Zayne could feel his whole body growing stronger, faster, sturdier, and more agile, all in an instant. It was so invigorating and exciting, like a strong hit of endorphins, that he wanted to spend more and more points, and improve his body even further…
But, he didn't.
There was one crucial problem with altering his descended body in any way as an unranked deity - that is, all the changes to his physique were only single use, no matter how many points he spent. They would remain in place for as long as he was in the body, unless he canceled them, of course. Once he ended his descent, however, his physique would reset, whether he wanted it or not, and the next time he'd choose to descend, he would be back at the starting point.
In such a case, Zayne really didn't want to spend any more points than necessary. So, instead of increasing his strength any further, he commanded, "Give me mana for 500 points."
Mana was important. Without any mana, how could he draw out the full power of his magic sword?
Having adjusted his body, he was ready to try again. He took a run-up, and jumped…
It still wasn't enough for Zayne to jump over the gates the way he wanted to. The gate was tall, after all, way too tall for any human, even a well-trained one, to leap over. And it'd take more than 1,000 to surpass such natural limitations.
However, what he could do now, was to reach the top of the gate, and pull himself up. It was far from graceful, but so what? Zayne was alone, so there was no need for him to put on a show.
He tried to stand up, but the old gate was shaking terribly from the monsters' attacks, threatening to fall apart. Zayne had to grab onto it tightly just to stay on the top, otherwise he would fall right into the monsters' mouths…
Use points to improve balance, or try to move to a more stable point?
Of course, the second option. Without any hesitation, Zayne climbed onto the main wall.
From there, he could finally get a good look at the situation.
The monsters attacking the village were called vylkyrs in these parts, but Zayne simply referred to them as werewolves - that was the first thing that came to his mind when he first saw them. There were over thirty of them by the gate, and possibly even more hidden in the forest…
Zayne ran a bit further on top of the wall, before finally jumping down. He picked a stone, and threw it at the group to attract the attention. The most important thing for now was to draw them away from the gate. Although the villagers did set up a barricade, trying to reinforce it, with the werewolves' relentless attack, it was only a matter of time before it gave in.
And once the monsters got into the village, it would no longer be possible for Zayne to handle it all on his own.
The monster hit by the stone instantly turned its eyes to Zayne, abandoning the gate, and charging straight at him. Four more werewolves followed.
The distance between where Zayne landed and the gate was around 50 feet. It might have seemed far enough from his point of view, but for werewolves, it was hardly anything. In the blink of an eye, the first had already reached Zayne, and jumped right at him…
Although Zayne had been prepared, he barely managed to dodge in time, the werewolf brushing right past him.
And it was only the beginning. Not wasting any time, Zayne dodged again, stepping to the side, and swung his sword, trying to use the rotation of his body to add power to the slash.
The result was mediocre at best. Zayne was not a trained swordsman, after all. He was only imitating what he had seen before.
Still, at least the blow landed, cutting through the monster's flank.
The wounded werewolf let out a howl, withdrawing a few steps, its body convulsing as the electricity coursed through its muscles. It wasn't enough to kill it, but at least the injury would slow the monster down.
Zayne might not have any fighting experience, and never faced werewolves before, but if there was something he wasn't lacking, that was knowledge. No one knew and understood the monsters of this world better than Zayne. He knew all of their habits, attack patterns, strengths and weaknesses…
He had been watching this world from above for centuries, after all. How could he not be familiar with it?
And all of it could at least make up for his lack of skill.
There was no time to celebrate, though. The wounded werewolf let out a howl, swinging its paw at Zayne. Zayne managed to dodge it, however…
"Gah!" Zayne's eyes widened, as he felt excruciating pain, as the werewolf's claws tore through his back. His vision momentarily turned white.
No matter how well he understood the attack patterns, there was only so much he could do while facing several monsters at the same time.
"System, heal!" he yelled, forcing his body to move while ignoring the pain. In a blink of an eye, he was as good as new…
But now it was his heart that bled instead. His points, his precious points…
He lunged at the monster, barely missing its eyes.
And at the same time, his left leg was torn.
"System, heal! 100 points to speed!"
He bent his knees, crouching down as he avoided werewolf's paws, and swung his sword, slashing the monster's hind legs.
And his left arm was almost bitten off.
"System, heal!"
He stabbed through the werewolf's back, piercing it through, and immediately turned around, swinging the sword at another one.
And his right thigh was torn by the claws.
Zayne bit on his lip, continuing to dodge, as he tried to assess the situation.
It was even harder than he thought. He expected that he would be able to put all of his knowledge, all of his observations, both of the monsters and the sword fighting, into practice somehow.
He clearly overestimated himself though. While thanks to his improved physique and the heals from the system, he could carry on… How many points it would cost him, before he finally defeated all the monsters, or chased them away?
The only good thing about the situation was that the healing was much cheaper than usual - perhaps because it was his own descended body, and there were no conscious beings - that is, intelligent creatures that could potentially become his believers - around, but still…
"Heal!"
He dodged to the left, his eyes scanning his surroundings. So far, there were two monsters on the ground, dead or knocked out, and four more injured.
Compared to the total number, that was hardly anything.
He swung his sword again.
Three down.
'If I am to give up, the sooner the better.'
It would be unwise to invest any more points, if he were to cancel his descent anyway.
He jumped back, avoiding the claws.
'But I'm gonna lose the sword.'
The sword would just drop down on the ground, and be picked up by the villagers the next morning. Who knew what they would do with it? Either way, with the so-called prophet abandoning them, it would be unlikely they would keep the sword so that Zayne could take it back if he ever decided to descend again.
He lounged forward, stabbing through the monster's snout.
'And the descent's initial cost is a bit of the waste.'
He turned around, swinging his sword at the werewolf behind him.
'Not to mention the points I spent on the physique and mana.'
Claws tore his face, depriving him of one eye.
"Heal!"
'Right. And the heals.'
Zayne gritted his teeth. After putting so much effort, and spending so many points, it was hard to just give up…
He didn't want to let it all go to naught.
"God! Fucking! Dammit!" he yelled, slashing his sword with all of his strength, the lighting cracking as the blade carved through the monster's flesh.
"System, set on auto-heal! And 100 points each to mana, speed, and strength!"
It was going to be a long and painful night. Both to Zayne's body, as well as his point balance…