Marigold – A LitRPG

 

 

After eating for quite a while, the big soldier turned to me, bowed in gratitude, and quickly squeezed through the crack with some difficulty, while I stood back, unsure how to feel about this cold-blooded soldier...

I was undeniably his mother, but the very idea of being the mother of an insect was disturbing. However, he didn’t act like an insect—he only had the appearance of one. If we were in my world and I saw him walking around like a human, I’d probably think he was just a cosplayer because, well, he was very formal for an insect! He spoke clearly, objectively, and always with respect. He seemed more like a human than an insect.

Maybe it’s because of my influence. If I were just an ordinary insect, perhaps he would be too. But because I’m conscious and wise, and he’s an extension of myself, he has absorbed much of what I am. So, what should I do with that? Rejecting the connection between us was already impossible in my opinion. It wouldn’t be right for me to treat a conscious being unfairly just because I don’t feel ready for this.

I needed to decide how to treat him—as a friend, an ally, or a son. And if I ended up creating more drones, would they all be like this? Before, I thought that if this soldier was just a drone without will, a cog in the machine, it would be easier to create many of them to help me. But now, knowing that these drones are individuals—sentient, sapient beings with emotions and feelings just like me—it would be difficult to start creating a lot of them for trivial purposes.

As for my soldier, I should at least give him a name. When he told me what he thought of me, I could clearly sense through our link that he was sad, disappointed in himself for thinking he was a burden to me, and I couldn’t let him keep thinking like [that]!

After so much internal conflict about this new child I brought into the world, I went to check the tank to see how much had been consumed, and to my great amazement, the tank, which I spent an entire day filling—more than 30 trips collecting nectar and pouring honey into it—was now almost empty! It was all gone; the soldier had consumed it all! And where on earth did he put all that honey?! He was big, sure, but there was a lot of honey—more than could possibly fit inside him!

That must be the price of being so strong, or simply the result of the [Soldier] class having a high maintenance cost to sustain such destructive power. I could see in his [Skills] that there was nothing related to creation or sustenance, so he seems very dependent on me to keep him well-fed. Of course, he could survive on nectar from flowers, but I felt he would need absurd amounts to maintain himself. Without someone to provide his fuel, he would have to focus all his energy on eating all day just to stay healthy.

After getting slightly mad at this kid for simply devouring all my hard work, I was suddenly surprised by a warning.

 

 

Oh God! We really have Xp here? I didn’t see any Xp bar in my status; is it some kind of privileged information? And seriously? Only 1 Xp?! Of course, I wasn’t doing anything, just sitting around waiting while my soldier did all the hard work, but it still felt like very little Xp.

I think this must be where the bees get their power from—a Queen produces so many soldiers that provide her Xp, then produces many workers to take care of the soldiers’ needs. As she levels up, she produces more soldiers and more workers.

Wouldn’t that mean bees are very dangerous? If small, fragile bees could continue to grow wildly, becoming larger and more powerful swarms, wouldn’t they be terrifying enemies? After all, if you didn’t kill the Queen, the Swarm would just keep coming back...

But I really don’t believe bees are that dangerous. I’ve seen ants that, in theory, should be as dangerous as bees for the same reasons, but ants seem ordinary. Maybe there’s some kind of level ceiling or breeding limit for bees and ants, or something else entirely that I’m not aware of.

Coming out of my little hiding place and heading toward the flowers for another round of honey production, I couldn’t help but think of the scene of my big soldier struggling to squeeze out of the crack. Should I move? After all, this shelter was only temporary... And it wouldn’t be much use if my soldier couldn’t defend it properly.

I realized that I would need my soldier’s opinion before making any decisions, and that he needed a name.

---

 

 

My soldier was doing a great job! He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. I didn’t know his exact location, but through our link, I could sense his general direction and distance. He was always close, staying around the tree without straying too far—likely wanting to be able to react quickly if I needed help. And if I have to say one thing about him, it’s that he sure is efficient!

Now, my honey tank was full again. I had gained another level in [Create Honey] and received a special surprise!

 

 

This was something new! But what would be the use of these honey flakes? Is this a way to save space?

To test my new skill, I filled my chest with some honey from the tank and tried to use [Flake Creation], but nothing happened. I needed to focus on the act of creating flakes itself instead of just the ability. But it was difficult for me to imagine flakes, as I had no idea how to create them. As far as I knew, the bees in my world didn’t make these. I tried to visualize honey solidifying or a drop of honey being compressed. I’m not sure what it was, but after a few tries, I felt the honey inside my chest slowly compressing—similar to [Create Wax], but still different. I didn’t feel any discomfort or nausea, unlike when I used [Create Honey]. Soon, I opened my mouth, and out came a yellowish paste. It was thick and had a strong sugary smell. As soon as it made contact with the air, the strange mass quickly solidified. With all the honey I had in my chest, I only managed to create a small drop, no bigger than my hand. Disappointed with the result, I analyzed it to see if there was anything special about it.

 

 

Damn it! That marble was some kind of superfood! The downside is that it probably needs to be chewed before being swallowed, which would take more time than just drinking honey directly. I noticed that this skill doesn’t seem to have levels. Maybe because it’s a sub-skill, it evolves along with the main skill, or maybe it doesn’t evolve at all.

