Cyrus looked every which way, taking in the sights in as much detail as he could. Walking through what is commonly known as the Commercial District, he saw many storefronts no matter where he looked. It was quite odd, as while there was a certain order to the chaos in how the storefronts were laid out it appeared that the contents of each shop were seemingly random. Cyrus noticed that one shop was exclusively selling travelling cloaks while one right across from it on the other side of the street was selling a variety of odd-looking hats. As he walked behind Fauve, he took a mental note of all the various goods. He saw shops of colorful tapestry, glassware, random hunks of metal, and even a shop that sold naught but spoons. The market here reminded Cyrus of the wasteland one but all the stalls and small building are uniform in nature and the goods of a higher quality. Donning a look of utter confusion, Cyrus wondered if this was simply how the culture was… truly proving the idea that not everything can be learned from books true here.
"The chaos here is due to it being so close to the gate, bookworm" teased Fauve as he snuck a look at Cyrus' face. "Naturally as one of enhanced intellect I shall educate you on the cities workings" putting on the air of a noble scholar, "but for now, we really should head to the regional Administratum. You may have forgotten, but as of right now you are not even a citizen, wouldn't want you to get arrested for gawking about with your mouth open now would we"
Cyrus stopped for a moment, having realized he forgot such a crucial thing as he was caught in admiring everything.
"Guess I had already considered myself a citizen of the Empire at heart, having always heard stories of it growing up." Thought he.
With that the pair hurried towards the local Administratum, passing quite a bit on the way there; as they finally reached the end of the commercial district, arriving at another wall. This one, while not as impressive as the first, was still a sight to behold. Once more Fauve had to provide identification and once more they passed a through the gate, far smaller than the last though. Cyrus decided to far more carefully inspected his surroundings this time around, noticing another hidden guard force all the while but not quite as intense as when they first arrived.
Not stopping for any sightseeing, much to Cyrus' dismay, the two sped their way past everything. Past a grand amphitheater, past a group of large stone silos with people bustling all around it, and even past various forging districts with ever rising billowing clouds of smoke. Cyrus' interest and desire to stop everywhere was driving him almost mad, being the stickler for new knowledge as he was, but he held himself in check. Finally, they arrived at the final section and inner most area of the city; the inner sanctum. Surrounding this area was a series of ceremonial looking arches, with a wall of about 30 ft surrounding it. Once more they had to provide identification, which took longer than normal as Fauve had to explain as to why he was bringing Cyrus along. Finally letting them proceed, the two entered the innermost area of the city at last.
Being as curious as he was, Cyrus looked around with his sense to see the level of guard the final layer had. Half expecting to be bombarded with some kind of intense dread from elite fighters guarding the most important part of the city, he was extremely surprised to find that there was…no one.
"What?!" exclaimed Cyrus aloud in apparent shock, being unable to hold himself back for once.
"Shocked at the lack of guard for the most important part of the city? Hah, I see you are still green after all." Mocked Fauve as he continued, "The Empire is strong but they do not waste resources when they can help it. It is not that they do not guard the inner sanctum here, but that they simply have no need to guard it. Look" Fauve then pointed into the distance, at a large sprawling spire ahead of them.
The spire was immensely large, but also seemingly very small at the same time. It was a simple black tower with light golden adornments all around it, having various unknown runes carved on it. When Cyrus inspected it with his sense, he was beyond shocked and was even somewhat frightened of what he detected.
"Such… such power! Not even Cato gave off such a feeling, yet this… this is too much" cried Cyrus within his mind.
"That right there, is why there is no need for any guards. The Eye of Babel, home to the southern region's sole Archmagis as well as foothold of magical might for the entire region. What madman would dare cause trouble in the backyard of an Archmagis? One who could kill you with but a gaze…" Fauve stated, his tone having a rare trace of humility in it.
"This is the feeling of an Archmagis, just from being in close proximity to him? No… I doubt they would go out of their way to waste their will just to intimidate the world around them. Most likely this is from the sheer amount of high-ranking mages that reside within the tower, constantly using their various powers for research and experimentation" reasoned Cyrus.
"Now, let us enter the Administratum. Slow bunch they usually are, but I have had dealings with this branch before so we should be able to quickly finish" said Fauve, while pointing towards a less impressive building past the majesty and terror inducing Eye of Babel. A far more innocuous building shaped like a large noble's manor except this noble would have had a much more simplistic and functional design taste rather than a gaudy show off of power and wealth. It was sectioned into three parts, with one main building and two smaller attachments on either side. A small gate surrounded it in its entirety, with various men and women wearing scholarly robes walking all around. Walking straight through the front entrance, which left Cyrus further impressed in the level of trust had in the Eye of Babel, they entered the cool large hall of the Administratum while bypassing various scholars mucking about holding large quantities of bound paper.