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BD - Chapter 165 - The King's Sorcer-Bee
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 20:05:01 +0000 UTCBelissar grimaced as he arrived at the scene. The Second of the Sixth’s medicinal workers were swarming over the field, injecting healing compounds with their stingers, feeding healing honey to the wounded, and patching over bleeding injuries with wax and propolis. But…hers was but one hive, and there were many wounded to tend to.
The karnuq and the bumblebees presented a particular problem, in that they were much, much larger than the usual bees, and had each taken many wounds. They were, therefore, taking a lot of medicinal workers to tend. Even the Second of the Sixth’s hive was stretched thin.
Belissar did what he could, making medicinal honey with his magic to help feed the wounded, but he was just one man. He could only feed one wounded at a time even though he could make enough honey for more.
And in the meantime, he could see wounded bees across the ground, slowly moving tattered wings as they waited their turn.
He clenched his jaw. If only he could help them. If only he had a better way of getting them the honey. Even as a human many times the size of a bee, he was a drop in the bucket compared to a hive.
As he thought, his mana stirred, feeling as if a swarm of bees flew and crawled within his veins. The mana swarm rushed towards his hands where he was trying to make some more honey, another honeycomb pattern forming out of mana in the air above his palm.
But this time, honey did not drip out of the combs. He felt the mana swarm surge from his body into the comb. Belissar tilted his head as he observed the comb. For a moment, he clenched his jaw tighter. And now, of all times, his spell was failing. He could not even contribute what little he should be capable of.
But then he paused. One of the cells on the honeycomb pattern began to bulge. Belissar’s eyes opened wide.
A translucent bee made of blueish-green mana crawled out of the honeycomb pattern. She spread her wings and flew off with a buzz, landing by the nearest wounded bee. She dripped a small pool of medicinal honey by the bee’s mouth, then flew to its injury and stung a thin medicinal stinger in. She turned back into glowing light that flowed into the injury.
And she wasn’t alone. One by one, more translucent mana bees crawled out of Belissar’s spell. Slowly, he made a slight smile and nodded.
“Please, heal them all.”
The spell-bees reacted immediately, flying off to wounded bees and karnuq alike. Belissar kept up the flow of mana as long as he could, until his head pounded and his vision spun. He was vaguely aware of Niobee landing on his back and channeling more mana into him, and he channeled that mana towards the spell as well.
The last thing he remembered was swaying as Juosiutik and Metsaitti ran towards him.
***
Belissar slowly came to, finding himself lying among the flowers. Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti were looking down at him with concern, while he could feel many, many bees crawling all over him, including Niobee and the Second of the Sixth.
“King! You’re awake!”
“Ah, yes. What happened?”
Belissar tried to lean up but a winced as a piercing pain shot through his head. Metsaitti held his back, supporting him until the pain faded. Chief Rohsuak let out a sigh.
“You overdrew your mana with your new spell, Tower Keeper. An autonomous spell that seeks out multiple targets is quite demanding.”
She shook her head.
“Well, I’m living proof that overdrawing your mana won’t kill you, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it often. It is not a pleasant experience.”
Belissar frowned as he held his head.
“No, it’s not.”
Then his eyes shot open and began to quiver.
“Wait, then what about the wounded?!”
Metsaitti held him back from jumping up. Chief Rohsuak gave him a smile.
“All tended to. Thanks to you, all the wounded were stabilized until the doctors and the medicinal bees could get to them. We have suffered no further losses today.”
Belissar exhaled his breath and laid back against the flowers. If all the wounded had made it, then it was worth whatever pain he was feeling now. He smiled slightly as he felt the Second of the Sixth’s hive poured over him, while Niobee kept frantically dancing on top of him. He reached up to brush her.
“I’m ok. Um, just need a minute to rest?”
Chief Rohsuak nodded at that.
“A day I would say, but yes. Do not use your mana for the rest of it.”
Belissar nodded and slowly stood up, wincing slightly. Every inch of his body ached, not enough to prevent him from moving but complaining whenever he did.
“Got it, I’ll rest once we’re done here.”
Chief Rohsuak held her tongue as Belissar walked over to the nearest fallen bee, gathering her in his arms. She turned to Metsaitti and nodded. They, too, began to gather the fallen, with the rest of the uninjured karnuq joining them one by one.
***
Belissar led the bees and karnuq in a memorial for the fallen, and then the Apiary bees supplied honey trays for the victory celebration. This time, the karnuq contributed as well. Smoked wyvern and wolf-mole meat joined with plentiful fruits, berries, mushrooms, and cave potatoes into an impressive spread, made all the better by the overflowing mana honey to spread and dip across it all. Belissar watched the karnuq sing and dance with the bees flying all around them and smiled. He looked forward to the day he had enough mead to share with them.
They decided, however, to take it easy for the night, so Belissar retired as the celebrations wore on. It was not until the morning, after greeting the new Third of the Ninth and getting her settled, that Belissar gathered the queens, Chief Rohsuak, and Metsaitti by the Memorial.
