Harry Potter: The Arcane Thief (Litrpg)

Chapter 106

The rules for the last match had changed. And now magic was allowed to be used in the Hogwarts vs Mahoutokoro match.

Axel sighed. "Why did they have to change the format?" He grumbled, looking at the two Principals at the Head table having fun looking at the students' reactions.

Theodore gave him a look that seemed to say, 'Seriously?'

"Mate, didn't I already say? You are the reason they changed the format."

"Why me?"

Tracy gave him an amused look. "Well, there's a very high chance that the team winning the House Cup will be Slytherin."

Axel nodded at that. The Hogwarts Quidditch Cup is awarded to the team with the most number of total points. And since Axel had gone overboard in his vengeance in their match against Gryffindor, it was quite difficult for other teams to beat that score, even if the Slytherin team lost their next few matches.

"So, there's a high chance you'll be the one playing against Mahoutokoro in the final match. And with your performance against Gryffindor, several issues cropped up," she said.

Theodore took up from there. "The Mahoutokoro students claimed this is unfair, and you wouldn't stand a chance against them in the Unrestricted format. And well, the Hogwarts students denied it, saying their magic was more versatile, so they also have an advantage. Coupled with the skills you displayed, they claimed Hogwarts had a high chance of winning as well."

"It became a big topic of debate, on both the internet and the school, and now, the result is finally this," explained Nott, gesturing at the excited faces of the students of both schools.

Axel glared at the students of Hogwarts. Damn it, Who the fuck asked them to have so much confidence in him? They're not the ones who have to put themselves in danger.

Looking at the rest of his team, they all didn't look so happy as well. Amidst the excited atmosphere, they all wore somber expressions, knowing that they would be putting themselves in a lot of danger.

Quidditch is a dangerous sport as it is, with all the high speed flying, metal bludgers, loose rules and foul play. If you throw in the powerful variable called magic into the mix as well, even though the result is absolutely thrilling to watch, it's definitely bad news for those who will actually be playing.

That's why it wasn't a surprise that his team mates weren't exactly thrilled with the news. From time to time, they'd throw all types of glances at him, ranging from sympathy to dependence and hope.

Yep, they also know it. Even in this situation, they are not the ones who have it worse. After all, they just have to sit back and watch. Hogwarts won't be expecting much from them aside from support. Because, the one who'd be the main focus. The one who'd have the most amount of burden. And...

"The one getting screwed. . . It's me again."

...

The next morning, Axel went to his usual training spot in the forbidden forest where he and Akiko usually train.

Since a lot of dangerous techniques are practiced here, the place was covered in all types of seals. Shock absorbing, noise reducing, concealment, and intruder prevention seals were just a few of them.

After all, what they do inside is basically illegal. Generally speaking, students of Mahoutokoro are forbidden from teaching what they are taught outside school. They even have to sign sealing contracts of secrecy for learning many of the Jutsus and techniques.

It's only because Akiko is a special existence that she didn't have to sign many of these. Her grandfather can control everything inside Mahoutokoro. That's why she could invite Axel to Mahoutokoro so confidently, even offering him many benefits.

As Axel entered the area, out of nowhere, he was attacked by someone with an amazing swiftness.

"Huh," Axel didn't even bother dodging, he let the silhouette attack him, instead focusing on the right where the real danger was coming. A knife appeared in hand as he casually blocked the attack from a sword sparkling with thunder, causing a loud clanging sound to reverberate in the clearing.

"Are you done already?" He asked his attacker.

"Got you." His attacker, Akiko, gave him a look of victory.

It was only then did he realize the faint current running through his knife, which suddenly increased! To his surprise, he found that his knife was stuck to Akiko's sword, along with his hand.

"New trick?" Axel was impressed by this new jutsu of hers. Using her lightning Ninjutsu, she had somehow caused her sword to generate some kind of magnetic attraction, causing his knife to be stuck to her sword, and the electricity, under her masterful control caused his hand to be stuck to his knife handle as well. But, this wasn't enough to faze him.

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"!"

Though, before he could even react, Akiko had made another hand gesture, activating her trap.

*swish swish swishswish…..*

At once, thousands of Kunais were launched at Axel from all directions, making it impossible for him to protect himself from all of them with his hand tied down by her new Jutsu.

'What?! Mutual destruction?' Time slowed down for Axel as he saw the Kunais with his Arcane Eyes while he prepared his defense. At first, he thought they were going to hit both Axel and Akiko. But then he noticed a similar electric current flowing through Akiko's body as well, only in the opposing manner, causing the knives to be deflected.

A perfect trap. She first used deception, pretending to have only simple tricks up her sleeves, causing him to lower his guard. She then locked him down with her new Jutsu, and finally, she attacked him from all directions, because she knew Axel didn't know any shielding charms that would protect him 360°, at the same time making herself impervious to the incoming danger.

