Exam, In The Arena (2)

The break had begun and Cyrus planned to make good use of the time. He immediately set to clean his blade and knives, making sure that no damage is done due to the blood as well as simply to clean it. Who knows if the next enemy is a blind beast with an amazing sense of smell or something of a similar nature? Being in control of the Mors realm, he normally would have just cleaned it with a quick vaporizing embrace of some pure death essence, but he was currently in conservation mode for the upcoming fights. Imran walked over, with his face slightly pale, but otherwise he was just fine.

"Good work Cyrus. That was…amazing." opened Imran, carefully navigating the conversation while fighting back his more human urges of vomiting and shaking.

"Killing: a skillset that one acquires early on in the wasteland, that or they die. Unless of course they happen to be one of the lucky few, but one might say that it is only delaying the inevitable either way" said Cyrus in a flat tone, all the while he was considering how to maximize the benefits of his next planned move.

Imran was about to force a reply, making use of his interpersonal skills to carry him through this tribulation but was interrupted by Cyrus speaking once more. "I take it that you have not killed before?" asked Cyrus.

"No, I have not" admitted Imran.

"Even though I may dream big and have a lofty goal, I still have always been the sheltered son of a well-off man. I had access to some of the best resources, training, and connections but lo and behold… merely witnessing human blood shed in front of me hinders me so" said Imran, seeming like a defeated poet towards the end of his speech.

Cyrus inwardly smiled, seeing as he had managed to successfully use Imran's sudden weakness to manipulate him into opening up.

"Relationships are easy, with some simple emotional manipulation even one trained as a merchant since young falls easily, but, even one trained from a young age is still green until they are truly tested. This is most likely true for the true mindset of a great merchant." Thought Cyrus while with his mouth he said

"Killing, everyone has a different reason for it. I do it to survive, some do it to protect, while others in order to dispense justice or to fight for the right to say that their beliefs are the true one… whichever you choose, the choice is yours. You can also choose to abstain, but in that case I can only say that I pray to Mundus that no one ever threatens you nor anything you hold dear. As if you hesitate in a crucial moment, someone will pay with their lives" said Cyrus.

Mulling over Cyrus' words, Imran found some level of consolation from them and said honestly,

"Thank you for the words Cyrus. I do not doubt the truth that is contained within them."

Cyrus replied with the same level of honesty, at least on the surface, "No need for thanks, it is but an investment"

"When he regains clarity of mind there is a high chance he sees through my manipulation, with this any such thoughts will be nipped in the bud. Short term loss, long term gains… hah playing the merchant can not be too hard."

Imran smiled at Cyrus speaking his language and was about to sit down to rest until the next fight when he was once again interrupted.

"Can you bury the corpses in a small layer of earth? Merely enough to hide them from sight and smell but no deeper than the bare minimum" asked Cyrus.

Imran was slightly confused but nodded in response anyways. Having gotten his partners consent he quickly set out to work. First he walked from one side of the arena to the other, calculating the likely area where an enemy would walk out and stop moving upon meeting with himself and Imran. Then he dragged the corpses over to the location, making them form a ring around the location. He made sure to leave them with their swords, just in case the retained the ability to do so. While he was familiar with how undead animals acted, he was unsure of how it affected humans as he only had one chance to try it and it had barely survived a single moment before being bisected by Gabriel.

"I finished setting it up, do it" ordered Cyrus who added when he saw Imran somewhat confused, "Mors domain, remember? Undead can be tools as well." This statement enlightened Inram, who quickly went to work burying them as requested. He took care to meet the requirements by the bare minimum, so that he wasted as little of his precious will reserves as possible. With this little bit of work done, that still unfortunately used a large chunk of his will reserves, he finally sat down to calm his nerves.

Soon, the second fight would begin.