Deception

I just started watching The 13th Warrior. There’s this scene where Herger kills one of the Prince’s henchmen in what looks like a sham duel.

Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: You… you could have killed him at will.
Herger the Joyous: Yes?
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: Well, why the deception?
Herger the Joyous: Deception is the point. Any fool can calculate strength. That one has been doing it since we arrived. Now he has to calculate what he can’t see.
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: And fear… what he doesn’t know.

It’s such a sharp way of thinking. Most people measure only what they can see—your size, your resources, your obvious skills. They’re comfortable as long as they can read you. But the moment you show them something unexpected, they have to start guessing. And guessing breeds doubt.

Sometimes strength isn’t about being the biggest force in the room. It’s about making sure no one is ever certain where your limits are.