HP: The Arcane Thief

'He stole… the Royal Codex?' Aslot was blown away. It should be impossible. 

Comprehending and Learning Ancient Aetherian Magic just through observation? That's Squidshit! 

It's complex and intricate magic that needs a high understanding and control of water. 

It took Aslot years to gain mastery in them. And then comes this young boy who isn't even old enough to turn his little worm into snake and manages to learn it enough to actually defend himself against it. 

Aslot looked at the boy. Deep and wide gashes and laceration covered his whole body, held together only by water threads that were roped all over. 

There's a limit to how much he could heal through water, so, after the beating he had endured, Aslot knew that the boy's body was, for the most part, still dysfunctional, and in a lot of pain. 

So, while Aslot was still fine, having the power of relic and the entity, the boy seemed to have long expended his physical and magical energy in order to protect himself. 

Though the boy has done well to survive until now, it would be safe to say that at this point, this fight should be over. 

But, Aslot knew better. 

"You truly are… the single most fearsome Atlantian I've encountered. I can now understand to some extent how you boast and possess such might as your age." 

Aslot had to accept. He. Was. Drowned.

Drowned by the immense sheer abnormality of this freak. Since the start of the fight, till now, he has managed to increase his combat prowess by at least twice. 

Not just because of his obscene talent. But because of the sheer will to survive. 

Not only that, he has been calm from the beginning, if he always has a card up his sleeve. And until now, that has turned out to be true.

So, Aslot now knew. That even though logic dictates that this fight might be over if he just made a few more attacks, he would be extremely wrong in that assumption. If this fight dragged on any longer, this abomination might even grow strong enough to escape, or even threaten him. 

"It looks like I really can't hold back." As if having made his decision, Aslot's grip on the Trident tightened as he closed his eyes. 

Until now, Aslot hadn't been using all of the Royal Relic's power, only depending on his personal water control. He has been saving it up for the Relic Wielders. 

"But, to think I would be using it on a 13 year old…"

The Royal Relic is not a simple piece of equipment. Designed for the Rulers of Atlantis, it can display power far beyond norm, for those worthy enough to wield it. 

So, it was a significant gain for the Organisation when Aslot, a member of royal bloodline, managed to obtain the Royal Relic. 

If they could use its true powers, combined with the limitless power boost obtained from the blue Markings, they could create an ultimate weapon which could destroy the Kingdom. 

Only, there was a problem. The power didn't turn out to be as unlimited, like they had predicted. 

In the dimensional explosion that happened a decade ago, Aslot's body had been damaged, unable to properly wield its power, and also, the Relic didn't deem him worthy. 

Yes, the Royal Relic has a will of its own. It only picks those who it considers worthy to rule Atlantis. Despite Aslot's superior talent and skills, it had chosen Aslot's brother over him. Aslot had used forbidden Aetherian magic in order to kill his brother, but ended up failing and almost dying himself. That only made him more unworthy of wielding the relic.

So, for the last decade, the Organisation had been making preparations. They modified Aslot's body to wield the power of Relic and the Power of the Entity, and then corrupted the Royal Relic, forcefully bonding it to him through the markings and rituals. 

And, they had succeeded. Once the Relic is fully under his control, he was going to be the Entity's secret weapon, who would finish the powerful kingdom in one fell swoop and undo the seal. 

But, that was supposed to happen after a few more years. 

Due to various disruptions in plan, like the death of Seventh and Eight, failure of bombing plan, failure of the Biopark invasion, etc., Aslot was awakened much earlier than the planned time. He had yet to gain full control of the Relic.

The situation now was that he could only bring out the Relic's true powers for a limited time. So, he had been extremely cautious with it, only using it on strong opponents. 

But now, it seemed it was going to be used on this brat. 

"Feel honored, young one. I'll show you the true water arts before you die," said Aslot, as the blue markings on his body started to wriggle, their glow intensifying. The marking connected with the marking on the Relic, and the Relic began releasing powerful energy waves. 

"Great…" Axel, who was only standing purely through his sheer fucking will, just shook his head when he felt the intensity of that magic. 

'Too… fucking… powerful.' 

He lost control of the water that was under his control, causing him to start plummeting down. 

Aslot pointed the Relic was Axel. """Turn into water""" He said, as an intense wave of energy was released from the Trident. 

This was the water conversion spell, a special ability of the Royal Relic. The Authority to turn anything into water. Only extremely strong individuals who have a relic of their own can temporarily resist it. 

Axel felt his body obeying as it started to liquify. Axel fell to the ground, leaving a trail of water molecules which were oozing out of his skin. 

But Aslot, who seemed to have just won, was far from satisfied. He looked at the Royal Relic with a mixture of incomprehension and disbelief. "Why… did it not work?" 

The curse just now. It hadn't worked. The power… it was abruptly cut off mid spell, causing the effect to lessen considerably. 

Aslot couldn't quite process what had just happened. He clearly should have had more time. Then how come the spell stopped midway? 

Axel's descent stopped, but his eyes were still close, studying this ability that had managed to take down even the Relic Wielders as powerful as Ender. 

He had to admit, the Relic was scary as fuck. This seemed a power too out of reach to resist even with his high water affinity and Royal bloodline. 

'It's good that I took precautions.'

Aslot gripped the Trident with both hands, trying to establish the connection, but it was all in vain. While he was unaware, the bond that had been forcefully established had become so weak that he could no longer tap into the full power of the Relic. 

