Kire glanced at Ruli, amused, and feeling just a smidge of pity for him, given that she had similarly been reluctant to get up not that long ago. “Coffee,” Kire said longingly, and it was Narda’s turn to look with amusement, the giantess looking at the pair of sleepyheads sitting together. Kire nodded along at Ysaryn’s explanation, though. She wondered briefly if they would let Gavin participate in this, or if this was still something either too advanced or too off-limits to involve the Gemini lad. She chewed through her food slowly as she pondered the questions about the world gate Ruli posed. Narda tried to follow along, but this was Kire’s field, and all she could picture at the moment when it came to gates were actual gates of wood or metal. 

“World gates are larger portals, and given the amount of energy, the elements involved, the complexity of the ritual, somewhat less predictable. They’d leave physical signs of their presence, but I haven’t found evidence of a world portal staying open permanently. In fact, I haven’t actually gone through a world gate. You’d have to conduct another ritual each time. They’re like explosions of magic, happening only temporarily until they collapse or close, after which only the altered terrain would be left.” She glanced at Narda’s scrunched-up face, knowing such talk always left a sour taste in the giantess’s mouth. She leaned an elbow on the table, resting her chin on it, as she thought it over. “Ikegai would have to have first stayed somewhere where he’d encounter the Kartaians, right? Or at least, find out about their existence.”