"Just great," Fabian Bingen sighed, already anticipating the trouble that lay ahead of them. "Then let us take the most optimistic estimate: how many mana stones can they actually extract from the ground each month?" He paused for a moment before continuing, his expression growing more serious as he considered what they needed to do next. "I also think we should warn the Great Houses about this development so they can secure the mana stones available in our country before everyone else realises what is happening." It was not an ideal solution, but Fabian could already see that keeping the knowledge entirely within their own circle would create more problems than it solved.
"Sure, I don't mind," Karl replied, looking rather pleased with the suggestion. "I take it that you want the Great Houses to deal with all the political bullshit?" He had no particular interest in getting involved in the complicated negotiations that would inevitably follow the disclosure of such valuable knowledge. Selling the tome, negotiating with foreign factions, and dealing with governments would consume an enormous amount of time, all of which would take him away from the responsibilities he actually cared about. Being the Sonnenberg patriarch was already stressful enough, and Karl had no desire to make his life even more complicated by personally overseeing the distribution of knowledge that could change the balance of power across the world.
After all, Karl had never become patriarch because he enjoyed politics or wanted to spend his days negotiating with people who measured every conversation in terms of influence and advantage. His interests were far more practical, and he preferred dealing with matters where experience, craftsmanship, and a clear understanding of the situation could produce tangible results. The creation of mana veins was certainly important, but the political struggle surrounding their distribution was an entirely different matter. If the Great Houses were willing to take responsibility for that side of the business, he would happily let them handle it while the Sonnenbergs concentrated on their own affairs.
"However, if you want my honest assessment, I would estimate that the mine currently produces around one hundred thousand mana stones per month," Karl continued. "And I do not expect that number to increase anytime soon." His estimate was based not only on the mine's current production but also on the complications that he expected to arise as the operation developed. The construction of the access road had already demonstrated how easily bureaucratic interference could delay otherwise straightforward work, and he saw no reason to assume that the mining operation would somehow escape similar problems. Even if the mine possessed the potential to produce more, its actual output would depend on whether the people responsible for it could work efficiently without constantly being interrupted by officials trying to demonstrate their own importance.
"First of all, as I mentioned earlier, I expect there to be complications with the mine," Karl explained, making sure that the others understood why he was reluctant to offer a more optimistic forecast. "Second, there is no real political or economic incentive for our union to accelerate production." He leaned back slightly, considering the strange position in which the mana stone industry currently found itself. Although the stones were expensive, their price was largely the result of their novelty and the exciting possibilities associated with their future applications. Their actual uses, apart from absorbing the mana they contained, were still relatively limited, which meant that the demand for them had not yet reached the point where expanding production was an obvious priority.
Karl's reasoning was simple: if the union could already sell the available mana stones at a good price, there was little reason to invest heavily in increasing production. Mining more stones would require additional workers, equipment, transport capacity, and storage facilities, all of which would create costs that the current market might not justify. Furthermore, the union would need somewhere to keep the stones until buyers could be found, and that was not a problem its officials were particularly interested in creating for themselves. As long as the existing supply was sufficient to meet current demand, the most practical choice might simply be to leave the remaining mana stones inside the mountain until the market gave them a compelling reason to extract more.
"That is why I suspect they will be quite content to leave the stones in the mountain," Karl concluded with a smile. "Otherwise, they would have to find a place to store everything they mine, and they certainly aren't doing that at the moment." His explanation made the situation considerably clearer to the others, who had initially hoped that the discovery of a mana stone mine would provide an almost limitless supply of the resources they needed. The reality was much less convenient, since the amount extracted each month would remain limited by economic decisions as much as by the physical capabilities of the mine. Even if the mountain contained millions of mana stones, those resources would be of little immediate use if the people controlling them had no reason to bring them to the surface.
"Alright, then I think we can all agree that we should not reveal the information just yet," Vernik Roth said, taking up the discussion once Karl had finished. "If we do, we might end up sitting on a mountain of money while having no mana stones available to create our own mana veins." He shook his head at the thought, because such an outcome would be an almost comical waste of the opportunity they had fought so hard to obtain. The knowledge contained in the tome would still be valuable, but without the necessary resources, the families would be unable to turn it into the advantages they actually wanted. Their priority therefore had to be securing enough mana stones before allowing the information to spread throughout the world.
Vernik considered the involvement of the Great Houses the most sensible way forward. Their political influence and established connections would allow them to handle the inevitable scrutiny far more effectively than the trade families could manage alone. "I support the idea of bringing the Great Houses into this," he continued, his expression showing his disgust at the prospect of dealing with countless ambitious organisations. "That will give us more oversight, and they have enough political capital to swat away the rest of the flies." It was not that the Great Houses could eliminate every threat, but they possessed the resources and authority to discourage many opportunists before those people could become a serious problem.
The other family heads voiced their support, some agreeing immediately while others nodded after a brief exchange of looks. None of them wanted to spend the next several months trapped in political negotiations when they could instead be preparing to establish their own mana veins. They had already received the knowledge and understood the benefits it offered, so their immediate objective was to secure the resources needed to put it into practice. If the Great Houses could handle the wider political fallout, the trade families would be free to concentrate on their own preparations and leave the inevitable disputes to people who were better suited to managing them.
