The Change In Life

On a beautiful morning, a couple was strolling through their field, enjoying the sunrise as the light reflected everywhere.

"I told you it wouldn't be a waste, they're beautiful," the woman said cheerfully, taking the man's arm.

"Haha, yes, you were right," the man replied happily, hugging the woman.

"I hope we can sell enough to buy everything we need," she mentioned while touching her belly.

"You'll see, everything will turn out fine," he said as they continued walking side by side.

"Bill... What is that?!" She said alarmed, spotting a large black beast among the bushes.

"It can't be... Run!" He shouted, grabbing Mari's hand.

Both ran with all their might toward the cabin.

"How is that thing here?!" She asked, panicked while running.

"I don't know, Mari, just run!" He yelled in terror.

"You Ystires... will suffer the same pain I endured!" roared the creature with a deep and grave voice as it watched them flee.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Bill said, with exhaustion and adrenaline rushing through him.

Bill glanced back and saw the creature about to catch Mari. Without thinking, he stopped and pushed her aside.

"Run, Mari! Run..." he yelled, and then was pierced through the back by the creature.

"Noooo! Bill... Bill," she cried in terror, tears streaming down her face.

"Go... plea...se," he said as he collapsed to the ground.

Mari began to run, tears running down her face as she touched her belly.

"You are brave, little Ystir, but still, she... will die!" the creature said, revealing its appearance. It stood two meters tall, had black fur and yellow eyes. It wore a long dark coat that reached the ground and walked barefoot.

"A werewolf...?" she thought as she grabbed the werewolf's coat.

"What do you think you're doing? Don't touch me with your filthy hands, Ystir..." he said coldly, glaring at her with disdain as Bill lay on the ground.

"Almost... I'm almost there! Bill..." she said tearfully, reaching the cabin. Quickly, she locked herself inside and grabbed a machete near the door.

"Hello, I was waiting for you. You humans really are slow," the werewolf said, sitting on a chair while cleaning his blood-stained hand.

Terrified, Mari pointed the machete at the creature, her heavy breathing betraying her exhaustion.

"That thing won't do anything to me. Mmm... I hear two hearts inside you," he said sadistically, smiling.

Suddenly, a marble shot through the wall and touched Mari, making her disappear. This changed the werewolf's expression.

"You again, what do you think you're doing? You can't defeat me, hunter... you'll die just like your father!" he shouted angrily, watching all his blind spots.

The door was kicked open by the hunter, who fired a sonic weapon that destroyed much of the cabin and sent the werewolf flying through the air.

"I promised I'd follow you wherever you went to kill you... and so it will be," he said calmly.

The hunter wore a white jacket and hat, a mask half black, half white that covered his entire face, black pants and shoes, and had an axe on his back. His weapon, and apparently a large number of other objects, were hidden in the pockets of his jacket. The hunter began running toward the werewolf, pulling two spheres from his pockets and throwing them at his opponent, causing large explosions that distracted the werewolf. Then he approached and fired again. The werewolf let out a loud howl that clashed with the hunter's sonic weapon. The clash created a shockwave that pushed them both back and caused the sonic weapon to explode.

"If you're so eager to die, I’ll gladly tear you apart!" the werewolf shouted, his black claws extending.

The werewolf began running toward the hunter. The hunter grabbed his axe from his back, ran, and jumped to attack with all his might with the axe... The sound of the werewolf's claws clashing with the axe's edge echoed.

Then we see Louis getting up from his bed, doing his exercise routine with push-ups, sit-ups, and handstand push-ups. Afterward, he takes a shower and prepares for the new day.

"Professor, I’m ready," he said seriously, though showing a bit of excitement on his face.

"Haha, I was just about to come get you from your room, let’s go," the professor said, noticing his small trace of excitement.

Professor Maxwell and Louis left the house and began walking, while Hanks watched them from the door.

