Chương 12: 1.1.12 - Not Pooh's Kind of Honey

Warm liquid gold flowed from the sac I located into the leather pouch. While it might have looked like honey, it lacked the typical floral scent of honey but had an earthier aroma. I would have expected a wasp of this size to produce more honey but they did not exactly produce this nectar to be stored. This was liquified meat that the wasps stored in their own body as an energy supply and to occasionally feed their young. I only harvested about three ounces from a single wasp.

I gulped my own saliva and could not help but to give it a taste, pouring a spoonful into my mouth directly from the pouch. I had expected a more full bodied honey but what I got instead was like drinking caramelized bacon that had been marinated in a sweet sauce. That was the closest thing I could think of that could describe the taste. I was tempted to drink more but Mr. White's voice saying "No, we don't eat our own supply" in my head was the only thing that stopped me.

No wonder the nobles only used this stuff on desserts rather than adding it into their tea. Bacon flavoured tea would have been weird even for people of this world. I quickly harvested the second wasp, giving myself a mental pat on the back for working out an effective strategy on the fly. I wiped the knife on a clean patch of moss and sheathed it in the holster, before recalling that I had leveled up earlier. I pulled on the Weave to check on the status.

Status Core: Lightning Affinity (Perfect) Core Stage: Orange Stage Level: 13 Mana Core Capacity (MCC) Progress to Next Level: 306/500 Core Mutations: - Lightning Brain Spells: - Electro Perception (Tier 1) - Level 6 - Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) - Level 2 - Lightning Infusion (Tier 1) - Level 1 Soul Mutations: - Adaptive Soul - Nature's Constitution Click spoiler if you can't read the blue window Status Core: Lightning Affinity (Perfect) Core Stage: Orange Stage Level: 13 Mana Core Capacity (MCC) Progress to Next Level: 306/500 Core Mutations: - Lightning Brain Spells: - Electro Perception (Tier 1) - Level 6 - Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) - Level 2 - Lightning Infusion (Tier 1) - Level 1 Soul Mutations: - Adaptive Soul - Nature's Constitution I was making progress but it'll be a while before I make it to yellow.

Most people took a while to progress through Orange grade as their spells did not progress as fast, and they had to hunt more orange cored beasts as the main contribution to their progress if they wanted to be quick. I on the other hand got most of my progress from my spell levels. I definitely need to develop more spells considering my advantage in mastering lightning spells and keep up my progress.

There was a chance I might need to escape from the Orphanage and be a fugitive if I wanted to avoid military service. Though that will definitely land Marta in hot soup. I dismissed the window and looked up at the forest canopy. The sun was barely visible through the branches and leaves but I could tell from the direction of sunlight that I had a few hours left before it got dark. My stomach growled, reminding me that I had missed lunch and I wanted to make sure I did not miss dinner as well.

I would give myself an hour to locate another pair without going too deep, otherwise I would start heading back. I cast Electro Perception and kept it running as I trekked through the forest. I was no expert at navigating the woods so I was mainly keeping to the outer perimeter while marking trees to ensure I did not get lost. It did not take long before I noticed a single wasp buzzing through the forest.

It was by itself and by the looks of pieces of flesh in its mandibles, it was probably on its way back to its nest. I decided to try and follow it, preferring to wait till it was stationary before trying to ambush it. I almost lost track of it as it was flying a lot quicker than I could travel across the uneven forest ground. I had to use Lightning Infused dash a few times when there was an open or flat stretch to keep up.

I could feel my legs starting to burn, as repeated usage of accelerated muscle contractions was not without its limitations. I also had to use Lightning Infused jump to get over a small ridge that it flew over. If I had tried to climb normally I would have lost sight of it. As I got over the ridge, I saw the wasp slowing down as it dipped lower into a karst window, a bowl-shaped depression in the middle of the forest. Stolen story; please report. I could see that there was a small cave that it was flying into.

I crept closer, keeping my perception spell on before spotting the nest. I could not actually really tell it was the nest using my Electro Perception but seeing around ten wasps crowding around a small area told me all I needed to know. The depression was thankfully not that steep, so I quickly crawled down, keeping low to ensure any other wasps flying back would not spot me easily.

There was very limited light in the cave but I guessed that was not a problem for the wasps as I saw occasional flashes of lights, likely from their abdomen. Whether they were using that to communicate or they actually needed to see I did not know. But I knew that there was no way I could take on ten wasps at the same time by myself. I could in theory ambush them a bit further out but there was no guarantee I would be in their flight path.

Furthermore, being so close to the nest, there was a risk that the sound of my spell might draw the rest who were in the nest out even if I could ambush them on their way back. I decided to leave it for now and come back another day with a better formulated plan. I made a mental note of where the location was before leaving for the day. It took a few more days of observing and counting to make sure that I was not dealing with a bigger nest than I had expected.

