Belissar sat back against one of the trees in the Flower Meadow, taking a deep breath as breeze spread the scent of flowers through the air. He watched as bees moved from flower to flower, carrying nectar back to their hives. He watched as they flew in and out of the pit traps, coating the floors and walls in wax in case Belissar needed to light them on fire again.
“Well...now what?”
He had spent as much of his mana as he was willing to at the moment. He couldn’t make any more rooms at present. He had a bunch of traps already. He had eight monster bee queen spawners, and the queens were hard at work setting up their colonies. The Apiary had made some honeycomb, but Belissar didn’t really know what to do with them.
Well, as a beekeeper he knew plenty of things he could do with them. The honey had a lot of culinary and even medicinal uses, while beeswax could be used to make sealants, salves, candles, and other products. He even heard some of the Tower Lords’ wives could use it for beauty products.
But most of those weren’t useful for the defense, save for the candles. Maybe he could use the honey as bait for a trap if the shades of the Hunger found it appetizing. But the Hunger itself would consume everything, the trap included, so he wasn’t sure if its shades cared about food specifically.
Without anything better to do, he went ahead and checked the dungeon status. Maybe there was something else there he had missed.
Dungeon Status:
Rooms: 2/2
Floors: 1
Mana: 81/200
DP: 1
Available Monster Types: Monster Bee Queen, Monster Bee Soldier
Available Room Types: Flower Meadow, Apiary
Core Corruption: 36%
Dungeon Master: Belissar
Dungeon Conduit: Niobee
Current Missions: None
Belissar blinked. There were, in fact, some changes from the last time he had checked. The core corruption had gone down by a percent, which was a relief as core corruption didn’t sound like anything good. But more importantly, there was a new value that wasn’t there before.
“DP? What’s that?”
Dungeon Points: Used for various upgrades or to acquire more choices. Awarded for ongoing purification, remnant defeat, challenger activity, or at the discretion of the dungeon’s patron god.
Belissar tilted his head. He, again, had more questions. Upgrades? Choices? And then remnants and challengers were mentioned once again. Not to mention...the patron god.
Belissar frowned. He hadn’t really thought about it with everything going on but...the God of Bees had chosen him and become this Tower’s patron. He wondered if he should do something for her...or him? He didn’t know anything about the God of Bees but her seemed more likely given what he knew of bees. Should he be worshiping somehow? Offering sacrifices? Praying?
His little village had their rituals and whatnot, but they were too small for a priest or anything. The worship of the gods was centralized around the Towers, so a village on the far frontier like his own was the last one on the minds of the faithful. Besides, it was not the place of the unwashed masses to come before the gods. That was the role of the chosen Tower Lords and the devoted priests, to act as the bridge between the gods above and the common folk below. So, the only thing Belissar’s village was ever told about the gods was that the Tower Lords required extra tribute from them, so they could make the appropriate offerings.
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Except...now Belissar was one of those Tower Lords...and he had no idea what to do. He wished he did. Beyond just the general avoidance of smiting, the God of Bees had chosen him. She believed in him enough to forgive his defilement of a Tower and had granted him her blessing. Belissar thought he should thank her somehow, at the very least.
Just then, he heard a sound directly in his head. A chime, like the sound of a bell.
New mission received: Pray at a Shrine of Bees
Belissar blinked at the words in front of his eyes...and then began to tremble. That...that mission had to be from the God of Bees, right? Did she hear him? Was she listening to his thoughts? Was she listening to him right now?!
But in any case, she had given him a task, apparently, one that seemed to answer his question. So, he stood up, and made his way to one of the statues that had appeared when he received the Blessing of Bees. He figured that had to be what “Shrine of Bees” referred to.
He then paused and made his way to the Apiary. He gathered up a bunch of the honeycomb produced by the beehives. He didn’t really know how to pray to a god or anything, but he figured he at least shouldn’t show up empty handed, since the Tower Lords mentioned offering tribute and all. He didn’t know if the honeycomb produced by the Apiary would be to her liking, but it was the best thing he had at present. He then walked to the Shrine of Bees in the Apiary and placed the honeycomb in the chest before the statue. He then knelt down on his knees and bowed his head.
“Um, I’m sorry, I don’t really know how this is supposed to go but, um, God of Bees, if you can hear me? Um, thank you for your Blessing, and not smiting me for defiling one of your Towers. I’m, uh, not really sure what I’m doing here but I’ll,try my best?”
Belissar winced with each word he spoke. Even he could tell that was no prayer anyone would approve of.
But the sphere held by the statue started to glow softly, bathing Belissar in warm light. The chest began to shine bright for a moment, flashed once, and then fell dark. Belissar slowly reached for it and opened the lid.
He blinked. The honeycomb had all disappeared. Lying in the chest in their place was...an axe and a saw?
Mission: Pray at the Shrine of Bees completed!
Reward: One Woodcutting Axe, One Woodcutting Saw
New mission received: Build a beehouse
Belissar lifted the axe up out of the chest with both of his hands. He looked at the words before his eyes, then down at the axe, then up at the Shrine of Bees. He glanced back and forth several more times.
“You want me, to build a beehouse? You mean like...the ones I used to?”
The shrine glowed a bit brighter. Belissar blinked a few more times. That...was not the mission he expected to receive. His first purification had failed because he had spent his time trying to make beehouses instead of doing Tower Lord things. Shouldn’t he continue doing Tower Lord things now? Worshiping the gods, purifying the lands, defeating the Hunger, mustering the troops?
But the Shrine continued glowing, the axe remained in his hand, and the mission stayed unchanged in the dungeon status. Belissar looked up at the statue above him and then nodded.
“Um, ok. I’ll, uh, do my best?”
The Shrine grew bright once more in a flash of light, and then fell dim. Belissar took a deep breath and then rose to his feet, picking up the axe and the saw. Well, at least this was something he knew how to do, if not why he was doing it. Besides, if this is what the God of Bees said she wanted, then who was he to question her? So, he grabbed his tools and got to work. He found a tree none of the bees were using and began to chop away at it.
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While Belissar began working to acquire some wood, the bees spread across the Flower Meadow. With over a dozen colonies at this point, the field was getting rather crowded, and so the workers spread out further and further. Eventually, they began to reach the edges of the field in all directions and reached the two doors on either side. Those that reached the Apiary door went no further, for such was the territory of the next generation and so not a good direction to expand their efforts.
But the ones who reached the gateway leading outside the Tower had no such qualms. A group of scouts gathered in the air before the gates...and the gates began to open on their own, leading to the outside world. The scouts flew outside...and found a world of plenty. Green grass now covered the ground, shoots of various plants continued to grow, and even some flowers had started to bloom. Flowers of colors and shapes the bees had never seen before, far different from the dandelion field that was all they had ever known. The workers began to fly around excitedly and land on each of the flowers in turn, sampling the nectar and its suitability for honey-making. Some flew back to report their findings, while others spread out even further, exploring the land the Tower had purified and reclaimed from the Hunger...