The Bee Dungeon

The First of the Fourth zipped about in happy dances, giving in to her ecstasy. Her soldiers and even her workers paused their training and labor to join her as they all danced around a capped cell.

Named. Frelis, one of her workers, was named by the King! The King considered one of her workers' achievements on par with the likes of Beero, queen of the fallen, or Velebee, who danced with the Queen of All Bees. Maybe even in the same dance as Niobee, the Conduit herself!

Not even the mightiest of the spawner queens or their kin had managed to achieve such an honor. Neither the Firstborn who built the army, the Fourth of the Seventh who paved the way for the hive of hives, nor the First of the Fifth who fed half the hives and the King.

And yet, it was one of her workers who had managed to do it, and to receive the blessing of the Queen of All Flowers to boot.

The First of the Fourth finally finished her celebration dance and zipped out of the hive. This was a grand moment but she could not rest on her laurels. She had to put in as much effort as her Frelis had. She had heard the Firstborn was figuring out a way to do just that, and she wouldn't miss it.

The Firstborn's training had not gone as well as she had hoped. Oh, she had learned how to dive and evade well enough, but ultimately she was held back by her body. She wasn't, and would likely never be, as fast or agile as her soldiers. Her dives were slower and weaker, while her evasion was sluggish in comparison. She had done enough that she might be able to participate in a fight, but not enough to contribute anything meaningful to it. There was no point in risking herself just to add a single substandard soldier to the army.

So, she had considered what she could do that her soldiers couldn't. The one advantage she held over them that might be relevant for combat was her superior mana. Her mana reserves were larger and denser than theirs, and she had superior control over it as well. She needed as much to fulfill her job as both mother and leader of a hive of monster bees. She pondered now if these advantages could be useful on the battlefield.

One obvious answer was Beero and her magic dances. But, in addition to the Firstborn not having joined the hive of the fallen, that was the battlecaster's area of expertise. Beero had specifically evolved for those dances and so the Firstborn wasn't sure she'd be any better at it. Additionally, those dances took time and focus. The Firstborn wanted to remain cognizant of the fight so she could continue commanding the army at the same time, so could not dedicate as much time or focus as the hive of the fallen could.

Fortunately, the Firstborn had seen another application of mana on the battlefield, one that seemed to require far less time and focus. So, once again, she approached the karnuq. Particularly where the fighting one and one of the others were practicing, making stingers of fire and mana that flew off their weapons and collided into each other.

It was natural for a monster bee to concentrate mana into her stinger and Beero had already made stingers of mana, so the Firstborn had high hopes that the karnuq could teach her their similar technique…

The Firstborn, of course, was not the only queen looking for new ways to push the envelope. The First of the Fifth's First Daughter was pacing about while the joint hives' workers prepared a large cell. Her partner queen had even returned to the hive and was overseeing the effort personally. The First Daughter wanted to break out into a happy dance at the chance to manage the hive together in person, but her concern for her partner queen took precedence.

"Fourth of the Seventh, sure about this?"

"Yes!"

The Fourth of the Seventh was as bold and confident as ever, but for once the First Daughter felt compelled to make sure her partner queen was making the right choice.

"But…queen mother said best for main queen of hive not to evolve with honey. Can't make other kinds of honey, all children become new bee type so can't raise others."

The Fourth of the Seventh, however, lost none of her enthusiasm as she replied.

"Is fine! First of the Fifth's First Daughter is main queen!"

The First Daughter's mind went blank for a moment before she began to dance her objections.

"No! Fourth of the Seventh is main queen! Leads hive, leads new efforts! Saved hive, saved children!"

The Fourth of the Seventh stepped over and began brushing her antennae.

"First Daughter takes care of hive, raises daughters, directs workers! Better queen! Let me go scout! Couldn't have made hive without! Both can be main queen?"

The First Daughter wasn't sure how to respond, though her feet seemed to carry her in a happy dance without instruction.

"Besides, new honey lets bees fly farther, faster! Beyond bigger now, and can scout flower one's hive soon! Evolving will let scout more and come back more!"

The moment the First Daughter processed that dance she began dancing her agreement.

"Got it. Is good idea. Fourth of the Seventh should evolve, right away."

"Ok!"

