BD - Chapter 87 - Exploring Rari-Bees (Patreon)

Belissar very briefly thought about to ensure he wasn’t missing something or acting foolish, but in the end his choice was set. Extra mana? He could get that from daily purifications. An uncommon room choice? Room choices were the cheapest option in the DP store and could even show up as minor+ purification rewards. He would have considered it if his Tower had a specific need or lack that an appropriate room feature might have addressed, but at the moment he was satisfied with his current features.

So, with no specific reasons to pick anything else, he chose the monster option. He couldn’t wait to see what a rare option might entail.

Please select a monster* (*One or more choices upgraded due to Blessing of Bees):

- Monster Bee Blader (Rarity: Uncommon, Type: Bee, Blade)

- Monster Bee Communer (Rarity: Rare, Type: Bee, Mind)

- Bloodsucking Bee Queen (Rarity: Epic, Type: Bee, Blood)

Belissar couldn’t help but grin. Not just a rare option, but an epic one too! Though…was rare better than epic or the other way around? He wasn’t entirely sure but epic sounded like it should be? In any case, he should have two good options, plus an uncommon to boot! Belissar could barely wait as he opened up the descriptions for each.

Monster Bee Blader

Vitality: Minor

Strength: Small

Speed: Average

Magic: Minimal

Defense: Minor

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Minimal

Notable Skills: Poison Slash, Death Blow, Brood Offspring

Evolves From: Monster Bee Soldier

Description: A monster bee soldier evolution. This bee trades its stinger for an edged blade and grows claws on its front two legs, as well as greater size and strength. This allows it to attack more directly via cutting and slashing. It can coat its abdomen blade in venom, though its venom is no more powerful than a normal soldier’s.

Belissar couldn’t help but whistle. While the monster bee workers were the size of regular bees and the monster bee soldiers a bit larger than his hand, the monster bee bladers were the size of a small dog. And while the soldiers were basically just larger bees, the bladers were more monstrous in shape as well as size. Their front legs had curled blades more like a praying mantis, while their stingers were flat, wide, and sharp on either end. The Flower Meadow queens hovered closer and closer to him as he read out the description of the bee.

An impressive option that could do some serious damage without relying on poison at all. And that was just the uncommon choice.

Monster Bee Communer

Vitality: Minimal

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Small

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minor

Special: Average

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Death Blow, Brood Offspring, Brood Link

Evolves From: Monster Bee Worker

Description: A monster bee queen can command her offspring, but must also remain safe within the hive, meaning this ability often goes unused save for the most dire of circumstances. The monster bee communer is the solution to this. The monster bee communer expands the link between a monster bee queen and her offspring into something more. It not only expands the range of a monster bee queen’s command but also allows her brood to exchange information with her at a distance, allowing the entire hive to benefit from their queen’s abilities. The communer itself has very little in the way of defense and so must be protected.

All the bees fell still as Belissar finished the description. The Second First of the First slowly began to dance.

“Let’s queens…command from inside hive? Strengthens link between hive?”

Belissar slowly nodded.

“I think so?”

One of the queens from the Orchard then hovered closer to him.

“King…new bee…let’s queens see what workers see? Even when far away?”

Belissar slowly nodded once more.

“If I understand this correctly…”

The Orchard queen trembled and then suddenly exploded into a high-speed dance.

“That one! Want that one!”

Belissar blinked as workers from that queen’s hive, who had stuck around the queen meeting for some reason, pulled their queen back. Well, that was at least one unambiguous opinion. Belissar chuckled a little as he checked the last option.

Bloodsucking Bee Queen

Vitality: Minor

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Average

Magic: Minor

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Minimal

Special: Minor

Notable Skills: Drain Bite, Poison Sting, Brood Mother, Command Offspring

Description: A sweat bee queen evolved by mana to seek other fluids. Drains sustenance and mana from the blood of living creatures, and has anticoagulant venom along with enlarged stingers to encourage the flow of blood. This one is a queen, and capable of building a hive of monster blood bees.

