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Eric sat down in the dungeon with the empty plate of food next to him when several guards carrying lances stormed down the stairs. The came to the entrance of Eric's cell while he stood, looking through the cast iron bars at his tormentors. "Eric Bane, Hero of the Chain, you are hereby summoned to a duel with the Hero of-" the monologue stopped when Eric swung open his cell door as though it was nothing.

"Let's get this over with," said Eric sadly, his hair a tangled mess. He took the lead, stepping past the armed guards as though they were irrelevant pieces of paper. He walked past them, then exited the dungeon to see more armored men at the top of the stairs. The leveled their lances at them, but Eric couldn't have cared less. He followed their paths like a good little sheep, winding up at a raised platform in the courtyard. There were theater seats raised along the castle wall to one side where several overly dressed people watched with amusement as Eric was poked and prodded onto the stage.

Eric felt an odd sense of familiarity towards the stage, the white tiles giving it the same resemblance of the few professional boxing rings he had been in. This square section of raised ground had white stone plating that was easy to get traction on with Eric's bare feet. He could see the blood already across the stage, soaking into the ground with a sweet final release. Tyler approached from the other side, his lance gleaming against Eric's eyes just to annoy him.

Tyler was wearing some sort of white ensemble of robe and shirt, adorned with laced gold and magnificent embroidery. Behind him was the red hair of Judy, her azure dress also laced with the finest trimmings. Eric felt his anger flare a little at their nice clothes, but it was quickly satiated by an ocean of depression. Eric looked around to see Benny, Todd, and John with similar clothing, but Eric couldn't get irate about them. Emily was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Lucia.

"If I may have your attention," said the king from his highest throne, "we will begin the duel shortly. Today we have the noble Hero of the Lance, Tyler Jinx, fighting against the blasphemous Hero of the Chain, Eric Bane. The prize for this duel shall be the rights to issue a single command to the other, anything is fair game. Now then, will the fighter state their intentions of this fight!"

"I am here to protect the chastity and pride of all women," announced Tyler in a noble way. Judy took that as her cue, then she pulled the white robe away the same way someone would reveal a large present. Tyler was shirtless underneath, displaying his perfect physique to everyone, but he also had the most ridiculous looking pair of pants Eric had ever seen. They seemed to be inflated around the ankles, that or Tyler shit his pants and tied them off at the ends. "Eric Bane, today will be your undoing! I shall stop your evil today!"

"Do your best," responded Eric with a lack of sense. Tyler scowled at Eric, then he took the stage with his lance at the ready.

"Today we shall have a duel between heroes," announced the king. "Now that both heroes have entered the fighting area, the fight may begin!" Tyler wasted no time, rushing Eric with his lance ready to pierce through Eric. This was going to be an execution, and Eric spread his hands out to let it happen.

"TYYYLLLEERRRR," came and enraged shout from the sidelines. Tyler skidded to a halt with the tip of his lance just inches away from Eric's stomach. Everyone looked to the side to see Emily carrying Lucia on her back, the tiger-girl wrapped in a bedsheet. Emily was so angry, she was almost ready to attack Tyler outright, but she was holding Lucia delicately.

"What happened?" asked Eric in shock, looking at Lucia to see that she had a swelling cheek, and some of her hair was cut short.

"Emily, this isn't the time," argued Tyler sternly.

"What did you do to her!?" Emily shouted from off stage. She was enraged, and her eyes were starting to swell with tears. Emily unconciously held Lucia closer, like a child that had fallen from a tree.

"I was trying to cure her brainwashing," desperately explained Tyler, "but it's rooted too deep! Just let me deal with this!"

"What did you do?" Eric demanded heavily, his eyes bearing heat down like two atomic bombs had gone off. Tyler looked at Eric, then he thrusted his sword the last few inches, but Eric moved faster than could be seen. When the lance was just about to enter his gut, Eric grabbed the shaft and stopped it. Tyler felt the jolt as the lance suddenly stopped, and despite his repeated efforts to push the blade through, Tyler could no longer move his lance.

