From China's perspective, the opportunity to acquire European weapons was more than welcome, as the country needed as many weapons as it could obtain. High-quality weapons were particularly valuable because they offered more than just superior equipment for combat; they also provided excellent tools for practising techniques and improving one's skills. With the right weapon in hand, cultivators could train more effectively and become familiar with equipment that would not fail them when they needed it most. For a nation trying to develop its military strength in a world transformed by mana, such advantages were difficult to overlook. Consequently, the prospect of receiving European weapons through the emerging trade routes attracted considerable attention from the Chinese side.
Unfortunately, China faced a problem that could not be solved simply by spending more money on equipment. The country no longer possessed a substantial number of genuine blacksmiths capable of producing high-quality weapons by hand, as rapid industrialisation had gradually made their traditional profession unnecessary. Manufacturing had become increasingly efficient, and mass production had replaced much of the work that individual craftsmen had once performed. Since industrial methods could produce ordinary goods more cheaply and in greater quantities, there had been little reason for most people to pursue the demanding craft of traditional blacksmithing. Over time, the knowledge and experience needed to produce handcrafted weapons had become increasingly rare, leaving China poorly prepared for a world in which such weapons had suddenly become important again.
The decline of traditional blacksmithing had been reinforced by the changes taking place in the countryside. As the country industrialised, fewer people remained in rural areas, and the population became increasingly concentrated in places where modern employment was readily available. Although land was cheaper outside the major population centres, establishing a blacksmith's workshop there still required people with the necessary skills, equipment, and knowledge. Unfortunately, the lack of demand for traditional blacksmiths had meant that fewer people were willing to learn the profession, while those who already possessed the relevant experience had gradually disappeared from the workforce. By the time handcrafted weapons became valuable again, China had lost much of the foundation required to produce them independently.
This created a serious challenge because modern industrial production could not simply replace the knowledge of experienced craftsmen overnight. Producing weapons capable of handling mana required an understanding of materials and techniques that went beyond ordinary manufacturing, and there were few people left who could teach those skills. China therefore needed to rebuild its blacksmithing tradition almost from the ground up, even as demand for suitable weapons continued to grow. Recognising the urgency of the situation, the country moved quickly to establish its blacksmithing guild, which began organising its efforts and learning as much as possible. The guild was still young, but it was already working hard to acquire the knowledge needed to support China's future development.
As part of those efforts, the Chinese had even sent several delegations to Europe to study the best ways of working with mana in the current era. Their objective was not merely to copy the appearance of European weapons, but to understand the techniques that made those weapons effective and suitable for use in a mana-rich world. Learning directly from experienced European craftsmen offered an opportunity to shorten the process of rebuilding their own expertise. The delegations could observe established methods, study the handling of materials, and bring valuable knowledge back to their newly formed guild. With both the European weapons trade and these educational efforts attracting attention, the first caravans travelling along the emerging route became a major subject of discussion.
News coverage surrounding the first caravans was therefore extensive, with more than enough attention being devoted to their progress and the possibilities they represented. The trade was important not only because it could generate profits, but also because it demonstrated how different countries might cooperate to overcome the shortages and limitations created by the arrival of mana. European businesses could sell valuable weapons, while Chinese buyers could obtain equipment that their own industries were not yet capable of producing in sufficient quality or quantity. Meanwhile, the prospect of returning caravans carrying Chinese goods offered European merchants an opportunity to earn further profits. Watching the first journeys unfold gave both sides a reason to hope that a reliable trade network could eventually develop.
"That can work," Gaia thought, having finally found an answer to the question that had occupied her for nearly a month. She had been trying to determine what reward she should give the trade families, and the decision had proved more difficult than she had expected. Ordinary currency was not enough, because the reward needed to be something genuinely unique and worthwhile, something that could not simply be replaced by receiving more money. At the same time, many of the items she might have considered valuable were either not yet available or could already be obtained through the System's marketplace. Finding something suitable for the families as a whole had therefore become a frustrating exercise, particularly because she wanted to offer them something that matched the significance of their contribution.
One possibility would have been to reward them with rare materials or objects that could normally only be found in the wilderness. However, many of those resources had not yet appeared or were not sufficiently developed to be distributed as rewards, leaving Gaia with fewer options than she would have liked. Other items could be purchased through the System's marketplace, making them less suitable as special compensation for the families. She was also considering closing access to ordinary goods in the marketplace, or at least removing basic materials such as stone and wood from the selection available for purchase. Those goods were becoming an obstacle to the development of a genuine economy, and Gaia had little reason to keep supplying materials that people could obtain through ordinary production and trade.
The System's marketplace had served a purpose, but Gaia did not want humanity to become dependent on it for every basic necessity. If people could obtain common construction materials simply by spending System currency, they would have less incentive to establish the industries and supply chains needed to support their growing civilisation. An economy could not develop properly if too many ordinary goods were available through a convenient alternative that bypassed the efforts of producers and merchants. Although the marketplace had been useful during the early stages of humanity's adjustment to the new world, Gaia believed that its role would need to change as people became more capable of supporting themselves. She did not need the coins that people spent on ordinary materials nearly as much as she needed humanity to develop a functioning economy.
After considering the available possibilities, Gaia finally settled on a reward in the form of another tome. It was an exceptionally valuable item, worth at least one hundred million silver coins, and it was not yet visible to anyone on Earth. This absence was deliberate, as humanity was not ready to use the knowledge it contained, and Gaia was unwilling to distribute it freely to the world at large. Nevertheless, she was prepared to make an exception for the trade families because she had struggled to find another reward that would satisfy her requirements. The tome represented something rare and valuable enough to justify their compensation without simply handing them a large quantity of currency or an item that could already be purchased elsewhere.
