Name: Beatrice

  Race: Silverwood Honeybee Worker Level 1 Tier 1

  Strength:9

  Agility:20

  Endurance:11

  Vitality:9

  Intelligence:13

  Wisdom:10

  Charisma:38

  Skills: Honey Manipulation (C), Novice Seduction (E), Aura of Authority (E), Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E), Sacrificial Strike (E), Swarm (F)

  Mutations: Suicidal Stinger (F), Venom Gland (F), Maneuverable wings (F)

  Equipment: Cape of Authority (E)

  Titles: Reincarnator (A), Survivor (D)

  The expected changes to Beatrice's status screen were all there; honey manipulation, the novice seduction skill, and the cape of authority along with a new equipment section. But there were two unexpected changes that had to be from the cape of authority. The skill Aura of Authority (E) was the most obvious new addition, sharing the word "authority" and even also being E grade. The less obvious change was an increase in Charisma, which Beatrice was mostly sure used to be twenty-eight.

  She focused on Aura of Authority (E) in her status and tried to get a description of the skill.

  [Aura of Authority (E)]: A passive skill that allows the user to project an aura of authority. Those affected will be influenced to view the user as an authority figure and will be more likely to listen to the user's advice or commands. The intensity and area of the aura scales with Charisma to a minuscule degree.

  Beatrice still didn't see the skill doing anything against bear monsters, but she could see it being useful when dealing with other bees. Just to verify the effects of the cape, Beatrice focused on the cape of authority.

  [Cape of Authority (E)]: An ornate cape and bonded growth-type treasure created by the system for Beatrice. The Cape of Authority grants a Charisma-based aura skill to it's bonded user; Currently [Aura of Authority (E)]. The bonded user is also granted +10 Charisma. The grade of the granted aura skill and the Charisma bonus will both increase along with the grade of The Cape of Authority.

  "Looks like the cape gives me an aura skill and an increase to the Charisma stat." Beatrice said to Ian, who was waiting patiently for her to finish.

  "Oh! That's a lot more useful than I expected it to be. I might look into acquiring some equipment for myself someday." Ian looked impressed, which made Beatrice warm up to the cape a bit.

  "I'm going to read through my status, so I'm going to be nonresponsive for a while. Just want you to know I'm not ignoring you."

  "I appreciate the consideration, but I've spent the majority of my life alone. My point is that I'm well accustomed to silence, and just your presence is a balm to my soul." Ian was over-the-top as usual, but Beatrice was getting used to his flowery language and frequent compliments.

  With the social obligations out of the way, Beatrice was ready to dive into her status page. The plan was to go through the status in order, which happily meant starting with honey manipulation.

  [Honey Manipulation (C)]: An active skill that allows the user to freely control and manipulate honey with their mana. The degree of control scales with Intelligence and Wisdom to a moderate degree. The Intelligence scaling increases the amount of honey the user can control, and the Wisdom scaling increases the user's fine control over honey.

  She'd have to test the skill later, but honey manipulation sounded very flexible from it's description.

  [Novice Seduction (E)]: A passive skill that increases the user's appeal when attempting a seduction. The increase in appeal scales with Charisma to a minuscule degree.

  The skill was easy to understand, and it wouldn't do anything outside of seducing, which was a relief. But Beatrice still hated it.

  [Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E)]: A passive skill that encompasses the honeybee's instinctual knowledge of how to communicate through dance. The skill also grants a bonus to persuasion when communicating using interpretive dance. The bonus in persuasion scales with Charisma to a infinitesimal degree.

  [Sacrificial Strike (E)]: An active skill that allows the user use their vital essence to empower an attack. The empowerment scales with the user's stat total to a moderate degree. Warning! The use of vital essence will inflict true damage on the user, which will result in a decrease in stats and likely death.

  Great. Just great. No wonder worker bees died so often if they were using skills like this. Another skill to ignore and never use.

  [Swarm (F)]: A passive skill that gives the user a small boost in stats when fighting in a swarm. The boost in stats scales with the size of the swarm to a minor degree but has diminishing returns.

  Swarm was a nice skill to have as a bee, but Beatrice was certain that you couldn't have a swarm with only two bees. Time to move on to mutations then.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  [Suicidal Stinger (F)]: A barbed stinger that has been mutated to increase it's damage at the cost of the user's vital essence. The stinger is attached to the user's venom sac, which is typically torn out when the user stings a target. Warning! The use of vital essence will inflict true damage on the user, which will result in a decrease in stats and likely death.

  Beatrice was starting to expect that most other worker bees died at level one. Dying at level one was both a terrible waste and probably made sacrificial attacks a lot less effective. Just raising their tier would probably make safer attacks do more damage, with the added benefit of not dying.

  [Venom Gland (F)]: A honeybee's venom gland that has been mutated to produce grade F venom.

  Not very descriptive, but probably better than nothing.

  [Maneuverable Wings (F)]: A set of honeybee wings that have been mutated with increased strength and flexibility, allowing for more intense and precise maneuvers.

  For all intents and purposes, this was Beatrice's only useful mutation. While she had to admit to being a little self-sacrificing, she didn't want or need skills and mutations that guarantee a spectacular death in those situations. Honey manipulation would have to be her primary combat skill, and she was looking forward to seeing the performance of a C-grade skill. But first the titles.

  [Reincarnator (A)]: A title granted to a soul that has retained its memories after reincarnation. This particular individual has been reincarnated from another world, which elevated the title to grade A. The owner of the title is granted +5 to all stats, and +2 free stat points per level-up.

  [Survivor (D)]: A title granted for surviving through a disaster that took the lives of more than 99% of those affected. The owner of the title is granted +3 to endurance.