At this moment, Aslot's eyes went to Axel, who showed no surprise at this sudden development. But he shook his head. Not possible. He was bonded to the Relic through the markings.

"What? Can't use your toy?" Asked Axel,his voice raspy because even his vocal chords had been injured. But Aslot still heard it. And as if in response, the Relic in his hand hummed. 

!!!

Aslot almost dropped the Relic due to his shock. He couldn't believe it. He simply couldn't believe it! "By the Ancestor's grave… The Bond… it was forged through the markings of the Entity. It should not be possible for you to influence it!" 

Axel laughed. "Stop deluding yourself. You're not 'bonded' to the Relic."

"...You're SHACKLED to it."

Axel finally opened his eyes, having finally brought the curse under his control with much difficult. "There's a big difference." 

The major reason behind why he chose to fight. It was because—

'It's been calling me.' 

Axel could feel the Royal Relic had a consciousness of its own. He could actually feel it reaching out to him, calling for his help. Asking him to free it from its shakles. 

And since he had a way of doing that, Axel decided to first [Unshackle] the Relic. Because, as long as Aslot is bonded to the Relic, there is no way Axel could win with his own power. 

So, since the start of the fight, he had been buying time while studying the markings and increasing his skill proficiency. That's also the reason why he was only focused on defense rather than attack. 

But, it wasn't as easy as he'd thought. Those markings… they were extremely tricky. His current level of skill wasn't enough to undo those markings. He'd either need a huge amount of power to brute force them, or he'd need to be a seal expert, with extremely precise magic control. Well, he had neither. 

The result? After all this time, he had managed to gain partial success. A part of the bindings had been released, making it impossible for Aslot to bring out the full power of the Relic. The rest, he still had to figure out.

The Trident revolved around Aslot's hand and water started to gather in obscene quantities. Aslot once again took a combat stance. He was now sure. Whatever secrets this boy had, he had no business knowing. He had to kill him as soon as possible. 

"Die." 

The hydra once again manifested out of the water which attacked Axel. But this time, Axel wasn't passive either. He waved his hands and another hydra was formed, much smaller than Aslot's. 

Aslot scoffed. "Thief, even if you imitate my technique, you can't imitate my power." 

"You're right. I can't." When the concentrated water beams were fired, Axel's hydra also fired its water jet, which was much smaller and weaker than Aslot's. The beams collided, and Aslot's beam continued unabaited, absorbing Axel's attack into them.

Just before the beams hit him, Axel push his arms apart as if opening a curtain, and the water beams split open, leaving space for him and letting him pass right through. 

"Don't celebrate yet!" 

Aslot didn't even bother being surprised this time. It only increased his urgency to kill this guy. 

Axel sighed. This time, the damage he faced was the least. But he knew, this didn't mean he could win. 

Aslot changed his offense, shifting the fight back to close quarters. 

It was because the conditions had now changed. They were now in the Space Field, where the Space itself was restricted, thus restricting the movements of not one dimension, but all three dimensions. 

Also, Axel had previously become equal to him in terms of close quarters due to his high physical starts and his strange magical skills but was massively underpowered in terms of long ranged combat. But now, even though he had managed to rival him in terms of long ranged combat due to his high water affinity, he had completely exhausted all of his physical and magical power. 

"All you have left is your Water control," said Aslot as he attacked. Axel had exhausted all of his other cards. 

On the other hand, Aslot's markings were still filling him up with unlimited power, through which, he could keep his body in water state, making him immune to physical limitations. 

So, the boy had done well managing to surpass all limitations to survive till now. But could he win? 

Aslot smirked. 'Nah, I'll still win.' 

Within a second, Aslot had reached Axel, attacking him with Trident. But Axel's body dodged. 

'What?' 

Aslot attacked again, this time also adding the water blade. But they were countered by another sets of water blades while Axel's hands were raised in a weird motion to block the Trident. 

"How are you still moving that body?!" Asked Aslot, continuing his onslaught. It was then that he realized. 

'The Water.' 

The water was currently wrapped around Axel's body, making it move. Previously, he was only using it to enhance his speed and defence. But now…

'It's like fighting a puppet!' 

Axel was controlling his body through water like a puppet, making it move as he wanted. 

The problem wasn't that, it was that he was still able to keep up! 

Previously, he was mainly depending on his full physical and magical abilities along with water control to barely keep up with him. But Aslot didn't expect that even just through water control, he could still keep up. 

'Just how many things?!' 

The boy was using his water affinity to make water blades to fight his onslaught andt the same time, he was observing and anticipating his lightning fast attacks of the Trident, and then controlling his body through water to respond to them. 

All the while, he was also suppressing the water conversion spell, enduring the pain of his existing debilitating injuries and the pain of his body slowly turning into water. 

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Axel was currently fighting him solely through his mind. 

'How…?' 

Aslot's eyes met Axel, and he saw that Axel's blue eyes now had faint specks of amber, as like ambers of a fire. 

It was at this moment that he remembered. 'No… his other bloodline?!' 

....

A.N.: POWERSTONES. I need them today and then again tomorrow when they get refilled. 

Next: New Bloodline

Next... Next: Axel Hunt... Dead?

Next... Next: That Brat... Is Actually the Crown Prince?

Next... Next: The Unsurvivable Explosion

Next... Next: Arrival on the Scene

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