"First, the northern area, where we don’t live. All kinds of people live here, from scientists to singers, actors, paladins—important people in summary, though there are paladins who live in other areas of the kingdom. Also, the palace is here. Now let’s go to the most important routes for me, and I'll also show you how the kingdom works, but first, I want to talk to you about something," he said with a smile while walking.

"About what, professor?" Louis asked while walking beside him.

"You control lava, right? I saw how you left Kein’s armor chest. I removed the traces with my arm so Mei wouldn’t see it," he said seriously, stopping.

"I... yes, professor, I can do it, but I won’t hurt anyone, I have control over my magic!" he replied, a little scared.

"Don't worry, I won’t say anything. Let Mei discover it on her own. Let’s leave that aside, I don’t want to ruin the excitement you had," he said, patting his shoulder.

"Okay..." Louis said, still a bit worried.

"That worry will go away soon enough, but I had to let you know," the professor thought. "The southern area! Here are the forges of all kinds and of course, other stores like clothing and jewelry shops," he said while walking with Louis by his side, arriving in the southern area.

"And here’s Glomequery Forge," Louis said, fascinated to see how they crafted swords, armor, nuts, and mechanisms, with next-level technology.

"Of course, Glomequery Forge is the main one for me. It’s where they create all sorts of objects for my machines and technological devices," he said, glad Louis hadn’t forgotten things.

"That's amazing! How do they do that?" Louis asked excitedly, approaching a stall.

"Louis, for heaven’s sake, don’t bother others! Sorry, he’s an outsider," the professor said to the owner.

"No problem," the owner replied.

"Look, Louis, this device is a specialized cutter for polishing and sharpening swords, and it achieves this thanks to its power source, a modified arcane crystal to regulate it properly. The best part is that it has a system that detects human skin and stops instantly thanks to this amethyst eye," he said, pointing to everything he mentioned.

"It’s incredible, professor. Where do they make those modified arcane crystals?" Louis asked, surprised and excited.

"To the east!... Here they create all kinds of magical and mechanical artifacts, and this is also where the grand bank is located, where all the money was properly managed, or at least it used to be. With this new king, everything is wrong, though you'll see many people acting calm," he said, lowering his voice a bit at the end, as they arrived in the eastern zone.

"What's wrong with that king? I always hear people complaining about him," Louis asked curiously as they walked.

"He steals most of the kingdom's money, leaving only a small part of the profits from business with other kingdoms so that people don’t notice we’re not making any real economic progress. But Mei and I aren’t fooled," he answered, irritated, keeping his voice low as they walked.

"Why don’t you do anything about it? Miss Mei is a paladin," Louis asked, confused.

"Well, the king expelled her and other paladins when they discovered his plans. He took advantage of the last project left by the old king, which was about to be launched, to make it seem like it was his, and that’s how he won over the whole kingdom. He’s just trash," he replied quietly.

"Why are you whispering, professor?" Louis asked in a low voice as well.

"The citizens are very bothersome and defensive of their king, so we have to avoid saying anything bad about him near them," he said, leaning closer to Louis to avoid being overheard.

"I see, it seems there are problems in every kingdom," Louis said, remembering his own kingdom.

"Your kingdom too? Hmm, well, I guess that's normal. By the way, that blue necklace you have, what’s it made of? I don’t think it's just an ordinary stone," he asked curiously.

"I… (Should I tell him?)" Louis thought, remembering the past as he looked at his necklace, knowing its magic. "It’s a gift from my father and my master. I’m not sure what it’s made of, but it has great magical power. It helps me control my abilities and has a spell on it so I can’t take it off," he said, trying not to show his sadness as he lowered his head slightly.

"I see, how interesting. Someday, I’d like to meet your father and master," he said, very interested, dropping the subject.

Louis tried not to show sadness to avoid talking about his past when he heard the professor say he wanted to meet his father.

"Well, let's go now... to the west zone! Here you'll find all kinds of food: fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc. Also, there are the restaurants and the city's entertainment centers. If you invite someone, I recommend the restaurant El Dorado, they cook wonderfully!" he said, buying two apples and handing one to Louis. "And! Mei's PT agency is also here, but they're undercover to avoid suspicion," he whispered to Louis.

