Chapter 45: Raphael’s Doubts

Raphael held himself back to avoid laughing out loud. He took a deep breath to clear his head a little. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind that overturned his long-held understanding.

What if both Leo and Michael were once-in-an-era geniuses? Thinking back, that star flying out above Leo’s and Michael’s heads during manifestation was pretty weird. Its brightness was a bit higher than normal. Once could be a misobservation, but twice was likely an issue.

But this went against the knowledge humanity had compiled over tens of thousands of years that he had studied. Knowledge summarized by predecessors didn’t mean it was completely correct, but at least it would be right in many cases.

The more he thought, the more confused he got. Raphael decided he had to observe these two kids more carefully to investigate thoroughly. If they really were geniuses, moreover with talent that even surpassed his, the current record holder for breakthrough time to level ninety, then…

If these two kids had talent like that, they’d definitely become contractor-level demigods within forty years, and moreover the strongest kind. Adding him and Gabriel, his family would have four people.

Throw in all the connections of that old geezer Gabriel, and it would be enough to form a force that could fight The Great Sun temple once. Say what you will, Astrid’s death made him utterly disgusted with the place that was once his old home.

The fervor that had cooled over these years now showed signs of returning. Raphael quickly shook his head to discard this stupid thought. At least before confirming his speculation was correct, he wouldn’t act recklessly.

The light surrounding Michael’s body now vanished, revealing the appearance of an extremely ferocious being. Sharp, bloodshot eyes, sharp fangs, an angular face, a muscular body with six arms and sharp claws.

Looking at this appearance, both Raphael and Leo guessed that Michael got scared by this weird thing when signing the contract.

“What the hell did you sign a contract with? I’ve never seen this thing before,” Raphael asked.

His own knowledge was vast; he’d seen all sorts of strange things in this world, but what Michael was, he had never seen.

To call this a type of energy monster wasn’t right either because energy monsters didn’t look similar to humans. Michael’s current form shared a lot of features with humans. Apart from having a few too many arms and a different face, the rest was basically identical.

“Call it…”

Michael paused to think a bit about what to name the Cook God. Couldn’t say he signed a contract with a god, that would be very dangerous.

Thinking it over and over, he thought of Cook God’s extremely deep obsession with cooking and came up with a related name.

“Master Chef.”

???

Leo and Raphael looked at each other, their mouths twitching in unison without planning to. What did this appearance have to do with a chef? Looked nothing like one.

Two skeptical stares fixed on him made Michael feel a bit guilty. But this wasn’t his fault, after all, this was his genuine thought about the Cook God.

“What are you looking at me for? How could I decide this? Does anyone know beforehand what they’ll sign a contract with? Is this hereditary?”

Hearing that, Raphael could only nod. Since ancient times, there had never been any record of people knowing in advance what they would sign a contract with.

Of course, there was the hereditary factor from parents, accounting for fifty percent of the probability. Like in the case of Raphael and Gabriel, they both signed contracts with the Celestial Holy Sword.

“It is hereditary, a fifty percent chance. The things we contract with are basically formed by this world’s own energy, so there’s no limited quantity. Of course, exceptional cases can exist. I’ve only seen past statistics, I don’t know what will happen in the future.”

Neither Leo nor Michael were very surprised to hear this. Michael had forgotten about it earlier, but the villagers had told them about this before. That was why the villagers had many contracts with things like hoes, chickens, shovels…

“What kind of creature are you turning into? ’Master Chef,’ to me, sounds more like a title than a species,” Raphael probed.

Like his sword has the prefix ’Celestial Holy,’ but it still has a shape similar to a regular sword, just with more intricate patterns. Leo, while called Big Panda, the species is still a regular panda.

What creature? You ask me, then who do I ask? He is a god, born of this world, a unique existence with that weird appearance. But can’t possibly say he is a god… seems there’s still another way to put it.

“If you ask about the species, I’m not sure, but this existence’s body is quite large. Could be called a giant. Perhaps this is just a humanoid species in imagination.”

Raphael rubbed his chin, assessing the truth in the last statement, then also nodded. It wasn’t necessary to contract with something that actually existed. This world never had a Celestial Holy Sword, but he and Gabriel still contracted with it.

He had once heard a hypothesis that what each person contracts with actually represents their own will. Will can be strong or weak, hence talents are divided into strong and weak. Of course, it’s just a hypothesis, no one has proven it.

“Fine, whatever it is. In the end, it’s just a bottom-tier, trash-tier talent. Want to learn the hunter trade? I think you being a contractor with that talent truly has no future,” Raphael said with concern.

Michael was dumbfounded; it was the first time he’d seen Raphael talk to him like this. A flicker of disdain passed through his eyes.

Are you kidding? A god-tier talent not being a contractor? Clearly has a waterlogged brain.

“Thanks, but I still believe in my own efforts. There’s no trash talent, only trash contractors!” He declared resolutely, youthful fervor flaring up like an unquenchable flame.

’A look of disdain for becoming a hunter? And such a sure attitude like he predicted this… Indeed, both kids are hiding something.’

Raphael didn’t expect that just acting a little would make Michael slip up.

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