Free Web NovelChapter 18: Chapter 18: Reaction Technique "Flame
Doudou stared, confused, at Qin Xiaoxia, who had suddenly started shouting. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
’Did his newly awakened Magic Power affect his mind?’
But Qin Xiaoxia’s mind was already racing.
He remembered the news mentioning that the gas emitted from the Winding Loach River contained small amounts of CH4, a key component of swamp gas.
It seemed the source of that gas had to be the Nightmare Swamp.
’If they really drain the river, leaving just the main body of the Nightmare Swamp, could I just... set it on fire?’
It was a wild idea, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt it might just work.
Qin Xiaoxia wasn’t crazy enough to try setting the river on fire in front of everyone, so he would have to rely on his newly awakened Magic Power.
His confidence came from a gut feeling, born from carefully recalling his experience by the river.
According to Doudou.
Magic Power was a special force born from the union of one’s spirit, will, and body. It was a miraculous law unique to living beings, capable of incredible feats.
Naturally, Qin Xiaoxia didn’t believe his Magic Power was limited to mere Perception.
Doudou had said something that was spot on.
"The only one who can truly understand your own Magic Power is you!"
The same was true for Qin Xiaoxia.
After learning the basic principles behind Magic Power, he began exploring his own body, using the simple method Doudou had taught him to sense the changes within.
In simple terms, he was "examining" his own Magic Power for the first time.
It was an indescribable sensation, as if he could "see" the entire structure of his body.
A faint, mysterious, and magnificent purple light appeared in every corner of his body. It was in his organs, his bones, and even in every single cell.
The humanoid phantom formed from this connected light looked very much like a profound, mysterious soul.
It covered his entire body, leaving no blind spots! It was nothing like the meridians or dantians described in novels.
Perhaps due to the energy he’d expended by the river, the light seemed a bit thin, but its recovery speed was far faster than a "dud" like Doudou. For now, at least, the recovery was practically visible to the naked eye.
That feeling of everything around him seeming "compliant" returned. This time, because he was actively sensing it, the feeling was much clearer and more distinct than before.
He suddenly had an idea.
"Doudou, light the lighter."
Qin Xiaoxia didn’t smoke, but he kept a lighter at home for guests or for lighting mosquito coils.
Doudou felt that same heart palpitation from before, though it was milder this time. It must mean Qin Xiaoxia was sensing his own Magic Power.
Without asking why, Doudou immediately grabbed the lighter from the coffee table and, with a CLICK, ignited the flame.
The instant the flame flickered to life.
Qin Xiaoxia immediately sensed a change.
The heat and the burning sensation, the gas continuously jetting from the lighter, and the invisible substance from the air constantly converging on the flame.
’Oxygen?’
’It really works! I wonder if it’ll succeed if I try?’ ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Once the idea took root, he was itching to try it.
And so, a few seconds later.
"WHOOSH~"
The lighter’s flame suddenly flared up, growing several times larger and taller as the temperature shot up.
Terrified, Doudou immediately flung the lighter away.
The lighter, now engulfed in a "large flame," slammed against the wall.
"BOOM~"
It exploded. The fire instantly burst outward, spreading across a radius of several meters.
"Holy shit!"
Qin Xiaoxia immediately ended his "experiment" and ran to Doudou’s side, anxiously checking to see if he’d been burned.
After seeing that Doudou was only frightened and uninjured, he turned his attention to the wall, where the fire had already vanished.
A half-meter-wide black scorch mark was seared into the white paint.
Shock, confusion, and excitement warred within him.
"B-Big Cousin, what d-did you just do?"
As Doudou stammered in disbelief, Qin Xiaoxia subconsciously looked down at his own body and hands.
"Looks like my Magic Power isn’t just for Perception."
Doudou had already figured that much out from what had just happened.
Fortunately, while the explosion’s "fiery special effects" were terrifying, the sound hadn’t been too loud. Otherwise, the neighbors would have definitely thought something was wrong.
Now it was Doudou’s turn to get excited.
"Are you an amazing Weaver? Or can you borrow the power of a Flame Elf?"
Qin Xiaoxia had already learned about the different types and compositions of Elves from Doudou during their first few days together.
The types and forms of Elves were many and varied. Some had flesh and blood, while others were invisible. Doudou himself was a type of Elf, and from an Earthling’s perspective, Flame Elves were a fantastical existence.
A Weaver, on the other hand, was more like someone who wove Magic using their own Magic Power, effectively launching attacks directly with it.
Qin Xiaoxia knew perfectly well that what he had just done didn’t fit either description.
He had used what little he remembered of his physics and chemistry.
If he had to classify it using the academic terms for Magic Power application that Doudou used...
...he would have to coin a new term for it: "Reaction Technique."
Having confirmed one of the properties of his Magic Power, Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t help but wonder...
’Where did my Magic Power come from?’
The answer might have something to do with his shared perception with Doudou, but that wasn’t necessarily the main reason.
The Wish he’d made earlier, in particular, weighed on his mind.
After all, it hadn’t awakened sooner or later, but on the very same day he made the Wish.
Doudou wasn’t a particularly studious Little Elf, so he was often unclear about things that Qin Xiaoxia felt he ought to know.
But by Qin Xiaoxia’s logic...
...a Wish for an "answer" must have an "answerer." Since Doudou himself couldn’t be the one to provide it, it had to be some other entity.
"Doudou, let’s say in your Magson World, someone makes a Wish asking a question. What kind of being would be most likely to provide the answer?" Qin Xiaoxia suddenly asked.
Doudou answered instinctively.
"How would I know... uh, Elves! Or gods, I guess."
Doudou had been about to blurt out that he didn’t know, but he saw Qin Xiaoxia’s unfriendly glare and quickly reconsidered.
"But Earth has no Elves and no gods. Hmm, assuming they don’t exist here, what kind of being would answer the question?"
Doudou couldn’t answer that.
But Qin Xiaoxia wasn’t really expecting an answer from Doudou.
"What if," he proposed, "it’s the world itself?"
Doudou froze, then replied instinctively.
"Well, it’s not impossible..."
Though Doudou’s reply wasn’t exactly certain, Qin Xiaoxia himself was almost sure of it.
The feeling his Magic Power gave him—that everything around him was unusually receptive to him—made this "helpful tendency" all too obvious.
So, if he were to hypothesize, the strange properties of his Magic Power, and even his awakening in the first place, were likely related to the influence of the world itself.
Such an influence wouldn’t appear out of nowhere. It must have been his Wish to find the Nightmare Swamp that caused the world itself to notice him.
And the various perceptual talents he’d gained from his shared connection with Doudou were perhaps the foundation that made this all possible.
’Until I find a better answer, I’ll just go with this for now.’
When it came to figuring things out, Qin Xiaoxia had a bit of an obsession. Whether his theory was reasonable or far-fetched, arriving at a conclusion made it easier for him to understand and apply his Magic Power.
In a way, you could say Qin Xiaoxia had a need for control.
And to verify this hypothesis, he would need to experiment further.
