HP: The Arcane Thief

A day had passed after the bombing. Yesterday, the situation had deteriorated to the point of causing riots and protests.

But now, the fear and agitation of the citizens is slowly decreasing and the situation on the internet is also gradually stabilizing.

This is mostly due to the presence of two individuals.

Chris Martin and Kyrin Tenebrous.

First of all, Chris Martin. This person came out of nowhere and put up a phenomenal performance of speedrunning through a 5 path trial like a breeze.

The skills and abilities he displayed were amazing. But, what was more astonishing was that the views on his trial began increasing at a rate faster than even the most popular videos, which contained content like relic wielders in action, who are considered existences leagues above Axel.

After all, Axel's power level is still far below them. That's why, the rapid popularity caused a bit of a stir.

But, that would have been it. The rapid burst of popularity would have slowly died down after those interested would have seen it.

After all, it was just a trial in the academy. There was a limit to the number of people who find it worth their time to watch a trial, thus preventing them from even knowing how special this trial was.

But, things changed when Atlantis Ofc., the biggest channel in Atlantis, actually posted an original high definition stream of the trial, fully edited with a fast pace bgm and the spectator's reactions. It being the official channel that only shared attention worthy content, viewers flooded in, not even checking the title and thumbnail of the clip.

That… was when the true traction was achieved.

If the trial was perfect before, it had reached a level even above that. People couldn't stop watching and sharing it again and again.

This time, with the right push, the clip really began breaking all records of the previous clips shared by the channel, with its popularity showing no sign of dying down.

"Omg, check out this video! Why in the abysmal trench is it so addicting?!"

"Wtf! Why did it end before the climax?"

"I want more!"

"Who is this guy?"

"SO COOL!!!"

"I came to see why the video has so many views. Now I'm left hanging on a cliff."

"This guy is so funny! Every time you expect him to die, he busts out yet another brilliant skill."

When looking through the thousands of comments, the reason for the clip's meteoric rise was apparent. The main reason wasn't the insane skills Axel showed. Neither was it his fighting power, which seemed above even three star level soldiers. It was simply the fact that the video was too entertaining to watch.

That's right. The more powerful individuals won't necessarily be the most popular. People only want to have the thrill and enjoyment. And Axel's video fulfilled all the conditions for that.

The situation had turned peculiar now.

"Get him to continue the trial!"

"I want more!"

"MOOORRREEE!!!"

"Who is this guy? Are there any more videos of his fights?"

"Which division will he join?"

"With his skills, I think he can even drive a Maverick. Maybe they'll recruit him."

"There is a shortage among snipers…"

The situation now was that the people were now hooked. They wanted more of Axel. Questions related to him were being asked everywhere. Lengthy discussions and arguments were taking place about his trial and his future recruitment.

This, resulted in somewhat distracting people from the grim situation that the kingdom had recently faced.

On the other hand, the presence of Kyrin Tenebrous impacted the people much more directly. Kyrin was a hero who had almost brought Kraken to its knees in revenge when two of her high ranking subordinates had died at the hands of Kraken.

There was massive respect and adoration for her in the hearts of people. So, when they heard the news of her arrival, waves of celebration and relief swept through the kingdom upon the return of the vengeful hero, who had returned to her kingdom in the time of crisis.

The feeling was further solidified when the Official channel shared her contribution in prevention of the recent bombing attack and her declaration of another killing spree against the Kraken. The channel also shared the fact that she would be recruiting new members for her divisions, thus igniting the passion of many young men and women to join the army in order to apply for her division.

The situation was already going the best according to the Sustenance division, but then, an event out of their expectations happened!

Chris Martin… was offered recruitment by Kyrin Tenebrous!

This was a surprising but very welcome accident for the division. As soon as they shared the news on the channel, it caused a huge stir.

Martin and Tenebrous were the two main targets they were betting on to attract people's attention with their actions. Them working together was like a collab between two big celebrities.

The effect was as the Chief of the Sustenance Division had intended. The angry, panicked, and grief-stricken public had accepted the news with great enthusiasm, and everyone was already looking forward to their next actions.

And closely monitoring all this, the members of the sustenance division were celebrating in their office.

"It's actually working!"

"Chief, you were absolutely right!"

"You're a genius, Chief!"

"Did you really anticipate this?"

