The Bee Dungeon

POBee 160.2 - Beero's Home

Belissar fidgeted about as the First of the Fifth concluded her report. He may have…missed a few details here and there, but the general picture was that things were going well. The bees had reached begun foraging from all of the plants in the dungeon and were starting to produce several new types of honey as a result, while the gardeners believed some new Cross-Pollination results were just beyond the horizon. The one room that needed anything was the Fairy Grove and its lack of bees, but Belissar had already arranged to some bees to move there.

His bees could and would grow well with the rooms and flowers they already had, it seemed. If he wished to promote their growth even further, he would need to introduce new elements into the equation.

It was then that Niobee called for him.

“King! Look!”

Belissar spun his head as he shifted to his Tower sight and zoomed towards the Memorial. He found a glowing ball of light so bright he wouldn’t have been able to look at it directly with his own eyes. Niobee and the wounded soldiers gathered around it. Beero was nowhere in sight.

“Niobee?! What’s happening?! Where’s Beero?!”

“There!”

Belissar’s eyes widened. Beero was…in the middle of that light? But just as fear began to clutch at his heart, the light exploded outward. Thanks to his Tower sight, Belissar was the first to see what had occurred.

A bee stood where the light had been, her body still glowing with a gradually fading light. She was a bit smaller than the normal soldiers, though still much larger than the workers. Her chitin was sleek and seemed to shine in the light…until the light completely faded and revealed that small pulses of light occasionally came from the chitin itself. Her antennae had grown fuzzy with many smaller hairs branching off of it, much like a communer’s. Two pairs of shimmering wings extended from her back, colorful lights occasionally pulsing through them as well.

Monster Bee Battlecaster is now available!

Belissar’s jaw dropped as he focused on the bee.

Monster Bee Battlecaster

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minor

Speed: Average

Magic: Below Average

Defense: Minor

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Average

Notable Skills: Dance Casting, Basic Elemental Conversion, Group Cast, Mana Poison Sting, Death Blow, Brood Offspring

Spawner Upkeep: 20 (10 with Blessing of Bees)

Evolves From: Monster Bee Soldier

Description: This monster bee soldier has learned to manipulate its mana externally as well as to convert its attributes, the two foundational skills of magic, and so is able to learn and cast spells. While its mana reserves and spells are not that impressive individually, it has an innate ability to group cast with other Bee-type monsters, making it exceedingly dangerous in numbers. Evolved from a soldier, this bee is particularly focused on combat-related spells and retains some of its previous physical capabilities as well. In addition to existing monster bee soldiers evolving, monster bee soldiers may now be raised as battlecasters, though this requires notably more resources from the hive.

Belissar opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally managing to send a message out.

“Beero? Is that you?”

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For Beero, the light faded almost as soon as it came. She instinctively knew she had evolved, so she immediately set about exploring her new body. She found, for the most part, her body had not changed that dramatically. She was a little smaller, her chitin was sleeker, and her antennae were fuzzier, but she was all in all still a soldier bee.

On the outside, that was.

Inside, the river of mana flowing through her had become a roaring torrent. Moreover, that torrent now touched every part of her. Previously, the mana flows were restricted to specific parts of her body, and both the mana and her body itself would resist if she tried to make it go elsewhere. Now…the mana flowed through every corner of her body like nectar from a flower. Every inch of her body was a smooth channel allowing mana to pass through without any friction. The mana itself obeyed her command as naturally as her legs, flowing wherever she willed. It went down to the tip of her stinger, then up to each of her legs, then through her head to her antennae, and then back to her wings…

Beero froze completely. The mana was flowing through her…wings?

Not…empty air?

She tilted her head back as high as it would go so her big eyes could glance behind her…and she saw it. Two pairs of wings, lightly glowing as her mana concentrated within them. She tried to beat them. Both pairs responded, letting her feel a light breeze on both sides of her chitin.

She slowly, gingerly, extended her wings out, one pair on each side of her body. She slowly began to beat them, a low buzz beginning to sound as she gradually picked up speed. She barely remembered to breathe.