  Okay. It was interesting to know that her titles were the only reason her stats weren't in the single digits, with the exception of Agility and Charisma. According to Ian, tier one monsters got about five attribute points per level-up. So with the bonuses from her titles and the cape of authority, she had the stats of a level ten honeybee worker. Not only that, but her reincarnator title would give her two free stat points per level, pushing her further ahead of the other bees who most likely didn't have A-grade titles.

  Feeling more confident in herself, Beatrice was ready to start leveling up. But first she'd have to figure out how to use honey manipulation to fight, which meant getting her hands on some honey.

  "Hey Ian. I got a skill called honey manipulation that might be a way for me to fight without dying, so would you mind helping me visit my old hive to get some honey."

  "Hmm. By now the hive will be beset by scavengers and carrion-eaters, so it would be a lot safer to make some honey yourself." Ian sounded concerned, which made sense. Beatrice hadn't considered the possible dangers, neither did it occur to Beatrice to make honey herself. She didn't really think through the implications of being a honeybee worker. She could make honey and wax, which were the only reasons she wanted to visit her old hive.

  "You're right Ian, I didn't mean to try dragging you into a dangerous situation. Would you mind if I started making some wax cells in here to hold honey and pollen?"

  "That sounds like a brilliant idea. I'll make sure we're fed while you're busy with the wax, and I'll point you to some nice flowers when you're ready to start making honey." Ian brightened up at the idea of being useful. He put his bee-shaped piece of wood off to the side of the hollow and started towards the exit. "I'll go collect some nectar to refill my stores, so I'll see you in a bit."

  Beatrice waved Ian off, which just confused him until she explained it. Now she needed to figure out how to make wax.

  It turns out that worker bees make wax from four pairs of glands on their abdomen. The glands excrete a liquid that hardens into thin sheets of wax that had to be chewed and softened before working them into shape. Beatrice had to figure this out by letting her instincts as a bee take over and letting her body do it's thing, which was a weird experience the first time around. Before long, she had the shape of a wax cell starting to take shape. She was placed the first cell on the floor and off to the side of the hollow, since there was no way nectar would stay in the oversized wax cell if it were on the wall like in a normal beehive.

  Ian came and left a few times while she was busy working the wax, filling a collection of giant hollow acorns with nectar from an acorn cap he carried on his trips. Beatrice remembered watching a weird magic school bus episode where the class was turned into bees, and she remembered bees carrying nectar in a special stomach. Were drones incapable of gathering and transporting honey like workers?

  Beatrice put her thoughts to the side and focused on making her first wax cell. She fell into the rhythm of chewing and shaping the wax with her mandibles, letting the work become her whole world. She didn't even notice when the sky started going dark. She only stopped working when Ian walked over and poked her in the face with an antenna.

  "Sorry to bother you dear Beatrice, but you've been working without rest for the entire day." Said Ian, looking concerned again.

  Reality suddenly came crashing into Beatrice's mind, breaking her trance-like state. She was tired, hungry, her mandibles were killing her, and she was a bee. Reality kind of sucked in her opinion. But she was still satisfied to see two complete wax cells as big as she was, and a third approaching completion.

  "Th-thanks Ian. I got a bit too in the zone there." An awkward laugh would've felt right at that moment, but she couldn't laugh. "Sorry Ian, but I feel terrible right now. Do you mind if I just grab some of your food and go to sleep?" Beatrice could feel the grief at losing her old life pressing down on her, and knew that she had to come to terms with it sooner rather than later. If she didn't, then it would make her new life miserable. So she walked past Ian, ate some nectar juice, and sat herself down next to the new wax cells she made earlier. Bees couldn't cry, but she could still feel the same feelings. She sat there in the darkness and mourned the life she'd lost.

  Waximillian had never met a worker quite like Beatrice. All the previous workers he'd met had ignored him to the best of their abilities, only interacting with him enough to keep him from dying of hunger while he was still welcome. But despite that limited experience, he got the impression that most workers were more limited than Beatrice. They were unimaginative, cold, and cared for nothing but the hive. They were willing to throw away their lives at slightest need, and never spent any time considering their own well-being.

  Beatrice couldn't be more different. She was polite for one thing, which was a novel experience for Waximillian. And she had a vivid imagination that had already shocked him with her wild ideas. Acquiring mutations to prevent workers from dying? Genius! He was still a little hesitant to get similar mutations himself. Not because he couldn't see the wisdom in her words, but because it felt like taking the natural state of things and turning it all upside-down.

  He sat across the hollow from Beatrice as she slept for the night, next to the wax structure she'd spent the day working on. He couldn't help but feel concerned for her well-being. At first he thought she would work herself to death like some other bees he'd seen, but that would've been unlike her. No, there was a kind of gloom in her movements that evening that hadn't been there earlier. Was the work reminding her of the hive she'd lost? Of the family she'd never get the chance to know? Did she feel like her life was without purpose?

  'I should do something nice to cheer her up tomorrow.' Ian walked over to his acorn pots to look for his special concoctions. 'I think she'll like this one.' Ian grabbed a particular acorn and took a careful smell of its contents with his antennae. It was just as potent as he'd remembered it, which was good.

  Ian found his thoughts drifting back to the long winter he somehow survived. The long nights of hunger and cold with no other bees to keep him warm, nor were there stores of honey to keep himself fed. Back then the only thought he had to keep him going was every drone's purpose. Every drone had to find another hive and mate with a queen, that was just how life was. But he only felt confused when thinking about those long cold nights. Had that really been enough to keep him going?

  Ian set aside the potent nectar and looked back at Beatrice. Even though he'd only met her the other day, she was more important to him than any other worker had ever been. And she was more important than some queen he'd never met. 'I hope she'll never leave.' was his last thought before he drifted off to sleep.