Preparations

"How about turning them against each other, making them compete to give you the technology?" Rina suggested, after taking a moment to gather her thoughts and reflect on everything she had learned.

That was all Aron needed to hear. He immediately grasped where Rina was heading with her explanation, but he didn't interrupt, letting her finish in case she presented something he hadn’t considered.

"From what you’ve said, even though they operate under a conclave, they're still competing with each other. So, as long as the incentive is right, they'll likely hand over the technology willingly—and might even be pleased to be the ones who do.

Offer them a deal: whoever provides you with the technology gets a permanent ten percent discount on all mana stone transactions, as long as the stones are used directly by that entity and not sold to others.