All hostiles defeated. Emergency purification successful.

    Reward: Two random reward choices.

    Belissar exhaled his breath.

    “Great work everyone, the purification is over. Can someone let Tarwantrad’s monster know?”

    Once he had ensured everyone had been informed of the victory, Belissar took stock of the damage. His eyes widened...and his face curled into a grin. Despite the rush to respond to a purification they weren’t expecting, no bees died today. The shade’s straightforward attacks had been easy enough to dodge in the open air of the Lava Field while the Fairy Grove itself assisted the defenders fighting there. The boar’s only special power was the cloak of fire around it, but said fire was less powerful than the salamander’s. Fire Resistant Bees did its job and they got away with only some light burns.

    The worst of it was a digging soldier who mistimed her ambush from below and got stepped on. She managed to dodge well enough to avoid death but one of her pairs of wings was crushed. But, well, Belissar couldn’t bring himself to be too upset about it. The soldier herself was spinning about in joy as Beero arrived to welcome her into the hive of the fallen. If she was happy about it, he’d try to be too.

    In the end, Belissar walked away with a smile. His Tower’s defenses had worked. The Dirt Tunnels, Lava Fields, and Fairy Grove hadn’t stopped the shade outright, but they bought all the time needed to figure out its powers and wear down its strength. Once the bees raised some assassins and built more wax golems, the defenses would work even better. He was confident now that they could hold the Hunger, even in an emergency, and had even gotten some rewards for the trouble!

    Belissar’s smile dropped. Chief Rohsuak and Metsaitti had finished up the day’s talks with the sigmaka and returned, while Tarwantrad had arrived to check on him. They were now gathered after the victory celebration. All three had congratulated him but now looked concerned...which made Belissar concerned.

    “Is something the matter?”

    Chief Rohsuak shook her head.

    “No...but also perhaps.”

    She forced herself to smile.

    “Today was a great victory, Tower Keeper, of that there is no doubt. You, your bee army, and our young hunters handled themselves admirably and should be proud of felling this foe as cleanly as you did.”

    She then sighed.

    “What am I concerned with is the rate at which the Hunger is adapting to us. When I think about your description of this shade, I am glad you handled it while I was absent. I would not have been able to help you against it.”

    Belissar furrowed his brow.

    “What? You couldn’t? It was strong, but didn’t seem that strong...”

    Chief Rohsuak shook her head.

    “It was coated in fire, but lighter than previous shades, right? That indicates to me the Hunger just wanted something that could resist fire, rather than use it aggressively. It would probably shrug off Metsaitti’s fire stings. I might have still been able to burn it, but it would have taken my most powerful attacks to have a chance. And those take time.”

    Metsaitti crossed his arms and nodded.

    “And with its speed and bulk, she wouldn’t have had it. You made the right call holding Paloiku back, Tower Keeper. I fear if she had tried to hold the Dirt Tunnels like we did the last shade, this one would have trampled right through them, new shields or not.”

    Belissar’s eyes widened.

    “So, if we did what we did last time...people would have died?”

    Chief Rohsuak slowly nodded.

    “I fear it may have been so. And if the Hunger did so intentionally...”

    They all fell silent at that. Belissar turned to Tarwantrad.

    “You mentioned the Hunger adapts, I guess this is it?”

    - Uncommon Room Feature Choice (At least one uncommon or better option)

    Belissar turned the choices over to the queens and karnuq.

    “Any suggestions? Anything the tower needs?”

    The queens had none and the karnuq shook their heads. Belissar tilted his head.

    “Really? Nothing you want?”

    After some dancing between the bees, the First of the Fifth flew forward.

    “Sorry...have lots to work on right now. More flowers, more bees help but don’t know what helps most. Whatever King chooses best. Not sure how to help King...sorry...”

    Belissar’s face softened and he reached out so she could land on his hand, then began brushing her back.

    “Don’t be, I’m not upset. I just want to make sure you have everything you need right now.”

    The First of the Fifth immediately stopped drooping and launched into a happy dance at that. Belissar chuckled and held in the urge to sigh at himself, lest she misinterpret it. He turned a glance to Chief Rohsuak.

    “What the First of the Fifth said goes for us as well, Tower Keeper. With our hunters beginning to receive full blessings, the resources you provided, and the exchanges with the sigmaka, we have our course of action laid out for the time being. We do not require anything else for the moment, so please proceed with your own plans.”

    Belissar nodded at that.

    “In that case, let’s go with the mana and the perk.”

    As the First of the Fifth said, his Tower had many new options at the moment they hadn’t implemented yet. Two new kinds of monster bees in assassins and captains, the entirely new monster type in wax golems, and a new hive species in butcher bees. They had the flower nursery project, the Death room project, and the new bog. From what Nenavann described, the bog was also only the first of many different types of water rooms they might be able to acquire. And there were still more Circle masters who would offer boons in the future, plus the possibility of exchanging his own Tower’s offerings for more.

    Suffice to say, even with the revelations about the Hunger’s future challenges, the Tower had quite a lot of new options still coming up. Belissar felt a perk that made existing options better without requiring significant efforts on the part of his bees would be the best of the current choices. As for the mana, normally, he preferred to just grab mana from the daily purifications. But right now, having more mana to implement more rooms and features was more beneficial than acquiring even more. Additionally, this latest purification was a reminder that the Hunger would not wait for them to prepare new options. Having enough mana to implement new additions as soon as possible felt better than an extra monster or room feature at this point.

    Belissar explained his reasoning, to the bees’ great praise. Tarwantrad confirmed she found his reasoning sound, so he went ahead and confirmed the choices.

    Max mana increased by 150!

    Available mana: 222/1340

    Over two hundred sounded like a lot but Belissar knew from experience how quickly mana vanished when it came time to implement new rooms...

    Please select a perk:

    - Lingering Toxins (Rarity: Common)

    - Bee-Type Mana Boost (Below Average) (Rarity: Rare)

    - Piercing Stingers (Rarity: Uncommon)

    This one wasn’t even a choice.

    Bee-Type Mana Boost (Below Average) selected.

    Mana was everything to the bees. The queens used it to lay eggs. The workers and honeypots used it to make honey and wax. The communers used it to connect the hive. The gardeners used it to monitor the plants. The soldiers, sprayers, lancers, and archers used it to fight. The battlecasters went without saying.

    The strongest boost Belissar had seen so far strengthening this fundamental resource for all his bees? It was the quickest decision Belissar had ever made.