Adam entered the camp and saw that there were a few wooden sheds around, there weren’t many, but they were eye-catching.

Especially the large one in the center of the camp, it was Noelani’s and beside it was a collection of orbs that subordinated under Noelani’s orb.

Adam turned towards one of the smaller huts that were a bit special. This wooden hut was inside a purification dome that was completely enveloped by the camp’s combined purification dome.

Adam saw a few people surrounding the shed, these were Adam’s group members that Gan was talking about.

“Hey Karen, is Fabian back?” Adam asked while trying his best to show a friendly smile.

“Hmph! Why would I tell you?” Karen answered in a rude manner.

Karen was one of the first people that Adam met in the camp and quickly learned of her quick temper.

Adam looked at the other people waiting around, they all had a sullen faces.

“Did something happen? Why is everyone so upset?” Adam Asked while looking at a person, it was Harris.

Harris did not join his innate orb with the camp’s orbs and ended up joining Fabian’s team. Harris turned his face and ignored Adam’s question.

Adam was a bit speechless and embarrassed by the blatant slight being shown.

“You should leave our team. You’re still a tool for Noelani and still have your orb with her.” It was Karen who said that.

Adam frowned but knew that responding to her would make things worse, so he sat on a nearby rock and started to eat while waiting for Fabian.

“Hmph, moron,” Karen said under her breath.

After a while, Fabian came with a frown on his face.

Each time for the past two weeks Adam was startled by Fabian’s features.

At first, Fabian had evident dark bags under his eyes, which was not uncommon considering everyone was running around doing tasks.

But progressively Fabian had his face and body turn into a dark pale grayish color, it seemed like his health was going downhill.

But what was strange was that his physical abilities had become the highest in the camp, at least as far as Adam could tell.

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Adam saw Fabian move during hunts and was not sure even Gan, with his fire skill, could beat him.

But he’s become much more short-tempered than before, Adam saw him go on a manic frenzy where he would attack and destroy anything near him.

Adam is not sure why it happened and nor does Fabian seem to know, but Adam had become accustomed to the strange look.

“That damned Noelani, she’s increased the taxes on me, did she do that to you guys as well?” Fabian said.

Noelani had placed a rule that those who have their innate orb separate would have their taxes grow.

Everyone agreed, it seems that’s why everyone was especially gloomy when dealing with Adam, who did not have his taxes increased.

“Hmm? What do you want?” Fabian asked Adam who got up and walked towards him.

“I’m here about your offer,” Adam answered.

“Huh? I said I wanted 3 mana stones; your 2 stones are not enough!” Fabian irritably replied.

Because of how small the camp and teams were, it was easy to know the “financial” situation of each person in the camp, especially between team members.

Therefore, Adam took a contaminated stone from his stash, in order to have an excuse for why he would have a third mana stone.

“I heard he got lucky today and got a mana stone by coincidence.” Someone in the team said.

“Oh? Okay, let’s talk in the shed.” Fabian nodded and walked into his shed.

Inside the shed it was cramped.

The team had around 12 people, but there were two outside keeping an eye out to make sure no one eavesdrops.

Some of the people looked around the shed in envy, there was even a bed, many still are sleeping on the cold hard ground even after two weeks passed, not to mention the cold winds that can occur from time to time.

The dark miasma can become active, especially at night, and cause these cold winds, but the newly built walls have helped a bit.

The bed was on a wooden frame and the mattress was made from a soft leaf plant found a week ago.

“Alright, where is the payment?” Fabian asked Adam.

Adam looked at him and shook his head.

“I won’t give the stones until we get there.”

“Huh?” Fabian exclaimed with a frown on his face.

Adam shook his head. “You took the stones I worked for, so forgive me if I’m going to take extra precautions.”

The incident Adam is talking about and why his publicly known stones amount is so little, is because, in a hunt that Adam participated with the team, Fabian did not give him his share of the hunt. It is also why he started to move on his when hunting.

“It’s not my fault the taxes were placed, we had to pay taxes and I carried the team so I should get more than you. But that does not matter now, if you don’t pay, you’re not entering the dungeon! “Fabian was losing his temper.

That’s right, Fabian was planning on going to the dungeon but demanded that Adam pay 3 mana stones to join this venture.

The dungeon can yield skill orbs, but Noelani had monopolized the dungeon and does not allow anyone to hunt in it.

What she told everyone was that the dungeon is a dangerous place where shadows are stronger and faster, there is also the issue of keeping skills in the hands of the right people.

Many were upset, mainly Fabian’s group, because they knew that there is no way that Noelani would allow any of them to have a skill orb.

But there has been a rise of discontentment in the camp, everyone is excited about taking advantage of the magical things in this world like the mana stones and the skill orbs.

But mana stones are in short supply because of the dwindling number of shadows and the consumption of the camp’s innate orbs.

Now with Noelani being the arbiter of who can get skills has made a good portion of the camp dissatisfied.

Adam is one of them, especially after asking for his orb to be separated, it surely put him on the same side as Fabian in Noelani’s mind, so Adam is sure Noelani is not planning on allowing Adam to have a skill orb any time soon.