Everyone continued to talk about the future, all the women decided to go with Mr. Gregory and start new lives in the Dukedom. The women did not have any other beneficial options. Their homes had been destroyed and their families were killed. They could go to a new village or town alone. But that was very difficult and they had no money to start a new life.
Once the discussion was over and the women had finished eating their meal, Mr. Gregory asked Becky to help them set up a few tents and sleep for a couple of hours. The women agreed, they were exhausted, Mr. Gregory wanted to let them have a few hours of rest because they would be traveling all day, which can be very exhausting.
All the women left, however, Sav stayed behind. She wanted to stay by Val's side, Val did not mind, nor did anyone else.
Mr. Gregory waited for Becky to return, and then began the next thing they had to do, distribute the loot. Mr. Gregory asked Jamal to bring everything out and show all the loot. Jamal did what Mr. Gregory requested, and a large space next to the campfire was now filled with different treasures, weapons, and magic items.
Mark and Becky were stunned, even Mr. Gregory was not expecting such vast wealth. They had expected an impressive loot, but this was beyond their imaginations.
However, after some thought, Mr. Gregory understood this was to be expected from the Sharp Sheild Bandits, who were notorious and had been operating for a fair few years.
Mark took longer to calm down and return to reality, once he did he asked,
"How are we planning on splitting the loot?"
Mr. Gregory was the one who would make this decision, the primary contributors were all here except Margret, who was still unconscious, and Drake who was now dead. Mr. Gregory spoke about his plan,
"Well let's start with everyone saying what they want, and then we will go from there."
Everyone nodded and then shared what they wanted.
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Val had said he wanted the high-ranking Spatial Skill Orb he had seen before, a low-ranking Life Skill Orb, and some money and a spatial ring. He also requested a Light Skill Orb for Leo and a Water Skill Orb for Larz. Larz was not part of the fight but Val thought he might as well try and get him something, so he does not feel left out.
Mark requested a magic spear he had found, a spatial ring, a Spear Skill orb, and some money.
Becky's request was similar, she had found a magic sword she liked, a spatial ring, a Sword Skill orb, and money.
For Margret, they chose to give her 2 Lightning Skill Orbs, a spatial ring, a magic item that was identified by Mr. Gregory as an item that increases mana regeneration significantly, and money.
Margret was given more because she had lost her partner Drake.
There were many magic items, armor, and weapons. There were also a few Skill Orbs left, including wind, fire, and even a Holy Skill Orb. However, no one requested these because they did not have the Talent to use them.
The split of money would be decided last, as everyone wanted some. Mr. Gregory was slightly concerned though. He could tell the Spatial Skill Orb was very high ranking. He decided to use a very valuable magic item which allowed him to see the rank of a Skill Orb. As he brought out the Magic item he spoke to Val,
"Val that Spatial Skill Orb is of the highest quality I have ever seen. I know you have a Spatial Talent, but you won't be able to use that Skill Orb, so why do you want it?"
Val looked at Mr. Gregory, he was very displeased that he was being questioned, after everything he had done. He was the largest contributor to their victory, if it was not for him, everyone would be dead, except Jamal. Val felt like Mr. Gregory was trying to scam him.
Mr. Gregory could see Val's displeasure and quickly understood what he was thinking. He hurriedly corrected what he had said,
"I'm not trying to take it from you, it's just that it is either an A-Rank or S-Rank Skill Orb. To be able to consume it, you would have to have at least A-Rank Spatial Talent. I've never known or heard of anyone with such a high-rank legendary talent. If you wanted to sell it, I would have to recommend not attempting to, because you won't be able to sell it because it can't be used by anyone, and you will draw the attention of a lot of powerful people."
Val understood what Mr. Gregory was saying but was still displeased, he would have to prove that he could use it, which in turn, would give more information about his talent to them.
Val sighed and responded,
"I understand your concern but I can absorb this Skill Orb."
