Marigold - A LitRPG

"You seem distracted young lady, I see I failed to make this appealing to you." Morthak said to me, catching my attention.

Looking at him, I see him stirring some vials and mixing some contents together to form a new substance, currently he was giving me a basic alchemy lesson, but honestly I've had my share of mixing strange things to produce a strange result. Sure, Morthak's ingredients don't seem to be limited to things you'd find in a forest, but it's still basically the same thing, just the results are different.

Add to the fact that I need to plan a lot of things with the hive, and mediate a few problems here and there, this alchemy lesson from Morthak really ended up going to the back of my mind, I know I should value what I'm taught, but honestly? I didn't even need to be here, I could let some members of the hive, specifically Jasper, take this class in my place, and then I would just need to download the content of the class from his brain to mine. Jasper would also get more out of this class, but it doesn't seem "appropriate" to underestimate Morthak's help.

It would be like leaving a cell phone recording a class with the pretense of watching it later, in theory it works, but in reality it is incredibly rude and clueless, and I can be many things, but I am educated and I am a person who has a very sharp social sense, I know very well when I am embarrassing myself in front of strangers.

"Sorry Morthak, it's just that... I don't know how to say this politely, this class would be better. Like, you're just teaching factors like temperature, pouring pace, thickness, quantity, intensity and blah blah blah. I know I don't look like much, but at least I already know that." I said, twirling my finger in my hair in an embarrassed way.

"Oh? So you think you're ready to move on to the intermediate level? Very well, let's see how far this "knowledge" of yours goes." Morthak said with a macabre smile, creating a crack in the air with his magic staff and pulling out a very beautiful glass bottle with a purple substance inside from inside the crack.

Morthak then just throws the glass on the ground without any hesitation, the glass breaks and spreads across the ground, and its purple contents stain the cave floor, I barely had time to ask what the hell he was doing, before the unknown liquid began to bubble and swell. In front of my eyes, the liquid grew and twisted, increasing in size exponentially until it reached an impressive height of 3 meters, distorted features and limb-like protrusions like arms and legs began to form on the creature's body, a macabre and gurgling cry soon reached my ears accompanied by the sour smell of sulfur and metal.

"What the hell is this creature?!" I asked Morthak.

"An [Abomination] - Alchemical creatures created through the use of magic and science. This one in particular is a [Cadaveric Abomination] - A mix between the undead and a common abomination. Unlike common abominations, this one is not only poisonous but can multiply at the cost of flesh and mana." Morthak said patting the creature's grotesque and slimy body.

"T-This thing was created with alchemy?! Didn't you say it was impossible to "build" life?" I asked incredulously but at the same time impressed, if this is only the intermediate level of alchemy, what does the master level and above have hidden?

"Ha! Calling this thing a living being is a joke." Morthak said pointing to the still and groaning creature. "They are more like golems, but without a core. Abominations are usually temporary, lasting only a few minutes, or hours depending on the ingredients used and the purpose of their creation, some use them as tools, others as test dummies, or as reconnaissance units. Whatever the choice, abominations are an art considered "old-fashioned", nowadays it is all about golems, and autonomats, but back in my days abominations were the most popular alchemical beings you could find." Morthak said with a bit of nostalgia.

"So... Basically this thing is Outdated?" I said, and for some reason the glow of the abomination seemed to have faded a little.

Morthak looked quite offended, glaring at me with a disapproving scowl before turning to his creature and slapping the creature's slimy back. "Today's kids just don't, jezz- This "Thing" here is the ancestor of modern golems! Back in a time when things were less complicated, this little guy here may not last as long as today's golems and dolls, but it's pretty tough to knock down and can be easily customized according to the knowledge and ingredients used by its creator." Morthak said.

"So... This thing is made of corpses?" I asked, a little perturbed by the idea.

"Of course not! Don't be silly, it's made with a solution of melted [Emerald Dragon] bones - to give its structure greater resistance. Rotten flesh and tallow from a [Mountain Orc] - treated with alchemy to result in better adhesion and stability. And a reasonable amount of Spinal Fluid from a [Sea Banshe] - to serve as the basis for its powers." Morthak said as if listing a shopping list.

