Haecilly stood up, she was hungry and weak. She still remembers how those vile bipeds decided to burn their home. If she's lucky she may come across a living party from the hive.
Thanks to Devon's treasure trove of memory she knows that she is a bee, though, quite different. Pollinators of nature and the spreader of flowers.
Well, her species is quite similar. Haecilly and her hive members would gather fruits and anything with seeds to make honey out of it, throwing the seeds out in the process. Making more trees.
Though this forest was her home her entire life and never dared to go out into the outer world, she needed to fix that attitude and seek out, she cannot let the same thing happen to her hive.
Anger boiled in her, but whenever she remembers the memories of Devon she would calm down, not all humans are bad, but most of the time bad humans tend to shine.
So she decided to be careful and strategize her next move to revive the colony. She looked around and started walking forward, drained of any energy.
Haecilly took a while to go to another part of the unburnt forest, everywhere she goes the burnt remains of her home is only what she sees.
Though saddened, but not discouraged. She walked up to a tree she recognized, it's one of the trees that bear sweet fruits. Since she was weakened, she walked around to see if any fruits had fallen instead of climbing.
And immediately she found some, only three edible as some had worms. She could eat them but the fruit is already rotting. So she stuck to the ones that seemed fresh.
After having her fill she went to find more, encountering multiple trees that bear different fruits. She had her fill and decided to rest for a while.
With her strength back Haecilly started moving again. Trying to find some remnant of the colony, expectedly though, she could find one.
So she continued, now thinking where she could start a new hive and while she was at it, her curiosity piled on the system prompt. So she thought of it, Status.
[Status]
Name/species: Haecilly (Anthobombus Bees)
Title:
Soul Card: [Nature’s Touch], [The Greatest Mindset]
Constitution: C rank
Soul Power:15/30(-15)
Deck Slots:
Active:4 available
Passive:3 available
_________________
When she was a part of the colony, she only accessed this system via instinct, since her intellect isn't that much developed but since she merged souls with Devon, she could now clearly see the System for what it is.
A system for cards.
Haecilly knew cards, well, thanks to Devon. They're for games, entertainment and bonding. Though that's all Devon's memories tell her, so she fiddled around, focusing on her Soul Card which is Nature's touch.
_____
[★★☆☆☆– Nature's Touch]
[Passive]
As the Queen, your nature is to make sure nature thrives. Anything from the nature you touch will be enriching. This passive will be shared with the entire colony.
_____
Haecilly was quick to understand her soul card, she as Queen of the Anthobombus Bees would need nature to survive, so she needs to tend to it as it does to her.
Now, she looked at the other Soul Card, it's a five-star, the highest of all rankings. She was extremely curious about what it does and so she opened it to see its description.
_____
[★★★★★– The Greatest Mindset]
[Passive]
Your experience has moulded this mind to its absolute perfection. Knowledge is your fuel and you are the machine, every bit of information you get will be digested and sorted efficiently
The clarity of your mind is a lull in the ocean, still and quiet. The silence of your mind places your critical thinking skills at their highest function, your curiosity is always followed by theories and hypotheses of neverending thoughts.
You do not give up upon failure, your mental integrity is sturdy as a mountain, never fall to any mental influence.
Failure is not the end, you are not easily discouraged. Your mental integrity is as sturdy as a mountain, illusions and the influence of the mind have no effect on you.
[Active] Mental Map (8SP)
Brain power would be used. All priorities, tasks and future projects will be sorted within the mind. Strategies and tactics will be sorted out in a cohesive thought and will be permanent in the mind until not needed.
1 use per day.
[Active] Clarity (2SP)
Lulls your mind into silence, and gives yourself clarity devoid of any outside influence for 20 seconds.
[Active] Insight (5SP)
With your library of knowledge, every piece of information would be pulled into a category, sorted and analysed instantaneously to give ideas correlating within the given situation.
2 Uses per day
[Due to insufficient Soul Space, it is deducted in Soul Power instead.]
_____
Haecilly could not believe the abilities given by the card. With Devon's knowledge and critical thinking, these Active abilities are something she would consider a cheat.
In any given situation she would never be influenced by outside parties, she could think of ideas in an instant and organise her thoughts with no distractions.
She could see how good they are based on their usage, though she was a bit irked by their limited use but ultimately understanding.
Imagine placing your enemy in a corner and by sheer randomness it manages to flee, although harmed, and later it goes back prepared to defeat you. That's exactly what Devon's soul card could do, being backed up in the corner isn't defeat, his surrender is.
With such thought done and through, she went up and started finding a suitable place to start a hive.
It took a while, considering that the forest is quite large, the terrain not helping in her steps, one even collapsed and she tumbled, thankfully she can tussle and flip herself over.
Her search was finally over when she saw a giant fallen tree, its insides hollow. It was very large inside, she could make do with it.
