Congratulations! You have evolved!
Race: Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F) Level 10 Tier 1 -> Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness (C) Level 1 Tier 2
Title Bonuses enhanced to tier 2 levels
+4 mutation points
Congratulations! Due to your evolution, the title Royal Pretender (C) advances to Royal Scion (B).
Congratulations! Due to a change in titles, the skill Royal Pretender's Decree (D) advances to Royal Decree (C).
Congratulations! Due to your evolution, you have acquired the skill Novice Honey Alchemy (D).
Congratulations! Due to your evolution, you have acquired the mutation Alchemist's Honey Stomach (E).
Congratulations! Due to your evolution, the mutation Suicidal Stinger (F) advances to Queen's Stinger (E).
Race has reached grade E. Condensing mana core...
Mana Core (E) formed.
Race has reached grade D. Condensing mana core...
Mana Core (D) formed.
Race has reached grade C. Synthesizing mana attribute...
Mana Core (D) advances to Honey Mana Core (C).
Congratulations! Due to your evolution, Cape of Authority (E) advances to Royal Cape of Authority (D).
Beatrice grasped at awareness like a drowning man grasps at a pool noodle, doing her best to focus on the notifications. But there were too many items to grasp all the changes and implications in her current state of mind. She felt a warmth in her abdomen that released waves of mana through her body, which felt nice, but distracted her from the words. She wondered if anyone else in this world could read the English for her.
Eventually Beatrice's mind began to clear, and she almost continued going through her notifications. Unfortunately with awareness came sight, and with sight came the view of the hollow on the other side of silver wood bars.
'???!'
Beatrice looked around, confirming that yes, she was in a cage. And Ian was over there, carving some silver wood with his mandibles. And she was in a cage of silver wood. She mentally narrowed her eyes. 'I see Ian's choosing to be... difficult about my tactics.'
Well she was busy, so it didn't matter. She started going through her notifications and status
Name: Beatrice
Race: Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness Level 1 Tier 2
Strength:25
Agility:35
Endurance:23
Vitality:15
Intelligence:47
Wisdom:47
Charisma:65
Free Stat Points:
Skills: Honey Manipulation (C), Sweet Seduction (C), Sweet Honeybee Dancing (C), Royal Decree (C), Novice Honey Alchemy (D), Aura of Authority (D), Sacrificial Strike (E), Lay Egg (E), Swarm (F), Novice Wax Construction (F), Novice Honey Production (F), Novice Soothing Buzzing (F)
Mutations: Honey Mana Core (C), Alchemist's Honey Stomach (E), Queen's Stinger (E), Venom Gland (F), Maneuverable wings (F), Ovaries (F)
Free Mutation Points:4
Equipment: Royal Cape of Authority (D)
Titles: Reincarnator (A), Royal Scion (B), Kin-Slayer (C), Giant-Killer (C), Survivor (D), Pariah (E)
Beatrice looked through the changes and was pleasantly surprised at the stat increases. The stat bonuses were doubled, not the per level bonus of reincarnator, just the flat bonuses. But man, she didn't want to read through all her new stuff. she was only interested in reading through novice honey alchemy, alchemist's honey stomach. honey mana core. And the free mutation points were interesting.
[Alchemist's Honey Stomach (E)]: A honey stomach that has been mutated to allow for controlled alchemical modifications to nectar or honey.
[Novice Honey Alchemy (D)]: A passive skill that provides basic alchemical knowledge as well as basic alchemical recipes using nectar and honey.
Nice! And double nice! combining the stomach and the skill meant she could basically make honey potions in her body. After going through some of the included knowledge, she realized she could make honey in her stomach as well, and faster than the normal way, if in smaller quantities.
[Honey Mana Core (C)]: A mana core attuned to honey mana. The core draws in ambient mana and converts unattributed mana into honey mana, increasing the efficiency of working with honey mana. Amplifies the effects of honey-related skills.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The description of the honey mana core was short, but it had impact. Honey mana had to be useful for controlling honey right? An increase in efficiency would mean moving more honey with less mana, which would be a real combat multiplier. And that last effect was interesting. This meant her new alchemy skill, her honey production, and her honey manipulation would all be more effective.
