HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-210

After killing Tronis, Axel's knees buckled as he fell to the ground. He didn't feel like enduring the high Gravitation of this zone anymore.

'Damn it, I want Kyrin's ability!'

Like Kyrin can turn into darkness, If he could also turn into water, Gravitation wouldn't bother him. Also, then he wouldn't have had to break his bones and squeeze his organ in order to go into Theron's armor.

'System, how do I get the ability to turn into water?'

[You will need to increase your water affinity and comprehension to a much, much higher level. At your current pace, it would take you 5 years.]

Axel frowned. Five years is too long. Just how difficult is that it would take that long?

'If it's so difficult then how does Kyrin do it? I even saw Sylthia do it.'

[They do it using their Relics. If you get the Royal Relic under your control, you will also be able to do it instantly.]

'Then say it like that from the beginning, damn it.'

Axel got up and looked at Tronis's dead body.

He clutched his head, feeling his temples aching. He had won. Against a high ranking member of Kraken. But it had left him drained. He had to take on a guy who managed to defeat one of Atlantis's strongest Relic Wielders. And that too when he had his blue markings activated.

"Those Tattoos are really a cheat." He muttered. It allows the Kraken members to get similar power as limit break, except unlike him, they can draw an obscene amount of power. Why? Because the power Axel gets through the limit break is his own power, drawn from distorting his Akashic records. On the other hand, the power these people get is borrowed from the Entity who own their asses.

Now Axel understood why reinforcing the seal is so important. This guy had already expended a lot of energy defeating Ender. And then he almost managed to kill Axel. If not for the armor, Axel would have been in huge trouble.

What's worse is that the Kraken most likely Kraken still has guys much stronger than this.

He couldn't imagine fighting them if they also borrowed the powers from the Entity.

That's why, he really HAS to reinforce the seal.

'Sigh…'

Axel looked at the corpse of Tronis. Taking out his knife, he cut down the man's armor. It parted to reveal an amulet that had multicoloured energies swirling inside it.

'So, this is it, huh?' This was the relic that had almost blasted Axel to kingdom come.

Axel took off the relic and put it in his storage space. 'That makes it three.'

Axel is starting to build up quite a collection. He still didn't know what he was going to do with these.

He also took the storage equipment of Tronis. It contained similar equipment as the ones Axel had gotten from Estris. There were also other miscellaneous things, including a few healing elixirs. One thing that caught his eyes was the portrait of a smiling woman.

Axel shook his head upon seeing that. This man also had a life. But that was it. He really didn't have the luxury to give a damn about other people's lives. He was an enemy, and he had to be eliminated. That was it. Was there a better way? Don't care.

Axel wasn't the one to think about useless stuff. When you face the hardships of life, you quickly realize that morality, sympathy, mercy… these are things that only sheltered weaklings have the luxury to care about. In the real world, it's all a game of probability. If you waste your time and energy on these things, you are only decreasing your survival probability.

Axel discarded the useless stuff from the man's storage equipment, including the portrait, and put his own essentials in it. Then he put it back in Martina's storage ring. Usually, when storage equipment get damaged, all the things contained in them are thrown out. In case that happened, at least his things would have a double protection.

Though, he still kept all the weapons and other emergency materials in the ring for immediate use.

*Cough* *Cough*

When Axel was still busy, he heard a faint coughing. It was only then he remembered the existence of the man he had just saved. Axel walked over and checked his condition.

Crushed limbs, broken bones, concussion, excessive bleeding, and more… well, nothing an elixir can't fix.

'Wait.'

There was something else. A strange yet familiar energy that was running through the man's body.

Axel put a hand on the man's lung and the energy suddenly climbed his hand!

'Shit!'

Axel shook his hand, but it just won't go away!

Pain shot through his hand and water began forming on the tips of his fingers.

'What in the world…' Axel realized what the energy was. It was filled with water element. An extremely strong and violent one. Enough to even harm Axel, who already had [Water Monarch].

After concentrating, Axel dispelled the energy with difficulty. Cold sweat formed on his forehead, getting a glimpse of the abilities of his next opponent.

Now that the energy was out of his system, Ender seemed to be able to breathe properly again. Axel gave him and Elixir and the man's injuries started to heal at a visible rate. He should be able to regain consciousness in a few hours.

Meanwhile, Axel created a bed of water and sat down. He was also dead tired. He had been flying non-stop for a few days in the gravity field and after that he ended up in a fight with that man. Even though using water affinity does not cost much magic, it still costs mental energy. He used enough of it to beat a tattoo mode Overseer in which he had to endure extreme gravitation. In short, he needs to recharge.

