BD - POBee 241.2 - Bee Devoted

The Firstborn stood before a large cell prepared just for her. Her workers had just finished filling it with the First of the Fifth’s new honey, the soft glow of the powerful honey illuminating the cells around it. She turned to face those accompanying her.

Every queen of the Bee Barracks had gathered before her. Her children, her spawner sisters, and those who had joined in the hive of hives. Beero had returned as well for this moment.

The Firstborn danced, not giving a command to her offspring, but making a request of her peers.

“Protect King and hive of hives for me?”

The First of the Fourth immediately danced a salute.

“Will! Will defeat all invaders while Firstborn evolving!”

Each of the other queens danced their salute as well. The Firstborn thanked them as she turned back to the cell. She would be removing herself from the defense for at least a day, maybe several while she attempted to evolve. And yet, she crawled into the cell without any hesitation or doubt. She was part of the hive of hives, where every queen helped the other. It did not matter if she couldn’t protect the hive of hives for a few days, for her fellow queens would do so in her absence. The bee army would endure, with or without her, for the hive of hives was greater than any one.

And so, the Firstborn had no doubts as her workers sealed up the cell. She instead focused all of her attention on herself and the honey around her. Her mana pulsed as it had been doing since the battle. The mana passed through the honey around her and the mana of the honey responded. Her mana was caught within the mana structures of the honey, which then themselves pulsed, resonating with her mana and sending it back into her. This amplified her next pulse, resulting in an even greater resonance. Her mana and the honey formed a cycle that elevated the pulses until they overwhelmed her senses and all went bright…

***

The Second First of the First found herself before the Queen of All Bees in the Hive of All Bees and immediately began a salute dance. The Queen of All Bees then began to dance and the Second First of the First stood still, watching intently. The Queen of All Bees told her of her potential and pointed out the different paths she could take.

She saw a queen who led others, who coordinated the other queens as her own workers. A queen of queens who could build a hive of hives.

She saw a warrior queen, mighty in size and power. A queen larger even than the lancers, taking features from all sorts of different soldier types to become the ultimate defender. A queen that could defeat the enemy all on her own.

She saw a queen dancing a salute before another. The saluting queen took power from the one she saluted to strengthen herself, then used it to strengthen her children and smaller queens saluting to her, before all of them went out to fight.

She saw a queen dancing over a battlefield, watching over a gigantic fight as she would her own hive. The queen directed her soldiers all across the battle, guiding the fight as easily as she would guide the workers at home, ensuring all went as she had planned.

The Queen of All Bees showed her more. She saw soldiers become builders at their queen’s command, constructing impregnable hives no invader could intrude on. She saw a queen casting magic like Beero, only instead of forming stingers of mana the spells seeped into the queen and her soldiers and made them powerful. She saw a queen who could create powerful honeycombs of light that could protect her children from enemy attacks.

The Second First of the First did not reply, watching each and every dance until the Queen of All Bees had finished. The Queen of All Bees then stopped moving and watched her, the Second First of the First understood she was now to make a choice.

She considered each once carefully, for all of these options seemed beneficial to the hive of hives. The first, the queen of queens, would assist her in making the hive of hives an even more firm reality. She decline that one, however, because she knew she was not the one to make it happen. Her purpose, her vision, and her experience were all too focused for her to guide the hive of hives as a whole.

The warrior queen appealed to her. If she chose that option, she knew she’d be strong enough to fight directly no matter how the bee army grew. She could protect the hive of hives, maybe all on her own.

And that is why she did not choose it. It suited her as an individual bee, but it did not suit the hive of hives or her role within it. Indeed, many of the options made her or her own hive powerful, but did not necessary assist the hive of hives. Countless bees had assisted her on this evolution. Her fellow Bee Barracks queens had built the army with her and were now guarding the hive of hives as she evolved. The First of the Fifth had provided the honey powerful enough to fuel this evolution without asking anything in return, and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had ensured she received all that she needed. The Fourth of the Seventh had paved the way and showed her how a queen’s actions could transform a hive. And, of course, none of this would have been possible without the King who never gave up on her, nor the Conduit who supported him and the entire hive of hives that followed him.

The Second First of the First, therefore, wanted an evolution that would allow her to give back as she had received. And so, she was drawn to one particular choice. The queen that was saluting to another and receiving power for it, before spreading that power among others in turn. A queen that was participating in the fight not as a single warrior but as the leader of her hive. A warrior queen that suited the hive of hives.

Once she had made her choice, the Queen of All Bees danced a confirmation and then the Second First of the First fell into a deep slumber…

***

The next day came and went after the Firstborn had started her evolution. Belissar was working on the final touches for the Fourth of the Seventh’s golem when he felt a pulse of mana and then received a message from the Tower. He began to grin as soon as he read the message.

A monster has evolved!

Chivalric Monster Bee Queen is now available!

Thanks to the swirled honey, it seemed the Firstborn had finished evolving in just a day. Belissar quickly wrapped up what he was doing and rushed over to the battle meadow’s Bee Barracks. As he stepped inside the hive, he found all the battle meadow queens crowding around a big cell as the Firstborn crawled out.

She looked a lot like the monster bee knight preview, with heavy chitin plates and a huge stinger adorning a body even larger than a lancer’s. She also had bladed forelegs, much like the monster bee blader’s preview, though limited just to her first pair of legs. He hadn’t read the evolution’s description yet, but he could already tell that this was an evolution meant for battle.