They had fought the battle, honored those who sacrificed to achieve it, and then celebrated the victory. Now…now it was finally time to see the fruits of their labors. Belissar brought up the messages from the Tower he had been too fatigued to review last night…
Expansion successful.
Reward: Floor limit increased to 5. Receive one perk choice, and two random reward choices.
Please select a reward:
- Uncommon Room Choice (At least one uncommon or better option)
- Rare Monster Choice (At least one rare or better option)
- Rare Room Feature Choice (At least one rare or better option)
Please select a reward:
- Uncommon Room Feature Choice (At least one uncommon or better option)
- Uncommon Room Choice (At least one uncommon or better option)
- +150 max mana
Belissar glanced around at the bees and karnuq alike.
“Does anyone have any ideas or preferences on which choices we should take?”
Neither bee nor karnuq spoke up at this stage and Belissar nodded. He had already decided what to do, if no one had any objections. The Tower had plenty of flowers and mushrooms the bees were just starting to forage from, and the gardeners had their work cut out for them ensuring all those plants were cross-pollinated and their seeds spread. So, Belissar felt that this time he wanted more rooms and more bees. The choices lined up nicely for that.
Rare Monster Choice selected.
Please select a monster:
- Lumber Bee (Rarity: Uncommon, Type: Bee, Nature)
- Monster Bee Honeypot (Rarity: Uncommon, Type: Bee)
- Monster Bee Dancer (Rarity: Rare, Type: Bee)
As usual, Belissar began to read the options aloud for the others.
Lumber Bee
Vitality: Average
Strength: Average
Speed: Average
Magic: Minimal
Defense: Below Average+
Resistance: Minor
Special: Minimal
Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Wood Cut
Spawner Upkeep: 20
Description: A monster carpenter bee evolution. The Lumber Bee’s larger size allows it to not only bore into trees, but to bite through branches or small trunks entirely. Its sharp and powerful mandibles can also bite through living things that stray too close to the nest. May evolve from monster carpenter bees if available, females may lay monster carpenter bee eggs.
The carpenter bees had returned, and with a vengeance. These bees were on par with the bumblebee soldiers in sheer size, possibly bigger. They had thick mandibles with sharp edges to hack and saw through entire tree trunks, which would make them incredibly useful both in and outside of battle. And that part at the end…it seemed like Belissar might get access to the original monster carpenter bees if he selected the lumber bees as well?
It was a solid option all around. Though, to his knowledge carpenter bees only gathered in small groups if anything, and the option lacked the brood mother or brood offspring skill. They probably couldn’t form hives like the other bees could, and likewise his existing hives wouldn’t be able to raise lumber bees themselves.
A point worth considering compared to the next option.
Monster Bee Honeypot
Vitality: Below Average
Strength: Minimal
Speed: Minor
Magic: Below Average
Defense: Minimal
Resistance: Minimal
Special: Below Average
Notable Skills: Processing, Storage, Brood Offspring
Description: A monster bee worker variant specialized in honey production and storage. It trades its stinger for a specialized abdomen that can hold and process an impressive amount of honey at once, or wax and propolis as required. Note that its unwieldy shape and lack of a stinger make it unsuited for foraging or battle, and it thus can only be raised by prosperous monster bee hives. They will, however, improve both the quantity and quality of honey, wax, and propolis produced by their hive as all of their mana and body are committed to their singular task.
At first, Belissar wasn’t sure about this one. Between the results of the latest purification and the strength of the Tower Lords he would have to face one day, Belissar would really have preferred a more combat-oriented option this time. These monster bee honeypots were anything but.
Still, he shouldn’t discount the impact of more and better honey. Honey was ultimately the limiting factor in the soldier bee army’s size, as well as the number of evolved bees they could raise. Didn’t the battlecaster description specifically state that it would cost a hive more resources to raise? Not to mention that more honey could help more karnuq receive blessings as well, allowing him to raise his own Tower Guard. If better quality honey also improved mana content, then that might also mean they could raise new types of bees more easily with new honey types. The First of the Fifth had informed him that they had to reach a certain level of mana density for a given honey type before they could raise or evolve a queen with it.
So, honeypot bees wouldn’t add any new options to his Tower in and of themselves, but they would improve and speed up all of the efforts his bees were currently undertaking. And that made them a powerful choice.
But would they be more powerful than the last option?
Monster Bee Dancer
Vitality: Minimal
Strength: Minimal
Speed: Average
Magic: Below Average
Defense: Minimal+
Resistance: Minor
Special: Average
Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Death Blow, Brood Offspring, Hive Dance
Evolves From: Monster Bee Communer, Monster Bee Worker
Description: Monster bees, by nature of the quantity of magical creatures gathered in one area, produce an ambient mana that links them together. Communers can tap into this mana to expand this link. Monster bee dancers take this a step further, adjusting the mana itself to affect the rest of the hive in turn. Their dances resound through the hive’s mana, boosting the other bees in various ways depending on the dance. While they are not incapable of combat, they are not specialized in it and are most effective when kept from harm.