"UGh- How can you say such disgusting things with such a calm face?! Seriously? Melted bones, tallow, rotten flesh and banshe juice?! Is this professional alchemy or a damn macabre cake recipe?" I retorted.

"Hey! You can question my methods, but not my results. This little guy's batch has helped me out in some pretty nasty situations. The combination of bones, flesh, and tallow gave him a tough, tough physical structure. Despite his muddy body, if hit with major impacts, his body quickly solidifies. Because I used the "Banshe Juice" along with some other ingredients I had on hand, this one developed a sinister ability to cause the [Madness] and [Delirium] effects, in addition to being able to cause direct damage to the target's soul - A pretty deadly combination, to tell the truth." Morthak said.

"What?! Isn't this thing super dangerous then!?" I said, startled, already getting up from my chair.

"Well, sure. But only for you, for me the effects it causes are insignificant." Morthak said with a smile.

"Hmm... Honestly, this is way cooler than mixing herbs and liquids, I didn't know alchemy was so... How to say this? Malleable?" I said to Morthak.

"Yeah, I'm not an expert in alchemy, but I have an acquaintance in BackBone who does one thing or another for me from time to time, we exchange letters from time to time where he details me about the crazy and strange experiments he conducts, most of the time it's just an excuse to ask me for something, but some of his creations are quite peculiar to say the least." Morthak said, sticking his hand into the spatial crack again and pulling out a beautiful teapot-shaped jar with a gold-decorated neck with a green symbol that seemed to imitate a 4-leaf clover.

"According to this friend of mine." Morthak said, waving the jar containing a deep green liquid in front of his eyes. "This here is a jar of liquid luck." Morthak said, placing the jar on the table.

"Liquid luck?! Can you increase your luck with a potion?" I said, impressed. I know this world is kind of a "game world" and things that are "too absurd to exist" are common here, but I still get impressed whenever I come across such crap.

"Well, according to my friend, yes it is." But according to the system, it isn't, take a look." He said, pointing to the bottle with his hand.

"Ugh- A bugged item? And here I thought I was a unique case." I said, a little impressed to find something else with a bugged description besides me.

"Uhm? Bugged item? What would that be?" Morthak asked me.

"Uh? Well... You know, broken items like that? I've come across a few... things with a similar description." I said to Morthak.

"Really? Impressive, and here I thought this would make your hair stand on end." Morthak said with a laugh as he took the potion and put it away. "It's not easy to find people who know about the existence of renegade items." Morthak said.

"Renegade items? Is that a thing?" I asked, a little confused by the term.

"Yes. This refers to creations that are not recognized by the system. Normally, all created items have a detailed description of their uses and effects. However, creations rejected by the system do not have these "privileges". Some even say that these items are even an affront to the Gods. Due to superstitions, many unique and interesting items have been destroyed over the years by the church." Morthak said.

"So... You don't believe in this thing about rejected items?" I asked.

"Well, it's not a question of whether I believe in it or not. They exist, that's obvious. But I don't believe that they are "mistakes of the world", but rather items that should not exist in this world." Morthak explained. "You know, like items that break the natural rules of the world, or common sense. Things that are too dangerous to exist in the world, so the system tries to erase them, tries to make them useless, so that we can't escape the limitations imposed by the system. It almost always manages to destroy all these renegade items, but every now and then, something slips through." Morthak said.

"But... Without the help of the system." I said.

"There's no way to know how to use these items, and since most of them are unique, using them recklessly in an attempt to discover their purpose is irrational, so most of them end up in treasures or collections of eccentric people." Morthak said.

"Wow, but what about entities? Beasts or people? Aren't there people with broken descriptions?" I asked a little nervous about the answer.

He seemed to realize something, but didn't say anything, just thought for a bit before speaking: "Hmm. Not that I know of, demons of the abyss have "confusing" descriptions but they are not "broken", I think the closest thing to a person with a broken description that I've ever encountered was Bhat-Bhat - His description had a lot of symbols and strange letters, but it could also just be that it was written in a dead language." Morthak explained.

"What about the Gods? Do they even have a description?" I asked.

"I've never seen one to tell you." He said with a smile.

Come to think of it, I've never tried to analyze Morthak, could I?..

