As his gaze swept across, Klein spotted the person inquiring about the ox-tooth peony.
The man stood less than a meter away, dressed in a black suit, wearing a matching half top hat, holding a silver-inlaid cane, with gold-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose. His bearing was quite refined.
"Yes, are you interested? This small jar is three soli." The stallkeeper wore a deep black robe distinctly characteristic of the occult.
The inquirer, with pale blond sideburns and refined spectacles, thought for a moment and said:
"Could you make it any cheaper? I still need to buy other materials, like this jar of white-edged sun petals."
The stallkeeper considered for several seconds before answering with great reluctance:
"Two soli and six pence. I don't think you'll find a cheaper price anywhere."
Seeing the gold-rimmed-spectacled man not only purchase the ox-tooth peony but also the white-edged sun petals and other materials, Klein immediately felt that he might have been overthinking things.
Nevertheless, he cautiously tapped his brow twice and swept the man with his Spirit Vision.
Nothing wrong — perfectly healthy body, decent mood. Keep it up, sir... Klein withdrew his gaze, turned around, and looked back toward the stall selling handmade amulets.
Through his pupils, each amulet was clearly visible — some made of pure silver, some of iron, and others cast in gold.
But among all those amulets, only two or three possessed faint aura colors — crimson, pale white, or golden.
This indicated they had developed a preliminary level of spirituality, meaning those few amulets actually had some effect!
During the earlier period, Klein had observed things very carefully and confirmed that the stallkeeper making the amulets possessed a certain foundation in the occult:
The different sources of power he had selected for the various incantations were completely correct, and the corresponding materials he had assigned for each source of power were even more precisely right.
Of course, a mere amateur of the occult would inevitably have oversights. Klein noticed that the stallkeeper didn't truly understand incantations themselves — it wasn't simply a matter of translating the desired content according to Hermes grammar and calling it an incantation. Incantations had to conform to a specific format, with unique patterns embedded within.
Additionally, when the stallkeeper chose appropriate symbolic sigils for the incantations and "sources of power," there were varying degrees of error. As a result, out of dozens of amulets, only two or three were completely correct, emitting a "faint glow."
As for how effective those two or three amulets actually were, Klein could only say that having them was better than nothing.
A truly effective amulet required the maker to channel their own spirituality out through the tip of the carving tool during the process of engraving the incantations and symbolic sigils!
For even better results, ritual magic had to be employed as an auxiliary.
These two things were virtually impossible for anyone who wasn't a Beyonder.
Klein thoughtfully tapped his brow twice, then tapped the upper left corner of the stall twice with his black cane:
"How much for these two?"
He wasn't asking about those amulets that possessed faint aura colors, but rather the unfinished pieces — items that had only the outer shape, with no incantations or symbolic sigils carved yet.
For Klein, there was absolutely no need to buy those pieces with such weak effects. Turning unfinished pieces into actual amulets was his real goal.
Hmm, make an amulet to ward off misfortune for each of Benson and Melissa… As for mine, I can mooch off the materials the Nighthawks provide… Tch, has Old Neil been a bad influence on me? I don't even feel a shred of guilt thinking about this anymore… Klein's thoughts wandered as he watched the stall owner pick up the two unfinished silver amulets.
Of the two silver amulets, one was elongated with hollowed-out sections in the middle, surrounded by a cluster of angel-like feathers, its craftsmanship exquisite and beautiful. The other was simple and plain, with almost no extra embellishments or patterns — just a vertical line symbolizing the night, set with a round disc representing scarlet.
Klein, who was unabashedly a visual person, took one look and was sold.
"This one is six soli." The stall owner was a taciturn middle-aged man, and he pointed at the more ornate piece.
After a pause, he rubbed the plain one:
"This one is five soli and three pence."
"That's far too expensive. In fact, these are still a long way from being proper amulets." Having been schooled day in and day out by Benson and Melissa, Klein had grown accustomed to haggling.
After a round of verbal sparring, he bought the two silver pieces for five soli six pence and four soli nine pence respectively.
Well, for now they could still only be called silver ornaments… Klein mused.
And that ten soli and three pence came out of the budget he had finally received from the Divination Club — five pounds.
Just as Klein took the two silver pieces, pocketed them, and was about to browse other stalls, he suddenly heard a soft, youthful voice:
"Sir, why didn't you buy a finished amulet?"
Klein turned his head and saw that the questioner was a girl of fifteen or sixteen. She wore a pale yellow dress with plenty of lace and held a veined hat adorned with ribbons in her hand.
"Because I plan to make the amulet myself. You know, it's every occultism enthusiast's dream to do so," Klein replied diplomatically.
He didn't want the stall owner to think he was trying to steal business, though he had indeed considered whether he might earn some side income with this "craft" in the future.
The girl had naturally curly brown hair and an endearingly round baby face. She looked at Klein with her pale blue eyes and asked earnestly:
"Could I ask you how to choose an amulet? Um, a friend brought me here. I've been a few times and I'm quite interested in occultism, but I don't understand it well enough yet. She — that friend of mine — will turn sixteen in a little while, and I want to pick out an amulet as a gift for her. Because I want it to be a surprise, I didn't ask her to come with me… I did ask her for advice beforehand, but I can't recall many of the key points."
Klein smiled with the courtesy of a gentleman:
"So what kind of amulet are you looking for? One to ward off misfortune? To keep illness at bay? To bring financial luck? Different needs correspond to different sources of power — that is, different deities. And different deities correspond to different celestial bodies, which in turn correspond to different materials."
"For example, the incantation to ward off misfortune certainly belongs to the Empress of Misfortune and Fear — that is, the Goddess of the Night. And as occultism enthusiasts, we all know the Goddess of the Night's symbol is the moon, and the metal that corresponds to the moon is pure silver."
"So, if we want to ward off misfortune, it's best to choose a silver amulet with the appropriate incantation."