Belissar just stared in silence for a bit, before gulping. Well, that was certain an…option. Bees that…drank blood? Now that image put the monster in monster bee. Belissar gulped again and rubbed his chin.

Well, they certainly sounded powerful. Bees that could not only make small stings, but open small cuts that would continue bleeding far longer than normal. And not only that, but this one was type of queen that could therefore build an entirely new set of hives. And what if the other options he already unlocked applied? Would he have bloodsucking bee soldiers? If he tried to scale up the bloodsucking bee stinger to soldier bee size, it would almost match the monster bee blader’s stinger as a cutting weapon. Bloodsucking bee sprayers? What would they spray? Blood, maybe? But they were supposed to drink blood, so probably something else?

However, there was a significant problem. Where exactly was Belissar going to get the blood to feed such monsters? At the current moment, the only sources of blood in his Tower were himself, and the karnuq. He didn’t think he had enough blood to feed even one hive by himself, and he didn’t think the karnuq would appreciate being turned into a food source. Maybe he could get some sort of animal option? But the Blessing of Bees and his new Bee Specialist perk would make that unlikely, right? He hadn’t seen any monster options that weren’t bees as of yet, and Bee Specialist would only make it less likely.

So, if he chose Bloodsucking Bee Queens…he’d probably have to wait until he had a sustainable source of blood before spawning any. He turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“Um…do the karnuq raise any animals?”

Chief Rohsuak’s face was scrunched up.

“In the past, yes, but none survived our journey here.”

“I…see…”

Belissar took a deep breath. On the one hand, this option was epic. Who knew when he’d see it again, or if he ever would? It was powerful, and could potentially open up an entire world of possibilities for his Tower. But it wasn’t something he could support yet…and something he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to. He had yet to see a non-bee animal offered to him, and there weren’t many bee-related animals save for those that preyed upon bees and Belissar knew he was never picking any of those. And while he may have preferred bees to people, he wasn’t about to feed the karnuq to them.

So…he decided to let it go. He would believe in his current bees, and they had a clear opinion this time.

Monster Bee Communer now available! Monster Bee Workers may now evolve into Monster Bee Communers.

The bee queens all paused as a wave of mana passed over them. And then, the Orchard queen exploded into another rapid dance.

“YES! Amazing, incredible! Thank you, King! King is best king!”

A moment later, the other bee queens joined her in thanking him, and proclaiming him the best. Belissar grinned and chuckled.

“Heh, you’re welcome, glad you like it.”

It pained him to watch the option fade, but the rare Monster Bee Communer seemed like a good choice as well. And, most of all, it was the one his bees preferred and one that made them extremely happy. That reassured Belissar that he wasn’t making a mistake. It was his bees that did the fighting and defeated the shades, so an option they wanted was probably the most beneficial in any case. Better to make his current hives stronger than to roll the dice on brand new ones.

“That should be it. I’m going to talk with Chief Rohsuak about where the karnuq are going to set up. You girls can stay if you want, or you can get back to your hives, whichever you prefer.”

The Orchard queen gave one final dance of gratitude before zipping back out of the room. The Flower Meadow queens exchanged dances with one another, and then all but one of them returned to the Bee Barracks, the last one indicating that she would stay. The largest Apiary queen then started a dance exchange of her own. When it finished, all the Apiary queens save for her left, while she moved to hover by Belissar. He nodded at them and then turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“Ok, should we discuss where you’re going to set up?”

Chief Rohsuak smiled at him.

“It would be my honor, Sacred Den Master.”

Author’s Note:

But…epic option! It’s like, epic! You…you can’t pass that up, right? Come on, it’s bloodsucking bees! A swarm of bees that…not only stings you but…sucks your blood…probably enmasse…ummm…

That might be just ever so slightly extremely terrifying so yeah, maybe let’s lock that one away for now. Besides, so the bees have spoken, so it shall be!

Anyways!

Has Belissar made a wise decision? Will communers be more beneficial than bloodsucking queens? Where will the karnuq set up? Tune in next time, to find out!