Belissar had just dismissed the soldier bees to prepare for the daily purification when Juosiutik suddenly burst into the Tower. Belissar raised an eyebrow.

“Huh, wonder what she’s doing here? It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”

Then, she began to repeatedly thank the Goddess of Bees and put something in the Shrine of Bees’ chest. Well, Belissar certainly didn’t disprove of that, but he still wondered why she was doing it now, and why she seemed…frantic? Excited? He wasn’t sure.

At least until a moment later, that was.

A challenger has been fully blessed.

Gained 20 DP.

A challenger has selected a blessing unique to your patron.

Gained additional 10 DP.

Belissar gasped and focused back on Juosiutik. She was kneeling before the Shrine of Bees, which was glowing, and had tears streaming down her face. She was repeatedly saying something though as usual Belissar couldn’t hear her speak at the Shrine.

Belissar crossed his arms. On the one hand, he really wanted to ask her what had happened. On the other hand…she didn’t seem in the best of shapes so she might not want to talk? Belissar groaned a bit…and then decided he would at least approach. If she didn’t want to talk she didn’t want to talk, but if she were willing he would very much like to know how she received a full blessing. This was the very first progress that had been made on that particular mission, so any information on how he could assist would be extremely helpful. He started to make his way over, with Niobee and the soldiers following along.

Juosiutik was just starting to gather herself and rise to her feet as Belissar approached. She rubbed her eyes as he walked forward.

“Um, hi. Sorry to bother you.”

She quickly spun around. Her eyes widened slightly.

“Sacred Den Master…”

Belissar was about to respond when she suddenly jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! It’s all thanks to you!”

Belissar, of course, began to panic as he was wrapped in furry arms by a bear woman quite a bit taller than himself.

“Huh? Um, what?”

Niobee flew in front of Juosiutik’s face while the soldier bees began to surround her and extend their stingers. Juosiutik gasped and let go of him, then backed away with her hands raised.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean any offense.”

Belissar shook his head.

“No, it’s…fine. Um, I’m fine everyone, please don’t hurt her.”

Niobee turned sideways to keep an eye on Juosiutik as she danced.

“King sure? Not attacked?”

Belissar shook his head.

“No, not attacked. It’s a human…err, human is what I call myself but what about you?”

Juosiutik nodded.

“Human, huh? For us, we call ourselves the karnuq.”

“Right, it’s a human and karnuq thing, I think? Hugs are a sign of affection for you, right? Actually, why did you hug me?”

Juosiutik flushed and looked away.

“Ah, yes. And I got a bit…excited.”

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Then her face brightened and she held up a water pouch.

“Because of this! Check this out, Sacred Den Master!”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Um, what is it?”

Juosiutik beamed.

“It’s my mother’s old recipe! It’s a potion that simultaneously relaxes, restores, and energizes your body! You can use it to restore fatigue, to stave off exhaustion, to help the body fight off illness, all sorts of things!”

She looked at the pouch. Her eyes began to tear up slightly.

“My mother…passed before she could teach me. The recipe was too hard for me to figure out, and I barely had any of the ingredients left. But with the mana honey you gave me and the sleepy chamomile you’re growing, I was able to recreate it. It’s all thanks to you and the God of Bees.”

She extended her arms and held out the pouch to him.

“Please, accept this. I wanted to give you two the first batch.”

Belissar’s face fell a bit as Juosiutik spoke and felt his chest grow tight. Something from her late mother, huh? He slowly reached out and took the pouch. He took a deep breath as he considered what to say.

“…thank you. I’ll treasure it.”

Juosiutik smiled, nodded, and then wiped her eyes. Belissar waited for a bit before beginning to speak again.

“By the way, I saw you got a full blessing from the God of Bees?”

Juosiutik beamed once again.

“Yes! I offered some to the God of Bees and then she gave me her blessing! I’m a honey herbalist now!”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Honey herbalist?”

Juosiutik nodded.

