Chapter 33: Bee Challenged!

    While Belissar attempted to comprehend the meaning of people giving him stuff, the bear people headed on back to their camp. The bee scouts kept an eye on them as they reorganized, with the children and young parents returning to the camp and a few other folk cycling in. As such, Belissar caught wind of them heading back towards the Tower when he turned his attention back their way.

    Belissar kept watch in silence. He wanted to know more about these people and what more they might want from him. If he could at least figure that out, he would be able to understand their actions to a degree. He had dealt with plenty of ulterior motives, it was those he was unaware of that concerned him.

    He, perhaps, had not yet accepted how other people would now view him.

    So, he watched through the eyes of his scouts as Chief Rohsuak and the man who first scouted his dungeon led another group up to the gates of the Tower and stepped inside. He signaled to his Flower Meadow queens to keep an eye out but not to interfere for now.

    Challenger detected, enabling Remnants

    Challengers Present: 12

    Again, he saw a message from his Tower, again confirming that the Tower considered the bear people as intelligent beings that could acknowledge the God of Bees. The bear folk then split into two groups. Chief Rohsuak gathered a group in front of the Shrine of Bees, while the man led four armed individuals that stood off to the side and watched. Chief Rohsuak made a small smile as she walked up to the statue.

    “Bees, huh? In all my years and travels, I have never seen a shrine dedicated to bees. A most curious Sacred Den indeed.”

    She then turned around and faced her group.

    “Remember: the gods are welcoming, but they are not blind. They will acknowledge sincerity and commitment, but they will respond to deceit in kind, and your actions today will reflect upon all of us. Step forward only if you are ready to acknowledge this god as yours and have brought the best you are capable of.”

    The group nodded, and then one of the bear people stepped forward, walking up to the Shrine of Bees. She took out a pouch from her belt. She knelt before the statue and spoke in a soft voice that for some reason Belissar couldn’t hear. She then placed the pouch inside of the wax chest and waited, closing her eyes.

    The chest and the statue lit up, bathing the area and the woman with soft, yellow light. The light seemed to wrap around the woman, and Belissar could feel mana flow through the Tower into the Shrine and then into the woman. Her eyes shot open and began to moisten as she stared up at the Shrine. She said something again before rising to her feet, staring at her hands as she stepped back.

    Challenger blessed.

    Gained 10 DP.

    Belissar stared at the message before him. He just gained ten days'' worth of DP...for letting someone pray at the Shrine of Bees?

    Five more bear people prayed at the Shrine while Belissar’s mind wrapped around the implications of what he was seeing. Two more of them did the same as the first woman, and Belissar gained another twenty DP. Two more acted the same, but Belissar gained only five DP from each of them.

    The final one, a young man, placed his offering inside the chest and prayed...but nothing happened. The Shrine did not light up, Belissar did not feel any mana move, and no messages about DP appeared.

    Chief Rohsuak began to frown as she watched. A few minutes passed and then she stepped forward, inclining her head towards the Shrine.

    “Please excuse me.”

    And then she stepped over to the chest and opened it up. The young man glanced up and began to sweat.

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    The spearman gasped for breath, and then frowned.

    “How did you even notice? It looked exactly like regular ground!”

    Metsaitti shrugged.

    “Experience. You need to watch with more than just your eyes. I’ll show you on the next one.”

    The spearman balked.

    “Next one?”

    Metsaitti nodded.

    “There’s never just one.”

    With that, the group made their way deeper in, with the four younger folk staring at the ground ahead of them. Belissar had only been half paying attention to them up until now, as stunned as he was by the sudden DP gain, but now something occurred that drew his attention.

    No, something that demanded his attention. He felt something cold move through the Tower’s mana...which he knew to be the Hunger.

    Belissar leapt up with his eyes going wide. He was not prepared for a purification, for he had received no notice of it up to this point. Sure, the amount of Hunger he was feeling was even less than that of the minor purification, but the bees weren’t in position. Even worse, the first group of the bear people were still gathered around the entrance to the Tower. Belissar might have been wary of their intentions, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see them get torn apart by a shade.

    The queens of the Flower Meadow responded to his panicked commands and the soldier bee army stopped training, forming up into their squads and flying across the Flower Meadow at maximum speed. Belissar turned his attention to the gate, hoping they would make it time.

    It was then that he froze, and blinked. He was watching the gate...but the Hunger didn’t seem to be gathering there. Belissar narrowed his eyes and tried to feel where the cold of the Hunger had gone...

    He found it just in front of the armed group.

    Belissar watched as a tiny portion of the Hunger came into being and condensed in the middle of the field. But...this time was different. This time, the mana of the Tower grew hot and wrapped around the Hunger, holding it within. A moment later...a small shade appeared. It was like the shades Belissar had faced before...except tiny. Belissar’s head barely came up to the shoulder of the first shade, while the minor shades stood just below his neck.

    This shade, on the other hand?

    This one would barely come up to his knee.

    And that wasn’t the only difference. The black mist didn’t ooze off of the shade, and it didn’t wilt the flowers beneath its feet. It also ignored the flowers around it, and even the bee workers nearby. Instead, Belissar felt the mana of the Tower move, and the shade growled, walking towards the armed group.

    Belissar was struck dumb as he watched.

    Just what exactly was going on?!