Chapter 24: Bee Rewarded

Chapter 24: Bee Rewarded

Belissar walked back towards the Apiary farmhouse once the ceremony was done. Niobee came and flew alongside him in silence as well. Once back inside he exhaled his breath and sat down. Niobee came and landed on his finger.

“King, ok?”

Belissar made a soft smile at her.

“Yes it’s just...”

He took another deep breath and let it out slowly, glancing out the window. Thoughts of the lost passed through his mind and he felt pain in his chest once again.

“...I’m remembering a lot of things. A lot of things I try not to think about.”

Niobee looked up at him.

“Niobee help?”

Belissar smiled at her and brushed her back with one of his fingers.

“You already do. You already have.”

Belissar thought back to the past, to the days where he would talk and talk to the little bee drinking honey off his finger, saying all the things he couldn’t tell anyone else. His heart grew warm as he remembered that said bee was Niobee all along, and she really was his friend just like he had imagined.

Niobee buzzed and Belissar found himself chuckling. The painful memories were still there...but didn’t feel as sharp anymore. Belissar shook his head and cleared his mind. In any case, there was something more he could do now to protect his friend and his bees.

Minor Purification completed! Please select a reward:

- +50 DP

- +10 Max Mana

- Monster Bee Soldier Strength Boost (Minimal)

Another choice, another reward for a battle won. This one...didn’t seem as dramatic as the last, all things considered, but Belissar didn’t mind. He’d prefer an easy battle with minimal sacrifice to massive gains, so to him it was good that the fight was smaller this time around. But the size of the rewards didn’t mean he shouldn’t put some thought into it.

“DP, mana, or a buff to the soldiers, huh? What do you think, Niobee?”

“Whatever King chooses!”

Belissar chuckled as she gave him the exact answer he was expecting, and then began to consider the choices. Fifty DP wasn’t enough to really afford anything on its own, so felt a bit underwhelming. On the other hand, at one DP a day that was fifty days worth; when viewed that way it would dramatically cut the time he needed to wait until he could afford something. Ten max mana was small compared to his current two hundred, on the other hand, it alone was enough for a monster bee queen spawner, which would mean another four hives. Finally, he could improve his soldier bees, giving them a bit of strength. It wasn’t much, but every little bit would help.

Belissar rubbed his chin. He should also consider how this all had happened. The message that first announced this battle specifically stated a minor purification was required because the ongoing purification limit was reached. The exact wording still confused Belissar, but it did shed some light on other questions he had. Ongoing purification limit reached meant that ongoing purification had been...well, ongoing. So...perhaps that was something the Tower was doing on its own, rather than an attack by the Hunger like Belissar feared?

If he focused, he could still feel the Hunger at the edges of the Tower’s influence, reaching in towards the purified land beyond. So, maybe ongoing purification meant the Tower holding it back? If so...there was apparently a limit to which the Tower could resist the Hunger, at which point Belissar was required to purify it more directly. That limit had apparently been a week, or ten days if he included the countdown time, though Belissar didn’t know yet if that was just for this time or a consistent thing.

The Tower of the Gods was powerful indeed.

Which is why he thought carefully about the choice before him as he gathered the honeycomb. He reviewed each option in turn, hoping for more information.

Basic Resource Plants

- Type: Nature, Resource

- Mana Upkeep: Depends on resource selected

- Description: A spot where resource producing plants can be easily grown and harvested. Compatible plants will depend on the Room. Existing compatible plants may be converted to nodes.

Belissar hummed as he read it over. He was a bit worried that the description didn’t specify what kind of plants or resources he would get. In fact, that would apparently change based on what room he placed it in...though he wasn’t certain that the Flower Meadow and the Apiary would be much different given they had very similar plants to begin with. But depending on what he got...plant-based resources could be very useful. If he got something appropriate for textiles, he could fix his tunic or make a new one. If he got more wood then he could expand his construction efforts and prepare more firepits. Medicinal herbs would be a priority as well...though he wasn’t sure if Tower Lords or monster bees actually got sick. Fruit and vegetables...wouldn’t change much beyond adding variety to his diet, given that he didn’t seem to actually need food after becoming a Tower Lord. However, they would at minimum add more flowering plants for his bees to gather from. No matter what plants he received, he knew it wouldn’t be a loss.

Still, there were two more options to consider.

Beehive

- Type: Bee, Resource, Monster Nest

- Mana Upkeep: 5 per hive (2 due to Blessing of Bees)

- Description: A hive where bees and bee monsters may build their colonies. Produces honeycomb at a steady rate, and boosts productivity and growth of any bees dwelling inside.

Belissar furrowed his brow. It seemed by all accounts to be the same basket hives as he found in the Apiary, so Belissar knew what to expect and how useful they would be. The Apiary had nine beehouses at present, while he had eight monster bee queen spawners that would spawn four monster bee queens each, so the other queens would certainly be happy if he had some more. The question was how did it work with the Apiary? At present, Belissar couldn’t actually change the number of beehives, so would this choice allow for that? He guessed that it would, it didn’t seem a useful choice if not.

Well, assuming it was, there were clear reasons to take this choice. But...it wasn’t as clear cut as the choice might seem. Belissar could build beehouses himself, after all, and was planning to do so for the other queens as time permitted, so he tried to focus on what the Tower option would provide on top of that. Which was the magical daily production of honeycomb, and the boost to productivity and growth. The growth was a bit subtle at the moment, while the productivity just meant more honey. That could help with more Sticky Honey Traps, but Belissar hadn’t even seen one of those in action yet.

He shook his head and moved on to the final choice.

Hidden Wax Cell

- Type: Bee, Trap

- Mana Upkeep: 1 per cell (0.5 due to Blessing of Bees)

- Description: A camouflaged cell a monster bee may ambush foes from. Can resize to fit larger monster bee species.

This was the more direct combat option. Belissar tried to imagine what it might look like. Perhaps soldier bees stinging a shade’s feet while their sisters buzzed above it? That could be useful, though it seemed a bit straight forward. Besides, couldn’t the monster bee soldiers wait inside one of the pit traps? Or couldn’t he dig them some holes to do the same thing? Well, it was a cheaper option in terms of mana upkeep, so perhaps that was by design.

Belissar continued to look over the options as he carried the honeycomb inside the farmhouse...