As Icarus listened to Hiro's explanation of what he was doing out here, he couldn't help the chuckle that the boy knew the urge to step out from beneath his father's shadow.  The man he thought of had quite the shadow from what he could recall.  In his day, the man had been quite the hero and even from the few times Icarus could remember his dealings with him, he had the habit of riding his past days of glory.  It didn't make him any less capable of the good deeds he performed, it was just that few took him as seriously as Icarus had, finding a kindred spirit with him.

Indeed, he hadn't known, but the title of Black Swordsman had followed him to the point where even the mention of his name caused others to tremble in fear who didn't know the significance of where it came from.  He had slain dozens of men in the manner of execution and became known for his brutal efficiency with his claymore of immense size and weight which he wielded with ease.  The sword and the man bearing it were often thought of as one and the same.  Had he been able to remember those days, part of him might feel differently about the boy's rush to leave his father's shadow.

Making a name for oneself often enough led to the deaths for youngsters either not ready or not meant for the road their kind were often forced to walk.  If the boy wanted to become stronger, he would help him when the time came, whether that became training or some other form of helping manifest the abilities that could protect him and others when applied properly.  He seemed too innocent, incapable of drawing the blood of another man, even in self-defense.  

When he chose to ask more pertaining to him, Icarus had to figure out which portions to omit, trying to recall if the boy's father knew anything about those particular details.  In fact, it seemed the son would know more about him than his father ever cared to.  The father had been far too busy to take that sort of time, acknowledging him only when they were busy standing beside one another or standing at odds with one another.

"Heh… I grew up the bastard son of a general and a servant.  He treated me well enough, but I didn't know until much later I was his son.  By then, he had already died and I had entered war for the first time.  A civil war had broken out and I followed my master's son, my brother.  We won, of course, and both of us had personally attained quite a bit of merit in battle.  I went on to the emperor's personal guard while he eventually ascended to the rank of grand general based on our father's previous rank," he explained as he glanced to the campfire, playing with a stick in his hand.

"But… my brother isn't around now.  Died in war, protecting me, he used a forbidden spell to take my wounds onto his body, saving me, but condemning him in the process.  At times, I wish I hadn't let him know he was my brother so he wouldn't have gone to such lengths for me.  Wife killed herself after my first death.  Two oath brothers both died, one to a Devil God named Loki, the other protecting my son.  My son survived but I haven't seen him since I took him to a foreign country.  All that good enough?" he asked, finishing the briefest possible explanation to give him a full enough story about who he was.

Hiro listened intently as the man who introduced himself as Cain retold the story of his youth and his history.  It was sad, he lost so many people close to him due to the brutality of war.  It was really tragic to lose so many people because of senseless wars.

"Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that.  you've lost so many people in your life.  It seems most of the people you've lost were to war.  Dad said he hated war, but only fought in it so that the least amount of lives would be lost, though sometimes there's no right side in a war.  He wanted to live in a world without war, a world he didn't need a sword to live in, but that time was very far away.  I honestly don't know if we'd ever live to see a world without war, because people never get along.  If a father that rules a country can't get along with his son, that son could try to overthrow his father for not treating him well.  It's stupid, people can be so selfish, and have conflicting interests.  It seems even Gods don't get along with the people, I've learned of wars between mortals and immortals, and between even the immortals themselves fighting each other.

"Dad taught me how to use a sword to protect people, the innocent, the people I care about, people who need protecting, and to protect the peace, to avoid war.  So I'll fight to be a hero that protects people.  To defend peace.  Anyway, yes, that brief history you gave me was good enough," he managed to say with a laugh.  The inner flame in his eyes seemed to dance like the campfire they were chatting over.

"Eh, don't worry about it.  It all happened a few years back.  The Demon Gods are eternally banished back to Hell and the souls lost ascended in the end.  I'm just a bit selfish when it comes to their presence with me," Icarus said, interjecting as the boy offered his sympathy for his trials.

Judging from how the boy described his father, he'd kept himself quite similar to Icarus in nature, in a sense.  They had actually seen eye to eye more frequently in the ways of war and their personal motivations for it than he had thought.  It was a shame they were never quite able to bridge that gap.

