"Alright, the doll is finished. Now to activate it."
Stretching slightly, Alice settled back into her chair, gazing expectantly at the new doll on the table.
The power system she'd recently developed still relied on septentrionic magic to simulate a hydrogen-oxygen explosion. The violent energy released was then converted back into mana, creating a near-perpetual cycle.
Previously, though, the idea had hit a snag—energy conversion was inefficient, and the mana recovered couldn't sustain the cycle.
The core issue was the reaction chamber's size. Inside a compact doll, the chamber was too small, and the mana required to reinforce it—to keep it from blowing apart—was far too costly.
So, solving the reaction chamber's mana consumption was essentially the key to everything.
And now, Alice had managed it—by making use of Gaps.
She placed the site of the explosive reaction within the Gap itself.
Then, the mana converted after each explosion was channeled back through the Gap into the doll.
In truth, if this mana-generation method could've been applied directly to Alice herself, that would've been ideal.
Meaning, the explosion reactor would be built for Alice, not the doll.
But unfortunately…
Although Alice possessed vast reserves of mana, her body was already saturated with it. Trying to absorb additional converted mana would risk overloading her.
In short…
To put it simply, here's what Alice had accomplished over these past seven days:
First, an automated mana generator.
With just an initial supply of mana, it could continuously produce more. Even after massive expenditures—like in combat—that temporarily outstripped the generator's output, all Alice needed to do was supply another starter amount, and the system would kick back into action.
Second, wireless mana transmission for the doll.
Her original idea—building a reactor into each doll—had failed due to size constraints.
Up until now, Alice's dolls had been powered by Orario's magic crystals. And thanks to the magic circuits she'd built into them, Alice could recharge those crystals herself.
Replenishing them took time. Not too long at present, but that could change. If her Rose-series dolls were successfully developed, Alice knew each one would be a serious mana drain.
Topping them up would definitely take ages.
But now, with mana being generated inside the Gap, Alice only needed to give her dolls the ability to connect to it. That way, they could refuel on their own.
Incredibly convenient.
Alice was absolutely sure that, as her mastery of magic deepened, she'd eventually develop even better reactors—making each doll a truly independent entity. But for now, this was more than enough.
Looking at the doll she'd spent seven days perfecting—the most powerful she'd ever made—a gleam of anticipation lit up her eyes.
The reactor within the Gap was already active, flooding the dimensional pocket with dense mana.
Now came the most critical step: linking the doll to that energy source.
Carefully, Alice picked up the doll.
She took a deep breath, and mana gathered in her palm. With just a tiny spark of her power to activate it, this doll would keep going indefinitely—barring any extremely mana-intensive battles.
But of course, saying that, Alice had definitely equipped this one with some seriously energy-guzzling features.
'Well then, let's begin.'
Threads of mana from Alice's hand slipped into the doll's body.
She could feel the internal magic circuits hum to life, the doll's systems booting up.
Once everything was running smoothly, the mana system inside triggered the spell array linking it to the Gap.
And then—
A massive wave of mana erupted from the doll.
Just like last time's explosion, a violent gust tore through Alice's room, flinging the windows wide open.
But the surge came and went in an instant.
Soon, the room settled back into quiet. The doll—Alice's seven-day masterpiece—sat intact on the table, though it seemed devoid of awareness.
Alice wasn't worried. That was by design.
Even though this doll was made from the Goliath's tough hide—a drop item far more resilient than Shanghai or Hourai—Goliath itself had been vaporized by one of her explosions. Alice was still nervous about the thing blowing up again.
If anything happened to Shanghai or Hourai, she'd be heartbroken. So this new doll had no consciousness of its own.
'Goliath Doll.' Alice raised a hand, manipulating the Goliath Doll and making it float. Compared to her others, having its own power source made the Goliath Doll much easier to control, and its movements could be far more precise.
After guiding it in a circle around herself, Alice nodded, satisfied, and put the doll away.
Unlike Shanghai, Hourai, and the rest, Alice intended to keep the Goliath Doll as a hidden card. Originally, she'd conceived it as a countermeasure against the Apollo Familia.
But development had hit delays, forcing her to resort to other methods.
Still, now that it was ready, it wasn't too late.
'I should head into the Dungeon these next couple days. Test out the Goliath Doll's capabilities.'
'Speaking of which, I haven't eaten much lately. It's probably almost dinnertime—I wonder if Lili's prepared something for me.'
Smoothing out her clothes, Alice left the workshop.
When she came downstairs and entered the dining area, she spotted Lefiya and Ais.
"Alice! You're finally out!" Lefiya beamed at the sight of her.
"It's been a while, Alice." Ais smiled warmly.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
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If you guys wanna check it out.