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The Arcane Thief (Litrpg)
Chapter 7: Trying Out Magic

Chapter 7: Trying Out Magic

Axel was currently in a room he had rented in the Diagon Alley, having completed his shopping.

Although he was still angry with the Black Sisters, but he quickly put it behind him.

What's the point of being angry now? It's not like he can do anything about with his weak strength and pathetic status. He has to remember the priorities.

Axel took out the wand he'd bought from Olivander, supposedly the best wandmaker. From what he heard from Andromeda, no newcomers could compete with him. His wands are simply much superior.

But...the wand he bought was… an embarrassment, to say the least. It was Beechwood, 12 inches, and Cherub hair as its core.

[Host, this wand is best suited to you in your current state. The system fails to understand why you are not happy with the wand.] Said the system's robotic female voice.

Axel looked at the wand that was humming excitedly in his hands and sighed.

According to the creepy old wandmaker, the true match for a beech wood wand would be, if young, wise beyond his or her years, and if full-grown, rich in understanding and experience. When properly matched, the beech wand was capable of a subtlety and artistry not seen in any other woods.

Thus, there was no problem with the wood. In fact, it was the best for him since he'll lack control over his magic until his nervous system gets better.

The length 12 inches might be considered too long for a wank, but it was ideal as a wand. So no problem here as well.

The true problem lies in the core: Cherub's hair.

It's said to only bond with... a male wizard with a high face value. That is, a handsome wizard. It's said to have a feminine nature and will fall in love with its owner.

The strength of the bond will represent the degree of power it can exhibit. Thus, he has to treat it well or it'll not perform well. It ain't no Sakura who'd love a scumbag just because of his face value.

How was it good for the current him? Well, all the truly powerful wand cores which were available at the Olivander all require a certain level of magical strength, control, and talent to submit to the wizard.

And with his shitty body, there was no chance any of them would bond with him.

Heck, he'd have been lucky to even bond with a wand with a kneazle whisker core. And those are one of the weakest.

Thus, having a wand that'll submit to him and can even potentially provide him more power than a dragon heartstring one if the conditions meet, is truly a blessing. Combine it with the control and finesse gained from the beech wood, and he truly has the ideal wand for the current him. But…

'Why does it feel like I'm using a honey trap to get power like those whores on the street?'

[Host need not worry. This wand is temporary. With the system's help, you can eventually get a wand that can rival even the Elder wand.]

'Whatever." Sighing, he began looking through the material, not knowing that the "Elder Wand" that system just mentioned was the most powerful wand in the world. Otherwise, he'd have had a much less lukewarm reaction

Axel read the magic theory and practiced the very first spell, following the instructions to a T.

He closed the lights, and raised the wand to his chest level. He looked at the wand tip, visualizing it lighting up. He focused his intent, want to see the light.

He flicked the wand in an upward motion, as if lighting a switch.

"Lumos," he uttered clearly.

Axel didn't feel the magic move deep inside him. But...

"No result..."

'System, did I do anything wrong?'

[You did everything perfectly. And with your natural talent and smooth magic pathways, you'd have been successful in your first attempt. But due to your injuries, the magic is not able to flow through mana pathways. You'd need more effort, and more powerful magic to force the magic.]

"What the hell? Is it really going to be so weak?"

[No need to be discouraged. If you keep practicing, mana passages will adapt and you will be also reach other people's level. And if you manage to learn casting magic in this state, when your injuries heal, the improvement will be explosive.]

Axel was enlightened. "So, it's like jumping with weights. If I train myself to adapt, when I take the weights off, I will be able to jump much higher.

[Affirmative]

With that confirmation, Axel no longer wasted his time. In front of doing magic, he had also long stopped paying attention to what happened in the New Cauldron.

...

One and a half days later:

With a school bag on his shoulder, Axel walked through the wall barrier to enter the platform 9 ¾.

'Damn system, this is just like the one in Diagon Alley,' muttered Axel as he found himself on a crowded platform hidden from the world. There was a train with a scarlet engine that was releasing steam. The scenery was quite beautiful.

Though the loud noise produced by its engine was quite grating on his nerves.

Everything felt quite surreal. He was actually going to school again. A magic school at that.

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'I wonder what its like...'

At the station, along with a massive crowd, Axel also noticed that there were many reporters and cameramen as well. It seems that they were here for the girl who lived who's mostly been kept isolated from the press under the protection of the Black Family.

Axel ignored everything in favor of finding himself an empty compartment before they all get filled up.

He chose to settle in an empty compartment at the back of the train, thinking that there were fewer chances of him being bothered there. After all, he had things to do.

In the past two days, he had managed to read a lot about magic from the books in his curriculum. Since he was in the Diagon Alley, he also browsed to book store further and bought a few more books that could be useful.

With all of this, he also had to keep practicing Occlumency so that he can get rid of this fucking disability. The parts of beginner Occlumency which are left that can't be mastered through talent like he mastered controlling his emotions. They can only be mastered through dedicated practice.

Basically, he hadn't wasted time at all. And now would not be an exception. He took out his wand.

Performing the wand motion perfectly, he chanted,

"Lumos."

The wand tip lit up, producing a very dim light. And, it seemed like a bulb with a high degree of voltage fluctuations. The intensity of light was changing ever so often.

This was already much better than his first try, which had no response at all. And he's been practicing this non-stop ever since.

The degree of concentration he's putting into this spell would be enough to baffle anyone. Needless to say, with his natural talent, control and concentration, he could have easily mastered any first-year spell had his body not been so badly messed up.