'What the hell?! Not even his name? I can't see anything about him at all? Damn, what's the level difference between us? Is there another factor that's preventing me from seeing his status? Is it an item? Ability? Or Effect?'

"Ho ho ho look at that~ Trying to analyze me? You know that's not very polite of you." Morthak said with a light laugh.

"Huh? C-Can you tell I tried to analyze you?" I asked nervously, I didn't even know it was possible to feel someone analyzing you.

"Yes, as you level up, ensuring your privacy becomes more of a life or death factor than a personal preference, so there are several ways to counteract the analysis." Morthak said.

"Ugh- So you mean you've already analyzed me? Have you by any chance-"

"Hey hey hey! I'm a gentleman, okay? I wouldn't go around analyzing little girls left and right, but in your case... Yes, I analyzed you when we first met, but all I got was an unexpected lock screen." Morthak said with a light laugh.

"Lock screen? What does that mean?" I asked, oblivious to the situation.

"Oh? You had no idea yourself? There's something protecting your [Status] from curious people like me, that's why I pressured you a little to share some information with me, and that's also why I found you so intriguing. And if I'm being completely honest... I think the reason I didn't kill you instantly when we met was also because of that, I was afraid of angering a mysterious entity powerful enough to block my [Analyze]." Morthak explained with a deep laugh.

"Is this serious?!" I said with a bit of fear.

I have a slight idea of ​​who this "mysterious higher entity" "protecting" me might be, if I were to go the obvious way it would be that "Elyxia" - The thing that made me evolve into FeyWeaver. Whatever the reasons behind her "kindness" are, I don't know if I'm comfortable with it, she messed with my choices, she messed with my body, my mind and even gave me a damn personalized [Title] that reminds me of her existence every time I look at that shit.

But looking at it from another perspective, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Whatever the reason she's helping me, so far she's only brought me benefits, I'm a little worried about the possibility that one day she'll come and charge me for all this help with a ridiculous interest, but I guess that's a problem for the future me? It's not like I can deny the "gifts", return the XP she gave me and undo the evolution. It's already water under the bridge, all I can do is hope that this doesn't cause me too many problems in the future.

"Would you believe me if I told you that there's a crazy entity I don't know protecting me?" I asked Morthak boldly.

He paused for a moment before giving a light laugh and looking down. "Hehe! I don't think so, but considering you're the one talking this crazy stuff then I'd be willing to believe it." He said.

"Sometimes I think you're too chill." I said frowning at him, the more I talk to Morthak the less the impression of an evil necromancer he carries has on me, if anything he seems more like a grumpy grandpa who likes to teach children things and tell stories.

"Hmm. Well, at this point in life I can say that I have come across many strange, bizarre and even disturbing situations, one of the things I have learned during this time is that if you dig too deep you may end up finding gold or bones, some situations in life are better enjoyed when you give up digging too deep and just enjoy what is on the surface." He said.

"Ugh. You and your necromancer analogies, I don't get it at all." I said.

"Ahh... I'm just saying that those who ask too many questions eventually get to the root of everything, the problem is that some secrets are better buried and hidden from the eyes of the world, you don't know much about me, and I don't know much about you, we get along well as master and apprentice, I enjoy studying and observing your species. And you seem to enjoy the moments when we talk in a relaxed manner." He said.

"Of course, we both know this is just a formality, I don't trust you and you don't trust me, but that doesn't matter, because our relationship isn't deep enough to need something like mutual trust, we're both satisfied with where we are in relation to each other, we don't need to dig any deeper than that, just enjoy it until we're satisfied." Morthak explained.

"Uhm... You say that like we're in some kind of relationship," I muttered, raising a brow at him.

Morthak let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "Well, in a way, we are. It's a master-apprentice relationship. Do I care about you? Sure. But it's more out of curiosity—what you might be capable of if you're properly guided, sharpened. But don't get the wrong idea. I don't care enough to make you an 'official apprentice'—dragging you along on my journeys, introducing you to my acquaintances, bringing you into my world. That requires a different kind of investment."

