Chapter 398: Bee-ware of Gambling |
Belissar held another victory banquet and specifically thanked Chief Rohsuak for the win. The karnuq were especially raucous as they celebrated the proven return of the Blazing Berserker, the Firstborn and the Third of the Sixth were both zipping overhead while the spiderkin children ran around, both groups asking the chief about her strength.
It seemed the karnuq intended to celebrate for the rest of the day, so Belissar gathered his Tower’s council and Tarwantrad during a natural lull in the festivities. After all, with victory came rewards. Belissar went ahead and opened up the two reward choices once everyone had gathered.
Please select a reward:
- One rare monster choice (At least one rare or better option)
- One uncommon room feature choice (At least one uncommon or better option)
- +1 room slot
The first choice was fairly straightforward. As much as Belissar wanted new bees, the point of this expansion was to get more rooms, so adding another room to every floor was an immediate pick. Besides, the bees already had a lot to work on, particularly as they needed to build up to afford immortals. Belissar instead picked the reward that would give him work, rather than them.
Please select a reward:
- One rare room feature choice (At least one rare or better option)
- +200 max mana
The second choice was harder. More max mana was quite tempting this time around, given how mana-starved Belissar had been lately. He certainly couldn’t fill out all the room slots right away unless he took this reward. But, on the other hand, he was building mana up again now that the Tower had resumed daily purifications. In just the recent days, he had already built back up the seventy-three available mana to spend. Spending an expansion purification reward on more mana still ultimately felt like a waste when all he needed was patience to get more.
So, he considered the other choices. Room features had certainly proven their value, they provided most of the resources for his Tower’s denizens, the mana storms had been his best defense against Starami, and the miracle lighthouse had saved countless bees from death. Additional rooms were also helpful, though, it was the mana storm feature combined with the Abyssal Trench room that had been so dangerous to Starami’s forces. The room reward would also give him three rooms, though he wouldn’t be able to pick them, while the room feature choice was guaranteed to be at least rare.
In the end, both options would be helpful, so Belissar just picked on a whim. He decided to go with the rooms since he had just gotten a new floor and an extra room slot for all the existing ones, so now seemed like a good time to get more options to fill them. And so, Belissar selected the random rooms and waited to see what they would get…
Three random uncommon rooms selected.
Acid Lake (Rarity: Uncommon) now available!
Mystic Mine (Rarity: Rare) now available!
Stormy Coast (Rarity: Uncommon) now available!
Tarwantrad chuckled.
“A Mystic Mine? Tamosmed will be happy.”
Belissar smiled.
“What about the others?”
Tarwantrad shrugged.
“I don’t know much about these, to be honest. Acid lakes, storms, and mines aren’t the best places for flowers, usually.”
That put a bit of a damper on Belissar’s enthusiasm, but he still moved to check them out. The Abyssal Trench had already proven what a flower-less room could do for his Tower, after all.
Acid Lake
Type: Poison, Water, Field
Innate Features: Acid Lake, Sulfiric Fumes
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Mana Upkeep: 20
Description: An acidic lake, hostile to life and incredibly corrosive. Sulfiric fumes rise from its surface as well, poisoning all who inhale it. A dangerous place to cross for all who are not resistant to acid and poison. The acid and fumes do have applications in alchemy, but gathering them is a dangerous task.
Acid and poison-resistant monsters thrive in the lake, but the environment is hostile to all others.
Tarwantrad crossed her arms.
“Hm, there are plants that prefer acidic soil, but full-on acid lakes were described as too hostile for even them. Maybe some monster flowers might work, or maybe we can try to adapt mana flowers to the environment? I’ll have to work on it.”
Belissar shrugged.
“If worse comes to worse, we can just use it as a defense room. If the flowers don’t like the room, hopefully the Hunger won’t either. Invaders certainly won’t.”
Tarwantrad grinned.
“True.”
As for the hive of hives, only the toxic bees showed any interest in the room after learning it wasn’t good for flowers. Niobee would have to test the room first to see if it was safe for bees, but if it was it might make a good place for the bee army to fight.
The next room seemed a bit more useful, though.
