I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 280: On the Edge

"Arthur, stop!" Julian yells as he drops to the ground, stomach flat.

"Jesus, dude!" Liam shouts while rolling out of the way.

When they are out of Arthur’s fire, they look at each other.

Liam mouths, What the hell is going on?

Julian replies, He’s in a bad mood.

Liam rolls his eyes. Duh. Obviously.

Julian shrugs.

Another fire arrow flies above his head.

Julian scans the surroundings and gets up, running to where Liam is.

As he runs, he feels something chasing him.

He glances back and sees a couple of haelions chasing him.

He doesn’t panic. Instead, he flicks his wrist and a few stone bullets appear, ready.

But before he can do anything, he feels heat coming fast from his left.

He doesn’t have time to think.

Julian leaps forward, trying to avoid the fire arrows that are coming in his direction.

A shield made of water appears in front of him.

Julian ends up rolling on the ground right after leaping out of the way.

The water shield follows him.

When the arrows fly past him, he exhales in relief.

Liam is fast approaching him.

"You okay?" he asks.

Julian nods. "Thanks for the water shield."

"No problem. But we need to do something about that." Liam looks toward Arthur.

They have been killing haelions in the level eight dungeon inside HB for the last hour.

Correction, it’s Arthur who has been killing the haelions.

Julian and Liam have been busy staying out of his way.

"What’s wrong with him?" Liam asks.

Julian shakes his head. "I don’t know. I’ve never seen him lose control like this. Not even when Thea fell into a coma."

"He’s really pissed about something," Liam says, watching Arthur scorch another haelion.

"You’d think?!" Julian says, pointing at his singed clothes.

Liam frowns. "Yeah, me too. Jules, Arthur is really not himself. If he continues like this, it’s dangerous for him and for us."

Julian nods. "I agree. But what can we do? Turn off the HB?"

"If it comes to that. This is level eight. Does he really think he can do it alone? But on the other hand, it’s safer for him to vent his anger here rather than outside," Liam says.

"So we don’t turn off the HB and let him continue?" Julian asks. He is pretty clueless about what to do.

"I actually don’t know either. I don’t know what would happen if he continues like this. I mean, magically speaking. Will he go berserk again? Can he even go berserk here, considering this is HB and not a real dungeon?" Liam says.

Julian gasps faintly. "You’re right. Berserk. When he was starting to learn magic, his berserk state was already scary. What about now? Look at him. He can kill several level eight haelions easily."

Julian looks at Liam. "If he goes berserk now, we can’t handle him. But like you said, can he really? Liam, if he really can, we can’t handle him."

"We need Thea," Liam says.

"You mean Theo. Teacher Theo," Julian corrects him.

"That would be ideal, but we can’t exactly contact him now, can we?" Liam says, glancing at Julian before looking back at Arthur.

"He can’t go on like this, Jules. His mana is getting more and more chaotic."

He looks at Julian. "You go get Thea. I’ll try to calm him. Hopefully it works."

Julian looks worried. "Liam, the current Arthur is very powerful. He’s been using his own personal mana. He’s not the same Arthur who started learning magic with us."

Liam smiles faintly. "I know. But he’s not the only one who’s grown stronger. Now go. Before it’s too late."

Julian takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay. You be careful."

Liam nods.

He watches Julian walk toward the exit.

Then he turns his attention back to Arthur.

------------------------------

Julian runs lightly and quietly toward the exit, hoping Liam will be okay. He doesn’t dare run at full speed, fearing it will catch Arthur’s attention.

But before he can reach the exit, he feels a slight fluctuation of mana in the air, and then Liam’s voice:

"Shit!"

Julian whips his attention back toward Liam and Arthur and sees Liam has erected a water shield in front of him because Arthur’s fire pillar is shooting straight at him.

Julian is in complete shock.

How can Arthur attack Liam for real?!

He runs back while shouting, "Art, stop! Stop attacking! That’s Liam. Stop!"

Arthur doesn’t reply, but he slowly turns his head toward Julian.

His bright blue eyes have now turned reddish-orange, the exact same color as his fire.

Julian curses.

"Shit!"

------------------------------

Theo is teaching Alicia magic in her bedroom because they will not be distracted there.

Since they are not in a life-and-death situation, he decides to teach Alicia the way he used to teach: basic theories first, then small practice in a controlled and safe environment. He has already decided to use HB as their practice place later.

