Marigold – A LitRPG

 

 

When I went back into the nest, the workers had already finished filling the tanks and now where building something outside the nest.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Oh! Mom! Since we finished the task of filling the honey tanks, we thought that is time to expand the nest, and since we can't cut the inside of the tree, we started building on the outside!"

The entrance that before was just a wax wall with a small platform for landing, now had a large area made entirely of wax bricks firmly stuck together with wax, and to support everything the boys had atached the large platform to the tree branches using wax, the entire wax floor seemed to have been made by professionals since it was totally smooth and with no flawless.

"D-Did we really need to increase the nest? We still had plenty of room inside the tree for one or two more honey tanks..."

"W-Well the whole nest would be very tight when the new drones are born, and we also need to maximize our food supply, and we also need to create a decent nursery and the special room that you wanted..."

"Nursery?! What's wrong with the nursery we already have?!"

"Nothing! It's just really small and unprotected! What we want to do is build new rooms and leave the deepest and most protected part of the nest as the nursery!"

"Guys, I don't think i'm prepared to create a lot of other drones for the colony..."

"We understand that mom! But it is better to be prepared tham suffering in the future! Even if the nursery becomes unusable for now it will be ready and with the maximum capacity to work when you ready!"

Seriously ken?! How is this not forcing!? This is shameless psychological pressure!

"...All right, you guys can keep doing your good job, but first! Can you all come with me? I managed to create a potion and I wanted you all to test the result."

"No problem!"

"All right"

As the boys left the materials behind I could see that they looked tired, perhaps overworked, but still everyone worked quickly and without complaint, as if this were some kind of dictatorship. Arriving in front of the nut that contained the original vigor potion I take a small plate of wax and give it to each one of the boys, and after they drink the potion the boys make a face that clearly tell me "what the fuck is that?"

"This tastes horrible! Blergh!"

"It's-it's really h-horrible...S-Sorry mom"

"Is this some kind of punishment for us starting to build without your approval?!"

"N-No! Boys, I would never do that, is it really that horrible?"

"It's definitely the worst thing I've ever eaten in my life!"

You've only been alive for 3 days and in the meantime you've only eated honey what do you known?!

I didn't know the taste of the potion, well I didn't even try it, but this can't be so horrible like the boys say, right?

When I tast some of the potion to find out if it was really horrible or was just the exaggeration of the boys, I found out that horrible doesn't even come close. The potion has a taste of a mixture of spoiled milk and diesel oil, the texture is like muddy water and has pieces of something bitter.

This thing just sucks! Just a complete shit!

"Blergh! How could you guys swallow that!? This thing can't be edible! You're gonna have a belly ache!"

"I didn't say!? It's Horrible! You can't drink that!"

The effect was real, I could see it in the status of the boys, but the potion was simply inedible, was that due to the very nature of potions? Or the result of low-level ingredients?

I think it was to be expected, of course I wouldn't create the perfect potion on my first try, but at least the effects of it were quite real!

 

 

"All right boys, the potion is really.... hard to swallow, but try working now and see if you can feel the effects of it."

"All right, wait a minute! We need to drink this every day?!"

"No, relax, even if I had the ingredients I wouldn't force you guys to drink it."

When the boys left I gave 2 pulls on the mental link I had with Hans and waited for him to come back, I don't know if the vigor potion can help the workers, but im sure that could help Hans, if I could get better potions and with more incredible effects I could basically turn Hans into a killing machine, imagine a Hans with effects like [Vigor], [strength], [invisibility], [speed], [regeneration] and other types of buffs, Hans could theoretically fight enemies much above his own level with ease! Now the question would be whether the potions cancel each other, like poisons or medicine, if Hans took one potion of [strength] and then a potion of [invisibility] would the effects simply stack up, or could the potions react with each other inside Hans body and create a new effect? If this were true, is it possible to have several effects at once? I think is possible since the [Bad potion] had a long list of effects so it might be possible to have a lot of effects achieved with potions, but these effects need to come from a single potion, or could they be accumulated by several potions?

As I entertain myself with [Concerned player], Hans quickly appeared in the horrizon and came directly to me.

"Mom! I'm here! What's the emergency?"

"Hello Hans, it's not exactly an emergency, but I managed to create a potion with a positive effect and I wanted you to test it!"

While talking to Hans i pick up a small wax dish that contained a dose of the original vigor potion and offered it to him, I would leave the "perfect Dose" for a moment of emergency.

"The taste may be bad, but I can guarante that the results are satisfactory!"

"Hmm."

Hans without any delay took the small bowl and swallowed all the liquid at once, I was waiting for his reaction but Hans remained calm and unresponsive.

"Didn't you find the taste bad?!"

"It's horrible, but tolerable, I can drink it without any problem."

