Swarming Sovereignty

Okay, so…turns out more options can hurt. Lia said, looking up at the window in front of her.

“Why? What’s gone wrong?!” Rose asked, alarmed.

You should…probably take a look for yourself. Go ahead and look at the options for conversion. Lia replied.

Rose stepped forward, let out a thorn from her hand, touched it to the cocoon, then frowned. She had almost certainly received the same window that Lia was currently looking at.

“So…do we try and take it apart and custom build this thing or what?” Rose asked.

I want to try it. Lia replied. I know it’s not optimal and that we’ll probably get something better if we don’t, but I want to see what comes out of it.

“I guess as long as you’re aware, I won’t argue against it. This is, ultimately, your call to make.” Rose said. “So…go ahead.”

Lia nodded, and begun the conversion process.

Woah. Lia said. Jackpot!

“Oh? What is she?” Rose asked.

Uh, can you see what it’s converting into?

Rose placed her hand on the cocoon, paused, then shook her head. “Unfortunately not.”

It’s an all-arounder like you wanted, a Lesser Swarm Silent Killer. Lia explained. It’s a bee kobold that can turn into smoke, is great with a bow, and also has extra stealthiness, mind and fire magic, Analysis, and knighthood, whatever that means. I think it means that it’s like…almost as good as the knights with swordplay and stuff. The race description outright calls it a force to be reckoned with.

“Then I suppose it worked out.” Rose admitted. “Are…you planning on enlightening her?”

I…think so. Lia replied. It seems strong enough to fend for itself, and a thinking assassin is a lot more effective than a non-thinking assassin.

“A sensible choice. But, um, may I ask a question?”

Of course!

“Why do you call our unconverted sisters it instead of she?”

Lia shifted uncomfortably. I don’t know. It just feels…I dunno, I’m not quite as used to the female only thing as you seem to be, so I always subconsciously assume that I don’t know her gender and use “it”, since she’s a monster. I’ll try and get over it, though, since it’s probably disrespectful, especially once we start converting people.

“I see.” Rose replied. “Well…shall we look at options for the bees, then?”

Lia gave a nod and walked over to the bee cocoons, opening up their conversion options. Her options were mostly identical to what goblins gave, but there was one new one.

Fascinating. Lia said. This…could help us with our rat farms. Go look over the description of the pollinator, I’m going to get three of the bees converting into them, you get the other two made into infiltrators.

“At once.” Rose replied, gathering up two of the cocoons and beginning to look at the options. After she finished, she walked over to Lia and sat down. “So, now that we know what we’re dealing with, what are you thinking our plan should be?” She asked.

Well, for one thing, I’m going to make one smoke mage. It’ll take a couple of our rats, but that’s worth it to get me smoke magic. It’s a bit of a bummer that our assassin can’t use smoke directly, but we can like…make some makeshift torches from stuff around the bazaar and she can use those.

“And then what?” Rose prompted. “How do we actually fight the bees?”

A bit at a time, I think. Fortunately, this is a building they’ve made into a hive and not something they built themselves, so we can use that to our advantage. We can just…inch forward and build fortifications as we do.

“A good thought, but I don’t think it’ll work quite like you’re hoping.” Rose said, shaking her head. “Bee monsters are, unfortunately, swarm monsters. Individually they’re rather weak, but they don’t ever fight individually if they can help it. The moment we start making serious forays into that hive, we’re going to bring almost the entire thing down on us.”

Oh. Well…then what do we do?

“We have a few options. The first is to smoke the entire building with some sort of big magic and then clear it easily, but I doubt you have the Mana required to make that happen. The second is to try and whittle the hive down with hit and run tactics, similar to what we did with the goblins. We keep taking and converting their troops, until, eventually, we have the power needed to confront the hive directly.

“And, finally, the method I think is best is that we provoke the hive into swarming, then hit them with an area of effect spell. That should clear up the majority of the enemies, and then we can clean up and convert the remainder using superior numbers.”

Isn’t that…really risky? Lia asked. What if we don’t kill a bunch right off of the bat?

“Then we hit them with another spell. Trust me, I’ve done this sort of a thing a lot, as long as you’re careful there’s nothing to worry about.” Rose said confidently. “We might lose a few foot soldiers, since we don’t have anything super bulky to draw their attention with, but most definitely less than we would in any other type of attack, including attacking a weakened hive.”