In addition to evolving from existing communers, new monster bee workers may be raised as dancers, though this requires notably more resources from the hive.
This one was…interesting. Belissar wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that description at first. Apparently the dancers could affect the mana of the hive…and strengthen the other bees?
At that moment, he glanced over at Niobee. She, apparently, could move the Tower’s mana around by dancing, redirecting it to help other bees with their tasks…or even him and the karnuq. Perhaps the monster bee dancers would do something like that? Would they make all the bees better at their various jobs? Would they be able to help other bees evolve like Niobee had with Beero? Would they be able to help the karnuq as well, as with Metsaitti?
If so, that could be a powerful option indeed.
Which meant that now, Belissar had to choose which of these options his Tower needed most…
Author’s Note:
Belissar…can make bees now? Directly, not through a spawner? See, Belissar, Niobee was right! King is not a useless drone after all!
No offense to the hive of hive’s actually quite useful drones.
And speaking of bees, time to pick some more! What do y’all think of these? Because I, um, definitely know which one best dungeon master is going to pick. Of course. Obviously. It’s not like it was really hard to think of good choices because Belissar’s bees already have routes to most of my ideas on their own. I’m, um, just kicking the decision to next week for the cliffhanger. I’m so evil, right? And, um, definitely not still thinking of what to do.
Anyways!
Was the King not a useless drone all along? Which bee will Belissar pick? What about all those other choices? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
Oatmeal
Probably should wait to comment until after catching up to the most recent chapter, but in my opinion it would be better to get the Dancers first since they're rare. Their abilities remind me of the drones being able to conduct mana efficiently, so maybe it could be a viable evolution for drones. And both Honeypot and Dancer seem like they could strengthen the growth & power of all Hives. Honeypot however is only of the uncommon tier, and should thus be easier to get in future monster choices than the rare Dancer.
Durphymcbob
I am also happy that belissar is finally getting to eat some magical honey glazed smoked meats. If that's not food fit for a king I don't know what is.
phantom
I meant strongest alongside his current things. which are related to flowers and building options rather than vanilla strength. Though just saying vanilla strength is not bad. He could focus on only beefy bees and probably have an easier time.
phantom
No plot cheating! Besides there is many other options to potentially pop up.
AEgamer1
Shhhhh, don't let the rng system hear you say that or dancers will never appear ever again.
Darius Sanguna
Just do the Honeypot now and have Belissar get "lucky" the next time he gets a monster draw to get the dancer. Or maybe 4th of 7th's communer figures something out.
Josh
I think the dancer would have to be able to tap into the towers mana and/or strengthen the aspects of their hives (like fire for the lava field queen) to contend with the honeypot, a boost to honey production AND quality would open the door to SO many evolutions
phantom
Medical bumble bees. Fight size with size.
phantom
He has only ever once created a natural evolution and it was from his most outstanding bee. Though that one Communer is very outgoing and she has a drone to study under so maaybe. But there is the issue that Communer itself is an evolution. Well I am not sure whether soldier bee counts as an evolution or not I doubt it is as big. Which if not would make this a more difficult evolution than Battlecaster. It is unlikely something that he could get anytime soon.
phantom
The fifth I am pretty sure is vibrating at honeypot. It is worth noting well it is uncommon it might be because of the only for prosperous hives detail. I do think the dancer is fun though. I would personally like it. Though looking at his choices before the better honey production is probably the strongest.
Dotakiin
I was torn between the honeypot and dancer until you mentioned the dancer being a reasonable natural evolution. That tipped the scale to honeypot for me, and would give the hive of hive a nice project to try an evolve a dancer.
Durphymcbob
With the kurnuq actually fighting and taking hit now and our large bees 2nd of the 6th really should make some medical soilder bees for them.
Durphymcbob
Thanks for the chapter! Seems like the three different bees would enhance different things. Lumber bee - would most likely be taken in and housed by the meadow Hives construction core, and would greatly speed up their plan on building the wall across the flower meadow, and other wood based buildings. Honeypot bees - these bees are more of just a pure reenforcement of what he currently has nothing new, but not unwelcome. Dancer bees - these are the most esoteric, and unknown my best guess is they act as basic support casters that can enhance different bees/Hives with a spefic dance. My vote is on the Lumber bees Belissar is fighting a defensive war he does need to build more fortifications.
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter, loved it. Belissar's new spell is awesome. It doesn't have to be limited to healing either, once belissar can emulate burning or maddening honey he can send a literal expendable swarm at the shades. I imagine that the battlecasters can also perform this spell? Might take them a while to figure it out tho. The choices are awesome as usual. Lol. While I like the lumber bee, they don't really compare to the other two. I personally think the Honeypot bees are the better option. We might be able to get some communers to evolve naturally if they start practicing with Niobee in the ways of dance, lol. I don't see us naturally evolving the Honeypot bees tho. I also think belissar should choose a new room, since we just got another floor and a new room per floor, we could do with some new rooms. Features are also pretty cheap through the store.
