Blearily I open my eyes again and find myself in a heap of soft pillows, a sweet smelling floral breeze blows a sheer fabric curtain away revealing a balcony. My pain is gone and distantly I can hear the faint chirping of birds.

“Is this heaven?”

I hear something ring through my skull: the windows XP startup sound.¹https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQ2oiVqKHw

“Ah, no, not heaven; I’m still alive... or in hell.”

Please Standby ... Initial Check Good ... Reengaging System Connection ... System Link Reengaged ... Repair of Mana Circuits Complete 23 hours and 57 minutes ahead of schedule Welcome back Amber, I missed you too.

Of course, it blinks away before I be sure I've read it right.

“Did I just see that? lets just file that away under ‘probably a hallucination’ and get move on.”

System Alert! Due to an extended period of disconnection a period of 12 hours or more will be required to tabulate experience gains and complete a number of aborted level up sequences and skill, ability, and title acquisitions. These changes along with a number of accessibility upgrades to your interface will be applied when complete. ►Accept◄

“Well… that’s good to hear, sort of.”

Putting that nonsense out of my mind, I took the time to look over my situation a bit more closely. My resting place this time is apparently a crude approximation of a four poster bed and my injuries have been cleaned and “bandaged” with some sort of waxy paste.

The angry red throbbing of my infection has receded into a faint stinging soreness and moving isn’t sheer agony. The stump of my right wrist is now smooth pink scar tissue instead of craggy black char; its also notably lacking the dagger I’d lashed to it with a length of rope.

I was almost more concerned with the lack of my weapon than the fact that I’d been stripped of clothes; not having my knife definitely left me feeling more naked.

“Alright, so… alive, less fucked up, looking good so far; not a fan of the missing weapons but… this place seems safe enough.”

Saying that, I take a good look around the room. The walls and floor are built of hexagonal bricks made of a hard semi-opaque yellow substance that I’m hesitant to call wax based on the fact that I can’t scratch it. 

The furnishings are, if I'm being generous, 'rustic' and un-decorated but they seem pretty durable. All of it is made of wood coated with a thin layer of that same stuff the bricks are composed of; a simple armoire, a vanity and seat, a bookshelf, and the bed I just climbed out of.

I catch my own reflection and can’t help but say it aloud. “Shit, I look like a rough stretch of road.” my skin is a patchwork of burn scars and abrasions, my eyebrows are mostly gone and the bulk of my hair has been scorched down in length unevenly, though it does have a sort of punk aesthetic to it. I hadn’t really been paying it any mind before now, but I look like I’ve been through hell.

I mean… I have, but still.

Vanity has never really been a major concern of mine; nice clothes and makeup are expensive and best reserved for special occasions, but just seeing the patchwork of injuries both old and new that cover almost every inch of my skin is disheartening.

I pull my eyes away before I can dwell on it for too long and instead check the armoire. 

No sign of my old equipment but there’s a set of loose fitting clothes; the stitching is amateur and the cut is awkward but the material breathes well and seems similar to the heap of cushions that I’d been resting on. The fabric smells faintly sweet and it’s maroon color seems to be derived from berries if I have to hazard a guess.

“Eh not bad… no use in staying naked when there’s something to wear.”

I get dressed before doing anything else and I’ve gotta say, whatever this fabric is, it’s amazingly comfortable, still wish I had a bra though.

I decide not to think too hard about the bruises I’ve been developing there and head out onto the balcony to take in a view that is frankly... amazing.

“Holy shit…”

I almost can’t help leaning over the railing to take it all in; from a dizzying height I look down on a meadow of flowers that stretches out for kilometers before the treeline of the forest resumes. The colors on display are myriad and almost blinding in their variety and among the blossoms are bees working industriously.

I get a little queasy as I realize just how high up I am, the hive-building I’m looking out from has to be as tall or taller than most skyscrapers. It takes a moment for me to realize that the flowers and insects I see are in fact massive, a trick played by perspective that makes the scene even more incredible in context.

Stricken as I am by the sight, I nearly jump out of my skin when a voice buzzes through my mind.

“Human is awake, Hive-mother will speak to human.”

“Gah! fucking shit, you scared me!”

Whirling around I win my game of ‘find the telepath’; another of those giant bee-like monsters with a much less cute and friendly appearance than the first one I saw. This one is a meter and a half tall and menaces with jagged spines of chitin; I have no doubt in my mind that it’s capable of dishing out pain and I’m not sure I can take it barehanded if it comes down to it, even if I have my status back.

It looks at me with those compound eyes and twitches its antennae.

“Uh… hi?”

“Hive-mother will speak to human, follow this one.” and it just walks off through another set of curtains opposite the balcony.

