Xenos didn't listen much after the clap.
The auctioneer was still up there talking, waving his arms dramatically about the next item, but Xenos's mind had already checked out, leaving him sitting there, slouched in his chair, his head tilted back, letting the noise fade into background static.
The crowd was still buzzing about the "thirty-six gold drachma bid," both mocking and impressed, but he didn't really care.
He was thinking about what would remain after all this.
Thirty-six gold… that was a gut punch, a deep, deep one.
He could almost feel his coin pouch weeping somewhere in his inventory.
'Damn it… they really squeezed me dry.'
Still, he consoled himself.
No doubt the auctioneer only accepted his outrageous bid because they expected the Blood Rune to be fought over much like this one. Or at least it'd fetch more than sixteen gold drachmas.