"Oh. Well... thanks for your honesty, I guess," I said dryly, folding my arms. "But I do appreciate everything you've taught me. Honestly, I've learned more in five weeks under you than I did in four years on my own. And if I'm being completely honest... even if you did offer, I'd probably turn it down. No offense, but necromancy isn't exactly—how do I put this?—appealing to me."

"Heh. No need to tiptoe around it," Morthak smirked. "Necromancy, like most arts, depends more on raw talent than willpower. People love to think they can use it to bring back their loved ones, but they never stop to understand what it actually is. So they throw themselves down the path of the necromancer, only to end up as third-rate fools, stumbling through half-baked rituals and spreading crude, grotesque failures everywhere. Centuries of incompetence and botched arts have dragged necromancy's name through the dirt. Once upon a time, we were as respected as Pyromancers or Floromancers, but now? People see us as deranged villains, obsessed with death and blood."

Stolen story; please report.

I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh. Just say you're a victim of society and save yourself the speech."

Before I could blink, a sharp crack rang through the air, followed by a white-hot pain on the top of my head. I yelped, stumbling back and clutching my skull.

"Ow! What the hell—?!"

Morthak loomed over me, his gnarled staff still raised from the strike. His expression was that of an irritated schoolteacher scolding a particularly dense student. "Hmph! Shameless brat. Has no one ever taught you to respect your elders?" He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "You're lucky I'm a benevolent master. Otherwise, I'd have ripped out that insolent tongue of yours and put it in a jar for display!"

I glared at him, rubbing my sore scalp. "Sadistic and dramatic. What a combo."

A few days passed, and in the meantime Morthak did something with the sparkling blue pool at the bottom of the cave. I would say he "ate" part of the flame for himself. Which, in my opinion, was already quite unpleasant, because we depend a lot on that source of MP to survive the winter. And after that, he left again. He has this thing about coming and going whenever he wants. Well, it's not like I can stop him from leaving in any way, or have any reason to want him to stay here, but whenever he leaves, I know that when he comes back, he'll have a bunch of crazy tools to teach me something new.

He also left me with a task: to create a magic capable of creating a... Perfect Cube? And he also told me to create something with alchemy that, in his words: "Worthy of my attention."

Morthak has this kind of "lazy" teaching style, maybe it's because I'm not an "official student", or maybe he's just disorganized, but I still manage to learn from him, although even that is only because I have about 1000 brains to process all the information Morthak throws at me, and I have access to a memory archive that I can rewatch later if necessary. Without these "advantages" it would be very difficult to learn from Morthak in the usual way, he talks a lot, very quickly, gives unique explanations and doesn't like to have to repeat himself more than once or twice. He also expects you to absorb what he threw at you in a short time, and use what was taught to "achieve the objective."

It's very... Sloppy in my opinion, it's like teaching someone how to build a house through a live class, and the moment the class ends you expect the student to replicate the teacher's work with mastery. It simply doesn't work like that, even with the help of the hive, it's difficult to completely "Mimic" Morthak's actions, especially when those actions involve mana, control and intensity.

For example, to write spells on magic paper, you need a special ink and a special brush, after that you need to inscribe a millimetrically perfect magic circle with meticulously ordered and placed runes while you pump mana into the ink through the brush in a constant and fluid rhythm. But guess what? Just because you know the steps to make a house, doesn't mean you know how to build a house!

It takes a lot of experience, a lot of practice and a lot of trial and error to perfect this technique, as a hive is very simple for us to absorb, analyze and classify knowledge, but things that require real experience, such as fighting, crafts and precision work, can be described as our "ultimate social weakness." We can improve techniques over time of course, but the problem lies in the... beginning and half way, I would say? Take the work of creating breeding units for larvae, for example, a long time ago there was only one "correct" way to do it, but then Simus looked at it and thought "We can do better!", and so he started experimenting with new shapes, sizes and waxes, until he came up with a prototype that was best used.

But even getting to this prototype was difficult for the hive, because even a simple and mundane action like creating a better breeding unit turned into a huge debate between the builders and the nurses, where both sides worked for a long time until they found the "most appropriate version" that we use today. It seems like I'm complaining about something good, doesn't it? The hive worked collectively until they came up with a solution that was more efficient and better to deal with the problem, but now think about this situation happening every day, all the time, literally all the time.