Not a lot of room for argument there, so I’m pretty quick to follow.

The interior of the hive is just as impressive as the view, but in a different way; everything is utilitarian in nature, it’s beautiful but more by chance than design. The hallways look built to allow maximum traffic in minimal space and the few other chambers I glance in on appear made for communal use; the tiny hexagonal cubby I woke up in the first time seems to be the rule rather than the exception. It definitely makes me appreciate my apparently private quarters quite a lot more.

However amazing the place is, it’s a long walk to wherever we’re going, so without really thinking about it I try making some small talk. It’s a nice change of pace; I mean, I haven’t talked to anything sentient that wasn’t trying to eat me for almost two months.

“Nice place you have here.”

“Hive is efficient, this one has pride in hive.”

“I can see why… it’s amazing; I bet you don’t get a lot of… non-bees in here.”

“Few that survive, but you are hive-friend.”

“Cool, cool, coool…”

Yeah, mental note, stay on their good side.

The conversation stalls as the pathway spirals upwards at a steady slope and I get a real leg workout before the passage opens up into what I can only describe as a throne room, despite the lack of an actual throne.

Atop a dais sits what I can only assume is the queen, illuminated from behind as the sun spills through some translucent blocks of that wax-like material, dying the entire room in honey gold. 

I can’t help but stare, she’s… beautiful and regal in an inhuman way.

Her form is strange; a four armed anthropoid torso attached to a bee-like body where the head would normally go, with compound eyes, a hairless head, antennae, insectoid mandibles, and a visible exoskeleton just all superimposed over the vaguely human-like torso; no stretch of the imagination would let me mistake her for a human even from the waist up.

The sight of her is glorious and terrifying, but that is nothing compared to her voice. It’s like thunder in my head, slow and reverberating like the sound is distant but still loud enough to shake foundations. It gives me chills.

“We welcome you to hive and are pleased to see your recovery has gone well.”

“We are [Apidean Queen Mother] Adelaide, a name gifted by human visitor Galan Devaux six hundred and forty-three seasons ago. We request your name in recognition of the human tradition of greeting.”

A few thoughts manage to scramble through my mind as her voice finishes reverberating through it.

'So these things are ‘Apideans’, not monster bees, keep that in mind.'

and

'Is that the ‘hive-mind’ we or the ‘royal’ we?'

Lost in my thoughts, I almost forget to respond before the pressure of so many compound eyes about the room snaps me from my contemplation.

“Ah sorry, er... Queen Adelaide, my name is Amber Wilson.”

For some reason, I find it prudent not to give my middle name as The System recognizes it.

“Amber Wilson, daughter of man and brave war-caste, Hive Adelaide thanks you for your aid in protecting our wounded and weak. We have reciprocated in mending your wounds to the best of our knowledge and driving out the curse from your blood.”

The word choice throws me for a loop until I figure out that when she refers to a 'curse' she probably means the infection.

“We offer our apologies for your initial accommodations, when we ordered you be cared for we were not specific enough in instruction. We hope your current accommodations are more to your liking.”

Okay, remain cordial, express thanks, correct misunderstandings.

“Oh uh… no problem," I say, before wincing at my wording "the new room is nice and honestly I really needed help, you saved my life so I can't be picky about where I'm laid up; quick thing though, I’m not actually uh… ‘war-caste’?” 

An awkward pause follows, but I can't help continuing.

“I mean, I’ve never really fought before. I’m just lost and doing my best.”

At first, I take her silence for that stereotypical royal indignation until the laughter starts to ring through my head; she goes on laughing for some time before she finally responds.

“You rip the hearts from [Alarune], and you are merely a lost labor-caste? Humans are amusing as always; tell me, lost human Amber, by what means do you find yourself within The Ficklewood.”

"Please, do not feel the need to use formal address, you are not of the hive and We consider you a guest."

“Thanks… I think? that’s a really long story and I’m not sure I understand it myself... I can tell you what I know, but it’s probably not gonna make much sense.”

“Please, enlighten me.”

My explanation is maybe… a bit meandering and it’s obvious that half of what I’m saying doesn’t translate. Words like ‘video game’, ‘isekai’, and ‘antibiotic’ require a lot of explanation. I'm not even sure how she's understanding what I'm saying at all, but that's a matter for later.

Eventually the concept is communicated as me being from a ‘far away’ kingdom that was destroyed in an accident and fleeing by magic.

What the hell, it works well enough.

I’m a little caught up in the telling and don’t just stop at how I arrived, she seems interested enough though, so I keep going and explain my time on the island, the goddess, the giant pig, and the really long walk to get here… or close to here anyway.

