The karnuq hunting group had finished their preparations and left the Tower. Belissar watched them a bit through the digging worker’s eyes, but they didn’t go very far today. They stopped at the tunnel down underground and set up a small camp next to it. Metsaitti and Belissar tested the link, he found he could speak with them and could remain aware of the karnuq’s general location and status but had trouble seeing through them like he did with his bees. So, the digging bee would remain with them as Belissar’s eyes, even though she wasn’t necessary for basic communication. Metsaitti then explained the expedition could potentially take multiple days, so it was important to have a base to return to. They might even make another one underground, depending on how far they ventured.

But since the karnuq wouldn’t be heading into the underway today, Belissar turned his attention back to the Tower. It was just about time for the next purification.

This time, something changed.

Rather than a wolf-shade or a bird-shade, one of those fast cat-shades from the latest expansion appeared. There was only one of them, but it was the same size as the ones from the purification…and this time, there was no Dirt Tunnels in the way. Belissar wasn’t moving the Dirt Tunnels for the daily purifications and while he planned to add a new Dirt Tunnels to the first floor, he hadn’t actually done so yet.

So, this time, the bees only had the short amount of time it took the shade to form to rearrange their formation. A handful of sprayers launched their attack before it finished forming while the soldiers rushed to tighten the encirclement.

The shade roared as it formed and toxins sprayed all over its back. It immediately pushed forward with its wind and began running. The soldiers hadn’t finished forming up so it broke through their formation and began sprinting across the field. Belissar’s eyes widened from his position by the Bee Barracks. He quickly turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“Get ready! A shade has made it past the army!”

Chief Rohsuak’s face turned grim. Fortunately, not all of the hunters had left with the expedition and those that remained joined the purification. Chief Rohsuak formed them into a tight formation in the hallway through the Bee Barracks that led to the next floor, with Belissar and Chief Rohsuak behind them. Belissar hoped against hope that the shade would prioritize moving deeper to attacking the exposed barracks.

But it turned out he needn’t have worried. While the soldier bees’ formation hadn’t been completed, it hadn’t been empty either. A handful of soldier bees had latched onto the shade as it sprinted past them and were stinging it repeatedly. The shade began to slow down as it crossed the Flower Meadow.

The karnuq tensed and lifted their spears as they saw the shade approaching them. The first few purifications, the bees had handled the shades so efficiently most of the hunters hadn’t gotten a good view. This time, they could see the shade’s full form. Its big fangs and claws, the glowing red lights that replaced its too numerous eyes, the shifting and amorphous fog wafting off it that obscured the exact limits of its body. The wings that didn’t fit on a feline animal. One of the karnuq gulped.

And the bees continued to cling on and sting the shade, ignoring all of that. It was dripping drops of Hunger that quickly faded as it ran. It saw the karnuq in its way and growled. It lifted its wings as it rushed forward. Belissar frowned.

“Careful, its going to try and push us out of the way with wind.”

Chief Rohsuak nodded, not taking her eyes off the shade for even a moment.

“Brace yourselves! Don’t let it push you a step back! Don’t let it set a foot into our new home!”

The karnuq shouted and steadied themselves, bracing for impact. The queens of the Bee Barracks began to gather by the entrances with their workers, prepared to fly into action as well. The shade was just about to swing its wings forward…

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And then it fell into the Pit Trap placed before the room’s exit, just before the Bee Barracks. The bees’ attacks had slowed it just enough that it didn’t make it all the way across this time and instead fell with a crash. The soldier bees clinging onto it let go and flew away before the Sticky Honey Trap activated and drenched the shade in maddening honey, and then the Apiary soldiers dropped a flame radish sliver down on top of it without missing a beat.

The karnuq blinked and then glanced at one another, while Belissar took and exhaled a large breath.

“Whew, that was close. Thanks for the help.”

Chief Rohsuak nodded.

“Not at all, it’s our duty and our home too, now.”

