Jacob was walking quietly beside Frederick.

Apparently, the guy told Helena to leave him and Jacob alone in order to bond.

“I don’t understand why you would want to hide your strength,” Frederick said while they went to the town hall to get a list of all inhabitants of St. Peter.

Jacob looked left and right to make sure no one was in earshot. He kept silent, pondering whether or not he should beat this idiot senseless. Maybe a good dose of punches right in the teeth would teach him something, or maybe not. But, it was still worth a shot.

“See, you were never popular…” Frederick started saying, “And why don’t you want some payback? Hell, I’d probably beat myself to within an inch of my life. You are a top dog, but you behave like a Chihuahua.”

Jacob had still to get accustomed to being surrounded by kids. He sighed and slowly shook his head.

“I will not comment on your assumptions, Fred. But let me say something if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, Jake, shoot.”

Jacob wondered for a second how friendly would everyone else become once they discovered how strong he was and how strong he could make them.

“We live now in a world where anyone can die at any minute. Terrible beasts have swarmed the big cities, and it will take a long time before we can wage war on the big monsters. I was never harshly bullied, thanks to Francis, and you never bullied me either. Joseph was even more of a douchebag compared to you, at least before today. You have some kind of complex that I don’t want to get into, and I would not touch your ego with a ten-meter pole.”

Frederick did not get as angry as Jacob expected.

“We are kids, Fred. Kids. But we have to grow up fast, even faster than our grandparents did during the war. Our priority is to save lives, to get help to those who would otherwise suffer at the hand of monsters. I’d rather show kindness before ruthlessness.”

“Do you think people will do the same to you, show you kindness?” Frederick asked with doubt painted all over his face.

“I don’t know. I’m not saying I will not be ruthless; sadly, we will need to be when the big monsters come knocking. And the thing is, I’m not just talking about Demonic Beasts. Humans will start going crazy too. The janitor killed people and raped a girl, Fred. I will never show ruthlessness to those like him, but I’ll never deny it to those who deserve it either.”

Jacob did not know what his words would do to Frederick. Maybe he had just been a bit of a moralist, a bit of a hypocrite too if he had to be honest. He hated Fred’s guts for his behavior in his past life. So, he was not the best suited to speak about kindness.

“Well, you have been quite ruthless toward me, Jake. You said I didn’t do anything, but you have cut off Helena and me from your plans.”

Jacob started and looked at Frederick for a couple of seconds before laughing.

“Oh man, if I had been ruthless, I would have ripped your throat the second you pulled off the leader stunt in front of the crowd. Helena is the strongest at the moment, together with Juliet. She doesn’t need my help. I will coordinate with her and you. But you will need to earn my trust, Fred. And if you don’t, I’ll make sure that no one ever finds your body in one piece.”

One of the many powers a fighter or a mage could wield was aura. One’s aura was a reflection of the soul. The easiest aura to project toward others was killing intent, and this one scaled with how many people you fought and killed.

Jacob released a pinch of killing intent toward Frederick. It was not able to harm people on its own, but it would give them pause. In reality, once one got strong enough, their aura would start killing the weaklings around them; that was the case for the Draconic Aura of the strongest Dragons.

Frederick felt an immense pressure envelop his body, and his face paled. Jacob’s words were not spoken like the short loser kid but more like the most ruthless killers.

“Let’s go, Fred. We have some bonding to do and some people to get to safety.”

…

Jacob spent the next two hours getting people forcefully inside the school. In more than a couple of cases, Frederick used force to get them out of their house. But, when it came to Juliet’s mom and step-dad, they both stared daggers at our guy.

Well, I guess that’s what happens when you consort with the daughter that beat up one of them and almost screamed the other’s face off.

Thank God, Frederick’s heroic features and pretty face went a long way in assuring people that the threat was real. On the other hand, Jacob looked like a bit of goblin by his side, more like Saruman’s aide than a sidekick.

But the most important thing was that they managed to get everyone to safety in no time. They would not take no as an answer nor waste precious minutes arguing. Instead, they would barge in, tell people to get to the school, and if they refused after a bit of coercing, just straight up make them leave by picking them off the ground.

Jacob had to help Frederick in a couple of cases where a family member tried to sneak attack him. One idiot tried to stab Frederick and Jacob had to break his arm at the elbow to avoid the blow reaching his frenemy.

They got in front of one of the last houses where people were screaming so loud that basically all of St. Peter could hear them.

“You want me to go with you?” Frederick asked after recognizing Francis’s house.

“You get the parents. I need to talk with Francis alone,” Jacob sighed.