I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 164: Magic Vs Aegis

And he does it beautifully. Satisfyingly so.

Seeing Arthur’s slack jaw, widened eyes, and shocked expression, Theo has never felt more satisfied. As Thea, he had often been looked down on by Arthur. Not consciously, but Theo knows it was there, born out of Arthur’s concern for his little sister.

Somehow, that made it sting even more.

And now, Theo can’t help but laugh, deeply satisfied that Arthur is completely stunned.

Hearing Theo’s laugh is what finally snaps Arthur out of his shock.

"How... how... how... I can’t... I don’t..." Arthur trails off.

He closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths.

When he opens them again, his gaze is sharp.

"Wow. Theo wasn’t lying. You really are powerful, Thea. That’s reassuring and terrifying at the same time."

"I can’t do that out here," Arthur admits. "This is only a simulation dungeon, not a real one. My mana isn’t enough to summon that many fire needles like you just did."

There is obvious admiration in Arthur’s voice, along with a hint of envy.

"Well, we know one thing for sure," Arthur adds with a grin. "Julian was right. The Aegis can hold." He winks.

"But I think we still need to be careful," Theo says. "Maybe add a few more layers of Aegis."

Arthur nods. "I agree." But he is still looking at Theo like he is an alien.

Theo notices and laughs again.

Arthur finally laughs with him.

After a moment, Arthur says, "Let’s do it again. But this time, I’ll be the one doing it. I really need the practice."

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Julian bursts out of his lab and sprints toward the HB gym, his expression tight with worry.

He throws the gym door open and is about to shout, "Is everyone okay?!"

The Aegis near him explodes.

Loud gasps fill the room.

"Stop HB!" Arthur yells. He is already sprinting toward Julian, with Theo right behind him.

"Julian! Are you okay?!" Arthur asks, panic clear in his voice.

When he sees that Julian is unharmed, his panic turns into anger.

"What the hell were you thinking, coming in like that?!" Arthur snaps. "Didn’t you see the warning outside?!"

Julian had thought about safety precautions when he installed HB in Theo’s personal gym. He had placed a large warning sign outside the door, notifying anyone nearby that HB was running and that entering the gym recklessly was dangerous.

But today, Julian ignored that warning himself. No wonder Arthur is furious.

Julian looks completely dumbfounded. His brain seems to stop working for a moment. He has been sleep deprived lately, pushing himself to finish five space bracelets with expanded capacity for Horizon Pods.

"I... the HB alarms went off," Julian finally manages. "I thought something malfunctioned, so I ran here to check." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Alarms?" Arthur asks sharply. "You installed alarms? What kind of alarms? What triggers them?"

"I installed Aegis Ultra," Julian says. "The alarms triggered because the Aegis was taking hits. Multiple hits. Powerful ones. Of course I panicked."

Julian moves to the control panel and starts checking the data.

"The Aegis integrity dropped to forty-eight percent," he says incredulously. "What the hell did you guys do?!"

Theo and Arthur exchange a guilty look.

"We were... testing the Aegis," Arthur says slowly. "We needed a place to practice magic, and the HB gym was the perfect environment."

"Yeah, I get that. You already told me," Julian snaps. "But forty-eight percent? Again. What the hell did you do?"

Theo speaks up, "I think that was partly my fault. I practiced my magic here as well."

Arthur is quick to add, "She only did a few initial rounds. After that, the rest was me. You should add more layers of Aegis here and turn off those alarms."

Julian looks at the two of them the way one might look at aliens pretending to be human.

"Guys, this is Aegis Ultra," Julian says slowly. "The newest and strongest Aegis we have ever made. It is rated to withstand the combined bombardment of ten to fifteen fighter jets. Bombs. Missiles. Sustained attacks. This thing is supposed to be absurdly strong."

He points at the display again.

"And you managed to reduce it to forty-eight percent." He exhales sharply. "That’s... that’s not normal. That’s impressive. And terrifying."

Theo frowns. He genuinely does not feel like his fire magic was that strong.

"Erm, Jules," Theo says after a moment. "I think you should check the Aegis again. Not because I think it malfunctioned, but because you should review how it reacts to magic attacks. You designed it to defend against human weapons, not magic."

Julian tilts his head. "But most human weapons are powered by heartstones now. That’s mana, right? You said heartstones are crystallized mana."

Theo nods. "Yes. That part is true. But that doesn’t make them pure magic."

He gestures vaguely. "Magic attacks are raw mana, shaped directly. Bombs and weapons only use mana as fuel. They’re diluted, structured, filtered. Even basic magic tends to hit harder."

Julian stares at the data again. Slowly, understanding dawns.

"...I never thought of it that way," he mutters. "You’re right. I really need to rework the magic interaction model."

Then he straightens and points at both of them.

"Until then, try not to destroy my Aegis."

He turns back to the control panel to download the data, then freezes mid-motion.

"...Wait." He turns back slowly. "Did you just say you used magic, Thea? What were you doing?"

Theo and Arthur grin at the same time.

"Not only did she use magic," Arthur says proudly, "she completely kicked my ass."

He adds, "Theo already said it. He won’t show up unless it’s absolutely necessary, and I think that’s wise. If we go through with our plan, Rhaenas will be traveling and clearing dungeons all over the world. I wanted to see whether Thea can keep up with the rest of us."

He glances at Theo. "I don’t think she’d want to stay behind in Arvion while we travel."

Julian’s eyes light up.

"Oh wow. Seriously? I want to see. Let’s do it again. This time without hitting the Aegis. Can we do that?"