Aurum - Year 3       {1 Week later}

 

The vertical garden project was in full swing, the hive was going through a food crisis, and we couldn't afford to sit idle.

Food is the basis of everything, in this world or any other, it is very easy for us to get water, the world always seems to be in summer, the heat was real, but we had plenty of water in a nearby lake, and [Tears of the sky] that produced drinking water.

Now food was a much more complicated thing, we didn't need to hunt to survive, just to gain Xp, so we used the meat of these creatures as food for the kobolds, and bait for larger animals.

As bees we could only survive on nectar from flowers and substances rich in sugar, the problem was that flowers produced very little nectar, and to maintain a hive with more than 1000 members you needed a lot of food per day.

We could use fruits and juices to add bulk to food, but that wasn't a real solution, and it wasn't realistic to live on non-renewable supplements.

We don't have a market where we can go to get food when our reserves are low, the kobolds are useless when it comes to food production, and the more evolved the boys become, the more food they need.

If I don't do something, soon everyone will start to starve, poorly fed soldiers can't fight properly, which increases the chance of fatalities in fights, and without soldiers we will be left without protection, making ourselves a easy feast for anyone who wants a lot of XP.

"Damn, why am I so bad at this?! I feel like a noob at a strategy game! The problem is that I can't restart if I lose the game!"

I made so many troops at the "beginning of the game" that now I can't sustain them, the solution for a player would be to let most of the troops starve and rebuild later, but if I let the boys starve , I will never forgive myself, all of them are my responsibility, they did not ask to be born or exist, I brought them into this world to help me survive, and the least I can do is keep them alive.

"Alright... I have [Honey Crystals] and some crystal bees, what can I do with it?"

When we evolve we spend more food to maintain ourselves, a soldier who went through the 1st evolution would consume 3x more food than a soldier who never evolved, and a soldier in the 2nd evolution consumed 3x more than a soldier in the 1st evolution.

Doing the math, I needed a food truck to keep everyone alive and fed, my saving grace was the [Royal Cooks], their skills allowed us to increase the nutritional value of the food prepared, which meant we could feed more people with less food, but even they had their limits.

My plan now was basically to resort to [Honey Crystals] if I could make them grow on the walls, or create high quantities of them, then i could send those crystals to the cooks and maybe solve the food problem, or at least postpone it until the farm starts to produce results, and Max's invention bgive some fruits.

Breaking a honey crystal into 5 pieces, I place them inside 5 different wax jars, and then start injecting life mana into one.

After about 4.5 mana points, the small crystal fragment grows to around 35% of the crystal's original size, a very high cost for a not so goods result.

"Next test."

In the next jar, I put a bunch of [Life Drops] and wait, then I can see the crystal inside the jar glowing slightly and closing my eyes I can see the crystal growing soooo slowly, maybe it will work in the long term and in large quantities, because the [Drops of life] did not spend Mp, only Xp and Hp.

In the next jar, I pour more [Life Drops] and start injecting life mana, in a short time the crystal starts to grow quickly and in strange directions, with just 4.3 mana points the crystal grew by up to 54% of its original size of the crystal, very economical, but to my disappointment when I pick up the crystal I see that its quality has gone from [Good] to [Horrible], the process seemed to sacrifice quality to gain quantity, in desperate moments this can work, but I prefer to find another way .

For my next test I invoke something I haven't touched in a long time, my "Secret Ingredient", the mysterious substance that I could produce with a gland in my head, the last time I used it I created an explosion in my laboratory, but now I'm not throwing strange substances into a cauldron, I'm just throwing a mysterious substance into a random object.

Closing my eyes and concentrating, soon a small white drop that looked like it was full of glitter formed between my jaws, so letting the substance fall onto the crystal i saw it vibrate until it turned brown like caramel.

“What the fuck is this now?”

 

 

"Ah! Fuck you, system! Who do you think you are to call me depressed! I have reason to be worried, okay?!"

The mysterious substance seemed to be an infallible way of adding my desires to something, the problem was that my emotions directly influenced the final product, because of my "problems" I ended up creating a sweet that causes depression.

"Wait a minute... Then I just need to...."

Focusing on the next crystal, I start to focus, I start to think about the boys, and all their hard work, I start to think about the hive and focus on the latent desire to not let anyone starve, I wanted to create something that could eliminate the hunge, and save my boys.

This time I felt a big kick in my head, as if I had been hit on the head with a stone, and I could see my Sp dropping quickly.

Soon a small bubble of "secret ingredient" formed in my jaw, and I dropped it onto the crystal before bracing myself on the table to keep me from falling.

"Mom!? What happened, are you okay?" asked the royal guards.

"I'm fine! I just used a lot of Sp at once, don't worry sweeties."

Ignoring the children's concern, I look at the jar, and inside instead of the honey crystal, there is a golden gelatinous substance like honey, full of small colored crystals, the strange jelly was bubbling and seemed to be growing with time, like boiling milk sloshing in a hot jug.

 

 

"Shit! I did it, I spent an absurd amount of Sp to create this, but I did it!"

