The Primal Hunter

Jake was taken aback at the Queen’s intense stare but even more so by how she addressed him.

”Sire?” Jake asked with confusion. No, wait, she had just been born, right? How did she even know how to talk? Why did she look like a fully mature woman? Why did she also give him the vibes of a fully grown adult with some innate sense of manners?

”Is that not what you are?” the Hive Queen asked as she moved her limbs, stretching as if asleep for a long time. ”Through your power, I was allowed to awaken and become who I am now. As the reason for my current existence, is it an inaccurate assessment to refer to you as my sire?”

Jake was about to answer but kept his mouth closed. ”It is just that the word comes with some implications I am not sure are entirely on point.”

He tried to keep his eyes locked on hers to not stare too much, and she seemed to notice.

”Excuse my indecency; I failed to consider your cultural norms,” the Queen said as a yellow silken dress was summoned out of thin air and covered her body. ”I did not mean to cause Sire any discomfort.”

”Just… you can just call me Jake,” he said, shaking his head. Saying this, he got a sense of deja vu from how many times before he had this kind of conversation. He never freaking got people to just use his damn name. They always defaulted to using something like Chosen, Lord Thayne, or even something horrible like Mas-

”Very well, Jake,” the Queen nodded in agreement.

Wait… just like that? Jake questioned his own sanity. That easy? Really? He finally got his bearings to also Identify the Queen and did not find the name overly flashy... but something was definitely off.

[Vespernat Hive Queen – lvl 200]

Vespernat. Vesper. Jake knew what that meant, as a sense of horror overtook his mind.

He had made a bloody wasp and not a bee! A wasp! Jake questioned how much he had fucked up. No one liked wasps. Wasps were the asshole counterparts to bees, only bringing misery and suffering while not giving any of that sweet honey or even being good pollinators.

”Say… do you remember your prior race? The one you had in D-grade as an egg,” Jake asked, unsure how things worked as he wanted to figure out how something like this could have happened.

The Hive Queen nodded in confirmation. ”Pollendust Bee Queen, I believe it was.”

”And now you are a wasp, correct?” Jake asked.

”Yes,” she confirmed.

Damn.

”As the Origin of the bee species, is that not only to be expected?” the Hive Queen asked, a bit confused at seeing Jake failing to hide his disappointment.

Wait… really? he questioned himself. Jake had to admit he had no idea where bees actually came from historically. Not now and not before the system had arrived. He did know that bees and wasps had stuff in common, but they were definitely not the same thing. Maybe the system had changed how things worked, or maybe Jake just didn’t know enough about the genealogy of bees.

”Could you give me some insight into what exactly a Vespernat Hive Queen is and how you ended up as one from being a Pollendust Bee Queen?” Jake asked, knowing he was maybe overstepping a little. ”Only if you feel like it, of course.”

less combat-focused and instead dedicated their skills to the cultivation of nature and supplying their hives with resources. Often these bees will be seen working closely with other species and not

nodded

harness materials, but I need to know if that decision is up to me or not?” the Hive Queen asked him in a

is

matter what I call you, you are my sire, and I am not blind to the investment required for my birth. Debt has been made, and expectations of a return are only natural. So tell me, Jake. Why did

taken completely off-guard as he realized… that was a damn good question. Why had he worked so hard on the bee ritual and wanted to create this Bee

tend to his garden back on Earth… a garden that he had now mostly neglected, and Rick had thoroughly handled what gardening was being done in the big underground cavern. He had acquired the Bee Queen Container before he had ever gone to the Order or really been aware going there was an option, and by now, he really didn’t need a

rare and hard to get, and

her life he hadn’t even considered. If it was a non-intelligent insect monster, which was kind of what he had expected upon buying the container, it would have been all fine and dandy to just leave her in a nice big garden and have her chill. This

his purpose with this entire Bee Queen thing at some point. The objective had shifted from being about the result to the process itself. It hadn’t been about the Queen at all but about actually being able to spawn her and create the core. He hadn’t even considered what the hell his end goal was once she was born or what he wanted to happen

Queen in front of him, patiently waiting for an answer. He decided to not bullshit her

working on the ritual. My goal moved from what a Bee Queen could help me with and became how I could use my

the kind of person to think that the Hive Queen owed him for being involved in one of his own selfish goals. Even if he did want her to do something for him, his own code of conduct wouldn’t allow him to demand it. He never gave her a choice to be born, so who the hell was he to have expectations of a return?

mind, the Hive Queen was the same as Sandy or Sylphie. Their own people, with their

the Hive Queen asked with confusion. ”If it is

and we don’t owe each other anything. It’s probably weird from your point of

her head. ”You have sired my Path and allowed me to evolve into what I am now. Both parties have to agree if a debt exists or not,

I don’t think one is owed? How can you do something to pay it when I don’t want

and now, but something in the future,” the Hive Queen

have been meaning to ask, but where are we? My awareness of the outside world was limited

was a bit surprised at her change of subject. She seemed to realize it was a dead topic and shifted the

of the twelve Primordials,” the Hive

a bunch of things? Were you sealed inside the egg or

of many things

read a bit about how most monsters were born with some innate knowledge, and it made sense that something like a Hive Queen was born with a lot of it. He was just surprised that she held not only knowledge of her own skills and

tell me what a True Royal is?” he

a preference but of conceptual power. Within a singular hive, the drones bow to their commanders, the commanders bow to their Hive Queen, and the Hive Queens bow to the oldest Queen, often their own mother. This is not a question of loyalty or

Royals play into that?” Jake asked, already knowing

and recognized by the Queen there as her superior – as royalty standing above her in the hierarchy. True Royals are the Hive Queens that transcend

he had underestimated what

Jake, had you considered a name for me before my birth?” the

said, cracking a joke.

Hive Queen smiled, actually

turning into a wasp,” Jake

more serious. ”If nothing was pre-determined, I would like to adopt

decide for yourself!” Jake