Chapter 146: The Foundations of a New Network 3

Some compositions were designed to reduce mana loss.

Others to isolate multiple signals passing nearby.

Still others to withstand continuous flows without degradation.

Elaria quickly turned a page.

“Some formulas use materials we already have.”

Then another.

“Others…”

She frowned.

“We’ll have to identify them.”

Adam smiled.

“There’s your new problem.”

“My new project.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Shiora, meanwhile, had retrieved a much less technical book.

History and Civil Applications of Mana Networks

Adam looked at her.

“Have you given up on economics?” “

Shiora didn’t even look up.

“No.”

She turned a page.

“I’m specifically looking for why they never commercially developed this technology.”

Adam smiled.

“Obviously.”

Isadora selected:

Territorial Impact of Transmission Infrastructure

She was scanning historical maps.

Networks linking fortifications.

Border posts.

Administrative centers.

Strategic nodes.

Her brows gradually frowned.

“They built their networks around control points.”

Adam moved closer.

Isadora showed him a map.

“Look.”

Several cities were connected.

But the connections mainly converged on military or government installations.

“Very centralized,” Adam remarked.

Isadora nodded.

“And vulnerable.”

“If the center falls…”

“A large part of the network becomes useless.”

Adam smiled.

“That’s something we’ll have to avoid.”

Lyriana had naturally chosen a book on security.

Signal Masking and Transmission Interception

Adam looked at her.

“I couldn’t have chosen anything better for you.”

Lyriana calmly flipped through the book.

“Any technology that transmits information also creates someone who will want to intercept it.”

Adam nodded.

“Exactly.”

She turned several more pages.

“They already knew several methods for detecting a transmission without understanding its content.”

“Traffic analysis.”

“If that’s your term.”

“Yes.”

Lyriana smiled.

“Then your internet will need security from the start.”

“I was counting on you to remind me.” “

Selene, unsurprisingly, was holding:

Mobile Tactical Networks and Field Communications

Adam burst out laughing.

Selene looked up.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just perfectly predictable.”

She ignored the remark.

“They had portable repeaters.”

This time, Adam was immediately interested.

“Portable what?”

“Some could be carried by a single person.”

She turned a page.

“Others were mounted on horses or vehicles.”

Adam leaned forward.

“That… that’s extremely useful.”

Selene nodded.

“A unit could communicate with its command without sending a messenger.”

Elena, sitting nearby, happened to be holding a book.

Group Coordination and Hierarchical Transmission

She was already thinking about how to use it.

“It would completely change the way an army is commanded.”

Isadora immediately looked up.

“Yes.”

Elena continued:

“Currently, the farther a unit is deployed, the more outdated the orders become by the time they receive them.”

Adam nodded.

“With a sufficiently fast network, a commander could react almost instantly.” “

Elena seemed to truly grasp the implications of this idea.

“It’s not just more practical.”

“No.”

“It changes the strategy itself.”

Isadora slightly closed her book.

“A lot.”

Astraea had chosen a different book from the others.

Interactions Between Mana Networks and Natural Environments

Adam looked at her curiously.

Astraea was browsing a section on natural flows.

“It directly concerns the World Tree.”

Vespera immediately looked up.

Astraea continued:

“Not specifically it.”

She pointed to several diagrams.

“But they had already studied how to use natural mana networks without disturbing them.”

Vespera almost stood up.

Astraea raised a finger.

“I’ll read first.”

Vespera sat back down.

Adam burst out laughing.

“Impressive.”

Astraea smiled.

“I have experience.”

Well…

Adam looked at his own book.

Introduction to the Basics of Mana Transmission

He resumed reading.

The fundamental principle was more elegant than he had imagined.

A transmitter didn’t necessarily have to send all the energy to the receiver.

In many systems…

Rather, it created a controlled modification in an environment already charged with mana.

A variation.

A sequence.

A modulation.

This variation represented the information.

Adam murmured:

“So mana is both energy and a signal carrier…”

Vespera replied from her book:

“Depending on the method, yes.”

The techniques were divided into three main categories.

