POBee 425.1 - Worthy Lega-Bee

Belissar and his defenders then swapped over to relying on Beero’s wards as they ran into yet another issue: sleds and pots were not endless either. They had run out of combusting orchid powder first but sleds would soon follow and pots were needed for the karnuq’s daily lives so they couldn’t use up all of them. Chief Rohsuak had the karnuq working to make more of both and the Third of the Third volunteered her fortifying beehive’s services to help, but in any case, they would need to conserve the combusting orchid bombs.

The wards made by the hive of the fallen, on the other hand, were made directly out of wax. Brand new wax, even, as the workers would make the necessary wax while building the honeycomb wards, so there was no risk of burning through a stockpile of building materials. The workers did need mana honey to recover after each ward…but mana honey was the most abundant resource in the Tower and the hive of hives was making more every moment.

Still, the workers couldn’t work endlessly and their progress slowed. Belissar thus settled in for a longer purification, taking the slow and steady approach. That would also give Beero time to teach more of her workers how to make wards while giving Juosiutik and the karnuq time to replenish her bomb stockpile, so Belissar decided not to worry too much about rushing through.

And so, Belissar told the bees to take their time and not to set aside anything else they wanted to do…

“King says battle will take while, says bees should keep working. Need honey for hive of fallen, once give Queen mother should do what want.”

The First of the Fifth danced an acknowledgement of her First Daughter’s message. She had some swirled honey she was going to give to workers as an experiment, she would reallocate it to the hive of the fallen. Beero’s workers were of especial interest to her as they were apparently imbuing wax with mana to create persistent effects. If her workers could learn to do the same, perhaps the First of the Fifth could layer mana from wax into honey to take her honey a step further. Alternatively, if wax could participate in the honey-making process, she could free up her workers’ and honeypots’ mana for further experiments.

She hoped that her swirled mana might push Beero’s workers to evolve based on their achievement and unlock a new kind of worker for the hive of hives. They were using her honey just to replenish their mana, not to evolve, but she was optimistic that drinking swirled honey would help them all the same. After all, they were already performing a new kind of work that no other worker had and learning the ways of the hive of the fallen, a bit more mana might be all they needed. And if they evolved…then perhaps the First of the Fifth might find a new step on the path of honey.

For now though, she had other matters to attend to. Such as the cell before her, set up in an isolated part of the Beecity. Here she stored the honey made from Cold mana flowers, where their chill wouldn’t affect the hive of hives. Even just wandering into the chamber made her sluggish, her instincts telling her to stop working and conserve her strength for the winter.

She ignored them, and forced herself to crawl to the center of the honeycomb tray, the place with the deepest chill. She quickly imbued the honey in the center cell with her mana to make it royal, then laid an egg as soon as it was ready. That finished, she retreated from the area as fast as she could.

Soon, a Cold mana queen would hatch, ready to inhabit King’s cold room for the hive of hives.

Next, she flew to check on the Queen of All Bees’ shrine in the Flower Meadow above the Beecity. There, one of her honeypots sat inside the Queen of All Bees’ offering chest. Workers foraging the Flower Meadow brought nectar directly to the honeypot, who was making honeycomb right inside the offering chest.

The Firstborn had been most excited about the Queen Acolytes of a distant hive, bee queens who worked hard to present offerings to the Queen of All Light. But it was the First of the Fifth who could directly apply the methods shared, for she would not suffer the Queen of All Bees to receive any honey but the best. She had set up a honey production line directly to the Queen of All Bees.

She triple checked to make sure the line was working completely efficiently and producing the best quality swirled honey that her hive could, on par with that she offered King. Once the honeypot finished coating the bottom of the chest in honeycomb, the chest lit up and the honeycomb vanished. The Queen of All Bees’ statue lit up as well, so she apparently accepted this meagre offering, though the First of the Fifth knew it could not compare to the honey of the Hive of All Bees.

The honeypot now started making a new honeycomb. The First of the Fifth would have to swap her out soon, but otherwise all was well, so she returned to her section of the Beecity. Now was the time for a new experiment.

She took the best swirled honey she had left after King and the Queen of All Bees’ shares and drank it, sending it to her honey crop and swirling it further. She imbued it with her own mana and processed it into royal swirled honey, then spit it back out into a cell. From there, she filled an egg with all that mana that she could and laid it in the cell.

It was time to see if she could raise a honeyswirler queen from an egg. Her gut feeling was that she couldn’t, for that would require the new queen to evolve even before she hatched…but she was going to try it nonetheless. So, she did everything she could to fill the egg with mana. She even selected a cell within a swirled honey storage comb, where the mana of the swirled honey and the nearby honeypots increased the mana of her hive to its maximum density. If this didn’t work…then either it was impossible, or there was something else she was missing entirely.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Worst came worst, she’d have another daughter, and her daughters had all done great things. She’d be well pleased to have two more.

The First of the Fourth dove from the sky like a bolt of lightning, her wings shimmering from the mana coating them. She pulled her mana from her wings and made her stinger shine as she thrust forward, sending out a mana-coated sting like a karnuq or King-thing would. Then she wrapped her mana around her chitin as she swung up, forming a defense that would deflect any stinger.

