Aurum - Year 3       {2 Weeks later}

 

"How will he look? Trouble has been trying to evolve for a long time." One guard said to another.

"Strong for sure, this guy just likes to fight and kill." Another guard responded.

Some time had passed, and now I had my eye on a crystalline cocoon that contained Trouble, several members were tidying up the room while waiting for Trouble to arrive.

Trouble evolved a few days ago, he had chosen to evolve into a [Fierce Fighter], a very self-explanatory class, which basically gave Trouble an explosive destructive power, but left him with low health and resistance.

I was hoping he would get some cool skills, but as a [Crystal Bee] I was really worried about Trouble.

The [Crystal Core] trait was a racial thing, so you couldn't choose to be born without it, all crystal bees had it, which was a good and bad thing at the same time, it gave everyone an absurd magical ability, but it made their bodies fragile like glass.

This would be a big problem for us, especially for combat classes like soldiers and melee fighters, did we have a solution? Sure, turning everyone into long-range fighters, but it was like asking someone who had fought with swords all their life to use a bow and arrow without any real experience in this new activity.

The solution to this was the popularization of the use of spells, as everyone had access to [Link] everyone could simply "download" a spell to use it anytime from anywhere, so by popularizing general purpose spells like [Strengthen] [Tough Skin] or [Accelerate] we could turn this weakness around.

Now, we had a problem with the issue of "mana costs", the life mana was very good for casting [Support] spells, the expenses were almost insignificant, but the boys had to use their mana without affinity to cast these spells, which generated an extra cost, a large extra cost.

If I used 3 mana points to cast [Strengthen], the boys would need 15 mana points to cast the spell with the same effect as mine, which was a daylight robbery, but we couldn't do anything about it.

Not on a large scale, not yet.

We could grant small staffs to wizards, staffs made with a catalyst crystal, and equipped with life mana crystals, which allowed them to use a fixed spell without any personal expense.

But by doing this we forced the wizards to carry weapons, which was an additional strain on them, and we hadn't yet discovered a way to "cast" spells, so these staffs could only apply effects to the user who was using the staff, which was pretty bad. It was still useful for area spells, like [Healing] or [Accelerate], but if we weren't careful we would end up healing and buffing our enemies, because unlike [Skills] the spells worked equally for everyone, regardless of whether they were allies or enemies.

Magic is a bitch.

Everyone thinks it is amazing and charming, but it's just a big headache for me, it has so many limitations that you can barely do anything with it if you're not an expert.

And we were a bunch of idiots trying to solve a riddle.

It's like trying to put together a puzzle while being blind, you don't know when you're doing something right, and when you find "pieces that fit" they can just be dead ends, and the wrong way to progress. So you need to discard everything we knew and try again.

Previously I thought it was impossible to "Give life to mana", but then the system throws a skill in my face that does exactly that. Then I thought I needed to create a "Mana zone" with a spell, or "stabilizer", but then I meet spirits who are doing zones of concentrated magic in a totally unknown way. I say that it is impossible to create symbols to tell mana what to do, like "runes" or something similar, but the system creates these mysterious symbols in catalyst crystals, every time they are enchanted.

To me the spirits were like bacteria that flew around and did who knows what, maybe they purified the energy of the world, but then they literally ate a young spirit like it was a cookie.

There was also this entity that looked at me through the spiritual world, and I had no idea how he did it or who it was, or why it didn't come and beat the shit out of me until today. But he was there, I know he saw me, and he knows I saw him, but still nothing.

As I was lost in my endless list of problems, Trouble's cocoon began to vibrate, and soon a large, menacing-looking bee emerged from the cocoon.

This bee was tall and defined, thin but muscular, wings thin and long, and covered in light armor entirely made of crystals, its mane became small and almost non-existent, but its eyes and antlers grew, making its head appear tiny for his eyes.

 

 

"Wow, you look amazing Trouble. And you have some really nice Skills here."

"Thanks mom, I feel great, I feel lighter and healthier, and I feel powerful!" Trouble said excitedly as he threw a few punches in the air.