Earth Transmission

Uses mana flows connected to the Earth.

Very stable.

Low sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances.

Excellent for connecting fixed structures.

But generally required suitable anchor points and became more complex depending on the local geology.

Atmospheric Transmission

Uses Wind mana and magical air currents.

Much more flexible.

Ideal for mobile units.

Easier to deploy quickly.

But more susceptible to magical storms, strong mana disturbances, and certain barriers.

Water Transmission

Uses Water mana.

Particularly effective along continuous natural networks.

Rivers.

Canals.

Connected lakes.

Underground aquifers.

Some ancient installations even used water pipes as a secondary communication medium.

Adam chuckled.

“A network of magical conduits…”

Elaria glanced up briefly.

“Is that strange?”

“Not really. In my world, too, we always found new places to run cables.”

He continued.

But the three methods shared several elements.

A transmitter.

A receiver.

An identification signature.

A system for converting information into sequences.

Synchronization mechanisms.

Relays when the distance became too great.

And correction devices when part of the signal was lost or distorted.

Adam paused at a diagram.

“It’s almost a protocol.”

Elaria asked:

“A what?”

Adam held up his book.

“Rules that allow two systems that don’t know each other directly to communicate properly.”

He thought for a moment.

“For example: how to start a message, how to identify its recipient, how to signal its end, how to verify that it hasn’t been corrupted…”

Vespera nodded slowly.

“So, a grammar for machines.”

Adam smiled.

“Excellent definition.”

He continued reading.

Some transmissions used a single magic frequency.

Others used multiple layers.

Some systems could transmit several signals simultaneously without them interfering.

Adam froze.

“Multiplexing…”

Shiora looked up.

“Is it important?”

“Very important.”

He explained:

“Imagine a road.”

Shiora nodded.

“A primitive technology would allow a single caravan to pass across its entire width.”

She understood immediately.

“This one creates multiple lanes.”

“Exactly.” “

Adam held up his book.

“Multiple communications can use the same medium without necessarily interfering with each other.”

Vespera smiled.

“With proper separation of signatures.”

“Yes.”

The more Adam read…

The more he understood how technologically advanced this civilization was.

But also how its use had been limited by its way of thinking.

The ancients had perfected transmission.

Without ever building the digital society Adam knew.

They possessed the roads.

The relays.

The rules.

The addressing systems.

The error correction methods.

Even concepts akin to multiple channels.

But the bulk of their networks remained used by a few institutions.

Military forces.

Government agencies.

Magical installations.

Certain important guilds.

Not by every inhabitant.

Not with millions of terminals.”

Not like a permanent layer of daily life.

Adam finally closed his book.

Around him…

The others gradually did the same.

Vespera was one of the last.

Elaria as well.

The Room had become quiet again.

Adam looked at the hundreds of books.

Then a thought occurred to him.

Put them away.

The reaction was immediate.

The books on the tables and those not currently being held began to levitate.

The shelves moved.

Then one by one…

The stacks disappeared into the Room’s storage spaces.

A few seconds later…

Only the books still in their hands remained in the room.

Adam watched.

“Practical.”

Astraea smiled.

“I’m definitely taking back any negative thoughts I might have had about this Room.”

Lyriana looked at her mother.

“You didn’t say anything negative.”

“Exactly. I was right.”

Adam shook his head.

Then he looked at the group.

“Good.”

The books gradually closed.

Vespera placed hers on her lap.

Elaria did the same.

Shiora closed hers much more slowly.

Isadora remained silent for a few more seconds.

Selene and Elena had already exchanged a look that clearly showed they had begun to imagine military applications.

Lyriana seemed to be mainly thinking about security issues.

Astraea, meanwhile, was still looking at the diagrams representing natural flows.

Adam settled in more comfortably.

“Now that everyone has had a first look…”

He smiled.

“I imagine you all have something to say.”

Shiora immediately raised her hand.

Adam pointed a finger at her.

“Not the money yet.”

She slowly lowered her hand.

“Tyrant.”

Adam burst out laughing.

“Others first.”