Oblivious to the ongoing battle in Yachium, the spirits within the Hive were still arguing among themselves about Brand and how he managed to gain a new class just by changing his internal energy. As they argued, the remaining humans slowly made their way towards the Hive. The spirits weren’t worried. There were only nine humans left and the spirits were certain of their victory. So the spirits decided to let the humans reach the clearing where the Hive was at. They wanted to try out their new Boss.

Just as the Earth spirits had You-Who-Are-Not-Bear and the Air spirits had Smoky, the Earth spirits had their own Boss. They had long discussed about the issue and had already came to a consensus about how their Boss would operate. Unfortunately, this was a Boss that had not yet been used as it has been a while time since any humans managed to reach so deep into the tunnels. Most of the time the Kin killed the humans before they could even see the cave that led to the tunnels. The Hive was not going to let such a rare chance escape them.

This was why this time, the Hive did not order their creatures to attack the remaining humans. In fact, if they could, the spirits would tell the humans to go faster! The Hive had been keeping note of the humans as they made their way towards the Hive and they were moving slowly. The spirits believe this was because the remaining humans were wary of another attack so after a short argument among themselves, the spirits ordered their creatures away from the underground forest. It was a bad idea.

The decision was noticed by the humans. As they slowly made their way through the underground forest, the humans could find no other creatures. At first they were wary but as time pass and no attack was forthcoming, the humans decided that the creatures they had faced must be all that was left in the tunnels. The Hive was pleased as they listen in to the humans but the pleasure did not last.

Rather than going faster, the spirits were upset that the humans were now actually going slower! The humans knew that the upcoming fight against ‘the dark mage’ would be tough so they took every opportunity to heal themselves and prepare for the upcoming battle.

The Hive found themselves spilt about this. Some of the spirits believe that they should attack the humans. This group believe that giving the humans time to prepare was silly and dangerous. Another group of spirits believe that they should just let the humans be. This group believe that the Hive was too strong for the humans so letting the humans have some rest wouldn’t really matter. Yet a third group within the Hive thought of things a little differently.

“This is a great idea!” One of the spirits within the third group of spirits said. “We should design a rest area before each Boss fight so that humans could rest and recuperate before facing the Boss.”

The suggestion shock the rest of the Hive and one of them had to ask. “Uh…why?”

“So that the humans could rested before the fight of course!”

“Why do we want the humans to be rested before the Boss fight? Wouldn’t that just make killing them harder?”

“What’s the fun in that?” The spirit asked. “We should kill them at their best. It’s kind of unfair for us otherwise.”

“You want the humans to be stronger when they face us?”

“Yes.”

“Uh…why? Some of the humans are hardly weak. That just put us in more danger?”

“Oh please! We are the Hive. We are stronger than any group of humans!”

“Yes but…why take the risk? What if there is a group of humans that are stronger than us?”

“If they are stronger, then they deserved to live and we deserve to die.”

“What?”

“If they are stronger, then they deserved to live and we deserve to die. Not that it’s likely because we are the Hive.”

“…are all of you crazy?”

“No. We are treating ourselves the same way we treat others. Look it’s this how we are treating our creatures? If a creature we create is strong, we create more of them. If the creature is weak, we stop creating them. It’s only fair we treat ourselves the same.”

“You are crazy!”

“No we’re not! It’s called being fair.”

Just like that, the spirits within the Hive got into another big discussion/argument. The three group argued till one of the spirits noticed that the humans had almost reached them. Mercifully, this means that the Hive had work to do and the argument had to be put on hold. As the humans walked into the clearing, the Earth spirits within the Hive got to work.

They knew what they wanted to do. The Earth spirits gather the energy within the Hive and began to shape it. Unlike their creatures, the Hive did not bother to give the Boss a body. The Bosses of the Hive are all pure energy. The humans called them ‘spirit beasts’ and the Earth spirits of the Hive decided to run with the idea. The Earth spirits gave the Boss legs first. A big mass of energy appeared in mid-air and four legs formed to touch the ground. Those legs were the only thing distinctive about it. The rest of the body was still formless, energy that the Hive could change at will. The Earth spirits focused on the energy and…

“Vall! Now!”

One of the humans shouted and the mage that had once survived the trip to the tunnels lifted both arms into the air. The effect was immediate. The Earth spirits suddenly found the manipulation of energy to be harder. As a Hive, the rest of the spirits felt it as well and the spirits instinctively focus on the problem. They could still do shape the energy but it was as if something was blocking the energy, like there was a barrier slowing the energy. The human was casting a spell that made shaping the energy harder!

The humans leapt into action. Arrows and spells flew while blades were drawn. The still forming Boss of the Earth spirits was a sitting target, unable to dodge or defend itself. In mere moments, the Boss was destroyed and the energy used for it flew away. The humans laugh at their easy victory while the Hive fumed.

“That was so unfair!” A spirit screamed in rage. “We never even managed to form the Boss and they attack!”

“Yeah! That was so unfair. Let’s form another Boss and kill these disgusting humans!”

“Wait! That mage is still here. If we try to form another Boss, wouldn’t that mage stop the creation again?”

“He can try!” An angry spirit fumed. “This time let’s put everything we have into it. I/we like to see him try to slow an ocean of energy instead of a river. We can also order our creatures to come back. Forget this stupid fairness nonsense, let’s just kill these humans!”

As the rest of the Hive shouted their approval, a lone spirit noticed something.

“There’s no need.” The spirit said. “We already have a Boss ready and waiting.”

The Hive took a moment to realize what the spirit was talking about. Then they noticed it. A creature the Hive created long ago that mostly ignore the orders given to it. It fly where it pleases. A creature with pink skin and a pair of white wings. The humans look on in shock as the spirits within the Hive cheered. With a small fluff of it’s wings, Porkasus the flying pig, slowly flew into the clearing.