BD - Chapter 432 - An Unfathomable Bee-ward (Patreon)

Belissar wanted to get started on the choices, but realized that they hadn’t thrown a celebratory banquet for clearing the mushroom shades. Then he remembered that Duke Turuhave and the Silver Host had already left and had been eager to spend the night back in the Land of the Fair, so he decided to throw a smaller celebration tonight and invite them back for a bigger one later.

After making the preparations for the night’s banquet, he offered to show Tarwantrad his newest Flower feature and the rooms he had applied it to. She agreed, enthusiastically, so Belissar and Tarwantrad walked over to the Bog to start with. Along the way, Belissar decided to apologize.

“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you for that feature choice.”

Tarwantrad shook her head.

“Under the circumstances, I’m glad you didn’t. You made a good choice too, I’d probably have recommended that anyways, otherwise it can be hard to find the mana to grow all the flowers we have available. I have trap field features myself, but mine came at a lower rarity. It sounds like yours cover more ground, can be used with more kinds of flowers, and give growth buffs to the flowers within, so I’m excited to see what your rooms look like now!”

They quickly arrived at the shortcut to the Bog, but Belissar then paused.

“Ah, the Bog is now covered in poisonous mist. Do you have a spell for that?”

Tarwantrad placed a finger on her chin.

“Vaporous hemlock mist?”

Belissar nodded and then Tarwantrad smiled.

“I’ll be fine. Being a dungeon master of Flowers has some benefits, like increased resistance to flower-based toxins.”

Belissar briefly wondered if being a Bee Tower Keeper had any similar benefits he didn’t know about, but for now he had a tour to give. Tarwantrad was well-pleased with the new Bog, now covered in roses and hemlock and gravilions, especially as Belissar relayed how the Bog had stopped salamander shades.

“Yes, trap flowers are excellent at denying areas and slowing shades while wearing them down, this is an excellent foundation. I’m wondering, though, if you haven’t added any slime flowers or vampire roses?”

Belissar opened his mouth to answer, before pausing. Why hadn’t he added those to the field? He didn’t recall seeing them in the initial selection, after all, but he wasn’t certain so he decided to take a closer look at the trap field.

Overgrown Trap Field (Bog)

Current Flowers:

- Thorny Rose

- Vaporous Hemlock

- Gravilion

Additional Options:

- Vampire Rose (Additional 5 mana upkeep due to missing resources)

- Slime Flower (Additional 5 mana upkeep [10 due to Blessing of Bees] to enable monster spawning)

Lo and behold, there was another section for other options he hadn’t seen when first setting up the fields and both of the missing flowers were there.

“…it looks like I can, actually, but both of them were in a different section. They’re apparently slightly more expensive, vampire roses due to missing resources and slime flowers because they also spawn monsters.”

Tarwantrad nodded along.

“Ah, that makes sense. I guess there’s no animals in your Bog, so no blood for the vampire roses. You could add a resource animal den, rabbits live in swamps too and with the trap field even they shouldn’t be able to wipe out the flowers…though, the mist would probably kill them…”

Belissar checked. Resource animal dens were indeed available, but when he tried to place one for rabbits, the transparent burrow was red no matter where he moved it in the room…due to a “dangerous environment” apparently.

“Ah…yeah, I can’t place the dens in the mist…”

Tarwantrad rubbed the back of her head.

“Right, I forgot about that. Well, you could always make a second Bog? Or put a trap field in the butcher bee room, there’s probably enough blood in the ground for the roses there.”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Slime flowers would work, though the blessing of bees still makes them more expensive. Though, the slime bees like them, so maybe it’s worthwhile. I’ll have to consider that, Niobee, can you ask a bee to remind me later? Oh, and the vampire roses for the bloodsucking bees too, if we can afford another field.”

“Ok!”

Belissar still had two more rooms to show Tarwantrad…until he remembered what they were like.

“Ah…the Floating Islands with the gravilion field is kind of dangerous so no one’s gone in there yet. The Sparkling Desert with crystalspine cacti too, it shoots beams everywhere…”

Tarwantrad grinned regardless.

“Part of me wants to see them anyways, but I understand. That does tend to happen when you have a monoculture of particularly magical flowers, especially if they feed on the same mana that they generate like the gravilions. Adding other species with different effects can help tone it down, but it can be useful as a defense room.”

