Liam's Circle

"I'm going to fart!" Liam announced at the top of his lungs.

"....." People looked at him in silence

Liam then quietly sat down. After a moment, murmurs filled the surroundings.

"Why did he shout that?"

"Did he lose a bet?"

"I just lost my appetite…"

Liam lowered his head as his face turned bright red like a tomato. Soon, a worker in the cafe went over with a frown.

"Excuse me, Sir. Please be civilized in our cafe, or we will have to ask you to leave."

"Y-yes… I'm sorry."

Liam, the top dog in the whole middle school, had to lower his head in apology while being filled with shame.

After the worker left them, Liam looked at Jasper with a hateful gaze, regretting how he hadn't made sure this guy was dead back then. Now, this guy is back with an unbelievable power and the ability to control other people.

Liam's killing intent shot up to the sky. At the same time, he remembered Jasper's words earlier and imagined a watermelon being squashed.

'I'll fucking kill Dereck for this!'

Jasper, meanwhile, ignored Liam's gaze as he took a sip from his coffee. After a while, he asked again, "Do you know the seniors there?"

"..." Liam stayed silent. When Jasper was about to open his mouth again, Liam felt goosebumps and answered, "...I do. I have a friend who is a senior there, and he's close to the teachers. We could give you a record of the student roll there."

Much better, Jasper thought. He was getting tired of saying "I order you to" every time he asks a question because a question doesn't equate to an order. Furthermore, people are intelligent, not some search engine that will only answer what was asked.

Jaspher didn't want to waste much time finding the answer, he wanted his servants to have the initiative to offer it.

"No need, I just want to know the noteworthy ones."

"The noteworthy… For you, everyone at my level shouldn't be noteworthy."

"Buttering me up will get you nowhere," Jasper laughed like a dainty lady.

"I'm not," Liam felt irritated, but kept it in. "The noteworthy ones are Cassandra Ivon and Alex Miro. They are just two years older than u,s but they are already at the Ninth Stage Body Tempering Realm."

"That's impressive."

"Yes, their talents are unbelievable. Even I'm not confident in reaching the eighth stage once we're third year, but they are already near the peak of the Body Tempering Realm."

"We came from a rundown middle school. You know the saying 'big fish in a small pond'."

Liam was prideful, but he knew his limits. He didn't have the capability to rebut Jasper's words.

"Between the two, who do you favor?" Jasper asked. There couldn't be two tigers on one mountain. Certainly, these two are against each other.

"I'm rooting for Alex Miro. He seems to be slightly faster in cultivation. His far future should be greater. However, in the short term, Cassandra is winning with her connections alone."

"Connections like what?"

"She's the daughter of the family that owns the Ivon Trading Center, a prominent company here in the Elshed Province. Her influence may be greater in the future, but I still believe in Alex, as strength is the ultimate metric. Cassandra could only catch up because of the abundance of her resources, but even that has limits. Alex will win."

"I see…"

It would've been better if there were one who was clearly above the other. If Jasper could make one into a follower, he could support them until the end. However, gaining a follower is much complicated than just enslaving them.

That may also be the reason why the Ancestor laid low for a while before taking in followers and disciples.

For Jasper's case, it is much harder as one needs to reach a certain amount of respect or trust to willingly become a follower. Jasper doesn't have a reputation because he needed to hide his identity. He also couldn't enslave them and then, force them into becoming a follower.

From the system manual, Jasper learned that a slave cannot be a follower. If they undo the enslavement, then he couldn't force them to become his followers. 

Ultimately, a person could only become a follower willingly.

Thus, Jasper has to enslave them, which is a shame since he wanted talented ones to become his followers, but as of now, that would be a difficult option.

"Alright, let's go."

"To where?"

"To our high school."

Liam unwillingly followed as they went together. Jasper wore shades and a cap. It wouldn't hurt to be more secretive.

As they were about to board a train, they met up with some familiar faces.

"Liam!" a blonde girl waved from afar with enthusiasm.

"Shit…" Liam muttered under his breath as he looked at Jasper. He has no idea what this guy is thinking and what he will do in front of his friends.

