For the spirits within the hive, time does not matter. Sure they noticed the changing of the seasons and that their creatures grow as time passed but the concept of time was foreign to them. To them, time just wasn’t that important to them. For the spirits within the hive, the here and now was far more important than the past or the future. And right now, they felt great!

Since the humans came, the hive had killed 30 of them and it was a feast of energy they never had before. The spirits didn’t even care about the energy that was siphoned off by the Fire Hive. They were so filled with energy, it didn’t really matter. What’s more was that there were at least 200 more humans on top for them to kill! It was turning out to be a wonderful day.

Then the latest group of humans began entering the tunnel. The spirits within the hive rejoiced! They saw the first human entering, then came another, and another, and another, and another…one after another, the humans entered. They did not stop.

“Wooh!” a spirit exclaimed. “The humans are entering in numbers now. How many is that? Is anyone counting?”

“Lost count when it reached 70 and that some time ago,” another spirit replied. “There must be 90 to 150 humans in here right now. Look at all of them! They are almost filling up the whole of the first floor!”

Indeed the humans were. There were so many humans on the first floor, they were in all three rooms and the tunnels connecting them. The spirits within the hive were gleeful.

“Can we start killing now?” one of the death-loving spirits asked. “Please…”

With such a plea, how could the rest of the hive refused? The hive may had pulled back its’ creatures to the third floor but the traps were still in place. The hive just didn’t activate any of them as the spirit wanted the humans to come into the tunnels in numbers. With so many humans on the first floor, that strategy had proven to be successful. The hive took some of the energy they had and poured it into the traps.

Almost immediately, explosions rocked the tunnel between the third and the second room. Death-loving spirits within the hive cheered wildly as a human hunter standing right on a mine exploded into pieces. 2 others humans standing next to the hunter were hurt in the explosion. As the other humans stepped away from the first explosion, a warrior stepped on another mine. Another explosion rocked the tunnel. Then the humans heard explosions behind them. 

As the energy poured outwards to the entrance, the mines in the tunnel linking the second room and the first room were activated; then it was the mines between the first room and the entrance. These were the explosions the humans heard and the fear they felt fed the hive.

“EVERYONE STOP MOVING!”   

The shout echoed through the first floor and the hive focused on the person who shouted the command. The human was in the second room and he looked aged with a full white beard and he was wearing…

“Oh…that must be the ridiculous pointed hat the Speaker was talking about!” an excited spirit exclaimed. “That human who shouted must be The Grand. Wow, he looked so thin. How did he manage to shout so loud? You guys think it’s some spell he has?”

“HUNTERS WHO CAN CHECK FOR TRAPS, DO IT! EVERYONE ELSE MOVE CAREFULLY TO THE NEAREST ROOM!”  

The booming voice sounded loudly through the tunnels and the humans responded. Several of the hunters began looking for traps in the tunnels, and after giving the go-ahead the other humans moved to nearest room. Since there were currently no creatures on the first floor, this wasn’t a bad idea…except for the 17 humans who were unlucky enough to go into the third room!  

Once they were all in, twin bars blocked off the room and a small light appeared in the wall. However it was clear to the hive the humans knew what was coming. They didn’t panicked but instead readied their weapons and attacked the moment You-Who-Are-Not-Bear appeared from the wall. Arrows flew, spells were casted, and the warriors attacked. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was hurt but the Nature spirit controlling it immediately countered. The green spirit bear roared and charged. Most of the humans were unaffected by the roar and immediately tried to move out of the way of the charge. Once again they showed they knew the tactics of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear but they made one crucial mistake; there were too many of them in the room!

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The last room of the first room was big but there were now 17 humans and one big spirit bear in the room. The room was big enough to accommodate all of them but not big enough for all of them to be in there to maneuver freely. Humans who tried to dodge the spirit bear found their way blocked by their comrades. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear knocked down enemies, swiped at any humans within range, and started biting any human unfortunate enough to be near it.

As prepared as they were, the humans didn’t know what hit them! They clearly outnumbered the spirit bear but their superior numbers was now a clear disadvantage. Warriors trying to engage You-Who-Are-Not-Bear found their way blocked; mages were unable to freely move clear of You-Who-Are-Not-Bear; and hunters couldn’t find room get a clear shot; it was a massacre!