This is kind of the reason behind the hive always being working even when it seems like there's not much to be done, because seriously? We need food, water, and shelter, we shouldn't need to work 24 hours a day to get things like that, I can't forget about the materials for experiments and exploration, but even that didn't impact the hive much, what always caused the greatest "wear and tear" of the hive was the search for perfection.

A new method for creating honey? Great! Let's polish it to perfection!

A new recipe for cupcakes? Amazing!! I'll make millions of them until they're perfect!

A prototype for a magic wand?! I'll only rest when I've created the most perfect magic wand in the world!

This is the kind of madness that exists within the hive, they're crazy about efficiency and improvements, always wanting to do better, bigger things. I don't know if this is inherited from me, since I don't consider myself an ambitious person, or if it's something in my "bee side". If I had to bet, I'd put everything I have into the latter, but again, it's not exactly a "problem", I think it's one of those cases where you fail on the side of excess.

"Theoretically" if I monitor the boys well enough so they don't overwork themselves, things will be in an acceptable balance of efficiency vs. rest. Because if you let them take care of themselves... Well, the last time that happened I ended up living in a military tower surrounded by a booby-trapped desert.

"Huh. Now, what the hell did Morthak mean by a "Perfect Cube"?" I thought as I rummaged through a leather bag left on the table by Morthak, inside I found some bottles with labels, jars and rolled-up cloths, and a dirty, crumpled paper.

I pick up the paper and unfold it only to find a note left by Morthak.

-"Tasks:

Use what you have been taught to create a perfect cube spell on a magic scroll, the following criteria must be met: (The spell must be made of pure magical energy, able to trap the target within itself, must be resistant to destabilization and mana decay, must be malleable and controllable, must withstand a minimum weight of 100KG.)

Use the materials at your disposal to create a potion, tonic, elixir or alchemical concoction that is worthy of my attention."

"What the hell is this note Morthak?" Sometimes I think he does shit like this on purpose.

"Trap the target inside itself? Resistant to destabilization and decay?! How am I going to stop a spell from decaying over time?! I would need to create magical bonds stable enough to resist the passage of time like I did with the [Crystal Rose], but if I do that the spell won't be malleable and adjustable... Damn it?!" There are some limitations when creating magic, one of the main and most "Immutable" of them is: Mana decay. No matter what you do, how much you try or how you try, things created with pure mana are destined to "Decay" until they become pure mana again, this is exceptionally true for spells.

If a spell takes too long to cast, the mana starts to decay halfway through, so you end up spending mana and not being able to cast the spell. This is more true for expression magic than for ring magic, since in the case of ring magic the runes add more stability to the mana, giving you extra time to make the "magic happen", but this also depends a lot on the spell used.

Attack spells are usually not very stable because they burn a lot of mana and have low "flow", because their goal is to cause damage, not to be long-lasting or stable. Take the example of a spell like [Mana Bullet]: the purpose of the spell is to create a fast projectile - form. That is just stable enough to travel a short distance - Flow. To hit your enemy and cause damage - strength. At a low cost, soon as [Mana Bullet] is cast, it disappears after about 3 or 5 seconds, just long enough to pierce your target.

Now the spell [Sparkle] for example is not made to cause damage, it was created with the intention of serving as a source of light, so it needed to be stable enough to remain active with ease, and at the same time have a low mana consumption intensity so as not to wear out the caster, this resulted in a spell that is capable of remaining active for a long time at a low mana cost, but is so tenuous that its form - which is the spell itself - is so weak that it is only capable of creating an effect like light.

And this brings me back to the idea of ​​a spell that is at the same time "stable", "malleable" and "fluid.", something permanent.

But I already created a "permanent" spell before, right? My [Crystal Flower] spell - A beautiful spell that objectively has no "purpose". And why did I succeed on that, you may ask me? Simple, the [Crystal Flower] spell is capable of creating matter with solidified mana, but even if it is solidified mana, it does not mean that it is "resistant" or "forever lasting". The flower is as fragile as a glass flower, its cost can be considered moderate due to the high complexity of its magic circuit, it will also decay at some point, just not so fast as usual, and let's face it, it is just a beautiful spell, I can't use it for anything other than putting on a magic show.

