When Axel had seen Daphne standing out of breath right outside the door using the Arcane Eyes, he was so surprised that he hadn't even bothered changing properly before he had opened the door, which is probably why she had run away right now. As expected, this body is too ugly to look at.
Looking at her retreating form, Axel's hand was unconsciously raised, as if to stop her. But then, he lowered it, shaking his head.
"Just wait for me," he muttered, renewing his determination.
Going back into the changing room, Axel opened the system interface. Bringing back Daphne's memories isn't simple. After all, there's a reason why the healers aren't doing anything. First of all, it is almost impossible to reach the deepest parts of one's mind without damaging it, since it's quite sensitive and weak.
And even if he did, the curse would interfere with the unlocking of her memories, giving her damage anyway.
That's why, in order to help her, he needs to do two things. First, he needs to lift off the curse. And second, he has to unlock the memories.
For the first step, removing the curse, he needs to perform a complicated Ritual, which requires such ingredients that he doesn't even know about them. This is the most difficult part. And then, for the second step, i.e., unlocking her memories, it's something he has within his power to achieve.
[Unshackle: Grants the ability to get rid of all kinds of shackles.
Current progress: 4.4%]
It's this skill. He can unlock her memories using this skill. But to achieve that, he would need to take it to 35% progress, which is going to be tough. This skill is so fucking versatile that even after training it for the past week, he has only made this much progress.
Along with this, he also has to train his other skills as well, since there's no telling how dangerous the organization can be.
And then there's the matter about Quidditch. His next match was against Daphne's house. He still hadn't thought what he would do about that. Daphne's love for Quidditch is unquestionable, and she is proud of her house as well, as evidenced by how often she praises her house while deriding the other Houses.
So, even as someone who doesn't give a fuck about the subject, Axel can still understand that the current Daphne might be pissed if he destroyed Ravenclaw, and she might also not like it if he goes easy on the buggers.
And the match after that would be against the Mahoutokoro, in which magic would be allowed.
If he could use his skills without holding back, he could crush them even without magic. But the problem is...
"I have to stop showing off..." he murmured.
He can't kept showing himself as someone with limitless skill.
'System, it's possible that the organization would research about me through the Magi-hive before trying to get to me, right?'
[Affirmative. It is a given that they will.]
'Damn it.' That's the reason why he has to stop showing off. If the organization would see the clips of his gameplay, he has to show that he has limits, and that his skills aren't too useful in combat, lest the Organization decides to deploy their big guns to deals with him.
And to do that, he can't use the same trick he used today in a match against Mahoutokoro. The speed he was flying was even faster than the burst speed gained by the launching boom. Right now, everyone has the impression that he can't dodge anything at that speed, and he was only doing this because he knew no one would try to come in his way.
But, if the Mahoutokoro players deploy Jutsus all around the stadium and he dodges and doesn't die from them, it would reveal too much of his reaction speed. If the organization has to deal with such a target, they would try to catch him completely unaware so that he can't react, which is the last thing he wants.
So, adding this issue, Axel checked his to-do list. Getting back Daphne—step-1, Getting back Daphne—step-2, Training all the skills, two matches, and always being on the look out for the organization's attacks, and finally, getting information about the Pendant around his neck through the organization, since it's supposedly the key to defeating Voldemort's.
"Sigh... Too much..."
Axel muttered with a sigh. Lately, he has been having this weary feeling sometimes that forces him to sigh. It's not like he's working more than the amount of work he used to do a few months ago. But even when the amount of work he's doing is similar, just until a few months ago, he used to be quite content and full of spirit. Now, though...
"Sigh..." Axel sighed yet again. Closing the interface as he pulled on his T-shirt, he started making his way back to the castle, his shoulders slightly slumped. He was going to start training again.
Though, at this moment, he heard a notification chime come from his Magi-mirror, causing him to check it out.
As someone who had never used these devices, Axel had not bothered using these things before, considering them as a waste of his time. He hadn't even properly learnt how to operate them. But after the incident with Daphne, he has decided to rectify his views on the matter.
Checking the Magi-mirror, Axel realized that it was a call from Martina, so he picked it, immediately hearing her voice.
"Yeah wait, I'm calling Axel right now, but don't expect a response. He doesn't use his phone at all. Hah... I wish I had his self control and discipline..." Martina was saying. Her voice was bright and excited, meaning she was about to talk about something positive.
'False alarm,' thought Axel, his shoulder slumping again as he continued to walk towards the castle.
"What's up?" He asked, but there was no response, as Martina suddenly stopped talking.
There was a chuckling sound, most likely from Endo, before Martina spoke again. "Y-You actually picked up?! How?!"
Axel frowned. "Should I not have?"
"Nonono! It's great that you picked up!" Exclaimed Martina in hurry.
"Tell him he was totally whiz-bang in the game!" Came Alessandro's voice.
"Tell him I'm a fan as well!" Came Enzo's voice.
Martina ignored the two of them as them as she focused on the call, "Actually, I called to inform that your wand is now ready! I have it with me, so you can come take it any—"
*Boom*
Axel was already off before Martina finished her words. His wand! It was something he had forcefully stopped his mind from even thinking about it, since it was something he couldn't wait for. That's how much he was looking forward to it. So when he heard Martina's words, all his weariness vanished as he rushed towards the VVIP box.