She sits and listens patiently, only quirking her antennae once or twice in confusion until I mention that entitled shithead of wolf.

“Amazing, simply amazing. Did you truly maim the [Forest Prince]?”

I might be getting carried away in that 'casual language', but its a lot easier to tell the story that way.

“Yeah, I burned the shithead’s face off with an acid flask when he basically tried to order me out of a tree so he could eat me.”

More laughter, like church bells and cricket calls, loud and bright and echoing.

"I'd heard rumors of his indiscretions, but this is perhaps the worst example yet. He is indeed a 'shithead' as you so elegantly put it. You truly are impressive."

"It's all just luck. I'm just a... how did you put it, a 'labor-caste'?"

“I wouldn't be so certain. If I am to believe your tale, in your time being lost, you’ve slain a force of [Goblins], awoken, met, and gained the favor of [The Lake Guardian], claimed territory and defended it against the challenge of a [Blink Hog Alpha], scorned, insulted, and maimed [The Forest Prince], as well as slaying thirty-three [Alarune]?”

I take some time to chew over that thought... apparently I've been doing some incredible things in between almost dying. I'm not sure what she means by The Lake Guardian... but I'd guess the giant gator? I gained it's favor?

Once again lost in thought, I'm snapped out of it by a question.

“Are you certain that you are not war-caste?”

Not sure how to answer that, how do you answer something like that?

“I don’t know what to say, I mean… I have fighting classes but I’ve never really thought of myself as a fighter; I’m just trying to keep breathing.”

“Well, regardless of that, you’ve done an admirable job.”

Hearing those words, I mist up just a little but manage to hold myself together; somehow her approval means a lot to me, I can’t explain just why but hearing that said is important.

Everything about my situation is insane, I’ve been fighting monsters and scavenging for food and someone recognizes my efforts.

Instead of having a full blown emotional breakdown, I settle on saying “Thanks…”

“I am certain you have questions of your own; we hear them on the edges of your thoughts each time you speak. We would however suggest retiring from the audience chamber, the space is quite droll.”

She gestures with her upper set of limbs for me to follow and commands the guards in the chamber to take their leave; I’m not about to argue with her, but based on my very limited understanding of insect body language, they aren’t happy about it.

"Join me in my study, Amber Wilson, there is much to discuss and as much as my children enjoy basking in my presence, they have labors to attend to."

From there, I follow her into what I assume to be the only other private chamber in the hive and take some time to gawk at it. There are several shelves of books, all with titles in a language that I can’t decipher, a collection of worktables with crude equipment for, at a guess, tailoring, alchemy, woodworking, and several other pursuits, and just a general heap of miscellany including my own possessions piled up on a nearby table.

The door closes with a smooth click and it seems that all at once, the tension leaves her form; I can sense the difference even before she speaks again.

“These are my chambers, I retreat here when commanding the hive becomes tedious.”

She was definitely using the 'royal' we before... all at once the imposing queen has melted away and while she isn't human she has a relatable vibe about her; it reminds me of the difference between meeting someone at work and at home.

"The primary purpose of this chamber is to aid me in learning of human crafts and culture. Please, make yourself comfortable... I have constructed several 'chairs' that humans seem so fond of."

She's... a hobbyist carpenter? No, it's... its more than that.

“I did not understand the descriptions of your kingdom but I could see within your memories the glorious art and artifice that made it up."

She turns to me, eyes alight with excitement and antennae twitching. I can sense her eagerness and curiosity and I recognize that fervor, but I can't quite place why.

“I must know everything you can tell me!”

Yep, the bit about answering my questions was totally a cover; she's a weeaboo but like... for humans.

“Please, there is little to do but read and I have read every one of these books seven times or more!”

It is an exercise in effort not to sigh as the last of her dramatic queen persona melts away right in front of me; her larger hands grab at paper and ink as her smaller ones clap together in excitement, she's ready to take notes.

"Uh..."

At first, I'm too stunned to respond but... I get it, I had a lot of jobs that were basically just sitting around and I was bored as hell even with a cellphone.

“Alright… how about this, I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine, deal?”

“Agreed! But I get to ask questions first!”

Not an ounce of hesitation; smooth as silk my completely made up plan comes together. I’m not sure how useful any of my explanations can be but she sure seems excited and I'm sure I can get something useful out of her.

---

Four hours later, I’ve had my brain picked hard; Addie, as I’ve come to know her, seems to have an insatiable desire to learn anything and everything she can. That nickname was the result of a slip into even more casual speech... and cost me some time too; I had to spend almost half an hour explaining nicknames and then another half hour explaining why I didn’t want to be called ‘Willy’ in reference to my last name.

