HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 245: The Minds Eye

Those who have forgotten due to the break, read the summary of Vol 3 in the previous chapter to catch up.

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"No… the question is, how many are you?"

Axel was really confused right now. He had thought that the fight was pretty much decided with the way things were going. But then, suddenly, every person in the Kraken army suddenly seemed to turn pro, turning the tides yet again.

And it had something to do with this guy. He just couldn't figure out how.

"First of all, I am only one. Whether you believe me or not."

As if to prove his point, suddenly, each and every soldier and creature on the Kraken's side suddenly waved in Axel's direction mid-combat.

?

"But seriously, who am I?" Atasis, or who should now be his controller, suddenly began laughing, seemingly finding his question funny.

The King finally stopped laughing, shaking his head. "No, I'm not under the influence of drugs. And I AM finding it funny," he said, as if having read Axel's mind.

"You see, I have spent the better half of the past 7 months thinking about you, even eventually regarding you as my greatest enemy. And it's funny that I got beaten again and again, by a guy who didn't even know about my existence, let alone my powers."

"Let me introduce myself, Prince Axel. I am Scitius Marcellus, the Third Overseer and Chief Strategist of the Kraken and the wielder of what is, in my personal opinion, the strongest relic, the Mind's Eye."

"And I am here to satisfy my curiosity."

"The Strategist?!"

"Oh, so you are aware of my existence," Said Scitius, seemingly satisfied.

Now Axel was looking at the guy with positive hostility.

"Since when?" That's all Axel asked.

And Scitius understood exactly what he was referring to, as he smiled proudly.

"Since the beginning. From the very first instigation."

Axel gritted his teeth. "So, it was you," he muttered.

Atlantis is not a Kingdom that can fall easily. In fact, it is almost infallible.

There are numerous fail safes designed for every situation in order to keep the Entity in check. The King, only when judged by the throne and trident to be worthy, wields most of the power.

And the development. Prosperity, security and control in the Kingdom is enough to make sure that the citizens do not have any dissatisfaction living in Atlantis and never want to leave.

Even the Army and Septises are managed in a way that no one goes beyond the line.

In such a situation, a revolt happened that eliminated most of members of Septises, and result in the death of the King and the Queen.

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Soon after, the King was taken under the Kraken's control and he eliminated one princess and make other one infertile, before being put on stand by, to be used in the future.

Within just a few years, the strength of Kraken has grown and Kingdom's strength has decreased, to the point that today Kraken is able to directly take on the Kingdom's forces head on.

All these things didn't happen on their own. There has always been a mastermind, pulling the strings behind the scenes.

And it was the Third Overseer from start to end.

"Well then, it's a good thing you haven't come out," he muttered, taking a stance.

"Oh, I don't need to," replied Scitius, using the King's body to take a stance.

It happened very quickly. One moment, they were both more than 10 meters apart, and in the next, their weapons clashes in the middle, clearing a shockwave.

Axel was surprised. Not only had the King's fighting style had completely change, the new style was several times better too. Their weapons clashed several times, but Axel wasn't able to gain an advantage in term of pure combat skills.

Both of them weren't going max yet. As if by tacit understanding, they were currently throwing out the beginning moves, testing each other, studying the other's tactics, evaluating their skills, looking for weakness.

Axel raised it up a notch, the Trident's blades extending and attacking from different angles at the same time.

But instead of getting of overwhelmed like the last time, blades made out of a combination of Elements manifested in front of the King.

The first few times, the Trident's blades managed to cut through, damaging the King's water body, but the structure and composition of the Elemental blades changes with each both, becoming more and more firm.

"Your bloodline… is really amazing," muttered Scitius in appreciation. Suddenly, number of blades under his control increased, overwhelming Axel, who only had two.

'What the—'

Now outnumbered in terms of blades, Axel added [Fluid Movement] into his moves, going on the defensive. Parts of his [Water body] would extended from his body, absorbing the momentum of the elemental blades and slowing them down.

"You have a unique combat style." Scitius's fighting style changed, now getting customized for focusing on the weakness of Axel's movements.

But, the weaknesses couldn't be exploited for long, as the holes were filled with new, perfected moves.

Axel's fists glows and they were also added to the mix, block and attacking and then—

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Three fists land in three different parts, causing Scitius to retreat.

Axel reformed from his water body, his eyes narrowed while looking at Scitius.

'He's like me.' Axel realized. When he looked at his hands which he had used to block the blade, he found deep wounds on them which had managed to penetrate through his protective covering and actually damage his hands which were extremely hard.

Those blades that he was using. They were made with the magic of all elements.

There was a reason why the King didn't use them earlier. Because even if he did have the affinity, he didn't have the mental power to use so many at once, let alone so perfectly.

And Scitius was using them for the first time. That means first he studied the King's mind to know all about the technique, and then he executed them. And with each trial, he was able to perfect them mid-battle.

So, they were indeed similar. They both had high mental power and high combat comprehension and application.

Axel just didn't think there would be another like him.

Just like Axel, Scitius was also making his own observations. "That legendary talent. I always wanted to see it in person," he muttered, looking amazed. "You seem to get better every moment of the battle. It's almost as if you have someone in your head, teaching you new things."

"…."

'Fuck.'

Axel did not like this. That hit too close to home. He would unlock new knowledge the more he practises and comprehends his move. So, it is indeed similar to have an instructor in his head, constantly giving him hints.

