The Bee Dungeon

Chapter 42: Training Bee-gins!

Belissar gasped for breath as he ran across the field. He collapsed to the ground before the Shrine of Bees, every inch of his body on fire. He slowly strained his neck to glance at Chief Rohsuak.

“W-What...does...”

She smiled at him. “What does physical training have to do with magic?”

Belissar barely managed to nod on the ground. Chief Rohsuak snapped her fingers, creating a small wisp of fire above her hand.

“I believe mana to be a part of the body, like any other. So, the more you know your body, the easier it is to move the mana.”

Her grin grew wide and she bared her teeth.

“And in the worst case, if you don’t learn any magic at least you’ll learn how to fight.”

Belissar frowned. He was very much wondering what he had actually agreed to, for this didn’t seem like magic training at all. But he didn’t know the first thing about magic, so couldn’t say if Chief Rohsuak’s words were right or not. And well...if she was teaching him how to fight, that could also help him defend his Tower if he ever needed to step in personally. So, he figured he’d stick with it a bit longer...

A few hours later, Belissar collapsed into his chair in the farmhouse, every muscle in his body trembling. He was barely capable of grabbing some honeycomb to eat. But he needed to restore his strength before it was time for a purification, so he forced himself to lift up the tray and take a bite. He felt warm mana flood through his body, soothing his aching muscles.

He tilted his head as he focused on the sensation. He tried reaching out for the mana...but he didn’t really know how to interact with it. It was clearly present within his body but didn’t respond to any muscle he could move. He shook his head and sighed.

“King, ok?”

Niobee flew in and danced around him. He made a small smile.

“I’m fine, just tired.”

She landed on the table before him and buzzed her wings.

“Enemy?”

He shook his head.

“No, she’s trying to help...I think. Helping me get stronger.”

Niobee buzzed her wings a bit before starting a rapid dance.

“Ah! Like workers when queen needs to move!”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Um, I think so?”

He...hadn’t been aware that worker bees would train their own queens, so he’d have to take Niobee’s word for it. Then, his eyes widened a bit.

“Hey, Niobee. You used mana when you fought the shade, right?”

“Yes?”

Belissar grinned.

“Do you think you could explain how?”

Niobee began dancing rapidly again.

“Ok!”

From there a long conversation began. Belissar’s smile soon began to droop.

“Ok, um, twist the flow into where, again?”

“Poison sac! Then sting like normal!”

Belissar frowned.

“Um, right. So, um, what do you do if you don’t have a poison sac? Or a stinger?”

Niobee flew about unsteadily.

“No poison sac?”

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Belissar shook his head.

“Yeah, humans don’t have those.”

Niobee hovered in place for a moment before resuming her quick dance.

“Can make honey then! Concentrate into nectar!”

Belissar furrowed his brow.

“Right, um, humans don’t make honey, either...”

Niobee came to a halt. Her next dance was quite a bit slower.

“No poison sac? No honey?”

Belissar shook his head. Niobee halted again, before beginning a very slow dance.

“King is...drone?”

Belissar smirked at that.

“Well, something like that.”

Niobee barely moved with her next dance.

“...sorry. Don’t know how to help drone...”

Belissar made a small smile and lifted his finger for her to land on, then brushed her back.

“It’s ok, thanks for trying. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.”

Fortunately, Belissar recovered sufficiently by the end of the purification cooldown. He was once again amazed at what a Tower could do for his body...or perhaps the mana from the honeycomb had helped him heal? Either way, he found he could move again with a bit of effort, so he moved to start a campfire.

He was still a bit sore, enough that he wouldn’t feel confident running a torch to a Pit Trap. But fortunately, he wouldn’t have to. The Apiary soldier bees stood by near the campfire, their legs already holding the loops of their torch’s ropes. This would be the first test of the new plan in a real setting.

Belissar was a bit worried about not being able to personally intervene should something happen, but logically speaking there wasn’t much he could personally do if something did. The bees could handle a minor purification without any traps at all, so it should be fine even if there was an issue with the torches. So, he buried the fear in his heart and selected the option.

Minor purification attempt commencing.

Minor purification begun. Remaining hostiles: 1

Again, a minor shade appeared, alone as usual. Again, a squad of bees dove on it as soon as it appeared and then led it towards the Pit Trap. Belissar nodded at the soldier bees standing behind him and they rose into the air. Belissar grabbed the torch and stuck it into the fire. Once it had caught, he pulled it out and then let it go, allowing the bees to carry it on their own. They flew off through the Apiary door and across the Flower Meadow. The torch’s flame whipped about as they sped through the air, but it remained alight, and the bees flew steadily forward.

In the meantime, the soldier bees of the Flower Meadow lured the shade into the first Pit Trap once again. They took up positions around the edges of the pit even as the shade was coated in mad honey at the bottom. Several squads set up to dive at any moment from any side of the pit, such that they could attack if the shade began to climb out. Several more began a rotation of careful dives into the pit itself. The first made it all the way down as the shade was still recovering from the fall and plunged their stingers into its back. The second pulled away as the shade began swinging its tail around the pit. The third and beyond ceased their attack as the shade eyed them warily.

The shade eventually turned away from them and began crouching down to leap for the edge of the pit, but then another squad dove down towards it. It spun about it instead and whipped its tail at them, but the bees broke off the attack once the shade abandoned its initial plans.

And so, the bees danced with the shade. They attacked anytime it focused on the pit, and pulled away when it focused on them, using the threat of dives to interrupt any attempts to escape. The shade, alone as it was and beginning to sway about from the mad honey, had no chance to climb out of the pit.

Then the torch bees arrived.

They flew towards the pit in a straight and steady line, just above the height its breath could reach. They released the ropes in their legs at the same time. They had, as Belissar predicted, practiced the motion tirelessly before this, and so hit the perfect timing. The torch fell down directly into the center of the pit, smacking the shade on the head even. Soon, the pit went up in flames.

All hostiles defeated. Purification successful.

Minor Purification completed! Please select a reward:

- +50 DP

- +10 Max Mana

- Monster Bee Soldier Speed Boost (Minimal)

Belissar allowed himself to smile. All had gone according to plan. The bees now weren’t dependent on him to set the Pit Traps on fire. Multiple shades could not prevent them from doing so again. The Flower Meadow bees were also adapting their tactics to that case and getting better and better at handling the shades. Yet again, not a single bee had fallen.

Belissar then stared at the rewards for a while. He groaned and made his choice.

Monster Bee Soldier Speed Boost (Minimal) selected!

He really wanted to get the max mana requirement fulfilled as soon as possible...but this boost was a bit too good to pass up. Stronger soldier bees were a priority in general, and speed in particular was perhaps the most useful. Faster soldiers meant faster attacks that left less room for counterattack. It meant an easier time dodging attacks and reacting to surprises. And it meant the torch-carrying bees could arrive more quickly, and so reduce the time the soldiers needed to keep the shades in the pit. Speed was perhaps the bees’ main strength and defense, besides numbers, and so Belissar felt a speed boost was worth delaying the expansion by an extra day.

Belissar nodded and then began stretching his body. His bees were clearly doing their best to grow, and their training efforts had shown. He figured he could show no less effort in his own training, now that he had a way to get stronger himself.

And there was one other thing he could do.

Once he had stretched, he jogged back to the farmhouse and gathered up some of the extra honey trays. A solid victory deserved a celebration, and he would provide it.