As the two traveled the seemingly endless desert, Cyrus noted a series of seemingly random encounters with various travelling strangers that took place sporadically.
" How odd, we have never come across this many people in such a short amount of time before." Thought Cyrus, utilizing the healthy dose of paranoia that Cato had instilled into him over the years.
As the next group of travelers passed them by, Cyrus walked up to Cato and said in a hushed tone
"These past few days we have been meeting far too many people. This is the middle of the great desert, not the imperial countryside I have read about. Its suspicious, but I cannot think of a reason as to why."
Cato looked at Cyrus with a look of approval and waited until the passerby were fully out of earshot before replying.
"Right you are. When you are in the great desert there are only two reasons to be meeting so many in the middle of nowhere: The first being that people are running away from some kind of large hostile force. Bandits, soldiers of the local Sultan or possibly a more monstrous one. Regardless, of the type of force it is not something pleasant. The second reason is that we are being scouted out by a professional group of sorts.
"They pose as travelers and pass by one by one, gaining whatever information they can by engaging in conversation or just visually. Later they all meet up behind us somewhere and discuss what they have learned. This is what true scouting will often look like, as its not a good idea to randomly attack people unless you know what you are dealing with.
"Especially lone travelers, as it tends that only people with some kind of assurance, or downright insane, willingly travel and survive out here for long. This will continue for awhile until they are assured that we are not being secretly protected and that they can take us." Stated Cato with little care, as if he was not the one being targeted by a professional group with ill intentions.
"But why are they targeting us if they are so thorough…. What could we have that a group like them would be interested in?"
Sighing Cato pointed towards the camels, "Look, we are in the middle of the desert traveling with little to no apparent rations. Not only that but we are engaging in daily sword practice which means our rate of consumption is fairly high. If we were just a two insanely suicidal people then we would be slowly withering away in dehydration, yet we are still fine day to day. To an astute eye this means only one thing-"
"That we have a piece of storage equipment" finished Cyrus.
"Indeed Cyrus. The only people who would have this are mages themselves, who use their own willpower to constantly keep the equipment active… some rich affluent group or individual in a high position in imperial society…or a veteran of one of the many military orders in the empire. For the former two groups, it would require many charged essence crystals which are extremely costly.
"Any force in this region would love to own the equipment itself but especially all the many essence crystals that come with it. This is the art of deduction Cyrus, a series of seemingly irrelevant details can paint a very convincing and accurate picture at times" said Cato.
"If all that is true, then why are we broadcasting that to evero-" abruptly Cyrus stopped, as realization hit him. He connected the dots, what with Cato never using any obvious form of magic and them training so heavily in the sword for the past few weeks.
"You did this on purpose? To make them believe that we are merely master swordsman and student, to provoke them into attacking?!" Asked Cyrus incredulously.
"Indeed, this is the second half to the test and lecture in the previous oasis town. Last time you were spectating the grim reality of life, how in the absence of order all that is left is survival of the fittest. Now we will be on the receiving end of such brutality, so you can experience it first hand. Not only that, but your newfound sword skills will be put to the test.
"I expect that you can at least stop yourself from dying from a common bandit right?" Teased Cato as he reveled in the anxious look Cyrus had, much different from his usual serious and studious look.
"A common bandit? Didn't you just explain how these were more than just bandits not too long ago? Something about professional standards, tactics and the art of deduction??"
To this, Cato just shrugged and said "Well you will soon learn that all men under the sun are one and the same unless they reach a certain threshold in their training. Recently you have been studying the military factions within imperial borders, right? Once you finish I will lend you the one that is not exactly available to the public, one that goes in depth of the true prowess of these factions.
"To them, even the most skilled of bandits are mere fodder once you reach a certain level. Of course, it just you and I here so a lucky arrow could potentially kill us both…..hahaha! The truest tests are ones with a hint of danger of course. No pressure, but if you perform badly we are both dead!" Said Cato as he seemed to be purposefully pressuring Cyrus.
Cyrus' heart lurched in his chest for a moment upon hearing those words, no doubt pondering the implications as to why Cato was saying what he was. After a moment, he said
"I understand. If I want to continue to grow, to sharpen myself continuously, then I will need to be used to scenes….that I will need to kill by my own hand rather than just disabling them or indirectly killing." Pausing for a moment, Cyrus looks at Cato and asks "Will it ever get easier though? To not only take lives but to be what I am not for the sake of my future.. in the books on imperial politics and intrigue I have read that it is common to capture and torture suspected cultists for information, to have to kill seemingly normal children and women who are under demonic influence.
"In the military doctrine there are many gruesome yet effective tactics for keeping an enemy force in check, to maintain military discipline... I understand the necessity but the idea of me possibly being the one in a position of doing such things is hard to come to terms with…" rambled Cyrus uncertainly.
"So long as you are not broken Cyrus, it does not get 'easy'. You merely come to terms with reality and become used to it, desensitized as the Vita mages call it. The repercussions of your deeds will haunt you from time to time, this is why I gave you the book I wrote on morality.
"So long as your actions are in line with your own inner beliefs, you will be able to do many things you thought otherwise impossible. However, I do have a way to make it easier in the short term." Said Cato as he reached into his cloak and produced an innocuous black mask, that covered only nose and up.
"In life I have met many people who had various methods of coping with reality. Some become desensitized, some break and think nothing of anything, while others will find enjoyment in their work. One case in particular stood out to me though, it was a Vita mage I had the pleasure of meeting one time. He worked in the service of the military and he was the most gentle and kindest person I have ever met, yet he would also be the coldest and most detached individual I have ever met. It was as if he had two personalities, one that dealt with what needed to be done and another that could be seen as his true self possibly.
"In reality, both of them was him but it helped him deal with all the hard decisions he had to make, such as who to let live and who to let die on the battlefield as he desperately tried to save who he could." Cato then handed Cyrus the mask, before finishing "If you so choose, you can adopt this method as well. With the mask on, you are detached from your emotions and can do what is needed to be done no matter how cruel it may seem.
"Both sides will be you, but one will be the front which you show off to the world while the other is what you only need to allow those close to you to see. This method is quite ingenious really, as it protects both yourself and others around you. You get the benefits of being cold and calculating while also being empathic enough to understand the weight of human life."
Cyrus took the mask from Cato, thinking to himself
"Could this possibly work? It seems a bit far fetched really. But anything is worth a try. Of all people I should know about how the world works. I do not quite yet know what I wish to do with my life, but if I see innocents being slaughtered left and right I surely want to be able to erase the cause. If I were to witness another caravan be raided in front of my eyes and had the strength to stop it… what if I were to be unable to act in the moment? What if I were to hesitate…" Thinking of such things, Cyrus took the mask from Cato.
"Good. It should still be some time before our untimely friends make themselves known. We should be able to reach our destination before they come. Let us make haste now." Said Cato with a stern but not too urgent of a tone.
"Destination? We have been north of the oasis town before, its just a bunch of nothing until we hit the imperial border…I wonder where we could be going" thought Cyrus as he followed Cato to the camels to begin travelling once more.