Mr. Gregory moved his magic item toward the Skill Orb and tested its rank, the reading showed it was an S-Rank Spatial Skill Orb.
Mr. Gregory's eyes nearly popped out of his head, he turned to Val and spoke,
"I have confirmed it is an S-Rank Skill Orb, are you saying you have an S-Rank Talent?"
Mr. Gregory was shocked, if that was true, Val would once again surpass his expectations and would become an even more important future ally.
Val just nodded and grabbed the Spatial Skill Orb. He placed it against his forehead and said,
"I'll prove it."
Jamal was thinking about stopping Val, usually, an S-Rank Skill Orb would be a priceless treasure, that could be sold for far more than even a dragon, but Spatial Talent was extremely rare, and to have S-Rank Spatial Talent was unheard of, therefore there was no one to buy the Skill Orb and though it might be worth a ridiculous amount, no one would ever buy it. Thus, he decided to stay where he was and observe Val to see if what he said is true or not.
Mr. Gregory was the same, as a merchant he understood the market very well, better than Jamal, and knew it was basically impossible to sell that Skill Orb. It would be more valuable to confirm if Val truly had an S-Rank Spatial Talent.
As the group watched Val, they witnessed the Skill Orb break down into a massive amount of mana particles, which were then absorbed into Val. They could not believe it, it was undeniable proof that Val had an S-Rank Spatial Talent.
When Val opened his eyes he saw everyone staring at him with their mouths open. Val found the scene comical and gave a smug grin.
He spoke smugly to Mr. Gregory,
"See, I told you I could use the S-Rank Spatial Skill Orb, shouldn't you have realized by now that I am amazing?"
Mr. Gregory could not deny Val's claim, it is possible that he is the first person in all of history to have awakened an S-Rank Spatial Talent, along with his other talents, which based on observation, were also high rank, it was not wrong to call him amazing. In fact, 'amazing' may be an understatement.
Mr. Gregory was a little embarrassed and decided to move on. He wanted to know the Spatial Skill which Val awakened but it was considered rude to ask, and it was up to Val if he wanted to share or not. Mr. Gregory spoke to the group,
"So in total, we have 2 Platnum, 275 Gold, 3189 Silver, and 9653 Bronze. The merchants, including myself, had the lowest contribution each but we also have the highest number of people, then is Lightning Fang, who also lost someone in the battle. Val and Jamal have the highest contribution. The merchants, Jamal and I will be taking a lot of the magic items and weapons so we will take the smallest amount of money. My suggestion would be that Val takes 1 Platnum, 90 Gold, 1000 Silver, and 2500 Bronze, Lightning Fang will take 1 Platnum, 65 Gold, 1000 Silver, and 4000 Bronze, and we will take 120 Gold, 1189 Silver, and 3153 Bronze?"
When Val, Mark, and Becky heard the number they could not breathe, that was more money than they had ever seen in their lives combined. Sav was even worse she was frozen, she had never even seen a single gold coin let alone a platinum coin.
Everyone was too surprised to agree or say anything, Jamal found the scene very amusing and began laughing heartily.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, as you get stronger and higher ranked, you will begin to earn more money. You young people are lucky to be able to earn this much so soon."
Jamal said this in a jovial way but it hit a nerve with Mark and Becky, who immediately broke out of their daze and wanted to retort to Jamal that they lost their friend and comrade, but they didn't, Jamal and Mr. Gregory were their employers and death was a risk of their job, they should have known that it was always a possibility. Jamal obviously saw the change of expression, and realized his mistake, apologizing immediately,
"Sorry, what I said was insensitive, so much has happened that it had slipped my mind."
Mark looked up and faced Jamal and responded in a sad and regretful tone,
"It's alright, we should have realized it was a possibility and come better prepared."
There was an awkward silence after that, which Val decided to break when his senses came back to him,
"I accept the distribution of money you've chosen."