American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 156 The Nature of Magic and the Origin of the Strange

After teaching Xiao Xian how to use the Eye of Agamotto, the Ancient One gave him a magic book.

"Here are the basic spells that the Sorcerer Supreme needs to know. Take a look, and feel free to ask me if you don't understand anything."

"Look now?" Xiao Xian asked in surprise as he picked up the spellbook. Did Gu Yi really think so highly of his magical talent?

"You are a dimensional lord, try to sense the casting process of magic from the perspective of a dimensional lord," Ancient One said, looking at the astonished Xiao Xian.

"I've removed your dimensional space from the Kamar-Tek blocking list and added it to the whitelist. You can now easily sense your dimensional space."

"Um, I'll give it a try." Xiao Xian opened the spellbook. The first page was the teleportation spell. The spell required a sling ring, but the sling ring was used to facilitate communication with the dimensional demon that granted the spell to the mage. Xiao Xian tried to modify the spell so that it would target himself.

While circling his hand in front of him, Xiao Xian sensed the Hell Space. Just as Gu Yi had said, he could now easily sense his own Hell Space.

After paying a sum of world origin, the rotating portal in front of Xiao Xian opened, and Xiao Xian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the laboratory opposite.

"Is the essence of magic exchange?"

Through sensing the dimensional space, Xiao Xian discovered that the world's origin he had borrowed from himself flowed into this world, and then the world opened a portal for him.

Essentially, this is no different from the principle that Xiao Xian can achieve whatever he desires in his own dimensional space. It's just that the fees in this world are much higher. The same portal is much cheaper for Xiao Xian to open in his own dimensional space.

"That's right, the essence of magic is exchange," Ancient nodded. "It's not just an exchange between magicians and dimensional demons, but also an exchange between dimensional demons and worlds, or even the multiverse."

"Isn't this similar to the idea of ​​wish fulfillment in dimensional space?" Xiao Xian asked.

"It's similar for others, but it's different for you. In the dimensional space, you have the highest authority. Whether it's elemental matter or time and space, as long as you have enough world origin, you can manipulate and play with it at will. But in the real world, what you can achieve through trade depends on what permissions the world opens up. If it opens up spatial permissions, you can teleport by trading world origin. If it doesn't open up permissions, even if you are willing to give up world origin, it will not lend you the relevant permissions."

Gu Yi reminded Xiao Xiandao

"You can set these things in your dimensional space as well. Remember not to grant too many permissions, otherwise, once someone enters your dimensional space, they will be able to do almost anything."

"If I shut them all down, wouldn't other magicians be unable to use their magic even if they enter my world?" Xiao Xian's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he immediately thought of it.

"That depends on the level of the mage. It's true for weak mages, but this trick isn't as effective against powerful mages. For example, if some fundamental laws are shut down, the world will have a hard time even maintaining its operation. Truly powerful mages can use these hard-to-shut-down permissions to perform many spells. In addition, spells that trade with the multiverse can still be used normally and are not affected by this."

Gu Yi smiled and said

"Furthermore, some mages are also dimensional lords, or have made deals with dimensional lords. They can directly summon a part of another dimension. If the two dimensions are adjacent, they can use their authority in that dimension to cast spells."

"I see." Xiao Xian nodded upon hearing this, realizing that having a mentor made all the difference.

"There are advantages and disadvantages to dimensional demons learning magic. The disadvantage is that many spells are exclusive. You can think of it as a dimensional demon having signed an exclusive agreement with the world or the multiverse. Only he or a magician he has authorized can use this spell. A magician like you can't use it," Gu Yi nodded.

"Many of the Sorcerer Supreme's signature high-end spells are Vishanti's exclusive magic, which is why you can't learn them unless you can sign a cooperation agreement with Vishanti. However, as a dimensional daemons, you can also sign agreements with worlds or the multiverse to create your own exclusive magic, but of course, you'll have to negotiate and develop those agreements yourself."

"But I can pirate it, right?" Xiao Xian pointed to the portal in front of him. "For example, this portal. If it were a special magic portal, the world wouldn't let me use it. But I can sign an agreement with the world for a square portal, which would bypass the restrictions, right?"

"That's right, if he didn't sign a special permission agreement, that's how it would be. But square portals consume much more energy, so I don't really recommend you do it. Also, the source code for basic magic is public, so you can easily modify or pirate it. The source code for advanced magic is stored with the Dimensional Demon God. All you can do is send him your requirements, and he'll run it for you in the background."

Gu nodded, quite satisfied with Xiao Xian's reaction. A rigid person could never become a magic master; Xiao Xian's shameless behavior was perfect for a magician.

"In addition, many dimensional demons sign exclusive agreements with the world at key points to increase the difficulty of piracy. Some even sign exclusive permission agreements. For example, if you sign a color field permission agreement with this world, the color field-related spells in this world can only be used by you or the people you authorize. Others cannot use them. Of course, this is very difficult, and most large worlds will not sign such agreements."

"I understand." Xiao Xian nodded. It seems that the Dimensional Demon God also values ​​intellectual property rights.

"By the way, those people outside definitely won't obey you after I faked my death and escaped. Can you handle them?" Gu Yi looked towards the main hall outside and said, "If you really can't handle them, I can help you get rid of them."

"No need, I can handle it myself. Before they rebelled, they were free labor. Even if they rebelled, a mage's soul is much more valuable than an ordinary person's soul." Xiao Xian shook his head, refusing Gu Yi's offer to help. Besides, this might even lead to some quests later, which seemed pretty good.

"Compared to that, you said the Sorcerer Supreme's mission is mainly to prevent dimensional demons from invading and to deal with the strange things. I understand the dimensional demons, but what's the situation with the strange things in this world?" Xiao Xian continued. Compared to the group of mages outside, Xiao Xian was more concerned about the strange things.

"Strange things are those that don't conform to common sense. Most strange things arise because a world has devoured another world or space, and is temporarily unable to absorb or digest that part," the Ancient One explained.

"For example, your girlfriend, Tomie, is a collection of rules born after our world devoured a world teeming with strange beings. She's completely illogical in our world, but in her original world, she was one of its core elements. Along with her was another self-replicating vortex-like monster, but that vortex was so powerful that I trapped it in a closed space, waiting for the world to slowly digest it. And Sadako, whom Superman encountered, was also created after our world devoured a smaller world; Sadako was also one of the core elements of her world."

"Don't worry, as long as the anomalies don't affect the balance of the world, you don't need to care about them most of the time. In fact, it's not very useful to care about them anyway. As long as the world doesn't completely devour their part of the rules, they will be resurrected even if they die. For example, Sadako, who was destroyed by Wonder Woman with the help of the Olympian flame, is about to be resurrected."

(End of this chapter)