased ^^^]
[Wind Affinity increased^^^]
[Darkness Affinity increased ^^^]
[You have learnt the skill: Elemental Combination]
Axel's wind and fire affinity increased, and he got a new affinity, the Ground Affinity. He had heard that the Ground Septis had been destroyed years ago, but it seems that the King had learnt it, and through him, so had Axel now.
"There it is, that annoying talent," muttered Scitius in annoyance. In just a few minutes, Axel had somehow learnt the things that took the King decades to master. As someone who had been rejected due to his lack of Talent, Scitius absolutely hated Axel's cheat-like.
"Your mind and actions didn't show your intentions at all," he said.
Of course, by now he had realized that Axel was only talking to him because he was secretly learning the elemental skills of the King. But he was able to somehow hide it from Scitius's mind.
Scitius had been able to predict Axel's moves based on his surface thought and his microexpressions and gestures, along with his mental thoughts. And through those, he had found no indication of the fact that Axel had been secretly learning the skill while engaging him in small talk.
Axel shrugged. "If you can perceive, why can't I deceive?" He asked, still experimenting with the skill.
"Well, I applaud you for this one," Scitius sighed. "But I need to know. How did you even do it? Master so many affinities at once. It can't be just talent."
"Of course I can tell you. While at it, shall I also share my penis length and Bank account password as well?"
Yeah. Like hell he was going to tell him.
Scitius was actually right. It wasn't just talent. Any skill needs a considerable amount of practise and comprehension to be mastered. But all that is registered in the Akashic Records.
[Skill Steal] allows him to directly come in contact with those records, thus making it much easier to copy the skills. It's like directly getting the answer key without having to solve the question.
It wasn't easy though, the skills in question must be something he has the potential to learn, and he still can't be instantly perfect. The degree of completion depends on his compatibility with the skill.
"Not an issue. I'll find out eventually," said Scitius with a shrug. "And besides, you might have learnt the King's Skills. But you can't really afford to use them right now, can you?" He asked with a knowing look.
"Oh really?" There was no change in Axel's expression or tone, but it was not fooling Scitius.
"Really. While I do admire you for defeating the Second and Reinforcing the Seal. But, it came at a price. Didn't it? He asked.
"Your Mental Power."
"You had the highest mental power I have seen at that age. I struggle to think how you even spent it to burn through such a huge amount."
Axel cursed in his mind. What he did really was pretty damn taxing. Creating the giant avatar was and controlling such a huge amount of water was still fine. But the real energy was spent on manipulating the water molecules like they were his private property on such a large scale.
That was a level above what his current water affinity could afford. But, he went ahead and did it anyway with the help of the Royal Trident, not knowing the troubles it was going to cause him.
"I don't need mental energy to beat you."
Scitius laughed. "So confident. Have you still not noticed? Look around you," he said, spreading his arms.
As if in response, the marking on the bodies of the Kraken warriors glowed.
"Do you see the difference? Despite your efforts of reinforcing the seal, the warriors still haven't lost their strength."
??
Axel looked around, and sure enough the energy that was almost gone was now slowly coming back in the Kraken's forces.
'What the—?!'
Axel couldn't understand what was going on here. This didn't make sense. With more than enough energy, he had successfully activated the reinforcement process. The system itself had confirmed that.
Then how the hell is it reverting back again?
"It's the First," Scitius answered without him having to ask. "You've forced him to awaken much earlier than we had planned, but you've also sealed your fate with that, the Seal reinforced or not."
'The First?' Axel couldn't believe it. Come to think of it, the First did arrive right when he had initiated the Seal reinforcement process.
But, how the hell did he interrupt it?
Axel had little knowledge about Seals, but even he could tell, the seal was untouchable, unless…
"Whether you believe it or not, he managed to do it. That's why we call him the First."
"And, I've got another piece of news for you." Scitius raised the King's hands. "The Royal Throne is back under our control," he said, bringing it down.
The giant statue, which had stopped working after the sealing had been initiated, started to work once again.
Scitius laughed. "Now, Prince Axel. What will you do?"
"I'll do what I have to!" Axel had had enough playing around.
He borrowed more of the entity's, combining it with his own, causing blue energy to revolve around him.
The Atlantian were already in a tough spot, to begin with, having to fight super skilled and impeccably coordinated Kraken forces. They were only holding on because of the long-ranged division that was bombarding fire and providing buffs protection and heals to the frontline.
But now the rear forces were once again targeted, further worsening the situation.
At this moment, they saw a blue streak headed straight for the giant foot at high-speed.
The water around Axel kept increasing, half going upward while half going down.
The upper half headed for the Foot of the Statue while the lower half extended downward.
The water above formed into the shape of hands, holding up the Statue's foot while the water below displaced the Soldiers before turning into giant footholds.
The Giant avatar had made against Zeta once again reformed, making the soldiers look up in awe.
The hands, made out of water, collided with the incoming foot, and the water instantly deformed, being pushed back.
'Come on!'
Axel gave it his all.
The hands reformed and the water started to flow upwards, giving an upthrust force against the foot.
Support also came from all the long range users, including Martina, Estris and Willis.
The avatar kept being pushed down, having to go down on one knee. But the giant foot finally slowed down, until it stopped.
[Crystalize]
Axel solidified his avatar, fixing the foot in place as well which was wrapped up with water.
'Not yet.'
[Arcane Travel]
[Soul Control]
Using Arcane Travel, he appeared behind Atasis, stabbing him with the Trident.
"You... need to go!"
Axel knew that stopping the statue would not achieve much. With the control over the Royal Throne, the Statue is not the only thing under the Kraken's control.