Damn, Hans is like one of those classmates who can eat sour food without even shaking his face, you don't know if you get impressed by the skill, or if you punch him in the face with all your power.

"...Im glad you don't have any problem with the potion Hans, now how do you feel?"

"Well, I feel lighter, and more tense, and I feel that my senses are sharper, this potion looks really incredible mother, forgive me for doubting your ideas."

"All right Hans! I know how overprotective you are, it must have been hard for you to just swallow all my craziness and selfishness."

"That's not true mom! I completely respect and support all your decisions!"

"It may even be true Hans, but can you look me in the eyes and honestly say that this is not because of [Maternal connection]?"

"I-I...!"

"It's okay Hans, I know you only want my good and the colony prosperity, and speaking of the colony, today after you left I produced 4 soldiers to help you, and after that I got a level in [Laying eggs] and created 2 collectors and 1 Scout."

"This is incredible mom! They will be of great help!"

"Really? The workers think I'm weird for producing them in such a small number..."

"T-The workers are just young and naive mother! I will personally talk to them so this kind of thing doens't happen ag-"

"No need Hans, they are right anyway... I am really a weird Queen, while they are focused on expanding the nest and our food reserves I was worried about creating a potion that may not even be useful at all, sometimes I wonder if one day the whole colony will suffer because of me, like when you got hurt, if at that time I had already created some workers and at least 1 or 2 more soldiers to help you, that insect wouldn't be a threat, maybe he wound't even dare to come close, but because I always deny my... Queen's "responsibilities" you or the workers are the ones who are paying the price."

"Don't blame yourself for this mom! None of us would ever blame you for any of this!"

"And that's what annoys me the most... this [Maternal connection] makes you all submit to me, to follow my will blindly, even if i am going directly to death."

"We don't have nothing to worry about! The region is safe and there doesn't seem to be any enemies around!"

"Sure, but for how long? We are bees... what would we do if a hungry bird appears? Or if a nest of rival insects want to fight for the territory? Life is pretty quiet right now, but only now, and guess what? Matt found what appeared to be the remains of a campfire not far from here... There might be humans or something like that living around these lands, what are we going to do if they decide they want a little bit of sweet honey?"

"I..."

"Oh, I'm sorry Hans, I think I threw everything at you, didn't I? Ken is with the project of building a nursery in the deepest part of the nest, and I am seriously thinking about the idea of creating a legion of soldiers and workers, I don't think i can forgive myself if the boys die during work to a hungry animal just because I refused to give birth to more units."

"But! Are you okay with that, mom?! Before you told me that you didn't want too many members! And I could feel your discomfort by the link!"

"Hans, there is a lot of difference between what we want and what we need, I decided to create you because at that time I thought you would be a drone with no will or conscience, but when you came out of that cocoon talking and walking, I realized that this was far from true, you are my creation, my responsibility, your duty may be to protect me, but my duty is to ekeep you alive and heath, when I created the workers I had a small hope that maybe at least if they weren't concients like you, if they were only common insects it would be much easier to just raise a bunch of them, but they aren't, they unique and conscious like you, and now I'm not only responsible for my life, now my actions reflect on your life and the lives of the workers, you can't defend all of us, 5 soldiers can't defend all of us..."

"...I don't know how to feel Mom, if you accepted the idea of creating a big hive it would bring me great joy, but if creating a big Hive makes you sad then a big hive will also makes me sad, so please! Don't do anything because you feel obligated to do it! Do what you think is right!"

Hans is a golden boy for sure, I hit the nail on the head when I made him.

"Hans, you are so cute, even with that armor and big body you are still soft as jelly inside! hahaha"

"T-Thank you mom?"

Hans is right? All this guilt I'm feeling is because of the Bee insticts that are taking deep roots more and more on me? Or is it simply true guilt? On the one hand is undeniable that I am responsible for all of them, their well being and health, and if the only way to ensure that they all are safe is to create a real hive then so ley it be, I have gone too far in this Bee story anyway, I won't wait until Hans or someone dies to decide that "now is the time" to act, but on the other hand, the Bee instincts are with absolute certainty taking root in me, how do I know? Simple, the first time I saw Hans I just saw a big muscular insect, now I looked at him and I could see how beautiful he was as a bee, I could tell what he is feeling just by looking at his expression, and I could even see how the workers were cute and healthy, just like a human being can look at another human being and say various things about his appearance.

Before was me and a bee monster in a single body and single mind, I was in charge and the Bee monster could only give me ideas and guidance, but now I can no longer separate myself into human and Bee, the 2 have mixed a lot already, and I can no longer say who is in control of the situation.