It was a lot for the other humans outside the room to take. They were all blocked by the twin bars from helping their comrades and the rage, anger and helplessness they felt as they saw their follow brothers-in-arms being cut down was fuel to the hive. A few of the mages even tried to blast the bars away with their magic but it was to no avail! By the end of the fight, the other humans outside the room were all crowding at the twin bars just waiting for their chance to take down You-Who-Are-Not-Bear.

It was exactly what the hive wanted.

If the humans all came in again at once, the Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear would have the advantage again. The hive focused the energy in the tunnel to heal the spirit bear. When the healing was done and the hive was about to pull down the bars, the Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear gave a big roar challenging the humans outside the room. The bars went down and…

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

The humans were stopped dead in their tracks! Several of the humans turned around and immediately gave way to the man walking to the entrance of the room. It was The Grand, Garnock Blueowl. He stood at the entrance of the room and gave You-Who-Are-Not-Bear a good hard look. The spirits within the hive had no idea what he was waiting for. He just stood there. The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear got impatient and roared a challenge to the human. It worked.

“All of you stay here,” The Grand said. “I’ll take this spirit beast alone.”

The other humans stood by mutely as The Grand walked into the room along. “Easy kill,” one of the spirits said.

The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear must have heard it because the spirit bear immediately gave a roar and charged. The Grand stood rooted in place and for a moment the hive thought the roar had done its work. Then You-Who-Are-Not-Bear crashed into the body of The Grand and…it disappeared.

To the hive it looked like the body of The Grand turned into water the moment You-Who-Are-Not-Bear crashed into it. Several of the spirits wondered how he did it but that was a question for later because The Grand immediately reappeared at the other end of the room when its phantom body disappeared.

Showing his power, the human immediately launched his attack. The room became colder and the hive could see that the cold had slowed down You-Who-Are-Not-Bear. Then something new happened. The Grand waved his arm upwards and a small wave of water appeared in front of him before it shot out towards the spirit bear. Slicing across the ground, the water hit You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the hive felt the pain of the Nature spirit. How could a spell be so powerful?

The Grand shot out two more water waves and this time the hive concentrated on the waves. Being spirits themselves, the spirits within the hive felt the small waves of water gathering spirits as they sliced across the room. The waves were gaining speed and power as they went across the ground and one of the few Water spirits within the hive figured it out.

“The cold spell he casted! It wasn’t to slow You-Who-Are-Not-Bear down; it was to give the waves more power!”

It was a combination of spells that the hive had never seen before and the spirits within immediately realized that the Speaker was right; The Grand was extremely powerful. He may be the most powerful human they had ever faced!

The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear refused to give up and roared again. Again the spirit bear charged and The Grand shot out waves of water against it. Two more waves of water sliced into the spirit bear, this time the damage was even heavier as You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was charging towards the waves. The Nature spirit controlling You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was undeterred. The spirit bear kept on the charge and just as it reached The Grand, the human raised his staff and a white barrier surrounded the human.

The spirit bear slammed into the barrier with no effect. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear rose up on its hind legs and slammed its front paws onto the barrier. The barrier didn’t break; it exploded! You-Who-Are-Not-Bear was thrown back by the force of the explosion and when it landed, the fight was over. The spirits within the hive were awed. They never expected this. You-Who-Are-Not-Bear, one of their Floor Boss, had been defeated by one lone human! As the body of the spirit bear began to glow even brighter, laughter echoed through the first floor. It was The Grand. He was laughing.

“Amazing!” He shouted to the audience he knew was there. “Transmutation of a level undreamed of; traps that used energy; and the ability to create powerful spirit beasts! Brilliant! You are truly a genius among genius but…you made a terrible mistake dark mage. You let me know where you are! I am The Grand! I am the greatest mage in the world! I am the greatest mage in history! I shall find you! I shall kill you! I shall steal your secrets and I shall used them to…”

“You guys heard that?” A spirit within the hive asked excitedly, totally ignoring the tirade of The Grand. “You guys heard what The Grand said?”

“Of course we did. We are a hive!” another spirit answered. “All together now…”

“WE ARE GENIUSES!”

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