She walked up to a spot and immediately got to work. Since she'll be very vulnerable when laying eggs, she was annoyed by the fact that she wasn't able to hire some of her colony members before leaving.
They would most definitely protect her while spawning. Well anyways, her abdomen churned and she stood in the same place, her abdomen started the egg-making process.
Whilst she was at it she started thinking, her thought process relating to Devon more than anything else. She was curious about the cards and what they can do in general, what about other cards? Do other beasts have them? While she was a worker bee she didn't encounter any monsters, are there any monsters here? As Devon would think of a "Fantasy world".
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Then she thought, was she aware of herself when she was a worker? Well, apparently not. Could she share the same intellect, if not, then share a bit of it with her offspring?
With [Nature's Touch] could she enrich her colony? It was nature related, she was sure since they were the reason the forest is spreading. She wasn't biting more than she could chew here as it was only a hypothetical thought.
But it's worth a try, she hoped her Soul Card would do such a thing. Could heredity be a thing here? Could she pass her intellect? Or does she need to teach each spawn of hers?
As her thoughts continued to roll with thoughts and Ideas she was snapped out of it by a roar. It was nearer than she liked to be.
She looked around trying to find the source and soon she found the source. A beast, four-legged, fang barred and a scorched left side.
The beast is a carnivore seemingly feline in form, and is a victim of the forest. Its side has no fur, only reddish skin that seems to be healing as it is still raw and fresh.
Haecilly instinctively started buzzing, her wings rapidly flapping. The beast, although acting cautious and wary, is drooling at the sight of her.
It stood at a distance, eyeing Haecilly. Whether it was worth the effort to kill her as a meal. Haecilly wished that it wouldn't just attack, eggs were forming on her abdomen and she is very vulnerable.
Her cards don't have anything to protect her, not yet. She continued, driven by instincts she continued trying to threaten the beast.
It continued for hours, and Haecilly finally felt it. She started laying eggs and she became very vulnerable, she feared the worst. The beast continued gawking.
Thankfully though, Haecilly didn't produce that many eggs, only a meagre five eggs was all she could produce in her weakened state. She released all the eggs on the wooden floor of the giant hollow log.
Now fully facing the beast. She was afraid and anxious, the beast has been eyeing her for hours now and isn't walking away. She sees danger and doesn't know how to fight.
Her gaze focused all around her, she wanted to find leverage. Anything that might be useful to her in case she had to protect her eggs. The beast started walking back and forth, Haecilly has no idea of what kind of behaviour it is displaying, is it irritation? Is it hungry?
Haecilly is getting anxious throughout this event. She continuously buzzed her wings, and now she even stomped her front legs. Trying to get rid of the beast. The beast let out a low growl but continued to maintain distance.
Thanks to Devon's merging with Haecilly, her intellect was upgraded to a whole new league. She could tell that the Beast was not here for a fight now as she could see that its sight sometimes goes to her eggs.
If she was the same Bee back then she would have tried to get closer and intimidate the beast to back away from her and her clutch of eggs. But now she doesn't, if she ever tries to intimidate the beast away she knows it would go ahead and pounce on her eggs for an easy snack.
She could formulate things that she was sure the beast would do. Thankfully, the beast seems to have no idea what Haecilly could do as it was also being careful.
Haecilly continued her set of intimidation and instead of just buzzing her wings, she charged, dashing slightly forward while stomping her legs. The beast of course was surprised by these actions and backed off.
Haecilly continued the intimidation, stomping her legs and dashing forward slightly, making sure the distance between her and her eggs aren't that far away. This continued till the beast was out of the log and she slowly backed away, going back to her eggs whilst facing the direction of the beast.
She needed workers, blocking up the end of this log and then making an entrance to the other, also patching up the other holes would be a good idea. As Haecilly was guarding her eggs, she heard the wood creak but as soon as she turned around, the same beast she tried to shoo away came back, its fangs and claws glowing a bright pinkish-red.
She couldn't move in time, the claws of the beast swung and hit her exoskeleton, it dug in like a hot knife through butter. Haecilly was shocked and in pain, almost stumbled and fell. Fortunately, she didn't. She stood her ground and used her forelegs to stump on the beast which it dodged with ease.
It backed up, the fervent glow on its fangs and claws disappearing after its successful attack. Haecilly was in distress, she didn't know what to do. She was weak and had barely recovered her strength and now she encountered a predator, one that is hungry for flesh.
Her only form of attack is the body that was given to her by birth. Her thick stomping legs, her stinger that she is yet to use. All those weapons of hers are very situational, it can't help if she can't get close to her enemy at all, much less an enemy that could kill her up close.
She groaned as the wounds that the beast created continued to bleed as if a broken dam. She was wondering why this is such the case, but then it is probably the beast's Soul Card. Haecilly clicked her mandibles, she is in a precarious situation, and she'd be lucky if she could fight back.
