Chapter 9: Grimoire Grades

In front of him and Sara was a man in his late forties or early fifties. He was buff and had a broad shoulder full of strength. He has red hair, a common hair color for those who belonged to the Red Family's descendants.

His name was Marcel, the third brother of the current Red Family's clan head. He was also the one who managed the whole Peach Village, acting as a village lord of some sort for it.

He was sitting leisurely on a wooden chair. He doesn't look condescending, but Miguel could feel that he was very strong—far stronger than his current self.

"Is he the one who awakened a grimoire?" Marcel stated with a plain voice as he looked at Sara and then at Miguel.

Sara had already told the branch head last night about Miguel's awakening. She actually did not go to sleep like Miguel did after they were done eating last night. Instead, she went here and reported the matter to the branch head, so that he wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly brought Miguel over the next day. It was also during her way home that she stumbled upon a drunk Jonas, the reason for the bruise on her neck that she had now covered with a scarf.

Sara nodded her head proudly as she softly pushed Miguel forward. Miguel did not resist, as he took a step forward himself before bowing to the branch head.

The branch head, Marcel, nodded his head before saying, "May I see your grimoire?"

Miguel nodded his head, and at the next moment, a black grimoire instantly floated in front of him.

At that instant, there was a change in Marcel's expression. Surprised and astonished flashed on his face as he looked at the jet-black grimoire that looked more like a black square rock than a book.

However, it was not the color of the grimoire that he was surprised about. Instead, it was how Miguel managed to summon the grimoire almost instantly.

'Instant summoning? ' He thought as his sitting posture straightened up.

Instant summoning was not uncommon. What was uncommon was a newly awakened Grimoire user capable of doing an instant summoning.

Usually, a new user would close their eyes to make a mental connection with the grimoire. Once the mental connection was established, the user would then order the grimoire to come out of the inner world.

The more one performs this act, the more experienced they will be; hence, an act of instant summoning would be achieved.

For a newly awakened user to perform such an act, even Marcel could not help but be astonished.

'Is this kid actually a genius?' He could not help but wonder as he looked at Miguel seriously.

Of course, he also knew of Miguel's reputation in Peach Village. He knew that he was a fool who was in a daze all day long. However, looking at him now, he seemed to be normal in Marcel's eyes.

Finally, Marcel looked at the jet-black grimoire.

"What grade is your grimoire?" He could not help but ask.

As far as he knew, a newly awakened user usually only awakened a Bronze Grade grimoire, which was dark metallic bronze in color. This Bronze Grade grimoire would gain experience through battles and can rank up to Silver and then Gold Grade. The higher the grade, the higher the level of the beast they can contract and summon. Of course, there were other benefits aside from that too.

Miguel also knew the basics of the grimoire grades from the information provided by the grimoire itself.

However, his jet-black grimoire was not included on the list of grades from Bronze, Silver and then to Gold. There might be more grades above it, but it was not included in the information given as it was considered advanced knowledge. He also wondered if the grimoire itself was influenced by his previous identity.

"I don't know," Miguel answered honestly.

Marcel nodded his head and did not press on that matter. The grade of a grimoire would determine one's strength and rank. However, since he didn't know about a jet-black grimoire, he also didn't believe that Miguel would know about it.

"I heard that you don't have any Innate Skill or Innate Beast?" Marcel asked.

Miguel nodded his head as he stared carefully at Marcel, wanting to see his reaction.

After living for too long in his previous life, Miguel has already grown accustomed to never-ending conflicts and troubles. If one was not strong enough, one should also be prepared to be suppressed by the strong.

At this moment, he still didn't know how important and rare a grimoire summoner was. Depending on Marcel's reaction, he would determine his next course of action.

"This is the first time that I have heard of something like this. Usually, only the Innate Skills are missing if one isn't talented enough. This is the first time that I heard that someone did not awaken with an Innate beast," Marcel said, deep in thought.

If he had not seen Miguel summoning his grimoire instantly earlier, he would have also believed that he indeed had no talent. However, someone who could summon their grimoire instantly should be talented.

"Well, don't worry about it too much. Even without an Innate Beast, you can still make a contract with another beast and treat it as your Innate Beast. Perhaps this might become an opportunity for you. After all, one could not choose their Innate Beast; even if it's weak, they could only nurture it reluctantly."

Innate Beasts were different from normally contracted beasts.

Innate Beasts meant that they would not die unless the owner died. They were also absolutely loyal and would not betray their owner no matter what happened, unlike normally contracted beasts.

"As for you, since you don't have an Innate Beast, this means that you can focus your attention on the first beast you will contract instead. Regarding that, don't get hasty and choose well."

Marcel thought for a moment before he continued, "Since you are technically part of my third branch now, how about I'll help you contract your first beast?"

The moment he said that, Marcel did not wait for Miguel to answer before he waved his hands as a silver-colored grimoire floated in front of him.

Not only that, the silver grimoire glowed, and at the next moment, a small creature also materialized in front of Marcel.