Axel first decided to eat. Before coming here, he had packed a ton of supplies. He has been following a strict diet made of magical ingredients for two years.

Over the years, his diet has also gone through some changes.

In the beginning, it was just boiling the ingredients and eating them. Then he got a few potion recipes, to be consumed with the diet. Since he couldn't make them himself due to his unstable hands, he used to have them made by Daphne or her mother. After he got healed, the diet also changed. Now it comprises complicated recipes of dishes made from various magical ingredients. But with his dexterity as is, Axel can make them with ease.

The reason he is fighting, and winning against such dangerous opponents is not just because of his talent or training. His diet has also played an important role in it.

Axel took out the ingredient, cauldron and portable magic burner and quickly fixed himself a meal.

[Cooking Lv 5]

Axel didn't have this skill. The system was just trolling him. If it showed up for all the basic skills, then Axel would have had too many skills. Besides, cooking is not even remotely related to the Arcane Thief class.

Axel tasted the meal and nodded in satisfaction. If he had a cooking skill, it would definitely be high level.

Then, after setting up wards all around him, he comfortably laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

[Axel]

Axel hadn't closed his eyes for 10 minutes before he got woken up by a system alarm.

'What?'

[You need to be prepared. The Wielder of Royal Relic is rapidly approaching your location]

Instantly, sleepiness was gone from Axel's eyes. 'What?! How?!'

[He can sense your water affinity]

'He can?'

Axel cursed under his breath. He is in no condition to fight right now. After witnessing the water affinity of that guy? He was even beginning to consider borrowing Kyrin and other relic wielders' help to defeat that guy.

So, how is he supposed to beat someone like that in his current state?

Axel got up and looked at Ender. The man still didn't seem to be in a condition to be of any help in a battle.

'Looks like I'll have to do it myself,' he thought, covering Ender's body and Tronis's dead body in stealth magic.

Water quickly engulfed Axel and he started flying. Last time, Ender survived because Tronis also wanted to keep him alive for torture. If he is caught up in another fight, he definitely won't survive.

Axel flew for a while as he gathered his energy. Soon, he started to sense it too. How to say it? It felt like a disturbance in his connection with water. And it was getting close at an alarming rate.

Splash—

Water started to fall from the sky, attacking him.

'Dog barking at its owner?' The Water Monarch was under attack by water. Axel had a bizarre feeling upon seeing that. He stopped flying and raised his hand. The incoming water swirled around him, getting deflected.

But in that time, his pursuer had finally caught up, as Axel could tell by the loss in control of the water around.

"Wait, you aren't Antilla."

Axel heard a raspy murmur. He turned around, but couldn't see the face of his pursuer. All he saw was a mass of water gathering around.

"Tell me, boy. How do you have my family's bloodline?"

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Your family's bloodline?"

He heard a chuckle. "Ah, I slipped. The surprise really made me lose my composure."

"Show yourself first." Said Axel.

The opponent seemed to think for a moment. But then, the water clumped together to form the body of an old man with graying hair. "I didn't think the first person to know of my return would be someone like you. But then again, this is an extremely unexpected chance."

The old man looked at Axel, as if waiting for him to react. Axel scratched the back of his head. "Uh… am I supposed to know you?"

'...'

The wrinkles got pronounced on the old man's face. "What are they teaching the kids these days? Aslot Regius Varnox. That's my name."

If Axel said he still did not know, he was sure that the old man's feelings would be hurt. Fortunately, he remembered now. This is the bastard brother of the previous king. Through trickery, he killed the previous queen and almost succeeded in killing the king too. Even though the king survived, it is believed that the aftermath has left him weak.

The first day at job, Axel had gathered a lot of common knowledge on Kyrin's orders. So he knows this much.

"Ah... I remember now. You are that bastard who got killed in a rebellion." As a bastard himself, Axel felt quite hypocritical calling someone else a bastard.

Veins popped out on the man's forehead. But he quickly calmed down. He fixed Axel with a scrutinizing gaze.

"That personality... And that water affinity... You are… Atlana and Tristan's son, aren't you?"

Axel's smile froze for a moment. Currently, he was in his Chris disguise. And since people here have seen his father, he also had a mask on just in case. But, it seems like he was still found out. Well, it might not be that difficult to figure out for someone who personally knows his parents.

"Axel Hunt… was it? Tell me, boy. How in the name of ancestors, did you awaken the bloodline to that extent?"