Marigold – A LitRPG

 

1 Month Later

 

This last month was very busy, expansion was happening unrestrainedly, and our numbers increased so much that we looked like a metropolis, the 'walls' around the tree were built, and now we are expanding even more.

The entire interior of the house was filled with buildings, things like bedrooms, kitchens, dormitories, cafeterias, squares, stores or training rooms. The whole place was busy to the neck.

We kept our distance from the tree, and even started to remove the buildings made in the top of the tree to move them to another place.

Why? Respect.

This tree was the beginning of our society, it was a symbol for many of us and we respected it for providing a firm and reliable shelter in times of strong winds and rain.

We planned to open the top of the building to bring natural light into the tree, but this would only be done when the "2nd ring" was built.

Our society was growing so much that we started to divide things into rings, the first ring was the tree, the center of civilization, where I was and for now everyone else too.

But the project was to expand the rings, creating zones for soles and workers. Regions for the "nobility" if you prefer. The second ring that is being made would be the sole home for the soldiers, they would serve as the defenses, but in the future we would have rings for the cooks, tailors and spell casters. And rings for workers and other classes.

The division of the rings was more or less like this: 1st Ring (Nobility) - Transition zone (Where we planted and raised animals) followed by the 2nd ring (Where the soldiers would live)

I didn't really like this division by hierarchy, but all the members of the hive agreed that it wasn't a question of "nobility is more in the center", but rather a thing of "The most important are in the center", since I was the queen i was in the center of everything, in the deepest and safest part of the hive, and the other classes such as beacons, spell casters and cooks were nearby me, as they were not combatants and were important to the colony.

And it wasn't exactly a division, everyone would still move around the rings, we would still have soldiers and workers everywhere, but the other classes would only stay in the inner, and safer parts.

The mushrooms didn't mind the walls, nor did they mind becoming cattle, they seemed happy to have a safe and food-filled place to live.

My [Healer] had finally been born, and I had been impressed with their skills, they could heal (obviously) much better than me, but they couldn't apply bonuses to other members of the hive. They had a very weak and glaring point, which was the need to touch the target to heal them, they could not emanate a healing light like me, or heal with just a look. They had to go to the target and touch it to grant it healing. Their healing was more potent than mine, but they could only heal 1 or 2 members of the hive completely before running out of mana. Another scary thing about them was a skill called [Sacrifice].

They could sacrifice their HP points to heal their allies, it was a skill that reminded me of Kosame Amagai, but they didn't need to use it unless it was their only option.

I sent some of them to Hans group and some to Trouble, while the majority were keeped in the care of my new [Nurse] Ken!

Some time ago Ken managed to evolve, and without thinking twice he chosed a nurse, he said he had other options such as [Apothecary] and [Builder] but he wanted to be a nurse.

Now that he was officially a nurse he achieved the admiration and respect of all the other "nurses" in addition to some really cool skills, now he had a skill to create bandages with Sp, in addition to being able to provide minor healing and having mastery in care, Ken could also create an "aura" of tranquility that would calm his allies.

Which I thought was absurd, because how could someone short-tempered as Ken emanate an aura that says "trust me, I just want to resolve this in peace."

Trouble also evolved, and to my surprise he became a [Gladiator] Hans also had that choice back them, but Trouble's version seemed more bloodthirsty.

This showed me that 2 members with the same [Class] were not necessarily the same. If Hans had evolved into a [Gladiator] he would be like a professional MMA fighter, but Trouble was like an ilegal MMA fighter.

His skills were focused on dealing a lot of melee damage, while resisting the damage dealt to him. Trouble was by far the deadliest of the hive, but he was so hot-headed that he simply couldn't think much before acting.

Hans can fight against creatures much larger than him, because he fights in groups and with strategies.

While Trouble can take down creatures larger than him alone, but in the end he always gets hurt.

Some other soldiers had evolved and my gardeners started planting various flowers outside the dome, The flowers chosen were some that were very popular among the hive, some flowers that had "caffeine", others that were very sweet, or that could stimulate the body and some other plants to complete the biodiversity.

Our [Tears of a Saint] grew vigorously and now surrounded the entire tree, growing around the mushrooms and moss.

