Chapter 201: Magical Connections
It had only taken Quarilyn two days to get a gate built to the specification the giants required. The bigger issue was the power generation we needed for it to run on the Earth side. Similar to the problem she had faced when setting up the connection between the homestead and the United States, we just didn’t have the power. Though in this case, we had the mana flow. It just wasn’t a concentrated enough amount. The power demands were too high for her to even power it with her own mana reserves.
We had been going back and forth on it for days with Quarilyn and Elody trying several things and making zero progress. We were nearing a point of considering trying to take the supplies through the spire. Thankfully, though, the solution had finally presented itself after a long conversation with Karlinovo.
| Dave: What if we move the gate? It will likely make things more difficult in the future, but don’t we have a much stronger flow near the crops and the cloud tree? Karlinovo: We do, but if we start siphoning off that mana, we could have consequences for the plants. That was one of the first things Elody considered. Dave: So we are in a lose/lose situation. We need the gate, but if we turn it on, we lose the crops, and that means millions will die in the future, but if we don’t turn it on, millions will die now. Karlinovo: I think you’re underestimating the numbers, but yes, that is the gist of where we are at. Dave: And I assume there’s no way to convert our traditional power sources into something that could run the gate? Karlinovo: I wouldn’t say no way. In fact, I’m sure, given time, we could do it. It’s just that we don’t have time. Look, we have the spike ready to go. We could deploy that without the food assistance and hope for the best. Then again, considering Grant already found feral mana beasts running around, I am a tad concerned about what the spike will cause there. Dave: Okay, new idea. We just need the gate to run twice at the moment. Do you have the supplies to build a large enough mana storage container to power it for an hour or so? Karlinovo: With what the Reltleons brought with them, likely yes, but we still need to fill it, and doing it this way is going to radically increase the mana we need, since we can’t permanently link it, letting the giants’ end supply an added stream. Dave: I understand, but do we have enough people, including everyone there, to fill the container enough to keep the connection up? Karlinovo: Actually, you might be onto something here. I need to do some math. One moment. Karlinovo: The main issue we are going to run into is mana degradation, without very specialized materials, it’s hard to store mana for long without a loss of potency. For most of our applications so far, this isn’t a big issue, but with an inter-dimensional gate like this, it will matter. The good news is I’ve done the math. If we can get most of the Reltleons on board, we will have enough to turn it on. Dave: And stay on for the time we need, correct? Karlinovo: No, but this is where our two Traveler guests come in. Normally, thanks to the nature of the highways, it’s easier to supply the power needed to open them, which is why a single dungeon core can do that. Dave: So with both of them, we can maintain the gate? Assuming they are willing. Karlinovo: Possibly, but I doubt it. So we take it one step further. We are going to steal as much mana from the dungeon as we can and feed it directly into the gate as well. We are going to need to find a way to move this connection off of Alpha and into the mana flow itself long term, but for now, I think this will all work. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Maud: And nothing will blow up? :) Karlinovo: Probably not, no. Dave: Alright, let’s do it. I’ll let the people on this side know we’ve likely solved the problem.
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