“In that case, why don’t you tell me about your dungeon? What sort of rooms do you have, and what sort of flowers? And what sort of bees? Especially the bees! I’ve not seen bees like these ones before! They appear to be a monster variant of honeybee, specialized for combat, perhaps, based on the chitin and stingers. Fascinating! Oh, I’m getting carried away, aren’t I? Of course, you only need show me as much of your dungeon as you are comfortable with, I do not mean to intrude.”

Tarwantrad had apparently been holding back until confirming he’d keep the door open, and now she unleashed a flood of questions. Belissar blinked as he raced to keep up.

“No, it’s fine. Yeah, these are monster bee soldiers, raised by the hive to protect the Tower, or dungeon?”

Tarwantrad shrugged.

“Each people has their own name for them. The Compact took to calling them dungeons as a common name the dungeons themselves use, but please feel free to use whatever name is most familiar to you.”

Belissar shook his head.

“I see. It’s just…there’s a lot I don’t know about dungeons. I was just a peasant beekeeper before this.”

Tarwantrad tilted her head.

“Yes, I too spent a few decades on various pursuits before taking up a dungeon, but I think that’s not what you’re saying? Did your people not intend for you to take up their defense?”

Belissar shook his head.

“No, they definitely did not. They tried to kill me to keep from it and tried again to take it away from me.”

Tarwantrad’s face darkened.

“That’s horrifying. Are humans truly that shortsighted and violent? I had thought the records and legends to be exaggerating.”

Belissar’s face scrunched up.

“Well…not all of us, but a lot of us, from what I’ve seen. I’m just glad my Tower moved far away from them, so at least I’ll have some time to prepare for the next attempt.”

Tarwantrad gave him a worried look and took a deep breath.

“All the more reason for us to work together then, and make sure your dungeon is well defended. Please, tell me how I can help you, Belissar.”

Belissar blinked at her, uncertain of what to say. She…wanted to help him? Just like that? The karnuq didn’t volunteer help for the Tower until they became his sworn defenders. Even Mrs. Imkomos had him help out with her apiary in exchange for feeding and housing him. He guessed he was leaving the door open in exchange, though. She did say something about that being really important for her people, so in that vein it made sense she’d also want to help keep his Tower around.

Having reassured himself that she did have a reason to want to help, Belissar rubbed his chin.

“Hm, honestly, any kind of flowers will help. The bees evolve themselves based off of special flowers…”

Tarwantrad suddenly leaned forward.

“I’m sorry, but did you say your bees evolve based on the flowers? As in, they drink nectar and suddenly change?!”

Belissar blinked again at the interruption before slowly nodding.

“Ah, yes. Well, it takes a little more than that. They have to process the nectar into special kinds of honey, then either raise new bees in it or go back into a cell and evolve with it. And, uh, it can get difficult with certain honey types. I know the Third of the Sixth struggled a bit with the fire honey…”

Tarwantrad leaned in even further, her eyes now fixed in an intense stare on him.

“They make honeys unique enough to fuel an evolution? They made fire honey? I’m guessing that means some sort of honey filled with Fire attribute mana?”

Belissar gulped.

“Um, yes?”

Tarwantrad suddenly began rubbing her chin and muttering to herself.

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“I…see. Maybe that explains why Urubran got the mission first. Fire attribute honey…”

Belissar glanced about, taking a bit of comfort in the bees starting to hover closer to him.

“Is that not normal? Well, I guess even more not normal than Towers already are.”

Tarwantrad turned an intense gaze back to him once more and shook her head.

“No, it is not. I don’t harvest much honey from my honeybees, and my dungeon relies more on other bee species in the first place. From what I’ve seen, though, my honeybees do produce unique types of honey when they gather from magical plants, but nothing like what you’re describing. Nothing with enough mana to change their fundamental nature. In fact, my honeybees tend to prefer mundane flowers that bloom in greater quantities, and avoid those with especially exotic magical properties. Anything that could produce a Fire mana-imbued honey would probably have warded them off.”

Belissar stared blankly for a second.

“Oh. Well…maybe it’s because I started with monster bee queens? Now that I think about it, they were making mana honey from the start, even before they found mana flowers.”

Tarwantrad rubbed her chin again and nodded.

