Chapter 4: 4 – Hive

130 Miles East of Keshmar. 

Outside the Buffer Zone and away from the last guarded outpost, two soldiers walked side by side.

The bold A insignia arched on their shoulders over their black uniform spoke their identity and guns dangling on their chests their capabilities.

They were acknowledged to be superior and far more capable than the traditional knights the Empire had for centuries. They could use both the spell cards this land offered and the modern weaponry they brought from their land of wonders.

The cards allowed them to wield and harness the power of magic and weapons surpassed the destructive abilities of even the best of mages and knights without any physical toll.

They were unmatched in every aspect and every Atlas soldier knew it. So, they used their influence to the fullest.

"Man, it's cold out here." One of the soldiers spoke, closing himself in.

The weather of the North was always harsh and wandering inside the forest that shielded the sun only increased the cold, passing through the insulated clothing.

"So what?" The other guy barked out loud, having a hard time containing his runny nose. "Want me to hug you, Mark?"

"No…"

"Then shut up." He sniffled hard. "It is cold and we all know it. Saying it ten times a day won't change a thing."

"Chill out, Josh." Mark raised his hand in defeat. "No need to get angry." 

"I am already chill." Josh retorted, now sneezing. 

"You really should have taken the meds, dude." Taking pity, Mark tried to comfort his friend.

"Change the damn topic or seal those lips of yours. Or I will…" Josh sneezed again. "I will…"

"Anyways…" Mark did what he was told. "You got laid last night?”

“What?” Caught off guard by the sudden inquiry, Josh yelled.

“What what?” Mark fired back. “You think I would not know how you are fooling around with that baker’s girl.”

“Dude, we just hang around for the night.” He tried to gain a footing, though his face was reddened a little. “Nothing happened.”

“Really?” Mark raised a brow.

“Why do you even know what I am doing in my time?”

“Nadia told me… how you bunked your duty to goof around.”

“Oh… ho… ho…” Josh grinned. “You got something going on with her.” His brows danced together.

"What… No!" Mark glared.

"Come on, don't be a liar."

"I am not lying." He slapped Josh on the shoulder. "She is like a little sister to me."

"Oh… My bad." Josh let out an apologetic laugh. "What about Ila?"

“Buzz off!”

Amid their babble, a helicopter flew overhead; just above the trees. The deafening noise of the rotors and engine reverted through the area, shaking everything in its wake.

"God, I hate that thing," Mark shouted, bracing his ears.

Not bothering to comment, Josh ran ahead; tracking the chopper. Seeing him, his comrade too ran along.

----

The chopper flew over the ridgeline of Northern Stephanie Mountain lines and circled above a large patch of land.

There was no sign of any life down there. Only an enormous hole, half a mile in radius; even bigger. It was too big and the way it was dug from inside, made it impossible to be noted as human work. The light was just getting sucked in with no visible end.

"That's the entry point." Said Virkfon, eyes peering right through the rounded windows of the flying brick.

"That's the exit." Grey corrected him, keenly observing the innate structure of the area.

"Entry for us, humans. Exit for the hive." Fena added the left-out info. "Still, it is considered as an exit. Insertion is prohibited in that area."

“I see…” Virk shook his head. “Then how will you destroy it?”

"Sir, the first layer of the hive is a root-like structure. It has one exit but a million entries. Entering through the exit is dangerous because of the swarms." She continued. “So, we need a pathway like a root node that can get us inside the layer. Once inside we can…”

"Any luck on that?" Grey questioned, directing his eyes at the frontman who was busy raising his nose at the sight of the hive.

"Not yet." Virkfon sounded groggy. "Searching 300 miles of land is not an easy task, Lieutenant."

"It is never easy." Grey pitied. "That is why we get paid."

"You get paid for this shit. Not me." The commander averted his gaze, nose still up to convey his dismay.

"Suit yourself." Grey nodded, then ordered the pilot. "We are done here. Land us somewhere. Closest possible."

In return, the headphones over his head buzzed. "Copy that."

Soon the helicopter turned and Virk heaved a deep sigh.

“Is that necessary?” He asked.

“It is part of my job to inspect every nook and cranny before jumping in there,” Grey spoke, voice high. “If you don’t like it then wait here. No one is dragging you.”

“As if…” Virk scoffed, tapping his boots on the metallic fuselage.

The chopper hovered in the area for a few minutes until two guys showed up on the ground and directed it towards a clear land. Upon touchdown, the doors opened and Grey stepped out first, followed by Fena, Virkfon, and another accompanying soldier.

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Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Grey walked ahead. He slept late and woke up early just so he could get to Keshmar, first thing in the morning. Upon reaching he immediately went to inspect the hive, despite the reluctance of the base commander. Virkfon wanted them to have some rest and finish the paperwork, but he insisted.

Now he was on aftereffects. A bit sleepy, which could have been avoided if he had just accepted the kind gesture.