The beast, however, kept its distance. Not engaging in combat at all. Haecilly surmised that her unrelenting wound would be the reason why. The beast was waiting for her to bleed out.
She was on a timer, assuming that the beast's Soul Card caused her to bleed relentlessly. She would need to be in the attacking rather than defending, should be a simple thing but no, she isn't built for such scenarios.
That got her thinking that she should use her soul card, she only has two. Only one with more windows for use, she skimmed her second card, one that was gifted by Devon. She has three choices, and only one is something she needs. Activating [Insight], she suddenly had herself taken out of her consciousness.
It's like having a dream, it all passed way too fast, the [Insight] gave her a brief glance at everything she has seen before. Everything was being compiled and suggestions appeared in her head, then all the suggestions were being removed as if a process of elimination was in progress.
Within a fraction of a second, she was given the best possible way to deal with the beast. It was avoiding a confrontation, avoiding Haecilly in a tussle. What was the reason? Because it's injured, not only that, the injury was very obvious, the injury being the burn on its side.
She knew what is the best course of action thanks to this. Her stinger has venom, if she was a worker it would be more of an irritant than lethal, but since she’s a queen now her stinger would be more potent as there is a possibility that she would compete against other colony queens.
She moved, she let out her stinger and started squeezing out her venom on the wooden floor, the beast reacted, wary of her action. Her venom has a similar viscosity to water, which is exactly what she wants. Moving backwards she let the venom on the floor spread, this might affect her since she is not exactly immune to her poison but thankfully she isn't in the way of it.
She started buzzing her wings, trying to spread the venom in the direction of the beast. The venom splashed in droplets towards the beast, which didn't know what Haecilly was doing. When droplets of the venom entered its flesh wound it suddenly started reacting, twisting left and right from the pain.
The venom wouldn't be able to kill the beast, but it sure would not go near her again. She thought that this was enough to shoo away the creature, but it seems that pain made it more irrational than she thought. The beast’s claws started to glow pinkish-red again and rushed at her, despite its injury being irritated she just couldn't get it. Why won't it go away after being warned so much?! Desperation is a lethal weapon, Heacilly will experience this directly.
The beast swung its claws towards her, she barely dodged getting a scratch on her already damaged carapace. The pain was bearable, she knew she wouldn't survive if she kept being passive, but then, nobody in the wild does. So she stood her ground and stomped forward, the beast which was attacking got surprised but much less expected it.
It got out of the way as Haecilly immediately, its reaction fast expected from a predator. It swiped its paw towards her face, thankfully when Haecilly charged she didn't commit and the swipe missed. But she didn't stop there, she immediately did it again, placing venom down the floor and using her wings to splash it towards the beast.
It irritated it more, making it more irrational. When it thrashed sidewards, that's where Haecilly attacked. Its eyes away from her gave her all the chance she needed and stomped forward, all six of her legs exerting energy beyond their limit. Thankfully, her attack landed, like a battering ram the beast flew away as its side was slammed.
She didn't stop there, she didn't need an insight that this fight will not be over until the beast is dead, she dashed forward, and the beast stood up, however, it was limping, and its front leg was injured from her ram, rendered useless. She used her wings, even though it was damaged by the forest fire, it was not entirely useless.
Haecilly used it to slightly lift her off the ground and she presented her stinger to the injured beast. It struck and it sunk deep. She didn't waste any time and injected every single bit of venom she have and dashed away. She could immediately see the damage she incurred in that beast. It started roaring for a second and then fell, twitching.
She watched as the beast’s life slowly drain from its eyes. Its futile attempts to try and get up are met with the betrayal of its own body as it doesn't respond at all. It just lay down breathing heavily, each breath much weaker than the last. After 5 minutes it took its last breath and stopped moving.
Haecilly watched with disgust, it wasn't hers, it was Devon’s, the act of killing is not something to be celebrated not for him. The feeling quickly vanished as Haecilly deem it necessary.
[Defeated Prowler, would you like to add its Soul Card [Unrelenting Wounds] to your deck or break it down into essence?]
Haecilly looked at the system prompt, she was curious about the part where the card could be broken down to an essence, but she knew it would be a waste if she do that. So instead, she added the card to her deck, it would be reassuring to have a card that she could use to attack.
[[Unrelenting Wounds] has been added to your deck]
[★★☆☆☆– Unrelenting Wounds{2SP}]
[Active]
The user’s weapons, natural or artificial, will be filled with energy; anything hit with the empowered weapons will be given the effect of grievous wounds. The effect will last for over 1 minute.
___________
Looks like Haecilly guessed it right, the Soul Card of the Beast is the reason why she was bleeding with no signs of stopping. Thankfully though, she now had a mode of attack. But there was a problem, her weapons, which were her stinger and her feet stumps, are very situational. She can’t use them always, especially now that she can't fully fly as her wings are damaged.
