Two more days came and went. Belissar got a minimum+ strength boost for his soldiers, as well as Hidden Wax Cells. He didn’t particularly have use for them yet but figured he would take them just in case.

Additionally, there were some developments among his bees. The Flower Meadow queens had successfully reproduced, a new generation of queens had joined the Bee Barracks. They would need time before they could contribute any soldiers, but Belissar was already noticing more and more workers in the Flower Meadow, so it seemed to be going well.

Additionally, some of the Apiary queens were waiting for him when he visited this morning. He found some new honey types when he gathered the trays for the day.

Sleepy Mana Honeycomb Tray

- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing sleepy mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of flowers with sedative properties, this honey has relaxing and, in high dosages, sedative effects.

Gelatinous Mana Honeycomb Tray

- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing gelatinous mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of flowers with gelatinous properties, this honey is thicker and retains a semi-solid state unless distrurbed.

Antidote Mana Honeycomb Tray

- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing antidote mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of flowers with restorative properties, this honey can counteract the effects of numerous toxins, including weak mana-based ones.

The bees had successfully made new honey types from the new herbs Juosiutik gave him, which he had somewhat anticipated. However, there was an additional type that he did not expect to find.

Antifreeze Mana Honeycomb Tray

- Description: A tray of honeycomb containing antifreeze mana honey. Made by monster bees with the nectar of flowers from cold climates, this honey maintains its temperature well, and helps the bees that ingest it to do so also.

Apparently, the cloudberries and sweetvetch plants contained some special properties of their own. Which was quite the happy surprise for Belissar.

He offered the first trays of each new type to the Shrine of Bees, then figured he would bring some to Juosiutik in the future. And, if the past was anything to go on, there would soon be some new bee types based on these honeys. He was excited to see them.

It did make him wonder about something, however. He had already seen burning worker bees…but had not received a tray of any sort of burning honey. He took a look inside the hive with his tower sight and found a small patch of red honey. If he had to guess…it seemed like the bees were only making a small amount of honey from the flame radishes, just enough to raise some workers on it. Definitely not enough to fill an entire tray. Belissar thought about why that might be…and then remembered the description of the burning worker bees. Particularly, the part about how their fireproof wax was necessary to store their honey.

The hive in question was not, in fact, made of fireproof wax. So, it was likely the case the bees were being careful with the honey in question.

In any case, his bees were growing well, he was about halfway done making beehouses for the rest of the Apiary queens, and the new flowers were coming into play. The one thing that wasn’t going as well was the small karnuq’s secret deliveries. Belissar had woken up early each day to try and meet her…but she hadn’t appeared yet.

He was currently standing by the Shrine of Bees in the dark hours of the early morning. At this point, he was wondering whether it was worth waking up and waiting each day for her. On the other hand, though, it didn’t seem to be negatively impacting him physically. He didn’t really feel anymore tired or sleepy than normal. Tower magic sure was convenient for that.

And, tonight, his diligence was rewarded. The gates of the Tower slowly opened and in came the karnuq, covered in dirty and carrying the glowing stone. She froze as she saw Belissar, standing by the Shrine.

“…Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar raised his hand and waved.

“Ah, yeah, that’s me. Hi there.”

The karnuq did not respond. They both stood there in silence for a bit until the karnuq raised an eyebrow.

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“Um, can I help you?”

Belissar flushed a bit.

“Oh, sorry. No, um, you’re already helping me. So, I figured I’d help you.”

The karnuq narrowed her eyes.

“Help…me? What do you mean?”

Belissar held out two trays of honey.

“Here. The top one is healing herb mana honey, it will help if you get wounded. The bottom is mad mana honey. It’s, um, a bit poisonous. It causes intoxication…and supposedly paralysis if you eat too much?”

The karnuq frowned and did not move, leaving Belissar holding out the trays. He was about to apologize and take them back when she finally spoke.

“…why are you giving this to me?”

Belissar tilted his head.

“Um, because you gave ground mana flowers to me?”

The karnuq’s eyes widened.

“So…it’s because I did something for you? You’re giving this to me because of what I did?”

“Um, yes?”

The karnuq’s eyes narrowed again. But she reached out and took hold of the trays.

“In that case, I accept. Thank you, Sacred Den Master.”

She took out her bag and found some empty pouches inside. She broke the trays into smaller pieces, stacked them up, and placed them inside the pouches before storing them all in her bag. She then turned to Belissar.

“If you don’t mind…can I pray to your patron now?”

Belissar nodded.

“Oh, yes. That was all I wanted to talk to you about, anyways.”

