A new Main Quest

With that, the group quickly settled on their approach. Personal expenses would continue to be covered by their own hunting income, but salaries for employees and other necessary supplies would come from the sale of the elemental stones.

However, the one strict rule they agreed on was to never use the elemental stones for territorial development.

"Developing the territory is a bottomless pit," Ethan remarked. "If we start using the stones for that, we'll end up mining them all before we finish."

Justin couldn't argue with that logic.

With the territory having grown from a village to a city, even the smallest development now required tens of thousands of mana stones. Full-scale development had crossed the 100,000 mark, eventually reaching a staggering 250,000 mana stones. While the benefits were undeniable, the costs were overwhelming.

"Alright, we'll cover salaries and administrative costs with the elemental stones. No objections?"