The servile spell is more to teach me that creating a spell that is "permanent" requires complexity and a high mana cost, but this completely sacrifices its usefulness. If only I could use this type of spell to create blades made entirely of magic, the story would be different, but everything created only with magic is highly "brittle". Magic is like pure gold, it is beautiful, coveted and has a high value, but when pure it is good for nothing other than keeping it in a chest. You need to mix it with something to give it usefulness, the same thing goes for magic, pure magic is too wild to be tamed, it has its own will, desires and intentions, no matter how much you try to keep it stable, if magic wants to decay, it will decay and there is nothing that can be done.

Not to mention that magic, whether it is expression magic or ring magic, needs "harmony" - a perfect balance between all the factors that make it up. Basically it means that you can't have everything, a spell can be good, cheap, or fast, but not all three at once.

The most that can be done is to try to balance the spell's factors, which is why Morthak's request seems absurd. A spell that is "tangible" enough to trap something inside is already difficult to create. Of course, I can always "cheat" by using plants or something else, but Morthak wants pure energy spells, which in itself already eliminates all spells that use magic to manipulate elements of nature, and leaves only pure energy spells - Something I am very bad at.

As if that weren't enough, he also wants the spell to be stable enough not to decay quickly, and even to withstand a high weight? That old man must have gone senile for good, and to put the final nail in the coffin, the old man also wants the spell to be malleable?! That is absurd.

Basically, he wants a spell that has everything, when "You can't have everything." I can even create a spell that is stable and tangible, but at the same time supports more than 100 kg? That's too much for me.

"[Mana Bubble] seems to be the right path, it's a spell made purely of energy, which can store something inside and is still tangible, but its form lacks majesty and stability." I thought about the possibility. "Damn it, Morthak, is that even possible? If it is, at least you could have given me some tips on how to create something like that." It seems impossible, it seems way out of my league, like, seriously? I can't create a damn root mannequin that moves in a "Normal" way, I can't even create expression spells that are truly powerful. I just set foot in this new field of "Ring Magic" and Morthak already threw me into the crocodile pit.

'But even so... How? How do I create this? Morthak may be many things, but he's not the type to waste my time with something useless. If he told me to create something like that, then it must be possible. But how do I do it? I would first need to create a section of runes dedicated to giving the magic a shape so that I can later stabilize it to the point of solidification. But what shape? Morthak said I needed to create a "perfect cube", so equilateral squares are the answer?'

I thought as I sat at the table and began to write down some ideas on a sheet of yellowed paper left behind by Morthak.

"To create a spell like that I would need to condense all the mana at once... Or provide a constant flow of my mana during the spell's activation? If I condense all the mana at once I can create a more permanent spell, but without solving the problem of the natural stabilization of mana that tends to decay quickly worrying about it would be pointless..."

I thought biting the tip of my finger as I forced my brain to work.

"To prevent mana from decaying I would need to contain it inside a container, but I can only use pure magic to create this spell, so how do I stabilize the mana without letting it decay too quickly? Hmm... I could crystallize it like I did with the [Crystal Flower], but then the spell wouldn't comply with all the rules, can I use runes? Maybe if I use some stabilization runes... No, that's just plugging a hole with paper. If I fill the spell with stabilization runes there won't be any left for materialization and condensation."

Magic is so, so hard. It's like a damn advanced calculus class only in a completely different language than yours, and with concepts you've never heard of before. Ring magic is for nerds, there I said it. I've always used magic in a more intuitive way. In other words: Expression magic. It's very "situational" but it depends a lot on visualization and concentration, but at least I felt more magical and less academic when I used only expression magic.

But I can't just "throw away" ring magic, and focus on expression magic, first of all Morthak uses ring magic, not expression magic, so he can't teach me anything about expression magic besides some superficial advice. Secondly, I simply can't miss the chance to absorb all this knowledge, for me it may be "useless", but for the hive? Holy crap, it's really useful.

Max and Bax for example, love everything about magic, it doesn't matter if it's algebra disguised as magic, or "real magic", the two of them even got to the point of creating a small collection of leather scrolls with various magic circles that they created over time. And Max has even started to create a grimoire that actually works, just infuse one of the pages of the book with magic and "poof" cheap and fast magic.

