Chapter 72: Bee-wildering Progress

Chapter 72: Bee-wildering Progress

After the victory celebrations, Belissar went to check out the nearest pond. It was...well, a pond. It was only about as long as he was tall and would come up his ankles, maybe even as deep as his knee at the most. There were no particular plants or features, the crystal clear water let him see the empty rock at the bottom.

It was a bit of water and that’s it. But, at the end of the day, that was all Belissar needed it to be. He knelt down and cupped a bit into his hand, then took a sip. His first drink of water since becoming a dungeon master. It was cool and refreshing.

He then returned to the Apiary farmhouse for the night. He sat back in one of the chairs, for he had something he wanted to think about before he went to bed.

DP: 1695

When reviewing the Tower’s status, he noticed his DP had grown substantially. He knew that he was receiving way more DP than before thanks to both the bear people’s gathering group and their hunting group, but only now did he realize just how much he had received. He reopened the DP store for the first time since it first appeared.

DP Shop

- Extra Room Feature Choice (Cost: 1000 DP)

- Extra Monster Choice (Cost: 3000 DP)

- Extra Room Choice (Cost: 3000 DP)

- Extra Perk Choice (Cost: 10000 DP)

- Additional Room Slot (Cost: 5000 DP)

- Boost Maximum Mana (Cost: 5000 DP)

His eyes widened as he compared the numbers. When he had first seen it, his DP income had been all of one per day. Even the cheapest option would take him years to afford. So, he had basically written off the entire thing as too expensive to ever afford and largely forgotten about it.

Now? Now he could already afford a new room feature choice, and he was well on his way to the others. He could buy something right now if he wanted to.

So, it was time to consider if he wanted to, and what he should aim for. A room feature now, or one of the other options later? He asked himself what, if any room features he needed.

In the end, though, he couldn’t think of anything specific. As luck would have it, he had already gotten a water source just today, which was the main feature he wanted. He could think of other things that could be useful: more plants for the bees, more traps for better defense, maybe something to help the bear people and get even more DP. Yet, he couldn’t think of a specific thing that he needed right now, and since the choices seemed random he had no idea if the feature in question would be something he wanted in any case.

Resistance: Minimal+

Special: Minor

Notable Skills: Burning Poison Sting, Heat Resistance, Sacrificial Strike, Brood Offspring

Description: A monster bee worker raised on honey infused with Fire attribute mana. Both its body and its venom run hot. Stings will burn and may cause fever. Can produce fire and heat-resistant wax, a necessity for its Fire-mana infused honey.

Belissar nodded. As he expected, one of the queens had raised a new bee type from the flame radishes.

“Good work. If you can, try to raise some more of these, we could use them.”

The queen froze, standing completely still for a moment before she burst out into as rapid a salute dance as she could. Belissar chuckled.

“Well, there’s no rush, so don’t overdo it, ok?”

She saluted once more before rushing into her beehouse, the burning worker following after her. Belissar shook his head. He was a tad worried she might get carried away now that he had asked something directly, but it was true that he could use those bees. Flame resistant wax would be a godsend given all of the building materials currently available in the Tower were flammable. These burning worker bees could very much resolved that concern and reinforce the firebreaks he was planning. If there were enough of the burning worker bees, then brush fires would no longer represent an existential threat to the Flower Meadow.

And that was only the first of the new plants he had received. Belissar couldn’t help but whistle a tune as he continued on with his morning.

***

With the help of the soldier bees, construction on the new beehouse accelerated dramatically. The soldiers working together could lift a beam faster than Belissar could. In addition, after lifting one beam the soldiers would rotate out for another group, allowing the work to continue while the first group rested. Within a day, they had already finished the framework.

Belissar was now sawing planks for the floors, walls, and roof. The bees did attempt to help with that task but the small handle on the saw made it hard for the bees to get sufficient leverage. Belissar had some ideas on that but he didn’t have the resources nor skills to make a metal saw. Perhaps he should ask the bear people about it, they had to have gotten their metal tools and weapons from somewhere, after all.

But for now, Belissar didn’t mind. He wanted to do this for the bees, so it would defy the point if the bees took care of every part of the task. The bees also could lift the planks without too much trouble, so began laying the floor even as Belissar worked on the planks.

Belissar halted the work and reviewed their progress as they approached the purification cooldown. It wouldn’t do for the soldier bees to go into a fight tired, after all. His eyes widened a bit as he saw the frame with part of the floor taking shape. At this rate...they’d be done much sooner than he anticipated. Belissar grinned.

Everything seemed to be going very well.