Alicia is a very diligent student. She’s also smart. She has been learning basic magic theories for less than two hours, yet she already grasps the fundamental concepts.

"So basically mana is the planet’s life force, and the reason Altheon, our planet, is dying is because its life force disappeared?" she concludes.

Theo blinks, surprised. He hasn’t thought that far ahead, since he doesn’t really know Altheon’s history. But what Alicia says makes a lot of sense.

So he nods. "That sounds logical. Although I don’t know exactly why Altheon is dying, lack of life force could definitely be one of the causes."

Alicia nods. She likes studying. She was a very diligent student before, which was why she was appointed to replace Alex. It wasn’t because of nepotism. It was because she was that good.

"But inside dungeons, there is a lot of mana?" Alicia asks.

Theo nods again. "Yes. The density difference is ridiculous. If we say the mana in the real world is only one liter, then the mana inside a dungeon is like the ocean."

Alicia blinks. "The difference is that big?"

Theo nods. "A magus like me, out there, I’m like a fish out of water. But in a dungeon, I’m like a fish swimming in the ocean."

Alicia looks thoughtful.

"Does the density of mana differ depending on the dungeon level? Like, a level four’s mana density is less than a level five’s?"

Theo blinks again. He’s taken by surprise once more.

"I never really paid attention to it. But it’s a very good observation, Alicia. If Julian somehow manages to find a way to measure mana density, we could probably have a more accurate way of determining how dangerous a dungeon is," he says.

"That’s right. One level four might be slightly more dangerous than another level four. And the haelions’ strength might differ too," Alicia adds.

"Yes, and it would be very useful for any team entering the dungeon. More data means more safety," Theo says.

Then he smiles.

"You’re good."

Alicia laughs.

"I may be good, but it is also because you’re a good teacher. The way you explain is very simple and clear. Very easy to grasp and understand."

"Thank you." Theo replies. "Now, you have any questions?"

"You said wielding magic is nothing more than a form of communicating with nature, with our planet. And if the planet agrees, then whatever it is that you communicated, it will come true?"

"That would be the simplest explanation, yes." Theo nods.

"So, if... say, I want to burn down the forest, I summon fire, nature might not agree?" She asks.

Theo smiles. "This is where things get slightly more complicated. Look at it this way, nature or the planet or the life force, are not sentient. They do not have intelligence, nor awareness. So, no, they will still agree. You can summon your fire."

She frowns. "Then, what is the difference between negotiating and forcing? Earlier you said something about how magi cannot force nature to obey them. If nature is not sentient, then how do they know that it’s forcing or communicating?"

Theo smiles. "It’s a very good question."

"I need to think of how to phrase it so you won’t get confused." Theo is thinking for a few seconds.

"The best way I can explain is like this: first, it has something to do with your own personal mana. I’ve said it before, each magus has their own personal mana. It’s unique only to that magus. Like finger prints."

"These finger prints –" Suddenly Theo goes quiet. His head whips to a specific direction.

He’s alert.

Alicia notices Theo’s sudden change in demeanor. She becomes alert too.

"What is it, Thea?"

Theo doesn’t respond.

He walks slowly toward the door, while still scanning.

The next second, he bolts out the door.

Alicia runs closely behind him.

When they both are in the living room, the whole room shakes.

"Earthquake?" Alicia looks around.

"No." Theo replies, he heads straight to the apartment door.

"Not earthquake, then what?" She asks, while running behind him.

Theo still doesn’t respond. He flies down the stairs, two to three steps at a time.

Alicia does the same. Showcasing her Sentinel trained agility.

Once Theo reaches second floor, he heads straight to the gym.

At the gym door, he stops.

Alicia arrives right behind him and wonders why Theo doesn’t open the door.

"What’s wrong?" And she extends her hand to touch the handle.

"Don’t!" Theo quickly warns her.

But it’s too late.

Alicia’s hand already touches the handle and she immediately lets it go and staggers one step backward.

"It’s hot!"

"Yes. And it’s locked. Meaning the HB is still running." Theo says.

"What do we do? When the HB is running, the door will not open unless it’s open from the inside." Alicia says.

Theo quickly opens his Resya interface, trying to call Julian.

The call is connected.

"Jules, what’s going on?" Theo asks. Putting him on speaker, so Alicia can hear him too.

Alicia has no time to admire the Resya technology, when Julian’s voice comes through.

"Thea! Oh thank God! It’s Arthur! He’s gone berserk!" His voice sounds urgent.