Marigold – A LitRPG

The small bee eggs had hatched, and inside had small larvae that looked exactly like Hans when he was a larva, even their status were similar

 

I was happy with the birth of the workers, they didn't eat much as Hans when he was a larva and only needed a small amount of food, and they would also grow up and emerge as an adult bee tomorrow, taking much less time than Hans, and speaking of him...

"Mother Look! This one looked at me!"

"I don't know Hans, I don't think it was intentional..."

Since the larvae eggs hatched Hans was inspecting them like an owl, of course the larvae were cute, probably due to the influence of bee instincts, but they also didn't need so much attention, or maybe Hans's reaction is normal, and I'm the one who is acting cold and distant towards the babies.

I felt a bit bad that I didn't care much as Hans did for these larvaes, I cared about their weath and if they well fed and alive, but I think there's a very big difference between keeping something alive and caring for something.

"Hans, you don't have to stay here until they become adult bees, I can take care of everything here, you can go out and try to level up as much possible so when they emerge you can protect them with all your strength."

"All right Mom!"

"I will try to make a fire and get a cauldron, so I can continue my experiments, try to not go too far today."

"Mom..! Are you really going to insist on fire?"

"Yes Hans, I can achieve many things if this works out, I can discover something totally new!"

"What if you just get hurt and don't discover anything useful?"

"But what pessimism is that Hans? Have a little faith on me!"

"...I understand, I'll try not to worry about you so much"

Hans seemed very upset, I could even sense from our link that he really felt this wasn't a good idea, but I didn't really see so much danger in fire, yes I am a insect that live in a tree in a house made of wax, but I didn't intend to mess with fire here, I could even create a small experimentation room separate from the main house made of mud and non-flammable things.

When Hans left I left right behind and went in search of some branches and dry grass, after finding some things I put it all together in a small hole and started rubbing one branch into the other, after what seemed like forever I got 2 sticks and a heavy breathing.

Why it was so hard!?

In theory it was very easy, (wood + friction = fire), but no matter how much I rubbed a branch on the other there wans't the slightest sign of fire, now I regret being a bratty and not accepting to go to summer camp when I was in primary, if I had gone I would have real experiences in how to create fire, but now all I have is theory without any practice.

I tried to rub one twig on the other in the form of a drill but I couldn't even get an ember! And i even began to doubt if I would need a [Skill] to be able to create fire! I couldn't possibly need a skill for things like that right?!? Iam just bad as hell at it. After what seemed like an hour i had 2 branches with no embers and an ego that was hurt.

Maybe Hans can do it?

Hans has physical abilities far superior to me, maybe rubbing 2 branches on each other until they catch fire would be realy easier for him, but would it be correct to ask Hans? He clearly didn't like and didn't support the idea of creating fire, and then I appear in front of him and ask him to help me make fire?

I decided to put that fire aside for now and go in search of a cauldron, something that doesn't burn easily and can be easily cleaned. I could ask Hans to help me with the fire later, I just needed to gather all the materials and utensils so it would be more difficult for Hans to refuse to help me, I could just throw a "I already have everything I need Hans! I just need your help with the fire and nothing else!"

After a walk through the woods I found some nuts that could serve as a cauldron, but I thought they were too thin and would burn easily in the fire, walking more I found roots and things that could be potential ingredients and I tried to mark them with [Memorial Memoryl] and as always I cannot say if it worked, continuing my search I managed to find a mushroom of delicate appearance and that had interesting effects.

 

 

When I came to a bush with several small fruits I thought they looked good enough to become a cauldron, his shell is hard as a stone and its interior soft as jelly, they had an egg shape and an intense brown color, there were several fruits broken on the ground and it would be easy to find one that was broken only in half and that didn't have cracks, after carrying my new Cauldron home I went out again to find other utensils, I could use the nuts from before as bottles and with some ordinary hard wax I could seal them and mold them so that they would stand stably, then I would only need to find a few more branches to use as spoons and I would be ready to start my experiments!

If only I could get fire!

When I returned home carrying the last pile of walnut shells that I would use as plates and jars I was surprised by Hans who was carrying a flower much larger than himself, the flower in question was glowing like a flame and was still rooted in a bright red crystal, and even from afar I could feel a slight warmth coming from the flower.