"Really? Should we go greet her?" Louis asked, eager to see her.

"Ehh... better not," he said, a bit displeased.

"What? Why?" Louis asked, puzzled.

"Mei is very..." he began to say, but was interrupted.

"Mei is very... what?" asked Mei, her sweet and soft voice coming from behind them, holding a communicator in her hand. Beside her was a strong and determined-looking girl. Her long hair was a dark shade, with red-dyed tips. Her eyes were an intense reddish-blue. She wore a white button-up shirt, dark blue pants, a modern-style dark jacket, white shoes with black stripes, and a necklace with a large red circular gemstone the size of an apple. "I’ve called you ten times, it's urgent!" Mei said, annoyed.

"I left my communicator, sorry. What’s so urgent?" he asked, curious.

"Louis, why don't you go with Kassie on a mission outside the city? Let me introduce you, Kassie, this is Louis A. Keeper, paladin of the kingdom of Alahead. Louis, this is Kassie Matther, from the kingdom of Aquamirae," she said, looking at Louis.

"Mei!" Kassie exclaimed, nervously.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Forget the last part, Louis. Kassie, go with him to the southern harvest," she said, recalling something and stepping closer to the professor. "Jonathan, I need you to tell me where you get your invisible shields," she said quietly.

"Don’t call me Jonathan! And… why do you need an invisible shield?" he asked, a bit irritated.

"That idiot! He left the farmers without a shield, and there isn’t a single guard with them. We need to fix this quickly," she said, lowering her voice a bit so no one else could hear. "Guys, head there fast, they need your help. Ririam said some creatures are coming in, so be careful," she said, leading Jonathan away.

Louis turned to Kassie and greeted her. "Nice to meet you," he said, bowing his head.

"Thanks, same here... I think," she responded, puzzled by Louis' gesture. "Well, follow me, we have to get to the southern zone quickly," she said, taking Louis by the hand and raising the other to hail a car.

As they rode in the car, Kassie asked curiously, "Are those contact lenses?"

"What are those?" Louis asked seriously.

"You don’t know? Wow, your eyes are natural! That’s amazing..." she said, surprised, leaning on her elbow as she looked out the window.

"Thank you..." Louis said, pleased. "Honestly, this kingdom is incredible, it has so many things I don't know and such different people," Louis thought.

Louis and Kassie remained silent until they reached the southern exit.

"This place is amazing!" Louis said as he got out of the car, looking at some technological devices being used by other people.

"You think so? It seems normal to me..." Kassie replied disinterestedly as she looked at the devices. "Don't they have technology like this in your kingdom?" she asked as they walked toward the kingdom's exit.

"Not at all, all of this is new to me," Louis said, smiling as he followed Kassie.

"I see... Sir, could you take us to the southern agricultural zone, please?" Kassie asked respectfully.

"Of course, hop in! That’ll be 150 ystires," the carriage driver replied.

"A driver’s cabin! Incredible... Way better than the ones in my kingdom," Louis remarked as he looked at the carriage while the driver introduced himself to Kassie as Marti.

"So, what brings you to this kingdom, Louis?" Kassie asked once they were inside the carriage.

"My master told me I needed to go out and see the world to become a better paladin, but I think I mainly did it to change my life," he responded sincerely, warmth in his voice.

"Your voice..." Kassie said, surprised, without thinking.

"My voice?" Louis asked, confused.

"Never mind..." she muttered, turning her gaze toward the carriage window. "So, you're not looking to rise in the paladin rankings?" she asked, still staring out the window.

"There's a ranking? I didn’t know. Honestly, all I want is to live in peace without being judged, while helping as many people as I can. I’m not interested in rankings at all," he replied sincerely, with that same warmth in his voice.

"I see... (That warmth again, like my brother... But how does he generate that feeling of security?)" she thought, noticing Louis' warm voice again and feeling safe around him.

