The auction itself passed without leaving much of a mark on him. Xavier stayed for hours, watching money move the way power always did in places like that, quiet hands lifting paddles while entire fortunes vanished into numbers on a screen. He avoided the loud centerpiece items and focused on smaller things instead, pieces that felt personal rather than symbolic.
For Rin, he picked up a compact blade maintenance kit forged from layered alloys, tuned for swords that saw real use rather than display.
For Arlen, he chose a stripped-down sidearm module, legal nowhere and traceable everywhere, designed to be rebuilt and modified on the fly. For Klatos, it was a data-slate loaded with restricted planetary maps and undercity schematics, old routes layered with newer blind spots, the kind of thing only someone native would fully understand how to use.