Of course, the person who stabilized the situation so quickly, the chief who had somehow predicted the reaction of the public to the news of these two individuals and instructed them to share their news on the main Channel.

Even though all his subordinates were still praising him, the Chief didn't appear much happy with the results. Rather, he was focused on keeping an eye on the events happening in the kingdom to look for anomalies.

"Is something the matter, Chief? You don't look very happy." Seeing this, his secretary naturally couldn't contain his curiosity.

The Chief sighed. "Well, we did what we could. But... it's a pity," he murmured to himself.

"What's wrong, chief?"

The Chief looked at his young secretary. This boy was new here, so of course, he didn't know.

"Well, these are troubled times, so it's better that you know," he decided.

"...Know what, Chief?"

"The secret about Kraken. Have you ever wondered why our division has so much power? Why we take our work so seriously? After all, there should be no need to block every bit of information about Kraken."

The young secretary nodded immediately. "All the time. It's really confusing to me when there are better alternative solutions," he said honestly.

He couldn't understand the purpose of this division. Its main aim was to prevent people from discussing, seeing, or even hearing about Kraken. He couldn't understand why the Kingdom was so strict on this when it's causing more damage than good.

Chief nodded. "Have you also wondered why we are called the Sustenance Division? What is so "sustaining" about our work?"

"Yes… yes! Chief… are you reading my mind?"

The chief waved his hand dismissively. "These are common questions raised by the new members of the division."

"Well, the reason is due to a secret information that we hide from the public. I can't tell you everything, so I will only tell you this: The power of Kraken increases with the increase in people's awareness and fear towards it."

The secretary slowly paled as the information sunk in. He couldn't believe it, but all the facts pointed out that it was true.

The Chief nodded. "It's the reason why we are so serious with our work. After all, the sustenance of the Kingdom itself depends on it."

"No wonder…" the secretary murmured.

Everything made sense now.

If the members of Kraken really get stronger the more they terrorize the people, then their frequent attacks now make sense. As do the kingdom's attempts to block all information regarding the Kraken, only revealing them to be a minor threat.

But, he simply couldn't understand one thing: How?

How is it possible they all become stronger if people fear them more? Is it some magic that is taught to every member?

But then, the image of the glowing blue markings on the members flashed in his mind and he understood.

"Then… the bombing…?" The secretary's eyes widened. Until now, due to the quick response of the divisions, Kraken has only succeeded in accomplishing minor attacks.

But this bombing incident had a huge impact on the kingdom and the fear this time is real.

The chief nodded as he sighed. "Now do you understand? Even though we did our best, the damage has already been done. That's why you won't see the high ranking members celebrating. Because we know, this is just the beginning."

Now that the power of Kraken has increased, this is just the quiet before the storm. They don't know what the Kraken will do now.

"Now that you understand, help me monitor the situation. There has never been such a huge spike in the fear in recent history. Things are about to get messy."

….

Axel and Akiko were suddenly given their very first assignment.

Axel looked at Akiko, who was fidgeting.

"Let's go. We have a lot to talk about." he said meaningfully, his eyes promising a scolding.

"Hm." Akiko followed him obediently, looking like a child who was caught stealing a cookie.

[Mission Complete: Join the Black Ops Division}

As Axel exited the room, the system notification flashed in front of his eyes.

This was just one of the casual missions the system was issuing him in order to create better Akashic records. There was no reward.

Axel didn't pay much attention to these missions. These missions aren't that reliable. Getting more records doesn't exactly equate to being safe. That's why, he'd still walk his own path. If these missions can be completed along the way, then fine. But if it causes inconvenience to his plans, then he'll ignore them.

Coming out of the building, they were greeted with the sight of a huge crowd that had gathered, which consisted mostly of Kyrin's fans. When they saw him coming out, he was instantly bombarded with various questions.

Axel sighed.

This crowd was his insurance in case Kurai really wanted to detain him. But due to that, now that things actually worked out, he can't just leave them unnoticed like he usually would.

Axel simply smiled at the crowd as he raised a fist in triumph. "It's a success!" He announced, like a doctor who has completed a surgery.

*Cheers*

Instantly, the venue exploded into celebration. Of course, Axel wouldn't waste any more time on this, so he minimized his presence and slipped out of the crowd while dragging Akiko. Of course, with their skills, escaping a mob was no big deal.

Axel and Akiko walked through the streets in silence. They had arrived a fair distance away from the place after shrugging off the pursuers, and Axel had now lowered his presence, thus avoiding people's notice.