Satisfied with her gains, Beatrice rose and stood in the wooden cage. "What would you have done if my evolution didn't fit in the cage Ian? Would the cage break? Would I die?"
"The cage is big enough for me dear Beatrice, and you're still the same size. Besides, I had to go run an errand and wanted to ensure your safety."
"You just wish I'd stay in the cage huh?" Beatrice grumbled.
Ian's silence spoke volumes. But he did lift the cage and free Beatrice.
"I'm free. Mwahahahaha! I'm freeeeeee!!!" Beatrice cackled.
Ian's silence spoke volumes.
"I'm gonna make some more honeycomb!" Beatrice shouted unnecessarily, and walked off to start working. She peeked at Ian who was still looking at her like she was crazy. 'looks like my revenge for the cage is a success.' As she worked on her honeycomb, she felt that her emotions were stable, or at least more stable than before her evolution. Maybe the 'stunted' in the name made her messed up in the head? She felt a bit sorry for Ian... And for that whole homicidal episode in the clover field.
While Beatrice worked, she looked through what she could do with her mutation points. She could buy an F grade mutation for an unmutated organ for one mutation point, upgrade and F grade to E grade for two mutation points, or upgrade an E grade mutation to D for four mutation points. It felt like four mutation points were a lot for a tier two evolution, but she didn't have many reference points. Getting four mutations could be nice, she could do mandibles, legs, wax glands, and... brain maybe? Her freaky bee tongue? Carapace and eyes maybe?
After thinking about it for a while she decided to upgrade her wings and mutate two organs, her wax glands and tongue.
Congratulations! You have advanced the mutation Maneuverable Wings (F) to Maneuverable Wings (E).
Congratulations! You have acquired the mutation Discerning Proboscis (F).
Congratulations! You have acquired the mutation Nurturing Wax Gland (F).
From the point of combat strength the choices were terrible aside from the wings upgrade, but she wasn't trying to power up her combat potential. The nurturing wax gland produced wax that increased the nutrition of honey stored in it. The upgrade to her proboscis (which she really should've known bee tongues were called) would let her figure out the properties of the nectars or honeys she slurped up, allowing her to use her alchemical knowledge to mix up some honeys with properties outside of the basic recipes she got from her skill.
She looked down at the wax cell she'd started earlier and scoffed mentally. She'd have to start over with her new gland. She was planning on covering half of the hollow with honeycomb with a shelf of comb over the first layer to provide storage for stuff like pollen... or eggs maybe. She didn't like to think about it for multiple reasons, but a queen bee she was. She didn't plan on laying any eggs while her race still had juvenile in the name, but it was something she'd have to face sooner or later.
She'd face it later she decided as she spent the rest of the day constructing wax cells. Her increased stats and mutated gland meant she could work a lot faster, and she completed another set of seven cells against her old cells which were already full of honey. Then in a fit of genius, she used honey manipulation to relocate the honey to the new cells. She'd tear down the old ones in the morning.
Ian was working with some wood when Beatrice woke up, as per usual. Beatrice tore down her wax cells and squished them into wax balls, piling them up in a corner. "Hey Ian! If you want any wax to polish your crafts." she gestured at the wax balls and got back to making more comb.
The next few days were very slice-of-life as Ian worked on his woodwork, actually making shelves with holes in them to slot in his acorns, So no more acornalanches. Beatrice kept working on her wax cells, and wasn't too surprised when she finished about a quarter of her planned honeycomb and got a notification.
Congratulations! Due to your experience and talent, you have advanced the skill Novice Wax Construction (F) to Wax Construction (E).
'Oh, that's the first time a notification referenced my talent. Am I destined to become a wax expert?'
The peaceful days came to an end when Beatrice woke up one morning to find a strange... Ian she guessed, in the hollow. He was asleep for once, maybe in an evolution coma, and Beatrice walked around him to get a good look. He was bigger, but not like his last evolution where he grew to twice his size, but now he was a full two times taller than her.
