Eli was sitting in the center of a large crater that he had made from a magical explosion that was the result of him testing something while angry that people were spying and possibly there to harm himself or his friends. The entire crater, which would look like where a meteor had stuck the ground to scientists from before the system, was saturated in his magic. So saturated that after giving it a little push it was reacting to him, to his will, but not his conscious will, his subconscious will.
After placing that emotion in the magic in the ground, it shook a little and stone began to rise up out of it. At first, it looked like random stone but then more of it came up and it was creating structures. Simple buildings with no roof, just walls with windows and doors. In the center where he sat a circular structure came up with a door to the south and a few small windows. The walls were ten feet high made of thick and dense stone, he felt four other structures coming up as well that were smaller circles with doors and windows all on the southern part of his circle building. All the doors faced south, away from the safe zone.
Then where he sat, a stone pillar three feet wide rose from the ground about a foot, the ground under Tara rose up as a bed of stone large enough for three people. The size of the bed didn't go unnoticed by him and he hoped it didn't cause friction between him, Tara, and Bethany. More furniture came up as well, another meditation platform like the one he was on came up under Bethany and moved her to his side, while a third rose up on his other side, presumably for Tara. A round table rose up on the other side of the room with six seats around it all made of stone.
The ground was shaking while the stone was rising up, but it seemed like it stopped when the stone was done. However, it started shaking again and Eli became puzzled but did not want to disconnect himself from the ground until it was done. Stone was no longer rising up but plants were growing, a tree in the center of each circular room as well as vines growing up the inside and outside of the walls. They grew over the course of several minutes connecting together to make some sort of roof for each room. While those plants were almost done, smaller bush like plants were growing at the top edge of the crater, they were about three feet tall and thick going all the way around the crater except to the direct south there was a ten foot wide space with no bushes.
He could feel that these edge plants held some kind of defensive property but he couldn't place it in his mind. Lastly, vines hung down over each door and window, they were enough to keep anyone from looking in but still would allow a breeze to go through. When everything felt finished and like nothing else was going to grow, he pulled his mind out of the ground and back to himself. Opening his eyes, he was completely awe-struck at how beautiful it all was. It was simple, but very striking, like a painting of a tree that is somehow more beautiful than the tree.
Eli looked down and saw that his meditation platform was covered in moss to make it soft, so were the other platforms and so was the bed. Tara sat up, and at the same time Bethany and Eli stood up, all three of them were looking around in amazement and wonder. Eli could feel that this place really did belong to him now, but he could also feel that changing anything from this current set-up was going to be almost impossible. The way it was now was very strong and wouldn't be destroyed easily, which also meant it couldn't be changed easily, at least not without a very large amount of magic. After they looked around they looked at each other and smiled, then Bethany looked at the bed, and following her gaze, so did Tara. They both looked up at Eli with flat looks, they both looked more amused than angry but that didn't stop Eli from blushing and scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"We should go see the others and talk about this, we only have about ten minutes before the next wave starts," Tara said.
The three of them went outside just as the other three were running up, outside Eli's door was a small fountain that seemed to be fed from underground spring water. There were two smaller circle buildings to the left and two to the right of his door. Looking inside each room had a bed, a meditation platform and a table with two seats. After checking out the smaller ones, they walked through the large building that was obviously Eli's. They could use the table for meetings and meals since it was large enough for all six of them, which they all agreed upon, even after Tara's argument that Eli's space should be more private.
"We should all have a seat and talk about how to do the next wave, since it looks like we now have a place to defend and not just fight around," Audrey said while attempting to sound official.
They all sat around the table and for a second, they just relaxed, being indoors, especially in a place that was theirs was something none of them had felt in a long time and they drank it in.
"I think the plants have some defensive magic, maybe some attack magic too, they borrowed some of the flavor of my life node," Eli told the group.
"Until we know the extent of that, we shouldn't rely on it," Audrey said. "I think we should fight on the outside of the plants on the border of our new home. There should be enough room so that the haze won't bother us. Myself and Eli will continue our roles from before, whatever new thing comes up we will adjust."
"Good plan, let's go do this," Bethany said.
They all got up and walked outside, they only had a few minutes left until the next wave started so they all went outside of the perimeter. They each had their own pre-battle ritual, Stevens and Cody discussed magic use in combat and efficiency, Bethany stretched in a yoga like way, Audrey worked on keeping her breathing relaxed. Tara worked on simple axe swings and balance, while Eli meditated, but one thing that they all did, and that they all shared was a deadly serious look on their face.
This group had been through a lot together and were ready for gruesome violence for each other's sake, everything was happening fast and the system's events and pressures were killing thousands of people. This group of six, following the lead of Eli, had removed any hesitation of violence from their thoughts and were determined that they were going to survive. The system favored the strong and didn't seem to care much about the weak, but Eli had made them strong, ready for violence and given them something to follow. They were ready for this next wave.
