HP: The Arcane Thief

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*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Axel was suddenly thrown out of the Trial room.

"Hm? What the—?"

And, he found himself surrounded by a huge crowd, which was currently filled with chaos.

"No way!"

"This can't be happening!"

"Continue the Trial!"

Alarms were blaring, the instructors were shouting, and the crowd was protesting.

Axel blinked his eyes in confusion. What happened?

At this moment, a pair of long legs came to a halt in front of him. Glancing up, he found Sylthia standing over him. Currently, she was busily talking on the communicator on her wrist. After tapping her wrist, she turned her attention to him.

"The trial has been temporarily suspended due to an emergency." Sylthia's eyes held complicated emotions when saying that.

"Emergency?" Axel's brows furrowed. "So, what happens now? Do I still have no hope of getting recruited?" He asked, repeating the question he had asked before entering the trial.

"You…" Sylthia had no answer to Axel's question.This question left her positively ashamed. Getting recruited? The higher ups will be fighting to recruit him.

Recalling her earlier behaviour, she felt rather undignified. She had been repulsed by Axel's ambitions when he was so young and hadn't received royal education. But she hadn't, in her wildest imaginations, anticipated his real competence.

"Just wait for the results. Those interested in your abilities will recruit you. For the time being, you will be treated as an academy student," she said, even while her communication device was ringing. With that said, she vanished with a gust of air as if running away from him.

Axel was left scratching his head. 'She did not give me a straight answer until the end!' He realized, much to his chagrin.

Sylthia Eryndor was already dumped in the "annoying" category.

While Axel was still distracted with various thoughts, the prickling stares on him suddenly made him remember his current situation.

The instructors were currently busy directing the students to their dorms. But still, who would want to go back to the boring dorms after being mercilessly hung on such a cruel cliff?

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Me neither! I want to see the rest of the trial!"

"It was just getting to the interesting part!"

Axel found himself the focus of various heated gazes. The students were looking at him with looks that seemed to suggest they wanted to tear him apart.

"???"

While he was still confused, an older boy who looked to be around 19 came forward. "Excuse me?"

"What?"

"Uh, Sir Chris, I'm Tarmin. I have been assigned the task to guide you to your temporary residence."

Axel shrugged. "Let's go then."

The High Authority individuals of the Military could do nothing but watch as Axel walked away. They were all planning to ambush him as soon as his trial was over, hoping to pitch their respective departments to recruit him. But now, due to this emergency, they all were different orders and had no choice but to suspend the matter for later.

Tarmin walked stiffly, leading Axel towards the dorms of the Royal Academy. From time to time, he would cast furtive glances at Axel, but would immediately turn his head in nervousness. Axel nodded to himself in satisfaction. This is how it is supposed to be. Sylthia was just too arrogant for her own good.

"Oi."

Tarmin's head jerked to face him when he was suddenly called out by Axel.

"What was the emergency about?"

Tarmin's edginess decreased when his mind got diverted on this topic. "I don't know. It's an extremely rare event."

"But… I don't think there's anything to worry about. Atlantis is stronger than Kraken in every way."

In the end, it didn't seem like Tarmin could contain his curiosity. "Uh, Sir Axel, if I may ask, how old are you?"

"16."

The boy's eyes widened. "How... how is that possible? How are you so good at everything at your age?!"

"Practice."

Tarmin could only shake his head in Marvel. "The outside world must not be as primitive as we are told."

Observing the boy's reaction, Axel was more accurately able to gauge the appropriate amount he could show. It seems that he was right in holding back more.

The current reaction seemed surprised, but not completely out of the bounds, which is a good sign. If he had shown too much, then it would have rather aroused distrust, fear and suspicion rather than favorability.

Tarmin seemed to have more questions, though he was making a conscious effort in not asking further. But in the end, it didn't seem like he could control himself.

"Uh, Sir Axel. A-Are you, perhaps, close with Miss Sylthia?"

The guy lost the little good impression he had made with Axel with that.

Axel casually swept his gaze over the guy, which caused him to flinch. "I just met her." He deadpanned.

Tarmin could only look at him blankly. "But... you were able to talk so much with her. Sylthia doesn't talk to anyone!"

Axel rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Why is she such a big deal here?" He finally asked. The general actually had eight stars, quite higher than Sylthia's pitiful 6 stars. And there are other relic wielders in the castle too. Then why is she treated like a star here?

The student looked at Axel as if he had questioned his religion. "How can you even ask that? Do you know nothing about her?"

"Well, I don't. I'm new here," he reminded.

The guy nodded as if it was a matter of course. "That explains it. Let me tell you then," he said, looking like a priest of a cult. "First of all, she is from one of the six Septises."

"The Six Septises?"

"Oh, right. You don't know. Then I'll explain in detail. Atlantis has six Aristocratic Families that have been in existence since the founding of the empire. These families are called the Six Septises. Sylthia is from the Eryndor Septis."

Azel nodded in understanding, "So basically, she's nobility." he muttered. That explains her stinky attitude that reminded him of Malfoy. But he still didn't think it was anything impressive.

