Zayne lay down on the hard bed in the tiny room with a sigh.
He was spending the night at Sydell's house. Although Priska originally suggested he'd stay in the tavern, which had several empty rooms, some of the villagers - mainly the hunters - protested. That was where Priska and her sick mother lived, after all, and there was no man in their household. So, for Priska to have a young man, a prophet or not, stay over, was considered highly inappropriate.
That was when Sydell stepped in, offering to take Zayne in.
The offer obviously didn't come from goodwill. If he had a choice, Zayne would have rather stayed at Priska's, who was his devout believer… But insisting to do so could result in him being accused of having ulterior motives, so he just let it go. In the end, it was just a place to sleep.
Because he needed sleep. Although his consciousness was still the same as before, never getting tired, his physical, descended body needed to get proper rest.
He closed his eyes, soon feeling his senses getting dull, as if hidden behind a thick veil, his connection with the body loosening a bit.
"System. Start with the prayers," Zayne commanded.
Although he descended, there was no reason why he shouldn't carry on with his regular work. It's not like he had anything better to do when his body was asleep anyway.
Unlike usual, however, he didn't go through it category by category.
"Show only the prayers from Hemsenn and Kalenden, displaying Gavia and the surrounding villages first."
Since he was planning to stick around for a bit, it was only natural he should adjust his approach, and focus on his surroundings, as well as his first major destination.
He had barely managed to finish going through the first batch, when he was woken up by the shouting coming from the outside, and simultaneously hit by a fresh influx of prayers from Gavia village.
"Monsters! Monsters by the gate!"
…Just his luck. Although night monsters' attacks weren't exactly rare for Gavia, for it to happen on Zayne's very first night there…
He sat up on the bed, dismissing all the system messages. The sword was standing proudly right next to the bed…
But so what if he had a good sword? He might have acted confident earlier in the day, but the truth was, he had absolutely no fighting experience. Going to hunt monsters in the surrounding forests was one thing, but facing the whole wave of them…
Before he could decide what to do though, the door swung open, and Sydell barged in, without even bothering to knock.
"Sir Prophet! Opportunity for ya to prove yerself arrived! Come defend the village with us!" he said, with a wide smirk that didn't quite match the situation.
Zayne let out a sigh, getting up from the bed.
Of course, he didn't have to go. Fleeing the village was impossible at a moment like that, but he could always just end his descent. He didn't have to fight, if he didn't want to.
However.
If the prophet disappeared into thin air in such a critical situation, how would that affect the villagers' faith?
And it wasn't just Gavia village. Although the news didn't travel fast in these parts, sooner or later, this story would spread. Then, unless Zayne did something to placate his believers and distance himself from the 'fake prophet' - which would cost him points, of course - he would risk losing some of them, and therefore lowering his income.
So, he grabbed his sword, and glanced at Sydell calmly. "Lead the way."
Sydell's smirk vanished in the face of Zayne's seemingly unwavering confidence. He was hoping the man would be afraid…
Still, defending the village was more important, so he just turned around, rushing out of the house, Zayne following right after him.
The village was rather small, so it didn't take long before they arrived by the gate. Plenty of men, mainly hunters, were already gathered around, trying to reinforce the shaking wooden gates, and shooting arrows at the monsters from the guard towers.
"Sir Prophet! Glad yer ere!" The leader of the group greeted Zayne. Although he wasn't there earlier in the tavern, when Zayne met with the villagers, he had no problem recognizing him as the prophet - after all, even putting aside the fact that Zayne was the only stranger in the village, he also stood up from the crowd, with his paler skin and height.
"Are ya gonna use yer sword?"
"Mn." Zayne quickly scanned the surroundings. There were many people around. Way too many. "I will need you all to leave."
"…Sorry?"
"From now on, I will defend the gate alone."
"Hah?! Yer mad?!" One of the men reinforcing the gate stopped his work and walked over, his face twisted and red. "Yer asking us to die?"
Zayne looked at him coldly. Wasn't that the same man who suspected him of being a runaway criminal earlier? 'His name was Zozek, wasn't it? I should remember him as well…'
"I am saying it so that all of you can survive. If you stay, you will only be getting in my way," he explained.
"Haaah?! Yer sayin' wha now?!" Zozek's face turned even redder, resembling a big, ugly tomato. "How're we in yer way?! We're good hunters! If yer don't wanna fight with us, just go away!"
"Zozek." The leader gave the yelling men a reproaching glance, before turning to Zayne. "I'm sorry, Sir Prophet, but dat's difficult. I understand dat yer sent by god, but still… We can't just leave the lives of our families all in yer hands."
Zayne paused for a moment. Their attitude was, naturally, perfectly understandable. Under any normal circumstances, it would also be helpful for him to have the hunters assist him by shooting arrows at the monsters.
The problem was that it was his very first fight. He was bound to struggle, and he was quite certain he would end up completely embarrassing himself, before he would be able to get a hang of it.
So, he said, "If you stay, you're gonna end up dead."
"Haah?! Why dis-!"
The leader lifted his hand, blocking Zozek who seemed ready to pounce at Zayne. "Why's dat so?"
"To put it simply, you won't be able to withstand witnessing the full extend of the divine power I was blessed with."
"Can't god just bless and protect us den?"
"No."
"Den dat god's just too weak!"
Zayne's eyes twitched. 'And who's fault is that? If you only earned me more points…'
Despite his annoyance, he seemed perfectly calm when he glanced at the man.
Perhaps Zozek should also be disposed of before Zayne left this place.
"If you truly want to help, hide as far away as you can from the gate, and pray. Ask everyone to join you, and pray fervently all night to god Zayne."
The leader still seemed reluctant. Some of the more religious hunters, however, slowly started putting down their weapons, and came over to try to convince the man. The prophet's sword seemed so powerful, after all, and he was so confident… Perhaps it was best to put more faith in the god?
"'Right. Everyone, move 'way! Listen to the prophet!" he eventually commanded. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, as the monsters continued to pounce at the gate.
There were still a few men who wanted to argue, but they were the minority, and quickly ended up dragged away by their friends. In just a few minutes, Zayne was left completely alone in front of the gate.
Only once he was sure that no one could see, did he make his first move. He leaped forward, wanting to jump over the gate…
And landed only three, maybe four feet ahead.
'Right,' he clicked his tongue.
That was precisely why he didn't want to have any witnesses.
"System, use… maybe 1,000 points to increase my physique in every way," he said, his face painfully twisted, as he thought with a heavy heart about his precious points…
Hopefully it would be worth it in the end.