The Bee Dungeon

The Firstborn pulled up into the sky, gathering her mana around her stinger. She dove down as the soldiers had taught her. She pulled up shortly before the target, one of the karnuq’s iron slabs, and curled her body to thrust her abdomen forward. Her mana flared and molded over her stinger before shooting forward, striking the slab.

She had done it. She had mastered the mana stinger technique displayed by karnuq blessed by the Queen of All Bees.

She knew it was not enough.

Dance had reached the Firstborn of great events, first the Fourth of the Seventh and now the First of the Fifth had both evolved. Two of the queens that lead portions of the hive of hives had evolved into new forms more powerful than anyone had ever seen before. The Firstborn rejoiced, for their evolutions were well-deserve and promised great benefit for the hive of hives as a whole. Yet…she could not help but feel certain expectations now turning her way. She could not help but notice her fellow barracks queens spending more and more time watching her training, or the increasing number of scouts from the rest of the hive of hives checking in on her.

Still, the Firstborn put such things aside and focused. The hive of hives was not a competition. She would evolve if and when she evolved; ultimately, her goal was to protect the King and the hive of hives. She could do that evolved or not, so she focused her thoughts on better fulfilling that mission.

But for both the sake of protecting the hive of hives and possibly evolving, she knew that this mana stinger technique was not enough. For the karnuq, who lacked stingers entirely, the technique gave them a powerful attack and brought them closer to the Queen of All Bees. For the Firstborn, it merely built on what she already had. The technique certainly boosted the damage she could do, but it alone was not enough for her to join the battle. She was still too slow and vulnerable, a powerful sting meant nothing if she couldn’t get close enough to deliver it.

Her thoughts turned to the hive of hives and the Fourth of the Seventh. She thought of the reports on the Fourth of the Seventh’s new capabilities, how she could generate wind from her wings to boost her own speed.

The Firstborn wondered if she could do something similar. She beat her wings and tried to concentrate her mana within them. She knew that Beero had used her wings to help channel her magic stings, so she knew it should be possible. Likewise, mana could replicate a stinger or create honey, so the Firstborn thought it should also be possible to do something with the wings.

She beat her wings again and the air hummed, a light gust blowing about. She danced about once. It hadn’t done anything yet, but it was proof of concept. She would work on that from now on and determine if she could boost her speed enough to match her soldiers.

She left the metal slab for the rest of the army to practice on and moved to a less crowded area, since she would need space if her efforts succeeded. There, she found a newcomer to the army. The King-like being that had recently joined the hive of hives rode on the back of his giant, flying lizard, now participating in the bee army’s training. He was practicing flying in formation with the bumblebee soldiers and leading them in a charge like the one he performed during the purification. He held up a smaller metal slab in front of his face.

The Firstborn was about to refocus on her own efforts when the King-like being’s mana began to flare, drawing her attention once more. A honeycomb pattern like the ones used by the King and the hive of the fallen appeared before his slab. However, whereas the King’s would then turn into honey or spell bees, while the hive of the fallen’s would turn into mana stingers, this honeycomb pattern persisted as it was. It began to grow and stretch out over the slab. The Firstborn’s wings beat faster as she saw the honeycomb begin to solidify, forming what appeared as a glowing layer of chitin over the slab and the King-like being before extending to the flying lizard below…

At that point, the King-like being groaned and the entire mana construct dispersed. But the Firstborn’s wings continued beating hard as she considered what she had just seen. The karnuq replicated stingers with mana, the Fourth of the Seventh boosted her wings, while the King and the dangerous one made honey. But why should the magic of the Queen of All Bees be limited to just those? Could she perhaps boost her chitin, improving her defenses to the point that she didn’t need to dodge? Could she improve her eyes, antennae, and other senses so that she could begin reacting to enemy attacks earlier?

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She immediately dove into her work, focusing back on her wings for now, but she resolved to try chitin and then other parts of her body if she managed to succeed. She now had countless methods she could attempt to become stronger and that was all she needed. For whether she evolved or not, the Firstborn would become the best defender of the hive of hives she could possibly be.