Belissar brought Tarwantrad to the room entrances and she peeked her head inside, with some appropriate defensive spells. She pulled her head back after looking into the Floating Islands, cackling all the while.

“Oh, I have some ideas for when those are fully growing in my dungeon. It’s amazing what flowers can do, isn’t it?”

Belissar had to agree with that.

***

Belissar held a small banquet for the bees, karnuq, and his other defenders, then gathered with his council. He had a big grin on his face, for now it was time to receive their rewards.

“Alright everyone, we have a Bee monster choice, a Flower room feature choice, and Flower perk choice. Are you all ready?”

The bees all zipped around in a “King is best king!” dance. Tarwantrad beamed, having rejoined his council for this time.

“Yes! Yes I am!”

Meanwhile Finnakynne giggled as her bumblebee ride looped around and the First Spiderkin Queen tried to join the bees in their dance. Chief Rohsuak, Hirkolos, and Sehfitis all smiled. Belissar laughed and was about to open the choices…when he was interrupted.

New mission received: Spawn, raise or evolve a cuckoo-type Bee monster of rarity Rare or greater.

Belissar tilted his head at that but assumed it had to do with Bee monster choice, so decided to open it up first.

Please select a monster:

- Sonic Blue-Banded Bee Sky-Splitter (Rarity: Epic, Type: Bee, Sound)

- Chimeric Cuckoo Bee Queen (Rarity: Epic, Type: Bee, Shapeshifter)

- Phantom Cuckoo Bee Queen (Rarity: Epic, Type: Bee, Magic, Mind)

Indeed, two of the monster choices had the word “cuckoo” in the name. He noticed Tarwantrad pause, while all the bee queens stopped dancing. Some of them even started to buzz, so Belissar turned to the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter.

“Is everything ok?”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s antennae twitched.

“Not sure. Hive of hives has bad feeling.”

Belissar frowned…but he didn’t know what could be wrong either. The answer had to be in the monster descriptions, so Belissar decided to get started.

Sonic Blue-Banded Bee Sky-Splitter

Vitality: Minor

Strength: Minimal

Speed: Above Average

Magic: Above Average

Defense: Minor

Resistance: Average

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Sound Manipulation, Vibration Manipulation, Sonic Amplification, Buzz Boom, Destructive Vibrations, Sonic Shield, Echolocation

Spawner Upkeep: 80 (40 with Blessing of Bees)

Evolves from: Sonic Blue-Banded Bee

Description: A sonic blue-banded bee that has evolved mana to critical levels. The sonic blue-banded sky-splitter has exceptional amounts of mana despite its small size and can use all of it to amplify any vibrations, including sound, creating sound-based attacks all out of proportion to their appearance. These small bees are known to create sonic booms when threatened, from which they acquired their name. A bee creating a thunderclap next to the ear is an unpleasant surprise.

Their abilities extend beyond making loud noises, however. They can concentrate sound into shockwaves they can use for all manner of purposes, from gently shaking pollen loose from flowers to scouting their surroundings with pulses of sound to creating invisible shields to protect themselves from attacks. Additionally, they are not limited to only sound, if they land on a target they can create vibrations directly within it and shake it apart from the inside.

Note that beyond their vibration-based abilities, they are only slightly larger and tougher than mundane bees. Should a physical attack slip past their sonic defenses, they will likely perish, though their own outsized mana reserves does protect them better from magic attacks. Their physical abilities and their stings are little different from their mundane ancestors.

Belissar was deeply impressed and by more than just the bee’s abilities. The preview showed a bee about the size of a soldier bee, maybe a bit bigger, but with brilliant blue hairs, so bright they were almost shining. The blue and black bee was an impressive sight…and its powers sounded formidable as well.

“Sound stuff…sounds good? Thunderclaps in the ear seem bad.”

Finnakynne, his go-to for concepts he didn’t fully understand, seemed to agree.

“It’s more than that, Beely. Sound is waves of air, so it can have physical force as well. From the description, the bees might be able to physically knock attackers over…or worse.”

 Belissar, however, frowned. Finnakynne tilted her head.

“What is it, Beely?”

Belissar furrowed his brow.

“It’s that…these sound great…but I also just received a mission from the God of Bees for cuckoo-type bees, so I think I’m supposed to pick one of the next two.”