I had reached level 2 [life exchange] and created several unique species of flowers with the [life drops], my favorite was the moss, which I continued to feed with life essence, and now are growing all over my room, serving as a super comforting rug for everyone, some flowers decorated the walls and other small flowers were spread throughout the hive for decoration.

I had sent Trevis to find out the whereabouts of the werewolves, now I was prepared, if they were dead I would at least bury them and put a grave for them, but if they were alive I would help them, now I can do that.

Another thing was that Matt and Miles started fighting again, but the fights became more... Intense.

They used to fight over petty things, like twin brothers would do, but now Matt and Miles fought because they seemed to hate each other. Matt had evolved into a shepherd, while Miles was still a worker but a reliable leader of the transport group.

The 2 looked like 2 brothers who were very close at young age, but took different paths in life in the adulthood, Miles became more responsible and wise, becoming very close to Steve and Levi, as he was the leader of the transport group, Miles was always busy, telling everyone where to go, what to do and when to do it, but Matt spent the whole day outside the hive just taking care of the collectors.

One left home to do his duties, and he liked that. He couldn't bear living trapped inside the house, and worked with something that brought him peace of mind, it wasn't an essential job, or something with hight demand, but it brought him happiness, and he liked it.

The other preferred to focus on the work given to him, and took it very seriously. Becoming a sensible and reliable leader, with many young people who admired him for his wisdom. He liked the work, at first it was difficult, but nowadays he did everything calmly with the help of his assistants.

The two started to grow apart because of this, they didn't hate each other, but they were hurt by each other, Miles wanted Matt to accept a job inside the colony, to spend more time with them, away from the dangers of the world.

And Matt wanted Miles to quit his stupid manager job and leave it to someone else, so he could explore the world and see the beauty in the life outside the hive.

I would support whatever the two of them chose, we would always have someone to do the task, the workers were also evolving and gaining new classes, it just wasn't fast as the soldiers.

But they were both hard-headed, neither of them wanted to give up their work, and Matt ended up stepping on the ball and saying that Miles would never be powerful as him if he didn't stop being a coward.

This made Miles furious, and started another fight, now the two were fighting and didn't want to talk to each other.

---

 

"What do you think of Hexagon Hive?" Ken said.

"I think you don't have a talent for names, Simus is a living proof of that." Said Carl, eating a plate of sugar flakes.

"Fuck you then, think of something on your own." Ken said.

Now we were at headquarters, in a meeting room that was made up of the "inner circle" of the hive. We met here when we wanted to discuss something, could we do this via link? Sure, but the presidents of a company could also make all their decisions over the phone, and still go trough the problem to meet each other.

With our recent expansion, we started thinking about a name for our society, and with that came this conference, now we were discussing boring names for a bee colony.

"Apis Alliance? Seems appropriate." Miles said.

"Oh, of course it is! We're bees right? Why not come up with a stupid name that has a joke on bees, right?" Matt said exnobly.

"Fuck you Ma-"

"We are still in the presence of our mother, show some respect brats." Hans said.

I wasn't exactly here, just my representative who I decided to call Yan, my body was very big, and moving around was problematic for me.

"Alright, how about Melliferous Alliance? That would be pretty cool!" Carl said.

"Why an alliance? We are not allied with anyone, we are independent." Hans said.

"I don't know? It just seemed cool." Carl said.

"W-What if we used A-Aurum? It's a name that would represent mom's species and could be the name of a city or capital..." Levi said.

"Oh!! I liked that." I said through my representative.

"Um.. Aurum. Sounds acceptable." Hans said.

"Yes, it's not as stupid as Apis Alliance!" Matt said.

"Oh shut up, and grow up baby." Miles said.

"You-"

"This is my last warning, be quiet you two." Hans said.

"Ugh.."

"So everyone agrees? Aurum will be the name of our society?" Steve asked.

After a while and a vote via link, everyone said "Yes" in unison.

With that we now had a city of bees called Aurum.

---

 

Aurum - Year 1  - 1 Week later

 

'Good morning, esteemed citizens of Aurum! This is Radyo, your beacon of information, bringing you the indispensable daily updates from our bustling community!'

