The Bee Dungeon

“King! First of the Fifth says new bees ready!”

The next day, Belissar smiled as he finished his breakfast and the morning reports. He nodded to Niobee.

“Great, we’ll head over right away.”

Belissar wasted no time walking to the First of the Fifth’s Bee Apartment. He found the aforementioned queen waiting for him, hovering in front of a row of other queens. He gave them a smile.

“Good morning, everyone. You have something to show me?”

The First of the Fifth saluted and then motioned to one of the queens.

“This, Second of the Seventh. Evolved from glowing mushrooms.”

Belissar greeted the new queen, holding out his hand. She hovered in place until Niobee flew over and brushed her antennae, then she gingerly landed on his hand. One of the original Apiary queens, she was larger than his hand, but managed to find her footing. Belissar looked over her more closely. She still had her yellow hair, but her black chitin had turned into a bright white reflecting the light of the sun. The reflection was bright enough that Belissar had trouble making out her exact body shape. Her wings also shimmered in the sun, causing flashes of light to appear every time they fluttered.

Shining Monster Bee Queen

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Minor

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Flash, Poison Sting, Brood Mother, Command Offspring

Description: A monster bee raised or evolved on Light attribute mana honey. Able to absorb light to replenish and empower their mana, they can gather Light mana to their wings and create flashes to blind or confuse. This one is a queen that lays shining variant offspring by default.

Belissar’s eyes widened and he held the bee in his hand a bit more reverently. The God of Light was the very first to bless humanity with a Tower, turning her oracle Heigiosa into the very first Tower Lord. The patron of the saintess who saved humanity herself…if the doctrine was to be believed. Regardless, the God of Light was one of the most common patrons for the Tower Lord, and some theologians theorized she had a hand in every Tower given the glowing spheres on their tops and the fact that the Tower’s power took the appearance of light. It was also believed that the God of Light’s power, therefore, was one of the best to repel the Hunger.

That was what Mrs. Imkomos believed, in any case. Belissar no longer knew how much of the Tower Lord’s doctrine he believed, so he couldn’t comment on the stories of now High Councilor Heigiosa, but he did know the blessings and power of the gods were very much real. The Tower Lords had only lied about who the gods would choose to bless, so perhaps the theories about the God of Light could be true as well. And if they were…a bee channeling the God of Light’s attribute could be a powerful tool against the Hunger indeed.

Eventually, though, Belissar realized he had gone silent for a bit too long and the bees were watching him nervously. He put aside thoughts on light and gods and smiled down at the bee in his hand, brushing her back. The God of Light and her powers didn’t ultimately change what he should do: make sure that this bee had everything she needed to be happy and grow well. And on that count, he had an idea.

“Light, huh? Is there anyway we can change your beehouse to help? Maybe make the windows bigger so more light gets in?”

The Second of the Seventh looked up at him for a moment before breaking out into a happy dance.

“More light, great! Amazing! Incredible! King is best king!”

Belissar smiled as he noted that, light attribute or no, the Second of the Seventh was still one of his bees.

And she was only the first of the bees the First of the Fifth wanted to show him today.

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“This, First of the Sixth’s First Daughter. Evolved from tunnel vine.”

The next bee was pitch black. It was hard to make out details on her body as the entire thing appeared as a black silhouette, absorbing whatever light touched it. She seemed to shrink on herself even as she landed on his hand.

Blinding Monster Bee Queen

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Minor

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Blinding Sting, Brood Mother, Command Offspring

Description: A monster bee raised or evolved on Dark attribute mana honey. Adapted for life without light, their senses allow them to navigate without sight. Their venom is imbued with Dark attribute mana and can temporarily blind foes. This one is a queen that lays blinding variant offspring by default.

Belissar thought for a second before cupping his other hand over the queen. She was a counterpart to the shining queen, filled with Dark mana, so he wondered if she was uncomfortable out in the sun. His guess was proven accurate as the queen immediately perked up in the shadow of his hand.

“Hm, how about we move your home into the Dirt Tunnels, out of the sun?”

