In short, Master Gravie's attitude sparked another thought in Ian's mind... that is the idea of trying to add 'collaborators'.
Master Gravie holds a rather awkward status; he is a Canaan Moore immigrant of The Empire, having glowed in his youth during its heyday, only to return to Canaan Moore in his twilight years. Although he still wishes to serve Canaan Moore, Ian can figure out just by using his toes that this master would receive very little resources upon returning.
This is evident from Master Gravie's willingness to risk death to bring back Life Tree fragments… He's aware of his awkward situation, thus he's decided on his final research projects and inheritance, dedicating all his remaining research time to 'Familiarization'.
Since that's the case, they might as well cooperate. Although Ian can't offer Master Gravie any resources... he can certainly share his thoughts and part of his research findings!