'Brace yourselves for a day bathed in radiant sunshine and sweltering heat. Exercise caution and refrain from prolonged exposure to the elements. Remember to stay hydrated and seek refuge from the scorching rays to ensure your well-being.'

'Culinary connoisseurs, rejoice! Today's culinary highlight at our cafeteria is none other than Wappo porridge, adorned with a sprinkle of delightful sugar flakes. Allow the tantalizing flavors to elevate your morning palate to new heights of culinary delight.'

'A word of caution to our intrepid scouts, explorers, and collectors: Beware of region G, where a swarm of scavenging beetles has been sighted. Access beyond zones B and C is restricted solely to members of the Exploration and Collecting Club for safety reasons.'

'Need a touch of comfort? Place your official orders for pillows or bedding directly to Zuki. Act swiftly, as the order limit is set at 500. Seize this opportunity to enhance your comfort with utmost efficiency.'

' Attention, social butterflies! The Communication Club announces temporary restrictions on non-essential functions due to increased member activity. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period of adjustment.'

'In a groundbreaking initiative, our esteemed farmers prioritize the expansion of crop fields, seeking the unwavering support of the Construction Club. As recruitment reopens, aspiring members are invited to undergo training under the guidance of Club Leader Levi and Second-in-Command Mevi.'

'Entertainment aficionados, don't miss out on the captivating musical play "La Seine and I" today, featuring the talented instrumentalists 1010, alongside the stellar performances of Kavy and Bity. Secure your seats by contacting Lofy promptly to avoid disappointment.' 

'The Development and Research Club beckons explorers and collectors to aid in the search for mana-infused items, rare materials, and unique ingredients. Let us unite in our pursuit of knowledge and innovation, in alignment with the vision set forth by our revered mother.'

'Speaking of whom, our beloved Queen Mother remains in robust health, as confirmed by the esteemed Medical Club Master, Ken. Her strength and vitality serve as an inspiration to us all. Long live the Queen, long live the hive!'

'With that, Radyo concludes the morning's broadcast. Until we meet again at sunset, stay informed, stay connected, and continue to thrive. Farewell for now, and may your day be filled with prosperity and joy my dear brothers.'

 

In the last month many things happened, the first was that I had increased the number of [Beacons] and expanded the reach of the link, I had created another 100 members for the "communication club", and I let them do what they thought best.

What they did was create a "radio", the oldest of the beacons that I decided to call Radyo, started to create an informative radio, he didn't like talking to anyone in person, but he was extremely extroverted when he spoke through the link. The second oldest beacon was the opposite, and didn't like to talk to anyone unless necessary, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the "radio" like Radyo, the second beacon (Pyper) was responsible for the technical part, finding topics of the day, and gathering information that Radyo then transmitted to everyone in their heads.

With the increase in the number of beacons, they were able to create stable mental "servers" and even create specific "rooms" within that server, allowing large groups to communicate both with members who did the same work as them, and with members of another "club ".

We also created clubs in the last month. It was an easy and childish way to divide everyone. We had the club for collecting, exploration, communication, construction, production, cooking, crafts, repairs, transportation, fighting, strategy, care, weaving, planting, magic, research and healing.

Everyone was separate from each other, but they still lived "exchanging knowledge" with each other, and working together on unique projects, for example the healing and care club. The healing club contained the new [Healers] who were bees capable of healing wounds using mana, but who could not buff or fight.

The healing club collaborated directly with the care club, and the fight club. They sent both healers to care for injured soldiers and healers to fight alongside soldiers, offering emergency care in combat.

Another thing was that we started domesticating more than just wappos, we started taking care of aphids, more specifically their predator, a black larva called [Spiny Larva]. The aphids reproduced like crazy by absorbing nutrients from plants, and these black larvae ate the aphids, and we killed the larvae.

Why breed laravas just to kill them? XP!

The Wappos were interesting, but they gave very little Xp, but these larvae were able to give 3x more Xp than a single Wappo. They took longer to grow, and needed to be herded all the time, in addition to having to take care of their eggs and "domesticate them" so that they remained sweet.