Then…slowly…gradually…she began to lift off of the ground. She nearly froze as she felt all of her legs leave the ground and the weight of the world tug on her once more.

She…was flying. For the first time since she had lost her wings, she was flying on her own power once more.

And then she felt the King’s gaze on her once more. Her antennae swayed as the Tower’s mana swirled around her, allowing her to feel the currents like she never could before. She could feel his intent approach her before it even arrived.

“Beero? Is that you?”

She immediately began a confirmation and salute dance…which quickly turned into a rapid flight as she realized she could once again dance in the air. She zipped about, beating her wings as fast they could go as she once again felt the rush of the wind against her chitin. Her wings lit up as her mana surged through them, boosting her far beyond what it had done before. She flew and she looped and she dove and climbed again. For a brief moment, all thoughts left her mind.

She could fly again! She had wings again!

She flew until she grew exhausted and landed by the Memorial once again. The other wounded soldiers crowded around her and she answered each of their questions. Then, each and every one of them rushed to resume their magic practice. Once again, she had shown them that there was a way back.

Once she had recovered a bit, she beat her wings and took to the skies once more. She could have done this next part via communer, but she wanted to do this herself. So she lifted into the sky and flew straight towards the Bee Barracks. The soldier bees guarding the entrance started to block as a bee they had never seen approached, but Beero sent her mana forward, carrying both her mana signature and her pheromones. The guards relaxed once they realized she was one of theirs.

And so, she flew right into the Bee Barracks, taking it in for the first time. Rows upon rows of trays filled with honey and countless worker bees going about their business. Brood tenders taking care of the young, workers beating their wings to process the honey, new bees breaking out of their cells. For a brief moment, she paused and took in the sight.

Once again, she sent up a mental dance to her sisters who had gone to join the Hive of All Bees. She was home. And she was once more ready to take up their place in defense of the hive.

She broke out of her thoughts and zipped through the hive, searching until she found the workers whose mana and pheromones matched her own. It proved surprisingly difficult, the mana and pheromones of mana different hives blended together in this place. She could even see drones twisting the mana of the hives together, intentionally promoting this effect. She had no time to question it, though, for all of her thoughts centered on her task.

Until, finally, she found her. She landed before the largest queen of them all. The oldest of the living, the Firstborn.

Her queen.

“Queen mother!”

Her queen paused her work as Beero landed in front of her and began to dance.

“Got better! Have wings again! Can join hive again!”

Her queen stood still only for a moment before beginning to dance as well.

“Amazing! Incredible!”

The two danced happily for a bit and Beero crawled over her queen. Now, all was well in the world.

But her queen had other ideas.

“Is great! But need to go back to Memorial, ok?”

Beero froze.

“Queen mother…doesn’t want in hive?”

Her queen gently brushed Beero’s antennae.

“No, want. But Memorial needs guard. Other soldiers need help, need to evolve and get back wings. Hive of hives needs wounded soldiers’ lightning stings. Beero helped in ways no other soldier can, has more important job now.”

Beero paused to consider this, thoughts of her still wounded comrades coming to mind. Her queen continued.

“Beero still part of hive. Still was without wings too. All bees part of hive of hives, all bees work for King.”

Beero slowly began a salute dance. Her queen began to groom her hairs.

“Beero can come to hive whenever she wants, though!”

Beero paused, and then began to dance rapidly once more.

“Ok! Will! Queen is best queen!”

Her queen stopped her, however.

“No, is hive of hives. All queens best queens. King who built is best king. And Beero is best Beero.”

Beero spent a bit longer getting reacquainted with her old hive. And then, she left, flying back to the Memorial. Her home. Perhaps not the home she remembered, but the one that she and her comrades had built.

Her queen was right. Her comrades needed her. The hive of hives needed her. And her fallen sisters in the Memorial should not be left alone.

She had found a way back where none existed. And now she would show others the way, even as she blazed new paths.

For she was, and always had been, a soldier of the hive of hives.