Marigold – A LitRPG

 

Even though I have a lot of these flowers, it seems that I would need to empty each one of them to be able to get Hans full. I think it is to be expected; after all, water is not known to be nutritious. But this effect of (Purify) is something that is really worth just being remembered!

After being disappointed by the fact that the large field of flowers in front of me couldn't be a long-term source of food, I tried to use my ability of [Memorial memory] to create a mental note about the utility of these flowers. Again, I didn't know if it worked, but I guess only time would tell.

One of the things these beautiful flowers made me think about was magic. If even flowers could use magic to ensure their survival, then why hadn't I seen a greater number of creatures with magic?

Magic.

What was it? Of course, if you asked me, I would say it is an energy capable of doing anything. Why? Because it can! How did I know? I have no idea! My world never had real magic, but now I was in a world full of this mysterious force that I didn't know what it was for. Looking in front of me, there was a [Tears from Heaven] that had magic and could use it to create water. So that was magic? Sure, a flower that creates water out of nothing is pretty magical, for sure, but it was nothing compared to what I expected from magic. Until today, I haven't seen any living creature that could use spells in a "traditional way''. When I looked at these flowers, it looked like they were using their MP to feed a [Skill] that should be able to create water. So, in essence, Magic was nothing but a source of energy to feed powerful [Skills]? If someone had a [Skill] that allowed them to cast fireballs as long as they paid an MP amount, would that be a spell or just the use of the [Skill]? When I think of spells, I think of magic circles or incantations capable of creating a magical phenomenon. And yet, looking at these flowers, it seemed that everything was very limited by the [Skills]. It seemed that even if someone had tons of MP to burn, it wouldn't be of any use without a [Skill] that can burn this MP.

But there was also the possibility that there really was a spell, and that, in fact, this flower in front of me was using a spell to create water and not a [Skill]. If I only had access to its entire status table, I could confine my questions, and...

"Mom... I'm hungry...."

"Hans! Oops, sorry, I got distracted again, didn't I? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it seems that these flowers cannot create a source of food nutritious enough to satisfy you..."

"And what should I do now, mother? I have not seen any other group of flowers as large as this one..."

The giant Hans seemed to think he was going to be out of food and could sense from our link that Hans was actually getting very hungry.

"Don't worry, Hans; there are not only these flowers around. We can find something for you soon."

After cheering up Hans a little, I flew to a large tree that had large flowers of pure white color. Its flowers emitted a slight smell that reminded me of pineapple, and its pollen had a strange reddish color. Its nectar had a slight taste of lemon, and each flower had only a minimal amount, but there were so many flowers that soon I already had a chest full of this nectar.

 

 

This Wiplire will do the job. It can't "sustain a bee for days," but it is still more nutritious than the other flowers.

"Here's Hans; eat as much as you can. I'll keep making more of these honey flakes until you feel satisfied to continue our journey."

"Thank you very much, mom!"

For a while, I just gathered all the nectar from [Wiplire Flower] and turned it into crystals for Hans. Soon he had eaten 2, then 3, 4, 5, and 6.

"Are you still hungry, Hans?!?!"

I had created so much honey that I had even gained another level in creating honey!

 

 

"Well... Yeah, Mom, I'm not hungry, but I'm not satisfied either."

I urgently need those workers. Hans was simply a furnace that burned food. I think I know now because I don't see bees everywhere. Although there seems to be no limit to how many members a colony could have, there was a natural limit that was food. It doesn't matter if a hive had thousands of members; if that Colony couldn't create enough quantities of food to support each of its members, it would end up starving quickly.

"All right, Hans; I'll keep creating a few more ration orbs, but only a few more! After that, we will continue our way to the clearing."

"...Alright."

When we reached the impressive number of 11 honey crystals for Hans, he finally said that he was satisfied and that we could continue our journey. While Hans put me in his arms again to launch himself into the air, I tried to mark this entire region as a "medication zone" with my ability to memorize again without any notification or sign that it had worked. When I opened my eyes again, we were already full steam ahead towards the Promised Land.

---

 

The first thing I saw when we reached the clearing was a creature that looked like a moose from my world, but it had much larger, drooping ears and horns with flowers and moss!

 

 

At least it didn't seem aggressive, so much that we managed to pass easily by its presence, and soon we spotted a large open field with thousands of plants that had flowers of different colors and sizes. All the plants were occasionally being eaten by a very cute creature that looked like a sheep the size of a cow.

 

 

These Orme's had a body completely covered by dark hair and had horns that projected from their heads. They were all very fat and seemed to be very peaceful. The scene of Orme's quietly eating the vegetation while their young drank milk from their mother's boobs was strangely peaceful. Much better than living near giant wolves that devoured innocent rabbits. These hairy cows seemed to be either very lucky to have no predators in the area or some reason why no one would try to eat them.

"What do you think of this place, Hans?"

"It looks very peaceful, Mom. I feel very comfortable in this open environment, much better than the enclosed forest we lived before!"

"I also agree; only these Orme's bother me. But the whole region seems simply ideal for us! There are many varieties and quantities of flowers all over the place, and there doesn't seem to be another insect nest nearby."

"I don't know why the cows bother you so much, Mom. I didn't feel any danger from them, but I also think this is the best place we could find. Now all we would need to do is find a good place to nest."

"Yes... The nest... I don't think I have anywhere to run now. Could we use a tree? or a stone maybe? I would like to find somewhere away from these cows, even if they are really peaceful. I think it is not a good idea to disturb such a large creature..."

"How about that cliff over there?"