"Eric," cackled Lucia weakly, making Eric look down at his companion as Tyler repeatedly failed to move his lance any further. Lucia's eyes only barely opened, and with one hand she reached out towards Eric's form. Eric saw it then, the bruises that went up her bare arm and onto her bare shoulder.

It was hard to describe exactly how Eric felt, but to say he felt 'empty' would be appropriate. He had flashbacks to a doctor and a waiting room, the day he learned an ugly truth about the world. The memories resurfaced as terrifying and painful as the day they were made. The emptiness Eric felt was being very rapidly replaced by pure, unbridaled rage. Eric lifted the spear with Tyler on the end, holding it up so that Tyler was dangling in the air like a pinata.

"What did you do?" Eric repeated in his deepest baritone. He was anger was clear, but he was only just forcing Tyler to talk.

"I gave her special treatment," said Tyler, "but she fought back. None of this would have happened if you weren't such a-" Eric's fist smashed Tyler right in the face, carrying behind it enough force to blow Tyler away completely. His body flopped against the white tiles, sliding just barely to the edge of the platform. Eric summoned his chains, listening to the metal clink together as the chain dangled behind him, his eyes focused solely on Tyler. Tyler stood, holding his shoulder as Eric approached slowly, his huge body and long chain giving the appearance of a monster.

"Lighting Lance!" shouted Tyler, and the blade of his lance began to cackle with electricity. He moved then, rotating his lance around his body like a bo staff, flipping it and spinning it until the light of his lance was a line through the air. "This can cut through anything," explained Tyler as he violently spun the lance around himself. He charged Eric then, running towards him with the lightning cackling at the end of his lance. Tyler leaped into the air for the added momentum, then he brought the lance down on Eric from above. Time seemed to slow down as the blue energy of the lance nearly cut Eric in two. Yet, even then, nobody could see what Eric had done.

Tyler's lance suddenly stopped, all momentum ceased, and Tyler was blinded as to the reason why. Then he saw it, the fingers clamped over the blade of his lance. Eric had stopped the blade mere inches from his head by grabbing it with his bare hand. Tyler fell, his own momentum wasn't stopped, and he fell right into Eric's hand. Eric held Tyler up by his throat, squeezing it just enough to pinch his trachea. Tyler looked down at Eric to see the cold, dead eyes of a killer, and Tyler then began to fear for his life.

"Bind," said Eric, and chains blew from his hand with the force of a shotgun. They wrapped around Tyler's throat and sent him flying, but Eric reached out and grabbed his leg while the pompous lust machine was still airborne. Eric pulled back on Tyler's leg, pulling him around and slamming the lance hero into the ground. The very stone of the arena cracked from the impact. As Tyler lay in a small, human-shaped crater, Eric straddled him with fists clenched.

"This is what happens when you hurt the ones I love!" Each word was another fist brought down on Tyler, the merciless beating turning the hero of the lance inside out. Every punch shook the stage slightly, breaking apart the hastily created platform. Eric finally stopped once Tyler was beyond unconscious, then the chains around his throat disappeared into a shower of light. The shocked silence from around the raised platform was enough to give Eric a very ominous feeling.

Not that he cared.

"I lose," claimed Eric firmly, stepping off the side of the stage towards Emily and Lucia. Emily was shocked into silence, so when Eric approached, he took Lucia in his arms without any trouble. "Thanks for trying," apologized Eric depressingly, cradling Lucia in his arms like a small child. Tears streamed down his face as his imagination cooked up the horrors that she may have experienced. "Where is her armor?"

"It's in Tyler's room," said Emily slowly, still reeling over Eric's overpowering strength.

"Can you take me there?" Eric asked with tears in his eyes and an infinite sadness in his tone.