In all his strategies, Icarus had always gone for the quickest victory possible, choosing immediate and decisive victory at great risk to avoid prolonged warfare that would ravage man and nature alike.  It was for that reason he always took the vanguard, despite being the strategist and often-times commander.  His ploy never failed until the Devil Gods arrived with their legions intent on consuming the flesh and souls of mortals.  

It was then that he changed his strategy altogether.  He would no longer involve others in warfare, no longer lead armies into the fray.  After his first resurrection, he chose to face whatever threat he was forced to fight alone, never to depend on others after his dependence cost the lives of his loved ones and those closest servants of his.  It was his Order of Eris, his direct guardians when he reigned as emperor that had paid the cost for his foolishness.  

The thoughts continued to claw at his mind.  The doubts he held for years always liked to creep in whenever he heard stories of those that walked a similar path as himself.  The boy's mention of his father's wish to see a world without war rang true with him as well.  Among most warriors, it was a common goal, but unfortunately, they found themselves on the opposite sides of the battlefield.

"Honestly, I wish it were possible.  Unfortunately, with the nature of sentients being to aim for superiority, it's not going to happen.  It comes to the truest warriors to embrace that fact and work to grant peace to the greatest number of people," he interjected once more.  His stance was one that simply wished to see humanity thrive.  Their race was a precocious lot, younger than most others, but spreading to the farthest reaches like a hardy grain, widespread in their population.

His words regarding the gods felt somewhat similar.  It was as though there were a tug that resonated at his mortal coil that made him detest the gods to an extent.  They were those granted power above the ranks of common mortals, but they were also no better than them, enhanced from their common materials and brought to a level exceeding those that were no less worthy.  The powers that be were fickle creations, constructs at an interdimensional cosmic scale created by a true god that made those chosen look like ants.

Icarus knew, deep down, that the gods were susceptible to the very same faults as mortals.  He didn't know how.  He simply knew they were not perfect beings.  In some cases, they were even less than normal beings.

His father's teachings hopefully set in quite well.  The previous experience with the jungle cat aside, he hoped the boy at least knew how to wield a blade effectively enough.  In the event he wasn't quite up to par, he'd volunteer to assist in training the boy a bit more to help him along the way.

"You know, the funny story about it is that there's a familiarity about you I can't quite place.  Perhaps I knew your father some time ago.  If I recall, there was a man that had quite the temper and an affinity to fire.  We never quite saw eye to eye, but my interference may have given him the question in his mind that would save his life," Icarus explained, drawing on all the fractured information he could draw from his memories.

With a sigh, Icarus turned and walked a bit away from the campfire.  It was only a short distance, but after the long journey of the day, he at last had to relieve himself.  He thought of what he had just said.  Was it really in his best interest to mention he may know the boy's father?  In all honesty, he didn't know.  His relation with his father was hazy if they were in fact related and they hadn't had the best relationship among individuals.

Returning to the campsite, Icarus looked up to the sky.  He wished he could remember exactly what had happened between them that caused the rift to form.  It had never been his intent to drive the boy's father away.  He was a fellow warrior that he had respected and wished only the best for.  Unfortunately, the man proved too headstrong to listen to reason and Icarus' words only cast the faintest shadow of doubt.  The man lived, last he knew, and that was what mattered to him so long ago that he could not remember.

"Sorry, hope that didn't prove too strange a thing to hear.  Just reminded me of a man I knew that spent his time fighting with me as much as he did against me.  I hope he's doing well if that is indeed your father," he said, trying to return his sympathy to the boy who seemed to long for his father's guidance.

"Oh, I see.  So I have no worry about Demon Gods coming from Hell to try and reap our souls?  That's good to hear," the boy quipped with a chuckle.  He never heard anything about Demon Gods besides ramblings from old religions and legends.  The man seemed to have a bit in common with him, as well as his father.  "I guess you're right about that.  I don't see a way for EVERYONE to get along peacefully.  Inequality breeds discontent.  We just have to constantly work to preserve the peace."  He hadn't met any Gods yet, but he heard they roamed this land like humans did, and sometimes even took the form of mortals and took part in mortal affairs.  His father told him a lot about different Gods, Goddesses, and other Deities, like Elemental Deities called Avatars.

