The Bee Dungeon

Chapter 205: Bee-vine Blessing

The light faded and condensed into the form of a bee made of purple light that danced before the gardener’s eyes.

The Queen of All Flowers invites you to the Hive of All Flowers. If you wish to accept, please select one of the following blessings:

- Blessing of the Gardener

- Blessing of the Druid

- Blessing of the Herbalist

- Blessing of the Floral Druid

Once again, the gardener’s mind went blank.

Belissar smiled even as he shielded his eyes from the flash of light. In his experience, that was generally a good sign. However, the light faded…and nothing happened. The gardener stood completely still on the flower.

Belissar’s smile dropped as a minute went by without any movement from the gardener.

As soon as he spoke, the gardener buzzed her wings. She then spun around and zipped into the air.

“King! Queen of All Flowers asked to join Hive of All Flowers! Have to pick something called blessing! What that?”

Belissar blinked for a moment before smiling. He lifted his hand and motioned for the gardener to land on it. It took some prompting and encouragement from Niobee but eventually the gardener did.

“That meant it worked. The God of Flowers is offering you some of her power, you get to choose what.”

The gardener froze for a second before slowly tapping out a dance.

“Queen of All Flowers…offering power?”

Belissar nodded, thinking to himself how to explain it.

“You know Chief Rohsuak, when she makes fire? That’s from the God of Fire. Oh, and this is from the God of Bees!”

Belissar held up his other hand and created a spell-bee. The gardener stared at it for a moment before bursting out into a rapid dance.

“Amazing! Incredible! Queen of All Flowers offering?!”

Belissar smiled and nodded. The gardener did a happy dance.

“Amazing! Incredible! Can fight for hive of hives now!”

Then she came to a sudden halt.

“Which one should pick?”

Belissar considered trying to get her to pick herself…but that probably wouldn’t work. He had tried when proposing she try for the blessing in the first place, but Niobee had advised him otherwise. She explained that workers and soldiers weren’t as independent as the queens, they were generally more beholden to their instincts and relied on their queens to command them in any unusual situations. Even Beero had ultimately just been trying to fulfill her regular duties as a soldier bee. So, the gardener not only wouldn’t mind being commanded by Belissar in this instance but would prefer it since she had no context for these sorts of decisions.

“What choices are there?”

Belissar furrowed his brow as she danced out the choices. The problem being…he didn’t have much context for this sort of thing either. Gardener and Herbalist were simple enough, but druids weren’t anything he had real knowledge of. He vaguely recalled mention of them as some sort of evil forest wizard according to the Tower Lords. He suddenly very much wished he had asked Tarwantrad before doing this.

But, well, he didn’t want to make the God of Flowers wait. He had no idea how long they had to pick the blessing, after all, so he just sent a mental question to Chief Rohsuak. Apparently, “forest wizard” was fairly accurate as far as the karnuq were aware. Druids were some sort of magic user that focused on nature. Turning into beasts, growing and commanding plants, causing storms and groundquakes, that sort of thing. In that case, floral druid was probably one specializing in some sort of flower magic?

He began to sweat as the gardener looked up to him, waiting for him to advise her, so he just said whatever came to mind.

“Well, you said you want to fight, right? Druid apparently does magic, like Beero I think, but more nature related. Floral Druid sounds like its from the God of Flowers personally, and more flower magic, so that might be a good choice?”

Belissar tried to keep his voice steady and avoid wincing as he gave his uninformed opinion on a matter no less important than the blessing of a god. Unfortunately for him, he was speaking to a bee, to whom his word was law.

“Ok!”

She immediately saluted and then both her and the giant flower flashed with light. Words streamed before Belissar’s eyes immediately after.

Mission: Help one monster or sworn defender receive a Blessing of Flowers completed!

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Reward: One cross-perk choice!

Belissar made a helpless smile as he shrugged. Well, he certainly hoped the gardener had picked a blessing suitable for her. Either way, though, her efforts had been acknowledged by the God of Flowers, so it would hopefully be a good thing either way.

Belissar then rubbed his chin. It was a bit strange just to call her “gardener” when she had gone and raised a new monster and been blessed by the God of Flowers, completing two missions from the god for him.

“How would you like a name?”

The gardener immediately froze once again. Fortunately for Belissar, Niobee began to respond in her place.

“King! Gardener wants! Surprised King is offering!”

Belissar smiled and shook his head.

“She shouldn’t be. She’s done some amazing things.”

The gardener tried to start dancing but tripped. Meanwhile, Belissar began to think.

Flowbee? He shook his head. Just jamming flower and bee together was a bit much, even for him. He figured he should at least try to think of a better name.

