Chapter 301: Chapter 301

Belissar froze and stood still as a flood of challenger blessed messages filled his vision. A quick glance with his tower sight showed him the Tyhgak’s squad all cheering and playing around with mana wrapping around spears and arrows, while that one karnuq smith was kneeling before the Shrine of Bees with tears in his eyes.

Belissar tilted his head. With Hirkolos also receiving his own blessing, five people had received blessings today. Just enough to reach a goal Belissar had largely forgotten about.

Mission: Help ten challengers receive full blessings completed!

Reward: Rare Bee-type monster choice

Belissar slowly began to smile. He scarcely stopped himself from opening the choice then and there. Only his desire to share the choice with his bees and advisers held him back, he couldn’t help but look forward to their reactions. Tarwantrad would be ecstatic.

However, such things would have to wait, and not only for the convenience of the post-purification celebrations. At that moment, Belissar received an urgent message from the karnuq and bees watching the border with the sigmaka…

“You wish to form an alliance?”

Second Queen Berbiya nodded in response to Chief Rohsuak’s question. The two were sitting a table set up just beyond the rot cap field, with Fourth Queen Pezuya and Metsaitti sitting next to their charges, and a soldier bee standing on the table itself.

“At least this way, we’ll have the chance to train some of our warriors, so that maybe we might have some ability to protect ourselves. And make ourselves even more dependent on the goodwill of a Sacred Den master, but what choice do we have? As it is, I cannot defend us even against the threats we know, much less any greater ones that might appear.”

Berbiya did not respond at first, letting Pezuya’s words hang in the air.

“Perhaps…if all goes well, you will not have to do so alone.”

Pezuya scoffed, but did not object. The two walked the rest of the way home in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

Since Chief Rohsuak wouldn’t meet the sigmaka again today, Belissar put them out of his mind. Not that he could focus on much else besides the choice lingering at the edge of his perception. He hardly paid attention to the daily purification, and barely managed to wait through the celebration.

But now, finally, he was gathered with the queens and the karnuq. Tarwantrad had regretfully declined to join them as she had a prior commitment, but strongly requested Belissar let her know about the new bees as soon as possible.

Tarwantrad or no, though, Belissar smiled as he glanced around.

“We have a reward from the God of Bees, everyone.”

The bees broke out into happy dances while Metsaitti’s and even Chief Rohsuak’s eyes widened a bit. Belissar finally got to open the reward.

Please select a monster:

- Monster Bee Dancer (Rarity: Rare, Type: Bee)

- Monster Bee Berserker (Rarity: Epic, Type: Bee)

- Monster Bee Assassin (Rarity: Rare, Type: Bee)

Belissar smiled at the sight of all rare options and even an epic…until he realized he could only pick one of them. He took a deep breath as he launched in to them.

Monster Bee Dancer was a repeat but he was glad to see it again. He still wasn’t entirely sure what they did, but a bee type that made all other bees better could be a solid choice. Depending on what the other two were, that was.

Monster Bee Berserker

Strength: Below Average

Special: Above Average

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Death Blow, Swarm Rage, Fatal Regeneration, Brood Offspring

Evolves From: Monster Bee Soldier and evolutions

Description: A monster bee soldier evolution. This bee shows no mercy or restraint to enemies of the hive. Upon taking damage or seeing a fellow member of hive take damage, the bee will launch into a rage that will only end when the offender has perished, boosting its strength and the potency of its venom.

Should this bee suffer fatal damage before the enemy has fallen, it will expend everything it has to ensure the enemy’s demise. The bee will burn all its mana and lifeforce powering an immense regeneration that will keep it temporarily active after death and restore missing body parts even from complete destruction. It will use this regeneration to repeatedly sting and rip itself apart, leaving as many stingers to continue pumping venom into its foe as its mana can regenerate. Every blow conducted during this rampage will become a death blow.

Belissar pursed his lips as he looked over the preview. The berserker was a bit larger than a lancer, but where the lancer was sleek and focused the berserker was bulky and thorny. Its chitin was jagged and angular, with sharp edges and points all over its body. Its stinger was heavily barbed with wicked hooks, made specifically to get caught in a foe. It also had huge, serrated mandibles and even its legs had sharp claws. This was bee made for battle.

On the one hand, this was also a bee made to die. It took a bee’s fatal sting to a new level and would only show its true power in its final moments. But on the other hand, what a power that was. This was without a doubt the most powerful individual bee monster Belissar had seen thus far.

It was powerful enough that Belissar felt compelled to consider it even despite its self-fatal tendencies. This could be a powerful defender for his tower, and in the case where such a powerful defender was required, bees would likely die if he didn’t have something like the berserkers. If he could steel himself to raise berserkers, every berserker that fell might save many more of their sisters if they took an invader with them.

Still, Belissar did not like the idea of bees born to die, or encouraging them to do so. He could not help but pause.

Well, he had one more option to consider first.

Special: Below Average

Notable Skills: Poison Sting, Concentrate Poison, Analyze Weakness, Death Blow, Brood Offspring

Evolves From: Monster Bee Soldier

Description: A monster bee soldier evolution. This bee aims for maximum damage with a single sting. It carefully observes its prey with mana-imbued sight, seeking out weak points and blind spots. Once it has determined an ideal location to sting, it concentrates its venom, heightening its potency beyond other soldier types, so that even a single sting may prove deadly. Its stinger is also capable of stabbing deep to strike at vital points within, or puncturing holes through defenses that cannot be fully avoided.