Thoren woke up a few hours later to a head that's trying to kill him with pain. He wondered if a hundred needles pierced his skull, for it hurt. It hurt so much.
Tears streamed down his cheeks even as he tried to hold them back and the young boy tried to cry away the pain.
It wasn't leaving.
For a whole hour, he rolled, curled and thrashed on the bed, trying to wish it away.
An hour later, the young boy stopped struggling. The pain might've subsided or maybe he just got used to it.
With great effort, he rose from the bed and staggered a few steps towards the door.
With a click, he saw the dirty street.
"Drisda slums…" He looked around, trying to find who saved him.
"Shh!!! Why are you out? Go in, in! You haven't healed yet." The green-skinned boy rushed from a ditch he seemed to be digging and gently shoved him into the thatched hut.
Thoren was forced to rest on the bed while the frog-raced boy gave him some type of dried grass. "Eat up. You can't recover on an empty stomach."
He looked at the offering with hesitation before taking it and devouring with furious bites.
"Thanks for helping me. You almost died." The frog-boy lowered his head.
"I did what's right. They shouldn't bully you because some frog-men surrendered."
"But that surrender eventually killed so many brave soldiers. So many people of this town died. The army returned to conscript."
Thoren paused, the calmness on his face breaking. "My…my parents…didn't return."
The frog boy raised his head, looking sickly pale. "I…I'm sorry."
Thoren fell silent as he looked at the boy for a moment. Then, he shook his head. "It's not your fault. I wish we punished people who actually did the wrongs than every unrelated person. I hate those cowards with every fiber of my being. But I don't hate you one bit."
The frog boy didn't offer any comment in support. He only said. "It's always been this way. People are like this. The world is like this."
Thoren didn't have an answer for that. This was reality. The culture of Jai empire was shaped for hundreds of millions of years.
It never changed due to a person. At least not a person born in this small town.
"Worry about yourself." The frog boy sighed. "My parents also perished in the war. But I have some relatives in the neighborhood. They take care of me. If you need something, I'll help you out. Like finding odd jobs and the best places to train."
Thoren nodded.
As the frog boy left, Varian, as pure consciousness, slowly approached Thoren.
He didn't really care what the young God Emperor was like.
'Can I kill him now?'
He tried to see if he could exert his powers. Nope. He's purely consciousness now.
While he still retained the connection with his origin self, he couldn't affect the world or its people.
He couldn't even pluck a blade of grass or kill an ant.
'But I can still do something, can't I?' Varian pondered.
He decided to observe first. This was time travel and he had plenty of 'time'.
The following months were some of the brutal things to witness.
Varian wasn't born when abyssals first invaded humanity. But he figured it wouldn't be much different from what he's seeing.
The male population of the whole town fell by a quarter in a single year. All those at fighting age were either already conscripted or were kept as reserves.
Even the young boys and older men were asked to be prepared just in case.
It's not like this everywhere. But this was a border province and this was a border town. Their luck was in the gutter.
Border towns like these often 'died' with these wars. Not from slaughter, but from being emptied of life.
A few more years like this and the town would be left with very young and very old, both unfit to take care of themselves.
'Hollowing out' was the term people used for this phenomena. And to avoid being send out as cannon fodder in this endless war, many people began to smuggle themselves out.
It's a strict violation of law, but the Jai empire in this period was incredibly corrupt. And some powerful nobles were using this chance to buy slaves en masse.
Thoren, with the help of the frog boy, managed to get into a nearby border town.
A year later, he moved again. Then, again. And again.
The war was growing tense and they had to move faster and faster.
The young and bright Thoren now had gloomy eyes. His heart, once filled with hope was now full of cynicism.
The same boy who previously called for peace was now chanting death to the enemies.
And he also started hating Jai empire. And fully.
The army that was recruiting people without any regard for their willingness or the long term sustainability of the town.
The people that were still trying to deceive and trample each other for more benefits in these dire times.
The nobles that were exploiting wartime refugees without a shred of mercy.
And then there was the breaking incident.
"Survive, Thoren! Get to a safer town and train hard. You're more talented than me. You can definitely get an official position!"
The frog boy pushed him into a hidden tunnel, closed it completely and faced the door.
With a bang, it exploded.
A few guards broke in, followed by a large woman in flamboyant clothes holding a chain. Behind her were a few young boys chained at their necks, crawling with numb eyes.
"Ah, the green frog kind with purple spots. A rare mutation." The woman observed him with a look of interest and waved her hand.
"You're now honored to be a part of my collection."
The frog boy unleashed a knife from his shirt and tried to strike down a guard. But he was quickly crushed to the ground, his arms and legs broken.
"A tough one, hohoho." The woman found his struggle amusing and gestured to a special guard in all red. "I bought that…mind awakener from Genesis. Tell him to break this rebellious mind and train me an obedient slave by next week."
"Yes, Countess."
Thoren didn't witness this as he had to leave. If he stayed, the guards would've easily found out his presence.
A year later, he was also conscripted despite attempts to flee.
And there, as he was declaring his pledge to the empire and the baron, he saw his friend alive in such a state that he felt no joy.
In the seats of noble guests, the baron was flattering a woman holding a leash.
It held many young boys. One of them was that kind, familiar face. Now, it was broken, dull and held a worshipping gaze towards the woman.
'I…' Thoren clenched his fingers into his palm and raised his bloody palm to read the pledge.
"I, Thoren, will serve the great baron and under his supreme leadership, take all his enemies as my enemies and dedicate my life to eradicating them.
Glory to baron!
Glory to Jai!"
Looking at those burning eyes, Varian understood. 'This is the beginning…of the end.'