Chapter 200: A Network Problem

"It's not so hard to use a single cable for several places to communicate. Simply put, you just make the formations that send the message to have a specific signal in front of them."

Droman's eyes lit up.

"You mean like an identification?"

Rean was happy to see how fast he understood.

"Hahaha! Exactly! For example. We have two places in our sect that have communication formations, right? Let's give them a number. The Mission Hall will be Number 01, and the Affairs Office will be Number 02. Suppose someone in Majorias City wants to send a message to the Mission Hall. His Formation will then add a signal representing the number 01 together with the signal of the message."

"Since both the Mission Hall and the Affairs Office are using the same cable for communication, both of them will receive the signal. However, only the communication formation in the Mission Hall will display the message since it has the number 01 in front. The Formation of the Affairs Office will completely ignore that signal since it was made to only display signals that had the number 02 in front."

"That's not all. At to moment, you guys are all doing a one way only communication system. If someone is using a cable to send a message, the other side has to wait before answering it back. Otherwise, both signals will bump on each other on the way, making it impossible for both sides to receive the message."

"However, you are already doing a two cables project, right? Make one of the cables being able to only send information while the other only receives. With Elder Droman's mastery of formations, I know who can definitely modify the existing formations for this purpose. After all, they are simple Lightning Type formations. You just need to work on different outputs of Electrical Currents that are used as Signals."

Droman couldn't help but feel excited about the idea. In theory, it should really work. That means they will be able to connect all the important places in the Dalamu Sect while using just two cables instead of tens or hundreds of them. How good would it be? Just how much better and efficient would this communication system become? But it was then that Droman thought about a problem.

"Wait, but what will happen if two places decide to send a message at the same time? I know that the time needed for a signal to be sent is extremely small. It's even less than a hundredth of a second. That being said, the chances of two signals encountering each other when they enter the same cable is minimal. Still, the chance exists."

Rean heard that and had to admit that it was a problem. Electrical signals don't recognize which direction to take. Suppose you have three buildings in Majorias City that want to send an electrical signal to Dalamu. At the moment, those three buildings' formations are connected to the same cable that goes to Dalamu Sect. In that case, when one of them sends an electrical signal, it will not go to the Dalamu Sect only. That signal will also enter those other two Buildings' Cables since they are also connected. That means that this specific signal will move in the opposite direction when it goes to the other two buildings. If, by chance, someone on those other two buildings tries to send a message at that exact moment, this message signal will collide with the previous signal that was coming in its direction.

One must remember that Rean's knowledge about electrical signals is not that great. After all, he was a metallurgist. The things he knows about electronic equipment are the same as any college student would know back on Earth. If you asked Rean to build a circuit, he wouldn't know where to even start. Obviously, he didn't think that far about it. Also, Droman's concern was valid as it could be. Although the chances of such a thing happening are low at the moment, it will increase as more and more cities are added to the web.

'If things continue like this, they will suffer the thing that most of the gamers back on Earth feared the most, the loss of packets...'

Rean lost count of how many times he heard his classmates complaining that their internet connection was terrible. Things like too many people in the same connection or not enough bandwidth because someone's sister watched whatever video. There wouldn't be space for the communication to work its wonders.

However, Rean wasn't dumb as he was in his previous life due to his soul problem. Besides, he has something that Earth doesn't. Spiritual Energy and several skilled Formations Masters, Droman included, that could work on his ideas. That being said, he quickly thought about two solutions to this problem.

"Elder Droman, I'm happy to see that you could think that far about the communication system. Even I let that point pass without noticing it. However, I have two possible solutions for it. One is cheap and easier to be implemented. However, this cheap one will not resolve the root of the problem. Not to mention that it will bring other issues to the table too. Still, it works."

"The second one would probably resolve this issue for good. However, this one will definitely be a lot more complicated. I don't even know whether the Formations Master, Elder Droman included, would be able to realize this idea of mine or not. Not to mention that it would definitely be more expensive."

"Which one would you require?"

Droman narrowed his eyes. This is an enormous project. Obviously, the sect was spending a lot on it. If they could cut costs, that would be the best-case scenario. However, Droman deeply hated half-assed jobs. He is the head of the Formations Masters Hall. He always did his very best when it came to formations. Just hearing about this 'cheap solution that won't really resolve the main root of the problem' already made him feel goosebumps.

"Before I make a decision, what are the two solutions?"

Rean nodded and then explained.

"The first solution is the 'answer requirement modification.' Elder Droman, you know very well that the signals travel at extremely high speeds. It can make its way from Majorias City all the way to Dalamu Sect in a hundredth of a second. That being said, you will need to make one more simple modification to the formations. It is quite straight forward. Once a formation sends a signal, it will also require an answer from the other side's targeted Formation."

"That being said, make it a three seconds requirement or something like that. This 'answer' is basically the receiving Formation sending a signal back to the sender saying 'I received this signal from you' kind of message."

Droman immediately understood what Rean meant.

"I see... If the sender's Formation doesn't get this answer in three seconds, it will try to send the message one more."

Rean nodded.

"Exactly. However, I believe Elder Droman can already tell what's the problem with this solution, right?"

Droman sighed as he confirmed Rean's suspicions.

"Yes. The problem is in the 'answering message.' Suppose this 'answer' bumps on another message on the way. In that case, the 'sender formation' will not receive the 'answer' even though the message was transmitted correctly. Once that happens, the 'sender formation' will once again resend the same message. It will then continue to do this until it finally gets an answer."

Rean nodded his head, satisfied.

"It is indeed a lot better to talk with intelligent people like elder Droman."

"Hmph! Don't think you can win me over with flattering."

Even though he said that, it would be a lie if he said he wasn't happy. He, too, is loving this conversation about new types of formations. It is an entirely new branch never used before. The proof of it was that even the Imperial family was delighted to hear about it and heavily rewarded their sect for that.

Rean wasn't trying to flatter Elder Droman, though. He really thought that this man was a lot more quick-witted than others. It was clearly the fruits of working in complex formations during his entire life.

"Anyway, the problem with this solution doesn't stop there. Because of the continuous tries of failed answers, all the formations will keep trying more and more. Once a lot of cities are added to our web, the formations might overload with information. Ultimately, more and more failed answer will accumulate, making the number of times the sender tries to send their messages increase. It will reach a point of no more space on the communication system's cables, and the network will crash."

"Network? What is that?"

Rean was taken aback by a second. Only now he remembered that this word doesn't exist in this place.

"Ahem... that's just a name I came up with to describe the whole system. If Elder Droman has a better idea, I don't mind using yours."

Droman shook his head, though.

"It's okay. For some reason, I feel like this name fits perfectly. You have quite a good sense for names, young man."

Rean scratched the back of his head after hearing that. If just it was really his idea... Too bad, he is just a copycat. Everything he said so far was based on the things he experienced in his previous life.

"Errr... Anyway... I believe Elder Droman understands why this solution is cheap, but at the same time, far from perfect."

Droman nodded his head vigorously. He could already see the formations literally breaking down because of the issue. Unless the other idea is impossible to realize, he definitely won't take this one.

"Then, what's the second solution?"

Author's note: If you like the story so far, consider leaving a few Power Stones to help the story. :P