If you’re sure, then I guess I don’t have any reason to protest. Lia replied. Do you have any wide area attacks in your arsenal?

“I’m afraid not.” Rose said, shaking her head. “I do believe that is your department.”

I guess it is, but I’m a little worried about Mana. It’s not like I can just drink a potion or something if I run out.

“I suppose you’re right.” Rose said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “How many Skills have you gotten this evolution?”

Not many, honestly. I’ve mostly just improved what I already have.

“It’s entirely possible that you could get one that increases your Mana pool or regeneration. Perhaps you should try and empty your Mana pool repeatedly? I’m not sure how the Skill gaining works exactly, but that might help?”

Yeah, I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’ll get a smoke ball so we can make a smoke mage, do you want to try and get the pollinators leveled up? I want them evolved ASAP. Oh, and send the infiltrators out too, while you’re at it.

“Understood.”

Lia had to empty her Mana pool from full five times before she finally got a Skill that would help with Mana regeneration.

Which was really nice, but it wouldn’t help her if she needed to fire off several big spells in short succession. Or…maybe it would, if she was just barely missing enough Mana to cast one, but it wouldn’t always be enough.

Still, it definitely couldn’t hurt to level it up, so she supposed that she would try and keep her Mana and Stamina as empty as possible all the time. Or, at least, all the time when she was in a safe place. She wasn’t about to let an enemy catch her with no Mana or Stamina, that was just asking to die a quick death.

She took a moment and did a bunch of strikes with Power Attack to empty her Stamina, then wandered off, looking for Rose. Eventually she found her overseeing three enormous bees as they flitted between a set of roses that were almost as big as Rose herself.

“Ah, Lia, did you get a Skill?” Rose asked, looking away from the bees.

Yeah, but it’s not immediately helpful. It just increases my regeneration when I’m low on stuff. Probably won’t help me squeeze out more than maybe one extra spell.

“Unfortunate.” Rose replied, frowning. “In that case, we’ll want to pivot our focus. Work on getting your multicasting Skill leveled up, and experiment with your fire spells and see which is most destructive.”

Got it. I’m going to go check on that conversion, though, see how it’s coming. It had been almost an hour since she had started the conversion, so surely it was almost finished.

“Let me know when she’s finished, I’d like to be there when she’s enlightened!” Rose said, giving her a wave.

Can do. Lia said. I’ll bring her back with me once she’d finished and we’ll just enlighten her here.

She meandered off back towards the center of camp where she had left the cocoons. The massive cocoon that was the silent killer-to-be was still there, but Lia got the sense that it was incredibly close to being finished, so she made herself comfortable while she waited, both for it to finish and for her resources to regen.

And, as it turned out, the conversion finished first. The cocoon sort of…melted into nothingness, and a cloaked figure emerged. Lia’s first impression was that she was…bigger than expected for a kobold; Lia was willing to bet she was almost as tall as Rose.

She had four arms and a set of bee wings on her back, and her cloak was clearly accommodated to account for both the wings and extra arms. Instead of fur she had a hard-looking yellow and black carapace, and there was a quiver strapped to her back horizontally below her wings, but any further details were difficult to make out, the cloak obscuring most of her features.

Throw the hood on your cloak back, and take out your weapons, if you would. Lia instructed. I would like to see them.

The silent killer nodded, reaching up with an arm to take off her hood, revealing a rather humanoid face, were one to ignore the three extra black eyes set on her forehead. With her other arms she deftly undid a couple of clasps, and the front of the cloak opened, revealing lithe figure with a sheathed sword and several sheathed knives strapped to her waist.

With two hands she drew the sword and a knife, while her other two reached into a fold on the inside of the cloak and withdrew a miniature, folded bow. She began to unfold the bow, and Lia watched in fascination as the bow grew in size, becoming first the size of a shortbow, pausing for a moment, then growing until it was a full longbow. Then, to Lia’s surprise, the silent killer sheathed her blades, and the bow grew bigger yet again, becoming larger than the killer. And, now that the bow was so large, Lia could see that it was clearly made out of the same material as the staff that had been put into the conversion, but more…potent. It almost seemed to shimmer with magic, a shimmer that grew more intense as the bow shrunk again until it was its original size, and the killer pocketed it.