Mystic Mine
Type: Ground, Magic, Resource, Labyrinth
Innate Features: Mystic Mineral Nodes, Ground Mana Concentration
Mana Upkeep: 40
Description: A subterranean mine containing an unusually high concentration of mana, causing the natural growth of mystical minerals and metals. Gathering these precious resources, however, can be complicated. The tight spaces of the mine concentrate mana and can occasionally result in wild magic, mostly Ground-type. Groundquakes, spontaneously shifting tunnels, cave-ins, animated rocks, and explosive mana-pockets are all possible dangers that any would-be miner must prepare for.
Ground-type monsters thrive in such an environment, where they are empowered by the high concentrations of natural Ground mana.
Belissar certainly agreed that Tamosmed would be happy, this sounded like a perfect place for the mithril. Though, the room seemed quite dangerous for a mine, hopefully less dangerous than a dragonvein room, though.
The Fourth of the Fifth’s First Daughter perked up.
“Magic metals? Lots of mana?”
Belissar nodded.
“Sounds like it.”
The Fourth of the Fifth’s First Daughter immediately broke out into an “Amazing, incredible!” dance. Belissar smiled. They’d have to see how dangerous it was, but it seemed the bees could make use of at least one of these rooms. And they already had the Ground-mana and Metal-mana flowers which liked to grow underground and by resource mineral nodes, so they’d flowers for the bees there too!
The final room was one he had seen before, the stormy coast.
Stormy Coast
Type: Air, Water, Lightning, Field
Innate Features: Sea Storms
Mana upkeep: 20
Description: A coastline where warm and cold air collide, creating powerful winds, massive waves, and frequent storms. Winds howl across the sea while huge waves batter the rocky cliffs, creating a dangerous environment in and of themselves. The chaotic air above also creates frequent thunderstorms, intensifying the waves while raining down lightning.
A difficult environment for most land-based and flying living things. Water type monsters can thrive here but only if they can avoid being smashed against the cliffs by the waves.
This one would probably be another room solely for defense, since it was said to be dangerous for fliers. That was why he hadn’t picked it before, after all. Still, he had it now, so he’d just have to use it as best he could. At worst, frequent thunderstorms seemed like a good defense. Belissar might have to ask Nenavann about water monsters, this was his fourth water-based room after the Bog, Abyssal Trench, and Muddy Seabed. Nenavann had taken all of his monsters back to his dungeon so those rooms were largely empty save for the Bog. Maybe the swimming bees might be able to adapt? Or maybe the shocking bees, if they could manage to fly through the wind and rain?
In any case, it was at least three more rooms that he could use for his defenses, at least until he and Tarwantrad could adapt bees and flowers to fit them. It was always better to have more options. Besides, he already had bees living in volcanoes and eating lava, surely there were bees that could live in storms and acid lakes?
With the two rewards handled, it was now time for the perk choice.
Please select a perk:
- Bee-type Speed Boost (Small) (Rarity: Uncommon)
- Piercing Stingers (Rarity: Uncommon)
- Communer Range Boost (Rarity: Common)
Belissar read out the descriptions of the perks but it turned out they were all quite straightforward this time.
Piercing Stingers
- All stingers gain increased penetration
Communer Range Boost
- Monster Bee Communers may communicate at farther ranges.
- Monster Bee Communer communications are clearer and less susceptible to interference.
Belissar turned this one over to the hive of hives, but it was an easy choice for both him and the bees. Making all bees faster was too strong to pass up, it not only made the bees stronger in battle but also helped the workers with foraging. Piercing Stingers was helpful, but lancers and knights could already penetrate tough targets, while assassins could find weakspots, and the Bee-swarm Barrage perk could weaken defenses if neither lancers nor assassins could get through. The hive of hives, meanwhile, hadn’t had a problem with the range of their communers yet and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter could already boost the communers. Ultimately, neither of the other perks was worth passing over the speed boost.
None of the rewards were particularly rare this time, but Belissar was still quite happy. They got some nice boosts for the bees, some new rooms to explore, and a lot more room slots for whatever his Tower needed. And all for a purification that Chief Rohsuak defeated near single-handedly. It was not a bad victory in the slightest.
