The Firstborn pulled up into the sky, gathering her mana around her stinger. She dove down as the soldiers had taught her. She pulled up shortly before the target, one of the karnuq’s iron slabs, and curled her body to thrust her abdomen forward. Her mana flared and molded over her stinger before shooting forward, striking the slab.
She had done it. She had mastered the mana stinger technique displayed by karnuq blessed by the Queen of All Bees.
She knew it was not enough.
Dance had reached the Firstborn of great events, first the Fourth of the Seventh and now the First of the Fifth had both evolved. Two of the queens that lead portions of the hive of hives had evolved into new forms more powerful than anyone had ever seen before. The Firstborn rejoiced, for their evolutions were well-deserve and promised great benefit for the hive of hives as a whole. Yet…she could not help but feel certain expectations now turning her way. She could not help but notice her fellow barracks queens spending more and more time watching her training, or the increasing number of scouts from the rest of the hive of hives checking in on her.
Still, the Firstborn put such things aside and focused. The hive of hives was not a competition. She would evolve if and when she evolved; ultimately, her goal was to protect the King and the hive of hives. She could do that evolved or not, so she focused her thoughts on better fulfilling that mission.
But for both the sake of protecting the hive of hives and possibly evolving, she knew that this mana stinger technique was not enough. For the karnuq, who lacked stingers entirely, the technique gave them a powerful attack and brought them closer to the Queen of All Bees. For the Firstborn, it merely built on what she already had. The technique certainly boosted the damage she could do, but it alone was not enough for her to join the battle. She was still too slow and vulnerable, a powerful sting meant nothing if she couldn’t get close enough to deliver it.
Her thoughts turned to the hive of hives and the Fourth of the Seventh. She thought of the reports on the Fourth of the Seventh’s new capabilities, how she could generate wind from her wings to boost her own speed.
The Firstborn wondered if she could do something similar. She beat her wings and tried to concentrate her mana within them. She knew that Beero had used her wings to help channel her magic stings, so she knew it should be possible. Likewise, mana could replicate a stinger or create honey, so the Firstborn thought it should also be possible to do something with the wings.
She beat her wings again and the air hummed, a light gust blowing about. She danced about once. It hadn’t done anything yet, but it was proof of concept. She would work on that from now on and determine if she could boost her speed enough to match her soldiers.
The drone stopped before quickly launching into a confirmation dance.
But Beero could not be deceived. Her mana senses were some of the best in the Tower. And since the Fourth of the Seventh’s drone had been connecting her to the hive of the fallen for some time now, she was especially in tune with his mana in particular. She could tell that something was bothering him. R̃άꞐȎ𐌱Ε𝘴
“Sure? Drone helped a lot, taught how to be queen. If drone needs help, want to help.”
The drone paused. His antennae started to droop, so Beero brushed them with her own. Eventually, he slowly started to dance.
“Happy Beero learned, can be queen now. But now…Beero doesn’t need drone to help. Hive of hives won’t need drone to help. Is good thing but…want to help more. Not sure how.”
Beero froze. That was true, wasn’t it? If queens or even soldier types like her could learn to blend the hive of hives mana together, then they wouldn’t need the drones to do that task. In teaching her this, the drone had eliminate his primary task. He’d be stuck waiting around for the next set of princesses to be born…at which point…he’d…
Beero’s wings began to buzz and her mana crackled. The drone stepped back in surprise while Beero controlled herself. She looked at him and made her decision. She, the cripple who had crawled her way back to purpose, would not make another bee feel useless. Especially not one who had done so much for her.
“Drone, want to learn magic? Drone is really good at blending mana, should be good at!”
The drone stood still for a while before finally replying.
“Learn…magic? But…can’t make mana by self…”
The drones didn’t seem to recover their mana on their own, but Beero already knew that.
“Is fine! Get more when drink honey! And can share mine! Know how to give mana to other bees!”
The drone, however, did not dance a confirmation just yet.
“But…will take honey from Beero’s hive, use Beero’s hive. Is waste…”
Beero’s wings crackled with sparks once more.