"Wait, you may have known my father?  He's never mentioned a man named Cain, though I imagine he's known a lot of people.  Father is still well and fine, and Mother's fine too.  He has told me a lot of stories of epic battles against other heroes, villians, tournaments, and so forth.  There was a story he told me about some crazy man who vomited rainbows trying to kill him in a match held by a God of Darkness.  That was a silly one.  There was another about an imp with a clockwork arm who fought my father twice in a grand tournament, though that guy eventually triumphed in the end.  But there were no grudges held from that one."  He recalled a few of the stories his father told him about his exploits of his youth.  He hoped he would be able to have just as many amazing adventures as he did.  He tried to think of what story was attributed to this man, if he was someone his father knew, but the name Cain didn't ring any bells.  He could be mistaken, or maybe the man was hiding his true name.

"If you knew my father, and if something you did saved his life, then I guess I should be thankful, since I probably wouldn't be here today to talk to you."

"Truthfully, they're banished and sealed for much longer than I hopefully live," he said, somewhat pessimistic.  The Demon Gods were four overwhelmingly powerful demons, generals cast from portions of Obelisk's darkness.  They commanded legions of Hell and the cost to defeat them had been high, indeed.  Now that Icarus was in mortal flesh, he felt it had been far too high despite the knowledge the souls of all mankind had been at stake. 

Even as Hiro expanded further on his own belief concerning peace, Icarus nodded appreciatively.  He could understand the irritation of not being able to bring peace to all people as he shared the sentiment as well.  Unfortunately, it was just the order of things.  With free will there came the possibility others would do terrible things to rise above their peers.  

"Ha ha, perhaps I knew him.  My memory has been damaged by recent events.  As it turns out, there are a great many things I don't recall.  I think at one point, he may have tried to burn down a town as a fire bird or something because I told him the truth and it wasn't what he wished to hear.  I think there was another time I swung a Dwarf at him like a club.  Simpler times…" he trailed off, laughing at the little bits and pieces he could pull from the fractured memories he held.  

The stories the boy shared of his father were rather unusual, but given all other portions of his travels he could recall, none seemed too far-fetched.  Everything seemed to simply be a matter of perspective.  For others, such occurrences were utterly insane while for himself, they were merely par for the course.  

"Eh, like I said, my memory isn't the best.  I could be remembering some other bloke with a bad temper and I'd be taking credit when none was needed," Icarus deflected.

He wasn't too keen on offering too much information in the event he was actually wrong when it came to the boy's father.  After all, it would just make him seem like a liar if there were something inconsistent in his stories.  It seemed it was getting later into the night and given the fire and relative calm, Icarus would need to begin his meditation to prepare for the next day.  Meditation didn't rest one quite as efficiently as sleep did, but it was nowhere near as bad as staying awake the full night.

Crossing his legs, Icarus closed his eyes and began to change his breathing, relaxing more as his heart rate slowed further.  Although he likely couldn't teach the boy, he could at least show him what it looked like when one calmed themselves and rested without shutting their senses down entirely.  Icarus estimated about ten hours until daylight would rise once more, a sufficient amount of time to fully energize himself.  At least nothing can sneak up on me like this, he thought to himself.

Cain explained that the Demon Gods were banished, and sealed for the foreseeable future.  "Oh, thank the Gods, I was worried a rift from Hell would open up and send out the legions of demons to reap our souls or something, just because of something you did," Hiro said in jest with a laugh.

Hiro listened to "Cain" as he thought back and recalled things he thought happened between the man in Hiro's father.  He scratched his chin in thought.  "He could turn into a phoenix, I've seen him do it.  He's really powerful when he does that.  But it doesn't sound like something Dad would do, he had a temper, but only towards those who did wrong.  But he did tell me a story once that he was made a baron by nobility once, but they were just using him to try and control some town that was controlled by the God of Darkness, Dimitre Knight.  That name was practically a cuss in our house.  He left the city and gave up his title because he realized he was not doing the right thing.  They were trying to use him as a tyrant to overthrow another tyrant.  But that dwarf thing is funny, sounds like someone drank a little too much.  He even told me that some little drunk monster girl suplexed him once," he Hiro recalled, laughing.  "I haven't had alcohol yet, though.  It sounds like people have fun with it, but it can make people do stupid, and foolish things.  Always have moderation, Mom said.  She had troubles with it in a past life, and Dad saved her from that."

Hiro yawned, he was starting to feel tired.  It was getting late, and as much as he liked talking with the man, it was about time he got some shuteye.  "Maybe we should call it a night, you said you could take the first watch with your meditation, so I'll hold you to it."