〔Stamina〕: 0 / 10
The Queen milked me dry. I couldn't even lift an arm, only to lie on the wax floor.
The Queen, disheveled, but only more beautiful because of it, was lying on the floor next to me, with her eyes half-closed. It was quiet but for the background buzzing outside and the system's voice inside my head.
'Hey! I wasn't a virgin before this, system!'
'Oh. Damn, I never had time to look at what my special abilities and genes *do*!'
This was the only thing I had strength for, anyway. Looking at things and thinking.
〔Drone-Consort: +20% to virility.〕
〔Horizontal Gene Transfer: Shares all your genes within the system with your sex partner.〕
〔Flight: Allows flight.〕
〔Enhanced Intelligence X: increases base intelligence to 100.〕
'Wait, did I just fuck the Queen into smarts? I hope this doesn't give her any ideas like throwing me out or locking me away somewhere… I need to earn her trust and respect.'
I examined the Queen's status again.
〔Queen Bee〕 〔Ally〕
〔Health〕: 10 / 10
〔Stamina〕: 0 / 10
〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee
〔Age〕: 438 d
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 2117 d
〔Attributes〕
> Strength: 8
> Agility: 39
> Endurance: 10
> Defense: 10
> Intelligence: 100
> Perception: 43
〔Special abilities〕
Flight, Stinger, Royal Jelly Production
〔〕〔〕〔〕
Yeah, she really was smart now. As smart as a human, I assumed. I tried to examine the Queen's abilities next, but it didn't work.
My stamina was slowly dripping back, so I sat up.
The Queen was recovering, too. She slowly stood up and stretched her limbs.
"Drone, this was an incredible mating. I was afraid that I would have to teach you how to mate, but you performed better than any other Drone I've mated with in the past. I feel so much clarity of the mind now…"
I blushed like a teenager when the Queen smiled at me. Did this mean I was in her good graces now?
"Thanks… so you won't kick me out of the hive now, no? No?"
In my world, queen bees only mated once in their life, and drone bees lived with their moms until a queen in a hive nearby was ready to mate. Then they all would hurry to get to her. A giant bee orgy, which seemed to not be a thing in this world.
How did I know about all this?
Too much time spent watching animal documentaries online instead of preparing for my exams. This was only a small part of animal trivia stuck in my brain.
Either way, there clearly were differences between the bees of my world and this one. Like opposable thumbs.
"Of course not, Drone. I will need you for the future broods. And mating with you—I feel like I should repeat this often, anyway." The Queen looked at me with obvious lust. "Will that make me feel as good the next time?"
I blushed harder.
"S-sure! Can I go outside the hive in the meantime, though?"
"What? Why would you want to?" The Queen looked baffled. "It's dangerous out there. The hunters, large and small, take the lives of many of my daughters, and unlike them, you have no business being outside."
"But I do! It's really important."
I clenched my hands into fists. If the Queen just prohibited me from it, my quest for the "bee hegemony" would end as soon as it began. I will live a peaceful, but very short, life in this world.
I had to develop this colony. I had to show the Queen that I knew things these bees couldn't even imagine! Like clothes. I needed her respect so I could make big decisions about the colony.
"Queen, believe it, if you let me outside, I can bring more use to the hive than just sex. Sex is, like, the least I can do for it! I have actual opposable thumbs—I must use them!"
The Queen looked at me like I was deranged.
"And what if you die? This is too big of a risk."
"Well… If you won't let me out, I won't sleep with you again! Mate with you, I mean. I swear! I will cut off my own balls and become a eunuch!"
It would be painful to let go of her soft body and delicious smell, but I will. For this, I will! I was totally bluffing about the last one, though.
The Queen narrowed her eyes. My insides trembled at this stare, but I held my chin high.
"You really are ill in your head. Fine! I will tell a few Forager Bees to follow you outside and guard you."
I grinned in relief. Oh boy, never was I more glad that I had some bedroom skills, if this was what swayed the Queen's mind.
"Thank you! And the last question—what's your name? Should've asked this before we had sex, really…"
"Name? I'm the Queen Bee, obviously."
My shoulders fell.
"No, I mean, *your* name. There are many Queen Bees in the world, but you are unique. I have to call you somehow."
The Queen tilted her head. 'Enhanced Intelligence X' was doing some hard work right now, I could tell.
"What's *your* name, Drone?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
My old name? Forget it! This was my chance to reinvent myself! Come up with some super cool and awesome name worthy of this world, not an average boring bullshit name I had before!