His chest constricted with twinge of fear at the thought of sending her into battle constantly, but he brushed it aside with the pride he felt. She had truly come a long way.

The Firstborn stopped greeting the other bees once she saw him, flew over, and began a salute dance. Belissar smiled at her.

“Congratulations. You’ve definitely earned it.”

The Firstborn stumbled out of her dance.

“King…King is best king!”

She started the happy dance but then almost immediately stopped. Belissar raised an eyebrow, but fortunately the queen started dancing an explanation.

“King, have request! Can dance by Queen of All Bees’ shrine?”

Belissar immediately nodded.

“Of course.”

The Firstborn limited herself to one happy dance before taking to the air and flying out of the Bee Barracks. Belissar walked after her, with Niobee and all the battle meadow queens following along. Niobee held them back as they approached the shrine though, so it was just Belissar and the Firstborn standing before the God of Bees’ statue. Belissar waited for the Firstborn to start dancing.

“King…even though I was weak, let me help avenge First Dynasty. King never gave up on, built hive, provided flowers. Didn’t kick out when failed and let intruders through. Kept feeding, kept helping, kept making hive better, kept giving more power.”

Belissar smiled and felt his chest tighten. He knew the bees looked up to him, but it was something else to hear it from the Firstborn herself, the queen who had been in the Tower the longest. He wanted to tell her just how much she had done for him, how much more the bees had done than he ever could, but the Firstborn wasn’t done. Belissar could only stare and blink as the Firstborn began to glow with a soft golden light.

“That’s why…promise to serve and protect King. Will be King’s queen, soldier, and worker, whatever King needs. Will fight and defend King and all of King’s hives. Will use life for King. Swear by Queen of All Bees.”

The Shrine of Bees began to glow as well. The light from both the Firstborn and the statue stretched towards Belissar, though neither touched him yet. The Firstborn stood still look up at him. Belissar wasn’t sure what was going on or how to respond at first…but he knew his bees and the Firstborn well enough to know she was waiting for his reply. And since the God of Bees had apparently gotten involved too, this was clearly quite important.

Belissar put aside his gut instinct to try and downplay himself and looked at the Firstborn. The bee who never stopped trying, never hesitated to give her all on his behalf.

“You’re wonderful, First Queen of the Second Dynasty of the First Spawner. You helped me protect the Tower even after I lost all the queens before you. You made an army to protect the Tower. You’ve done more than anyone to keep us safe. I couldn’t have built or defended this Tower without you. So…”

He gave her a warm smile.

“I’d love to keep protecting the Tower with you. I promise to protect and take care of you as well. Please, keep helping me protect our home. I swear by the God of Bees to do the same.”

That seemed to be what the light was waiting for, as both the Firstborn and the Shrine of Bees shone bright as soon as he finished. The light wrapped around him, he felt the God of Bees’ power wrap around his heart and pull the light from the Firstborn into it. The light then died down, allowing him to see the Firstborn once more. She hadn’t changed much, but her hair seemed even more golden then before, almost shining in the light of the sun. Her chitin was a polished black, twinkling like a starry sky as she moved her abdomen. She danced one more salute before launching into a rapid dance.

“King is best king!”

Belissar smiled at her.

“And bees are best bees.”

Only after smiling and laughing with her for a bit did Belissar remember to check her evolution’s description.

Chivalric Monster Bee Queen

Vitality: Average

Strength: Below Average

Speed: Average

Magic: Below Average

Defense: Below Average

Resistance: Small

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Poison Thrust, Body Enhancement, Share Enhancement, Brood Mother, Command Offspring, Oath, Devotion, Anoint Champion

Evolves From: Monster Bee Queen

Spawner Upkeep: N/A

Description: A monster bee knight that has sworn an oath of devotion recognized by a higher power. They draw power from their oath proportional to their devotion, the favor of their sworn liege, and the recognition of the witnessing power, especially when acting on behalf of or to protect their liege. This will increase their stats to varying degrees, the stats boosted and any additional effects will depend on the nature of the liege and the recognizing higher power. Will suffer massive penalties when acting against their liege, or if their oath is broken.

This one is a queen, whose oath and devotion extends to her entire hive. She may extend the power from her oath to her children and to allies of her liege, in accordance to their own devotion to either her or her liege. She may also anoint champions that are willing to swear to her or her liege, granting them similar increases in power.

As an individual combatant, her greater command over mana compared to monster bee knights enables her to boost any aspect of her body, and she can extend any enhancements to herself to nearby offspring.

As an evolved monster bee queen, the chivalric monster bee queen also has a superior ability to raise evolved bee types, though her overall egg count does not increase as much as other evolved queen types. She may also raise monster bee knights, monster bee lancers, and monster bee soldiers even if not available.

Note that as monster bees must swear an oath recognized by a higher power to become chivalric monster bees, chivalric monster bee types may not be spawned.

Author's Note:

We salute you, brave and devoted First Queen of the Second Dynasty of the First Spawner. May you fulfill your oath with courage and strength, and may the King care for you in turn.

Anyways!

Will the Firstborn fulfill her oath? Can Belissar care for her as she deserves? How will the hive of hives respond to this evolution? Tune in next time, to find out!