"Sure," said Emily, and she started walking away with Eric behind her. He was looking down at Lucia, her eyes closed and her mouth in a pained frown that pulled the whiskers out. Her hair was patchy in places, and as Eric examined her body, he was at least thankful that he didn't see any blood. As Emily and Eric walked through the castle, Emily finally asked, "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" asked Eric, clueless as to what she could have meant.

"Tyler's the strongest of all of us," said Emily. "He's at level twenty already. I'm only at seventeen, and even Benny's only at nineteen."

"Heh," laughed Eric briefly, "no wonder he was so weak. I'm at level thirty eight for my chains, and twelve for my hammer."

"You're hammer?" said Emily in confusion, leading Eric through a royal doorway into a very classy bedroom.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," said Eric plainly, placing Lucia gently on the bed as he spied her armor. Eric let the flash of light accrue in his left hand, revealing the powerful hammer that he had found earlier. "Apparently, there used to be seven heroes that showed up, but one of them went crazy. They sealed his power in some old ruin, but I opened it up and got this."

"You have two divine weapons," said Emily, "of course you do, you're a level thirty-eight."

"Actually," said Eric, picking up Lucia's armor, "I have two separate inventories and stats pages. It seems like the one that I use is the one that gets more experience, and my levels grow at different rates, too. When I level my hammer up and distribute the stats, the increase is shown in the chain stats window as well, but the level of my chains doesn't increase. So altogether, I'm level fifty."

"That's just not fair," said Emily as Eric undid the bed sheets around Lucia's body. He saw the bruises on her arms, a few around her stomach, and a lot around her legs. Her nubile young body was flawless behind the bruises, and her growth spurt had triggered the growth of her secondary sexual characteristics as well. (That was a dry way of putting it. Tits!)

"Nothing's ever fair," said Eric dryly, sliding Lucia's panties up her legs to cover her most delicate area. "The good news is, this is the first time it's been unfair in my favor." Eric was putting on Lucia's pants when her ears flicked and her body twitched. He found his mouth growing more and more dry as he tried to dress the beautiful naked girl without giving too much thought to it.

"Maybe I should do that?" suggested Emily.

"Yeah, you probably should," agreed Eric, stepping away to let Emily finish dressing Lucia. While he stood back, Eric thought about whether or not it was a good idea for Lucia to keep following him. It was her choice ultimately, but Eric wanted to keep her safe above all else. He thought of it while Emily put the armor on Lucia, but he wasn't any closer to reaching a conclusion.

Once Lucia had her full armor on, Eric thanked Emily and then once again lifted Lucia. He carried her like a princess, her striped orange and black hair cascading across his arm like a dyed waterfall. Eric left the room, headed back down the castle staircase towards the main exit, and was confronted by several armed guards all pointing their lances at him.

"What sort of trickery is this?" demanded Judy, waltzing towards Eric with a lance of her own. "How could you have defeated Tyler, he is the strongest of the holy weapons!"

"I'll tell you how," said another voice, and Benny appeared with Todd and John behind him. "Do you know the game rock-paper-scissors? Which one do you think is the strongest?" Benny let that sit there for a few moments before saying, "None of them are. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. They have their own strengths and weaknesses which balance each other out. Let's say that Tyler is scissors and I'm paper. He's obviously going to beat me, because his strengths work against my weaknesses. Though Tyler is scissors, Eric is a rock whose stronger against Tyler's weaknesses."

"Then what am I?" Todd asked.

"You're probably paper," joked John, "but I'm a rock."

"That's enough of that," said Benny, "it's a lot more complicated anyway. Suffice to say, Eric beat Tyler fair-and-square, so he gets to demand something from Tyler."

"I demand he wear a chastity belt," said Eric humorlessly. "Now let me leave."

"Oh, that's going to kill him," said Todd, sucking air in through his teeth. "I think his entire party is just one big orgy."

"It is not," shouted Judy, stomping her foot on the ground, "we are civilized and decent humans!"

"Will you just let me go," stressed Eric. "I'm trying to leave, why the hell are you blocking me?"