She reacted with the same happy dance as her counterpart.

“Amazing! Incredible! King is best king!”

Belissar chuckled. Light or dark, his bees were still his bees.

The next bee, the Third of the Eighth, was blue and sleek. Her feet were wider and flatter than normal, while her hairs appeared a bit oily.

Swimming Monster Bee Queen

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Minor

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Swim, Poison Sting, Brood Mother, Command Offspring

Description: A monster bee raised or evolved on Water attribute mana honey. Adapted for aquatic environments, this bee is capable of swimming and diving to forage from aquatic plants. This one is a queen that lays swimming variant offspring by default.

“So, we should put your hive near one of the ponds…or in it? Do you want to be near or in the water?”

“Near!”

Belissar nodded and smiled.

“Got it, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Another “Amazing! Incredible!” dance later and Belissar turned to the second to last bee. The last two were smaller than the others, clearly newly born.

“This is my Fifth Daughter. Born from gravity honey!”

Belissar raised an eyebrow as a small, dark purple queen flew to his hand. Her wings took on a purple glow as she beat them and she seemed to float through the air, gliding smoothly rather than swaying about. His hand tingled as she landed on him, feeling slightly heavier one moment, then lighter the next, with the sensation changing every few moments.

He thought to himself for a moment before shrugging and giving her a wry smile.

“So…I don’t know much about gravity. Please, tell me, what sort of hive would be best for you?”

The little queen stood completely still for a moment before starting to dance.

“Is ok! King’s hives best hives…”

The First of the Fifth then flew forward and paused, looking at him. Belissar nodded at her and she also landed on his arm, brushing antennae with her young daughter for about a minute. She did a salute dance to Belissar and took off again, leaving her daughter alone on his hand. Her daughter slowly began a different dance.

“Hive…should be stuck to ground. Might float away.”

Belissar nodded and smiled at her.

“Got it, maybe we could build one in the ground like the ones for the digging hives?”

The First of the Fifth’s Fifth Daughter looked at him for a moment before busting out into an incredibly rapid dance, causing his hand to tingle as her glowing wings beat randomly.

“Amazing! Incredible! King is best king!”

Belissar could only laugh until the First of the Fifth retrieved her and introduced the final queen. Or, rather, the final hive.

“This is Sixth Daughter. Raised on slime honey. Hive is…weird.”

Instead of a bee, Belissar was looking at a slime made of golden honey, currently a bit bigger than his head. The First of the Fifth’s Sixth Daughter was swimming around the center of the slime while other slime worker bees swarmed in a small, glowing ball around her. Some of them swam out to the edge of the big slime and broke free, a smaller ball of slime condensing around their legs as they flew off to forage.

Belissar tilted his head as he considered how to let the slime bee land on him. He walked over and tried to pick up the slime, but his hands sunk into the sticky mass. He thought for a moment before shrugging and pushing on of his hands into the slime. The slime opened up to let him in, and then the First of the Fifth’s Sixth Daughter swam to his hand and rested on his palm, dancing about happily. Belissar smiled at her.

“So…is this your hive?”

“Yes!”

Belissar hummed. A beehive made of slime, where the whole hive apparently moved as one. That was…pretty amazing, as far as he was concerned. It did beg the question, though, of how he would build a home for them, or if they even needed one.

“Hm, so…what sort of beehouse would you want?”

Fortunately, this queen wasn’t as shy.

“King’s palaces amazing, incredible! Just need water!”

Belissar nodded. Well, he didn’t know much about slimes, so he could only take her word that a regular beehouse was what she needed.

“Got it, we’ll make you one by one of the ponds, then.”

Belissar waited until the “Amazing! Incredible!” dance concluded before withdrawing his hand…that the Second of the Sixth had apparently left a small pool of honey in. He chuckled at that before turning to the First of the Fifth.

“Great work, all of you. This is really going to help us.”

Belissar made a wide grin as all the bees joined in an “King best king!” dance, from the shining bee flashing in the light of the sun, to the slime bee hive bouncing around as the bees within danced together.

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