“Ah, that could explain it. If your bees were already touched by mana, then they’d be more receptive to it in general. I would guess that having the God of Bees as your patron is also having a significant influence here.”

Belissar thought about his blessing and the Tower stepped in to help. He focused in on a specific line.

Blessing of Bees

- Bee monster upgrades and evolutions are now cheaper and easier to unlock

He nodded back to Tarwantrad.

“Yes, it says the blessing of bees makes it easier for bee monsters to evolve.”

Tarwantrad nodded, then spent a few minutes in silence before snapping up to look at him again.

“I see. Am I correct in assuming your dungeon is centered around bees as its main defenders, with flowers as a supporting feature to feed them and drive their evolutions?”

Belissar nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Tarwantrad smiled.

“Got it. In that case, I can definitely help you. Would you mind telling me what sort of flowers you have and what kind of bees have resulted?”

For a brief moment, Belissar considered how much of his Tower he should share about before shrugging it off. He was already trusting Tarwantrad with an open door to his Tower at this point and she apparently wanted to help him fight off the Tower Lords. The more he shared about his flowers and bees, the more useful the flower she would give him would be.

Besides, the way her eyes lit up whenever he described his bees made him want to share more about them.

“Well, we started with normal flowers like dandelions and lilies, but then my bees found some mana flowers. Those are their favorite, I think monster bees need mana in their honey so they prefer plants that have it in their nectar. I got some kind of healing herbs, poisonous flowers, and flax from a basic resource plant feature.”

Tarwantrad nodded along.

“A good way to get started if you don’t have access to a decent variety, though I have better results with those I raise myself.”

Belissar rubbed his chin for a second.

“That’s true for us too, with the cross-pollination and all.”

Tarwantrad turned her gaze to him once again, leaning so far forward the bees began to buzz.

“Did you say, cross-pollination? As in, you’ve raised new cultivars by your bees cross-pollinating them. Your mana-filled monster bees foraging from mana flowers?”

Belissar took a step back out of reflex.

“Y-Yes? I, uh, got a perk for it and my bees have been using it to raise new flower types. Mostly mana-filled versions of the special normal flowers, like the healing herbs. Oh, that’s also how we got fire mana flowers, come to think of it. They cross-pollinated the mana flowers with flame radish.”

Tarwantrad’s eyes went as wide as they would go. She then shut them close, clasped her hands in front of her, and took a deep breath, exhaling it very slowly. She opened her eyes again to once again stare intently at Belissar, causing him to take yet another step back. She winced when she saw that and her face softened.

“Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you. I was overwhelmed by the sheer possibilities of what you’ve described to me. Mana-touched bees that can evolve based on the characteristics of the plants they forage from, and who can in turn raise new types of plants by cross-pollinating them.”

Her gaze turned intent once again, though she made sure to smile this time, and did not lean forward.

“Belissar, after the first flower I offer you, we must arrange an exchange. What your bees could do for my dungeon and what your bees could do for yours with my flowers…I think there is no limit for either of our dungeons’ growth were we to cooperate.”

Belissar, however, frowned.

“I…can definitely see the potential. But, it sounds like you’re saying we should trade monsters?”

Tarwantrad nodded. Belissar glanced up at Niobee and the bees all around him before continuing.

“I…would have to think about that. I wouldn’t want to make any of my bees move out of their home. I know they’d do it if I asked, so I’d have to figure how to find out if any of them would be willing…”

Belissar hung his head for a second before taking a glance at Tarwantrad. To his surprise, she was smiling warmly at him.

“You truly love your bees, don’t you? Were it not for your own admission otherwise, I would assume you to be one of the fair peoples for that depth of care.”

She looked him in the eye, drawing in his own gaze.

“I fully agree with your intentions, so please, take as much time as you need to speak with your bees. However, I will swear to you this. I will do all that is within my power to ensure that any bees that move from your dungeon to mine will be happy and well-cared for, and I will show you the arrangements I make for them so that you may be reassured. I hope that you will do the same for any flowers I offer you.”

Belissar held eye contact for a moment before slowly beginning to nod. Maybe, just maybe, he might be ok with sending his bees with this person. And if he was, well, Tarwantrad already said it herself. The potential for cooperation between a Tower of bees and a Tower of flowers was endless.