I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 282: Illusion of Control

"Yo, Brother. You mind calming down?"

Liam can feel his body relax the moment he hears those words.

It means help is here.

Which means he’s safe.

Since he entered the HB with Julian and Arthur, he had already felt that something was not quite right with Arthur.

He was obviously upset about something, like Julian had pointed out.

But he wasn’t just upset.

He was like someone who was looking for a fight.

Very unlike Arthur.

The Arthur Liam knew was someone who always had his composure, no matter the situation.

Not once had Liam seen Arthur lose his calm demeanor.

No matter how angry he was, he would always stay calm, cool, and collected.

Liam was the one who was always looking for a fight when he was upset.

Everything could be worked out with a good fistfight.

That was why he was quite surprised when he found out his resonance was Water, not Fire.

And as he learned to wield Water, he realized he had become calmer.

Oh, he was still fiery and his temper could still rise quickly, but he wasn’t as explosive as before.

And he found that he now had more time to think about the consequences.

And that he was happier.

That was rare for him.

He had always been under pressure as the heir of Monfort Industries.

The pressure didn’t come from his parents, society, or even the Monfort family.

It came from himself.

From his own worries and paranoia.

However, since he got to know Water, he had become calmer and could see the outcomes of his quick-to-rise temper more clearly.

So when he saw that Arthur was looking for a fight, he recognized it immediately.

And he didn’t comment on it.

He was just surprised.

Then he and Julian were fighting haelions, but it only lasted a few minutes before Arthur started looking for a fight with them.

At first, Liam thought it was an accident.

But he soon noticed that Arthur’s attacks were aimed more and more toward them than toward the haelions.

Arthur was still killing the haelions, yes.

But he also let an arrow or two "stray" in their direction.

Which Liam considered nonsense.

Because Arthur would never make that mistake.

He would never let anything dangerous stray toward his brother and friend.

That was another clue for Liam.

Then there was Arthur’s smirk.

Liam saw it.

It didn’t happen only once, but twice.

It happened once when Liam and Julian managed to dodge the arrows.

Then the second time was when Liam directly engaged Arthur in a fight.

He didn’t do it on purpose.

He did it to distract Arthur, so Julian could leave the gym and get help.

But it wasn’t that easy to distract Arthur.

His attacks were strong.

And it stirred Liam’s fighter’s instinct.

As a Sentinel, he too craved a good fight.

And finding a good opponent for him was hard, as he was one of the most skilled Sentinels in Altheon.

And he too would love to use his Water to fight Arthur’s Fire.

He remembered that the gym was protected by Montrose’s latest and supposedly strongest Aegis.

With that in mind, he decided to take Arthur head-on.

His Fire and my Water. Which one is stronger now?

That was his thinking.

His naïve thinking.

His naïve and stupid thinking.

How could he be so stupid to think he could take Arthur one-on-one?

Arthur is an Ascendant.

Teacher Theo had said so in the Mt. Helene dungeon.

Arthur is not just Fire Magus.

He has the potential to ascend to Lightning, a higher magic form of Fire.

Liam facepalms inwardly.

For his arrogance and stupidity, he is now facing the attacks of a Fire God.

Arthur’s fire is hot, suffocating, and deadly.

He can feel his Water vaporizing when it meets that heat.

And his mana is slowly being depleted.

He can’t keep up.

Thus, Theo’s presence is literally like an oasis in the middle of a hot, blistering desert.

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

Theo watches the two men engaging in what is literally a Fire against Water fight.

Arthur is truly in his element, and he is completely oblivious to the fact that his control is slipping more and more.

His current physical appearance is the complete opposite of his original one.

His bright blue eyes are now reddish orange.

His silver hair is now reddish orange as well, with silver highlight streaks running through it.

Overall, Arthur looks like a Fire God incarnate.

Then Theo turns his attention to Liam.

Liam is the opposite.

Not a Water God incarnate. No.

He looks more like an athlete who has been forced to exercise for hours and is now at the very end of his strength.

