While Ulv, Lykos, and r walked ahead, Ignotus lingered behind and gave the clerk a lazy gesture with his hand.
"Where do I dump it?"
The clerk imdiately bowed.
"Of course, Lord Ignotus. This way, please."
He led him down and to the side, away from the main hall.
Lykos and the others blankly stared at Ignotus as he left them and only gave a shrug back.
That was how he acted, and they’d better get used to it before all their hair turned gray.
Before the clerk, a narrow corridor opened up, lined with white marble and dark bronze sconces.
The floor glead, smooth as a mirror, while etchings of Arcane ran across the walls.
"The market you saw earlier—the hall your friends entered—that is only the surface of this place. Our auction houses the more... acceptable wares. Artifacts, Runes, Divine Relics, and contracts."
He slowed a bit, glancing at Ignotus.
"But there are... deeper chambers as well. Rooms where the Temple of Gods, and even their Hand, the Parish, would rather turn a blind eye to. Red districts and the like. Experints that are... extre. Things that should not be made, but are. For those who can pay the price."
Ignotus was unfazed, knowing worse.
"The ’fun’ part then."
The clerk coughed lightly, not sure how to reply.
"I-Indeed. Though not all would use that word."
"It depends on who you ask."
"Ah... yes."
He didn’t say more after that, and the walk continued in silence.
Finally, they stopped before a single bronze door with no handle.
It had the sa faint lines of Arcane glowing softly across it.
The clerk pressed his hand against the surface, and the door opened inward with a low hum.
Inside was a small, circular, and nearly empty chamber.
In the very center of the room stood a tall, oval mirror frad in dark silver.
It wasn’t polished like glass, but weirdly... deep, filled with enough Divinity to drown most mortals.
The clerk stepped aside and pointed towards it.
"That is the Vessel, a Divine Relic. Please transfer the Rune from your Soul into it."
Ignotus walked up, eyeing the thing suspiciously.
He didn’t exactly trust what could touch a Soul.
Still, he stepped close and stood right before the mirror.
The surface reflected him faintly, focusing more on his tattoo.
He stared at his reflection for a few seconds before slowly exhaling.
"Alright, let’s get this over with."
Focusing up, he Willed his Soul forward.
Thump!
Sothing cold shot from the mirror, and he accepted it.
They were chains of Divinity, and they wrapped around his chest so very tightly.
After a mont or two, they stabbed through his body and into his Soul.
Every chain dug deep and yanked.
"Ugh..."
Ignotus staggered slightly as the Rune tore free from within him, a flicker of crimson light being snatched into the mirror’s depths.
"Damn."
He blinked twice, rubbing his chest.
"The thing’s a bit violent, isn’t it?"
"My apologies."
The clerk quickly bowed his head.
"It tends to be... overzealous with physical beings."
"Yeah. No kidding."
The clerk straightened, adjusting his sleeves.
"Your Rune will be auctioned. Should you choose to purchase anything, the value will be automatically deducted from your Rune’s sale. Otherwise, you will receive the profits, minus, of course, the transaction fee."
"’Of course.’"
Ignotus deadpanned, almost scoffing at the phrase "transaction fee."
"How generous."
Unbothered by his sarcasm, the clerk gestured for him to follow.
"The auction will begin shortly. I’ll escort you to your companions."
Instead of turning back toward the hallway, the man walked directly into the wall on their right.
"Right. Another wall."
Ignotus followed, and the world lted again.
It gave way to a vast amphitheater where rows upon rows of marble seating curved downward toward a central stage illuminated by one incredibly bright light, which originated from the do above, where gold rails, silver lamps, and intricate frescoes were placed.
This auction house was simply far above anything he’d seen in the Third Stratum.
Even the Saint Academy paled in comparison to it.
He would’ve liked to admire it more, but the sll ruined it...
Nobles or not, they didn’t shower much, preferring to mask it with perfu.
So since he was standing up here where the air was wafting, he almost got dizzy.
’So things never change, huh?’
Chuckling at that, he glanced to the right of the balcony they entered from.
There, huddled in the corner, sat a small ensemble, a band of four.