We also started raising snails! These creatures began to sprout from everywhere, and tried to eat the Wappos. They were a good source of XP for soldiers, but they were dangerous.

At first it was just a few snails of varying shapes, colors and sizes that appeared, but now we were dealing with an infestation.

And we had a group of snails that caused us more problems.

These creatures were called [Crimson Snail], they had brown, spiral cone-shaped shells, and slimy, squishy bodies. The same thing you would expect from a normal snail, but they had mucus that was capable of causing hallucinations. We discovered this when a soldier attacked one of these snails and shortly afterwards had to be restrained because he was trying to hurt other soldiers.

The effect that these creatures could cause was frightening, the hallucinations could numb the link and cause a member of the colony to revolt against us, we decided to kill everyone who came close. But we still let other snails get close.

The snails we chose for our farm were called [Sylvan snail]. These little creatures were huge, they looked like a cow compared to an ordinary soldier. These snails had a pale beige body, and shells that looked like mossy stones. These creatures were not poisonous and much less caused problems.

They spent their days eating some unlucky Wappos and healthy flowers, when they felt threatened they quickly retreated into their shell and camouflaged themselves as a simple stone. Each of these adult snails could grant an average of 50 XP to a soldier. But they were very difficult to raise, we needed to feed them daily, clean them, make sure they didn't get sick, domesticate them, and herd them so they didn't attract the attention of larger creatures.

These creatures also took weeks, even months. To grow and become "fit" to become Xp. They could lay hundreds of eggs, but they were not easy creatures to care for.

But then a craftsman had an idea. Which was to put them on a hamster wheel to use them as a driving force for some machines.

With this we were able to create a large grinding mill. This mill was built near the snail stables, and when it was necessary to use it, we took several snails to the axis, and tied them with silk ropes, then forced them to walk in circles to pull the mill and make it turn.

It was a little cruel, I must admit, especially when farmers started using whips to "cheer up" the snails. But I didn't care much about that, they were eating and living under our protection for free, so they had to pull their weight and we helped.

And when the snails died, soldiers could use their bodies as bait, attracting scavengers. Or small animals that were interested in a free meal.

With this method we were able to increase the level of the colony in general, the workers could kill Wappos, larvae and snails on the ranch easily, since the entire place was heavily protected by soldiers.

The first to evolve was Ken, who became a [Nurse], an incredible class, even more so being a [Radiant Bee], Ken's healing abilities were weaker than a [Healer] but he could take care of several members without getting tired, while healers would run out of Mp after 1 or 2 rounds of healing.

Another one that evolved was Steve, he became a [Royal advisor] a class that suited him, with this class he could "Force" the members to follow his commands, it was like a much weaker version of [Maternal Connection] but it was still useful , Steve could also grant agility, production and reasoning bonuses to other members, in addition to being able to communicate with several members at once without the help of beacons.

The next one was Levi, who became a [Builder], a common class to tell the truth, some workers who focused on gaining XP with pollination already had this class, the class allowed the user to handle various materials with mastery, in addition to creating new materials. mixing primary substances, and gave them a lot of physical strength and stamina.

The strangest one to evolve was Carl, who became a [Taster], a class that seemed very useless to me. The class allowed Carl to convert around 10% of what he ate into mana, in addition to giving him great resistance to poisons, and a very large stomach. Carl could also use Mp to add a random good effect to a food depending on the amount of Mp used, but nothing more.

And lastly came Miles, becoming a [Carrier], a class that allowed Miles to pack large amounts of resources inside his body and transport this material around. This was another class I had seen before, but it was still pretty cool.

Trevis hadn't evolved yet, he didn't care much about that and was more focused on being a tutor and "master" for the scouts, he gave me the vibe of a sensei or ninja master teaching secret techniques from the Leaf Village or whatever. But Trevis' teachings were focused on young scouts, teaching them about poisonous plants, how to hide and cover their tracks, how to identify the properties of a plant, etc.

My soldier are in stagned too. The creatures around us were gone, at least the low level creatures that could be easily found. All that was left were creatures that were too dangerous for us to risk, and creatures that knew better (bees = trouble) and ran away quickly.