His face is pale, his limbs are shaking, his back is soaked with sweat, and his jet-black hair is plastered flat against his head.

He is panting, looking like he might collapse at any moment.

If Theo doesn’t stop Arthur soon, Liam will pass out.

Theo waves his hand, and Liam is instantly protected inside a water bubble.

The next second, Liam flops onto the gym floor, panting hard.

"You okay?" Theo asks.

Liam can only nod.

Theo pats his shoulder.

"You’ve done well. Thank you."

Liam nods again.

Theo chuckles.

"Now sit and rest. When I say rest, I mean realign your mana. It’s chaotic right now."

Liam nods again and crawls toward where Julian and Alicia are.

Theo gets up and turns to Arthur, who has stopped attacking and is now only watching him with a lot of interest.

"For you to have achieved True Resonance, I applaud you, Arthur. It’s another step toward your ascendancy to the higher tier of Fire."

Arthur smirks. He looks pleased.

Theo’s smile turns serious.

"But your control is crappy. You can easily hurt yourself or someone else."

Arthur smiles.

"And no one is hurt, Little Sis."

This is the first time he speaks since entering the True Resonance state.

His voice is raspy, as if smoke has scorched his throat.

"Come on, play with me. If Liam can’t play because he’s too weak, then you play with me. I know you are strong."

Arthur singsongs the last part.

Julian and Alicia have dragged Liam inside their bubble, and they are surprised to hear Arthur’s voice and words.

"That’s... not him," Julian says.

Liam pants hard.

"That’s him. Or another side of him. But that’s him."

Julian looks at Liam.

"What makes you say that?"

Liam answers between breaths.

"If you look at his eyes, there’s no madness. He’s fully conscious. Unlike in St. Helene, where we couldn’t reach him."

Julian looks at his brother again.

"What’s going on with him?"

Liam shakes his head. He is too tired to think clearly.

"I don’t know. At least now, if he wants a fight, his opponent is very strong."

All three of them look toward Theo and Arthur.

Theo smiles.

"You want to fight me? Are you sure, Art?"

Arthur smiles as well.

"I’m very sure, Little Sis."

His voice is still as raspy as before.

Theo opens his arms.

"Give me your best shot."

Arthur’s palms instantly erupt with towering pillars of fire, and he immediately launches them at Theo.

Alicia gasps.

"Those fire pillars are huge!"

Theo only raises one palm.

Arthur’s fire never reaches him.

Theo doesn’t just stop the fire in its path. He pushes it back with ice.

"Oh my God, this is so cool!" Alicia squeals.

Arthur knows that Theo is on a completely different level than Liam, so he pushes out even more mana.

He doesn’t hope to defeat Theo.

He knows he can’t, even if he wants to.

He only hopes he can put up a good fight.

After a few seconds pass, Arthur is still able to hold against Theo.

Theo notices this.

But he also notices that the state of the gym isn’t improving.

Hm. His control is still slipping.

Theo takes a deep breath, then calls out to Arthur.

"Art, be careful. Your control over your Fire is slipping. If you want to spar with me, then spar. Don’t destroy the gym."

He watches Arthur carefully, to see if he’s listening.

"What are you talking about, Thea? I have perfect control over my Fire and mana. This is the first time I know that I have perfect control," Arthur replies.

"Oh yeah? Then why does the gym look like it’s on fire? If you keep this up, you’ll burn the building too. The whole Rhaenas building."

Arthur is stunned.

But his control over his mana still feels strong to him.

Or at least that’s what he believes.

But Theo’s words reach him.

He starts scanning the gym.

It still looks like a dungeon.

He is taken aback.

The dungeon?

That’s right. Right now I’m in an HB dungeon.

Then why the hell am I fighting Thea and not haelions?

He immediately pulls back his fire, trying to stop.

But like a supercar that has been driven at extremely high speed, normal brakes cannot stop it.

Let alone a sudden brake.

The supercar would lose control.

And that is exactly what happens next.