Suddenly, they heard creatures roaring in the distance.

"Those were Linfari and Quiritanid roars," Louis and Kassie said simultaneously. Kassie was surprised that Louis knew about these creatures. "Sir, stop the carriage. We need to check what's going on," Kassie said, causing the carriage to stop.

"Oh my God! What are those creatures doing here?" Marti exclaimed in fear.

Louis and Kassie got out and saw the two creatures fighting near a lagoon.

"I’ll go and get them out of here. You head to the southern fields," Kassie said, taking off her shoes and starting to run toward the lagoon.

"Wait! I can help, I’m a good swimmer," Louis said, watching her leave.

"I’d rather... do this alone, please," she said, evident nervousness in her voice.

"Huh? ... Alright, I’ll head to the fields," Louis replied, noticing her discomfort but not pushing the issue. "Mr. Marti, continue toward the fields," he said, getting back into the carriage.

"I'll try, but honestly, I don't want to stick around with those creatures nearby!" Marti responded.

The carriage moved so fast that it was shaking.

"Sir, don’t you think you could go a little slower!" Louis shouted as he bumped into the walls of the carriage due to the speed and sharp turns.

"No way, a flock of giant eagles!" Marti screamed, making such a sharp turn that the carriage ended up flipping over.

"Sir, are you alright?" Louis asked, worried as he got out of the carriage.

"Yeah, luckily, I bought insurance," Marti replied, peeking out from the driver’s cabin door.

"Get out quickly! I need to get you to a safe place," Louis said, pulling him out of the carriage effortlessly.

"But... my horses!" Marti exclaimed as he ran.

"They’ll be fine! The eagles don’t hunt them because they’re too tough and heavy," Louis replied, heading toward a nearby cabin.

"I think you'll be safe here... Stay inside; I'll come back for you later," Louis said, checking the area.

"Wait, are you planning on leaving me alone!" Marti exclaimed in fear, grabbing Louis’ coat.

"What are you doing? Let me go! I need to see if anyone else needs my help!" Louis said, struggling with Marti.

"I won’t let you go! What if there’s a monster nearby? You have a recognition badge and a katana, so you must be really strong, so prote...ct...me...!" Marti shouted, refusing to let go of Louis’ coat.

"Stop being selfish...!" Louis said, pulling harder.

A loud sonic explosion stopped their argument.

"I told you, there are monsters nearby," Marti said fearfully, hiding behind Louis.

"That was sonic magic..." Louis thought, circling the cabin to see where the explosion had come from. "The cabin is destroyed," he thought, then heard something rustling in the bushes. He got into position to draw his katana as the driver cowered behind him.

"Finally, people! Please help me, my husband is hurt," a woman said, crying as she came out of the bushes.

"Where is he?" Louis asked.

Heading into the fields, Louis followed Mari to where her husband was. He nervously tried to feel for a pulse, seeing the hole in the man's stomach, but it was already too late to help him.

"No, please, do something..." Mari noticed the badge on Louis' waist. "You’re a paladin, you must have magic to help him, please," she said through tears and desperation at her husband’s side.

"I'm sorry... but my magic can't help anyone," Louis responded, feeling guilty. "Damn it, if only I had gotten here sooner," he thought, hitting the ground.

"How is it possible?... What happened? The shields were supposed to protect us, and there were knights guarding the area," she said, holding her husband as tears continued to stream down her face.

"What caused this?" Louis asked, his words filled with seriousness.

"A werewolf... He came at dawn into our harvest, and... we tried to run, but my husband sacrificed himself to save me... to save us. Afterward, someone else helped me, but I believe they’re still fighting him," she said, deep sadness evident on her face, as she touched Bill's face and her stomach.

"A werewolf..." Louis said, surprised. Behind him, a large figure rose from the harvest.

"Look out!" Marti shouted.

Louis was hit hard, knocked away from the others.

"I found you... Haha, I knew you wouldn't leave because of that man, and now, well, we have more prey. Now you'll all feel my wrath, ALL of you!" he said sadistically, as Mari clung to her husband and the driver fell to the ground in fear.