The syrup looked really good, and had the advantage of being only for [Bee]-type species, this was basically a guarantee that we wouldn't have other [Bug]-type monsters trying to steal our food, and the more limited an item is, the more powerful its effect.

"BOYS! Come here!"

"Yes!" The guards said.

Soon 2 small heavily armed guards were at my freight, I took 2 small cups made of wax, and put some of the syrup inside them with one of my fingernails of my hand, then I gave the cup to the boys and asked them to try it.

"Please try this, tell me if it is nutritious or not."

"Clear!" The guards said, then they began to drink the syrup without hesitation as if it were a shot of tequila, and after finishing everything they closed their eyes to think.

"Sooo?!"

"I would give it an 8 out of 10, tasty and energizing, but it is still less nutritious than the food produced by the cooking club." Said the 1st guard.

"I give it a 9 out of 10, it's really not very nutritious, but I feel stronger and more energized, I feel like my body is lighter, and I feel revitalized!" Said the 2nd guard.

"Great, so I created food capable of buffing troops, I think I focused too much on the desire to keep soldiers powerful, but it's still great, I just need to send this to the cooking club and without delay they can created something more perfect."

For my next test, I start pouring energy into the syrup, and after 12 Mp points, the jar filled to 3/5 full, very expensive, and didn't give me much food, but it was still something.

"I'll need a silo, and a way to remotely add energy to the syrup, but if all goes well I can put an end to the food problem."

---

 

"D-Do you w-want a honey s-silo that can b-be remotely p-powered with l-life energy? I-I'm afraid th-that's beyond my c-capabilities, m-mother! A-as the l-leader of the c-construction c-club, I-I only know how to w-work with basic constructions, f-for the m-magical power-up p-part, y-you, I-I would need to t-talk to M-Max!" Levi said nervously, with more stutters.

"I understand dear, but it's nothing really difficult, what I want is just a silo, full of [Living Wood] roots inside, would that be possible?"

"Y-yes! Th-that w-would be e-easy to do." Levi said.

"We just have to add a few more things..."

"I need the silo to be tall, not wide, full of living wood roots growing through the interior walls, and a hole in the bottom of the silo that opens every time the silo fills up, I need the silo be connected by a network of begonia [Living Wood] roots to prevent mana leaks, which connects to the mana source of life."

"The purpose of the silo is to serve as a producer of [Life Syrup], so when the silo empties it cannot empty completely, and it must be easy to inject energy into it through the roots."

It was very specific, but I had the entire plan in my head, to complete the contraption, I would only need a pipe and a pump that would connect the [Life Syrup] producing silo to a larger silo that would serve as definitive storage, so the transporters and collectors could collect everything and take it to the kitchen.

I could do everything manually, energizing life mana crystals and throwing them into the syrup, but there's no reason not to automate everything, if I could create these "energy roots", I could start to basically have "electricity" ".

Using living begonia wood was the best option to create these energy cables of life, living begonia wood was much more stable and economical than living wood made from forest wood, and to create a energy threads that really work i need a wire that wouldn't lose mana easily or that would be just a waste of the precious mana of life.

If I could create a root system that connects the entire base to the central battery, then I could speed up the work of mages, saving them from making long journeys to the mana source located in the center of the hive.

In addition to creating recharging points, or even "sockets" for machines that run on life energy.

If this worked, I could implement the "magic wand" that Max created some time ago, in some fixed places, creating a permanent spell in a specific area, I have no use for that right now, but if I create a spell capable of "create mana zones", I could use these Max wands, to create an entire life mana zone.

Little Levi looked horrified at my request, when it came to pure constructions, Levi was the best, he could create stable and architecturally beautiful structures, but he lacked a lot in specific knowledge. It was like asking a bricklayer to understand electricity, heating, fodder, and automation. There are bricklayers who know everything, but Levi was far from being a professional in all sectors related to "construction".

"I, I d-don't know if I can d-do this, it seems like a lot..." Levi said shyly.

"Honey, stop being so nervous, at least try, I'll ask Emi to send you the mental plans, if you fail it the first, second or tenth time, it doesn't matter, the important thing is you geting to the final product."

Levi is a good boy, but he is very shy, Levi is so afraid of failure that he gives up on things before even trying, he has an incredible success rate in all his works, but he falls behind when it comes to "innovation" , it's as if Levi thought everyone would yell at him for one little mistake.

"I, I d-don't know... It s-seems like a lot..."

"You are the creator of machines in the industrial sector, are you afraid of a simple root system and creating a silo that can be emptied when it is full? Do you by any chance not know how to do it?"

"Hum, I-I kn-know how to d-do this, in theory. I-I just n-need to c-create a c-cylindrical shaped s-silo, app-proximately 25cm in d-diameter and 1 meter high. T-to create a s-support for the s-silo, I-I can use the w-wax alloy to c-create a s-strong frame that c-can support its high w-weight, or s-suspend it from the c-ceiling with the help of r-roots and wax. T-to c-create the automatic e-exit, I-I can use a s-simple float system that opens the exit w-whenever the contents of the j-jar reach the top. A-and to ensure that the s-silo never empties, I-I can create g-grooves and cavities w-within the s-silo so that when it is e-energized it can r-replenish its contents. F-for the e-energy root s-system, I-I would need an immense w-workforce, s-something that w-would not I have at the m-moment because of the p-project with the v-vertical gardens, b-but in theory, I-I could create a l-large system of l-living wood roots that would be h-hidden inside the w-walls and on the f-floor, t-these roots could also h-help with the s-structural support of the t-towers, and we c-could use living mana crystals as energy c-collection points." Levi summarized

"You see, sweetie? You know what you have to do, you just need a little more attitude, talk to your brothers, don't be afraid to make mistakes, no one will judge you, no one in this hive is better than you when it comes to construction, so give yourself a little extra value, okay?"

