The next day, Fourth of the Seventh zipped back through the King’s realm, leading soldier bees laden with plants of different kinds. She passed right through the shortcut by the entrance to emerge directly into her home room, making a quick turn to head towards the Orchard. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and her communer were already waiting for her.
“Fourth of the Seventh!”
“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter!”
The two queens met in the air and brushed antennae before the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter led them back to their joint hive in the Orchard. Once landed, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter began grooming her. The Fourth of the Seventh returned the favor as her communer saluted.
“Queen mother, happy to see.”
“Happy to see communer too! How is hive?”
The communer stepped forward until she could brush the Fourth of the Seventh’s antennae before resuming her dance.
“Excellent. King has granted new bee options.”
The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter paused her grooming to join the report dance.
Sufficient samples gathered. Oregano is now available.
Belissar smiled at the soldiers bees led by the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and one of the Fourth of the Seventh’s communers.
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“This amazing, great work. And tell the Fourth of the Seventh great work for me as well.”
The Fourth of the Seventh had apparently found another set of ruins and the remnants of a herb garden within. Mint had all but taken over the garden, but a nearby pantry had enough of the other plants stored for Belissar to absorb. He didn’t expect any new bees or defense from this haul, but both he and the karnuq would greatly appreciate the extra flavors.
Besides, there was one other plant he now held in his hands.
- Type: Nature, Flower
- Mana Upkeep: 3 per node, 1 to enable in compatible rooms
- Description: A long-lived flowering plant with deep roots. It is tough and resilient, and can even regrow from roots alone. Its ability to accumulate nutrients and nature mana make it both a highly nutritional crop for the animals that eat it and a beneficial companion to other plants as it improves soil fertility.
What drew Belissar most was that the alfalfa could apparently improve soil fertility, and so help other plants grow. If he and the bees planted this around the Tower, they could see improved flower growth across the board, which would speed up cross-pollination as well.
He’d also ask Juosiutik to go over the haul. There were some seeds and plants the bees hadn’t found enough of for him to absorb, but maybe Juosiutik could grow them in the Apothecary’s Hut should they prove useful. Additionally, he planned to ask Chief Rohsuak if the karnuq could send someone to check out the ruins for anything they might be able to use as well. He knew his bees were a bit focused on flowers in their scouting.
Now, with the plants taken care of, it was time for Belissar to address the other piece of news the Orchard hive had informed him of. He took a deep breath before sending his Tower sight towards the Fairy Grove. He focused on the shimmering, buzzing rainbow zipping around the Fourth of the Seventh and her daughter until he was looking at a single, bright-red bee.
Chromatic Monster Bee Worker (Fire)
Notable Skills: Burning Poison Sting, Heat Resistance, Sacrificial Strike, Brood Offspring
Description: A monster bee worker raised within a chaotic mix of multiple mana types. Develops random mutations and evolutions depending on the balance of mana types, but still fits into a diverse hive. This one is a worker attuned to Fire type mana, which it uses to help warm the hive.
Belissar rubbed his chin as he read over the description. So, the Fairy Grove would indeed mutate bees raised there after all, though not in the manner he expected. Despite this bee seeming largely similar to the burning monster bees living in the Lava Field, it was still considered a different type entirely. He guessed it had something to do with the bee just being one of many variations within its hive, rather than the entire hive converting to one type, but he didn’t know for sure.
What he did know was this: the Fairy Grove was now proven as safe for bees. Entire hives had moved there and though the workers often seemed to get lost, they always found their way back to their hives. New bees had been born and raised right within the mysterious power of the fairy circles and had adapted without an issue. The Fairy Grove was clearly affecting them, but not in a way that had caused them harm so far.
It was time to take more advantage of it. Belissar double checked his mana as an idea brewed in his head.
There was no issue whatsoever. He had been selecting mana over and over from the daily purification rewards and had plenty to spare. Now, it was time to make use of the currently empty fifth floor.
His Tower was currently arranged with the first floor holding a Dirt Tunnels, the Flower Meadow with the Bee Barracks and Memorial that he called the battle meadow, and the Lava Field. The second floor held the Orchard he had started calling the shortcut room, the Fairy Grove, and the Apothecary’s Hut which was placed off to the side. The third floor held the karnuq and the Flower Meadow, Dirt Tunnels, and Orchard he had created for their use. The fourth floor was the apiary floor with the Apiary, a Dirt Tunnels focused more on providing for bees, and the bumblebees’ Flower Meadow.
He now moved the empty fifth floor in between the first and second floors. He moved the battle meadow and the Lava Field to the new second floor with the battle meadow placed first. Then, in the two empty spots on the first floor, he added a new Fairy Grove and a new Lava Field.
As he had considered after the last purification, he wanted a room full of trees that the bees could both fly through and use for cover. A Fairy Grove seemed like the best choice for that since its mysterious powers might also lend themselves to the defense. Yet, the last purification had also had Belissar worried. Most of the shades previously had made a beeline for the room’s exit, trying to rush past his bee army to presumably hunt down the core. The last shade had not done so, but had instead stopped once it encountered the bee army to attack them. It had targeted the bees, not the exit. So, what was to say there wouldn’t be more shades that did that? What was to say there wouldn’t be a shade who intentionally tried to hunt down hives?