Very impressive. Lia said. Follow me, please.

She turned and began to walk towards where Rose was, and the silent killer followed, steps almost completely inaudible, even when Lia listened carefully for them. After a few minutes, they reached Rose, who, as always, turned around before Lia even said anything. “Ah, she’s finished.” Rose said, looking the silent killer up and down. “Impressive.”

I’m going to enlighten her now, is that okay?

“Please do.”

Lia gave a nod and turned back to the silent killer. She placed a hand on a leg, focused, and then spoke. Be enlightened. She commanded. And then, once again privately asked for her to be Rose’s daughter or wife.

You’ve done all you can, child. There is no point in asking for it any more. The Goddess of Life said in Lia’s mind, causing her to jump.

You were listening? Lia replied, embarrassed.

Of course I was. The Goddess of Life said, a faint note of amusement in her tone. It is my job to oversee souls moving to their new bodies. And with such an…unconventional method of doing so, I watch all your “enlightenings”. Did you think we would just let you proceed without watching you?

I suppose not. Lia admitted. But why tell me to stop asking? That seems a bit…well, more effort than is necessary.

We owe Rose this much. Please let her know that we were able to bring her daughter back in Chrys, but…her wife is a lost cause. She reincarnated long ago, and nothing of her personality or memories remain.

I…I will, thank you.

There is no need for thanks, this is payment of a debt. Now, it would behoove you not to keep your subjects waiting. Farewell.

Lia focused back in on the world around her to find both Rose and the silent killer looking at her with worry etched onto their faces. Sorry. She said. The Goddess of Life began talking to me and my attention was taken away.

“Ah, good.” Rose said, relieved. “Are you allowed to tell us what she said?”

It’s a message for you, actually.

“For…me?”

Yes. I had, uh, been asking to reincarnate your daughter or wife if I could, and she told me to stop. She was able to bring your daughter back with Chrys, but…apparently your wife reincarnated a long time ago and we can’t get her back. She said that telling you this was payment of some sort of…debt the gods had to you.

Rose blinked. “Oh. That…is more than I expected. It’s…good to know that I was at least able to get my daughter back. Thank you, my Queen.”

Lia turned to the silent killer. My apologies. I do believe we have yet to acknowledge you. How are you feeling?

“Good, my Queen.” The silent killer said. “What is my first task?”

I believe I should name you first. Lia said. Any objections?

“None, my Queen.”

Then your name will be Bella, short for Belladonna.

“Understood.” Bella said.

And for your first task…well, we don’t have one yet. You’ll be helping us with our invasion of the hive, but we’re waiting for our scout to get back before we begin in earnest. So…go see to your needs, eat if you need to, and generally prepare yourself.

“How is Chrys doing, by the way? Can you feel her with your link to the swarm?”

Lia paused, then nodded. It’s telling me she’s…sneaking about. She is likely in the hive right now, so we just need to wait.

“Good. Um…could you not tell her about…herself? It’s something I would like to discuss with her myself.”

Sure. She’s your daughter, after all.

“R-right. Thank you.”

“I will be taking my leave, then.” Bella said, giving a bow. “If you need me, just call.” She turned and stalked off, leaving Rose and Lia alone.

I think I’m going to eat as well. Lia said. Do you want anything?

“I’m fine.” Rose said. “I’ll just keep on working with the pollinators.”

Alright. I’ll come talk to you once Chrys gets back, okay?

“Yeah, that’s fine. Talk to you then.”

Fighterman481

So, I actually randomly generated Bella's stuff. I spent like...half an hour and banged out a quick and dirty gacha program that'll do that in case I have the itch to do it again in the future. I actually released it for my $5 patrons if anyone's curious what it's like, just know that it's super jank because it's not designed to be user friendly, it's literally just for me to use.

I did spend some time tweaking things, mostly because at first I got boring combinations of stuff, so I ended up overhauling the list of available abilities and after I did that I got something interesting first try and so we ended up with Bella.

Anyway, that's all I really have to say for this, next time we're gonna deal with the bees, so look forward to it!

And, as always, thanks for reading!