"I'm not letting you go that easily," said Judy, pointing her spear right at Eric's face. "You and the horrible beast can rot in hell!" Eric moved fast, snapping the heads of every lance in his way with a single swipe of his bare foot. Then he landed and rotated his hips so that his other foot could fly out and hit Judy right in the face. His foot stopped an inch before her nose, but the wind it kicked up blew across her face and pulled her hair back.

"Care to repeat that?" Eric taunted, wiggling his toes in Judy's face.

"You whoreson," Judy angrily shouted. "I'll have you beheaded for this!"

"Judy, that's enough!" said the king, entering the hall from an adjacent corridor. "Eric has proven that his strength far exceeds the strongest hero. He must not be made an enemy of at this crucial time." The king looked at Eric then stated, "The neighboring country of Mordrid has invaded our borders to the south. I'm afraid we need every available strength at our disposal to combat their forces, and that means you as well."

"Hell no," spat Eric, "I'm not about to help you guys after all of this!"

"That is why I have incentive," said the king with a cocky smile. "Do this for us, and we'll consider you a full fledged hero again. Your entire slate will be wiped clean, no need to apologize for anything." When the king said that, a small message appeared in front of Eric, a quest message for him to complete. It read: "Quest: King's Gambit: You have been tasked by the king to help fight the approaching army. Bonus 5% experience for every kill, applied to all party members. Restored status with Lorain. Y/N" Eric read the message, then he looked up at the king who stared intently.

"I'll need to know all the facts," said Eric, "and not just the ones from this side. Tell me where the army is coming from, and I'll judge for myself if they are worthy to be taken out."

"Mordrid is a hellish place where winter is eternal," said the king. "The region is mountainous and tough, and access to the sea is blocked by year round ice. The people there are just as tough and hardy as the landscape, and they are strong from fighting the monsters that share their home. Though their numbers are small, they are fierce fighters. They have attacked our cities before, and now they launch a large-scale assault against our lands."

"Great," said Eric, "now I'll listen to what they have to say for themselves." He looked at the circle of guards around him, then shrugged them off as he stepped past. Once Eric was outside of the castle, he hoisted Lucia over his shoulder. He walked through the streets until he came to George's blacksmithing shop, then he popped his head in to see an older gentleman at the counter with George.

"Hey, just wanted to see how you were doing," said Eric, walking in with Lucia over his shoulder.

"Woah, what's wrong with her," said George in sudden worry.

"Tyler Jinx," said Eric, bringing Lucia into the shop and setting her gently against the counter. "He thought I had 'brainwashed' Lucia, so he tried to 'un-brainwash' her."

"He didn't..."

"Oh he tried," said Eric, "but it looks like Lucia put up a fight. As far as I know, she wasn't hurt besides bruising all over her body."

"That bastard," said George as the chubby man on the side looked between the two titans.

"I got him back, though," said Eric with a hidden smile. "Beat the crap out of him."

"Serves him right," said George happily, "wish I got a few hits in myself."

"You know what I found out," said Eric interestingly. "I'm actually several times more powerful than the other heroes." Eric went on to explain how he had found his second divine weapon, how his level was three times their own, and how his bonuses gave him overpowering strength. "Oh, that reminds me," said Eric with his massive hammer in hand, "does this look like it could be used to smith?"

"You want to dirty a divine weapon inside of a forge," said George as though Eric was crazy.

"I was more wondering if armor created by a divine weapon had any special attributes," said Eric. George spaced out for a moment, his eyes unfocused on anything within the shop.

"Come on back, I'll show you some basics," said a newly reset George, motioning towards the back of his shop. "Oh, but before that, I'll put Lucia on my bed." George picked her up with the same ease that Eric had shown, then carried her into an adjacent room where Eric looked back into. There was a very fancy bed with trimmings and other things, which George gently laid Lucia out on. After that, they began working on the forge together, Eric getting the lessons on what he wants the forge temperature. After learning the basics, a small message popped up claiming that smithing was a skill.

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