Jacob watched while Frederick catapulted himself against the Charybdis at the 7th stage of the Cockroach realm brandishing not one but two Void Spears.
He wasn't the biggest fan of the little fu**er, but even he had to admit that it looked cool as f**k. Frederick's Martial prowess was off the charts. Even though he was inferior to Helena, he could pair his incredible physique with his Affinity in a mind-blowing way.
The only thing the bastard lacked in Jacob's past life had been a pair of balls. But, apparently, he had grown one in this one.
Jacob, as your standard multi-millennia-old existence, was feeling quite childish for his jealousy. He knew that they were both on the boat and even on the same side, this time. But he couldn't quite separate the hate he had developed in his past life from this one. He wasn't perfect, he was just human.
He wasn't as arrogant as Dragons, who thought they were the apex of the food chain and the most perfect beings in existence. He knew he was full of flaws, that he had already fu**ed up a couple of times even with knowledge from the future and so on.
But it was all right. He was taking a liking to Frederick.
And the dude had just double speared the head of the Charybdis.
Jacob started channeling Qi and Mana inside his Meridians, ready to act. He trusted Frederick's talent, but Charybdes were not your average Demonic Beast.
However, it looked like Frederick wouldn't need his help.
The principal's son swiftly backed off while the Charybdis at the 7th stage of the Cockroach realm started thrashing around with the Void Spears still stuck in his head.
Frederick generated two more with some effort. Jacob knew precisely how much Mana took to do that, and only someone with a natural talent as high as his and his natural affinity could generate that many Void Spears.
Jacob kept looking in high alert while the rest of his friends cleaned up the remaining Charybdes with the usual tactic.
Frederick got close to the monster, baiting an attack.
The Charybdis let him come close, as evil and cunning as any sentient being could be.
They looked at each other for half a minute before the Charybdis lost his composure and tried to sneak attack his friend with its poisonous stinger. Frederick dodged with ease thanks to his superior speed but did not retaliate immediately; that was something Jacob had taught him while fighting such monsters. Feints and ambushes were their bread and butter.
In fact, right after the poisonous stinger missed its half-hearted thrust, the Charybdis at the 7th stage of the Cockroach realm lunged forward with its maw open. The crooked sharped teeth were dropping the Charybdes signature hemotoxin venom in buckets on the ground.
Frederick had been waiting for the real attack and kicked the ground, propelling himself in the air once again. Even though the Charybdis had two infamous Void Spears already lodged in its head, it was still moving as if nothing had happened.
Come on, Fred.
Jacob killed off a couple of small Charybdes that had come close to him, trying to ambush him while he was 'distracted.'
Frederick's impetus was unparalleled as he twisted mid-air to avoid the monster's claws and then did something that was usually seen only in Eastern movies.
The Void Overlord Martial Style, Aether Threading
Frederick's feet landed in the air as if they had just hit a solid, and, while at a 45 degrees angle, he pushed himself toward the Charybdis. This time too, Frederick plunged the spears inside the monster, but in his upper torso.
Spent, Frederick started to back off while the Void Magic quickly consumed the monster's flesh and organs.
"Rot in hell," Frederick swore toward the creature while channeling the rest of his Mana in a powerful spell.
Void Explosion
The four spears inside the monsters contracted for a millisecond before exploding forward with their all-consuming might and eating away almost the entire body of the Charybdis.
Frederick was wobbling on his feet, but he soon felt a firm hand on his arm.
"Show off; next time, try not to use up your entire Mana supply," he heard Jacob snort.
"Well, you might as well do things in style from time to time," Frederick gave him a weary smile.
"Sure, Sailor Moon, the best style of all. Come on. You need to get away from this."
The battle was almost concluded, but the cleanup work had yet to be finished, and only Jacob was capable of guiding it.
He brought Frederick out of the danger zone and gave him some Spirit Herbs paste to chew on.
"Recharge. It'll take me around ten minutes to finish everything. Keep an eye open, and if you hear any sound—"
"Don't move and channel a Void Spear immediately," Frederick finished the sentence in his place.
"Exactly," Jacob gave him a pat on the shoulder and ran back toward the battle.
Frederick burned so much Mana to kill a 7th stage of the Cockroach realm…
It wasn't looking good.
He was sure the kid was feeling elated, but—
With all the Mana he just burned, he's going to be out of commission for an hour, at least. I didn't want to bum him out, but we needed to keep going fast. That monster was only the first nightmare we were going to meet, and he's not the strongest here. There should be one at the 9th stage of the Cockroach realm, probably right at the apex of the Cockroach realm, a step away from the Mantis realm.
Jacob had deducted that from the speed at which the egg sacs were growing. In fact, Charybdes usually accommodated the rate of growth of their strongest kin in the area.
It's even a bit too slow, considering we are only talking about a 9th stage of the Cockroach realm.