Along with Sophie, the blonde girl, is a group mixed with men and women. Sophie ran up to him and gave a curious glance at Jasper.

"Liam, is this the person you said you needed to meet up?"

"Yes… he's…"

"Hi, my name's Jason. I'm Liam's friend. Nice to meet you." Jasper smiled.

"Oh, hi, I'm Katie!" one of the girls in the group stepped in, "We didn't know Liam had a friend this handsome!" she flirtatiously winked.

"Hahaha, Liam didn't tell me he has such a cute friend."

"Cute? Hehehe, where are you going now? Maybe we (I) can come along?"

Before Jasper could answer, Katie's cheek was pulled by Sophie, "You slut, that's Liam's friend you're talking to, not some random dude on the street. Keep your manners!" she whispered.

"Awww sowwie!"

"Your shades must be for your blindness. How can this fugly be cute?" a man with a tall build and long haird laughed as he offered his hand, "I'm Nate by the way."

"Me, fugly!??" Katie threw tens of punches at Nate's wide back.

"You're a funny one, Nate." Jasper shook his hand. "You also look strong."

"Haha, I get that a lot."

While the group was talking to Jasper as if it was natural, Sophie pulled Liam away and asked, "Liam, may I know who he is?"

However, Liam wore such a heavy expression that she shrank back.

"Don't ask questions about him."

"Eh…?"

Liam then stepped in and stopped the group's conversation, "Guys, sorry but we're in a hurry."

"What's the matter, Liam?" Nate asked, "You look troubled."

"None of your business," Liam lightly growled and looked at Jasper, "Let's go."

Jasper chuckled and followed. Before he left, Jasper glanced at Sophie. They made eye contact, and she immediately frowned.

When they left, Katie cursed, "Fuck! Looks like the hottie got his eyes on you!" she wanted to strangle her friend so badly.

"Come on, she's already Liam's girl, he wouldn't take her," another girl in the group said.

"Hey, don't you think Liam seemed to be really in trouble?"

Sophie ignored their banters and pointed out the elephant in the room.

"Yeah, it wasn't rare for him to snap in anger but this time, it seemed like he has some crap to deal with."

"Do you think…" Katie looked at the others, "...we should follow them?"

 .

.

.

"Your friends are one cheerful group," Jasper commented with a light smile.

"..."

"I remember those three girls. They were with you when you axe kicked me."

"They…"

"They were laughing at me, I remember that."

Liam stopped in his tracks.

"What do you want?"

Jasper laughed in response, "No need for you to worry about that. If I want something, I'll let you know."

Liam held his chest. There's fire in his heart that burned in rage. He felt like blacking out, but he kept it cool. He is aware of his standing.

"Please, keep them out of your sight. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

Liam followed Jasper's back.

Jasper didn't answer. What a ridiculous statement. Of course, Liam will do whatever he wants him to do. That shouldn't even be a question.

"You should get used to thinking that you already have no power," Jasper casually replied. At the same time, he didn't like Liam's gaze, so he toned it down, "But if you do good, I'll ignore your friends."

Liam released a huge sigh of relief.

"What's your relationship with the blonde?"

"The blonde… You mean Sophie?"

"Yeah"

"She's my woman," Liam unintentionally revealed a fang upon saying so.

"Woman? Not your girlfriend?"

"Why is a man restrained to one woman?"

Jasper's eyes widened before he burst out laughing, "I didn't expect you to be old-fashioned," he then wrapped around his arm around Liam's shoulders, "We'll get along in that matter. Strength matters the most. A strong man can have many women and a strong woman can have many men."

"..."

"We're bonding so much I could almost forget the time you almost killed me."

Liam was filled with anxiety every time Jasper brought up that matter between them. He gritted his teeth.

'He's playing with me!'

"But you know, I would ignore your friends, but it seemed that they can't ignore me."

Liam froze before understanding what Jasper meant. He turned around and used his sharpened senses to notice that people were indeed following them.

"Those guys..!!"

"Hehe, ignore them. I still want you to do something."

They were nearing the Brukmere Public High.

"Since you're a talented freshman, I think the teacher will be generous. Ask for the student records, specifically for Cassandra and Alex."