With a powerful burst, Louis attacked the werewolf with his katana, but the beast blocked the attack with its claws. Then, he and Louis exchanged heavy blows, clashing claws against the katana. The werewolf launched a stronger attack, but Louis deflected it with his blade. "I’ll return the favor!" Louis punched him in the face, sending him flying through the harvest until he crashed to the ground.

Louis began creating two lava dogs with his magic, straining himself. He made their paws entirely out of rock to avoid burning the ground, and covered them with a skin of stone. While doing this, his red eye began to glow. Mari and the driver watched in awe at the magic he wielded.

"Get as far away as you can. They’ll protect you. I’ve covered them in rock, but try not to touch them anyway," he said, moving away.

"But... my husband," Mari said.

"I’ll carry him, leave it to me," Louis replied as he distanced himself.

"A kid... A kid did this to me!" the werewolf shouted furiously, pressing his fists into the ground in rage. "Damn you!"

"Surrender and turn yourself in to be judged for your actions!" Louis shouted as he approached.

"What are you saying? Either you die here, or I die!" the werewolf shouted, getting up and rushing toward Louis, attempting to slash him with his claws.

"Good, I have his attention. I need to lead him as far away as possible," Louis thought, dodging and leading him away from the harvest toward the forest.

"What’s the matter? Now you’re running? Haha!" the werewolf taunted as he continued slashing with his sharp claws, leaving deep marks on the trees. Splinters flew everywhere, and one cut Louis's cheek.

Louis analyzed his movements, dodging his attacks with ease, ignoring the small wound that immediately began to heal.

"You... you have magic, someone like you shouldn't exist!" the werewolf yelled, noticing Louis’s cheek healing.

Louis heated his katana until it glowed red and sliced through the werewolf's claws, then punched him in the jaw, sending him crashing into a tree.

"Damn it, I should’ve gone back to make the artifact... I won’t die to a mage, much less a child. I’ll try to torment his mind and If I win we will have more chances with this power" the werewolf thought, getting up as the tree he hit fell to the ground. He then made his claws grow even longer than before, now turning black.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then... they charged, clashing claw against sword! "They’ve gotten harder... none of the books I read mentioned this," Louis thought, continuing to attack and parry.

The werewolf was managing to push Louis back until he forced him close to a cliff. Louis realized it, and with his hand, he shot small drops of lava at the werewolf’s chest, making him wince from the burning. Louis then slashed his chest again.

"Damn you!" the werewolf roared in fury, clenching his teeth so hard that blood dripped from his gums. He lunged at Louis, trying to catch him with both arms.

Louis jumped over him, coating his fist in lava and punching the werewolf’s back, making him fall to the ground, writhing in pain.

"It’s over, you can’t beat me. Surrender," Louis said, cooling down the lava on his fist.

"Lava... That’s not fair..." the werewolf thought, enduring the pain and breathing heavily. "I won’t lose to magic!" he shouted, using all his strength in one arm to attack. Louis blocked the strike but had his left arm cut off.

"Haha, I did it! Now I just need to..." the werewolf thought, laughing and watching Louis wounded. The werewolf blinked, and Louis had already leaped in front of him, grabbing the werewolf’s head and slamming it into the ground, smashing his nose. Louis then lifted his head and released it, causing him to fall onto his back. Exhausted and drained, the werewolf didn’t get up again.

"I can survive these wounds, but this kid won’t let me go. My death means nothing, they’re almost ready anyway," the werewolf thought, breathing heavily and trying to crawl back, but he felt the edge of the cliff. *Sigh* "Just kill me, I don’t want to keep seeing you..." he said after seeing Louis's face, which reflected pity, while his left arm healed.

"No..." Louis responded.

"What are you saying? You’re a paladin, do it! I saw your insignia," he said, calming his breathing a bit.

"I will not be a murderer like you. I will hand you over to the kingdom and they will judge you," he said angrily.