Scitius tilted his head. "Seems like that IS the case. I knew it. Talent alone does explain how good you are at your age."

Axel didn't let the guy talk more, attacking him again.

"You have too many secrets. I can see it. And they're making me really curious." But Scitius was ready this time.

The number of blades under his control kept increasing, while his control on each one remained flawless. And Axel couldn't match it with it with his limited mental capacity. Not only this, but he also began to evade Axel's attacks even before they were executed, as predicting his moves or reading his mind.

'Just what the hell?' Axel never thought he would see the day, but he was actually losing a fight in terms of mental capacity right now.

Granted that he had already exhausted most of his mental energy back when he had created the Giant sword to fight Zeta and hadn't recovered yet, but it has to be noted that while fighting Axel, Scitius also currently fighting against the whole Kraken army by controlling thousands of Kraken warriors at once.

And Axel had to accept, that was a notch above what he did with Giant avatar and the sword.

This time, it was Axel who pulled away after getting overwhelmed, taking distance.

Axel looked around at the battlefield and saw similar scenes being played everywhere else as well, with 'Scitiuses' dominating every battle.

"How I'm doing this you asked?" Scitius laughed. "You don't even know about the strongest Relic of your own Kingdom."

"Strongest Relic?" Axel was even more puzzled. Wasn't the strongest Relic supposed to be the Royal Relic?

"Royal Relic is the Strongest Relic that can be Wielded without the Wielder dying. My Relic, Mind's Eye on the other hand, didn't have a single master until it acknowledged me. Simply because of the fact that no one's mind could ever handle the pressure of its powers," said Scitius proudly.

Mind is a person's most powerful weapon. And the Aetherians knew that. So, investing a huge amount of resources and using the best minds, they began preparing the strongest relic in history, a Relic that could remove the limits of mind.

But, they failed. Not because they couldn't make the Relic Powerful enough, but...because they made it too powerful. It refused to acknowledge anyone.

The First King of Atlantis had a huge obsession with the Relic, so he decided to bring it with him. Until it was eventually stolen by the Kraken.

That's why Scitius took pride in being able to wield it. No one other than him could wield the Mind's Eye. And even he need external support of so many brains to actually bring out its actual powers. Ever since knowing about his deeds, the Kingdom's higher ups have lived in regret and lament for not giving him the recognition he deserved.

'So, the Relic was indeed related to the mind,' thought Axel, suddenly feeling a little better.

His mind had always been his biggest asset, even more than his bloodline and other abilities. And suddenly this guy shows and absolutely smashes him in that field.

That really made him question whether he was actually still too weak.

Well, now he at least knew that's Scitius is an extremely unique case. And the main reason could be attributed to his Relic, the Mind's Eye.

But, if this guy's mind really was so strong, there was another thing Axel didn't understand.

Why?!

"Why are you doing this? You can easily resist the Entity's Control," he decided to ask. Axel really couldn't understand. Since even he could resist the Entity, then this guy, having such a huge amount of mental capacity should also be able to do.

But to that, Scitius simply shook his head.

"You won't understand. Not with your impressive physique and natural talent."

Axel raised his eyebrows. "So, that's it? You're butthurt because you didn't have talent?"

"It's not that I didn't have the talent," said Scitius, appearing in front of Axel. "But I never got the chance to show it."

A multiple elemental blast was released from his hand which blew Axel backward. Scitius followed, blades forming behind him.

"Back when I was an academy student, I had wanted nothing more than to be Relic Wielder. But, let alone becoming one, I found out I would never even be qualified to try!"

Being a Relic Wielder has extremely high requirements, the first one being physical and magical ability, then the morality criteria. If you don't pass the requirements, you'd never even be allowed to have a chance to try bonding with a Relic, let alone wield them.

"I always knew I was special. But the Kingdom didn't thing so. With just a simple test, I had been unworthy of ever wielding a weapon. My dream was shattered, just like that!" He said, slashing a Axel with hundreds of blades, big and small.

"That's when I decided. I needed to let everyone know what I've always felt. That I! DON'T NEED THEIR VALIDATION!"

The markings on the King's body shined brightly, and different elemental energies combined together, creating an ominous energy above his head.

The energy was released in high intensity laser beam, and it was released at an angle which it had Antilla in the line of motion, in case Axel decided to dodge.

"NO!"

The fight was so intense that others could barely follow it, let alone intervene. By the time Scitius attacked, it was already too late to save Axel.

Axel was hit head on, the energy burrying him straight into the ground.

Scitus wasn't satisfied though, launching another Elemental beam in the wreckage, just to be sure.

"Talent means nothing in terms of absolute mental power."

But, around the same time, a similar energy beam hit from behind, burrying him in the same place Axel was blasted into.

Axel appeared behind Scitus, multiple elements revolving around him.

[Skill Steal]

"Nice!" He muttered, adjusting the energy to be more stable.

"Thanks for taking the time to teach me."

But, he wasn't satisfied with just this.

He currently couldn't use the Royal Relic, or his powers to their fullest extent. Because he lacked the mental power.

And the Solution was right in front of him.

The Mind's Eye

The Thief inside him was getting excited.

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A.N.: I'm not fully back yet, since I still have to release a lot more chapters on patreon, but I'll still release weekly here.

Also, I've released Arcane Thief on Royalroad. And it's an edited version. You can check it out if you want. Give it a follow if you want to help me out