I looked in the direction Hans was pointing, and there really was a cliff! A large round hole in the ground that was well disguised by a lot of tall vegetation and trees. The hole simply lay right there in the middle of an open field with no mountains nearby and was so deep that I couldn't even see its bottom...

"No! Excuse me; this looks like a burrow of a monstrously giant creature!"

"Huh? Why do you say that, Mom? It's just a hole..."

"There just no way to justify a perfectly round hole that digs straight down is a natural event, Hans! Something dug that hole, and even if it looks abandoned, I'm not going to run the risk of unleashing an ancient creature that might be sleeping in there! Let's go after something else!"

"All right, Mom... What do you think of that tree over there?"

Following Hans' hand, I saw a large tree that easily stood out from all the rest. It was clearly very old, but it also looked very reliable.

 

 

"This... It can work; we just need to find a hole or something where we can spend the night."

The sun was already setting, and soon we would need to find shelter. If not, we would need to bury ourselves again in an uncomfortable hole.

"Of course, Mom! I'll look for something decent right away!"

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Hans had already taken off with all his strength as he carried me to search the large tree. When we got close to the trunk, we couldn't find any cracks or holes. I wasn't very surprised, but Hans seemed to be very nervous. I think he was very excited by the fact that he had agreed to raise some brothers for him, and now he was very apprehensive for us to build a hive.

When we reached the top of the big tree, I could see a hole in the trunk of the tree. The hole was big enough for Hans to get in easily, and inside it was a lot of room. This place made my old house look like a cubicle; it was very dirty with dry leaves, brushwood, and feathers of some mysterious bird, but the hole was empty and didn't seem to have any residents at the moment, which made Hans very happy.

"This place looks perfect! What do you think, Mom!?"

I had never seen Hans so excited in my entire life. I was worried about the entrance being too big, and the fact that this place looked like it had been a nest for birds before. But after seeing Hans' cheerful and hopeful face, I just ended up settling for him. He still had too many spots on the bank to use, and he didn't make it easy that he just wanted the best for me...

"It's really perfect, Hans... It's an amazing place with a wonderful view. Good job finding this place!"

"Thank you, Mom!"

"Now get me down on the ground; let's take advantage of what's left of sunlight to create a narrower exit to this hole. I don't feel very comfortable with the idea of turning midnight snack for some owl monster..."

"Okay, what should I do in the meantime?"

"Well... Try to map the surroundings? It would be nice to know what we have around here. And remember, if you find anything dangerous in the area, come back immediately!"

"You can count on me! I will not disappoint you!"

"But of course, you won't, Hans..."

Without even listening to my words, Hans soon came out of the hole and turned his attention to the surroundings of the large tree. After giving a sigh of disapproval, I also went out towards the flowers that grew close to the roots of the tree. I decided that I would create a mixture of generic honey to create a reasonable amount of [Common Hard Wax]. I could have found some flower that would generate better wax, but I decided that using a generic mixture was faster and more reliable in this situation. Tomorrow I could try to create better versions of wax, but now I just needed a large amount in a short time.

---

 

That is...

Mediocre, in the best of words. The entrance to the great hole was now almost all coarsely closed with hard wax, and only one entrance large enough for Hans to get in was left.

My plans were to create a straight and elegant wall, but wax was a difficult material to work with, and I ended up with an irregularly shaped wall with a poorly made entrance. The day was already coming to an end, so even if I managed to pull out all this wax how had already hardened, I would need to do everything again. Since there was no more time, my only option was to accept that this was the best I could do.

"Looks good to me, Mom!"

Hans, who was right above me monitoring me, tried to console me when he could feel my displeasure with my poorly done work. I was never a perfectionist, but these poorly made walls were really making me angry!

Very likely a [Hard worker] effect; it seemed like the trait didn't make all my creations perfect. It made me repeat the creation process until it was perfect! This trait was basically a less direct way of calling someone an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist!

"It's not good! But it'll have to do the job for now. I don't have time to redo it now. What about your mission, Hans? What did you find out?"

"Well... Nothing really significant, Mother. There are many flowers and fruits throughout the Valley, and I saw many different creatures. But none tried to attack me. I also found a small vein of water that descends towards the sunset, and that's it."

"Okay, we can work with that... Tomorrow I will raise the first workers to help me with food production. In the meantime, I want you to try to level up as much as possible. Avoid moving too far from the main tree and be careful with the creatures you encounter. If you are not sure you can beat them, escape immediately."

"All right, I will follow your will, Mother!"

"Great, now how about we inaugurate our new house and get some sleep? We will need a lot of energy for tomorrow."

"Yes, Mother! I am very glad that you decided to create workers; they could help you much more than me!"

"That's not true, Hans; you have always been a great help to me. Without you, I probably would have already been eaten by something."

"I can only fight, Mother. I can't help you with food or buildings. But I also can't fight properly alone; I need more brother soldiers to be able to show my true value!"

Oh? I think that's why Hans was so excited; he wanted me to create more soldiers so he could show all the capabilities of a bee soldier.

"All right, Hans; it may even take a while, but soon I will create other soldiers to help you in your tasks. Until then, I apologize for overloading you with the job to protect our entire home alone..."

"It will be an honor to protect you and the young ones with all my body and soul, Mother!"

Hans always looked like a knight, but the scene of him in a straight posture while speaking such serious words with his hands behind his back and a stoic expression made Hans look like the definition of a knight in armor. If all soldiers were like Hans, I would end up with an order of knights fighting for the Hive Queen.

The Knights of the Honeycomb.

"Puff... Thank you, Hans; it is always good to know that I can trust you. Now rest; tomorrow will be a long day."