Axel tried to sense within himself, the connection which had been lying dormant all this while. It would barely respond to him. But this time, when he reached out, the connection thrummed to life, responding to him readily. Axel could feel it getting stronger as the distance lessen, causing him to increase his speed further.
Inside the VVIP box.
"So you can come and take it back anytime. I have to tell you, it's really amazing! I—hello? Axel? Are you listening?" Martina looked at the Magi-mirror in confusion.
Shrugging, she looked back at her father and brother. "I think he's coming. You two better start preparing to apologize. You didn't do it the last time."
Alessandro relaxed in his arm chair. "Let him come—"
—Whoosh—
At this moment, the door opened and closed and Axel stood face to face with Martina, who was standing behind Alessandro's armchair.
"The wand." He demanded.
!!!!
The door opened again, as alarmed guards peeked in to investigate just how the locked and guarded door had opened and closed on its own in a brief second, only to see the silhouette of a person standing right behind their bosses' chair with his back to them, not allowing them to see the intruder's face.
If that wasn't alarming enough, Princess Martina stood unprotected right in front of the intruder as well, completely within arm's reach.
Just when they thought everything was over, the lady boss stood up, signaling them to leave as the door closed again with her magic.
Francesca smiled at Axel, not as much surprised by his speedy appearance. "Ciao, Axel. Can I just say you did great in the match! Your wand is ready. It's… probably my best work by far."
Martina nodded as well. "The materials used are absolutely the best. The dark crystal was so interesting! I haven't worked on anything like that. And the wood. It was the most difficult thing to unseal," she gushed.
Truely, she had never seen anything like the dark crystal before. It had so many mysterious properties! And the wood, if she didn't have the [Linguist] ability granted by the ROB that enabled her to understand the symbols that were carved for sealing it, she wouldn't have been able to come up with a way to open it all. She had never seen anything similar to them before.
Axel waited impatiently as Martina slowly took out an ornate wooden box from her purse. But, as soon as it was out, a shockwave rippled through the room, as the lid of the box flew open, revealing a glowing wand. Its body was producing intense golden light, but the area around its core was completely dark, as if sucking all the light in. Powerful fluctuations were coming from it, as if sensing that its master was near.
Francesca was perturbed. "It has never responded like that before..." she murmured in amazement and caution, taking out her own wand as well.
But Axel just laughed. 'You're impatient as well, huh?' he thought, finally picking it up. And soon as he did, a blinding flash illuminated the room, and Axel felt the wand's joy at reuniting with him. Suddenly, Axel felt that he had regained a part of himself which he had lost.
The light finally subsided, and Axel finally saw the wand. The shape and size was still the same, but the wood had been changed, and a grip made of Basilisk skin was added to it as well. Axel nodded in satisfaction. Despite the enormous power it contained, it didn't look superficial and flashy. He liked it.
"Axel, dad and Enzo have something to say." While Axel was examining his wand, Martina spoke up, staring pointedly at her father and brother.
Enzo shrugged as he stood up. "Listen man, we shouldn't have done what we did. It got you into a lot of trouble, and even the Mikhailovs targeted you. You didn't deserve all that. You're a good guy. So, as an apology, I—" he paused. "I give you the permission to chase after my sister. Goddamnit, you're at least better than others and you make her very happy, I won't try to kill if you chase her," he said with difficulty, as if making a great compromise.
"ENZO, SHUT UP!" (Martina)
Alessandro also stood up. "Son, we got you into trouble and you still saved Tina after that. You don't know how big a favor that is. So, I'm telling you right now. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask. If it doesn't put my family in danger, I'll have it done for you. So, we good?" He asked, offering his hand.
Axel looked at the offered hand, as his his fists clenched. "You don't know what you did has cost me," he said, shaking his head, as his wand produced an eerie atmosphere, sensing his emotions. He would rather have thousands of men die in war than have Daphne suffer.
So, there's no forgiving them. But Axel calmed himself. He won't achieve anything by showing his anger.
He raised his hand. But, instead of shaking hands, he put a slip of paper in Alessandro's hand instead. "I can't acquire the ingredients that are not crossed. Get as many of them as you can."
Alessandro looked at the slip, and his eyes bulged. "All the ones I know are pretty darn tough to get and a few I haven't even heard about. How the fuck did you get the ones that are crossed?"
Axel raised his eyebrows at Alessandro, his face calm. "Very few things can stop me from getting what I want," he said matter of factly, before leaving the room. He had to try out his new wand.
Getting out of the stadium, he went to his hideout in the Castle.
It was the place which the system had given him as the mission reward. Since it was hidden well and difficult to open, it was completely forgotten by now, allowing Axel to have it all to himself.
Unlocking all the extra spells and traps he had placed, he went straight to his training room, which currently had a lot of ingredients and loot piled up.
Quickly putting away everything, he raiseded his wand.
"Well, let's see what you can do," he mutttered, already completely discarding the stunts he had pulled in today's match out of his mind.
He had no idea how big a commotion he had caused.
....
A.N.: Powerstones
Next:Mr. Hunt: You've been called to the Headmaster's office
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