Chapter 44: Everyone Bee Growing

Chapter 44: Everyone Bee Growing

Chief Rohsuak raised an eyebrow. She and Belissar had just finished the physical training for the day and had sat down to practice moving his mana.

“Already?”

Belissar nodded. Chief Rohsuak rubbed her chin and then nodded.

“I suppose a Sacred Den Master would have some advantages. Very well, let’s move on to the next step, then.”

She held out her hand and a small ball of dim light appeared.

“You must learn to move your mana outside of your body but remain in control of it.”

She went on to explain how to do so. Belissar nodded and then held out his hand. He tried to move his mana once more, concentrating it in the palm of his hand. He then tried to push it out...

A huge flash of light blinded him. Belissar cried out a fell back. Chief Rohsuak, on the other hand, had already shielded her eyes, and grinned.

“Happens to everyone. Yours was brighter than most, but that’s to be expected.”

Belissar rubbed his eyes as he sat back up. He held his palm out again...but turned his face away...

Which turned out to be wise as flashes of light filled his view time and time again...

Belissar sighed as he walked back to the Apiary. Thanks to the large quantities of mana he could feel from the Tower, the first steps of accumulating, sensing, and moving his own mana were quite simple. This step was not. The mana did not want to leave his body and when it did it would do so all at once. Trying to control that burst was proving difficult.

Still, it was only the first day, so Belissar tried not to get too discouraged. He was learning magic, after all. He glanced around as he stepped into the Apiary, watching the bees as they visited the nearby flowers. He had heard one of the queens had moved out here, so he wasn’t surprised to see them this far from the beehouses.

However, he did see something that surprised him.

A second, relatively new hive was under construction. He could feel the queen inside like the others but something felt a bit different about her.

“Hey, Niobee.”

Niobee flew into his vision.

“Yes, King?”

Belissar pointed at the hive.

“Did another of the queens move out here?”

“No. New queen!”

Belissar’s eyes widened.

“A new queen?”

The spawners had long since reached their maximums and Belissar hadn’t made any more recently. So, there was only one way a new queen could exist.

“The queens can reproduce? Have new queens as children?”

The Firstborn had wanted to follow the First of the Fifth in raising a new queen, but she had run into an issue. To do so required drones, which meant the cooperation of one other queen, and the drones the First of the Fifth had used had already perished. At first, she was going to see if the First of the Fifth would be raising a second queen and if they could collaborate, but she quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen. The Firstborn had been stunned when she realized how much mana and honey it would require to bear a queen, so she knew the First of the Fifth would not be ready to bear a second anytime soon.

So, instead, she gathered the queens of the Flower Meadow. She greeted them, and then explained her plan...which was simply to follow their instincts. If all the queens released both new queens and drones at the same time, all of them could bear a new queen at once while sharing the burden of raising drones.

The First Queen of the First Dynasty of the Third Spawner then asked for more details.

“A queen and drones. How much mana, honey needed?”

The Firstborn told them and all the queens fell still.

The Fourth Queen of the Fourth Spawner then began a slow dance.

“My hive, can’t. Not enough.”

The Firstborn expected as much and gave her prepared reply.

“Will help, give honey.”

She looked around at all the queens.

“We are all one hive. All help when in need.”

One by one, the other queens gave their approval. Afterwards, however, the Third Queen of the Second Spawner began to dance.

“But...if all spending mana and honey, will need to cut soldiers. If all cut soldiers, army not grow?”

The queens once again fell still at that. The Firstborn danced her acknowledgement.

“Yes. But, more queens mean more soldiers later.”

The Third of the Second stood still before beginning an even slower dance.

“But...King planning something. Something big. Need army now?”

The Firstborn paused at this. She...had not considered that. She stood in silence for a bit. In the end, it was the First Queen of the Second Spawner that replied.

“Ask Conduit? If King needs army, wait until King’s plan, then try? If not, try now?”

The other queens began to agree. The Firstborn quickly agreed as well, for that was a much wiser idea than she had. She, perhaps, had been a bit overexcited, but now that she thought about it coordinating with the Conduit and the King’s plan was only natural. If anything, she should have done that to begin with.

But that was why the queens were gathered now, and why they were a hive of hives. Even if she should miss something, another bee might notice.

“Then, everyone agree?”

The queens all danced their affirmatives, and the meeting adjourned. The Firstborn sent messengers to find the Conduit and the Conduit quickly sent her reply. The King was indeed planning something big, something that would likely require a fight more dangerous than the daily assaults. It had been immensely fortunate that the Firstborn had asked before enacting her plan, for now the queens of the Flower Meadow could focus on soldiers until that battle came.

The Firstborn was left deep in thought. Had the Third of the Second not spoken up, she may have made a major mistake. But because they had cooperated as a hive of hives, they had found the most efficient course of action. So, she thought...perhaps the queens should get together to speak more regularly...