"Don't even think you're going to take me... 'Cough' dead first!" He shouted, standing up again.

The werewolf is willing to do anything, but... Trying to continue the battle he slipped... Louis manages to take his hand to lift him up.

"Hehehe, death to wizards" he said sadistically and with his claws he scratched Louis' hand making him let go.

Louis watched with pity as the werewolf fell, then turned away.

As he walked, Louis saw the hunter’s body in the distance. He approached and tried to carry him, but he couldn’t. A fear within him filled his mind.

"I need Kassie's help," he said with sadness and continued on.

Louis reached Marti and Mari, calling the dogs to come closer and then making them disappear.

"Are you okay?" Marti asked after seeing Louis's arm.

"Yeah, he only managed to cut my coat. Can you come with me? I need help carrying the bodies; we’ll use your horses," Louis said seriously.

"Of course, let’s go," Marti replied.

Louis and Marti took the horses to carry the bodies, covering them with blankets Mari had in the cabin.

"It looks like the eagles left. Let’s go," Louis said after observing the sky as they left the southern harvest field.

"Louis! Over here!" Kassie shouted from a distance as she ran toward him.

"Kassie..." Louis said upon seeing her. "Were you able to drive off the creatures?" he asked as Kassie reached him.

"Yes, it was a bit difficult, but I did," she replied, slightly out of breath. "What happened?" she asked, noticing the bodies on the horses.

"I’ll tell you on the way," he said, his face reflecting sadness and guilt.

Louis, Kassie, Marti, and Mari returned to the kingdom. Along the way, they saw knights heading toward the southern harvest field. Mari couldn’t walk any further due to her pregnancy, so Kassie took her by car to the PT agency. Louis and Marti arrived much later, delivering the bodies to Mei.

Mei and Professor Maxwell were talking in Mei's office.

"This is horrible... What was that priest thinking, putting that trash on the throne?" Mei said, both angry and sad, sitting in her chair.

"Now we have even more crucial witnesses to remove him," Professor Maxwell said, sitting down.

"It’s still unfair... for anyone. It wasn’t just the south, four people died in the east, and three in the west as well," she said, lowering her head.

"You can't do it all, Mei... You're in a very tough spot, but we need to get that man out as soon as possible. With what happened today, people will start losing the trust they had in him," Maxwell said, getting up from the chair and looking out the window.

"And Louis?" she asked, raising her head again.

"The poor guy felt guilty for not saving those two people from the south, but the pregnant woman, Mari, managed to calm him down," the professor said as he continued looking out the window.

"Poor thing... I've never failed so much. Everything always went perfectly for me, but since the king died... everything fell apart," Mei said while looking at the professor.

"Well, let's hope everything goes well now because if not, you might lose your affiliation with the church. Well, I’ll take my leave, Mei; I need to talk to Louis," the professor said, opening the office door.

"Sure, I’ll go with Xitlari to see if the shields have been placed," she said, getting up and leaving with the professor.

Louis was outside, on the roof of the agency.

"Louis... Are you okay?" Kassie asked, sitting next to Louis.

"Yes, I am, but... I also feel fear," Louis replied calmly.

"Well, it doesn’t seem like it... You remind me of my brother... he was just like you, very worried about getting everything right, and if something went wrong, he felt guilty, even if it wasn’t his fault," she expressed wistfully.

"Did he die?" he asked, but Kassie didn’t respond. "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that..." he said regretfully.

"It's okay, I think you're very sensitive. You remind me of Xitlari; she’s also very sensitive, like you. Well, I hope to go on a mission with you someday," she said, smiling as she stood up and walked away.

"Likewise," Louis replied, feeling calmer, with a small smile on his face as he watched her leave.

"Like me? I wonder who this girl named Xitlari is," he said as he took off his gloves and looked at his hands. "That’s why you wanted me to leave... teacher? To learn that I won't always be able to help them all? Should I have killed the werewolf? But... I could never have done it anyway. I... must not kill anyone... ever again."

End of the chapter.