“How about…Frelis?”

The gardener froze until Niobee began brushing her antennae, then began to dance slowly and carefully.

“I’m…Frelis? Have name? Like Beero?”

Belissar smiled gently at her and nodded.

A moment later, Frelis broke out into an extremely rapid and entirely incoherent dance. Belissar couldn’t make out any steps, but he could tell she was happy at least, so he just chuckled and smiled. The flower Frelis had raised began wiggling about as well, while the First of the Fourth saluted Belissar.

Eventually, Frelis grew tired from her rapid dance. So tired, in fact, that she returned to the Bee Barracks in the middle of the day to rest. Belissar was a bit concerned at that but Niobee assured him she should be fine.

Belissar passed the good news along to Tarwantrad and thanked her for her advice regarding the God of Flowers. Afterwards, he headed back to the new flower meadow with Muuraqi. The karnuq offered him some of their water stones, but Belissar refused since he could gather some from the other node he had placed. The karnuq had then insisted to assist him with the gathering when he asked for mining tools, and he had accepted the help.

Soon, Belissar made his way back to his farmhouse with a new water stone and several jars. He channeled his mana through the water stone to fill the jars before mixing them with honey. He hoped that would result in enough mead to begin sharing with the karnuq and Tarwantrad, once he had finished offering the earlier batch to the gods.

After that came the daily purification, just a couple of bird shades that couldn’t make it past a wall of karnuq and sprayers in the Dirt Tunnels. Belissar ignored the other choices and chose the mana straight away. He invited Tarwantrad to join them for the celebration and the perk choice, which she happily agreed to.

And so, once again, Belissar, the queens, the karnuq, and Tarwantrad gathered together. Belissar wasted no time getting right into it.

Select a cross-perk (Bee/Flower):

- Nourishing Nectar

- Empowering Pollination

- Bee-caller Pheromones

Nourishing Nectar

- Bee-type monsters receive a slight boost to all stats after drinking nectar

- Nectar possesses greater nutrient and mana density and can be processed into honey with greater efficiency

- Honey is more likely to retain special properties from nectar

Belissar didn’t even have to look to know the First of the Fifth and the Apiary bees were dancing as he read out the description of that perk.

Empowering Pollination and Bee-caller Pheromones were both repeats, though he read them out for those who weren’t here last time. He still wasn’t sold on Bee-caller Pheromones due to the increased aggression, but Empowering Pollination was worth reconsidering. After all, Tarwantrad’s eyes sparkled as he read about it, and he could guess why. Between the new flower monsters and the defensive flowers Urubran and Nenavann both gave his Tower, the perk would be far more useful to him now than when he had last seen it. He also wondered what the newly blessed Frelis might think of it, but she was still resting back home unfortunately.

Belissar rubbed his chin. He had been certain he was going to pick Nourishing Nectar over the repeats after reading its description, but Empowering Pollination was worth considering in light of his deal with Tarwantrad. If his bees were visiting her dungeon and foraging from her flowers, then wouldn’t this perk empower them? The boost to cross-pollination and flower growth would help both of them raise new flowers from each other’s. The boost to flower stats would also grow ever more useful for his tower too as he acquired more flowers, and potentially flower monsters, from Tarwantrad.

He glanced over at her. Since this was a perk that could affect her as well, he felt he needed to at least check with her before deciding.

“Empowering Pollination would help you too, right?

Tarwantrad, however, shook her head with a smile.

“It would be amazing for me, but it is something I would wish for my own dungeon. Its effects would be somewhat muted if limited to our nurseries. I appreciate you thinking of me, but this is choice that should be made for your dungeon first and foremost. A benefit for me is less important than your safety.”

Tarwantrad then rubbed her chin.

“If you want my opinion as a fellow dungeon master, this perk is better suited to my dungeon, where flowers are the focus and pollinators act as support. You could certainly benefit from it, especially if you expand your flower options, but it ultimately targets supporting features for you.”

Belissar nodded along. He then turned to the bees…and smirked slightly as he saw all of the Apiary bees fidgeting.

No, he couldn’t resist them in the end.

Nourishing Nectar selected.

Well, it wasn’t only the Apiary bees’ longing gazes. Tarwantrad’s words about focused and supporting features struck a chord with him. Bees were the focus of his dungeon and nourishing nectar boosted the honey production on which they relied. More efficient honey production meant more bees, more queens and hives, and more evolved bees, all of which would substantially boost his tower where it counted most. Unless there was an urgent need for another perk, one that boosted honey was always worth taking.

And, well, he’d admit that he greatly enjoyed the cloud of zipping Apiary bees dancing about him as he announced the decision.

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