She let out a sigh, her wounds itching as they finally stopped bleeding minutes ago. Thankfully, she can store her card in the system deck, a non-tangible object. As she was placing the item she found her eyes widening(metaphorically speaking) as the rating on the card changed.
[Uncommon– Unrelenting Wounds{2SP}]
It became uncommon, what does this mean? Why did it change? Is it because the Soul Card changed into an ordinary card? Are there other prerequisite conditions for these things to happen? Haecilly shook her head, she doesn't have time to think about these things. She’s weak and not in any condition to fight, if she ever encountered another predator she would be sure as dead.
Her gaze landed on the dead body of the beast, her stomach churning, whilst she prefer fruits her stomach could handle meat, after all, bees are omnivores. So without hesitation, she dragged the carcass out of the hollow log and started feasting. Whilst she was feasting on the corpse, she could sense some sort of energy from the meat as she feel it sparse out on her stomach. She felt it merge with her own body, which was nice to feel.
She didn't linger on the carcass though, she ate her fill till she was full and immediately went back to her clutch of eggs, of course, she severed some meat to save for later. Can't have the corpse spread its smell inside the hollow log. She had more work the more she looked around the new possible nest.
She sighed and rested for the moment.
***
Desmond was in a fickle, he joined the Xedark Knights because it was his ambition, to slay monsters and beasts alike for the best of his nation. He didn't like unnecessary slaughter, not at all.
But his position changed, his king assigned him to a prince, in which this prince assigned him to his trusted ally who assigned him to a crazed alchemist. He was given a group of people and was tasked to slaughter creatures this alchemist deemed necessary to his concoction.
His eyes fell on the amount of destruction that fell upon the forest. This place was a treasure as there is no other place in the world that could bore such a green background in one's eyes. Desmond bit his lip, whenever he breathed the freshness of the air filled his lungs, it was so surreal.
If the nobles of the Xedark empire saw this everyone would be scrambling to get a hold of it.
"Did you find it!?"
The voice he didn't want to hear the most echoed in the background, he wished that it would fade away but alas his expectation was betrayed as the words continued.
"Did you find it?! The essence I'm talking about!?"
Desmond faced the man with a crazed expression, this man is what led to this arson in the forest… as the system identifies it. The trees, shrubs and vines all burnt, possibly 1/6th of the forest, the damage they incurred was very significant. Whenever he looked at it he couldn't help but grimace.
"No, I did not."
"Dammit! Are you even looking?! Search the forest more! We need that damn essence! Do you even know how close I am to breaking through?!" The man said in a manic manner.
"Sir Fritz." His eyes gazing down on the alchemist, his eyes were cold and his Will powered by his essence was seeping through. Desmond's aura enveloped the alchemist and the man couldn't help but shudder. "I am a knight. Not your errand boy. This forest does not contain the essence of 'mind' as you call it. As far as we went, not a single beast in that forest could even think close to a human."
"ugh… are you sure you have looked enough?!"
"Are our eyes a mere decoration to you?"
"..."
"Sir Fritz, thanks to a mishap we have to burn parts of the forest. A hive mind of insects almost outnumbered us. Is the essence of a hive mind good for you?"
"Hive mind!? Does it look like I needed something like that?!" The alchemist said in rage and disbelief.
"You said. Sir Fritz." Desmond tilted his body, facing the alchemist. "That we needed the essence of the mind." he took out a card from his grimoire, a utility card that contains essence. "So I took the essence of the hive mind, which is similar to what you wanted, according to my disposition."
"..." The alchemist gritted his teeth and took the Card, summoning his grimoire and adding the card to a selected page. "Hope that you got the right essence," he said with spite and left.
Desmond couldn't help but sneer, some people are just insufferable. Especially that alchemist, he was sure that the rumours about that deranged man sacrificing a human being for his brew would be surely true. If it's up to him he would just return to the capital, back to the Xedark Knights.
But no, he has to maintain his professionalism. He is a man of integrity and standard, he wouldn't fail his mission given because of his personal feelings. That would be unwise for him, who built his career and prestige just to fall because of his emotions he couldn't control.
'Well whatever’
"Captain! Aren't you going back? These [Fruits] are sweet! You should try some!"
"... [Fruits]?"
"Yeah, from the forest. We picked up some of it and we knew they weren't poisonous, so come on have some with us."
Desmond raised a brow, the man was way too casual for his rank. But it didn't matter, the man would follow etiquette when needed and wouldn't cross the line. He wasn't that strict when it comes to manners as long as they give respect when respect is due.
"Let me have some."
Desmond followed his subordinate back to their tent, ready to retire for the day with one last look towards the forest. He liked it here, when he came back to the capital he may ask the Prince if he could have land near this forest.