And I had a brilliant idea. In my world people would judge me for it, but in this world I was truly free to express myself.
"My name is… Nectus Stingprince!"
A beat of silence.
"Alright, Drone. Then my name can be Ambrosia."
And, oh miracle—her status changed immediately. Now it began with:
〔Queen Bee〕 〔Ally〕
〔Name〕: Ambrosia
I checked, and my status also changed.
〔Drone Bee〕
〔Name〕: Nectus Stingprince
"Wait, you aren't going to call me Nectus?"
"Should I? There are no other Drones in this hive. It's pointless to call me Ambrosia, either, especially since no other bees know that it's my name."
I cried a little on the inside at how little Queen Ambrosia appreciated my cool name. Or her own, actually.
Ambrosia turned away from me and walked to the nearby wall of our room. She opened the wax flap and a bee-girl immediately peeked in.
"I and the Drone need water and food," Ambrosia said.
"Yes, Queen!"
The Attendant buzzed off. Several minutes passed before a swarm of a dozen bees tore through the wax, entering Ambrosia's chamber and surrounding us both.
In their cupped hands, the bees were carrying water and yellow clumps that must've been food. Ambrosia regally accepted the offerings, drinking right from the hands and daintily taking pieces of the yellow food.
As soon as a bee got rid of her haul, it would immediately fly away, and a new one moved in her place.
I was offered water and food, too. The water turned out to be some sweet liquid, and the yellow clumps (which smelled admittedly tasty)…
"What is this?" I asked, taking a clump.
"It's pollen, Drone. Pollen and nectar," a bee explained.
I ate, forcing myself to not think about things like hygiene. The pollen tasted a bit bitter, but not bad—kind of like an eggplant. The nectar was just flowery sugar water, but as thirsty as I was, it was truly the ambrosia of the gods.
I felt like I could drink a bucket, if this primitive insect tribe knew what buckets were.
It looked like it was my job to teach them that.
With my stomach full, I felt much more energetic. My stamina went back to 10. And as much as I didn't want to go outside, to those unnamed hunters and dangers, what would I do inside the hive? Stay bored? Admit that I forgot where my assigned honeycomb was?
The awkwardness of the latter motivated me more than anything.
I gathered all my courage.
"Ambrosia… Queen, can I go outside *right now*?"
"Alright. Let's go to the exit together. I might as well stretch my wings a little before the eggs are fully developed."
I smiled at her gratefully, and maybe a bit dumbly. I was sated on sex, but she was still incredibly beautiful and very naked. And eggs—won't they have my daughters inside? What a dazzling and daunting thought.
Ambrosia flew outside of her cell first, and I followed her. As we flew through the hive, other bees waved their antennas at us, as if in greeting.
A minute later, we arrived at the source of all the light inside the hive. It was pouring from a narrow vertical crack in the wall of our cave, and with my eyes adjusted to darkness, looked blindingly bright. Bees were leaving and entering the crack, and several dozen of them were just hanging on the walls nearby.
Ambrosia and I stopped on the stone floor near the crack.
As I was catching my breath, I squinted and looked outside, but couldn't see more than the sunlight and some colors. Blue, gray, green, red.
Ambrosia gestured for a few bees to approach us. They didn't look like Queen Attendants from earlier.
They were taller, broader, and with more pronounced muscles. They looked older, too, and their stats were slightly different.
〔Forager Bee〕 〔Ally〕
〔Health〕: 10 / 10
〔Stamina〕: 10 / 10
〔Species〕: Common Honey Bee
〔Race〕: Worker Bee
〔Age〕: 47 d
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 30 d
〔Attributes〕
> Strength: 9
> Agility: 40
> Endurance: 10
> Defense: 10
> Intelligence: 3
> Perception: 43
〔Special abilities〕
Flight, Barbed Stinger, Wax Production
〔〕〔〕〔〕
"Foragers, I want you three to accompany the Drone outside. Do whatever he tells you and protect him from danger," Ambrosia ordered, pointing out bees.
Three Foragers have approached me without question. Ambrosia turned to me.
"Drone, don't fly farther than foragers normally go."
I nodded eagerly. I was just going to find some materials for my primitive crafting. Surely, that wasn't dangerous…
Ambrosia frowned, but moved on—which meant flying away without as much as a goodbye.
The Foragers stood in a triangle around me, silent. I cleared my throat awkwardly.
"So, uh… Let's go outside! Show me what's there, yeah!"