Jacob stared at Helena with a slack jaw.
How in the hell did she get so strong? To be at the 5th level, she must be… No, it's not possible.
There were only two explanations.
Number one, Helena somehow got her hands on a powerful Pill which helped her break through the 5th level. Of course, many pills could do that since the Cockroach realm was just a stepping stone on the journey to true power. However, there were no alchemists nor hidden Pills in St. Peter.
Number two, Helena's talent reached the Dragon realm, the legendary 10th level. But Jacob could count on his hands how many people had one in his past life. They all became the greatest heroes or villains in humanity's history.
If she's indeed at the 10th level both in Qi and Mana, which is often the case, it means that we need her to be on our side. Sh*t.
"Juliet, back off," Jacob infused his voice with his aura. His fine control made it possible for him to exert pressure on them even while being weaker.
Both girls looked toward him before locking eyes again. Juliet could feel Jacob's feelings and intent very clearly. She knew she had to back off.
"Okay," Juliet grumbled, shaking away Helena's hand from her fist.
"Leave us alone, Juliet. I need to talk to Helena."
Without waiting for an answer, Jacob got between them and told Helena: "Come with me in the woods. I'm ready to talk."
Helena glanced one last time at Juliet before following him.
After a couple of minutes, Jacob stopped and looked at her.
"I'd rather not explain how I know all I know. It would be detrimental to any relationship and bond I'm going to form. Just know that if you want humanity to survive and prosper again, we are on the same side. Moreover, I can't afford the exposure that would come from telling other people I know all this."
"Don't worry. No one else seems keen on this. Not even Frederick made the connection," she said.
"Man, if he did, I'd be hella surprised. Guy's an idiot", Jacob laughed.
"He scores among the top of the class consistently," Helena frowned.
"Yeah, top douche," he laughed.
Helena narrowed her eyes while taking a good look at him.
"You never spoke like this. You never had any guts nor special talent, did you? So how come you became a different person in one morning?"
Jacob was shorter than Helena by quite a bit, so he had to crane his head a little bit while looking at her.
For a moment, Jacob just lost himself in her eyes. The green was so radiant that it felt like falling in an ocean made of emeralds. He remembered dearly their love and how brief it was. However, looking at the cold kid before him made his heartache with passion and longing.
"Are you not going to answer?" she raised a fist in front of his face as if to threaten him.
Jacob burst out laughing so bad he fell over while clutching his stomach.
"You want to punch me?" he wheezed so hard she almost thought he had gone mad.
"I'm not going to waste time, Jacob—"
"Oh, man. You really are something," Jacob said while getting up and dusting off his clothes.
She's exactly the same as our past life, it seems. As impulsive as you can imagine.
"You must be really strong not to be scared of me, as I imagined," Helena said with ice in her voice.
"Nah, I'm just not afraid of you. You probably wouldn't hit me. I'm extremely weak, talent-wise. It seems, instead, that St. Peter just got blessed with one of the future heroes of humankind."
"Heroes? Am I stronger than you?" she asked, almost in disbelief.
"Oh, man, you wouldn't imagine how much stronger," Jacob said without thinking. He wasn't that worried someone would manage to kill him. As soon as he got his hands on a proper weapon, not even Helena would be able to harm him without paying a steep price.
"Then, why do you know so much?"
"Again, I'm not going to tell. I'm sort of like an oracle. I see the future and sh*t like that. I know a lot, but how I got this power is something I really can't tell", Jacob said while giving her a sincere smile.
"However, what I can tell you is that you need to be careful around that dickhead of Fred. He's bad news, Helena."
"I imagine we will need strong people to defend the city and the people," Helena replied.
"Yeah, strong people. Not cowards. Francis is my friend, but he sold me out as soon as he could have. Fred is never going to have your back. My seer power told me that without a doubt."
Helena stared and kept silent. She was thinking about what Jacob had just said.
From what he remembered of his past life, Helena and Frederick used to be quite close. They were both A-type personalities and overachievers; it had been natural for them to end up being close.
"Anyway," Jacob said, "you are strong enough not to need my help right now. We can talk about it again in a month or so. I'm not going to trust you for now. I'm sorry. My powers told me that future Francis would be a great person, but the current version of him is a douche. You and I… we share a bond, let's say. We will fight together at some point, and I'll always have your back. Nonetheless, for now, I cannot help you."
Jacob turned his back and ended the conversation abruptly. He wanted to share his life with her so badly that he felt compelled to leave; if he hadn't done it, he would have given her the best Cultivation Technique he could think of. But, instead, he realized she was too close to Frederick to trust her at the moment. If she leaked something to that guy, everyone would be in danger.
"Jacob!" she shouted, "I'll see you again!"
Jacob raised his thumb while not looking back and smiled.