“So… I’ve explained what I can remember about internal combustion, germ theory, and nicknames; is it my turn to ask questions now?”

It takes her a moment to stop scrawling notes and respond; its amazing how much of a scatterbrain she is... and honestly just a bit cute.

“Hm? Oh yes, of course!”

“Alright… so, I’ll be honest I just don’t know where to even begin. My er… ‘Kingdom’ didn’t have levels, or monsters, or magic… or really anything of the sort; at least not outside of fiction.”

“First off, I have to know, how are we actually communicating? None of the books you have are in English… you said it was “The Language of Man”, right? We’re not using that… what are we using?”

“[Wild Speech] is what Galan called it, vibrations in mana that carry meaning. If the books I have are accurate, most humans can’t actually hear it or respond in kind. It’s simply how most monsters speak to one another if they don’t have the ability to shape words with their bodies.”

“Okay so… why can I understand it? Also, who is this Galan guy, you’ve mentioned him before.”

“Ah, Galan is human friend of mine. He has not come to visit in some time now, though I assume he is simply busy. He informed me that he was capable of understanding me with a perk called [Wild Empathy], though he said other perks or abilities might allow it.”

I’m not really sure what to say right now, mostly because the first time she mentioned this guy she said they met ‘Six hundred and forty-three’ seasons ago; a quick bit of mental math puts that at about 160 years ago and unless humans are vastly more long lived in this world… she’s going to be waiting for a while.

Just gonna leave that idea alone, maybe humans do live that long in this world.

“Okay, so that perk wasn’t a bad choice… how about the Alarune, do they use Wild Speech too? When I ran into the first one it was less like talking and more like having thoughts crammed into my head.”

“Some can, but what you’re describing isn’t [Wild Speech], that would be their [Charm Magic]. I’m capable of using it but it’s difficult.”

“Oh shit, next question, how do I use magic?”

“Oh! Thats an easy one, you just release mana in the correct shape.”

“Alright… uh, what is mana? I mean, I have it, some of my abilities use it, but I can’t begin to imagine how to ‘shape’ it..”

There’s a long silence, she seems very confused, more confused than she was at any point in my explanation.

“You don’t know what mana is?”

She asks that question like I don't know how to breathe.

“Well… no.”

“It’s… hm… this is going to be hard to explain.”

“Mana is… energy, its will, power, creation and destruction… growth and change, thought, desire, life…  it just is.“

Well… that’s not super helpful.

“Yeah, I don’t get that at all… I mean, I can sort of feel mana when I use some abilities... Its like… tingly, right?”

“Okay, take that tingly feeling, gather it up, and push it out and you’re using magic!”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Oh, but we should probably move out of my study before you do… the balcony is a good choice.”

So, with the most simple of explanations the guided me out onto an open air balcony to give it a try.

“So… just feel the tingly feeling, gather it up, and push it out? I can’t help but feel I’m missing a step here.”

“That’s how I learned to use magic.”

It can’t be that easy, but… she is the expert; lets give it a shot.

Closing my eyes, I focus and take slow deep breaths… several of my abilities have used mana so I think I have a rough feel of what the sensation of moving it should be. It’s slow at first, a little trickle but…

[MP 184/468]

Oh, convenient, so I am expending mana… its sort of building up in my fingertips. I think it’s going well.

“Alright, I’ve got like… 280 mana stored up here.”

When I say that, she takes a few steps back, but she still looks pretty enthusiastic; Is 280 mana a lot?

“Oh, good job, good job! Now all you need to do is push it out while visualizing the sort of magic you’d like to use and your [Mana Core] should handle the rest.”

That catches me off guard, I open my eyes to see my fingertips sheathed in crackling blue energy.

“My what? Addie, you didn’t mention that before, I... I don’t think I have a mana co-”

And then I explode.

Or at least, that’s what it feels like.

More accurately an explosion happens in my immediate vicinity. The sound is something like a car backfiring but it’s strong enough to catapult me back through the dividing curtains and slam me into a bookshelf. My ears ring and my vision blurs.

[HP:  323/448]

As the shelving crumbles around me and books spill to the floor, I’m quick to take a somewhat delirious count of my fingers.

Ten?

No, wait… seeing double.

Five, that’s as good a number as I could hope for.

System Alert! Learned Skill [Mana Discharge] Lvl 1 Learned Skill [Rudimentary Mana Control] Lvl 1 Learned "Spell" [Arcane Backfire] ►Accept◄

Oh, neat. Why is that last one in quotation marks?

“Amber! Are you alright!?"

“Fine… how have you been?”

I know she’s not going to get the reference, but I have always loved the way Rick Moranis delivered that line in Spaceballs.²https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky1HiwZjYKE