The Genius Miguel

The silver grimoire attracted Miguel's attention. It was more vibrant and metallic compared to his jet-black grimoire, which looked more like a black stone in the shape of a book.

Miguel then shifted his gaze to the creature that Marcel had summoned.

The creature was not big. It was a black and red tortoise, the size of an ordinary dog.

"This beast is called a Volcanic Tortoise. It is known for its tremendous vitality and healing ability. This tortoise has already evolved once and has been nurtured by me to become a Bronze Grade beast from Normal Grade. It just recently evolved, so it's still at Level 1 Bronze Grade, but with its strong vitality, I think it's very suitable to become your first contracted beast. What do you think?"

Just like grimoires, beasts were also graded depending on their strength or rarity. Most beasts start at Normal Grade, then move on to Bronze, Silver and then Gold Grade. Their strength would also be further categorized into levels, with level 1 being the lowest and level 10 being the highest.

Miguel nodded his head and agreed to his arrangement. Although this was not his first contracted 'beast' but second, as the Fiery Empress has already settled herself on his first blank page. 

Although he doesn't know the details yet, Miguel was positive that she was a lot stronger compared to this Volcanic Tortoise. Anyway, the Fiery Empress was another secret that he must hide for now, so the existence of the Volcanic Tortoise was a good excuse for him.

"Okay, try to contract this Volcanic Tortoise now. It has already been tamed by me before, so it shouldn't be that hard to make it agree to the contract," Marcel stated as he dispelled his own contract with the Volcanic Tortoise. A pained expression appeared on his face for a brief moment before he nodded his head to Miguel, indicating that he may start.

Miguel nodded his head and finally indicated his intention to the grimoire.

Just like when one wants to summon their grimoire, one must also state their intention to the grimoire and command it to initiate a contract with the beast.

Unlike with the Fiery Empress' case, where the Grimoire itself initiated the contract out of its own volition, this time Miguel's intention was transmitted clearly to it.

The jet-black grimoire pulsated as a dark glow was emitted from it. The pages opened on their own as they landed and settled on the second blank page.

Below the Volcanic Tortoise, a hexagram-like symbol appeared as the Volcanic Tortoise was engulfed by it. 

The contract signing was initiated, and without a moment of delay, the Volcanic Tortoise accepted the contract as it flashed into a stream of light and traveled towards the jet-black grimoire.

The grimoire closed with a bang, and the light died down as it floated in the air peacefully.

A new beast was contracted just like that.

Marcel has his eyes wide, like saucers, as he witnesses the dubious scene in a daze.

'Was contract signing this easy these days? ' 

Even he himself took five tries before he successfully made a contract with the Volcanic Tortoise. And one must know that the Volcanic Tortoise was just a Normal Grade beast back then when he first obtained it. And back then, his grimoire had already even become Silver Grade.

The difficulty of contracting a beast has a lot of factors to consider. The grade and level of the beast, the beast's personality, its willingness to get contracted, the grade of the grimoire, and then the user's strength and talent as a beast tamer or summoner were just some of the factors to consider when it comes to the difficulty of contracting a beast.

Most of the beast usually starts at Normal Grade. Newly awakened users who have a Bronze Grade grimoire would usually be able to contract a gentle Level 1 Normal Grade beast after ten or more tries if they have average talent.

At this moment, Miguel still did not know the significance of his actions. However, Marcel, who already possessed a Silver Grade Grimoire was gobsmacked as he stared at Miguel intently.

'Genius! This kid is definitely a genius! ' He exclaimed internally as he stared at Miguel as if he were a treasure.

If he was only a little suspicious before of his talent from his instant summoning, now Marcel without a doubt believes that Miguel was definitely a genius.

He also guessed that the jet-black grimoire should be of a higher grade than a Bronze one. After all, a Bronze Grade grimoire should not be able to contract a Bronze Grade beast in one try, and easily at that.

Sacrificing and giving the Volcanic Tortoise to him at this stage was definitely a good decision and a worthy investment. The Volcanic Tortoise was, after all, a beast that has the potential to reach the peak of Silver Grade.

"Train and treat it well." Marcel tried his hardest to calm his emotions.

This kid has a limitless future ahead of him. As long as he didn't die young, he was sure that he would even surpass him in the future. Roping him in as early as possible was a good option.

The only problem with Miguel was that he doesn't have an Innate Beast. However, a talented summoner without an Innate Beast was still a few times better than an average summoner with an Innate Beast.

The heavens were fair. Perhaps jealous of his summoning talent, it restricted Miguel and did not allow him to own an Innate Beast or Innate Skill.

"Right, my daughter will return in the next two days. She will bring you and the other newly awakened to the main branch to study and train. There, you'll be learning a lot on how to summon and train your contracted beast properly. Of course, you can also come to me if you have some questions or some needs; I'll try to help as best as I can. After all, you are already part of the Red Family, so it's only natural that I take care of you during this stage," Marcel stated with a straight face.

Miguel nodded his head softly, indicating that he understood. He then turned to look at Sara, who was still awestruck by the series of events that happened in front of her, and said, "Mom, can you leave us alone for a few moments? I have something to discuss with the branch head."

Sara paused for a moment before she nodded her head.

"Alright. Behave in front of the branch head, alright?" she said in a strict tone as she bowed her head to Marcel before living.

After her figure disappeared from their view, Miguel finally turned to look at Marcel, who was also confused about his actions.

It was true that he said that he should come if he has questions, but the questions should not pop up this early, right?

Miguel did not allow him to wait for long, as he said what was on his mind the next moment.

"Alright. Let's stop pretending and cut straight to the chase. You value my talent and want to secure my loyalty this early, right? I don't have any problems with that. But aside from the Volcanic Tortoise that only has some meager Silver Grade potential, what other benefits can you offer me?"

Hearing his straightforward words, Marcel's eyes narrowed into a dangerous slit as he stared warily at Miguel.

His silver grimoire flashed, and a massive creature was summoned in front of him immediately after.

He stood up from his seat and bellowed towards Miguel, "Who are you?!"