BD - POBee 208.1 - Bee-hold the Queen!

As Belissar, the karnuq, and the bees all tucked in for the night, the flowers all across the Tower swayed in the calm nighttime breeze. The alfalfa Belissar had planted glowed with a faint green light as they condensed and processed all the sunlight and mana they had absorbed that day, passing it down into their roots. Mana and nutrients seeped out into the ground, enriching all of the nearby soil before being consumed by hungry seeds planted nearby.

Some of the nutrients and mana also seeped into the greenwood mushroom mycelium entwined with the alfalfa’s roots. Pulses of green light surged underneath the surface of the soil as the mycelium claimed its meal…and then passed the remainder to other roots it had reached.

Seeds sprouted, shoots grew, flowers budded and prepared to bloom as the levels of Nature mana rose within the soil. Purple and golden mana drifted through the air and condensed into the flowers that had bloomed, which began to drip nectar that shimmered in the moonlight.

And in the bumblebee meadow, in the midst of all this mana passing through the soil, a single shoot with two leaves broke through the dirt. The mana that passed through its roots, stem, and leaves took on a slightly golden hint to its green color before passing back into the soil below…

***

The First of the Fifth stood completely still as she attempted to comprehend the sight in front of her.

“How?”

Her ever diligent workers answered her rhetorical question.

“More flowers! Flowers gave more nectar! Nectar has more mana!”

The First of the Fifth knew that thanks to her communers but thanked the worker for the report nonetheless. It seemed that the King’s plans had come to fruition and were now revealed to her. The gardeners had been diligently planting more and more of each kind of flower. Then the King had added new kinds of flowers: the alfalfa that made all others grow better as well as the bee balm which naturally produced more and better nectar. Then he added the mushrooms the flower one gave him, which were spreading the alfalfa’s effects throughout the rooms, nourishing existing flowers while causing all the newly planted seeds to sprout and bloom far faster than predicted. And now, he had applied the combined powers of the Queen of All Bees and Queen of All Flowers so that each and every flower produced more, more nutritious, and more mana-dense nectar than ever before.

The foragers had returned from their first trip of the day in record time, laden with enough nectar for an entire day’s worth of honey. When the First of the Fifth then factored in the better nutrition of the nectar and the honeypot bees’ processing abilities, the resulting prediction for today’s honey yield was staggering.

They could bring the newest queens up to functional hives all in one go, give the Flower Meadow queens more than enough mana to fuel all the new evolutions the King had granted them, make another attempt at raising hybridized princesses, and still have more than enough to devote workers to making wax golems.

And still have more than enough after all that for her to conduct her experiments in the art of honey making.

The First of the Fifth snapped out of her fugue and immediately began dancing to the nearest communer. Today would be a busy day indeed.

***

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter barely registered her queen mother’s communer dancing nearby. Yes, she had vaguely noticed a massive increase in honey production this morning, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She and the Fourth of the Seventh’s communer were currently pacing in front of a massive capped cell. The brood tenders assured her it would be soon and she could feel the occupant’s mana within, but still she could not help but worry.

Then, a tiny crack formed on the cap. The First Daughter and the communer immediately rushed over to help open the cap.

Finally, the Fourth of the Seventh stuck her head out of the cell and climbed out, her evolution safely completed. The First Daughter and the communer both crawled all over the Fourth of the Seventh before she had even completely emerged. They knew all had been going well, but after the Third of the Sixth’s evolving experience they couldn’t help but worry. Now, finally, they knew the Fourth of the Seventh was ok.

It was only then that First Daughter realized she had crawled on top of the Fourth of the Seventh’s torso…which was now large enough to hold even her form with ease. She now took a good look at her fellow queen.

The Fourth of the Seventh was now the size of a lancer. The First Daughter buzzed her wings in surprise. None of the other queens who evolved off of special honey types had changed size, so this was unusual. The Fourth of the Seventh’s wings had grown even larger than her body and wider as well, the First Daughter felt a slight breeze whenever the wings so much as twitched. Her eyes were equally massive, and her antennae had grown long as well, now as fuzzy as the communer’s. The First Daughter saw the air distort from the dense mana pouring off those antennae.