"You gained some really cool skills.... I particularly liked {Planned Revenge}."

"It's pretty cool I think.... Normally when I need to retreat from a fight I end up losing my prey forever, now it will be easier to have a revenge!" Trouble said excitedly.

"It's not just that... This skill looks like a different version of Trevis' [Crazy Stalker] skill, the difference is that he doesn't need to spend Mp, or fight with the target, he can mark anyone he wants."

"It looks very useful!" Trouble said as he inspected himself.

"Be careful with [Decisive Blow] I don't want you using that shit unless it's really necessary!"

"But mom! I wanted to test my skills!" Trouble said.

"If you're going to test these dangerous skills, I want you to do it in the presence of your group, no crazy things boy!"

"Okay..." Trouble said upset.

Looking at the situation now it seemed pretty stupid, I was arguing with Trouble as if he was a 10 year old brat, while in reality he was a muscular grown man with a six-pack.

Shaking off this feeling, I continue to speak. "And another thing, I'm going to schedule a class for you with Max, I know you don't like magic very much, but you have to be very careful now, you have a fragile body, and a lot of Mp, so use your Mp much as you can."

"Understood, I intend to focus on body enhancement spells, I don't need to learn healing spells or things like that right?" Trouble asked with his head raised to look at me.

This height thing bothers me a little, I've never been tall in my human life, I was 1.73, neither tall nor short, but now I'm huge, like a 2.50 meter woman standing next to a 1.40 meter guy, I feel so giant every time I have to look down at the boys, and I feel funny seeing hive members like Trouble, Hans, and Jon, who were clearly pumped up but looked like toys when looked at from my perspective.

"It would be good if you specialized in 1 or 2 healing spells, because you never know, but you can always download everything, also the information club has already created a "server" just for those who want to receive and learn spells. But remember, you may even know exactly how to make a house, step by step, but without real experience all this knowledge is useless, if you really want to get good at using spells you need to dedicate part of your time to perfecting the technique."

"It sounds so fucking boring... Can't you just send some battle mages from Ral's group to me?" Trouble said with a straight face.

I just looked at his face with furrowed eyebrows, the guy was really serious, and he would rather delegate the work to other people than learn how to do it, even though he had all the resources and time to learn.

"Go work you lazy ass."

---

 

The new vertical garden was completed, all the structural part was ready and was now being prepared for planting, workers brought soil which was then mixed with fertilizer and spread between the floors of the tower. And the gardeners organized everything and planted some seeds in random places and spread some plants like [Living Moss] and [Sky Tears] around the place.

We had workers attached to the ceiling lighting the entire place, and farmers inspecting the seeds and raising seedlings in a separate room.

The entire structure of the vertical garden was enormous, and the garden occupied one of the largest towers we had available, it had 25 floors of plants and a ground floor that served as a "greenhouse" for the gardeners' experiments with plants.

Gardeners were not only good at taking care of plants, they are also good at creating new plants, it was thanks to their help that we created [Metallifolia]. A plant that had branches as strong as metal.

[Metallifolia] didn't seem very useful, but it served its purpose, which was to be the "skeleton" of the towers, I could use the [Wild Growth] spell to make the roots of this small tree spread across all the walls, creating a skeleton very resistant for the entire tower.

The problem was that I needed to do this work manually, which was absurd for the hive, but something acceptable for me, as I couldn't enter most of the towers and in certain areas that were too small for me, I did all this on the side of outside.

So whenever I was working on this side project I had a cloud of extremely nervous bees surrounding me, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

The main purpose of the greenhouse was to provide a place where we could create new plants, for what purpose?

Food.

It's no mystery to anyone that human beings are very good at messing with things they shouldn't mess with. Humans can completely destroy Mother Nature's plans, and laugh in the face of fate.

And I'm going to take advantage of this knowledge of humans that I have.

One day a very hungry human being to look at a tomato and thought "that's not enough for me". Instead of eating the tomato he planted it to gain more tomatoes, in the end the human being had many tomatoes and could feed himself and many other human beings.

