Chapter 236: Chapter 236
Belissar turned to the two humans and narrowed his eyes.
“So…how do the Tower Lords train Tower Guards, especially that many…”
The augur tilted his head.
“Well, I suppose this may be a surprise for you, but the method is fairly simple. Once a recruit has been sufficiently trained in both mind and body, they are permitted entry into the Tower, where they challenge themselves against the monsters spawned within, as well as face their first battles with the Hunger in the forms the Tower permits.”
“Wait…they fight the Tower monsters? The ones from the spawners we make?”
The augur gave Belissar a funny look as he nodded.
“Yes, of course. Such has always been the case, even before the Conclave codified Tower management methods. Humans challenge themselves to earn blessings and rewards from the gods, then fight to defend the gods’ Towers in turn.”
Belissar’s face fell and he made a dark expression.
Belissar stood, staring at her for a moment. His eyes widened a bit. He felt a spike of fear shoot through his chest…but also a warm feeling rising throughout it all. He flushed a bit and looked away before it grew too much to handle.
“I…see. And, um, thanks for your trust. I, um, hope I can live up to it?”
Chief Rohsuak smiled warmly at him.
To distract himself from any further feelings, Belissar started to think about the problem. So, if he wasn’t going to have the bees and karnuq fight, how was he going to pick up the pace? And how was he going to give the karnuq real challenges, ones that fit the God of Bees’ preferences as well?
Belissar suddenly blinked.
“Huh…I think I have some ideas, actually.”
Chief Rohsuak’s smile grew as Belissar turned to face her.
“What would you say to learning some real beekeeping?”
Belissar held another lesson on beehouse construction with the karnuq and then separated. For the next day or so, he’d leave the karnuq to build some beehouses of their own before enacting the next stage of that plan. That would also give him some time to address some additional ideas.
Because a plan to grow his Towers had to include the bees.
He met with the First of the Fifth as well as a communer from her First Daughter. Not only was the First of the Fifth the one managing the growth and production of the hives, her first daughter was the queen managing the Orchard for the most part. And with the Orchard now being the nexus of all the shortcuts, the queens there could easily pass info to and from all the rest of the Tower. Belissar could, therefore, speak to the entire Tower through these two without having to interrupt all of the queens’ work.
The First of the Fifth happily greeted him as always. The communer did so as well, though her steps were a bit more hesitant. Belissar smiled and nodded at them both before launching into it.
“I have some ideas on ways we can grow faster. Some of them are risky, some might not be possible at all. I want your twos’ honest opinion on if these are possible.”
He tried to look at them as seriously as he could manage.
“I also want you to tell me if these are going to interrupt anything the bees are already doing. I need to know what we’ll spend to get them done.”
The two bees saluted to him, then stared up at him, awaiting his words. Belissar held back a sigh. He wasn’t sure if that had gotten through to them, or if they’d still happily drop everything to pursue his ideas. But there was no getting around it if he wanted to ask them directly about his ideas.
“First, what do you think about raising hives in the Fairy Grove?”
The First of the Fifth motioned to the communer, who began to relay her own queen’s reply.
“Queen mother says is great idea. Lots of mana, will have lots of good flowers.”
Belissar nodded. He was still a bit worried about the Fairy Grove and how little they understood it. But he also knew that it was indeed full of magical power and conducive to flower growth, so it was time to take the leap. He may not have been willing to set his bees and the karnuq against each other, but he also knew that he needed to be willing to risk the bees a bit more than he was doing. Letting them settle the Fairy Grove before they fully understood it seemed like a good place to start. For all its unknown potential dangers, it was still a part of his Tower.
“Got it. Are there any queens who would prefer to move there or should I raise new queens…”
Belissar had hardly finished when the communer suddenly burst out into a rapid dance.
“Queen says can handle! Daughters want to move!”
Belissar could only hope she was honest about that, and not just saying so to fulfill his request. Though, from how rapidly and happily the communer was dancing, he had a feeling she was telling the truth after all. Even if not, her sheer enthusiasm was enough to persuade Belissar.
“Got it, let’s do that then. Next, I’d like to hear about the status of the Tower overall. Which rooms need more flowers, which rooms have enough flowers, if any rooms could use more bees. Anything you think we could do to help the Tower grow faster.”
The First of the Fifth paused before launching into a rapid, barely intelligible dance, punctuated with “King best king!” dances at random points. Belissar held back a chuckle as he tried to focus in on the report.