That's why, in order to win this battle, they first need to eliminate this pawn of a king, which has been giving Kraken directly access to Atlantis itself.
"You can't damage [Water Body]," said Scitius, the water body already nullifying most of the damage.
"True. But it's not the body I'm after," replied Axel.
The blades gleamed with amber magic before piercing into the water body.
Suddenly, the existence of Scitius seemed to vanish out of the King's body as he howled in agony. The blades ran all through the water body, as if to cut it in pieces.
But it wasn't the end.
[Unshackle]
The King's screaming became worse and the blue markings seemed to fade out of the King's body, along the connection with the Entity.
'That's it!' Exclaimed Axel, seeing his plan working.
After forming a connection with the Entity himself and unlocking the Soul Affinity, Axel knew a bit more about how the Entity's control bond works.
So, he was able to Sever the King's connection with the Entity, also damaging his soul in the process.
Axel knew that it would take a lot of effort to defeat the King who has the Entity's power and Scitius's control since Scitius was always one step ahead of him, having calculated everything.
But not the Soul Affinity, which he had only gotten recently and never used.
So he knew this might be his best shot.
And it seemed to have worked, as the Giant statue stopped pressuring his avatar.
"Father…" Seeing the Blue Marking's vanishing, relief flooded Antilla, no longer having to see her father destroying his own Kingdom.
"It's over." Axel retracted his blades and the King's [Water Body] deactivated, reverting back into his weak old body.
The King opened slowly his eyes, now coming back to his senses.
Reality dawned on his mind as he realized what he had done. "Gods of the sea… Oh, Gods of the sea…what... what have I done?" he whispered, his eyes shaking.
"Shhh— it's alright," said Axel, patting the old man's chest. "Just close your eyes, and…"
"Die." he muttered, as his hand pierced the King's chest and ripped his heart out.
?!!!!!!!!!!!!
Antilla, who was on her way over, stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened and jaw hitting the floor.
"What… What did you do?" Antilla whispered, watching the life fade out the King's eyes.
Father... is dead?
Axel looked at her with a can't-you-see look. "I offed the guy. Simple as that." he shrugged.
"But… But…he was…"
"He was what? Not a traitor? Are you telling me you wanted him to live after all the things he did? So that he could fuck us over again?" Asked Axel, not seeing the problem.
"Lady, I don't know how you managed to keep the kingdom running for all these years. I don't know about you but I don't plan on having him giving into Kraken again just because he couldn't handle some pain!"
Antilla blinked, slowly coming back to her senses. That's right. She was going to say he was family, but was he really? And does being family mean anything after all that he did? Any king with a little respect would have killed himself anyway after what he did.
It might not matter for an ordinary person to get another chance. But that man? He has the power to decide the fate of the whole Kingdom. A random slip up can cause millions of deaths.
Antilla was thinking that Axel's method and decision was too impulsive and crude, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how right he was.
If it's an enemy, kill before they kill you. No complications, no hesitation, no regret, no partiality. This is not something that he has been taught like how she was, but this is what he learnt through experience.
The King was dead, but it didn't mean that Axel could have a break yet.
"""That was brilliant."""" Scitius's voice echoed all over the battlefield, now using the Kraken's soldiers to communicate.
"So, you've also mastered the Arhunt Bloodline to that extent. It seems there was a mistake in my calculations. I thought you could only learn what you've already seen. Though, I can at least confirm that there is definitely something mysterious inside your head," Scitius said, his voice echoed through every Kraken soldier. "But, do you think it's over just because you managed to Take the King? This is not a game."
Suddenly, Axel's mind was attacked from all sides, causing him to clutch his head. Brain waves were being emitted from every Kraken warrior, targeting Axel.
Axel's mind was even more exhausted with the move, and Scitius knew that. That's why he used this move on him, targeting his momentary weakness.
Usually, with Axel's strong mental defense, it wouldn't have worked, but it did this time, causing him to lose focus.
Axel fell to the ground as he lost his water body skill.
"Now, let's see what you can do without those bloodlines of yours," said Scitius, as more than half of the Kraken army that had been destroying the Kingdom's army locked on to him, all being controlled personally by Scitius.
"Damn..."
Axel picked himself up as he looked at the massive army heading his way. He cracked his muscles, getting ready for the incoming onslaught.
"You might not know this. But for me, it was never the bloody bloodlines."
The handle of the Trident wrapped around his body and two of the blades wrapped around his arms, extending out like knives.
"It has always been about achieving my goals."
"Even if I have to drag myself through them."
....
A.N.:
Excerpt:
"It's quite long and thick. I've never seen one like this," said Daphne, holding onto the base.
"What next?" Asked Axel. Daphne seems to know a lot.
"Next, I'm going to shake it. When it leaks the sap, I'm going to collect it."
"Do it gently!"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"It's coming!"
"Hm… this juice is actually quite delicious. I love it."
After curfew, in the abandoned Greenhouse, Axel and Daphne were on the ground…. collecting the ingredients that Axel needed for his diet.
While picking up the magical herbs, Daphne also highlighted a few features about them as well as the correct ways to harvest them, which would help Axel find them in the future.
....
This is from the version I'm posting on Royalroad (ch 24). While keeping the plot same, I'm adding a few more Daphne/Axel and other scenes which I couldn't before, fixing some holes and error, removing redundant things, and making it overall better. So, in case you want a re-read someday, go follow it.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/99323/the-arcane-thief-harry-potter-litrpg
Or just search Arcane Thief on Royalroad.
I've posted 24 chapters so far. In order to continue, I need more follow there. Around 50 more will do. So, please go follow.
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