"Okay... I'll try." Levi said nervously.

When Levi left the room, I gave a big yawn, and looked past one of the soldiers, it was already night, but I had no way of knowing unless I saw it through someone, my room was always lit by the workers, and by no means There are windows that show the outside, I couldn't tell what time it is.

"Another day, another bullet dodged. I guess that's it for today."

Getting ready for bed, soon a small group of caregivers entered the door, and began to clean me, brushing my hair, and cleaning my body with cloths and creams, they wet my hair with water, then threw on scented oils and creams created by the club. of alchemy, then they dried everything with thick towels made by the sewing club, and finally they made my bed with pillowcases.

I lived sitting on my bed, the throne room was basically my room, so calling it the "throne room" was not correct, the "throne" was nothing more than my huge bed that occupied at least 50% of the room , and I seemed careless when I received people here. I would lie on my side while listening to the boys talk about their problems, or just sit on the pillows, no one had any problem with that, but I looked like a nitpicker from time to time.

"Good night boys!"

"Good night mom!" The guards said.

I got used to them, it was a little scary at first sleeping in a room full of other people, the first time I woke up and found a soldier watching me, my heart almost came out of my mouth, but nowadays the presence theirs is comforting.

'Tomorrow is a new day, and a new problem to deal with.'

---

 

Inside a small apartment an alarm starts to ring, a woman around 30 years old punches the alarm clock and gets up, the woman has long white hair that falls to the floor, and golden eyes like the sun, her skin is white like snow and emitted sparkles like a prismatic crystal.

Getting out of the yellow blankets and heading towards the bathroom slowly, she turns on the tap where a viscous yellow liquid starts to fall, she uses her toothbrush made of wood to clean her teeth and then gets into a large bathtub made of a material similar to wax.

When leaving the bath she dresses in yellow clothes with exagonal patterns in white colors, she takes a small block of stone and runs to the front door, when opening the door she is faced with a large yellow world, the air was filled with a unmistakable smell of rot meat and the blood-red sky hung over it.

Walking down the street she could see buildings made of wax, some were falling to the side and seemed to be melting and others were mixed with materials made of metal and wood, as she walked she could see dozens of flowers scattered and growing all over the place, Spiny roots made of wood broke the ground where they grew and large pools of a golden liquid formed on the ground, like puddles of water after rain.

Walking a little further she could see people similar to her walking down the street, these people had strange clothes, such as coats, uniforms and suits in yellow and white colors, their height barely reached the girl's waist, and they all had a colorful cloud in the place of their heads, wherever she passed the small figures would stop and greet her and as she approached her destination she began to see these small figures tearing pieces of metal and concrete from the floor and replacing it with wax and a sticky liquid.

At the end of their walk there was a large building that looked like a tower of stacked books, the entire tower was so high that you couldn't see the top, the small figures that circulated around the place stayed away from the tower for some reason, but it was still possible to see some movement inside the tower of books. When looking on the surroundings of the tower you could see a large amount of plants and flowers that grew all over the place, like vegetation in an abandoned structure.

Entering the large building, the woman could see an infinite number of books that were simply thrown everywhere, from the floor to the ceiling that seemed to have no end, the place was full of books and sheets of paper. Scattered throughout the place were scores of unlit candles and accumulated dust, moss and vines grew on the wall, on the broken and cracked windows were large amounts of cobwebs and black mold. Among the books and shelves, there were small figures that slowly rummaged through the books, picking up books and then reading them intensely while writing everything down in small pocket notebooks.

Then these figures gently put the books back in place and left to a room while holding their small notepads.

Among all the books, sheets and shelves it was possible to see small black roots growing all over the place, but no one seemed to care, the small figures that read the books simply ignored root-infested sections and focused on more accessible things.

The woman then walks to a metal box with a display and clocks in, she sits behind a table hidden among the mess and chaos of books and begins to fiddle with her small stone block.

As time passed, black goo began to drip from the ceiling and emerge from the cracks in the wall, but the woman didn't seem to notice the dirt, the goo spread across the books and shelves, staining the floor and compromising some books, and yet she didn't notice.

The small creatures that walked around the place also seemed oblivious to the black goo that was slowly spreading all over the place, so when the whole place looked like it would be flooded by the goo, a large wave of golden energy began to be pumped into the tower, causing the moss retreats and enters back into the craks of the walls.

At the end of the wave of energy the entire tower shooked and vibrated, causing more books to fall to the floor, windows bursted and walls cracked, but yet everyone present didn't seem to notice the wear and tear in the room around them.