The Bee Dungeon

Tyhgak’s squad finally saw the light at the end of the tunnels. He had the urge to race forward, but Noigakkuq grabbed his shoulder and pointed. One final pit trap later, and they finally made it. They stepped out into the Fairy Grove to find the Tower Keeper waiting, smiling at them.

“Good job, everyone.”

Tyhgak smiled and the team began to cheer. Since everyone was still getting used to the Fairy Grove, this was the end of their challenge today…and that meant it was time to claim their rewards. Their cheers that only grew as the Tower Keeper handed them a quarter tray of mana honeycomb each. Today was a good day indeed.

After thanking the Tower Keeper, they stepped over to the Shrine of Bees at the start of the Fairy Grove, which now also had a second, wooden chest wrapped in flowering vines, apparently. Tyhgak broke off a piece of his honeycomb and placed it in the original wax chest, then knelt before the statue.

But as he began to thank the God of Bees, the statue and chest suddenly glowed with blinding light.

The God of Bees offers you her full blessing. If you wish to accept, please select one of the following blessings:

- Blessing of the Hunter

- Blessing of the Spear Fighter

- Blessing of the Guardian

Tyhgak made his choice immediately, grinning as he felt mana surge through his body. He got this blessing trying to fight more like the bees, so there was no question which one he wanted. He jumped up and spun around.

“The God of Bees gave me a blessing!”

He ran forward and hugged Noigakkuq, spinning her around as she squeaked in surprise.

Belissar spent most of the day waiting for squads of karnuq hunters to make their way through the Dirt Tunnels and rewarding them for their efforts… and occasionally rescuing a squad or two that got into trouble. Not all of them managed to avoid the traps and one of the hunters even sprained their ankle from a bad landing. Belissar thought he was lucky, a fall of that height might have broken a human’s leg, but he supposed the karnuq were both larger and tougher. Besides that, though, everyone made through with some gashes at worst, or a bit loopy in the case of those drenched with mad honey.

Belissar was glad, though it did again throw into focus the low impact his traps were having. That the karnuq could consistency make it through the Dirt Tunnels with minimal injuries was as concerning as it was relieving. The only thing he had changed compared to normal was swapping the candles over to normal wax so the karnuq wouldn’t get poisoned by the air, so their experience roughly matched any invaders. He could only hope that said change, plus maybe some digging soldiers for ambushes, might make things a bit tougher for any enemies.

Belissar furrowed his brow and groaned, then heaved a sigh. He went and filled his last empty room slot with a third Fairy Grove and swapped it with the one holding the nexus door. He moved the nexus door room to the second floor, behind the battle meadow, while moving the third Fairy Grove to the first floor, just after the initial Dirt Tunnels. He didn’t want the Compact to be able to bypass his defenses…but he couldn’t count on holding a shade in the Dirt Tunnels, especially if an unexpected emergency purification hit. If that happened, a shade might appear and pass through the nexus door or close it entirely. If he wanted to stay in contact with the Circle and the Compact, he had no choice but keep the nexus door behind his defenses.

He decided to trust that Tarwantrad would keep the Compact from attacking him…and that the boons from the Circle would hopefully be worth that risk. He thought about trying to move the nexus door to the Fairy Grove by the Orchard…but he didn’t want to risk moving it, as he didn’t know if that would affect the door or not. And, well, if the Compact did end up attacking him, he didn’t want them to arrive in a room that some of his bees made their homes in. So, here he was, with three separate Fairy Groves, the most expensive rooms he could make. One for his bees to fight in, one for them to live in, and one to hold the door.

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Fortunately, the karnuq’s challenges brought good news as well. Tyghak had gotten a full blessing, giving them another battle-focused Tower Guard, and Chief Rohsuak was optimistic that several others were close. Not only that, but it brought him closer to completing one of his long-standing missions to help ten of the karnuq receive blessings. His Tower would certainly be getting a boost from the karnuq’s efforts, as well as the boons from the Circle.

