Chapter 85

Pushing open the door of the shop, Abel immediately saw a charming gypsy girl standing up to greet him.

He glanced at the slightly rusty bracelet on her wrist, her somewhat rough makeup, and tidy but worn clothes. Abel realized that life might not have been easy for her. 

At the same time, he confirmed that there was no trace of magic on her. In other words, she wasn't a mage. She was likely just an ordinary person using techniques for fortune-telling and divination. The call he had felt didn't come from her, but likely from something inside the shop.

"Lost? Come, sit here, and I'll show you the way," she said, gesturing for him to sit.

"I'm here to deal with some matters, but let's see what you can tell me about the future," Abel replied, taking a seat at the gypsy girl's round table.

She picked up her tarot cards, shuffled them skillfully, and placed three in front of Abel. While she went through the ritual of interpreting the cards, Abel subtly scanned the shop, searching for the source of the call he had sensed.

When she finally told him that he was in danger and needed to buy some amulets to avoid it, Abel's eyes landed on the object that had been calling him — a pendant made of a human phalanx.

The pendant was simple, with a black rope threaded through a plain, slightly yellowed bone. There were no carvings or textures, just a raw, human-looking bone. Yet, this was the object that had drawn him here.

Looking at it, Abel decided to engage the gypsy girl. "Are all the amulets here suitable for me?" he asked. "The ones you've shown me so far are too ordinary. I want something cool."

The gypsy girl's face brightened, and she responded enthusiastically, "You know these amulets can solve your problems, but if you want something stronger, it will cost more. The more powerful the amulet, the more mana is required, and so the price is higher. But trust me, it's worth the extra money!"

Abel stood and moved to where various amulets hung on the walls. His eyes passed over each of them until they rested on the bone pendant again. "What kind of bone is this?" he asked with interest. "Is it human?"

"Of course! It's made from a human bone. I used plenty of mana to create this amulet, so naturally, the price is—"

"How much?" Abel interrupted.

"One… one hundred dollars," she stammered. "But if you really like it, I can let it go for eighty. Or maybe seventy."

"Fifty dollars. You won't lose out," Abel countered.

"Fifty... yes, fifty dollars is fine!" she agreed quickly, surprising Abel, who immediately realized his offer was still too high.

He paid the fifty dollars, pocketed the pendant, and then took out another hundred dollars. Holding the bill just out of reach, he asked, "I know you didn't make this yourself. Tell me where you got it, and this one hundred dollars is yours."

Abel's funds came from Tony Stark's investments, so a hundred dollars was nothing to him. He could afford to be generous, but only in exchange for useful information.

The gypsy girl hesitated, but as Abel's gaze locked with hers, her eyes glazed over, and she spoke the truth. "I bought it at an antique shop in Hell's Kitchen, New York, before coming here. I usually get materials from there, then turn them into amulets to sell."

**Hell's Kitchen, New York**? Abel mused. It seemed that his journey had brought him full circle.

Satisfied with the information, Abel placed the hundred dollars on the table, opened the door, and left. He disappeared down the street before the gypsy girl snapped out of her trance. She shivered as if waking from a nightmare, glanced at the shop in fear, and found the hundred-dollar bill on the table. Without hesitation, she grabbed an amulet from her pocket for protection, stuffed the money into her other pocket, and hurriedly closed the shop, retreating to her bedroom, trembling under her blankets.

Meanwhile, Abel arrived at a restaurant and ordered a steak. As he ate, he listened to the locals talking about the recent disturbances in the town — rumors about aliens, gods, and unusual weather phenomena. In some ways, they weren't far from the truth.

After finishing his meal, Abel returned to his rented house. He closed the curtains, sat at the table, and retrieved the phalanx pendant. He carefully cut the black rope and took out his wand. A light tap of the wand caused the bone to float, glowing faintly with a soft blue halo.

Through his wand, Abel discerned the pendant's true nature — this was no ordinary human bone. The phalanx belonged to a humanoid creature, one with a striking resemblance to humans but subtly different. The bone contained a weak yet pure magic, reminiscent of the ocean — the finger bone of an aquatic, marine humanoid species?

There was something more…

Waving his wand again, Abel captured a faint sensation emanating from the phalanx. When he honed in on it, a thin thread of blue light was drawn from the bone and coalesced into a drop of shimmering liquid, hovering at the tip of his wand, glowing softly.

"Let's see what you really are," Abel murmured.

A white light slowly poured from the tip of the wand, enveloping the blue liquid. Abel's eyes filled with a dazzling blue and white light as he glimpsed a vision—an insight into the mysterious origin of the phalanx.