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
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
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.”