Chapter 25

==Summery==
After noticing their pursuers, Marcus warns Lillian to act casually, to prevent the pirates from realizing they had been spotted and thus acting more openly/aggressively. He relays to her that the pirates are being cautious, because they believe she is far stronger than she really is, as they didn't know Marcus was assisting her, and attributed her great escape to her skills alone. This is why they are following her slowly, waiting for her to reach land, where her water magic would be weaker, before they attack. Noticing her growing panic, he asks her if she has questions, to help her calm down, and she asks about his tactics. He explains about his family's history, how their tactics differ from common roman military tactics, and how that difference helped House Scipio force the Hannibals back in the Second Punic War. Once they were a mile from shore, the pirate ship picked up speed, and Marcus realized it was time to act.
== Quote: ==
"That’s the traditional military ethos of Rome. Better training, iron discipline, and relentless frontal assaults of superior firepower, both mana and iron… It often works, because very rarely, Rome had to fight against a superior enemy.”
“And, how does the Scipio approach differ?” she asked, invested in the explanation.
“We have three core tenets: information is power, deception is a valuable weapon, and play to the weakness of the enemy. My ability to read the enemy is based on the first tenet. My crazy old man had taught me how to predict people, both by reading their actions and body language, but also understanding what drives them. It took years, but it helps.”
-Marcus to Lillian on Scipio House tactics. 
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