“Should have done that.” Yawning again, Grey talked to himself.

“Want to do something?” Fena asked, unintendedly hearing his mumbling.

“Nope.”

Grey marched forward, nearing the two soldiers who guided the chopper here.

“Names?”

“I…” The guy with a runny nose was having second thoughts before answering but when he saw Virkfon tailing the new guy, he knew something was up. “I am Josh and he is Mark.” He pointed to the guy beside him.

“I assume you are on ground patrol.”

“Yes Sir. We are on reconnaissance.” Mark answered.

“Only you two or…”

“There are hundreds like us, patrolling the perimeter.”

“Good.” Grey went between the duo and gestured for them to follow. “Then Josh and Mark, tell me everything about that ditch?”

Out of every division Recon had the most information in the military. The reports he read were always from recond that were compiled after extracting the finest detail and leaving things that were deemed not important enough. But here every bit of information mattered, every little detail had some value.

“… So, this thing um… opened around…” Josh began the speech, fumbling through his memories for the details.

“…” Grey maintained his silence and moved forward to cover the 500 – 600 meters remaining distance to reach the hive exit.

“Around a month ago.” Mark picked up where his friend left. “First it was just a crack with no sign of any Deviant mana. But then day by day the crack grew bigger and bigger. Before we know it, there was this shack with the DM surging past all previous readings. But we…”

“But you still don’t know how this forest is alive to this day.” Grey added.

He was taking in every detail, observant of his surroundings where trees bore green leaves, the air was pure and the entire forest still stood strong. It was the strangest detail he noticed from the aerial inspection.

The deviant mana was known for robbing anything and everything out of life. But oddly, there was no sign of such things here. The forest was bustling with life, co-existing with the most dangerous things in the world.

“Yes, Sir.” Josh jumped on the bandwagon. “There are no records to explain this bizarre occurrence.”

“There will be no record to explain this.” Fena too contributed. “Because nothing like this has happened before.”

Grey nodded. “And that’s the most troubling part.”

Hive worked because of its core that could alter the ever-present mana to suit its need. Thus, the deviant mana was born which could never reside with mana; not in the same place. 

Those two were like positive and negative energy. Both had their uses but in separate cases and places. One would either absorb or destroy the other if got too close.

But here of all places, they peacefully resided, supporting each other.

“What in the hell is going on here?” He mumbled, now standing on the edge of the too-large and deep crater.

As he gazed into the nothingness, a gust of cold yet warm wind brushed past his skin, ruffling his silvery-gray hair. Inside the hole, there was nothing the light could reflect upon. It was endless.

Grey stepped back, and so did everyone. Then kneeling on the ground and checking the brown texture of the soil, he opened his next query.

“What’s the TARF involvement in this?”

“That is the best part, Sir.” Mark replied with a wide grin. “They are all over it.”

Listening to this wild comment, Grey's brows furrowed. “Explain.”

“Before the hive exit was even found, the shard accessibility in Keshmar and the border towns of neighboring Aeron kingdom grew steadily. They were of the best quality and no one knew where they were coming from. We suspected it to be TARF and we were right. They are…" Mark was eager to continue, but Josh snatched the next line from his mouth.

"They are selling Shards that are beyond our purifying standards,” Josh spoke, a baren leer on his lips. “There is no sign of any deviant mana on them. No matter how we try, the origin is just out of reach. Only TARF has the capability and assets to develop a more effective method that can surpass ours."

Shards were only found in hives or inside the accursed creatures born there. It powered them and was connected to the core. After purification, it could be used for various purposes but the most notable one was the forging of Spell cards.

The material extracted from shards was priceless and fetched any amount depending on the quality.

But no matter how it was purified, some remnants of deviant mana still lingered in them. Using that Atlas traced back their origin and linked it to its respective hive.

Though it would be wise to say all of it was to prevent their business from losing profits.

The shards were only made available by Atlas first then the Adventurer's Guild. Both with their purification standards to differentiate one another. They capitalized on it by being the biggest sellers.

But none could stop other entities such as rogue adventures or the TARF from entering the hive by some undiscovered pathways. They would sell the collected shards at cheap rates, affecting the entire business.

Still, they were easily caught because of their methods of purification. But if that couldn't be traced then the entire situation might take a turn for the worse.

“Interesting.” Grey maintained his stoicism.

Now it all made sense as to why the High-table was itching to brand the hive as TARF's doings. 

But how did that tiny group become so capable? They were considered nothing. Something really big was going down here and he had to figure it out.

Rising from the ground, Grey raised his tone. "Let's clean the TARF first."

Taking a relieved breath, Fena chortled. As for Josh and Mark, they could only scratch their heads.

But the scene with Virkfon and the soldier together with him was different. They looked at each other at the same time, faces carrying a plethora of emotions.

"No shit!"

 

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