Was there a reason ?

'It's over' thought, Alain. Even if he could still feel his whole body - the pain being lessened by his high concentration - he knew he would never beat it. Not like this.

Looking down at the ground on which he would probably die, he wanted everything to stop. He had enough. Enough of his position as the village chief, enough of always having to fight, enough of ... his helplessness.

''ahhhhhh'' The cry of one of his comrades rang out.

He looked up, only to look down again.

He felt like throwing up. The beast was destroying everything in its path, continuing to hurt and kill the people of his village.

Then he realized. He had to help them. And if he couldn't, then at least he would have to watch the slaughter through to the end, being responsible.

Raising his eyes, he saw the soldiers exhausted, but still holding on. Sure, every action of the beast left them defenseless, and one blow could kill them, but they resisted!

He took a deep breath, preparing to join them. No matter what the consequences.

Yet his body seemed to freeze with a look from the boar.

Looking at the corpses of his companions, he trembled. Their bodies had not been left in peace even in death. Each of them was missing a limb and had much of their bodies crushed. For some, they had been thrown against a tree, skewering each other. Their deaths seemed all the more horrific because their faces showed intense pain and despair. Those still alive were still mumbling a few incomprehensible words, tears on their faces.

Why was he trembling? Why was he hesitating? He wanted to help them!

It was then that he understood.

'Profile'

Name: Alain

Role: Village Chief

Strength: Veteran's peak

Skills:

-War Veteran: Your whole body encourages you to live in any circumstance.

-Leader: All of your orders will have some sort of aura about them, encouraging you to listen and accept them. Works even better for your subjects.

Active bonus: Concentration (80%) (minimum : 50%)]

Every life had one basic purpose: to live. That was its primary mission. How could one ignore this fundamental will? It couldn't be easy, especially for someone who had already crossed paths with death many times.

If his focus had been on the fight, not thinking about anything else since the beginning, he was now facing reality. His instinct had simply taken over from a sick brain that had no care for himself, not listening to his basic needs.

But Alain did not give up. For him, what separated man from beast, good from bad, life from matter, were his values. He was convinced of this. And as he watched Eloise fight, a glint entered his eyes.

It only made sense if the gains outweighed the costs. And he had a reason. In truth, he wanted to just gave up and run. But strangely, he didn't have enough courage for this. Fighting seems like an evidence for him, something that his body couldn't understand.

So he was going to use everything in his possession for his purpose.

He first thought of his village, of all its inhabitants, and then of the former village chief. As the memories passed, his emotions came back, giving him courage. He remembers his first meeting with Eloise, as well as the one with Louis.

He felt sad for Louis, as well as for Eloise.

'But there's nothing we can do about it, right?'

Little by little, he gave up his entire life, ending up with his dream of becoming a Paladin. If at first, it was only a way to find his parents, he had gradually defined it as his ideal.

Then he chose.

'Deactivate the skill 'war veteran'.'

Wasn't it this artifact that had asked him to choose? Then it should be possible.

At that moment, his body seemed to be completely different. His feeling was so different that for a moment he wondered if it was really his body. First, the feeling of fear was gone, then those muscles that had learned to always contract let go for the first time in a long time.

However, he was not ready for what came next. A feeling of extreme hatred came over him, and he noticed that the grip on his sword had never been stronger.

Taking a deep breath, he sat up and made the most difficult decision of his life.

'' Fall back!''

He was going to give them the time they needed to flee.

Therefore, he charged directly at the boar... Alone.

When they saw this, they all retreated, knowing they could never win. No tears were shed as nobody could really accept the truth. Even if they had seen this scene over and over again. Eloise only grits her teeth and leads the team back.

At this point, Alain gave everything he had to confront the beast. Soon they heard the sound of falling trees and screams.

They knew it, Alain would die. Yet there was no other choice.

...

Knowledge: Alain had created a family, but it was killed during an invasion. That's why he has an intense hatred towards demonic creatures. His survival could have created another future, where he would have passed down all of his rages to Rodolphe and Emilie.