Seeing his progress, Axel was somewhat proud. He wasn't born good at his thieving skills as well. He'd slowly learned them, mastered and polished them to perfection, step by step through a lot of hard work. Since this shit is so difficult, he can proclaim that no one in his shoes could have made more progress.

But at this moment, the door of his compartment was rudely opened disturbing his concentration.

The intruder was a bushy-haired girl who looked to be the same age as him. She was dragging a suitcase with wheels behind her.

"Oh, you're practicing the Lumos spell? I've learned it too!" She said excitedly, inviting herself in.

"?" Annoyed, he wanted to snap at her, but hearing that she'd learned the spell got him curious.

What would others his age be like without any disabilities holding them back?

"Alright, show me," he demanded.

The girl was all too happy to oblige. She produced her wand and did an exaggerated wand motion.

"Lumos."

Instantly, a bright light came out of her wand, lighting up the entire compartment, causing Axle to squint a little due to its sheer brightness.

"...." He was speechless.

'To think I was proud of my pathetic achievements….' Axel was feeling a slap to all his hard work.

The girl happily canceled the spell and looked at Axel, expecting admiration and praise.

But Axel simply picked up his bag and left, closing the door on his way out.

"???"

"...Why is it always like this?" Hermione Granger muttered as she stomped her foot in frustration.

Axel had run away in embarrassment. He had expected her to be better, but not that better.

If it was just the because of her technique and practice, then Axel could have accepted it, but no! It was because of the fact that they weren't better than his! And she didn't even have to put in half of his concentration, and the difference was still so fucking huge.

'System, why did you choose me? I'll need a lot of time and effort to do things that girl can easily do. And there must be so many other better options as well!'

[The Akashic Records did not look at the short-term gains while looking for a suitable candidate. Here are the reasons why you were chosen:

1)Superior Talent in Mind Arts:

All of your physical and magical stats can be increased one way or the other. But for the mental training, the system can, at most, give you the right methods. You can only rely on yourself after that.

Furthermore, this is can be much more advantageous than you can imagine. You will get to see very soon.

2)Right mindset:

Power given to a person who does not know how to wield it will only lead to failure or a win with major losses. If given to an evil person, he will misuse it. If given to a kind person, he will hesitate to even use it. You currently have the right mindset and will hopefully use it properly in the future.

3) Right Ideology:

That girl you just mentioned would have used the power to free up the house elves which would have resulted in their deaths. Then she would have sped up the process of arrival of war by offending all the Purebloods.

4) Lineage:

(Information unavailable)]

'Wait the fuck up. Lineage?!'

[Information unavailable at your current level.]

'Hey, wait.'

[Information unavailable at your current level.]

'Ok, I get it, I get it… No need for more.' Axel dropped the matter. He didn't care much about his lineage.

'Anyways, what's this Akashic Records you keep mentioning?'

[Akashic Records have all the past, present, and future of everything in the Multiverse recorded in them.

It tries to maintain the flows to the worlds as written in the records. If there's a major deviation that results in destruction, it can intervene through a champion, like you.

Thus, you have been chosen by them to help change the world. I am part of their consciousness, provided to guide you along the way and help you obtain power. Should you fail, another candidate will be selected, I...will be terminated.]

"Fuck." Axel stopped in his tracks when he heard the last part. But just as he stopped, someone bumped into him from behind.

Alarmed, he quickly glanced behind him, only to find… nothing?

*Shing*

He took out his knife and began twirling it in his hands, ready to attack at the first sign of anything odd.

That scared whoever it was.

He heard a frantic voice "Wait! wait! Wait! It's me! Rose! We met the day before yesterday, you remember?"

Axel's anger instantly ignited remembering that day.

"Why were you following me? What do you want now?"

"I have business with you. But we can't talk here," with that, he felt a hand dragging him away.

He shook her hand off, "I'm not going,"

Rose huffed in annoyance, "Fine. I'll just go to the press which is waiting for me out there and tell them that you're bothering me. You'll have a great time at Hogwarts then,"

"...."

Axel knew how to choose his fights. This girl really had too much power at her disposal and it would be too much trouble if she really decides to use it against him.

But… she's going to regret threatening him. As the most vindictive person in the world, he'll make sure she regrets threatening him.

He grabbed her invisible hand from over the cloak.

"So, where are we going?" He asked casually as he began to scheme how to make her pay in the future.

Rose was speechless at this quick change of attitude. She looked down at the hand that was grabbing hers over the cloak and noticed the familiar shaking and twitching.

She'd almost forgotten that he was disabled for life. She calmed down her annoyance at him due to that and took him to her compartment, locked it, and drew the blinds.

Removing the cloak, she rounded up on him, only to see him looking at the rest of the occupants of her compartment, his hands back in his pockets.

Axel didn't know why he expected her to take him somewhere private.

He certainly didn't like being in the same compartment as four strangers and the girl who lived. But, he still entered since he can easily take out these four kids in such close range before they can even touch their wands.

One was a boy and the other three were girls.

Seeing Axel so vigilant, Rose did a proper intro.

"You don't need to worry. They're all my friends."

"This is Susan Bones," she said, gesturing towards a ginger-haired girl with light skin.

"Neville Longbottom," pointing towards a round-faced chubby kid with blond hair.

"Hannah Abbot," a nervous-looking blond girl with pigtails.

"And Daphne Greengrass., she said, pointing at a girl with straight blond hair and grey eyes.

'Whut?'

Axel paused as soon as he heard the last name. Bellatrix's words rang inside his mind.

//Cyrus Greengrass, the name of the man you killed//

Greengrass...

'Damn, I should've just stayed with that bushy-haired girl.'