'That sly dog. He's been sneaking out to hunt at night hasn't he?'
The size wasn't the only difference, his mandibles were significantly larger than before and looked like one of those knives where part of it is sharp and the back of it serrated. They looked like good carpentry tools compared to normal bee mandibles. The big downside was that he couldn't grab stuff with his mandibles anymore, but she noticed on a second circuit that his front bee claws looked more articulate and had two extra claws. They looked like little bee hands, kind of.
'And that carapace, and those legs, and...' Beatrice skittered off to work on her wax and considered the implications of Ian's evolution. Based on the speed of the evolution, he had to be killing higher tier monsters. That meant his pace would slow a lot due to the rarity of tier four monsters, maybe. She didn't actually know a lot about the forest, except that the monsters around Ian's hollow were mostly tier one or two with a smattering of tier threes.
'I should start hunting again. I can tell Ian isn't like the dire bear from the other week, his evolution is clearly superior to the linear evolution path.' She looked at him again. 'Clearly superior. I guess I don't need to advance for safety anymore with him around, unless he gets himself killed. But I don't want to be a juvenile forever, and I don't want to stagnate in any case. Not that increasing my craft skills isn't worth the time and effort.' She looked at Ian, then at her wax balls.
Congratulations! Due to your efforts and talent, you have acquired the skill Novice Chitin Polishing (G)
It took more wax than expected, but now Ian's chitin was shiny and smooth. Beatrice looked intently at his carapace. 'Why the hell did I do that? Might as well have put lasers on a shark... I'm not gay! I mean I am gay! I mean I prefer human women! That sounds weirder than I thought it would, even in my mind.' *Smack* She smacked her head on the floor and continued working wax cells until Ian woke up.
"Dear Beatrice, why am I shiny? The evolution didn't do, whatever this is." Ian turned to her and made a 'tell me' gesture with a claw.
"It's wax, and maybe I did wax polish your carapace in your sleep. That's what you get for sneaking around behind my back and risking your life." Beatrice didn't mean to talk to Ian like that, or to flounce as she went back to work, but apparently she was channeling her inner drama queen today.
"It looks nice, thank you Beatrice." Ian hesitated for a moment and continued. "I'm sorry for worrying you Beatrice. I'll be more mindful of your feelings hence forth."
"I'm going hunting as soon as I finish my honeycomb project, so don't think you won't feel the same way later." And Ian actually winced when she said it.
It took two weeks and another skill-up before Beatrice finished her project, and now half of the hollow looked like an actual beehive, except for the large empty space above it, but she finished a full layer of comb and the shelf of wax with more comb on top. The shelf was an interesting exercise in wax construction and it was after she finished it that she got the rank up on the skill.
She was worried about Ian's hunting trips, but he assured her that he mostly targeted the monsters with linear evolutions. She thought he could handle a lower level tier four, or a tier four with a crappy evolution. Ian also told her that the level requirements for each evolution doubled every tier, which meant Ian had to get forty levels before he could evolve again. Plenty of time for her to catch up. But that would have to wait until tomorrow, since night was already falling.
Waximillian spun through the cool night air air, avoiding a lance of fire that lit up the night and diving in for another strike. Ian held a lance of silver wood in his opposable claws. As he approached the shadowy form of his foe, the lance beginning to glow as wisps of yellow energy curled off of it, runes carved into the wood lit up with a white light that seared the sturdy wood. He dodged a last second claw swipe and rammed the lance into the monster's side.
The light of the runes glowed brighter and the monster tried to reach behind itself to tear the lance free with it's teeth, it knew what was about to happen, but Ian's timing was perfect. The lance burst with energy and exploded, blasting a hole into the monster. The flash of light revealing a massive lizard-like monster with green scales and reptilian yellow eyes. The light also revealed dozens of other jagged holes in the beast's hide.
Ian flew erratically around the monster, partially to evade any attacks, and partially in exhaustion. The fight had been going on for hours. Then the monster collapsed, shaking the ground, and Ian received the kill notification.
You have killed a Greater Forest Drake Level 13 Tier 5.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 40.