They are also wriggling around in a magic lab, where they plan to experiment with the magic runes we know about, and the ones we don't. I drew a bunch of random runes in the past, trying to make something work, but it turned out that it wouldn't work anyway, because without the magic ink and magic brush to create the runes on parchment, the runes become obsolete.

They have all sorts of conceptual ideas in their heads, like creating armor with protective runes, weapons enchanted with rune magic, and some kind of crazy project about creating a golem out of magic runes. It turns out that to create that kind of thing they would need to spend hours and hours writing lines and lines and lines of dozens, if not hundreds, of runes and complex codes capable of generating a specific effect.

For me it's boring, but for the boys it's like a fun day at the playground. Go figure, I don't know how the hell these kids came out of me, they're so smart and dedicated.

"Would you like some refreshment, my queen?" Asked a soldier carrying a wooden cup with a semi-transparent sweet-smelling liquid inside.

"Oh? Sure~ Why not?" He said, taking the refreshment and taking a sip of it. It's not much, it's just water, nectar from some flowers and a little dissolved honey. Of course, it's not a nectar and honey shake that we used to drink back when we were "rich", but it's still quite tasty compared to emergency ration blocks.

Now we were in one of the few moments of "fun" in the hive. Normally everyone is always working, even classes like the [Bards] who should be entertainment classes work as a kind of support inside the cave, playing little melodies that calm the tired minds of everyone in the hive in a controlled manner. It's not much, but according to Steve it's better than leaving them standing around doing nothing.

So I decided it was time to take a break from work for a bit, we still have a ton of stuff to do, and I admit I've been procrastinating a bit on my "homework", but I felt like we needed this time to relax a bit, the hive barely has any outlets for the accumulated stress, and now that we're in this shitty situation the little fun they could have has all gone down the drain, so I organized a little party for all of us.

It's nothing grand, or well planned - Consider it the equivalent of buying a cake on the way home from work and having a small party at home. All we did was make some slightly better and different food, and set up a place for the [Bards], [Actors], [Singers], [Jokers] and [Conductors] to do what they do best: Entertain.

The hive has an "artistic" side that I don't get much exposure to, but it's surprisingly well developed. I was honestly shocked by the variety of evolutions we have for [Bards], each evolution seems to focus on a different aspect of art, but even so, the individuals perform different styles from each other.

To explain better, it would be something like this: Two [Singers] but one of them has a more "rock" style while the other more "Pop", even though the 2 are from the same class, their personalities, styles and tastes change a lot due to the style they perform. They have similar skills too, but some differ a little depending on the style they "play". For example, my rock style [Singer] has a skill called [Amped Up] - A skill that buffs nearby troops according to the volume of the music played by him. While my pop music [Singer] has a skill called [Music Fever] - A skill capable of capturing the attention of those who listen to his song.

These are small variations, but they are still very... Unique, I would say? When I look at the [Bards] and their evolutions I can't help but be reminded once again how this is a fantasy and gaming world, where even something like music can be used in battles. Some cases are actually more artistic and "supportive" than others, but in general they are skills that would be very useful in a fight, the example I can give is a small group of [Dancers] who learned to dance ballet. I don't know where the hell they got that from - Because I myself have never done ballet or been interested in it. But looking at their movements and the way they "dance" I think I have an idea.

Their style seems to have varied from anime/manga who integrated ballet and athleticism into their works as forms of "martial arts" or "way of using the body as a weapon", because despite the gracefulness they use to dance, they are also very, very good at dodging blows and using their legs to launch continuous kicks and attacks. It's not very useful to tell the truth, and not very "good", because our insect bodies are not exactly built for ballet dancing - the wings and stiff joints really get in the way of all the movement. And it's pretty easy to beat a dancer in a "serious fight" because the soldiers just fly and leave the dancers totally displaced, but they don't care much about that, they like the dance for its "beauty", not for its lethality.

They have some interesting skills like [Perfect Balance] - a skill that enhances their senses to a point where it's very, very difficult to knock them down on the ground. [Acrobatic Flexibility] - a skill that makes the ligaments in their bodies more malleable, allowing them to do some really cool tricks, but in return it makes them more vulnerable too.

