*sizzle*

The sound of sizzling this time is not from a shadow but from someone bringing out a shadow stone to purify.

“Hey! Fabian! We told you already to not use other’s domes to purify your stones!”

Adam was attracted by the sound of yelling, he could see someone from Noelani’s camp yelling at another person, Adam remembered he was one of the few who had a sharpened stone knife by Noelani’s side.

From what Adam has noticed over observing their group, there already seems to be an unofficial hierarchy and this guy is one of the top, even though everyone just recently met which Adam found strange.

But looking at how angry this man is, it seems energy is still an issue for Noelani’s group.

In fact, he was curious how energy consumption is affected by having multiple innate orbs together, but only the owners can really know about this, so the only one that knows the entire picture would be Noelani. But he had his suspicions that energy expenditure is greatly reduced.

The man named Fabian ignored him and took out another stone to purify.

“Did you not hear me?” The man continued yelling at Fabian.

“I got this, Gan.” Noelani interjected before the man, named Gan, was going to escalate the situation.

“Fabian, you keep stealing others’ energy, you’re going to have to make that up by giving out shadow or energy stones.”

“Heh, you first trick people to come here and then take advantage of them by forcing them to give up their innate orbs. If we’re talking about theft, you should be FBI’s most wanted.” Fabian scoffed at Noelani’s words.

“If you don’t listen, I will have to force you.” Noelani said.

“Oh, what are you going to do abou-off” Fabian’s words were interrupted with a gut punch from Noelani, and he began to cough and vomit.

The field was silent, not because of what Noelani decided to do but how she did it. Adam could barely catch what she did, the distance between her and Fabian was shortened almost instantly and the punch curled Fabian’s torso, the movement was fluid and even a combat beginner like Adam could tell the experience in her skills. Adam also noticed the expressions in some of Noelani’s team who looked normal.

‘Looks like these guys already knew, perhaps she would not convince so many to join her team without some strength to show for it.’ Adam thought.

“You-*stomp*” Fabian's insult was interrupted by Noelani’s stomp on his neck.

“I want you to understand something, we are in a hectic and dangerous position, we can’t afford to show mercy to those who threaten the safety and wellbeing of everyone. Do you understand?”

Adam saw Noelani’s eyes and was convinced that she would kill if Fabian did not comply.

“...OK...” Fabian was barely able to squeeze out a reply.

Noelani kept her feet on him for a while.

But when everyone was starting to wonder if they should intervene before the man was going to suffocate, Noelani lifted her leg and walked back without saying anything.

Fabian coughed heavily and went back into his spot while staggering.

The atmosphere of the gathering became stiff. Adam has been exhausted from the entire events of today and felt great frustration towards Noelani, which to him, seemed to be holding out on others.

Now seeing her tyrant behavior has made him even more frustrated and wanted to confront her but discouraged by her prowess when dealing with Fabian.

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However, there were others who felt the same as Adam.

“This situation is unacceptable Noelani.” An old man stood up and exclaimed, he is part of the group that gave up their orb to Noelani, Adam remembers his name being Gideon.

“All of us are unsure of what is going on and fear for our safety. We should not fight amongst ourselves and divide ourselves in this uncertain and dangerous situation.

Look, Noelani, we are in this together and we need to cooperate to survive. If you can provide any info or strategies that can help us better survive, please share them.”

The speech started as Gideon expressed his frustration but turned to a more persuasive tone. The old man’s speech voiced everyone’s dissatisfaction and had their faces show agreement.

Noelani looked at Gideon and then everyone else.

“Look I know many of you are suspecting that I somehow knew people would lose all their orb energy when they shut off and thus put you all in a position where you would need to depend on me.

But I did not know and when I learned of this, I did try to remedy the situation, but it was too late, there was no way to warn everyone when so many have already moved here.

Perhaps it is my mistake for not being more thorough with my investigations, so I apologize.

But please remember I’m in the same situation as all of you and I’m not perfect, so I can make mistakes just like everyone else. But in terms of what I know-”

Noelani said in a heartfelt tone and then paused, Adam even started to question his suspicions that she was being malicious but then became more attentive to what she was about to say.

Noelani stared at everyone and said “This may seem insane, but every now and then hints would pop into my head from time to time, but they are short and not detailed.

I think it all started in the dream we all had, but the difference for me was I was able to awaken a strange orb, and from this orb came the hints, I don’t think it’s the same as the innate orbs everyone has.

But it’s from these hints that I extrapolated the info I gave to everyone, I still did my own research, but the main contributor are the hints.”

Everyone was somewhat stunned except for a few of Noelani’s group who seemed to have prior knowledge.

“What do you mean by ‘popping’ into your head?” Gideon asked.

“Well … it’s hard to describe but the feeling is like having one of the orb abilities as your own, as though the ability does not come from the orb but from myself.

I did not want to expose it, not so early at least, since I feared some may see me as insane and disregard my info.” Noelani answered.

Everyone was surprised, can people have supernatural abilities?

Everyone has already seen enough supernatural things to brag about for a lifetime if they were to return to their normal lives, but no one could confirm if they could be able to use these abilities.

There was a mix of emotions on everyone’s faces, many had a face of excitement, but there were still some doubters.

Nonetheless, Noelani knows a lot of knowledge which made her more believable. However, Adam was not as surprised, what Noelani was describing was like his experience with his duplication ability.

“Liar!!” Adam turned his head towards the cry, it was Fabian who stood up, it seems he’s got a grudge after how Noelani delt with him just now.

“If you could really get info out of nowhere then why did you not warn us? “

Noelani shook her head. “I don’t control when I get them or what the hints are about. I did not know of the consequences of turning off the orbs only after I met people who had done it.”

“Heh, why should we believe you? Also, if you are genuine about accidentally having everyone lose their energy, then you should have tried more to alert us! You should also give us remunerations and allow everyone to freely use your purification dome!” Fabian demanded.

“Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Another person interjected, Adam talked to him before and knew his name was Phan.

“Noelani did try to warn everyone but many of her neighbors moved towards here, so there was no way for her to communicate this info. A few of us did get the warned but still came here, why should we still be stuck by ourselves?”

Phan said while pointing to the dark fog outside that has slowly become pitch black and the yellow clouds have almost completely become obscured.

There were others who were nodding their heads, expressing that they had a similar experience and felt the same.

Noelani then interjected.

“In terms of remuneration, even after joining all the light orbs, I am also struggling with energy just like everyone else, I’m not in a position to give out any compensation.

It is also why I have been trying to get everyone to join their orbs, this way we can share the cost, if anything, this is the best compensation I can give.”

“Hmph, as if we can believe anything you guys say, in the end, having everyone give you their orbs is beneficial for you!” Fabian replied.

He wanted to cause as much trouble as possible for Noelani to get back at her, but also was hoping that if Noelani lost the trust of everyone then he may be able to take the leading role.

“*Sigh* Let’s not divide ourselves any further and stick together.” Gideon said to Fabian then looked at Noelani.

“Noelani, if you want us to trust you and have everyone work together, you need to be more open, we should know how much energy is needed by your purification dome which is vital for everyone’s survival. Your ability is undoubtedly crucial for everyone but keep us in the loop.” Gideon scolded.

Noelani nodded and assured everyone she will be more forthright. Fabian did not say anything more but kept a gloomy look.