One played the psalterion, a harp of so kind; another played an epigonion, another kind of harp; the third had a qanun, a stringed keyboard instrunt; and the last gently blew into a set of pan flutes.
They were playing sothing surprisingly modern and fun... almost jazzy.
He found himself tapping his foot.
"Good music, no?"
The clerk nodded.
"Indeed."
It’d been a while since he’d listened to music.
He didn’t realize just how much he’d missed it until now.
’Coming here’s already worth it.’
The clerk pointed to the seats below.
"Your friends are there, second row from the bottom. Please, enjoy the auction."
Ignotus waved him thanks and descended the marble stairs, slipping past murmuring nobles and hooded rchants until he spotted them: Lykos, Ulv, and r.
Lykos was leaning back with his legs crossed, almost too relaxed.
Ulv, anwhile, sat straight as a spear to his Lord’s right, incredibly alert.
r looked like Lykos but worse, fully displaying her incredibly slothful self.
They had left him an empty chair between Lykos and Ulv.
"Ah..."
Ulv was the first to notice him.
"Here you are."
Lykos raised an eyebrow.
"You get lost, freak?"
r grinned.
"Welco back, tall man!"
And there the sloth went...
"Hm."
Ignotus chuckled, sitting down and stretching his legs.
"Nice to see the circus made it here safely."
Ulv leaned in slightly.
"Alright, since it’s your first ti in one of these, listen up."
"Oh, I feel a lecture coming."
Ignoring that, the wolf-man continued:
"The auctions have three tiers. Third-tier items will be trash, low-grade Divine Relics, bad contracts, and weak Runes. Your Blood Rune will probably sell there, unless soone rich here happens to be of the Blood Elent."
"Unlikely?"
"Extrely."
Ulv smirked.
"You’d have to be really lucky."
Ignotus gave him a flat look.
"Are you trying to be funny?"
Ulv ignored him once more.
"Tier two’s where we co in. That’s the highest level we can compete at. Tier one—the top tier—is full of Divine Relics we couldn’t even touch without getting vaporized."
"Ah, yes, the usual."
Nodding, Ignotus acted as if this was news to him.
"Sotis tier-one items get bumped down because no one can use them, but that’s rare. You’d have to be very—"
Ignotus elbowed the guy, cutting him off:
"Lucky, yeah, yeah. I get it; enough with the sarcasm."
r giggled beside them while Lykos tried not to laugh but failed, covering it with a cough.
Ignotus rolled his eyes and leaned back.
"Bunch of codians."
After that, they went a little quiet.
Or rather, Ignotus stopped listening to them.
And not only them, the noise of the crowd dimd.
The music softened, and he held his hand against his chest.
Now that the Blood Rune was gone, he still had one task left.
One that couldn’t wait for too long.
He closed his eyes and focused.
’Inward.’
Soon after, a sound ca.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His heart and Soul.
It drowned out everything.
Ignotus could now only hear one thing.
Thump.
THUMP.
THUMP!
And each beat of it was louder, echoing through his bones.
It reached a point where everything else, even sensation, lted away.
A lovely sound.
But eventually, that THUMP disappeared as well.
The world turned completely dark before suddenly...
’Hm.’
He stood within his Soul for the first ti.
It was incredibly vast, a silent expanse of shifting light.
Since his Will was after the Runes, he didn’t go to where Eris resided.
She was sowhere else, a place beneath his Runes.
He could sense Her presence, though, and it was heavy.
Much heavier than what was right before him.
’Before him’ were his Runes, floating up high.
The Luck Rune, shaped like golden scales.
The [Wise Fool,] marked by a jester’s cap.
And the [Fortune’s Wheel,] the sigil beneath his left eye.
They glowed a bright, pure white, edged in gold.
All except one.
The one he’d co here for.
It was separate and lower, disconnected from the rest.
A crimson heart, twisted and pulsing faintly.
The Blood Rune.
Ignotus stared at it.
’Good luck.’
He nodded at Eris and reached out.
The Rune beca smaller, and his hand wrapped around the crimson light. The warmth imdiately burned against his palm before he quickly clenched it into a fist.
"Break."
And the Rune shattered.
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