Belissar grinned. He had received word, too, that the bees were progressing as well. Once he wrapped up things with the karnuq, he made his way over to the Apiary to see what the First of the Fifth had come up with this time.

He found her waiting outside of her Bee Apartment with two new types of worker bees. He smiled as she saluted to him and then introduced them.

The first bee was multi-colored, a light green on her top half and a light blue on the bottom. Her wings were larger than normal, while her body was thinner. She seemed like she would blow away with the slightest breeze.

Well, from her description, that might have been the point.

Breeze Monster Bee Worker

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average+

Magic: Minimal

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Minor

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Breeze, Sacrificial Strike, Brood Offspring

Description: A monster bee worker raised on honey infused with Air attribute mana. Exceptional at catching and riding the wind, it can fly further and faster than its counterparts. It is even capable of generating light breezes on its own to boost its flight when the air is calm. Prefers to make hives in elevated locations.

Belissar grinned as he held out his hand for the new worker to crawl into. He made a bit of honey for her as she danced about happily, almost flying off his hands as her wings nearly caught the air from that movement alone.

“Was this one from the soaring beeblossom?”

“Yes!”

He saw the First of the Fifth twitch a bit, as if she was about to continue a dance but stopped.

“What is it?”

The First of the Fifth froze as he spoke. Belissar tried to give her as kind a smile as he could.

“You can tell me anything. If you have something to say, I’d love to hear it.”

The First of the Fifth stared at him for a moment before slowly resuming her dance.

“Had…idea. Think would be good to give honey to Orchard bees, let one of Fourth of the Seventh’s daughters evolve. Already live in high place, bees that fly far good for scouting.”

Belissar grinned as he nodded.

“That sounds perfect, great idea.”

The First of the Fifth froze again, then broke out into a happy dance after about a minute. It took a bit before she introduced the next bee.

“KING IS BEST KING! This bee from bad taste mushroom.”

Belissar raised an eyebrow at that before remembering he had Niobee test a mushroom that tasted bad to her. A mushroom…that Juosiutik had warned him was extremely dangerous.

He trembled only slightly as he looked over the bee. The bee was mostly pale white and black, with a slightly yellow tinge to the white spots.

Toxic Monster Bee Worker

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Minimal

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Below Average

Notable Skills: Deadly Poison Sting, Sacrificial Strike, Poison Resistance, Brood Offspring

Description: A monster bee worker raised on honey infused with deadly, mana-imbued toxins. Its very mana takes on a poisonous quality, to say nothing of its potent mixture of bee venom and other toxins. Just a few stings from a worker are dangerous to the average human, and even its honey and wax are toxic. Its mana and adaptations grant it a natural resistance to toxins of all sorts that can allow it to forage from sources other bees cannot, though all of its products will retain whatever toxins were present in the source in addition to receiving the bee’s own.

Belissar trembled a bit more than slightly after he finished reading the description. However, no matter how deadly she was, she was still a bee. One of his bees. So, he swallowed his fear and reached out his hand for the deadly bee as he had done for all others.

The deadly bee crawled into his hand and happily danced about. Belissar stopped trembling and smiled. It seemed no matter how deadly she was, the worker was still a bee after all. He created a bit of honey for her and smiled as she lapped it up.

“This one is going to powerful, I think.”

Fears aside, a bit of extra lethality was exactly what his Tower needed. Not only did this worker possess an extra deadly sting, she would apparently imbue her honey and wax with the same lethal toxins. She could really up the danger of his Sticky Honey Traps and possibly the beeswax candles too.

The First of the Fifth danced her confirmation.

“Wanted to give to Flower Meadow, but honey and wax dangerous. Needs own hive. Whichever queen evolves can’t live with others.”

Belissar nodded.

“Got it. I’ll make a new beehouse for whoever does it. Will it be dangerous to evolve?”

“Yes, but have antidote bee, so can help if it doesn’t work.”

Belissar smiled once more.

“Got it. Let me know when a queen wants to evolve with this, I’ll do what I can to help. Great work with these.”

He chuckled as the First of the Fifth descended into happy dances once more, now joined by the breeze and toxic workers.

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