Beero stood before the newest soldier of the fallen, their first comrade from among the digging bees. She reached out with her mana and the soldier reached out with hers. The mana of two separate hives collided and both bees instinctively buzzed their wings. Neither had any reaction beyond that and continued to press their mana against the other’s.

Beero then began to twist her mana into the other bees. It was not dissimilar from dancing her mana into spell shapes, but at the same time it was a far more delicate operation. It was not enough for the two mana types to move in concert, she needed to find places where it connected instead of clashed and shift the mana towards them. She moved slowly and gently, the process of a non-hive mate moving a bee’s mana could be deeply uncomfortable if she wasn’t careful. The process was made all the more difficult by the sheer difference between their mana types, the digging soldier’s Ground mana was firm and unyielding compared to the energetic and flowing types Beero was used to manipulating.

But she continued on with all of the precision and patience she had learned since the day she was wounded and her efforts were not in vain. Eventually, the two bees’ mana stopped clashing and began to flow once more.

“Queen of Fallen?”

The digging soldier remained still but Beero could feel her mana dance. She replied in kind.

“Yes! Can hear!”

She waited to see if the digging soldier had received her own mana dance. It only took a moment before the soldier began dancing about.

“Can hear Queen of Fallen! Amazing, incredible!”

Beero soon joined her in the celebratory dance. She had done it. She had learned how to blend the mana of different hive mates together. She could now perform communicate with her hive as queen should, without assistance.

The Fourth of the Seventh’s drone, overseeing her attempt, brushed her antennae with his own.

“Good job! Amazing, incredible!”

Beero then paused her dancing. The drone had joined her in celebrating, but something felt off.

“Drone ok?”

The drone stopped before quickly launching into a confirmation dance.

“Fine!”

But Beero could not be deceived. Her mana senses were some of the best in the Tower. And since the Fourth of the Seventh’s drone had been connecting her to the hive of the fallen for some time now, she was especially in tune with his mana in particular. She could tell that something was bothering him.

“Sure? Drone helped a lot, taught how to be queen. If drone needs help, want to help.”

The drone paused. His antennae started to droop, so Beero brushed them with her own. Eventually, he slowly started to dance.

“Happy Beero learned, can be queen now. But now…Beero doesn’t need drone to help. Hive of hives won’t need drone to help. Is good thing but…want to help more. Not sure how.”

Beero froze. That was true, wasn’t it? If queens or even soldier types like her could learn to blend the hive of hives mana together, then they wouldn’t need the drones to do that task. In teaching her this, the drone had eliminate his primary task. He’d be stuck waiting around for the next set of princesses to be born…at which point…he’d…

Beero’s wings began to buzz and her mana crackled. The drone stepped back in surprise while Beero controlled herself. She looked at him and made her decision. She, the cripple who had crawled her way back to purpose, would not make another bee feel useless. Especially not one who had done so much for her.

“Drone, want to learn magic? Drone is really good at blending mana, should be good at!”

The drone stood still for a while before finally replying.

“Learn…magic? But…can’t make mana by self…”

The drones didn’t seem to recover their mana on their own, but Beero already knew that.

“Is fine! Get more when drink honey! And can share mine! Know how to give mana to other bees!”

The drone, however, did not dance a confirmation just yet.

“But…will take honey from Beero’s hive, use Beero’s hive. Is waste…”

Beero’s wings crackled with sparks once more.

“Is not waste! Was waste for hive of hives to feed crippled soldier, but King said do anyways! So learned to be useful again so didn’t waste! Drone not waste, helped soldier become queen! If drone wants do more will help find a way! Is what hive of fallen does!”

The drone stood still once again, staring at Beero for a long time. Eventually, he began a slow dance with unsure steps.

“…ok. Please teach how to use.”

Beero’s mana calmed down and she danced about.

“Will!”

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