But all of that could wait. The important thing was, the Fourth of the Seventh was back, and fully evolved. The First Daughter gave herself to a happy dance, brushing against those big fuzzy antennae with her own. The Fourth of the Seventh soon began to dance as well, carrying the First Daughter around on her back.

***

Belissar was just getting his morning started when the Tower began to prompt him.

A monster has evolved!

Nomadic Monster Bee Queen is now available!

Belissar blinked.

“Huh?”

Nomadic Monster Bee Queen

Vitality: Small

Strength: Minor

Speed: Above Average

Magic: Small

Defense: Minimal

Resistance: Small

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Brood Mother, Store Eggs, Generate Wind, Command Remote Offspring

Spawner Upkeep: 40 (20 with Blessing of Bees)

Evolves From: Monster Bee Queen

Description: An evolved monster bee queen that ranges wide and far to manage multiple hives simultaneously. A large wingspan and command of the wind enable fast, far, and efficient flight, while highly sensitive antennae can sense and respond to her offspring’s mana from astounding distances. The queen’s body is optimized for a nomadic lifestyle, including superior vision to scan her surroundings, a larger size for better endurance, and the ability to store eggs to lay all at once whenever she visits one of her hives.

As an evolved monster bee queen, the nomadic monster bee queen also has a superior ability to raise evolved bee types and can lay monster bee types in her evolution lineage in addition to nomadic monster bees.

Belissar’s confusion lasted only a moment, as he remembered the Fourth of the Seventh was busy evolving. A quick check with his tower sight confirmed she was the one who had evolved…and unlocked the first new queen type that came with its own spawner.

He smiled and sent her his congratulations, earning a “King best king!” dance from the happy queen. Then…he went about his day as previously planned.

The new queen was great, and the Tower seemed to imply it was a step up from the other queen types that had evolved thus far, but Belissar didn’t feel the need for a new spawner just yet. These queens were specialized in traveling, scouting, and managing multiple hives, and so far, only the Fourth of the Seventh was doing such things. The spawner was just a bit too expensive, and there was always a chance the Fourth of the Seventh could either raise new nomadic queens herself or help existing queens evolve if more were needed.

But now that he knew there were more advanced versions of the queens, he’d certainly be on the lookout for anymore.

***

At that moment, every queen in the Tower paused, most notably the First of the Fifth. Her First Daughter had been unusually distracted, and slow in responding despite the sheer magnitude of the opportunities unlocked by the boosted honey production. The First of the Fifth was about to check in on her when a wave of mana blew through the Tower like a gust of wind.

“Hi! Can hear?”

The Fourth of the Seventh’s mana was now perceptible all the way in the Apiary, passing through the shortcut there. Her First Daughter soon began to spread a confirmation through the Orchard’s communer exchange.

The Fourth of the Seventh had evolved. And not as the Second of the Sixth or Third of the Sixth or Fourth of the Eighth had, merely taking on an attribute from honey. No, the Fourth of the Seventh had become a new kind of queen, as different from the rest of them as a lancer was from a soldier, or a gardener from a worker. She was the first to achieve what they were all striving for.

For the second time that morning, the First of the Fifth received news that changed everything.

Author’s Note:

I mean, you should have expected this, First of the Fifth. The Fourth of the Seventh changing everything is, like, weekly news, you know? Of course she’d be the first to evolve!

I’d say lucky the First of the Fifth isn’t competing for favor anymore, but she already got her First Daughter attached to the Fourth of the Seventh to share in her achievements, so perhaps she expected this after all. All according to plan!

Anyways!

What will the hive of hives do with the surplus of honey? What will the Tower’s first evolved queen do to change everything next? What’s the next stage of the First of the Fifth’s master plan? Tune in next time, to find out!