Chapter 43 - Jared Cass
Enforcers had been shown capturing other superhumans so many times on the news that just seeing their uniform was enough to put the fear of God into the body of any superhuman!
Keith didn't bother to pay the woman any mind as he turned to the receptionist. Keith actually didn't intend to make the woman leave like that since he wasn't going to be here for long, but he couldn't do anything about the reputation that he had in the superhuman world, so he simply accepted it. Besides, it was better for the superhumans to fear them so they would be too afraid to commit any kind of crime.
Keith began to speak to the woman about what he was there for and the woman listened as respectfully as possible, and Jason just watched on from behind with a bored look on his face. The woman turned to Jason a few seconds into the conversation, and she gained a small blush when she saw Jason's handsome face, but she quickly composed herself and turned back to Keith with a nod and spoke up.
"Since he will be depositing multiple stones all at once, we have a room prepared for bulk exchanges. He can go there and carry out the transaction. One of our agents will be waiting for you."
The receptionist smiled kindly while directing Keith toward the inner rooms, and Keith nodded before he started to move. Jason noticed the receptionist looking at him again, and when he turned to her, she gave him a shy wave and a smile.
Jason ignored her and turned to follow Keith, but he stopped when he suddenly heard someone behind him.
"Hey, hey, is that you, Jason? Holy shit, it is. Didn't think I'd run into you here."
Jason turned around with a raised brow and was surprised when he saw someone that he never expected to be talking to him there.
It was a young boy around the same age as Jason with dyed green hair and green eyes. He had on a pair of sunglasses and was wearing a leather jacket over a designer shirt and jeans.
This was Jared Cass, a D-Rank superhuman and one of the most popular students in Jason's high school. Jared was the son of a popular businessman in Riverdale, and his father owned multiple restaurant chains across the country. Since they were rich and he was also a superhuman, Jared was able to become the top dog in Riverdale High School easily.
But Jason didn't ever remember them speaking before. In Riverdale High School, there was a serious divide between the regular students and the students who had abilities. Whenever a child gains abilities, they go to Core City to learn how to control their abilities for about a year, and then they are allowed to return back to society.
So all the students in Riverdale High School who had gifts knew each other from when they were in Core City. This allowed them to form a clique of their own and they were automatically catapulted to the top of the social hierarchy just because of their abilities.
Jared was the undisputed leader of that clique, and Jason doesn't remember ever having anything to do with them before. In fact, Jason was treated in the same way the rest of the regular students were treated by the superhuman students. With apathy and a condescending attitude.
There was a time when Jason had been friends with one of the members of the Superhuman clique, but after reading that she was only using him to try and get her homework done for free, Jason stopped being her friend and decided not to involve himself with any of the popular students in the school.
Jared and the others all looked down on the regular students and they even expected them to never go against any of their orders. It was irritating, but Jason didn't care enough to do anything about it since he was too busy with all his part-time jobs as well as his work in the restaurant. As far as Jason was concerned, he wouldn't care what the popular kids did so long as it didn't affect him.
So why the hell was Jared talking to him like they'd known each other for years?
Jason watched Jared as he came closer and put his hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason looked at the offending limb for a moment with an irritated frown before he shrugged it off and spoke.
"Can I help you?"
Jared was surprised by Jason's cold attitude and he laughed, trying to brush it off before he gave Jason a smile.
"Oh, I just came around to turn in some Magic Crystals for my guild. The Guild Captain was busy, but he trusted me enough to bring it here for him. I saw you from over there and I thought I'd come say hello. You know, we superhumans have to stick together."
Jared nodded in self-satisfaction while looking around at all the people looking at them. The other superhumans were all surprised to see someone talking to Jason like they were longtime friends, and Jared knew that this was only going to raise his reputation in the superhuman world!
Although Jared was part of a guild, he was still young, so he didn't yet have permission from his guild leader to go into a Gate. This meant that he wasn't popular and he also wasn't gaining strength.
Jared couldn't do anything about not becoming stronger unless he goes into a Gate, but that doesn't mean he couldn't become more popular! So now, Jared decided that the best way to become popular was by making sure everyone knew that he was close with the recently awakened A Rank superhuman!
Jared's smile widened and he turned to speak to Jason again, but his eyes widened when he saw that Jason was already walking away.
"Hey! I was talking to you!"
Jared suddenly shouted in anger as he saw Jason leaving and Jason turned around with the most condescending look Jared had ever seen in his life.
"We haven't spoken a word to each other before this, so stop acting like you're my friend all of a sudden. Now fuck off, I don't have time to talk to leeches."
Jared's face grew red in anger as he saw Jason's dismissive attitude! The other superhumans were already starting to whisper about the incident and Jared knew that it wouldn't be long before they started talking about it on the superhuman forums! Jason turned around to start walking again, but Jared immediately walked up to him and grabbed his arm before snarling.
"You think you're some hotshot just 'cause you awakened as an A-rank!? Is that it!?"
Jason turned around sharply and a massive pressure suddenly filled the room as his mana began to leak from his body in response to his anger! Jared felt his entire body shake in shock from the pressure and he quickly let go of Jason and took two steps back!
Jared was only a D-Rank who hadn't even gone into a Gate before, so he could barely stay on his feet! The pressure was insane!
"What's going on here?"
Keith suddenly spoke up from the side while frowning at the two boys. Jared turned to Keith quickly and he felt his already wide eyes widen even more once he laid eyes on the uniform!
A superhuman Enforcer!
Jared immediately tried his best to compose himself and he shook his head.
"N-No, sir. There's no problem at all. In fact, everything's fine. I was just talking to my classmate here."
Jared turned to glance at Jason with desperate expectation! If Jason said that there was a problem, then they were both going to be in trouble with the Enforcer, so Jason had to agree!
Jason could easily see what Jared expected from him and he just gave him a blank look before turning and walking away.
Keith narrowed his eyes at Jared for a moment to make sure that there was really no issue and Jared swallowed and gave Keith a shaky smile.
"If there are no issues, be on your way then."
Keith only said this and Jared quickly turned and speed-walked away from the tense situation.
Keith followed after Jason and entered the designated room for the exchange. The room was large with two semi-circular couches arranged on either side of a round table. Jason was sitting on one of the couches calmly and Keith stood to one side of the room with his hands folded as they waited for the agent to arrive.
"You released mana in the building. The SMD laws dictate that unchecked use of mana outside of a Gate is illegal. I will let it go this time, but it will be a sanctionable offense the next time you are caught."
Keith spoke up after a few seconds of silence.