Only…

'You're not the only one who's learnt something new,' thought Axel calmly, his wand already drawn and a spell already cast while he was analyzing whether Akiko was safe or not.

And the spell he used was— Aguamenti.

The basic water summoning spell.

But, instead of the small spurt of water that the spell is expected to release, a massive amount of water burst out his wand at once.

[Water Bending]

As soon as it came out, the water formed an extremely compact and condensed bubble around him, ready to protect him from the incoming volley.

?!

Akiko's eyes widened as the victorious smirk vanished from her face, a blank expression settling on her cute face with her small mouth half open due to shock.

The kunai struck the shields of water with a lot of destructive potential. But instead of the piercing through it like one would expect, the water was actually able to defend himself from this, causing the shock inside Akiko's eyes to be increased by several times.

"Nice try," said Axel, spraying from water on her shocked face, which was already wet due to the earlier volley.

Akiko sputtered. "Wha—? Did... did you just—?!"

Axel nodded. "I finally unlocked my water affinity."

Until now, Axel had been only training his lightning Affinity, because his second affinity, the water affinity, wasn't getting unlocked for some reason.

It wasn't a unique case by any means, since affinities stay dormant or inactive in quite some people, only activating in specific circumstances. Some people can even suddenly awaken an affinity that the Affinity Crystal had been unable to detect. So, Axel and Akiko didn't rush it, only letting nature take its course. And now, it's finally activated.

Akiko's shocked face still didn't go away. "Congratulations, but… the bubble…how in Momotaro's name did you do THAT?" She asking in bafflement. "That's element manipulation!"

Axel tilted his head slightly. "The hell's that?"

Akiko just sat down the wet splash. The collision of the Kunais with the bubble had caused water to be water to be sprayed all over her, causing her clothes to stick to her voluptuous body, but she didn't pay attention to anything.

"Ninjutsu consists of two components: Nature Manipulation, and Shape Manipulation. Through nature manipulation, you can summon the nature of magic want to summon, like fire, water, wind, of course using hand seals. Then you mould that magic using shape manipulation, making it into a Jutsu which you can manipulate according to your will," said Akiko, repeating the world she had told him earlier. "But, there's a third component as well…"

"Element Manipulation?" Asked Axel.

Akiko nodded. "It's so advanced that I didn't bother telling you. In this, you can directly use the existing element in nature to mold it into your Jutsu. This is something only true masters with an extremely high affinity with their element can do," she said, looking at Axel incomprehension. "You didn't even use Hand seals…" she added in wonder.

She had a sneaking suspicion of why Axel was able to do what he did. Because only one very similar case comes to her mind after seeing his ability. But, that is too unlikely a possibility, and she's restricted by the seals of highest order to not be able to talk about it.

'Atlantian Royalty…. no chance, right?' After all, she had only ever heard rumors, and currently no one in that family can do it anymore.

Akiko kept the news to herself as she instead focused on starting to teach Axel water Ninjutsus. This level of water affinity would definitely be extremely helpful against the organization.

Akiko's gaze towards Axel became even more fervent. Yes, she could see it. Since the Kraken was the common enemy of the two of them, she could finally see some hope in taking on that giant with Axel's help.

After training, Akiko laid down on the ground while Axel sat leaning against a tree trunk, both of them tired.

While lying, Akiko raised her head to look at Axel. "Is something bothering you?" She asked while panting.

Axel didn't deny it. "How can you tell?" He asked, his breathing rough as well

Akiko shrugged. "You just didn't seem to be in the mood earlier. I didn't enjoy it as it much I used to."

Usually, teaching and training with him is quite fun, but not today. It seemed to her Axel has been suffering from something.

Axel looked into the distance, his gaze pensive. "I kiilled a few dozen men a few days ago," he mentioned casually. That wasn't really what was bothering him, but it should change the subject.

Akiko sat up, looking at Axel with her full attention. "Was it unavoidable?"

Axel thought about it. "Um…Sorta of?"

Akiko nodded. "Then you shouldn't waste your time mulling over it. Axel, I know what you are going through. The number of people I've killed is in three digits. And it doesn't get easier. You just have to live with it," she said sympathetically.

Axel just nodded.

"Was it your first time killing someone?"

"No, I think it was third. But I don't really keep track."

"Oh…. Then, do you regret it?" Akiko asked.

Axel shook his head. "No, I don't think I do. I'd do it again if I have to." Thinking about it, he didn't regret doing it. He just hoped Martina hadn't seen it. Those men were the killer unit of the enemy faction, and they tried to help in Martina's suffering. They all had to die.

Akiko was surprised by his question. "Then, do you feel guilty?"

Axel once again shook his head after some thought. "No, not at all."

"..."

Akiko didn't know what to say. Axel has always been different from others all aspects. But this…

First there's the godly stealth, then the skills and smart to use to use to its fullest extent, then all the killing techniques she had taught him. And then, this perfect mindset for a killer.