"Yes, but that is not a small matter! Each Septis has their own domains of specialisation. It's members receive clandestine training and resources exclusive to the Septis. And the most important thing. Each of them possesses a Natal Relic."

"Natal Relic..." Now this was information he knew a bit about. Natal Relics had come up in the basic information about Atlantis he had gotten from the system. Natal Relics are the relics that are designed for a specific person or bloodline. Since it is custom design only the designated people can be qualified to wield the relic.

"Yes," Tarmin nodded. "The relics of these families are designed to synergize with the magic they already specialize in. That's why, the Relic Wielders of these families are usually much more powerful than ordinary relic wielders. And the fact that Sylthia has been chosen as a designated Relic Wielder of the Eryndor Septis, when others take decades more, I believe she is the most talented prodigy of our generation," Tarmin stated with reverence.

'Okay...' Axel would admit, it was a bit impressive. He had no idea she was only 18. If she's powerful at a young age, then it's indeed impressive. But simps like this guy have overinflated the girl's ego so much that she's become insufferable.

While talking, they had already arrived at the dorms. At this moment, Tarmin happened to see his watch.

!!!

He stopped walking when he saw what he saw. "N-No way… there's no way…"

"What happened?"

Tarmin didn't answer immediately. He was too focused on finding out more about whatever it was that he had seen.

Axel just read his mind to find out along with him. He was far above the stage of needing eye-contact.

It seems that a big explosion happened in the city that caused some casualties. The reason it is so difficult to believe for Tarmin is the fact that it was considered impossible for a big explosion to happen in Atlantis due to the wards surrounding the entire Kingdom.

Whenever a bomb explodes, the wards react and contain the explosion before the damage can spread out by much. And even that happens only after someone is able to bypass all the security measures that are in place for the protection of citizens.

And now, a massive bomb has somehow gone off, creating multiple casualties. No wonder there was an emergency. And no wonder Tarmin is unable to respond to Axel at the moment. After all, he is currently going through the list of deceased to find out if there is anyone he knows.

As Axel looked around, he noticed the small things he was ignoring in the surroundings. The lively hustle and bustle of the place had disappeared as more and more people found out about this matter. Like Tarmin, a lot of other people were also currently looking at their bracelets with anxious faces. Some were crying while some were shouting in anger.

And it was understandable. Until now, they were thinking that they had the upper hand. But this…

"This changes everything…" murmured Tarmin at the moment, voicing Axel's thoughts. Until now, there was always a delicate balance, but now, the scales could be tipping to Kraken's side. This war… has become dangerous now.

But good and bad come hand in hand. Another piece of news had arrived at this moment. The Shinobi reinforcement, which were much needed right now, had finally began arriving. And along with them..

"Huh? She's back?!"

Tarmin got excited when he saw the next news.

"Who?"

"The Relic Wielder of the Tenebrous Septis, is back!"

"Who is that now?"

"She is the previous head of the Dark ops! She and her division have taken down at least 3 relic wielders of Kraken!" Tarmin had the same look on his face when he was talking about Sylthia.

But this time, his reaction was definitely justified. Relic Wielders are equivalent to nuclear warheads, except, much less in number. Just one can change the course of a war. In such a case, taking down three of them from the enemy lines is a huge merit.

"When the last members of her Septis died, she left Atlantis to explore the outer world. But now that we're at war, she has returned!"

'Well, she has killed more Relic Wielders than me.' Thought Axel as he glanced at the picture that displayed on Tarmin's bracelet.

But his gaze froze as he soon as he saw the woman's face.

'It's her?!'

The woman in the image was someone he had seen before. But, he still had trouble believing that this was the legendary Division Head of the Black ops.

"Is this really the woman you're talking about?" He asked for confirmation.

Tarmin nodded his head excitedly. "It's definitely her!"

Axel still couldn't believe it as he looked at the picture of Kurai Sensei, Mahoutokoro's Stealth Instructor who had come to Hogwarts to teach last year.

She was the only person to see through his low key demeanor and spot his stealth abilities. That too in just one class. Right after the class, she had him stay back after the class and offered to give him some 'private lessons' after seeing his talent.

'Fuck…'

At that time, Axel was definitely surprised to know that someone had so easily seen through him. But he hadn't thought much about it. And neither did he consider her offer.

Since she had already pointed out the things that gave him away, Axel had decided to work on those flaws. As for learning from her, she was just an instructor from Mahoutokoro while he had the system. What could she teach him? He could even see that she was quite weak in terms of combat power. Rather, he just wanted to avoid her in case she found out that what she had seen was just 0.1% of his Stealth abilities.

'Really, fuck…'

Now he realized. Being a division leader, being able to kill three relic wielders, and being a Natal relic wielder herself…. There is no way she is weak. Rather, she saw through his usual behaviour and spotted the stealth talent he had shown unconsciously, while he… could not see through her at all, thinking her to be a mere instructor with extremely low combat power.

At this moment, Axel didn't know. That another surprise was accompanying the woman he had seen in the picture. And, it was a much more familiar face.