After seeing my soldier’s abilities, I realized how abstract these skills can be—like [Royal Duty]. It reminded me of a video game ability, with strange limitations. For instance, it grants the (incapacitated) effect after a fight is over. But how does the ability determine when a fight is over? When one side dies? Or when they stop fighting? If it’s the latter, what prevents someone from starting a fight with my soldier just to activate [Royal Duty], then immediately giving up the fight? Would that activate the (incapacitated) effect? If so, that would be very unfair! There’s no honor in a fight for survival. If this dishonest method worked, nothing would stop the attacker from simply killing me after activating [Royal Duty] and then retreating, leaving my soldier unable to help me! Maybe the skill has a minimum activation time? Once activated, it would deal as much damage as possible before a retreat would be considered the end of the fight...

And about abilities like [Unwavering Will]—obviously, there were abilities for manufacturing, fighting, and defense, and this one fits into the latter category. This ability seemed to be a form of protection against mental attacks, which means there are mental attacks in this world! Most importantly, my soldier seems immune to these attacks, but I’m not! And by the [Maternal Connection] ability, it seems that if my mind were controlled by a power stronger than mine, all those connected to me would be controlled as well!

The thought of creating a large hive with tens or hundreds of powerful members that could easily be destroyed if some higher force controlled me and used my connection with my descendants to order them to kill themselves sent a chill down my spine. Now I understood why I was so weak and why this soldier was so strong compared to me—because I was his weak point, a big weak point. If I had a large swarm of bees and I was killed, the entire swarm would soon collapse. Without my mental connection keeping everyone together, the bees might start to separate and fight each other. Soon, several soldiers would end up dying in these natural skirmishes, and without a queen to raise new soldiers, the workers would be unprotected and fall prey to predators. And if the workers died, there would be no one to produce food for the remaining soldiers! I think that’s why bees, ants, or any insect colony with a queen, despite having unlimited potential, end up falling into oblivion. You don’t need to kill thousands of insects to bring down the nest; you just need to kill the queen, and the castle will fall quickly!

Was I overthinking again? Another prank from [Concerned Player]? I have no way of knowing if bees are as easy to kill as I think or if they truly have as much potential as I imagine...

While I was tormenting myself with the tricks of [Concerned Player], I received a mental notification of the results of my soldier’s hard work.

 

 

What an efficient child! I’ve been here for over a week and still haven’t reached any level, while this child, born just this morning, had already reached Level 2 in just over 8 hours!

After a few moments, the big, intimidating-looking soldier appeared, squeezing himself through the small crack with difficulty. He looked at me for a moment, then knelt down.

“Mom, I’ve finished the task you gave me. Please give me another task to fulfill!”

“All right, calm down, big guy... First of all, I want to analyze your status and ask you some questions.”

 

 

Well, still a little monster, but there’s almost no difference between Lv1 and Lv2.

“I wonder, when you leveled up, did you choose to increase speed and attack stats? Or was it something that increased automatically?”

The big guy looked at me with a confused expression, as if he didn’t understand, then lowered his head, seemingly searching for an answer. I felt a slight click in our link, as if he was trying to find the right words through it.

“My stats increased automatically, Mom! I have no control over how they’re distributed, and I don’t know if I can influence them!”

“Okay, that’s enough for now. So, I need your help with something else. First of all, tell me, how long do you think you could go without eating after having this?”

I offered him the small [Crystallized Boungain Honey], hoping it could sustain him for several days as the description suggested.

“Hmm, I’m not sure just by looking at it. I’d need to eat it to say for sure how much energy it provides...”

“Go ahead.”

After taking the small crystal from my hand, he put it in his mouth and began to chew. In a few seconds, with a lot of noise from the chewing, he finished the small orb and then closed his eyes, as if calculating how long he could go without eating after that.

Was that some kind of bee instinct? Knowing exactly how long food will sustain you doesn’t seem like something anyone can do. No one looks at an apple and immediately knows when they’ll feel hungry again after eating it.

“Mom, I’d say that I can meet all my daily needs with 2 of these rations.”

Two in a day?!

This kid really eats a lot! The description said it could sustain an ordinary bee for several days, and this kid needs 2 of those for a single day!

“All right, could you tell me how you know exactly how long these rations will last you?”

“I don’t know? I don’t have a specific reason for knowing, I just feel that my estimate is correct...”

“Okay, so it could be bee instincts at work. Now tell me, do you think we should find a new home? I see how difficult it is for you to get in here, and I have to go farther and farther to collect nectar from the flowers since the nearest ones are already empty. And this hole seems very small for you...”

“I understand. I must admit that I am uncomfortable here. Any place you choose will be a great pleasure for me. We could always build a wax nest outside the hole if necessary. But I have a question that’s been bothering me, and I’d appreciate it if you could clear my doubts, Mom...”

“Of course, ask whatever you want.”

“...Where are the others? My brothers? It shouldn’t just be me here... I feel like something is wrong, very wrong. I can’t fulfill my purpose if I have no brothers to ensure your safety in my place, and I haven’t seen a worker since my birth... They should be essential to the safety of our home. Without them, we have no one to build great fortifications or feed the young...”

'Damn, now I’ll have to explain to a normal bee that I’m not a normal bee!'