The same thing is true for the class of [Actors] who are kind of just people who are very good at assuming different personalities, and telling lies and stories in a very convincing way. Steve even admitted that they could be useful in diplomatic work, but in general they dedicate themselves to plays and soap operas.

It's funny to tell the truth, because everyone except me is male, so stories that need female characters are filled with males in drag. For some reason they take this very seriously, and depending on the act they want to do the work can be more "pigish" to add comedy, or more professional, to the point of being ridiculously good. But because this happens inside the hive, it's just cool for us, like a family joke, because to outside eyes a bee with a dress, wig and makeup must look nothing but weird, especially since their features are very "insect-like" so it really does look a little cheesy, but they have fun, so what could be the problem with that?

A small group of singers, musicians and performers takes the improvised stage accompanied by a [Maestro], everyone goes to their positions before my lovely [Maestro] takes a baton from inside his silk hair, he taps it lightly on a wooden pillar in front of him, drawing the attention of his group.

Everyone is paying attention to the stage, guided by their [Maestro] soon the group begins to perform a small melody using their own bodies to produce some unique sounds that I thought could only be obtained through instruments, such as the sound of violas, pianos and violins. A small choir of [Vocalists] begins to sing a catchy melody, the music begins to take shape quickly, and in a few minutes I felt like I was at a live music concert.

The music played seemed like a mix between Runaway - Aurora and something that I could not distinguish but had a more "old" tone like classical music from the 80's time. Their voices were incredible, to the point that they managed to hook me in a way I didn't think was possible. I've never been a person truly attracted to the art of music or any kind of art other than Bl and Gl, but this is... Beautiful. To the point that it makes me regret not having paid attention to it sooner.

The music continued to play, the tones rising and falling as a captivating and extraordinary melody was created to perfection, the hive seemed happy with the result - No, maybe I'm happy with the result and that's being reflected in the hive? I don't know exactly the answer, but I don't think I really care to think about it right now, I just know that I liked what I heard.

"Enjoying the performance, Queen Mother?" Asked a small [Worker] next to me. He was smiling widely, carrying a small wooden plate containing some snacks and looking at me with big, friendly and kind eyes.

"Oh? Yes, dear, it's lovely. I think we really needed this, I like these moments." I said to him, rubbing his cheek gently with one of my fingers, drawing a small, happy laugh from him.

"I loved the party, Mom! It's always nice to be able to spend some time with the whole family! It's rare that we get to party with everyone in the presence of the Queen Mother!" The little worker said before stuffing a small candy into his mouth and flying away gracefully while waving his hand at me.

I could only wave back without being able to say anything to him, "Family"? I know we've always been a family, but... I think this is the first time it's really hit me, I've always seen us more as a responsibility that I needed to carry and protect at all costs, but... Family?

I looked around me, everyone seemed happy, laughing, talking and even playing some games happily, it made me feel a small, cozy warmth inside me that I hadn't felt in a long, long time. Maybe it's childish of me, and I don't know exactly how to explain this feeling, but it's like I... Belong. It's strange, but when I was human I only felt good around very few people, one of them were my parents, and the rest were a few friends that I could count on the palm of one hand, the first ones... Well, dead, and the others were lost over time, after that I never felt part of anything, even on rare occasions when I was called to do something, I felt more like a figure who was only there out of courtesy, someone called to give volume I guess.

But here and now, I feel welcome, I feel... Received. My children want me here, they need me here, not only because I'm the queen and I need to shit eggs for the hive, but because they want ME to be here just for being me, they created this for me, I asked for a party and they made it with big smiles on their faces, diligently at every step.

I think that's the meaning of family

[author]

Hey guys, just letting you know that the frequency of the story will be decreasing a bit. I have no intention of dropping any of my stories, but with work, college, family and the challenges of living alone, I end up having no options other than to slow down the pace, especially because I need to prioritize post on Patreon. I'm not a very organized person, as you may have noticed by now, so I can't give you a correct schedule. But I'm going to do something like: For every 3 chapters I post on Patreon, I'll release one to the public.

[/author]

[author]

For more chapters, visit my Patreon and help continue this story.

[/author]