This put us in an era of XP shortages. Our biggest source of Xp has always come from soldiers, but lately the flux of Xp dropped so much that the ranch was almost at par with the soldir, in terms of xp gain. Hans and Trouble's solution was to go after bigger, and more challenging creatures. But I was wary of allowing them to fight truly dangerous creatures.

Another thing was about werewolves. We found them, they were alive! Their group had grown even smaller since we last saw them, but now they had small buildings of wood and clay, and were a little fatter.

They didn't look very well to be honest, their camp had a trench and a fence made of wooden stakes, which suggests that they are having problems, there are many wolves that have dirty rags tied to various parts of their bodies, and they always come out. in camp groups.

"What do you think is happening to them?" Yan asked.

"Hmff, I don't care. They must be being attacked by creatures from deep in the forest, if we leave them alone they are likely to die in the next few months." Hans said without any sympathy.

"Hmm.... I think they might be in some conflict over territory? Some animals can be very territorial, which ended up generating this conflict." Trouble guessed

"I think it's unlikely, it's probably that they're fighting for food. If the werewolves are still alive, and on top of that getting along well. It's because these creatures that should be attacking them aren't much of a big deal, but they still take the trouble to keep attacking to get food." Steve suggested.

"But why didn't these mysterious creatures go after other, easier prey then?" Yan asked.

"Greed perhaps? It's not so easy to find a group of easy prey, and they shouldn't want to miss this chance to get a lot of food." Carl said.

"Huff... I think it's more likely that they are creatures in migration, or that they were expelled from their territory. I've seen large groups of insects or animals that walked in groups when going in search of a new home, it's probably that they are fighting with the werewolves for "sovereignty" over the place." Hans said after a while.

"But why not go somewhere else? They're clearly not getting the upper hand in this conflict." Miles asked.

"I think of 2 options, either their number is so large that losing some members doesn't matter, just like us. Or they are not willing to give up that territory for some reason." Hans said.

"What do we do then? Let them sort themselves out?" Ken asked.

'No. I'm not going to leave them to die, I know it might be a mistake, but I have more manpower and resources than I used to, I can only provide basic help to them, just enough to calm my conscience and see them through. thrive.'

"Mom wants to help them, so that's what we'll do! We'll ask Radyo to send an announcement to all the cooks, we can create a large amount of healing jelly, and give it to them as a medicine, we'll also offer some fruits from the forest, Wappos, snail meat and clean fabrics.” Yan declared.

"Isn't that a little to much!? They're not our problem! If we help them that much, they'll come after us one day!" Hans said after knocking on the table.

'...Just once, just this one help will be done, we'll take everything we can, and we'll never bring it up again.'

"Yes. We will help them Hans. Mom declared that it will only be this time, so it is decided, no dissenting opinions will be accepted, and this meeting is closed." Yan declared with a palpable air of superiority and arrogance.

Yan was kind of my "personal secretary", he served me like a pearl of SU, and emanated highness, his words were my words, and that placed him just below me, even more "important" than Steve, Since Yan was my eyes, ears and mouth.

"...Alright. If it's mom's order, I'll accept it." Hans said after a pause.

"Perfect! It's good that we resolved this without conflict, Steve, please inform Radyo about the matter, and have him send the order." Yan said pompously

"Immediately!" Said Steve, who then lowered his head to speak to someone.

"Now, this meeting is concluded. Your contributions are noted. And opinions have been heard. Mom's guidance remains paramount, always acknowledge her leadership and remember that no form of rebellion will be tolerated." Yan said with a smile as he looked around everyone gathered here, stopping momentarily at Hans.

"Dismissed." Yan said as he waited for everyone to leave the meeting room calmly.

Yan was a bit... Complicated. He had a sense of superiority, and a loyalty that already led to fanaticism, my orders were like "divine orders" to him, and any opinion that differed from mine was considered "Rebellion" in his eyes.

This made him treat Hans, the oldest member of the hive. With suspicion, he thought that Hans way of thinking was wrong, and that these divergent 'opinions' were the beginning of a rebellion.

Yan is a good boy, very responsible, and not corrupt at all. He's just a fanatic with a signed card. He didn't know that the way Hans thought and acted was the result of months of asking him to talk to me more openly.