Before the black shadow was still a table made of rotten wooden boards. Of the three items on the table, only a pitch-black severed hand had initially been uncovered by the black mist. But after the boy expressed his intention to buy something, the other two items revealed their forms as well.
One was a bloodstained scroll of parchment, bound by a strip of rotten flesh resembling an umbilical cord; the other was red gel resembling an embryo, placed inside a glass jar.
Shade did not know what the former was, but he recognized the latter at a glance:
"Relic—Imitation Philosopher's Stone."
This was the direct trigger behind the Tobesk Summer Descent night after he had come to this world, and it had left a deep impression on him. The witch clearly recognized it as well. Though she wanted to buy it for research, she had already lost quite a few coins and therefore did not speak up.
The boy had also heard Shade name the relic. Knowing it was not what he wanted, he chose the parchment scroll over the severed hand.
The small black Scales landed on the tabletop. The black shadow placed the parchment on one side, and the boy anxiously began adding coins.
He had only four coins left. With each coin he gave up, his face grew a little paler. Fortunately, two coins were enough to buy the item of unknown purpose. It was not a relic, and none of them could identify exactly what it was.
But when the boy reached out and pinched the scroll, the umbilical cord binding it burrowed into his flesh like a worm. Then, as the boy covered his mouth and screamed, it and the parchment drilled into his body together.
Shade and Miss Higgins watched the boy warily.