And so, the Fourth of the Seventh crawled into the cell and curled up. The first of the room queens to attempt to evolve off of honey…

Beero…wasn't sure what to think. All of the other queens were practically swarming in their efforts to do something new…and had specifically listed her achievements as inspiration. But while Beero was proud of her efforts and her evolution, she still did not consider herself a true equal to those queens, so she didn't know what to think of them trying to emulate her.

After all, she still couldn't do the job of queen as they could. She couldn't lay eggs, and she couldn't even keep track of her hive without the Fourth of the Seventh's drone blending the mana together. So, even though her hive was organized enough that the Fourth of the Seventh's first communer had returned to her home, the Fourth of the Seventh's drone was still here, always by her side so that she could perceive the workers donated to her.

But Beero was a soldier of action, not a ponderer. So, rather than sit around trying to figure out what to think of the situation, she decided to act however she could. The queens were trying to emulate her, so she decided to try and emulate them in turn. She had no idea where to start on laying eggs…but she just might on the mana-related duties of a queen.

So, she turned to the Fourth of the Seventh's drone.

"Can teach how blend mana?"

The Fourth of the Seventh's drone paused, and slowly began to salute.

"Can try."

If she managed to pull that off, she'd be able to contact the rest of her hive directly. That ability might even improve her joint casting with her fellow battlecasters, so it was nectar and pollen with one trip. Additionally, it would allow the Fourth of the Seventh's drone to return to his home.

The thought of the drone not being there, constantly wrapping her mana with his, made her feel weird, as if one of her wings was missing again. But she had work to do so she ignored it and focused on the drone as he tried to explain what he was doing with the mana…

The First of the Fifth paced back and forth a few more times before drooping her antennae. She drew herself up, and with a final swish of her abdomen to draw breath, began her dance.

"Third Daughter should coordinate with gardeners and dangerous one to manage flowers, prepare for cross-pollination with flower one. Second Daughter and Fourth Daughter, coordinate on wax golems. Second Daughter need to keep up honey deliveries, so Fourth Daughter should build first. Give first few to Second Daughter so can use for deliveries and start building own. Fifth Daughter need to expand honey production since Fourth Daughter will make more wax instead."

All of her children that shared her hive danced their salutes and set off on their assigned tasks. The First of the Fifth resisted the urge to buzz her wings. Once again, she had found herself with just too much to do.

The flower one, an existence apparently on par with the King and part of the Hive of All Flowers, had offered her flowers for foraging…and cross-pollination. That was an opportunity the First of the Fifth could not possibly ignore, especially not after the King commanded the gardeners to fill out the danger one's work room with every flower the King's realm had available.

On top of that, there was the latest boon from the King, one that was revolutionary for the Apiary bees. They could now form moving hives out of wax, shaped in the image of the King. The Apiary hives' workers could now use their ability to create honeycomb to supply warriors to the soldier bee army, joining the fight more directly than they ever had before. Not only that, hives that could move themselves were absolutely perfect for delivering honey to all the hives that needed her assistance, which would free up her Second Daughter's hive to focus on other tasks. She could absolutely not delay the construction of those hives.

On top of that was the continued need to supply honey to the other hives so they could raise soldiers and all their evolutions, and so that more queens could continue to evolve. Not to mention new flower types, new cross-pollinations, and the newly unlocked area of bee hybridization all of which needed to be explored and categorized.

There were simply too many urgent, potentially revolutionary tasks for the First of the Fifth to address all of them personally. She had no choice but to leave some of them to her daughters if she wanted them completed in a timely manner. And, ultimately, she had an additional task that she would leave to no other.

With all of the other opportunities delegated, the First of the Fifth turned her attention to the entrance of the hive, and took a position as part of one of the honey processing lines. She could not get the taste of the Queen of All Bees' honey out of her mind. She could not stop imagining all of the possibilities that lay waiting in the art of honey. She had to resume experimentation on her honey producing methods.

She had the honeypots, who could imbue more mana into honey than she thought possible. The King had recently modified all the flowers in his realm to produce higher quality nectar. She had the memory of the Queen of All Bees' honey and a spark of its mana remaining in her from even that tiny sip. She believed…no, she knew that it was possible for her hive to make a better honey than it currently was.

She would not rest until she figured out how. The King's table deserved no less.

And so, the First of the Fifth got to work.