Percy wanted to say he was surprised. He never doubted that Thalos had lived a tumultuous life, but it was strange to find out how much he had lived in one life.

Thalos stared at the open blue sky for the moment, choosing his words. The wind ruffled his long black hair as they rattled down the open road.

"I learned how to fight a little unorthodoxly, from a man I met as a kid. I fought beside him in wars and eventually learned to ignite my spirit on the verge of death. It only took me a year, because of the conditions."

Percy raised a hand. He knew this was another world, but some things were just absurd.

"Your master took you to war as a child? Isn't that a bit…" he said, "well I don't expect responsibility, but a waste at least. Even if you were talented, if you died on the field there's no profit."

Thalos smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Well he didn't care much if I lived or died, and I followed him to war by myself. It was a bit stupid in hindsight but I had nowhere else to go."

He turned to Percy, Flynn and Joey, still trying to carefully select his words since they were just kids.

"My parents lost me as a kid, so I grew up in a… shop. We were taken care of by an old toymaker, and I even had a couple of friends. But most of them weren't content with staying there. I didn't mind because I had lived my whole life with the toymaker, but they had lives outside."

"So they tried to escape, but the toymaker caught most of them," he decided to skip over the rest. "But eventually the city we lived in fell to war."

It was common in Crona. If they weren't facing the Barbarians in the north, then it was the terrible demons in the west. The empire always faced threats in cycles.

These were peaceful times, but everyone was always prepared for the storms to come again.

Thalos continued his story. The next part was a bit dark, but there was a lesson he wanted to teach his son.

"The war was mostly between Jaltova and the Margraviate of Erynos. There were a lot of border disputes that erupted into small-scale wars. So the King of Jaltova called on some mercenaries from across the Frozen wastes."

Percy had heard of Jaltova and the Frozen wastes. Jaltova was northwest from Crona, and had been enemies for a long time. They also had Spiritmancy traditions but mostly used the Dark and Light elements.

The Frozen wastes were mostly unliveable except by a race of people that could endure the blizzards and cold. They spoke a language that hadn't been deciphered yet, and were extremely hostile and brutal.

He originally had interest in Jaltova because of Lecetes and the Graveseekers, but he was surprised to hear that Jaltova worked with people from the Frozen wastes. Did that mean that they learned the language?

Thalos cut through his thoughts, continuing the story.

"They killed the toymaker and freed us technically. We were to be slaves of war, but as we travelled with the Barbarians and fought with them, some of us were taught to fight. Three of my friends and I were the only ones that survived this training, and out of the harsh conditions we learnt to use our Fighting spirits."

He settled back into his seat like he was done talking, but Percy was still interested in hearing more.

"Is that all?" Percy asked. "What about the Blood demon school? You couldn't have learned it from the Barbarians, right?"

"No that's not all, I'm just organising things, it's been so long," Thalos answered. "The leader of the Barbarians was fair, extremely sadistic, but somewhat fair. As long as we didn't upset him then we could live and fight with them as they ravaged the lands."

"But my friends weren't satisfied with that. They hated watching our fellow Cronians burn and planned to kill the leader. It didn't end well. In the last moments, I had a choice; to do nothing and let them die, or fight with them and maybe win."

Percy glimpsed the distant darkness of his father's eyes, and grimaced.

"It's not a bad thing to choose your own life."

"Yes, I would have died," Thalos said, "But there was a small possibility that I think of some nights that could have changed everything. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I didn't listen to my heart that day and I've been unsatisfied since then."

"Sometimes our hearts and minds speak differently, and it's hard to know who to listen to. But I still remember the strange feeling I had watching them die. I think… I think that was the first time I felt dissatisfied with my life. Back then I didn't think of them as brothers or friends, so I didn't even understand that feeling or think of avenging them."

Thalos shook his head with a strange chuckle

.

"Strangely enough I began to understand after the leader of the Barbarians died. This was almost five years after I met him. All of it came back at once, and I understood what my heart had been saying. It had so much to say that I had stopped listening as a kid. All the grief, guilt and longing."

Percy felt like a heavy wave rolled over him, his body felt weak and tired. He forgot about little Joey in his lap, and even Flynn had grown very quiet.

Thalos noticed their somber expressions and waved his hands frantically, smiling a bit too wide.

"But all was well in the end. I met my master in the Blood demon school and many other friends. I started listening to my heart, and even devoted my sword to protecting the people of Crona. The ones that could wield the sword for themselves. That's all I wanted to tell you; you're really smart, Percy, and you keep your… secrets and feelings to yourself. But it's okay to ignore your brain and listen to your heart sometimes."

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