The nest had a total of 12 wasps, with one wasp that seemed to be larger than the rest, likely the alpha. Unlike traditional honey bees, Glimmerwasp have a social structure closer to a pack of wolves, where the alpha male leads the pack, or in this case the swarm. Though they also tend to nest in pairs when there were less of them around. It also took me several hours to build a pile of firewood mixed with damp twigs by the entrance of the cave the wasps were nesting in.

I also made sure there was enough of a fire break between my little camp fire and the rest of the trees nearby to make sure I did not accidentally burn down the whole forest. Though a tree with sufficient water, reinforced by mana would be hard to burn with regular fire. I waited till all the wasps were in the cave before I initiated my plan. I hid by a spot a bit further from the cave entrance, and ignited the pile of wood by the entrance. The pile of wood ignited and started to burn.

I arranged the wood in such a way that there was more flammable and dryer wood towards one side of the cave. The wet twigs helped to create excessive smoke that would spread into the cave, and the stronger fire on one side of the cave entrance would funnel the wasps towards the further side of the cave, hopefully making them come out in single file or a pair at most. I turned on my Electro Perception and kept it on so I could detect the wasps through the smoke.

While smoke made traditional honey bees more calm, it actually made wasps more aggressive. I was counting on them becoming more aggressive or the smoke would suffocate them either way. I could see some wasps begin to make their way out, some seemed to have taken flight while some were crawling along the ceiling of the cave as they headed towards the cave exit. I readied Lightning Bolt in both my hands and started aiming for the heads as they approached the exit.

While I would try to preserve the nectar by aiming for their head where I can, I would take a shot at their body as well if it meant making sure they were taken out. I released the first lightning bolt towards the first wasp and saw it drop to the floor. I did not spare the attention to see if it was alive but just made sure it was not crawling towards me as I released the second lightning bolt and began priming my first hand with another spell.

I began counting as I zapped the wasps one-by-one, sometimes two at a time. Three... four... six, seven... nine.. ten, eleven... My core was starting to ache from the intense pull of mana as this was the first time I drew so much mana in a short span of time since hitting orange. Was that all of it? I thought, as I tried to even out my breathing. No wait, I haven't seen the alpha as I thought back to the eleven I took out. I concentrated on the cave and could suddenly see a much larger wasp approaching the exit.

I quickly primed another Lightning Bolt to release it but it was a much weaker one as I did it in a hurry and my core was already strained. While the spell did hit the wasp, whether it was due to its size or my weakened spell, it did not go down immediately. I could see that the wasp was closer in size to a medium sized dog and a much thicker thorax as it flew over my head. It did not seem to notice me yet as the smoke must have blinded its sight and dulled its sense of smell.

Once it cleared the smoke, I could see it flying around looking for the source of danger that took out its entire swarm. I could tell that my lightning had affected it as it was twitching occasionally as it flew. It started heading my way and I began to run. I did not have much space to maneuver as climbing out of the karst would have made me a prime target to be turned into a shish kebab.

I used Lightning Infusion to evade the first fly by and unlike the very first pair of wasps I encountered, this alpha seemed to be more intelligent as it only flew in directions that were clear of obstructions. My trick of standing close to a tree did not work for this Beedrill. I evaded the wasp like my life depended on it as it really did. One wrong move and I would be pumped full of venom, if that giant sting and those mandibles did not kill me first.

I was reminded of a souls-like game where most bosses tend to one-hit you. I primed both my hands with lightning bolt, one stronger than the other. This was probably my last shot as I was running dry. If I missed I would be turned into nectar myself, the irony of it. As I evaded another pass from the alpha, I released my first Lightning Bolt, slightly to the left of it, which made it evade to the right. There were more branches to the right which made it slow for a second to avoid flying into them.

That was all I needed as I released the second and much stronger bolt which it failed to evade. The air cracked as the bolt arced through the air, hitting the wasp square in the abdomen bursting it immediately. The head and the thorax flew in another direction, thankfully not towards me. It would have made for a good Final Destination trailer if the flying head of the wasp I killed decapitated me. I sat down on the forest floor as my legs gave out, hoping to catch my breath before any other beasts showed up.

I was hoping the fire, which seemed to have started to die down would keep them away for a while. I took a five minute break before I got up again heading towards where the cave exit was. It was finally time for the spoils, as I strode over like Winnie The Pooh looking for honey. Author Note: This is the work of Josh Shoniix. This work of fiction will only be published on Royal Road and Space Battle for free. If you're reading this on another site or paid through Google Books, this work has been stolen.