Chapter 258: Chapter 258

Belissar decided to first check out the cross-perks before making the final decision. He grinned as he opened the reward.

Select a cross-perk (Bee/Flower):

- Bee-caller Pheromones

- Empowering Pollination

Belissar nearly giggled from how giddy he felt. Even from just the names alone, he had a good feeling about these.

Bee-caller Pheromones

- When damaged, flowers and Flower-type features and monsters release pheromones. Pheromones may stick to the damaging entity.

- Affected bees and Bee-type features and monsters are drawn to the damaged flower and targets marked by the pheromone.

- Affected flowers and Flower-type monsters and features receive a boost to their growth

- Boosts the rate of pollination and seed formation. If Cross-Pollination is available, boosts the rate of Cross-Pollination.

Belissar tilted his head. At first glance, this one seemed similar to the last one. On closer inspection, he noted that this one was more focused on the flowers themselves. It didn’t affect the bees, but it would also help the flowers grow more quickly, both by growing the existing flower and by spreading more seeds. 𝙧âɴО𝐁ËS̈

On the one hand, he’d prefer something that affected his bees a bit more directly…but flowers did. More flowers growing more quickly meant more honey and pollen to raise more bees. Faster Cross-Pollination gave him some of the effects of the previous perk, as new flowers also meant new bees.

And as far as boosting flowers went, his bees had just raised a new flower monster, so who knew what its capabilities might be if they spread and strengthened it? He also had the thorny roses and the gravilion flower which could also benefit from a boost. He wasn’t entirely sure since they hadn’t actually come into contact with a shade yet, but more options were always helpful. Additionally, there was that option for the bursting death camus, a flower-based trap that seemed easier to utilize than the roses or the still mysterious gravilion. If the bees could forage from it, that was. In fact, in that case, the second option might be better since it might let the bees adapt to the poison.

Belissar took the opinions of the bees, this time asking each queen one by one for her opinion. The battle meadow queens were split between Bee-caller Pheromones and Symbiotic Foraging, mainly depending on if they were excited for the strength and speed boost or if they shared his reservations about the increased aggression. The Third of the Sixth and the other Lava Field queen seemed not to have such reservations and so preferred the first. Beero was mainly curious about Symbiotic Foraging and how it might impact a bee’s mana.

The Fourth of the Seventh liked all of them. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and the other Orchard and Fairy Grove queens preferred Symbiotic Foraging. The Apiary queens were somewhat split between the latter two, debating amongst each other if it was better to grow more flowers or to change the bees themselves. The bumblebees and the carpenter bees just zipped around in circles, but zipped a bit faster for the latter two.

He checked with the karnuq. Chief Rohsuak shook her head and chuckled.

“Well, as usual, you are more informed for these decisions than we are, Tower Keeper Belissar, but I will say this. Any improvement in the amount or types of plants available will benefit our people as well, and Juosiutik would be well pleased.”

Belissar nodded and made his first choice.

Symbiotic Foraging selected.

In the end, more bees preferred this choice than either of the others and Belissar himself agreed. The benefits it offered both his bees and the flowers were too good to pass up, especially in light of the earlier choices of honeypots and Bee Hybridization. Symbiotic Foraging made both of them better, made his whole Tower better.

He then crossed his arms and began to hum. The next choice was not as simple, as there was ample case for either of the three. Bee Balm offered more nectar for more honey, further boosting the benefit of honeypots, but didn’t offer much new in and of itself. Still, it had the word bee in the name, so it couldn’t be a loss. Bursting Death Camus would strengthen their defenses on its own and offered more potent toxins. It was a choice that could open up new options for bee evolutions and Cross-Pollination…if the bees could forage from it. Symbiotic Foraging might help with that but what if the poison was so deadly no bee could survive long enough to adapt? And then there was the humble clover, which did little by itself or for the bees, but that would improve every other flower in the Tower. More flowers of every type meant more bees, and it meant faster growth for new flower types should they arise. Speaking of which, maybe it could help the newly sprouted flower monster as well?

Belissar grunted and furrowed his brow, pacing a bit. He thought about his bees and what they desired. He thought about the Tower and all the rooms it had. He thought about the different flowers they had available. He thought about the karnuq and what they could do. He thought about the battles they had fought, and were soon to fight. He considered the God of Flowers and the God of Bees. Finally, he made his decision.

Bee Balm selected. Bee Balm is now available!