She then gave him a wry smile as she glanced at the now burning pit.

“Besides, we didn’t all that much in the end.”

Belissar chuckled and then frowned. If these fast shades could now appear in the minor+ purifications, then he should get a Dirt Tunnels in front of the Flower Meadow as soon as possible. Additionally, he was reminded of his initial plans. He had forgotten since the Tower upgraded it to a feature but the Bee Barracks wasn’t completed per his original intentions. The structure was only the start, he had also planned to fortify the exterior. The problem being Belissar’s attempts to make any sort of palisades hadn’t gone well before, and he had prioritized finishing beehouses for the rest of the queens. But now…now it was apparent that the Bee Barracks could use some extra defense. He turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“Hey, do you know how to build fences or palisades or stuff like that? I’d like to fortify the Bee Barracks here, but the last time I tried it didn’t go well.”

Chief Rohsuak rubbed her chin and slowly nodded.

“It’s been a while but we know the basics. Either way, more hands should help. We would be happy to assist if you need us, Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar nodded.

“Ah, yes. That’d be great.”

And so, one quick promise to meet the next day and a victory celebration later, Belissar again had fifteen mana to work with. The Dirt Trails feature was a bit more useful now that the karnuq lived in the Tower, but not enough to surpass Belissar’s desperate need for more mana.

The very first thing he did was place a new Dirt Tunnels as the third room for the first floor, and placed it between the Flower Meadow and the entrance. This purification and the previous expansion had made the benefits of having extra space between the entrance and the soldier bee army abundantly clear. Belissar did worry about putting an underground room in front of the entrance for the sake of the bees he had asked to scout the area around the Tower, but his recent experience with the bumblebees provided a solution. He placed the Dirt Tunnels “underneath” the Flower Meadow and placed the entrance to the Tower right underneath the Bee Barracks, with the main entrance to the Dirt Tunnels at the far side. Then, he made a second entrance, a little soldier bee-sized tunnel directly into the ground next to the Bee Barracks that connected to the entrance room of the Dirt Tunnels. He made sure the area around the entrance of the Tower had a very high ceiling so that even something small enough to pass through the tunnel wouldn’t be able to reach it unless it could fly.

This way, any invader larger than a bee would have to go all the way through the Dirt Tunnels and then through the entire Flower Meadow, while the bees themselves could head right to the Tower’s entrance from the Bee Barracks. Not only did that let the bees bypass the dark, underground tunnels they’d have trouble flying through, it actually made their trip shorter than it was before since they got to bypass most of the Flower Meadow as well. And, if a shade did manage to find, reach, and fit through the bees’ entrance…well, then it would be small enough the bees could face it head-on in a place it couldn’t avoid them. At least, he hoped that would be the case…

In any case, he knew the soldier bee army could handle fast shades with the new room to buy time, so that should be sufficient for now, while the karnuq would also help him fortify the Bee Barracks a bit starting tomorrow. So, he turned his attention to other commitments. He went ahead and made two more mana flower nodes next to the maddening queen and the medicinal queen’s hives, as he had promised them.

And, just like that, he was out of mana again. He frowned. This was beginning to be a problem. After all, if the bumblebee queen spawner was like the monster bee queen spawner, he’d have a new queen tomorrow. He would very much like to welcome her with a nest right away. But he had promised the two queens mana flowers in exchange for giving up their honey as well…and he couldn’t skimp on the Dirt Tunnels for the entrance either. It seemed there was no choice but to remove an existing feature if he wanted to do all of that today.

He sighed, and then removed one of the Pit Traps scattered around the Flower Meadow. Most of them had never seen use and the soldier bee army was intent on keeping it that way. He didn’t like reducing his defenses, but from what he’d seen so far shades didn’t generally wander off to the far corners of the Flower Meadow. It should be fine for a day at least.

With that, he had reclaimed the mana needed for a new Bee Nest, and then finally turned in for the night.