Chapter 203: Chapter 203
The gardeners flew forward, the queens hovering back to make room for them. They flew amongst themselves, milling about and exchanging dances and pheromones for a few minutes. Eventually, one of them slowly flew forward, beginning an unsteady dance.
Belissar smiled and shook his head.
“It’s alright, I just wanted to check if you did. Is there anything you think we might need for that?”
The gardeners convened once more before the responder returned to answer again.
“Sorry, don’t know. Maybe new flowers, or more mana.”
“Got it, I’ll see what I can do then. You all just keep up the good work and let me know if the flowers need anything.”
The gardeners saluted at that, leaving Belissar to rub his chin. At first, he had thought that maybe a new monster choice might give him a chance to fulfill the God of Flowers’ mission. He quickly dispelled that notion, though. He hadn’t yet seen any monster choices that weren’t bees, so the odds were low that he’d get a flower monster. More importantly, the mission specifically said he had to complete it with the help of his bees, so getting a flower monster by a choice might not work even if he was offered one.
Bee Barracks Upgrades:
- Swap to Bee Apartment (Cost: 25 DP)
- Change material to stone (Cost: 200 DP or 50 if materials provided)
- Boost growth for inhabitants (Cost: 50 DP)
- Boost coordination for inhabitants (Cost: 50 DP)
He selected the change material option, confirming that he had provided enough material for the discount. The Bee Barracks and the stack of stone blocks next to it both began to glow. A moment later the light faded, and the stone pile had vanished entirely.
The Bee Barracks itself now had stone walls, a stone roof, and a stone floor. Belissar looked inside with his tower sight and found the frames remained wood, though some of the pillars that held them in place had converted to stone as well.
He turned to the queens, intending to ask them what they thought. He found them already dancing in the air.
“Amazing, incredible!”
It seemed far tougher than before, though Belissar hoped it would never be put to the test.
The next day, Belissar awoke, intending to hear the reports, eat his breakfast, and then make his gathering and tribute rounds as usual. His eyes widened as he stepped out of the bedroom, however, to find the Second First of the First, the First of the Fifth, the Third of the Sixth, and the Fourth of the Seventh queens all waiting for him. The queens saluted as soon he stepped in while Niobee danced before him.
“King! Queens came to report for shortcuts! Talked together”
“Thank you all. Shall we get to it, then?”
“Ok! First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had idea. Give all rooms and entrance shortcut to Orchard, so all bees can go to all rooms or outside! All queens want too!”
Belissar’s eyes widened a bit as all the queens danced to confirm Niobee’s report.
“Ah…that’s a good idea!”
The queens danced happily, especially the Fourth of the Seventh, at his response. Belissar went ahead and thought about shortcuts. Once again, his tower sight zoomed out to show the Tower as a whole. A transparent door appeared in his sight along the Apiary wall, which he could move about. He could move it along the walls or even the ground, the door transforming to a tunnel entrance when he did. He ended up placing it on the Apiary wall closest to the bee apartments for easy access. He then had a variety of options on the door’s appearance. He could leave it visible as any other entrance, but also had options to conceal the door from those not permitted to use it, or to hide it all together. For now, he chose to conceal it from those not permitted.
A transparent second door then appeared. Belissar could move this one out of the room entirely, which he did. He took it all the way down to Orchard, then placed it on the front wall close to the bees’ grove. The two doors then materialized as Belissar confirmed the placement.
Once he did, another message appeared.
Shortcut (2F Orchard – 4F Apiary) Permissions:
- Defenders: All permitted
- Challengers: All permitted
- Specific individuals allowed: none
- Specific individuals denied: none
As described, Belissar was able to adjust who could use the shortcut. Defenders could be set to specify monsters or sworn defenders only, or none. Challengers included numerous groupings, such as allowing or blocking animals, or those blessed by a particular god. For now…Belissar blocked all challengers, setting this shortcut to defenders only. For now, he left it on all defenders; while he mainly intended this one for his bees, he trusted the karnuq enough not to block them without reason. They hadn’t left their area of the Tower without permission in any case.
“Ok, set one up. Shall we check it out?”