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A month into his travels, Eric Bane was growing stronger and stronger. He was now level fourteen, his 'Bind' skills were around level thirty each, and he had invented two new skills; 'Chainmail' and 'Ball-and-Chain'. The first one created an interwoven vest of chain links for protection against bodily attacks, and the second skill put a huge mass of connected chain links on the end of his normal chain to create a better weapon. He was passing through another city with the usual abuse a convicted rapist gets when he suddenly felt a strong pull in his gut.
Everything went black for a moment, then he was suddenly in a different location surrounded by trees. Eric looked around to see an unfamiliar group of warriors and fighters, but there were a few hateful faces that he did recognize.
"So this is what happens when a wave starts," mused John, the black kid from the first day. The simple gloves on his hands were now gauntlets that stretched down to his elbows, and they looked much more badass.
"Uh oh," said an obnoxious voice, "who invited the rapist?" Eric ground his teeth as the pretty boy, Tyler Jinx, stepped out of the crowd wearing glittering armor that shimmered where the sun spots hit it. "What is it, not going to defend yourself?"
"Enough," said Emily, her purple hair now the natural black color. "As much as we don't like it, he's still a hero with a divine weapon." Emily stepped up with a sword in her hand, which she leveled at Eric's neck. "If he plays nice, I won't have to cut his head off." Eric, whose hair had grown wild down to his shoulders, didn't respond to the threat. Instead, he looked around, feeling an odd sense of familiarity about the forest. Looking at one of the trees, he suddenly realized what it was.
A tree nearby was crushed around the bark, as if something had tightly bound the outside. Eric slowly began to realize that the town he had first visited was nearby, the poor one with wooden buildings and the old mayor. Before he could say anything, a loud cracking noise was heard. The heroes and their followers all looked around, but there was nothing to see. A sudden scream rang out from down one edge of the path.
"Shit," shouted Eric, and he began running towards the sound of the scream. As he got down a short hill, he saw the village from before, only now there were monsters in the town.
Eric ran down to the town without a second thought, summoning his chain in his hand as he heard the screams and cries from the villagers. What he saw were demonic monstrosities about the size of a normal human, climbing out of the well two at a time, there were already six or so in the village. Blood splatters and remnants of the few that have died remained, and people all over the village either ran or cowered. There was one woman who clutched a small child dearly as a monster opened it's hideous mouth filled with rows of spiky teeth.
"Bind," shouted Eric, and ten lengths of chain shot out of his hand with the force of a shotgun, blasting the monster away and tying him up at the same time. "Bind Mine," shouted Eric loudly, and a single chain link appeared in his hand. He tossed it at the well, and after a moment a series of chains exploded from the well, grappling all of the monsters as they tried to crawl out. The other beasts turned their heads, which Eric used to shout, "Come at me, fuckers!" He used his chain to pound one of the monsters over a house, then whipped it around to smack another in the chops.
Finally, a battle cry sounded from the road and the rest of the heroes charged in with their own weapons. Benny shot his arrows, Tyler lanced one of the monsters, Emily sliced one up like deli meat, John punched one so hard it blew up, Todd waved his scythe with deadly efficiency, and the other adventurers took on the other beasts. In the confusion, Eric ran from house to house checking inside for any villagers that were hiding. He found a few, then he ushered them out while taking out any monsters that were coming after them. The battle was heavily one-sided, since the monsters were fairly weak and could only appear two at a time, it wasn't long before the heroes were just slaughtering the monsters that were coming up through the well.
Eric ran from house to house, ushering people out of the town while the coast was clear. He noticed all of the other heroes crowded around the well, trying to get more experience for their kills. Eric ignored them, running around getting the town evacuated before coming back to the well. The well itself was now just a hole in the ground that produced monsters, which were all killed the second they showed their ugly faces. Benny was standing off to one side, his bow half strung as he waited for a chance to get a shot in. He noticed Eric approaching and cringed, which Eric was now used to.
"Can you tell me what's going on?" Eric asked nicely.
"This is a wave," said Benny in a stern tone. "It's caused by a crack in the world which monsters pour through, and we need to close that crack. If we don't, a boss monster's going to come out."
"Then it must be at the bottom of the well," said Eric, biting his upper lip in frustration. He tried to remember anything about the town that might be some use, but all he could remember was the cave the jackals had made their home. Suddenly, a horrible idea occurred to him, one that used simple physics to seem real. "Benny, I need your help," said Eric suddenly, putting his large hands on Benny's shoulders. "There's a cave not far from here that might connect to the well, but I need you and your arrows."
"What are you talking about?" Benny demanded, angrily shrugging off Eric's hands.
"I was here on a quest a month ago, and there was a cave that had a breeze going through it," explained Eric. "I think that cave is connected to the well." Benny looked unsure of whether to believe Eric or not, which really struck a nerve with Eric. "Fine, I'll do it myself." Eric ran off towards the cave, his chain in hand as he tried to picture where the people had run off to. As he was almost there, he saw monsters gleefully running in all directions. "Area Constriction," called Eric, slamming his hands on the ground.
