The Bee Dungeon

The First of the Fifth watched as a honeypot finished the last round of processing for the newest honey and workers started transferring the product to their cells. She followed the first worker of the bunch and crawled over to the cell once it was full. She dipped her proboscis in and took a sip before buzzing her wings.

This honey was the best she had ever produced. Twice now the King had spread the power of the Queen of All Flowers through the fields, while the gardeners reported a successful hybrid of the mana flower and the bee balm had finally bloomed. The result was a flower that produced nectar unlike anything they had ever gathered before, so full of mana and nutrients in its base form that the First of the Fifth had initially worried if it could even be processed any further. The mana bee balm then produced this nectar in such quantities that a single one could nearly supply a basic monster bee hive all on its own, if the nutrient dense nectar could be spread out enough for the number of proboscises.

The First of the Fifth had put this through her well-sorted production lines, passing it between multiple honeypots to bring its mana content to the absolute limit with a handful of breeze and burning workers coordinating to manage the drying climate with immaculate precision. The result was the sweetest, most nourishing, and most mana dense honey her hive had ever produced, over twice as much in nearly every category as the previous best.

And yet…it was not enough. That result was simply to be expected when working with such a potent nectar. It was fundamentally no different than any honey she had made before. It took no steps on the path to greater honey she now sought. She would not even begin to approach the honey of the Queen of All Bees if she remained content with this.

She began pacing in circles as she considered what to do. Her children were not at fault, they were working to the best of their abilities and their instincts and following her instructions to the step. Every aspect of her hive, from the scouting and the foraging to the production and storage were all working at maximum efficiency. Communers placed within the very same hive, at ranges where they weren’t strictly necessary, ensured there was absolutely no delay in adjusting to any problems or changing conditions.

Which meant that the answer must lie with her. An answer that Frelis and the Fourth of the Seventh had already proven abundantly clear. Her children were already working as best they could, it was the queen’s job to break the limits of their instincts and find new paths to take. She needed to get involved.

The question was how? A queen was no better suited to honey production than a worker or a honeypot, so it was not as simple as her joining one of the lines. The Firstborn had been attempting that with the soldiers’ role and had been forced to consider alternate methods when she couldn’t keep up. So, the First of the Fifth considered the Fourth of the Seventh. She had gone to join her scouts in their role, yes, but that was not all she had done. She had gone and prepared a second hive out in the Beyond for her scouts to use. She had found a way to perform the role of a queen within the role of a scout.

Perhaps that was the answer, then? She had to determine how her abilities as queen could apply to honey production beyond simply mimicking the workers and honeypots. A way that she, and only she, could elevate that process.

There was an immediate answer. For monster bees, a queen had to imbue honey with her own mana in order to create the royal jelly necessary to raise new queens. The First of the Fifth looked at the cell of honey before her. She could easily elevate the honey to royal jelly with a simple imbuement of her mana, so she instead considered how she could do more.

She pulsed her mana, calling for the nearest communication drone, who arrived shortly thereafter. She recalled her conversations with the dangerous one on novel methods of processing honey. The dangerous one had mentioned that seemingly unrelated actions could impact the results of her mixtures, occasionally requiring her to alter mixing methods or even dance around. When the First of the Fifth considered how Beero could manipulate her mana through dances, that seemed like an obvious method to try.

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So, rather than imbuing the honey directly, the First of the Fifth had the communication drone slowly siphon a strand of her mana and connect it to the honey’s own, and then began to dance. She watched through the drone’s eyes as her mana shifted the honey’s, stirring both up as they combined. A chaotic mixture creating swirls and bubbles.

She hated it. So, she adjusted her dance, varying her steps and speed and watching how the honey’s mana reacted. She changed the rate at which her own mana flowed out of her, flaring and restricting it.

And then…the honey popped. A bubble had formed in its mana that burst out. Half the honey had spilled out of the cell, while mana rapidly drained out of the honey that remained. When it was finished, the honey was now less mana dense than some of her very first batches.

But the First of the Fifth did not give up. She tried this process again and again, burning through countless cells of precious honey. Until, eventually, she began to notice a power. A combination of steps and variations in speed and mana flow that made the chaotic swirl more orderly. That created structures within the mana which could store even more.

This one blew up too. But it hinted that the First of the Fifth was on the right track. And then…eventually…she managed to complete a dance and an imbuement without the honey exploding.

What lay before her eyes was a cell filled with glowing honey, the likes of which she had never seen before. Her wings slowly fluttered as she gently extended her proboscis to take a sip. Her whole body shivered as the honey passed through, resonating with a tiny spark that had lit when she tasted the Queen of All Bees’ honey.

This was it. A new kind of honey of a fundamentally superior quality to any she had made before. Her instincts told her that this would be suitable. This was the honey that could not only raise a queen, but that could evolve one.

She broke out into a happy dance. It was only the first small step, but she had finally progressed on the path of honey. She could finally offer something to the King that no normal bee could.

And in that moment, she felt her mana stir, especially the spark within. Her instincts drove her, nearly taking over as she ordered the construction of a new, much larger cell that she began filling with the new honey. She came to herself just in time to realize what she was doing.

She was about to evolve. But with sheer force of will, she tore herself from the cell and to the closest communer. The King had tasked her with many roles on behalf of the hive of hives. Feeding the other hives, managing the evolutions of the other queens, promoting and categorizing cross-pollinations, and more. She could not and would not abandon those tasks without his permission, not even for her own evolution. Still, she could not ignore her instincts entirely, so she asked the Conduit for help and advice.

What came back was the voice of the King, reverberating through her mind.

“Definitely! I can’t wait to see you evolve!”

The First of the Fifth trembled. Rather than giving her advice, apparently the Conduit had just asked the King directly. And against all of the First of the Fifth’s concerns, the King had agreed. No, he encouraged her to do this. He was looking forward to seeing what resulted.

The First of the Fifth could no longer resist her instincts. She devoted all efforts to filling the cell with honey. Once that was done, she sent a quick message to her daughters to keep an eye on things, crawled inside, and curled up before her workers sealed her inside.

She expected to drift to sleep, but instead the honey began to brighten with a golden light. When she could no longer see, the light flashed…and then a hive unlike any other stretched out before her. She saw the Queen of All Bees standing before her.

She tried to dance a salute but the Queen of All Bees danced first. She told the First of the Fifth of her potential and what she could become. The First of the Fifth saw a queen standing above all others, one who birthed and commanded queens as if they were workers. A queen of queens who formed a hive out of hives.

The First of the Fifth rejected this immediately, recoiling as she danced her refusal. She was already a part of a hive of hives and they already had someone who stood over them. The King was the king of queens and the one who led the hive of hives. The First of the Fifth would have no other, not even herself. And knowing how the King loved and favored all queens, she would not elevate herself among them. Not unless the King commanded her so.

The Queen of All Bees did not respond to her refusal, instead immediately moving on to her next dance. The First of the Fifth saw herself in her own hive, poring over each and every cell. She saw trays full of glistening, glowing honey, full of every type and color. She saw bees and beasts and King-like beings all scrambling and fighting for even a single taste of what she could produce.

She immediately began a happy dance, seeing what could result if she continued on the path of honey. The Queen of All Bees danced a confirmation and then the First of the Fifth’s vision went dark as she fell into a deep slumber…

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