"By the way, I suggest that we sell the tome for one million silver coins per copy," Fabian said, introducing another proposal as the discussion turned towards the financial side of their plan. "We can negotiate a separate price with the Great Houses later, since we will be asking quite a lot of them, but for everyone else, I think one million silver coins is appropriate." The price was substantial, but Fabian believed it was justified by the importance of the information contained in the tome. Selling it too cheaply would make it easier for minor factions to obtain knowledge that could transform their future, while also reducing the amount of money the families could use to protect themselves and their newly acquired advantages.
More importantly, the price needed to account for the dangers that would follow once mana veins became more widely available. Fabian was not simply trying to maximise the families' profits, since he also understood that every faction capable of establishing a mana vein would need to be prepared to defend it. The world still clung to its laws, institutions, and traditional values, but the arrival of mana had changed the balance between power and restraint. In many places, the law of the jungle had become more visible than ever, and groups that would previously have been deterred by ordinary legal consequences were now willing to take risks that would once have seemed unthinkable.
There was also the disturbing problem of people who had become convinced that they were the chosen ones. Few people liked acknowledging how many such individuals existed, partly because doing so meant admitting that the world contained people whose actions could not always be explained by ordinary reasoning. Some of these individuals were not merely eccentric or overconfident; they were genuinely dangerous, capable of convincing themselves that their desires were righteous simply because they believed they had been selected for some greater purpose. In their eyes, the existence of a mana vein might be enough to justify an attack, especially if they decided that another faction had stolen an opportunity that rightfully belonged to them.
Fabian could easily imagine such a person convincing themselves that an entire family or faction needed to be destroyed to obtain a mana vein. They would not necessarily consider themselves criminals, either, because their distorted sense of righteousness could persuade them that they were correcting an injustice or fulfilling a sacred responsibility. That was what made the situation so dangerous: the threat did not come exclusively from people who wanted to steal for personal profit, but also from individuals who believed their actions were justified by some grand purpose. A substantial price for the tome would not prevent every threat, but it would help ensure that those who obtained the knowledge had at least some resources available to protect what they built.
"Does anyone else have any further remarks?" Fabian asked with a small smile, looking around the table to see whether another family head wished to raise an objection. The main points had been discussed, and the others seemed broadly satisfied with the proposed approach. They would delay the wider release of the knowledge, involve the Great Houses, and work towards securing enough mana stones to establish their own mana veins. For the moment, that was the most sensible course of action, although Fabian knew that many details would still need to be settled before they could put the plan into practice.
"Yes, I do," Karl replied, raising his voice before the discussion could be considered finished. "Could I ask Miss Gaia to return to the room for a moment, please?" He spoke with the calm certainty of someone who did not genuinely believe that Gaia had stopped listening to their conversation. Given that they were gathered inside her private space, it seemed unlikely that she had been unable to hear what they were discussing, regardless of whether she had chosen to remain visible. Karl wanted to ask one final question before they were sent back to their bodies, and he saw no reason to waste time pretending that Gaia had not been following their deliberations.
"Certainly. What is it?" Gaia asked as she walked through the door, showing no particular concern that the family heads had apparently realised she had been listening to their entire conversation. Her expression remained relaxed, as though returning to answer a question were the most natural thing in the world. She had allowed them to discuss their plans without her visible presence, but she had never promised that their conversation would be beyond her awareness. Now that Karl had called for her, she was perfectly willing to hear what he wanted to know.
"Do we need to screen the people who purchase the information for signs of corruption, or should we simply sell it to whoever wants it and leave you to deal with the corrupted humans yourself?" Karl asked directly. His question was not born from indifference to the dangers posed by corruption, but from a practical recognition that the trade families could not investigate every potential buyer themselves. Given the importance of mana veins, he expected corrupted humans to take an interest in them, especially if they could use their abilities to interfere with the veins or turn them into something dangerous. Since Gaia had made it clear that the veins were important to her, he wanted to know whether she expected the families to take responsibility for identifying those threats or intended to handle them personally.
"That is a good question," Gaia answered, acknowledging the concern without hesitation. "The mana veins are indeed important, but I will deal with anyone who attempts to corrupt them myself." Her response made the division of responsibilities straightforward, removing the need for the trade families to develop their own methods of screening every buyer before selling the tome. "You may sell the knowledge to whoever you like." She was clearly confident in her ability to handle anyone who tried to interfere with the veins, and she had no intention of making the families responsible for a task she could manage herself.
"Thank you, Miss Gaia. That was all I wanted to ask," Karl replied, bowing respectfully. To him, Gaia was a goddess, and he treated her accordingly, even though their interactions had become more direct as the world changed around them. Her answer gave him the clarity he needed, allowing him to focus on the practical decisions that lay ahead rather than worrying about whether the families would be expected to police every future purchaser. With the final question answered, there was little reason to prolong their meeting any further.
"Good. If that was everything, I will send you back to your bodies now," Gaia said, raising her hands as she prepared to return the gathered souls to their original locations. With a simple motion, she watched as every soul disappeared from her private space, leaving the room empty once more. The space gradually returned to its usual quiet and comfortable state, free from the presence of the many family heads who had filled it only moments earlier. Gaia watched the last traces of their departure fade, satisfied that the meeting had achieved what she had intended.
"They are quite perceptive," Gaia remarked to herself with a satisfied smile. The family heads had recognised the political dangers surrounding their reward, considered the practical limitations of the mana stone supply, and understood that the knowledge would need to be shared carefully if they wanted to protect their long-term interests. Karl had even realised that she was probably listening to their discussion, despite her absence from the room. For Gaia, their ability to grasp the situation so quickly was an encouraging sign that humanity was learning to navigate the new world with greater awareness.