Any lingering doubts the hive has about the trouble it was in were almost immediately snuffed out in the opening moments of the fight. As was the norm by now, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear started the fight with a mighty road. It then charged at the group of humans.

However, unlike in the past, this group of humans was not affected by the roar. Instead, when You-Who-Are-Not-Bear charged, the mage of the group put both hands on the ground and a wall burst out of the ground. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear slammed straight into the earth wall and the tunnels echoed with the sound of the crash.

While stunned, the two warriors of the group ran around the wall and closed in on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. By the time the spirit bear recovered, the warriors were ready right in front of it. Not bothering with the roar, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear swiped at one of the warriors. The swipe failed to hit but the attack forced the warrior to jump back in retreat. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear tried to follow up the attack but it’s attention was drawn by a loud clank. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear turned to the sound and saw the other warrior banging his sword to his shield. For some reason it could not understand, the sound enraged You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the spirit charged at the warrior.

The warrior placed his shield in front of his body to take the attack but when You-Who-Are-Not-Bear hit him, the force lifted the warrior off his feet. The warrior fell onto the ground but managed to defend himself with the shield as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear tried to bite his head. An arrow hit You-Who-Are-Not-Bear but the hive could only looked on in surprise as the arrow caught fire in midair. The human with the bag then threw a bottle at the flaming arrow that was had pierced You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. The moment the bottle hit the arrow, an explosion rocked the spirit bear.

You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was knocked off the human by the explosion and the warrior used the chance to roll away. The hive then looked on in surprise again as the mage lifted several small stones from the ground. The mage pointed a finger at You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the stones flew at speed towards the spirit bear. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt as if it was being hit by several small arrows and to turned it’s head away from the stones. When the barrage of stones stopped, You-Who-Are-Not-Bear turned back to face the humans and it was already too late.

Both warriors were right in front of it again and this time they did not waste their chance. They struck the spirit bear together with their swords. The natural spirit powering You-Who-Are-Not-Bear felt the energy disappearing and knew You-Who-Are-Not-Bear has been defeated. Reluctantly, the hive gave up on You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and just like before, the body of the spirit bear began to glow. The light was red this time and after spreading out slightly, it condensed onto itself. By the time the light had finished, a small red crystal appeared on the ground. One of the warriors picked it up and looked at it intently. He then looked at the mage of the group and nodded his head.

“Useless, prepare a scroll.” The mage ordered.

The human with the bag took out a scroll from the bag and put it on the ground. The human then took out a feather from the bag and said a few words in a strange language the hive did not understand. The feather glowed and the mage continued.

“To Magister Garnock Blueowl,

Found cave as reported by Brand. No wolves inside cave. Found and defeated the spirit bear reported. Spirit Bear was red, not green. Red crystal left behind. Warrior felt Rage from item. Going to 2nd floor.

High Mage,

Kyla Sacredhunt”

The human named Useless wrote down everything the mage said on the scroll and the hive noticed it could read. It even knew the language was called Kangilian. When Useless was done, the warrior placed the red crystal on the scroll and the human named Useless rolled up the scroll with the red crystal inside. All the humans then stepped back from the scroll except for the mage. 

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The mage began chanting and the hive noticed energy gathering in the scroll. The energy gathered was so small the hive would have missed it if not for the fact it was made up of spirits. Then the scroll glowed slighted before disappearing. It was just like that time when Boss disappeared!

“Boss, that’s kind of premature don’t you think?” one of the warrior said.

“Unfortunately no,” the mage said. The hive notice the mage called herself “Kyla Sacredhunt” while others called her “Boss”. The hive guessed it was wrong before. “Boss” wasn’t a name but some sort of title among humans.

“Like most of you, I thought Brand was just some lower-born warrior seeking to make a name for himself with this nonsensical story of monsters in the Keg Mountains. However the cave was right where he said it was, and that spirit bear was almost exactly like he said. Currently evidence says he was right. Some rogue spellcaster is doing the black arts here, creating monsters without authorization.”

“Okay, but shouldn’t we checked everything first before sending evidence back to the magister?” asked the warrior.

“How’s your arm?” asked Kyla.

“Sore.”

The mage nodded. “That’s right. That spirit bear broke your “Wall” with just one charge, and if Brand is to be believed there’s an even more powerful monster below.”

“The one that destroyed his team…” The hunter said.

“Ha!” The other warrior laughed. “We’re a different party to those idiots who came earlier, and we now even have some information of what to expect!”

“Don’t be too confident,” Kyla warned. “After all, the spellcaster is experimenting."

"He is? How do you know?" The warrior asked.

"Because the spirit bear was red instead of green." The mage said. "The spirit bear Brand's team faced was made of stamina, the one we faced was made of rage. That's why it managed to break your 'Wall' in just one charge."

"Uh?" The warrior had no idea what the mage was talking about and neither did the hive.

"A secret for all of you; different energy not only has different colors, they also have different properties." Seeing the looks of her companions, the mage explained further, "Mana is blue and is the most versatile of the 3 energy. That's why we mages can cast so many different spells. Stamina is green and is the most durable of the energies. Rage is red and is the most destructive."

"Wait," the hunter interrupted. "Are you saying the spirit bear we faced was what...stronger than the one faced by Brand?"

"It was more attack-oriented," corrected the mage. "However the one faced by Brand's party was probably tougher to kill. Like I said, the spellcaster is experimenting."

"A spellcaster that could use both Stamina and Rage?" the hunter asked. "Is that even possible?"

The mage shrugged. "Rare but not impossible though people with power like that usually go crazy. And you are crazy, aren’t you?” 

The rest of the humans look at Kyla in surprise. The mage ignored them and smiled. She then shouted to the air, knowing there was someone there who could hear her.

“I felt you watching us since we entered the cave. Look all you want and know fear because we will kill you. I don’t care if you are druid, wizard, cleric or whatever but only a God may create. However powerful you are, you are just a human and YOU WILL DIE FOR YOUR BLASPHEMY!”  

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