Chapter 9 : The Grimoire Tower

Zakai walked among crowds of people, his face covered in a cloak, meaning the people around him couldn't see his expressions.

Some people shot the sketchy figure a glance every now and then, but none of them bothered nor cared enough.

These people didn't only come from the small village not far away from the orphanage but from countless cities and villages much bigger and larger than his own.

So many of them didn't realise that the man that walking among them was a criminal and a dangerous person.

Excited chatting filled the Grimoire towers as thousands of people swarmed into the seemingly small tower, but was in reality a large tower filled with the brim of books.

The book at his side grumbled, obviously wanting to get released into the large pile of magical grimoires that it ever so desired.

It was strange, as the corpse of Zek didn't realise a Grimoire, but so many Grimoires were stored here.

Could it be possible that everyone has a Grimoire, and only until they receive the grimoire he can take it away?

this means that he couldn't kill children or anybody under the age of 15.

This was a good restriction because it meant that he wouldn't need to kill children in the path of gaining power.

A man was at the centre of the massive Library, floating in the air and watching as all the 15-year-olds squeaked in excitement.

"MHM!" An obviously loud fake-throat clear came from the man, as Zakai looked up and saw the stereotypical wizard. "Now it's time, for the awarding of the grimoires!"

A short introduction happened, as books of all sizes and colours flew from the shelves, causing the people to gasp in shock and excitement.

Looking back, Zakai caught the glimpse of Sister Lilly and Father Orsi, who had come with Asta and Yuno.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see either of them as he shot both of them a spiteful glance and looked away.

A book came before Zakai, causing him to slowly walk up to it and touch it.

What type of magic was it?

he would have lied if he didn't say he wasn't interested.

The book at his side decided it was hungry, and tried to eat the Grimoire at Zakai's side.

3 clovers, just a bog standard Grimoire.

"Don't eat yet, you will have your chance," Zakai muttered , causing the book to start to rest.

It seemed to have understood his commands, making Zakai slowly start to sigh.

Then something happened.

A bright gust of light enveloped the room, causing Zakai and many others to attempt to find the source of the light.

"Yuno?" Zakai muttered quietly, his eyes locking onto the Grimoire.

4 stalks of clovers.

It was a real 4-leaf clover Grimoire!

only people destined for greatness wield these grimoires.

Zakai felt as the once settled Grimoire suddenly spurred again, causing him to grit his teeth.

Slipping out of the Library, his cloak and his hastily moving out of the Library caused some people to start to follow him.

Looking back at the group of 6, Zakai gritted his teeth.

"FINE!" Zakai gave the 5 leaf book the 3 leaf Grimoire, as it was suddenly cloaked in light.

The 5 leaf grimoire started to consume the 3 leaf Grimoire, Zakai watched as the 5 leaf grimoire was enveloped in a cocoon of light, causing the whole rusty appearance to change.

The book was cleaned, and the 5 stems of clover were replaced by a normal three.

The book was black and green, with a pattern of a star chart, showing intriguing patterns that Zakai didn't recognize.

"Well, well well." A kid he had recognized as a flamboyant noble from another village cornered him with the rest of the lackies.

"Aw.... his grimoire must of being so shitty, running away all embarrassed like that."

"Yeah, coward-!" A guy behind him tried to punch him, but Zakai easily dodged, as the cloak fell from his face.

Ignoring him, Zakai opened his Grimoire as he instantly knew what magic he had gotten.

Zakai smiled.

"How utterly broken," Zakai muttered before his expression turned to the noble kid. "Aren't you gonna use a spell?"

"Are you dumb?" A lackey suddenly muttered, "You're talking to one of the nobles of green grove villag-"

"Don't care," Zakai muttered, before looking at the boy. "To me, your nothing but horseshit."

"You little-" The lackey pulled out his grimoire, before shouting "I will teach you a lesson."

Zakai was bored as he watched the boy fumble around with his Grimoire, before shouting.

"[Wind Magic: Crescent blade]"

small crescents of the blade were shown as Zakai snickered.

It was time to show his own type of magic.

Zakai rushed up to the boy, watching as the crescent wind blades were juggled before getting shot out at Zakai.

Seeing someone do something he wanted to do for years in seconds pissed him off, so he eargly rushed up to the boy in front of him.

Touching his grimoire, a feeling of magic tinged through Zakai as he smiled.

"[Akashic Magic: Crescent Blade]"

Zakai summoned several sets of Crescent blades, before sending them back to the boy.

He was experienced with wind magic, so he had managed to make more than the original creator himself.

His magic was a form of copy magic, and the advantages and disadvantages were present.

First, he needed to kill and consume the grimoire and gain the type of mana of the spell he was using.

For example, he needed to get Sekel's grimoire to obtain wind magic to copy the crescent blade.

He couldn't copy spells of magic greater than him, meaning when he gets stronger, his access to others' spells gets better and better.

But there was a power that made him able to bypass the first restriction.

He could temporary obtain the magic of the people that use magic around him, and use it for short bursts.

This meant that he didn't have to kill allies, but the benefits were lower than just killing them.

However, Zakai theorized that this could mean that he could store up a large amount of temporary mana and turn it into real mana if he stored a large portion of it.

But that was a theory.

(AN: A GAME THEORY)

The wind blades flew out, instantly knocking the boy out and hitting several non-vital spots, causing him to slowly start to bleed.

"Mhm...." Zakai looked around the group of lackeys, before saying. "Which one of you has fire magic?"

"Jump at him! all at once!" None of them seemed fazed by one of the lackeys being beaten down.

Zakai responded as a punch was rapidly thrown at his face, causing him to dodge.

Someone managed to sneak behind him, causing him to get punched in the back.

"Who do you think you are?" The noble said, "your nothing compared to us."

Zakai felt memories pour into his head, memories of Sekel being constantly bullied due to his low mana-pool.

That made his expression sour, as Zakai rapidly tried to calm himself down.

He thought of killing these people.

But he wasn't a monster who stooped that low.

Not yet at least.

A gust of wind magic blew the group away, causing Zakai to groan.

"You," Zakai said to one of the boys. "What is your magic?"

"Fire....fire."

"Cast a spell."

The boy summoned his meagre sized Grimoire, before rapidly causing a large fireball to appear.

"WHAT A FOOL!" He laughed. "[Fire magic: Grand Fireball]"

He suddenly threw the fireball at Zakai, causing the latter to sigh.

A gust of wind suddenly turned the fireball against the boy, and in seconds the silent grassy plain was full of screaming as Zakai saw the embers burn the boy's face.

"Be lucky I didn't kill you," Zakai muttered, before touching the boy's grimoire and splashing the boy's face with water and walking off.

"[Akashic Magic : Grand Fireball]" Zakai cast, causing a smile to envelop his face before his smile slowly started to fall.

That's right.

The path from now on won't be a good one, one filled with blood and magic.

Anything to get stronger.

Anything.