"HANS! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?"

"Mom... I.. I brought the flower I mentioned before! N-Now you don't have to mess with fire!"

Hans looked very unwell, he was panting and looked exhausted, travelling from the mountains to the South while carrying something that was at least 3x his size must be extremely exhausting.

"Hans why you did it! You didn't need to do something like that, put it on the floor now!"

"You said you wanted the fire, or the living flower, I brought the living flower so you don't have to mess with the fire anymore!"

This guy is crazy!?

I had much easier solutions and he still preferred to risk his life to bring a flower all the way so I wouldn't mess with real fire?! This flower that imitated fire had no problem, but real fire was forbidden?!

"Hans why did you do that?! It would be much easier just to make a little fire!"

"It would.. very dangerous.. please, mom.. accept it!"

"All right Hans! All right, leave it on the floor and get some rest!"

When I accept Hans "gift" he finally seems to calm down and begins to slowly fly up to one of the branches of the tree, then he throws the flower on one of the large branches and flies heavily into the House.

"What the hell... Did this boy go crazy?!"

---

 

I had created some more honey crystals for Hans as he fell to the floor from exhaustion, he seemed to have fainted so I dragged him to a corner and put a considerable amount of food near him, I needed to create beds or something like that, because leaving Hans lying on the floor like a drunk in the alley was very disturbing, I tried to analyze Hans status and he really was exhausted.

 

 

 

Huh? what's that?

 

"Hans also gained the ability [Basic flight]! So it really wasn't something you get on the first flight, it was something that came with time and training, and he got a level in [Strong limbs], probably by almost killing himself to bring that fire flower."

And speaking of the fire flower I decided to inspect it too, now that Hans had gone to all the trouble of bringing it here I couldn't let it go unused

 

 

It is a flower of high level! It looks like a rose with red leaves with a core that emits intense heat, observing it in detail its roots grew intensely around the bright red crystal, the Crystal didn't emit any heat but its interior shine so intensely that it made the fire Rose look like a candle in front of a bonfire.

 

 

Wow that Crystal looks really important! And it is the first thing that is naturally generated that has the [Excellent] quality, in fact it is the first thing with [Excellent] quality that I have ever seen! Hans said that these flowers grew in a strange-looking cave, was it a mine of these mana stones? or a factory? Could these crystals be manufactured items and the cave Hans found be an abandoned factory, or could things with affinity only be naturally generated? But if these crystals were naturally generated why did they acquire the affinity of fire? Was there something in those mountains or was it because of those flowers? The flowers grow into mana crystals without a proper affinity and then turn them into crystals with the same affinity as them, or did the flowers acquired the fire affinity after absorbing the crystals energy? It's an old story of what came first, the chicken or the egg.

Getting closer to the fire Rose I started to feel heat as I got closer to its core, and getting closer to the core I could feel as if I had put my hand in a stream of super hot air, it would definitely suit my plans, if I built a structure around the Rose and used it as a stove I would be able to do my experiments in the safety of my home, but first I would need to yell at Hans for having such a stupid idea like that.

---

 

"What in the world were you thinking Hans!? Going up to the mountains and to bring a rose?!? What would you do if you couldn't carry it all the way back?! What would you have done if you had been attacked on the way back!? I always thought you were the most responsible and well aware of the 2 of us and then you do such a thing!? How can I trust you won't do another stupid thing when you walk out that door!?"

"I... I'm sorry Mom, I have no excuses for my actions, I just really didn't want you messing with fire, it was too dangerous..."

"So you leave here and fly away to get a magic rose without any help and without even telling me where you went?!"

"I'm sorry..."

DAMN IT HANS!

It's hard to get angry at someone who does things for your sake and only knows how to apologize, if only Hans would fight me back it would be much easier to burst out with him and tell him to go fuck himself for being so dumb!

"Stay there! And not leave! Rest as much as you can and eat enough, if you can feed the workers from time to time is more tham enought and not to leave!"

"But!"

"BUT WHAT HANS?! ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO ARGUE WITH ME NOW?!"

"...No, mom, I'll do what you told me."

What a henpecked!

