"Argh," while everyone was busy catching flies with their open mouths, Jacob felt a stab of pain in his guts.
"Jake?" Juliet went over to him and put her arm around his.
"Don't worry; it's just the Crohn's Disease. I haven't been eating much more than herbs and pasta since yesterday. I completely forgot about it for a second, and I think it's now punishing me a bit. It's like a woman: the more you ignore it, the more dangerous it becomes."
He got a bruise on his shoulder for that joke and a chuckle from Frederick.
The mood had suddenly lightened. It was harsh to say, but now that he was putting riches in front of them, people did not want to give him too much sh*t.
"I'm sorry," Jacob suddenly said. "I wish I could have saved more people. I wish my talent were not that bad. But with a sword, now, I should be able to protect myself."
One of the reasons I waited was mainly because I didn't want to die. Without me, humanity is probably as doomed as it had been in my past life. With my knowledge, however, we can do better. We can be stronger. We can defeat those damn Dragons.
"Anyway, I'll distribute the Cultivation Techniques shortly. But before, I want to say that those are not the only things I'll give you, guys. Fred here has a very particular Magic in his hands. I don't know if you already discovered what you are dealing with, Fred."
Frederick looked only mildly puzzled, even if he had not told anyone about the weird Magic he could wield.
"I don't really know. I just know it consumes or explodes things."
"Void Magic, one of the rarest and strongest kinds. There is virtually no one who has that as a natural talent. People can learn it, sure. But it's one thing to learn some Magic, and a completely different matter to have a great natural aptitude for it."
Jacob explained to them. If this had been his past life, he would have been warier to reveal such powers. However, he concluded that no one would be able to exploit that knowledge to hurt Frederick. Not with him in close proximity, at least.
"So, I have some Spells that you might already be able to use, given your talent—"
"Wait, Jake. You said that I have a 9th level talent and Helena a 10th level. It's quite incredible, considering that St. Peter is so small, but what I'm wondering is… What's your talent?"
Everyone's ears perked up.
"1st level."
"Uh?" Frederick started laughing. "Come on, dude, don't pull my leg."
"He really has a 1st level talent," Juliet added with a frown.
"Uh?"
Everyone looked at Jacob with confused expressions.
"Yep, not lying," he said while shrugging.
A mix of pity was about to enter everyone's gaze before Jacob said: "I can cut you all up with this."
He brandished his sword in front of them.
"I remember saving all your asses not long ago, right? So don't give me oh, man, I'm so sorry look."
Jacob wasn't angry nor uncomfortable with it. But he still did not want them to underestimate him too much. Being underestimated by an enemy is good, but it's a problem for future collaboration when an ally does it. These people needed to rely on him as much as he needed to rely on them.
"So, now that you shut up let's go to Spells and Martial Techniques. The former is based on mana, the latter on Qi. They follow the same scale I just made up for Cultivation Techniques. But what's important that you learn right now is a Martial Style, which is what I taught Joe."
Even now, people have not noticed the colossal feat accomplished by Joseph. He did not have one scratch on his body. Of course, he was dead-tired, but he still easily downed every enemy in front of him.
"I'll update your knowledge, Joe. I gave you a good Martial Style, but I know the one that's much better. Now, give me a second."
Jacob went up to the three adults, two of which still lying down on the ground.
"Jake, you did not say how you know about all of this, including how you got that sword in your hands," Joseph spoke up for the first time.
"Classified," Jacob said. Since he had come out from the trial, he had never let the sword go. It was his lifeline, the great equalizer. He would need to make a scabbard for it probably.
What are you even thinking, rascal? This Great One will not be sealed by any filthy scabbard!
Jacob ignored the sword whining and tuned out its voice. Sadly, he needed the Spirit for the near future.
"I would like to know your names and your companions too," Jacob said while crouching down.
The one still in one piece looked at the short kid in front of him. For a male, Jacob was incredibly short and skinny. Nonetheless, he projected the image of a seasoned General taking care of his soldiers. The dissonance between such an image and his figure greatly puzzled the guy looking at him.
"I'm Lucius," the guy with blonde hair said. He was pretty burly and scary-looking.
"Name's Marcus," the other said while in great pain.
They went over the names of the fallen while Jacob nodded in silence. He would bring them back to St. Peter, even if it were a pain to carry so many bodies through the 2nd room.
"Ok. So, here's what's going to happen next. I'll go with Juliet and Geneva to harvest the rest of the treasures from the temple. There's a weapon at the end of the rooms that will probably fit Geneva wild style."
The woman blushed a bit, hearing Jacob referring to her as wild.
"I'll first impart a Cultivation Technique, two Martial Techniques or Spells based on where your talent lies, and a Martial Style to complement the rest. Even Magic users have Martial Styles to go with, just to make it clear. Then, we raid the rest of the place, as I already said. Once we are done, and you are mostly healed, we'll go. After getting your grip on the Cultivation Technique, Lucius and Marcus will use one Cockroach Empowering Pill each. They will still need some time to heal, but it will be enough to keep them going. I'll arrange something once you are back to St. Peter," Jacob said.
"St. Peter? I thought we were going to Fort Mountain," Juliet said.
Jacob turned to look toward the sleeping enemy with a dark gaze.
"We'll find out very soon if my guess is correct. In the meantime, Fred, keep the guy sleeping. If he makes a fuss, punch his skull to sleep."
Jacob started walking to the next room with a thousand and one thoughts in his head.