Chapter 17: Chapter 17
Belissar sat back against one of the trees in the Flower Meadow, taking a deep breath as breeze spread the scent of flowers through the air. He watched as bees moved from flower to flower, carrying nectar back to their hives. He watched as they flew in and out of the pit traps, coating the floors and walls in wax in case Belissar needed to light them on fire again.
He had spent as much of his mana as he was willing to at the moment. He couldn’t make any more rooms at present. He had a bunch of traps already. He had eight monster bee queen spawners, and the queens were hard at work setting up their colonies. The Apiary had made some honeycomb, but Belissar didn’t really know what to do with them.
Well, as a beekeeper he knew plenty of things he could do with them. The honey had a lot of culinary and even medicinal uses, while beeswax could be used to make sealants, salves, candles, and other products. He even heard some of the Tower Lords’ wives could use it for beauty products.
But most of those weren’t useful for the defense, save for the candles. Maybe he could use the honey as bait for a trap if the shades of the Hunger found it appetizing. But the Hunger itself would consume everything, the trap included, so he wasn’t sure if its shades cared about food specifically.
Without anything better to do, he went ahead and checked the dungeon status. Maybe there was something else there he had missed.
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Except...now Belissar was one of those Tower Lords...and he had no idea what to do. He wished he did. Beyond just the general avoidance of smiting, the God of Bees had chosen him. She believed in him enough to forgive his defilement of a Tower and had granted him her blessing. Belissar thought he should thank her somehow, at the very least.
Just then, he heard a sound directly in his head. A chime, like the sound of a bell.
New mission received: Pray at a Shrine of Bees
Belissar blinked at the words in front of his eyes...and then began to tremble. That...that mission had to be from the God of Bees, right? Did she hear him? Was she listening to his thoughts? Was she listening to him right now?!
But in any case, she had given him a task, apparently, one that seemed to answer his question. So, he stood up, and made his way to one of the statues that had appeared when he received the Blessing of Bees. He figured that had to be what “Shrine of Bees” referred to.
He then paused and made his way to the Apiary. He gathered up a bunch of the honeycomb produced by the beehives. He didn’t really know how to pray to a god or anything, but he figured he at least shouldn’t show up empty handed, since the Tower Lords mentioned offering tribute and all. He didn’t know if the honeycomb produced by the Apiary would be to her liking, but it was the best thing he had at present. He then walked to the Shrine of Bees in the Apiary and placed the honeycomb in the chest before the statue. He then knelt down on his knees and bowed his head.
“Um, I’m sorry, I don’t really know how this is supposed to go but, um, God of Bees, if you can hear me? Um, thank you for your Blessing, and not smiting me for defiling one of your Towers. I’m, uh, not really sure what I’m doing here but I’ll,try my best?”
Belissar winced with each word he spoke. Even he could tell that was no prayer anyone would approve of.
But the sphere held by the statue started to glow softly, bathing Belissar in warm light. The chest began to shine bright for a moment, flashed once, and then fell dark. Belissar slowly reached for it and opened the lid.
He blinked. The honeycomb had all disappeared. Lying in the chest in their place was...an axe and a saw?
Mission: Pray at the Shrine of Bees completed!
Reward: One Woodcutting Axe, One Woodcutting Saw
New mission received: Build a beehouse
Belissar lifted the axe up out of the chest with both of his hands. He looked at the words before his eyes, then down at the axe, then up at the Shrine of Bees. He glanced back and forth several more times.
“You want me, to build a beehouse? You mean like...the ones I used to?”
The shrine glowed a bit brighter. Belissar blinked a few more times. That...was not the mission he expected to receive. His first purification had failed because he had spent his time trying to make beehouses instead of doing Tower Lord things. Shouldn’t he continue doing Tower Lord things now? Worshiping the gods, purifying the lands, defeating the Hunger, mustering the troops?