I wish Hans had a little more attitude, but it seems to be difficult for him, the only really autonomous thing he has done so far has been to get this flower without telling me, I was a little proud of the fact that Hans managed to do it of course! But I won't say that for him after almost killing himself!

When I got back to the fire Rose, I tried to move it to a better position, but the rose just wouldn't budge, I don't know if I'm proud or worried about the idea of Hans carrying it all this way, I went back to get my utensils and brought my makeshift cauldron out, after putting everything near the "stove" I went in search of some ingredients to try make something.

 

....

 

Now that I had gathered several nuts full of things like honey, nectar and water, I started to use a small plate made of walnut shell to turn the petals of roses and leaves into a paste with the help of a stone, and then put it inside one of the wax plates, after everything was ready i put the improvised Cauldron on top of the Rose and waited a few moments until I started to hear some crackles and smoke coming from the shell, when this happened I threw some water inside the Shell and soon it began to boil slowly, I added some of the petal paste and honey and began to stir vigorously with a twig until it thickened, when the liguid began to change color and thicken I took the cauldron of from the top of the flower and poured its contents into one of the "jars" of nuts.

 

 

It really worked! Now that I could cook the ingredients I could figure out the uses of each plant in the region and then create potions or foods with special effects, if I could figure out a way to create a more nutritious food than honey flakes, feeding Hans would finally stop being a problem! And if he could create unique effects that could increase Hans power, he could fight much easier!

I decide to discard the contents of the cauldron and try something else, this time using a lot of water and unique ingredients that I had, such as crushed roots, flower pollen, nectar, tree sap and the [Green paste] that I had created before, I threw everything into the cauldron and put it back on top of the fire rose while stirring all the contents, I was very excited about the possibilities of what I could create using this "stove", I could create mixtures and totally new things, and I could even recycle the pieces of dry wax left over from my creations!

After stirring for a long time I could see the liguid starting to boil and turning into one thing, the previously hardened sap began to melt and the herbs and roots partially dissolved in the liguid of green color, after a while the whole liguid began to lighten going from an opaque moss green to a pleasant lemon green, and I could see bubbles forming on the surface like bubbles in a sauce pan, I thought it was finally ready and quickly took off the top of the Rose and tried to analyze its contents.

 

 

It's a success! I really created a potion! It's okay that it's a useless potion, how could 3% speed boost makes any difference to anyone! But the important thing is not the effect of the potion, but the fact that I actually managed to create a potion! If I could create these potions just from a bunch of junk I find in the woods then does that mean [Potions] was something anyone could do? Like a grandma's homemade medicine that really works? And if i, who was a complete idiot in the potions business, could create a potion that makes plants grow, then what could someone who specializes in creating porions could do?!

I was so excited by the endless possibilities it brought me that I emptied the growth potion into a nut and tried to create something else.

This time I wanted to try to create a glue or something like that, like the man-eating plant wax, because that way I could create insect traps and increase my XP flow, and even if insects weren't so dumb as i think to fall into this kind of trap I could still find several uses for a glue!

I decided to use all the Honey I had at my disposal to try to create this glue, and I also mixed all the flower pollen I had in stock, if I used these 2 ingredients and the skill [Wax Making] I would get a hard wax, so I thought that by mixing the 2 I would create a sticky bond that wouldn't dry quickly like wax. After mixing the 2 ingredients while stirring the contents of the cauldron, I could clearly feel the contents getting harder and harder to stir as i boiled, it soon came to a point that the previously transparent golden honey turned opaque yellow, and taking the honey off the heat I was slightly disappointed with the result

 

 

It wasn't what I wanted, but I think I asked too much, the candy I created didn't seem to have any food bonus or the ability to cause an [Effect], but unlike anything I've created so far its quality was [Good], maybe because if it was just honey boiled until stiff, it wasn't exactly a mixture or potion like the other things and so it was more within my field of expertise. So how do I create better quality potions? Do I need better ingredients or a [Skill]? And how do I know if an ingredient is good or bad?! everything looks just like grass when I look at them!

"I need to do more testing, and I need more ingredients, and I need a better kitchen, and I need better utensils and... AH!! I need everything! The workers will emerge tomorrow, maybe they can help me with all this..."