She turned to her soldiers. They swayed about and buzzed their wings…but they danced a confirmation. She had sufficiently mastered the Firstborn’s techniques. She was ready to fight.

Her hive was a hive of battle. Her soldiers were some of the finest in the bee army, the first to throw themselves against any intruder. Even her workers could fight, Frelis had even received a name for her deeds and fought alongside the flower that she had raised. The only bee that wasn’t good at fighting in her hive…was herself.

But not for long. The Firstborn had taught her the means by which a queen could fight…and had shared knowledge of potential evolutions. There were types of queens that were like a swarm unto themselves!

The First of the Fourth couldn’t wait to see what she could become. Now she just had to wait until this latest invasion was defeated and the weaker battles resumed. Unfortunately, the current fight was too dangerous, King had forbidden all living bees from entering the battlefield. But, as soon as it was defeated by the might of King and all the soldiers he commanded…the First of the Fourth would ask the hive of hives to let her handle a battle. Then, finally, she would fight alongside her hive. Then her entire hive would be masters of battle.

She couldn’t wait.

The First of the Fourth was not the only queen training. Another dove as well, showcasing the techniques pioneered by her queen mother. She was the First Daughter of the First Queen of the Second Dynasty of the First Spawner, the second of her line…or the First Daughter of the Firstborn, as she was better known.

Her soldiers gave their begrudging approval of her dive…but she herself was dissatisfied. It was a perfect execution of her queen mother’s technique…but it was just that. Another execution of what her queen mother had already done.

The First Daughter of the Firstborn had yet to distinguish herself. Oh, she had grown into a fine queen of the bee army, she provided as many soldiers as any other these days. But she was just that, one of many, just another queen of the bee army. She had done nothing on par with her queen mother, other than to follow in her flight path.

Her sisters and the other queens of the bee army expected more…especially given the rise of the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter to monster bee empress, the very heart of the hive of hives. As the First of the Fifth was often mentioned in the same dance as her queen mother, so she was often considered as a peer of the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter…but there was no comparison between their achievements.

Her kind queen-mother told her not to worry, that each bee had their own place within the hive of hives. Also, that the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter was the oldest of her generation and made a joint hive with none other than the Fourth of the Seventh, so she hadn’t done all the amazing and incredible things she had alone. Rather than compare herself, her queen mother said she should find what she could do.

That was exactly the issue, though. The Firstborn’s First Daughter was fine with not matching the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter but she also wanted to do…something. Something other than follow along after her queen mother. Something to protect King and the hive of hives, besides just raising a few more soldiers for the army.

She did have one idea. Her queen mother was very excited about the idea of bees serving the queens of all things, especially the Queen of All Bees. The Third of the Sixth served the Queen of All Fire, Frelis served the Queen of All Flowers, and the Second of the Seventh served the Queen of All Light, yet no bee in the hive of hives explicitly served the Queen of All Bees. And her queen mother couldn’t be the bee to do it, as she had already sworn an oath to King and could not swear another.

Unfortunately, the Firstborn’s First Daughter couldn’t use the method of the Queen Acolytes. She had very little experience with honey-making as it was one of the few things her queen mother couldn’t teach her. She highly doubted the Queen of All Bees would be satisfied with her honey when the First of the Fifth was already giving her own. So, the Firstborn’s First Daughter was left wondering…what could an army queen give to the Queen of All Bees?

Fortunately, her queen mother had taught her something else…that no bee in the hive of hives had to work alone.

So, the Firstborn’s First Daughter left the training bee army and flew to the Bee City. There, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had just returned from helping King.

“Firstborn’s First Daughter? Hi, what need?”

Part of her wondered if she should be asking the very bee she failed to compared to, but she put that aside. There was no better bee in the hive of hives to ask, the monster bee empress saw more than any other queen could. She could see nearly as much as King and the Conduit, so if anyone could help, it was her.

“Hi First of Fifth’s First Daughter. Need help…can ask?”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter happily spun about.

“Of course!”

The Firstborn’s First Daughter explained her dilemma. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter immediately began dancing in reply.

“Oh, know how! Can fight for queens of all things like karnuq!”

The Firstborn’s First Daughter’s antennae twitched about.

“But…already fight like karnuq? That how queen mother evolved already?”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter danced the negative.

“Firstborn learned how sting like karnuq, but fights for King and hive of hives. Karnuq fight for queens of all things, challenge King’s realm. Or like sigmaka, fight to protect honeydew and give to hive of hives and Queen of All Bees at end. Like that, need fight for Queen of All Bees, not just protect hive.”

The Firstborn’s First Daughter stood still for a moment…then took flight and broke out into a happy dance.

“That it! That something queen mother never did! Will try…once battle over!”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter joined her in the happy dance. The Firstborn’s First Daughter would forever be grateful to her for this, for now she had a path. And maybe, just maybe, she could do something to distinguish herself too.