After 45 minutes of roaming, Jacob finally found it.
The Three-Colored Stalk.
He plucked from the ground with a careful touch. It wasn't too fragile, but Jacob was unwilling to risk anything with it.
"That's it?" his auntie asked from behind his shoulders.
"Yeah, it does look a bit weird, doesn't it?" Jacob chuckled.
The three colors did not look that good. Sadly, this was just a lower grade Three-Colored Stalk. When it reached peak maturity, it would be almost blinding. However, considering that the change had just started, it was not surprising to find mostly low-grade herbs.
Jacob had already bagged more than one helpful herb and planned on using his alchemic skills to get something good from them. They would be a great addition while everyone else was still figuring out Qi and Mana.
I hope they will give me a jumpstart.
Jacob would not be cultivating quickly at all. He knew that, unless he found a Relic grade herb or artifact, his talent was stuck in the gutter for the moment. He would make up for it with his vast experience, but he would still be way slower than any other person, even without a Cultivation Technique.
"Well, it's going to be nothing much. I'll just eat the stalk right now. Its energy is not strong, and it will be stored in my body for later refinement. It should bring some immediate benefits in the short term, too, in any case. Since we need to head toward the city hall, it's good news."
They had been gone for a while now. The meeting at city hall would start in 15 minutes or so.
He started chewing on the first leaf; this one was reddish and smelled like basil.
Thirty seconds chewing this one.
He reduced it to paste and added some water from a canteen he had brought along. Again, he felt the refreshing feeling of Qi coursing through his body.
Chew the one for one minute.
He did that and washed it down with some water. The second leaf was greenish and smelled like menthol. Being hydrated would help the weak poultice he created to be absorbed by his fragile intestine.
He wondered if Crohn's Disease would make it harder for him to absorb and process the medicinal effects. Of course, he was no doctor, but it sounded like a definite possibility.
The third leaf has to be chewed for three minutes.
The third was of a weak blue color.
"Wow, you have been chewing that for a while," his aunt laughed.
Jacob grumbled and kept on chewing up to the three minutes mark.
After swallowing, he felt a rush of energy, and his body finally felt better after the beating he had taken from the use of the Forbidden Technique.
Let's just hope I won't have to resort to that soon.
"Let's go back. We have gone in a circle; it shouldn't be too hard to get back."
While walking, Jacob started working his Qi. Of course, ordinary people would have to sit down and meditate carefully, but he had enough knowledge and practice to take care of a more minor feat such as this even while walking.
"We have twenty-four hours or so before new beasts get into the city. This time, it will be a bloodbath if we are not ready for them", Jacob exhaled.
"And what's your plan?" aunt Linda asked.
"Well, get stronger. Kill the monsters. Pretty simple."
"And what's our long-term plan?"
"People will soon realize they can do incredible things. Magic comes naturally to some, and we'll see fireballs, earth spears, wind blades, and water bullets in no time. Humanity will fight among themselves as we always do. We need to be strong enough to guarantee some semblance of order and keep people safe. We will also need to forage food in this new world. I doubt that the supermarket of old Jill will be enough for the entire town."
To be completely honest, Jacob did not have a good plan yet. He would improvise when needed. In his past life, he had been accustomed to living alone and not relying on anyone else. During the first part of the change, he had been dead weight to his friends; later on, he became incredibly strong but rarely associated with other people.
Jacob had developed trust issues, and given his vast wealth of knowledge, more than one bastard would be happy to get everything out of him in any way possible.
"Food will definitely be a concern," his auntie muttered. "But how will we organize these people? There are hundreds of them, and most of them are old and sick."
Jacob thought of sweet old Prof. Michelis.
In his past life, old people had died so quickly that no one had to face this problem.
How do you keep old geezers alive when the world has gone to sh*t?
Another thing to figure out, it seemed.
They finally reached the main street. The only street, to be more precise.
Jacob saw a fireball shoot in the sky above. It was pretty weak and poorly made. However, the simple fact that someone had already figured out how to create magic was astounding.
"Seems like you were right," his auntie said.
"Yeah, this will make the meeting a tad more complicated."
"Yeah, just a tad," she chuckled. "Teenagers with deadly magical powers, megalomaniac adults with God complex wielding Qi, and elderly with nothing left to lose. I think we should think about something more than food and the status quo, Jackie."
Jacob heard a shrill scream coming from a hundred or two hundred meters up ahead; followed by that, it came a thump and another scream. No, more than one scream.
"You think, uh?" Jacob silently prayed while absorbing the medicinal effects of the Three-Colored Stalk.