The karnuq eyed him for a moment before nodding.

“I see. Thanks, then.”

With that, she turned to the Shrine of Bees and placed another flower in the chest, praying in words Belissar couldn’t hear.

Challenger blessed.

Gained 10 DP.

Tribute received. Your patron grants you this portion:

- Ground Mana Flower x1

The karnuq then sighed.

“Not enough, yet, huh? In that case…”

She rose to her feet. She turned and faced Belissar again, looking him in the eyes. He nearly took a step back from the intensity of her gaze.

“I’ll be back again, once I find another.”

Belissar blinked a bit, but then began to smile.

“I look forward to it.”

The karnuq’s eyes widened. She stood there blinking for a bit herself before she shook her head and turned around, leaving without another word.

Belissar, did, in fact, look forward to her return. Combined with the ground flowers offered by the other karnuq earlier, he was now at four of the needed five samples. One more, and he might have a new mana flower for his bees.

With that done, he returned to the Apiary to get a bit more sleep before the sun rose.

***

Metsaitti’s group was exploring the Flower Meadow once again. Another shade appeared and this time Metsaitti said nothing, stepping back. The two spear wielders charged forward while the archers drew their bows. The archers released with perfect timing, such that the arrows landed just as the shade was about to move. The shade yelped…and was thus distracted as the other two karnuq lunged forward. One spear stabbed through its torso while the other struck its head, and then the shade vanished. Metsaitti nodded as he watched.

Three of the hunters turned to each other and grinned, but one of the archers had his eyes fixed forward.

“Hey, does anyone else see that?”

The other karnuq turned to look. The spearwoman gasped.

“Is that?”

The other spearman, Tyhgak, smiled.

“That’s the mana honey, right?”

A large piece of honeycomb was just lying there on the grass, without a monster bee in sight. Metsaitti nodded but said little else. Tyhgak happily stepped forward before skidding to a halt.

“Wait just a minute…”

He began poking the ground ahead of him with his spear while slowly creeping forward. Suddenly, his spear shot poked right through the ground…which vanished to reveal a pit trap. Metsaitti made a slight smile. The boy was learning after all. As was the Sacred Den Master.

Tyhgak and the other spearwoman nodded at each other and both began circling the pit trap in either direction. As soon as they reached the end of the pit trap, they found another on either side. And then another pair.

The honeycomb was completely surrounded by pit traps, such that there was no way to reach it on foot. Metsaitti chuckled.

“It looks like we found our first challenge from the Sacred Den Master.”

Tyhgak frowned.

“How are we supposed to get it, then?”

Metsaitti shrugged.

“That’s what you’re supposed to figure out.”

Tyhgak rubbed his chin, then suddenly smiled and turned to Metsaitti.

“Can’t you just jump over the pits?”

Metsaitti shrugged again.

“I can, if you don’t want any of the honey, that is.”

Tyhgak frowned again. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He and the other karnuq grouped up and Tyhgak turned to the spearwoman.

“Can you make the jump?”

She just stared at him.

“No, no I can’t.”

“What if we give you a boost?”

She sighed.

“How am I supposed to get back afterwards?”

Tyhgak frowned again.

“Oh, right. Um, what if you take a rope with you?”

“Did you bring any rope?”

“Um, no?”

“Did anyone?”

The archers shook their heads. Metsaitti couldn’t help but chuckle as he listened in. He remembered his first Sacred Den challenge. These kids didn’t know how easy they had it, this Sacred Den Master was far less violent and cruel than some others he had known.

In the end though, the group concluded they didn’t have the tools. They hung their heads as they turned away from the honeycomb. Metsaitti raised an eyebrow.

“Giving up?”

The spearwoman sighed.

“What other choice do we have?”

Metsaitti shrugged as the group hung their heads. Then he ran towards the pits and leapt across, just making it to the other side. He opened his bag, grabbed an empty pouch of sufficient size, then wrapped up and stored the honeycomb. He then leapt back over. The young hunters were staring at him. Tyhgak began to smile.

“Metsaitti…”

Metsaitti gave him a grin.

“Oh, this is for me. You’ll have to get your own.”

The hunters all groaned.

“Come on, that’s not fair!”

Metsaitti dropped his grin.

“And that’s the lesson. You need to be prepared to encounter the unexpected. If you are not ready to take advantage of an opportunity, you will lose it. And if you are not ready to handle a threat…”

Metsaitti let them finish the sentence as he walked off. He nearly stopped as he licked a bit of the honey off his finger.

He decided was all too pleased to teach the next generation this important lesson.