Many years later, there is no more space for new tomatoes, but there are more and more hungry humans. Humans then thought "If I can't make more tomatoes, I'll make bigger and more nutritious tomatoes!", and then they started messing with nature itself to fulfill their goals.

I'm going to do the same thing, if I can't increase the number of plants I have, I will increase their quality and size. I can't do experiments with DNA around here, but I have the magic, potions and skills, so one time or another I'll get what I want.

The little project I gave to Levi had to be postponed, the problem with the project was that I was going too fast.

The construction club proposed that I first create a system of roots that would serve as an "electrical grid", then a control room to monitor all this energy, and they also asked that I give them time to evaluate whether this was safe or not.

Creating roots that carry life energy through the tower seems like a good idea, but if something goes wrong, it could go very wrong.

Life energy was 8 or 80, it would either give you a big explosive bonus, or it would make you sick and weak. There is a bottleneck for life energy, but we don't know how to see that bottleneck.

If I pumped life energy into a plant, with the intention of healing it, this would work for a while, but if I added too much life energy, it would reach a point where the plant would die.

It's very similar to the principle of "The Cup of Greed", if we went over the limit, we would lose everything.

That's why I put this "power grid" project aside for now, but I still haven't given up on the plan with [Syrup of Life].

We created a large tonne made of wax, which had a small pot inside it fixed to the floor. We put [Life Syrup] into this small pot, and then threw life mana crystals into it.

Over time the syrup began to replicate, and as it rised the collectors and loaders came and emptied the tonne, then they took it all to the silo warehouse, and filled a large silo with the syrup.

The syrup was very good, at least that's what the cooks said, the syrup could serve as one of the ingredients of [Nutritional Paste] and mainly served as rations for soldiers, because of its ability to fortify troops.

With this I managed to delay my hunger a little, but not for long, this would only last until the mana reserves I have stored in the mana pool run out, I would say that at this rate, in 2 or 3 days all the mana in the pool would be exhausted, but that will be enough to give us weeks of extra rations.

---

 

"What do you want to do?!"

"Bombs!!" Jasper said excitedly.

Jasper had come to make a request to me, I didn't know what it was, but the boy wanted to mess with bombs, which didn't seem like a good idea.

"Why do you want to mess with this? It's very dangerous, I don't think Ken would ever allow something like that..."

"Yes! When I presented the project to Steve, Ken came to me and said "If you mess with this shit I'll break you in two." Jasper said calmly while imitating Ken in a provocative way.

"And why do you want to mess with this then?!"

"Because bombs are very useful!! I was seeing the memories of the explosion that happened in the big tree, and I thought that if we could reproduce this phenomenon we could increase our military power!" Jasper said with a serious look.

"If you saw the smallest of the explosion, then you must be aware of the chaos it generated, why should I approve of it?"

"The explosions you created in the past were messy and poorly made, just a bunch of rubbish mixed in a cauldron, the work of a complete amateur." Jasper said.

'Thank you for the kind words.'

"With our new and latest knowledge, we could create much more stable and perfect bombs, my plan is a bomb with 2 reagents that will explode when they come into contact, I also want to create a smoke bomb to help soldiers escape, and poisonous bombs to Aldy's group. If I can I would also like to create other variants, like light bombs, and an imitation of your seed grenades!" Jasper said very seriously.

"ugh... When you speak so professionally... It's hard for me to refuse, they really seem like very useful ideas, but very dangerous... You know. cooks cut and burn themselves to discover new recipes, wizards go through mana poisoning to discover new spells, and soldiers get hurt to discover new fighting styles. I'm worried you're going to blow yourself up."

"I understand the risks! And I take full responsibility for this project! I talked to Levi, and he said that it was possible to create a separate room on the roof of the magic tower! That way, any explosion or accident would not cause structural damage to the tower." Jasper said.

"But then you would be very exposed!! What would stop a bird from coming and eating you?!"

"No life forms other than those classified come near the tower, mother! The fight club does a good job, and I have complete confidence that I will be able to conduct my experiments smoothly!" Jasper said excitedly.