"No need to worry Hans, if I choose to produce a legion of soldiers it's because I decided it was the right choice, and even if I create many other members I won't give up in my potions, quite the contrary! With a lot of people around I would dedicate 100% of my time to the development of new potions and Itens!"

"If you say that you don't have a problem then I believe you mom..."

"Be careful out there Hans, I know you think you're dispensable, but you're not! Stay close to home, in a few days new soldiers will be born and then you will get more help."

"But what about my task of levelling up?!"

"This isn't urgent Hans, I only told you to do that because I didn't have much more for you to do, but for now you can stay close, i don't feel comfortable with the workers walking around totally unprotected, it would be comforting to me having you around to protect them"

"I understand, if this is your order then I will fulfill it perfectly!"

"You are too serious Hans, just relax and watch the workers, consider it a day off! You are tense from the moment you were born!"

"It's just my nature mother! I can't relax in your presence! If I relax for even a second something might happen to you!"

"All right, all right, do your best and if you're hungry there's plenty of honey in home, we're out of honey crystals for now, but if you want some just wait a bit, I'll pack all the things up around here and in a little while I'll convert all that honey into rations."

"Then I will go on a tour in the region while I wait for the rations!"

As soon as we finished talking, Hans flew over to talk to the workers and chatted with them a bit, it was just a quick chat to check on they well-being, and then went on his way to do a patrol.

Now that Hans had left I started to pack everything up, put the potion in large walnut shells and then covered everything with some leaves and stones to hold on to. As I flew into the nest to start the long work of creating feeds with [Flake creation] I was wondering if the idea of increasing our numbers was really mine or my Bee part , the 2 parts had already mixed a lot, like 2 liquids of different colors that mixed slowly over time, I didn't know if my ideas were really mine and I think the bee inside me felt the same way.

---

 

 

 

'W-What? Did I get the maximum level of [Create Honey]?! The Skill has really evolved! Actualy it merged with a sub-Skill and created something new! [Food Creation] looks no different than [Create Honey], and the skill says I'm limited by my race, so what can I create besides honey?! Does this skill really do anything new? Or is it just a way to increase efficiency?

I decided to use some honey to try to do something, after eating some honey I try to focus on the skill [Food Creation] but after a moment with nothing happening I remembered that you need to focus on the uses of the skill and not the skill itself.

But what happens when I don't know the uses of the skill?!

[Creating honey] and [Flake creation] are quite self explanatory, but this [Food Creation] is too abstract for me to have a clear picture.

Failing at the work of creating something new, I try to create the familiar honey crystal, and after a moment of relief, I see that I can still create them with ease, which meant that the skill was working, but I needed a clear mental picture of what i want to create if i want to achieve something.

Leaving the honey Crystal aside I focus on the image of the [Bee Candy], technically is food but is it really possible to create the candy without boiling the honey? When I thought of the idea of creating the [Bee Candy] the honey inside my chest soon began to stir quickly and soon I spat out a familiar yellow paste that soon hardened and became something like The Bee candy.

 

 

It's different from the Bee candy I created in the cauldron, but it's still a bee candy, so what else can I create with this skill? Could it be anything as long as it was edible? After all the skill said I could create food, that was the only restriction, so I can create like an edible super glue? Or a super hard rock like a jawbreaker candy?

After getting some more honey, and a walnut shell to use as a container, I tried to focus on the idea of a super sticky "syrup", like maple syrup. And soon I felt a sensation similar to the first time I created wax, spitting out all the material inside the nutshell, it looked exactly as it had entered, I think honey and syrup have a very similar consistency to change anything.

 

 

It's honey, just a more compacted version of it, I think I could use that to save space, but I think I'd end up having to spend all my time if I wanted to convert every drop of honey that the workers produce.

What else can bees do? Bees of my world only created honey, wax, propolis, Ro -

Royal jelly?!

Royal jelly was something unique to bees wasn't it? What could I do with this jam? Create new queens? If I could do that I could even pass on the mission of increasing our numbers to her!

After running and grabbing a few more jars and eating more honey I try to focus my imagination on royal jelly, a super important food and with incredible capabilities, after a moment I feel the pressure and think it can be a success, but when i spit out the result I see that I may have rushed a little bit.

 

 

No! That's not it! It's not just any jelly! It's royal jelly!

Leaving aside the ordinary jam I take another pot try again.

'I need to focus, the end result depends on my conception, jelly, jelly! Not a useless jelly! The best Jelly that have in the world! How is able to nurture my children and create powerful castes! Not just any jelly, it's royal jelly! Something that just us! The bees! Can make with all the love and care!'

This time the feeling is different, but still similar to jelly, I feel like my chest has become a washing machine, and all the contents are rattling quickly, until I spit out a very clear yellow substance.

 

 

A hit? But what do you mean with "all the love"?!