The Bee Dungeon

Belissar slowly began to smile as he watched the shade fade and a message pass before his eyes confirming. However, his smile quickly faded as he then realized the Flower Meadow was on fire. He first began moving towards the Pond, hoping to try and do…something with the water there. But he soon realized that he would not be able to put out the roaring inferno on the other side of the Flower Meadow by hand. It was a blaze that reached up to the sky and sped across the field like lightning, rapidly engulfing the entire width of the Flower Meadow.

But then, it reached the first firebreak…and stopped. The fire halted as there was nothing in the patch of empty dirt for it to burn. Some of the flowers on the far side began to wilt but none of them caught fire. And the inferno left as soon as it came, the small flowers quickly burning up in the heat. The first quarter of the Flower Meadow was nothing but burnt and charred ashes…but the rest of the Flower Meadow was untouched. And Belissar hadn’t even turned away before he saw small shoots already beginning to break through the ground in the aftermath. It seemed the Flower Meadow would be fine, and the fire never approached the Bee Barracks.

So, he turned his attention to the next object of his concern. Chief Rohsuak was still panting heavily, remaining upright only thanks to Metsaitti’s support. Belissar frowned, the sight of an old woman struggling for breath brought back unpleasant memories, but he pushed them aside and stepped forward.

“Are you alright?”

Chief Rohsuak turned her head to him with effort.

“I’ll…be fine.”

Belissar’s frown grew. She certainly didn’t look fine.

“Can I help? We have some medicinal honey with a healing effect.”

Chief Rohsuak slowly shook her head and chuckled a bit until she started to cough.

“Thank you…but, unfortunately, I am not injured. My body isn’t strong enough to handle that much power anymore. Just comes with age, I’m afraid.”

Belissar’s face turned dark. Chief Rohsuak blinked and then made a gentle smile as best she could.

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about me, Sacred Den Master. This is nothing I haven’t dealt with before. You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

Metsaitti smirked.

“Indeed, didn’t you always overuse your power even when you were young, Blazing Berserker?”

She smacked him on the head, though without much force.

“One more word out of you and I’ll show you a berserker.”

Belissar took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it.

“Well, ok. Um, get some rest, then?”

Chief Rohsuak smiled at him and nodded.

“Thank you, I will do just that, then. Metsaitti, help me back, will you?”

Belissar watched as Metsaitti and the karnuq escorted Chief Rohsuak home. Belissar then turned to the bees.

“Ah, um, let’s wait to celebrate until she’s feeling better, ok? We should have her here for that.”

The bees gave their salute and then dispersed, save for the queens. Niobee danced for them.

“King? Need talk?”

Belissar thought for a second before slowly nodding.

“Yeah, we should.”

Indeed, today could have been a disaster if it were not for Chief Rohsuak. The shade that attacked had been largely immune to the soldier bee army and to Belissar’s traps. Without the Blazing Berserker’s magic, the bee army would have had to resign itself to heavy casualties if it wanted to deal any meaningful blows to the shade…and given its defenses and its thick hide it was by no means guaranteed the bees could have actually stopped it even if they disregarded their own safety. Should that have been the case, they would have had little choice but to fall back and stay out of the way. Maybe they could have set the Flower Meadow on fire, but would a more normal fire have done the job? Belissar wasn’t sure.

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And worse still…today’s purification had come without warning and without Belissar allowing it. It then featured a shade perfectly designed to counter his Tower’s defenses. All of this reminded Belissar of a critical fact: the Hunger was not a passive threat. It would not sit back and wait for him to initiate purifications at his leisure, it would not let him just expand his Tower at will. It, apparently, would fight back. And it would not wait for him to be ready before doing so.

And, given Chief Rohsuak’s current state, Belissar didn’t think they could count on her repeating this feat every time. He would not want to ask that of her, either. Besides, who was to say the next shade would be vulnerable to fire at all? After he used Pit Traps to stop wolf-shades, a flying shade had appeared. After his bees overwhelmed shades that tried to fight, fast-moving cat shades that could run right past them appeared. After speed and flight had failed, a shade immune to attack by his bees appeared. It seemed likely that the Hunger would not ignore what Chief Rohsuak did today.

All of this meant that they could not neglect the Tower’s growth. They still needed more options and more defenses. And, fortunately, they had the opportunity to get some more right away. Belissar turned his attention to the messages he had brushed aside earlier.

All hostiles defeated. Emergency purification successful.

Reward: Two random reward choices.

A non-patron god, the God of Fire, wishes to offer you a quest, and will grant you a blessing should you succeed. Accept?

Belissar froze as read the last message, a new one that hadn't been there before. The…God of Fire…was reaching out? Was again offering a blessing if Belissar took on some sort of quest?

This…this was big, and equally concerning. On the one hand, the blessing of a god was a great boon, offered at a time when Belissar needed more power. It would be of great benefit to his Tower to accept. But…on the other hand, Belissar had been taught that the gods were jealous. All mortals were to respect all gods, that much was true. But when a mortal had committed themselves to a god, such commitments should not be broken or disrespected. All stories of mortals who disregarded such commitments ended poorly for those involved, even when the gods involved were the ones with kind and gentle reputations.

The God of Fire was not such a god, according to the stories Belissar had heard about him. Sure, he could be as tender and comforting as a warm hearth to those he favored. He could also be passionate, tempestuous, and full of wrath, like the blazing inferno that had just raged through the Flower Meadow. Those who dealt with him carelessly could and would get burned, for fire was a dangerous thing even towards those whom it bore no malice. So this offer, even considered by itself, needed to be considered carefully.

But Belissar could not merely consider the offer by itself. Most importantly of all, Belissar had already made a commitment. The God of Bees was his patron, the god to whom he owed much of his success. Would she consider it an insult…or a full-on betrayal…if he entertained the God of Fire’s offer? He would reject it out of hand if so, regardless of the consequences. Bees were what his Tower was built upon and building towards. To gain fire but to lose the bees was unacceptable. And, regardless of what the implications for his Tower were…Belissar owed a great deal to the God of Bees. Ever since receiving her blessing, she had supported and encouraged him every step of the way. He did not want to hurt her, much less to betray her.

But he did not know what she thought of the situation. There were no records on the God of Bees that the old beekeeper possessed, so Belissar knew nothing about her save what he could glean from his own interactions. Likewise, he didn’t know if Towers receiving quests and blessings from multiple gods was considered an insult to the original. So, Belissar did the only thing he could think of. He turned to the Shrine of Bees, intending to ask the God of Bees herself what she thought of the offer. If she was against it, he’d turn it down, regardless of the consequences…

But he never made it that far. The Shrine of Bees began to glow bright.

New mission received: Earn the blessing of a secondary patron.

Belissar stood for a second, blinking repeatedly. Well, that answered that question. Apparently, not only would the God of Bees not be insulted by this, she actively desired it to the point of offering him her own rewards for accepting it. In that case, there was no reason for Belissar to hesitate.

Offer accepted.

New mission received: Spawn or evolve one Fire attribute monster of rare or better rarity.

The Shrine of Bees continued to glow and pull on the Tower’s mana. Belissar switched over to his Tower sight and began to follow the pull. He soon found himself watching a burning worker bee gather nectar from the Fire mana flower.

“Ah, I see…I’ll get right on it then. Thank you for your guidance.”

The Shrine of Bees flashed once and then the glow faded. Belissar turned to back to his bees. Niobee was hovering in front of him, dancing rapidly.

“King! King ok?”

Belissar slowly nodded.

“Yes…and I know what we need to do next. The God of Bees and God of Fire both want us to evolve a fire queen.”

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