"Ugh... But you alone? What if you need help?"

"I have volunteers! Isaac himself along with some other scientists, and some members of the alchemy and magic club applied for this project!" Jasper said excitedly.

"Fuck?! I thought everyone would be more wary of messing with explosives."

"The majority do... I would say that 90% of the hive doesn't like the idea, and they think the project is very dangerous, they say I'm going to set the hive on fire, but it seems ridiculous to me..." Jasper said.

'Oh? That's interesting... So the majority of the hive absorbed my "Trauma" like fire, and ingrained in their heads that fire = Bad, while a small amount of the hive just processed this "trauma" as extra information? How does it work? Is it a mutation? Or a genetic "deformity"? Like people who can't feel pain? But there's nothing wrong with their bodies so is it a mental "deformity"?...'

"...Very well, you have my approval, but any experiments done in the tower must be for academic purposes only, so no big explosions here, if you want to test real bombs, you will have to move away from the tower."

"Understood!" Said Jasper excitedly as he exited the room excitedly.

"I hope no one gets hurt..."

The idea of working with bombs was contradictory, bombs could serve as very powerful weapons, we could use them to mine, and perhaps wizards could create spells based on this phenomenon, the problem was that bombs, are bombs, they are dangerous and that's enough. a bad time for everything to go wrong.

---

 

I was inside my personal garden, which was located in the deepest interior of the hive, the entire garden surrounded the large begonia tree that served as a refuge for my mana pool, around the tree there were dozens of different plants and foliage growing around it. everywhere.

On the ground there were flowers, foliage and grass growing all over the place, bushes were pruned and styled by the farmers, and large flower ornaments and plant arrangements were placed around the place.

On the begonia tree grew masses of mushrooms, moss and vines. On its branches there were vases suspended with cedar that carried various plants and flowers. All over the place there were dozens of [Tears of the Sky] that served as a water source and dozens of workers who worked on maintaining the gardens also served as lamps to provide artificial light to the plants.

I was in an area built for "tea time", a large platform with a table made of wood beautifully decorated with cloths and floral arrangements, chairs made of nuts, twigs and wax, and a large pillow that I used as a seat.

Hans had invited me for a chat, I'm always happy to talk to boys, but Hans was different, whenever I talked to Hans he made a point of giving me a lecture about "royalty and duties". I feel horrible for trying to avoid him just so I don't have to hear about it, but at the same time I know he's right, Hans wants nothing more than the prosperity and safety of the hive.

And he was more than willing to make difficult decisions, Hans was a good leader, a real leader, not an image to be idolized like me. Hans would know how to react in moments of chaos and despair, while I would just freeze in the moment, Hans wouldn't think twice before sacrificing an arm to save his body, figuratively and literally.

Soon Hans arrived, and unexpectedly accompanied by him were Steve, Yan, Jon and Trevis. Which was a big warning that “this is not going to be an easy conversation”.

"Hello my boys, what is so important that you asked for a meeting in the garden instead of sending everything through the link?"

"Greetings mother, we have called this personal and unofficial meeting so that we can speak properly with you regarding the future of the hive." Said Hans as he gave me a chivalric salute, and then the others followed behind him.

"What would that be? The hive is in a time of prosperity and peace, all we need is to get through this food crisis and we will be back on track."

While everyone was sitting at the table, some workers came and served tea and some sweets to the boys, everyone looked very serious and didn't want to be the first to speak, but then Steve, as always, took the lead.

"Mom... We want to talk about the kobolds." Steve said.

'Damn it.'

Hans, who was just drinking tea, left his cup made of nuts on the table and started talking. "You know exactly what we want to say about them, I said it a long time ago, and I will say it again. They are not our problem. Helping them was always a mistake, and now the hive suffers from hunger because we need to feed a group that It’s beyond our food capabilities.” Hans said.

"Not to mention the problem of security and trust. The kobolds are not trustworthy at all, in a moment of desperation they can attack us, and using the resources we gave them." Steve said.