Can't this guy be the best assassin in the world?

"Then, why is this bothering you?" She asked in frustration. She had thought that she could help since she had to go through a lot of mental difficulties and traumas when killing people. But, he doesn't seem to need to it at all?

Axel shrugged, getting up. "When did I say it bothered me?" He asked as he began to leave. "I was just checking your reaction to it."

"..."

Akiko realized that he was messing with her.

"And to think I was feeling bad for you when they made the announcement about an unrestricted match format."

Axel rolled his eyes. "You absolutely weren't! You were thoroughly enjoying the situation."

Akiko didn't deny that, laying back on the ground. "What will you do, though? You have to hide your powers after all. And there's only so much you can do with skills."

Axel shrugged. "Well, if we lose the next two matches and other teams have high scores. Then I can avoid the playing that match altogether," he decided. It's not like there's no way to deal with Mahoutokoro even while holding back, but he'd rather just not play.

"What?!" Akiko wasn't at all happy with his decision. "But that would cause you a lot of backlash from your house. And from others as well," she reminded.

Not playing well after just one match? All of his admirers would be so disappointed! And his haters would happily claim that the match against Gryffindor was either a coincidence or he had cheated, destroying all of his hard earned reputation.

But Axel just shrugged. "I really couldn't care less. The only reason I even decided to play was to get famous to attract the Organization's attention. Now that the goal has been achieved, I don't need to bother anymore."

Akiko shook her head in frustration. At these times, she both respects and hates his ability of not giving a fuck.

Leaving the forbidden forest, Axel sighed. Akiko was right. Something was indeed bothering him. Dragging his tired body, his feet involuntarily lead him towards the source of his trouble.

….

Inside Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Daphne walked into the classes looking around in confusion. For some reason, she had no memories of attending this class.

When she went to sit with her friends, they widened their eyes upon seeing her.

"Daphne? You're also attending this class?" Asked Padma Patil.

Daphne frowned. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that you always used to skip it along with Axel…" said Sue Li suggestively.

Mandy Brocklehurst lightly shoved Sue Li, "Of course she's not. Axel is engaged now." Even though she tried to hide it very well, there was an undeniable glee in her voice at Axel and Daphne's relation finally getting severed.

Daphne gritted her teeth. "There's nothing between Axel and me. He's not even my friend. Don't mention that guy in front of me."

At this moment, Lockhart finally arrived in the arrived, fashionably late as always. "Good morning, my students and dear fans. I hope everyone's Christmas was great. Mine definitely was! I was invited to the Veela queen's private party. She's an old admirer of mine from back when I saved her from a bunch of kidnappers. The rest of the details are not suitable for you all to hear—"

"What a clown," muttered Daphne at once, but her voice must have been heard by Lockhart since he turned his attention to her.

"Oh, who do we have here? Miss Greengrass, if I'm not mistaken. One of the main flunkers of my valuable lectures. I've read few articles about you," he said, his each word infuriating Daphne.

"Anyways, now that you have finally realized your wrongs, please do bring your companion and amateur celebrity Mr. Hunt as well in the next class. I have a some important business with him."

Daphne's friends rolled their eyes. Since they weren't idiots, they could easily see that Lockhart just wanted to once again try to mooch off Axel's fame. As if the past lesson wasn't enough.

Daphne, on the other hand, raised her hand. "I'm not very familiar with Mr. Hunt, sir. We're not on speaking terms," she said, causing whispers among the crowd.

The class went as useless as ever, and Daphne realized why she used to skip them in the first place. She was not in a good mood for the whole class due to the repeated mentions of Axel.

After the class, Lisa Turpin held Daphne's hand. "Daphne, it's alright. We know he hurt you. You don't need to hide it from us."

"Yeah, he was definitely wrong in leading you along and then getting engaged." said Padma.

"How many times do I have to say it? There's nothing between us! There's nothing about him that I like!" Exclaimed Daphne.

"Well that is clearly wrong. You LOVE Quidditch. And Axel is undeniably a rising Quidditch star. And his physical appearance—" Padma had began to point out the inconsistencies in Daphne's statement, but Daphne cut her off.

"Rising star? Excuse me! He only ever play one match. Nothing can be said about him based on just one match. It's not clear if he can do the same in other matches," she said in denial.

Daphne's friends looked at her with sympathy. To think this is the same girl who punch Lord Black just to defend Axel at one point. Just how bad was she hurt by Axel's betrayal?

….

Meanwhile, sitting not far away from Daphne under stealth, Axel heard her words. What would happen if he now loses the next week's match or doesn't perform well?

Nope, that was no longer an option.

Looks like he'll HAVE to do well in the next match. To show her. So, sorry to Hufflepuff, but it's going down.

And, if that's the case, then he would also have to find a way to win against Mahoutokoro without revealing any of his important cards.

"Sigh... why can't I ever take the easy way out?" he muttered.

...