Finnakynne froze, then exchanged a look with Tarwantrad. Both of them frowned.

“…should I tell him?”

Tarwantrad sighed and shook her head.

“No, if the God of Bees is involved…best to let him find out himself. Belissar…I think you should go ahead and read the next monster’s description.”

Belissar was getting a bad feeling about this, even on top of the bees own apparent discomfort. There was nothing about the blue-banded bees that should have set them off…so there must be something about the cuckoo bees he didn’t realize.

But he wouldn’t know until he checked, so he opened the first of the cuckoo bee choices…

Chimeric Cuckoo Bee Queen

Vitality: Variable

Strength: Variable

Speed: Variable

Magic: Variable

Defense: Variable

Resistance: Variable

Special: Excellent

Notable Skills: Parasitic Shapeshifting, Parasitic Evolution, Bee Chimera, Brood Parasite, Brood Mother, Command Offspring, Hive Conquest, Mana Harmonization, Genetic Repository, Repository Inheritance, Genetic Instability

Evolves from: Monster Cuckoo Bee Queen with access to multiple types of bee monsters

Spawner Upkeep: 60 (30 with Blessing of Bees)

Description: To blend in with the countless variety of bee monster species, monster cuckoo bees evolved the ability to change their forms adaptively. Chimeric cuckoo bees are the natural next step in their evolution, when the cuckoo bee has grown beyond mimicking a single species as a time.

Chimeric cuckoo bees absorb the mana and genetic data of the bee species they parasitized. They are not only capable of mimicking any form or evolution that particular hive has available, they can combine characteristics from different forms, elemental adaptations, evolutions, or even separate species to create truly unique combinations. Additionally, the chimeric cuckoo bee also inherits any such data its chimeric mother had access to, allowing the lineage to accumulate a vast array of options by parasitizing different species from generation to generation.

This ability does come at a cost, as chimeric cuckoo bees are inherently unstable genetically. They tend not to be as resilient as other bee monsters and any characteristics they borrow do not perform as well as their hosts’ counterparts. Combining too many features into a single bee will exacerbate these issues and may cause the chimeric cuckoo bee’s body to collapse. Gathering too much data into a single lineage will also increase instability, so long-lasting chimeric bee dynasties will occasionally need to split off sets of genes into separate lineages or dispose of some genes altogether.

This one is a queen who evolved from parasitizing brood species. She can lay brood offspring-type eggs that will follow her command, raising up an entire hive of chimeric cuckoo bees. She can gather genetic data from her children back into herself, and split them off into new lineages at will, allowing her to tailor her children for whatever challenges she may face. Like other monster cuckoo bees, she has the ability to conquer host hives outright, taking command of the brood if she can kill their queen, then using them to support her own offspring. As such, the queen prefers to parasitize eusocial species, though chimeric cuckoo bees can target any and all bees they encounter.

The hive of hives erupted into angry buzzing as the description went on. All nearby workers and soldiers started to swarm as the gathered queens all subconsciously released attack pheromones. Belissar’s own face cramped.

“So…cuckoo bees…are some sort of bee parasite?”

Tarwantrad slowly nodded.

“Yes…they look like other bee species, sneak into their hives and nests and lay their eggs so that their own offspring will be fed and raised by the other hives.”

That only made the bees buzz louder. Tarwantrad glanced around nervously…but apparently she wasn’t done.

“I’ve only read this once in the House of Lore, so I don’t know how accurate it is but…one author claimed they observed a cuckoo bee kill a hive’s queen and take her place, having the hive take care of her and raise her own children…”

At that point, the attack pheromones had gathered in such density that the workers and soldiers were starting to fall into instinct. A few of them were even starting warning dives towards Tarwantrad…and extending their stingers.

And even Belissar couldn’t stop them, for he was now lost in his own thoughts. Why would the God of Bees allow such a bee to exist? And worse…why would she want him to add one to his Tower?

For the first time since he had learned of her, Belissar could not understand the God of Bees.

Author’s Note:

Bees that…don’t work and hurt other bees instead?

I…huh? What? How? Why?! They’re bees, so they’re supposed to be amazing and incredible…but they hurt bees, which is the silliest thing to do…so…um…I…

…N-Next chapter! A-Anyways!

How does such a bee exist? Why does such a bee exist? And why does the God of Bees want them in best dungeon? Tune in next time, to find out…I hope…