Chapter 182: Chapter 182
The Fourth of the Eighth stood in front of a cell in her hive. The cell was crackling, with tiny-lightnings occasionally crossing the wax cover and zapping any bee that got too close. It was not particularly popular among her workers, but the Fourth of the Eighth couldn’t take her eyes off of it.
The honey made by the soldiers was…strange. It looked like honey, acted like honey, and tasted like honey. By all accounts, it was honey. And yet…there was something ephemeral about it. Quite literally. On her first attempts to store it, she found the honey evaporated away if left alone for too long. Mana compromised far more of its structure than mana honey made by the normal process, and so would unravel over time.
It was a problem, as the honey needed to last long enough for an egg to hatch and a larva to morph into full adult worker. The Fourth of the Eighth had to conduct numerous experiments to get it to work. Adding more mana to the honey extended its lifespan but with diminishing returns, and adding too much would only accelerate its decomposition. Mixing it with regular honey just diluted them both until the lightning honey faded away. Eventually, she had her workers consume it outright and reprocess it. This managed to produce a stable honey with some amount of tiny lightnings, but in far lower quantities than the original lightning honey. It was also unpleasant for her workers, many of whom continued to tremble even after finishing the process.
But it had succeeded, and, with time and effort, they had managed to accumulate enough to fill a worker cell. The very cell she now watched with every moment she had to spare.
Had it been enough? Had they provided enough honey for a worker to grow? Had they maintained enough of the lightning to change the worker? Would the egg and the larva survive growing in such honey? Would any of these efforts have any payoff?
She did not know. She couldn’t, until the brood growing with this cell finally stirred…or failed to. It had already spent longer under its cap than a normal worker, causing the Fourth of the Eighth to pace around. She knew from speaking with some of the other queens that bees raised on special honeys took longer to grow, but she could not help but worry. Just when would this worker…
She paused. She thought…she saw the cap shift a bit. But she fluttered her wings and then groomed her antennae. She had been deceived before, but every previous time it had simply been a trick of the light, the shadow of a passing worker.
Until she saw it again.
Her eyes instantly locked to the spot in question. There, she saw cracks form in the wax cover as it bulged out slightly.
Well, he’d keep an eye on it and watch it in action. Maybe that would shed some light on what gravity actually was. But either way, it was a new bee, which alone was enough to make Belissar happy.
So, it was great that there were two more! The next worker bee was light blue and black, and glowing slightly, with smooth and solid-looking chitin. Her chitin was also oozing drops of liquid, and she was carrying a small ball of honey with her front two legs.
Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Slime Core, Sacrificial Strike, Brood Offspring
Description: A monster bee that acts as a slime core. Will surround itself in a type of slime-honey to act as a slime body. Even if the slime body is destroyed, the slime bee will survive and reform if its bee core escapes. This one is a worker, using its slime body to help gather nectar and pollen, and to harden into wax.
Belissar’s eyes widened slightly. So that was where all the slime flower nectar had gone…and boy had it paid off. Now, instead of slimes formed by the flower, he had a bee that could make a slime around itself!
…well, Belissar didn’t really know enough about slimes to know what the difference was, but he figured he’d like a bee slime better. And it was nice to know that his Tower would still have slimes of a sort even if the bees gathering prevented the slime flower from ever accumulating enough nectar. He was very much curious to see the slime bee in action.
Finally, the Fourth of the Eighth managed to eke out a dance and the final worker came forward. The First of the Fifth danced as well.
“This one raised by Fourth of the Eighth.”
The Fourth of the Eighth quickly began tapping out a dance.
“W-With help! F-From soldiers!”
And looking at this next bee, Belissar had a guess as to which soldiers helped.
Shocking Monster Bee Worker
Notable Skills: Shocking Poison Sting, Lightning Resistance, Sacrificial Strike, Brood Offspring
Description: A monster bee worker raised on honey infused with Lightning attribute mana. Lightning infuses both its body and its venom, boosting both its ability to gather pollen and to defend itself. Stings will cause minor electric shocks.
“So, I’m guessing Beero and her friends helped you with this one?”
Belissar nodded and smiled.
“Great work you both. I’m excited to see how they work.”