Instantly, any monster within a hundred yard radius of Eric was suddenly confined by chains that shot up from the ground. Eric ran to the cave entrance, hoping there was a way to stop this before these monsters got out of hand. He called upon his ball and chain, then threw it into the cave to demolish a line of monsters coming out. Eric ignored the various experience counters as he created a few 'Bind Mines' which he tossed into the cave before entering. Inside, it was still as dark as ever, so Eric resorted to flinging his chain around and trying to listen to where it hit the floor. He also killed a few monsters this way.
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Suddenly, a piercing light shot through the cave, striking a monster in the head with a perfect headshot. "You missed a few outside," Benny shouted, then he rapid fired two more as they leaked from a crevice in the wall.
"Thanks," replied Eric, "but we need to do something about these guys! They just keep coming!"
"I've got an idea," said Benny, "but it'll take a while to charge!"
"I'll protect you," cried Eric, his voice bouncing off the walls of the cavern. Eric slapped his hands on the ground and shouted, "Area Constriction!" From the crevice, the sounds of chains catching all of the stray monsters suddenly erupted in one large gust of air. "Bind, Bind, Bind," repeated Eric with his palm at the crevice, shooting repeatedly to create as thick a barrier as possible. The light inside of the cave was growing, and Eric looked at Benny to see that the arrow he had notched was glowing brighter as it grew bigger around him. The monsters started to claw through their bindings, pushing out like the disgusting puss of a pimple.
"Piercing shot," cried Benny, and he released the arrow he was holding in. It's power was like a cannon, blowing air around as it entered the crevice and disappeared. The glow was left, and without much thought, Eric followed it. The crevice was narrow, just large enough for him to get through, and when he got to the other side he saw it. There was an enormous fissure in space, and on the other side was a hellish red color and monsters. They were using each other's bodies as a ladder to climb to the well entrance above the pool of water, a mass of writhing monsters that would give Eric nightmares later.
He created a few 'Bind Mines' and the 'Ball-and-Chain', then tossed the mines at the ladder while his weapon went to work on any stragglers. The ladder came down, meaning there were more for him alone to deal with as he smashed the huge chain links into the scum that attacked him. He called for 'Chainmail', figuring he would need the protection more, when a crazy idea came to him. "Bind," he shouted, aiming his palm at the fissure, and it wrapped around the fissure itself. "Close," he called, and the chains slowly pulled the fissure closed until they fell out of the air and disappeared.
Eric's accomplishment wasn't done yet, there were still monsters left inside of the aquifer. He smashed and battered as the well opened up, lighting the spring in a very powerful, blood red. As Eric smashed the last demon, he looked at the well waters in sullen silence. They were the color of thick blood, swirling and mixing, definitely not safe to drink. Eric felt like he had won with a heavy loss, the loss of the townsfolk that now had to leave their village. "Hey," came a shout from the well opening, "is there a boss monster down there?"
"No," Eric shouted back, "I closed the rift! The Wave is over!"
"You asshole," came a shout that sounded like it was from Tyler, "we were supposed to fight the boss monster! It would have given us a ton of experience and money, why the hell did you close the rift!"
"Because that would have endangered the village," Eric shouted back. "We have a different problem, the water down here is filled with blood and dead bodies! It's not safe to drink!"
"So?"
"So we need to purify it or the townspeople will need to leave," Eric shouted back angrily.
"Is it a quest?" came John's voice.
"No... maybe," said Eric, unsure if it would be made into a quest. "Who cares, we should think of some way to purify the water!"
"Oh, that's disgusting," said Benny, appearing through the crevice.
"Benny, is that you?" came Emily's voice. "What the hell, where did you run off to?"
"Eric knew about a cave that connected to the well," said Benny, "so we were fighting the monsters over there. Nice job on closing the fissure, by the way."
"Thanks," said Eric, "but the waters polluted now. Do you know a way to purify it?"
"There's a way to purify water," said Benny, "but only in small amounts. There's no way we know of to purify a spring this large."
"Craaap," cried Eric, pushing his palms against his face. "Ugh, the villagers aren't gonna be happy about this."
"Forget this," said a voice from the well, "I'm leaving."
"I'm just gonna leave, too," said Benny. "I'll tell the king you helped out, but I don't think he'll care."
"I didn't do it," declared Eric strongly. "Ask me a million times, you'll get the same answer."
"Then why didn't you represent yourself in court?" asked Benny curiously.
"What court?" said Eric, and that's when he heard a story that got his blood boiling. The king doesn't actaully have a final say in judicial matters, there's a court for that. When Eric left, the court hearing was obviously weighted agaisnt him, so the funds that Eric would normally use are now passed among the other five heroes. Eric is cut off from returning to the city and getting anywhere near the king's daughter, who is, coincedentally, in Tyler's group now. After hearing this, Eric was almost ready to bring about democracy.
Eric and Benny left the cave, making their way back to the village to see that the other heroes had left, and a few villagers were coming back. Eric yelled loudly that the danger had been averted, Benny left as Eric stayed and waited for the people to come back. Once the people of the village had gathered, Eric told them the news, listened to their woes, and he helped bury the dead. Eric stayed with the people, he cried with the people, and he left with his mind on the people.