The Sorcerer Supreme did not use the Eye of Agamotto to reverse time and save Salomon's life. This was something many would not allow. Many stubborn individuals within Kamar-Taj believed that using the Eye of Agamotto would disrupt the normal course of time. However, they did have some truth to their argument, and the Sorcerer Supreme also believed that rewinding time for Salomon would likely have ended his pact with Vishanti.
Therefore, the Supreme used white magic from the Book of Vishanti to help him heal. This magic drained Salomon's own life force, which is why he felt weak upon awakening. The aftereffects were not unbearable. Restoring a severely burned person to a state of rebirth was something modern medicine could not achieve. Simply restoring the skin would require an extremely long and painful treatment, yet Salomon experienced no discomfort during the magical healing process.
When the Sorcerer Supreme retrieved Salomon, every inch of his skin had been charred, and the flesh beneath was nearly cooked. If the Supreme hadn't acted swiftly, Salomon would have died at any moment. However, this treatment relied on Salomon's inherent vitality. Fortunately, his body had been fortified with positive energy, and he only needed a few days of rest to recover. His long, curly hair had grown back, albeit a bit shorter. Salomon was quite pleased with this; he couldn't bear to have his hair only the length of a fingernail—it would have been worse than death.
When Salomon was able to get up and eat, he took a moment to admire the charred shells he had shed after his treatment. In reality, the Supreme had treated him like a chestnut, peeling him from his black shell. His newly formed skin was incredibly delicate. Not only had it lost the calluses from his martial arts training, but it also regained its white, tender complexion. This exposed him to the attacks of the female sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, each of whom pinched his face twice before passing.
"Eh..." Salomon sat in his room, dabbing his quill in ink and drawing a scroll on parchment. He believed the failure of this operation was largely due to his lack of necessary scrolls. If he hadn't had two scrolls of Protection from Good and Evil with him, his and Wong's fate would have been even more horrific. Those possessed by evil spirits rarely had a good fate; if they were possessed, they wouldn't even have a chance to be rescued by the Sorcerer Supreme.
According to the Sorcerer Supreme's instructions, he needed several days of rest before he could function normally. Master Zhang, who taught Bajiquan, didn't want to see Salomon's limp self-defense, so he skipped the self-defense class. To this day, Master Zhang still believes that Salomon was attacked by a dark wizard because he didn't study self-defense properly.
Thus, Salomon became a negative example in the self-defense class.
The excuse of "attack by the dark wizard" deceived almost everyone, except the Supreme and Wong. As for the dark wizard? Since the Supreme had taken action, he must be dead, his soul unable to even enter Hell.
Salomon put down his quill and raised his hand to examine the three rings on his right fingers: a sapphire ring on his index finger, an orange sapphire ring on his middle finger, and a pink diamond ring on his ring finger. The surfaces of the rings were clean, without any trace of burns. The gems shone with a captivating brilliance in the sunlight. While these rings looked expensive, they were no different from ordinary rings, possessing no connection to magical items or a single magical aura. No one could have imagined that these rings could harness Vishanti's power.
He cautiously tried to remove the rings but found that they not only adapted to his fingers but also clung to them. Salomon gradually increased his strength, but ultimately found himself unable to pull the three rings off.
Salomon sighed.
Well, now the rings were clinging to him like a drunken rogue. In his understanding of warlock lore, such an act signified a pact, allowing him to wield Vishanti's magic openly. Whatever Vishanti's motives, Salomon could only wait patiently for Vishanti's arrangements. However, his contract was much more relaxed than that of others at Kamar-Taj, and it could be easily rescinded. This gave him the right to refuse, provided he could remove the rings. Moreover, the benefit of wearing the rings wasn't just that he could tap into Vishanti's magical power; it also gave him a rudimentary grasp of his stigmata.
But overthinking it now was pointless. Salomon sighed again, picked up his ruler and protractor, and continued drawing his scroll. For him, expanding his spellbook and scrolls was the right thing to do now.
The events in Salem naturally attracted the attention of certain agencies, who promptly arrived to address the paranormal activity. Because the affected area was small and rural, the incident wasn't serious enough to warrant reporting to the World Security Council. However, due to protests from Salem's senators, S.H.I.E.L.D. dispatched an experienced agent to handle the situation.
"Mutants? Terrorist attack? Or accident?" Coulson, dressed in a black suit, took the tablet from his colleague, removed his sunglasses, and examined it briefly before handing it back. He then glanced at the staff examining the scene. "Any further information?"
"Nothing," Sylvette shook her bald head. "But according to the Salem police report, Salem's senator, Ricky White, was robbed that day. It's said that someone used a flashbang at the scene and snatched a ring with a pink gemstone from the senator's finger. But we can't be sure if the robber is related to the mutant."
"There was no tinnitus, and the one used wasn't a stun grenade. Maybe it was a homemade flashbang. Where are the witnesses?" Coulson sighed. He was ready to face an out-of-control mutant. This time when he came to Salem, he was already equipped with light weapons. Since Melinda experienced the Bahrain Island incident, she switched to civilian work. If Melinda were here, Coulson would feel more at ease. Facing mutants, the sense of security these weapons gave him was far less than the sense of security Melinda provided.
"No, after the sudden burst of bright light, Senator Ricky White realized he'd been robbed. The only useful information we've recovered from him is the bruise on his wrist." Sylvette pushed her gold-rimmed glasses. "We can use that to infer the attacker's height and weight, but most of the people present have been arrested by the police, and we haven't been able to find anyone who meets the criteria."
"The real robber must have fled the scene. We're not here to find the senator's robber, nor are we looking for beggars, gamblers, or drunks. Our goal is to investigate paranormal activity. The robber will be left to the local police. If the local police hadn't found bomb remnants, they wouldn't have come to us. No terrorist attack would be carried out specifically in the suburbs. But..."
Coulson stepped on the asphalt beneath his feet. The asphalt in front of him was completely melted. The heat spread out in a circular arc, and the degree of melting varied depending on the distance from the center of the circle. The asphalt closest to Coulson was only slightly raised, while the part at the very center was clearly molten and fluid. For an experienced agent, there was enough evidence to investigate the scene. Coulson didn't expect to find any clues from surveillance.
He pointed to the ground in front of him and said, "There is a footprint here, leading to the center. We can easily deduce the physical information of the owner of this footprint. After the trace examination results come out, we can compare this information with the robber. I have a hunch that the two are very likely the same person. And his companion, the one in the high-temperature center, is very likely the mutant we are looking for. But the problem is, we didn't see any footprints. Maybe the owner of this footprint is also a mutant."
"You mean he can fly?"
"Ah—"
Wong and Solomon, who were eating at the Hong Kong Temple, had no idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. had already investigated them.
-End Chapter-
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