The difficulty was that most of the other tomes and specialised items were far too expensive to distribute individually to every family. Giving each family a separate copy of such an item would require an enormous investment, while choosing different rewards for different families would make it difficult to ensure that everyone received something equally worthwhile. Gaia also needed to consider whether the reward would benefit the families in a way that justified making such important knowledge available. She did not want to distribute something merely because it was expensive, nor did she want to give them information that would provide little practical value at their current level of development. The new tome offered a solution because its subject had the potential to benefit humanity as a whole, making it a meaningful reward rather than simply another valuable possession.
There was also a broader principle guiding Gaia's decision about how knowledge should be distributed. Every System in the universe received the same information from the universe itself, while each System was given considerable freedom to decide how that information should be shared. Gaia had chosen to make knowledge available through the marketplace and other controlled means rather than simply releasing everything she knew to humanity at once. She believed that people needed to work for their discoveries and develop their own understanding instead of receiving every answer before they had learned how to ask the right questions. Knowledge that came too easily could be overlooked, misunderstood, or used without any appreciation of its significance, especially when people had not yet developed the skills needed to apply it.
The rune book she had previously made available was a good example of this approach. Runes could be used for far more purposes than the limited information in that book suggested, but Gaia had deliberately restricted the knowledge it contained. By providing only a portion of what was possible and placing a price on access, she forced humanity to experiment with the available information and discover ways to make it useful. People had to consider how they could apply what they learned, develop new ideas, and find opportunities to earn money through their discoveries. If Gaia had instead given humanity all the knowledge she possessed about runes, many people would probably have concentrated on the easiest applications and the most immediate profits, leaving countless other possibilities unexplored.
The danger was not simply that people might become lazy, but that an abundance of information could discourage the very innovation Gaia wanted to encourage. When every useful answer was already available, there would be less reason to investigate unfamiliar approaches or question established assumptions. Humanity might focus exclusively on the techniques that were easiest to learn and monetise, neglecting the deeper principles that could lead to much greater advances. By limiting the knowledge she distributed, Gaia created room for people to develop their own ideas and compete to find better solutions. The resulting progress benefited not only the people making those discoveries, but also Gaia herself, since a more capable humanity could contribute more effectively to the development of the world.
That was another reason why Gaia was willing to distribute the new tome, despite the restrictions she normally placed on important knowledge. The information it contained concerned the creation of genuine mana veins, something she believed could have enormous benefits for the planet if humanity succeeded in applying it. Rather than taking direct responsibility for every stage of the process herself, she could provide the necessary knowledge and allow humans to work out how to use it. If they managed to achieve the desired result, the planet would benefit while Gaia could delay her own involvement in the undertaking. It was an appealing arrangement, particularly because the natural cycle of the world had not yet reached a sustainable balance.
Her previous decision to allow the Sonnenbergs to share their tome with the wider world had already demonstrated the advantages of this approach. That knowledge concerned a magic circle capable of filtering attributes, allowing people to absorb mana that was better suited to supporting their bodies and cultivation. Once the information became available, people outside the Sonnenberg family began competing to discover how to use the circle as effectively as possible. This created a kind of race among researchers and cultivators, each trying to improve the design or find more effective ways to apply it. The result was that every human could eventually live within the influence of such a circle, improving the quality of the mana they absorbed and making humanity stronger as a whole.
The improvement was also beneficial to Gaia, since the development of stronger humans supported the world she was trying to cultivate. In her view, humanity was still in the early stages of its development and had not yet become fully prepared for the challenges posed by mana. The entire purpose of the Mortal stage, or Stage 0, was connected to that period of growth, during which human bodies gradually adapted to their new environment. People needed time to develop the physical foundations required to handle mana properly, rather than being forced to absorb whatever energy happened to be available around them. The quality of that energy was therefore just as important as the amount they could absorb, because it influenced the bodies they would ultimately develop.
This principle could also be observed in children born after mana arrived. Gaia expected that they would naturally reach Stage 1, or the Mortal stage, once they turned eighteen, as their bodies developed alongside the changed environment. Their growth was closely connected to the mana they absorbed throughout their lives, making the quality of that mana an important factor in their physical development. Purified mana was preferable to the unfiltered mana circulating through the world because it provided a more suitable foundation for that process. By allowing humans to create and use magic circles that filtered attributes, Gaia had helped establish a means of improving the environment in which people grew stronger.
The new tome would serve a similar purpose, although its potential influence extended to the creation of actual mana veins. These veins were something Gaia was particularly interested in seeing humanity develop, as they could become an important part of restoring the planet's natural systems. If humans could learn to create them independently, they would gain another means of improving their world without requiring Gaia to personally oversee every step. She was therefore happy to place the knowledge in human hands and let them attempt to solve the problem themselves. If they succeeded, the benefits would extend beyond the people who first applied the knowledge, just as the spread of the magic circle had already improved the quality of mana available to humanity.
Ultimately, Gaia's decision was also influenced by the planet's current condition. The natural cycle remained unbalanced because there was not yet enough wildlife to occupy the vast amount of land that had become available. Nature required sufficient life to fill those spaces and sustain the broader processes that kept the world healthy, but that growth had not yet reached the necessary level. As a result, Gaia still had to expend her own energy to maintain the growth and vitality of nature across the planet. By giving humanity knowledge that could help restore the world's systems, she hoped to encourage people to take on more of that responsibility themselves, allowing both the planet and its inhabitants to become stronger without requiring her to shoulder the entire burden alone.