—Glance

As they walked, Akiko would peek at him from time to time. Even though her face was blank, her actions revealed her nervousness.

"Are you angry?" She finally asked.

Axel looked at her, causing her to flinch. He sighed as he shook his head. "No, just a bit disappointed. You could have told me if you were coming."

Akiko averted her gaze. "I was afraid you would want to stop me. Like my grandfather. And if you really tried to stop me…"

Unlike her grandfather, if Axel really wanted to stop her, there would have been nothing she could have done to resist.

Axel nodded his head, understanding her clearly. "To be honest, I really didn't want you to come," he confessed. "I suffered some serious injuries the last time due to your presence. You also get way too emotional when it comes to Kraken, which clouds your judgement." He said straightforwardly, causing Akiko's lips to go into a downward arc.

But, it was true. When Voldemort unleashed his true power, Axel got seriously injured due to Martina and Akiko. Axel would rather work with people he can sacrifice. That's why, he didn't want her to come.

"But…" Axel shook his head. "I guess it can't be helped. If anyone tries to stop 'me' from my revenge, they would be the first ones I will attack. Besides, never having had parents myself, I can't really judge you for your desperation."

Due to this, Axel decided to let the matter drop here. He wasn't cruel enough to order Akiko to leave now that she was already here.

"Anyways, how do you know her?" Asked Axel into the silence. It was clear who he was asking about. There was a hint of hostility in his tone when he mentioned Kurai.

"For a long time. My parents used to work under her when they came to Atlantis. When they died, they made her promise to 'look over me'. Whether it was due to that or for other reasons, she left Atlantis after that to settle in Wizarding Japan. She has taken good care of me from then on. She taught me a lot of things," Akiko had a soft expression on her face when talking about Kurai Sensei.

"... Fuck…" After hearing the story, Axel wrinkled his eyebrows. "I couldn't have imagined her to actually have some humanity." This was making it difficult for him to hate Kurai.

Akiko sighed. "She's actually not that bad. She's only bad to strangers, just like you."

Axel frowned. "How am I bad to strangers?"

"You are. You have a habit of making slaves out of any stranger who knows your secrets," said Akiko, referring to their very first meeting.

"....." Axel had nothing to say to that. Indeed, if he counts now, the number of people he has done that with is more than 2.

Fair enough." Axel clicked his tongue.

This slave is getting cheeky.

"Though... I don't hate it," murmured Akiko in a voice Axel could not hear.

"What did you say?"

"...Nothing. How do we do our assignment?"

It was only then that Axel remembered that they were out on an assignment.

"Familiarize yourself with the environment, huh?" Honestly, he didn't think it was a bad task.

They were indeed noobs here. They were unfamiliar with the geography, They didn't know the customs, didn't know the terms and saying these people used, and didn't know a lot of other things. This would indeed be a hindrance when doing missions.

But the problem was, how to solve this problem? They couldn't just visit every place and read all the information regarding this in just one day, right?

"Don't worry. Kurai Sensei was just messing with us when she gave us one day," said Akiko.

"Well, it's still manageable," said Axel as he stopped walking. They were in a bit of a crowded area right now.

[Legilimency: Max]

In a moment, the minds of multiple people became accessible to him, connected with invisible Legilimency threads that no one could see. And a huge influx of information entered Axel's mind.

[Occlumency: Max]

Then Axel used his Occlumency to the limit, filtering the useful information while leaving out the rest.

Going through memories using the mind is an extremely fast process, at least for Axel. The whole thing only took around one minute, and that too because Axel was doing it for the first time.

A silver thread extended out of Axel's head, which he wrapped around his finger.

"Here. All the information we need to know about Atlantis."

Akiko blankly looked at the thread and only then remembered that Axel was a Master of Mind Arts.

Under Axel's control, the memory naturally got transferred into Akiko's head.

"There. Assignment over."

She who had been thinking of travelling the whole city: "...."

It can also be done like that? Akiko pouted, not knowing whether to be happy or not.

"Do we go back then?" Actually, she was secretly looking forward to seeing Atlantis like this with Axel.

Axel nodded nonchalantly. "Yep, what's the point of being out?"

Though at this moment, Axel got another mission, causing him to frown.

"In retrospect, it won't be bad to look around a bit." He said, causing Akiko's face to brighten up.