The next wave started just like the others, and they started in on the fighting, the skeletons, zombies, and giants, then something changed that they were not ready for. The new monsters in the fourth wave were skeleton knights on skeleton horses, they carried long spears and the horse and rider had red eyes with fire coming out of the sockets. Lines in the mass of skeletons opened up to let them charge forward, where skeletons could not get out of the way, they were run over. The first one charged right at Tara, who threw an axe, severing both of the horses front legs and throwing the rider. The rider, wearing bone armor, landed on its feet and charged her with its spear, but Tara was expecting it and dodged, spinning around the spear, and landing her axe on its shoulder, cutting across it removing its head and right arm in one swing.
After finishing off the skeletal horse, Tara, and the others who watched all saw that stopping the charge was the key. However, not everyone has the range for that, Cody especially was going to have trouble, so Audrey told Cody and Bethany to stay close to each other so they could help with the charging skeletons. They worked well enough together and did well enough when one finally came at them, but some normal skeletons were getting through and were going over the plants from their new structures to try and get behind them.
The line of bushes that looked like a hedge or a fence tore them apart as they tried to go through or over them. The bushes grew spiked roots and vines that stabbed and grabbed, pulling the skeletons apart, but they could only do so much, if two skeletons crossed over at the same time only one would get attacked so some got through but not enough to threaten them. They were doing a good job of adapting but the skeletons were stronger now and the zombies with weapons were faster and more skilled.
Eli was pushing himself hard to keep the others from getting overwhelmed, causing mass amounts of destruction and struggling to keep his magic from running out. They were all starting to lag behind the pressure and they still had a few minutes left, so in typical Eli fashion he did something drastic and self-destructive. He jumped away from his current fight and looked up, blinking high into the sky, letting gravity propel him into the ground at a ridiculous speed. The fall took almost a minute and without his help that minute was rough on his friends but when he landed, three quarters of the remaining monsters were utterly destroyed, half of what was left were so damaged they couldn't get off the ground.
The downside to this stunt of his is that he was also in bad shape, his group could finish off the rest but there were 2 more waves left and Eli was messed up. Multiple broken bones and crushed muscles were just the start of his problems, the toxic haze was coming back to surround him and he had very little magic left. He cast his light spell on himself and emptied his life node into his body, but after that he was spent. The pain was enough to drive him insane, but it was something he was used to at this point and he was able to drive it out of his mind with the bulldozer that was his will.
It wasn't long until Bethany found Eli and carried him back to their buildings on her back, she placed him in his bed and went to sit on a meditation platform. The others were still cleaning up the last remaining monsters, but she was not going to leave him alone while he was defenseless like this.
"We see what you do for us you know," Bethany said, unable to hide the frustration in her voice. "You don't have to go this far, always mangling yourself to keep us safe. How do you suppose that makes us feel?"
"Alive?" Eli wheezed out, barely able to breath enough to speak.
Bethany stood and walked over to the bed, got on it and stood over him, "We feel weak, like you don't trust us to do it ourselves. Not to mention the guilt we feel when you get mangled because we aren't strong enough. And there is something worse than all that, do you know what it is?"
Eli's head was cracked and he was pretty sure some of his brain was showing so he was having trouble keeping his thoughts coherent, but he did his best. "Bad sushi?" he managed to wheeze out followed by a lot of coughing and gurgling on blood.
Bethany stared at him in stunned disbelief with wide eyes, "Did you just make a joke? You've never done that before, your head must be worse than I thought. The answer is resentment. You make some big show of saving us, wrecking yourself in the process, then we feel like we owe you. But how do you return a favor to probably the strongest man alive? What could you need from us that you can't just take if you wanted. That leaves us in your debt forever, so some of us won't like the feeling of being compelled to stick around with all of that hanging over our heads."
"It's true that everyone but Cody is stuck with you, which we chose and I, personally, am happy about, but I can tell you want our group to grow. I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to lean on us some more, especially Audrey, she needs you to trust her so she can start trusting herself." Bethany finished her rant and sat down at the edge of the bed just really taking in how hurt he was and how he did that to himself for them, for her. She stroked his hair while staring into his deep purple eyes, watching the grey specs in his eyes float around his iris. Eli smiled up at her with sincerity and warmth.
"I can't have you dying on me, I need you," Bethany said to him in a whisper. She had said that in the absolutely sweetest and softest voice he had ever heard her use and they both teared up a bit. She then cleared her throat, stood up on the bed again and kicked him in his broken ribs causing him to grunt and wheeze in pain.
"Don't ever tell anyone I said that!" Bethany said sharply, then walked back over to meditate.