"Not to mention the glaring fact that the traitor may have been leaking information to them for a long time, the sacrifices they provide us are good, I admit. But they are not worth the price we are paying." Jon said as he blew off the steam from his tea.

"We produce food 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every month. And yet our production remains in the red, the addition of solid food to royal jelly makes it unviable for the consumption of common members of the hive, the infirmary had a increase in cases of food poisoning by more than 200% this month alone." Steve said as he added some sugar cubes to his tea.

"I know we're going through a food crisis, but it's only temporary until the vertical garden starts producing food, the syrup project succeeds, and Max figures out a way to speed up plant growth with magic."

"Mom. This is not about now, it's about the future, we will get through this crisis, but what about the next one? And the next one? Every day the kobolds increase more and more in number, the mouths to feed also increase, and then what will we have? An entire city of kobolds who count on us as a source of food and medicine?" Trevis said.

"Every day our magical experiments and technology advance more and more! With items like [Syrup of Life] food will soon become a trivial matter!"

"How? As our numbers grow and the kobolds grow as well, we will need more and more resources, and solutions like [Create food] or items that can self-replicate are not realistic solutions since our only source of mana in life is you. Even if you evolve, do you really think you would have a high enough mana reserve to keep food production high? And if so, what would you do? Would you stay all day, every day until the day you die, producing food non-stop?" Hans asked very calmly.

"So what? You want me to kill the kobolds, stab them in the back after welcoming them in a moment of fragility?"

"Yes, that would be ideal for me, we got a lot of information from Hilda, and for that I am grateful for the kobolds, but right now they are a burden we should not bear. It is past time to cut ties with them." Hans said coldly as he looked me in the eyes.

"You can't abandon someone like that after years of helping them in a friendly relationship! And aren't you thinking about the waves of monsters?! It's the kobolds who serve as the front line so that we don't have to fight!"

The boys seemed upset by my arguments, but Hans and Steve remained cool and methodical, Hans just sipped his tea while Steve stirred his cup with a wooden spoon before starting to speak.

"That's the minimum required of them, after all, we never had any problems with hordes of monsters until the arrival of the kobolds. They don't protect us from the monsters, they are the cause of us being attacked. So either we die with them, or we cut them off. Before it's too late." Steve said.

"We don't know that! It could just be a coincidence, and there is also the fact that the creature that stared at me in the spirit world could be sending these hordes of monsters! After all, since that day the hordes of monsters started to ignore the kobolds and run towards Aurum!"

"Now it's you who isn't making sense, the wave of monsters always attacked the tower, they were just too weak and died long before they got close. But now their number is greater, their power is better. That's why every day kobolds will become less and less useful." Trevis said.

"The services of the kobols are completely unnecessary, if we could focus all our resources on fortifying the walls of Aurum, and then creating a safe perimeter, we would no longer need to send soldiers on missions far from home, we could live solely in this region, living off the crops , and hunting in the region." Hans said.

"But soldiers hunt to gain XP, if we stayed here we would become stagnant!"

"We are already stagnant, the monsters and creatures in this region learn quickly, small creatures don't dare to fight with us, and they are very good at running away. And we can't fight bigger and more powerful creatures so far from the nest." Jon said.

"Yes. If we could live solely from hunting in the regions of Aurum, then that would be ideal. The hordes of monsters would provide us with easy XP that voluntarily comes to us. We could use the help of the entire hive army to combat larger creatures and more powerful, and it would be easy and quick to treat the injured. Besides, if we fought in that region, we could use your [Imperial Empowerment] skill with maximum efficiency." Hans said.

'Damn, damn, the boys have a solid plan, and I have nothing but the will to protect the kobolds, if I let them die, what will I become? A killer? A competent queen? A monster? I promised myself I would take care of them.'

But I can't even take care of myself.

As I thought, I looked up to see everyone waiting for my answer, Hans was looking at me with sharp eyes, Jon was happily sipping tea, Steve was eating some sweets, Trevis seemed distracted, probably mentally monitoring his group of spy bees, and Yan just listened to everything with a professional smile.

And again, I just freeze at the situation.

I'm definitely the worst queen anyone could think of.