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s one of the God of Bees’ unique blessings. Chief Rohsuak told us that could happen but that we should only expect the regular ones, so I was surprised! I didn’t even expect to get blessed today! But look, watch this!”

She held out her hand. Mana condensed and grew visible, forming into a familiar hexagonal pattern made of golden light. Honey began to drip from the pattern into Juosiutik’s hand.

“I can make honey now, too! And I’m getting all sorts of ideas on what I can do with it! This is going to be amazing! I can finally become a real potion-maker!”

Belissar was still trying to keep up with the rapid-fire conversation, but eventually caught up and nodded with a smile.

“Ah, congratulations.”

Juosiutik beamed once more.

“Thanks!”

Eventually, Juosiutik said her goodbye and left the dungeon, walking at a normal pace for once. Belissar stood watching the Tower entrance and rubbing his chin. Niobee flew in front of him.

“King, ok?”

Belissar nodded.

“Well, I think I sort of get the blessing thing? Maybe it’s something like the bear people...or karnuq...have to accomplish something? Or was it because she used mana honey…or ingredients from the Tower? Well…I guess I don’t get it after all, but I have an idea of how to help, at least. I think if we help them make and achieve things, maybe that will help with the blessing mission?”

Niobee swayed in the air for a bit before beginning a slow dance.

“King should be careful. Stay safe.”

Belissar smiled at her.

“Thanks, I will. But…I don’t think we have to worry about them. At least not Juosiutik, anyhow.”

“Ok…if King says so.”

With that, Belissar and the bees returned to preparing for the next purification. Belissar considered how he could help the bear people, or rather, the karnuq more. He, perhaps, had already done so by giving them access to food, flax, and herbs, but maybe there was something more he could do? Right now there were a handful of things in his Tower that the karnuq didn’t have access to. The apple trees and wood tree resource nodes of the Orchard, the mana flower and flame radish nodes, and then, of course, the beehives themselves and the honeycomb they produced. Belissar still wasn’t comfortable exposing his bees’ homes to the karnuq and wasn’t about to make a beehive the bees couldn’t use, so honeycomb would still have to go through him, but the others bore thinking about. He, of course, could make mana flower or flame radish nodes right on the spot. As for the Orchard…at the moment he would have to escort them there because of the remnants. Unless he could do something about that…?

He waited for a moment but sadly, no new messages from the Tower appeared. It did not seem he would be able to control remnants outright, at least for now. He had seen a rest zone feature that would block them, which wouldn’t make sense to choose if he could just stop them at will, he supposed.

So yes, he would have to escort the karnuq through the Flower Meadow if he wanted to give them access to the Orchard. Although…he did have an extra room slot open. Couldn’t he make another Orchard and place the door to it right by the entrance? Remnants didn’t appear by the Shrine of Bees or a small area around it, so it would be safe, right? Though, that would only get the karnuq to the Orchard. If they then spread out to gather apples, wouldn’t Remnants start appearing in the Orchard? Belissar might need to guard them anyways in that case.

He put that option aside for now and considered the other options. Flame radishes were a bit expensive and something the karnuq both already had access to and didn’t necessarily need anymore, so that probably wasn’t worth it unless they specifically requested it. On the other hand, mana flowers were something they very much wanted and had no opportunity to receive.

That is, if Belissar was willing to devote a patch of the bees’ most favorite flower to the karnuq’s use. He didn’t want to make something like that that the bees wouldn’t have full access to, but he did have a mission to help the challengers get blessings from the God of Bees herself.

Belissar groaned a bit before deciding to compromise. He made four new patches of mana flowers, one in the karnuq’s gathering zone, one by the Flower Meadow hives, one in the Orchard bee grove, and one in the Apiary. That way, he could be sure his bees had mana flowers to spare before he offered any to the karnuq.

It was a notable hit to his remaining mana, but that’s what the mana was for, in any case.

Belissar decided to be satisfied with that for now, as the purification cooldown was just about ready.