Chương 117: Chapter 2.54: On Beeing Present

Duran glared across the room before sputtering and rushing out. Brutus and Favius were hot on his heels, yet Favius frowned.

"Who?" he called out to Brutus. Only once they reached the courtyard did he notice that several of the guards—the known cultivators among them—stood milling about and looking in the same direction.

"Who?" asked Favius again. Brutus laughed.

"You heard the Majordomo. He's begun handing out cultivation resources."

"True." He shared a look with Duran, who narrowed his eyes as he looked over the siblings.

"All of you?" He shook his head.

"And I heard that one of the woodworkers recently got one." Favius narrowed his eyes. Arryn is here. He would have been the other obvious candidate. Maybe Serran himself? The workers shifted about as the two cultivators began walking, and Brutus looked at Favius. Favius grinned as soon as his sisters joined him.

"Let's check it out." He turned around but stopped upon noticing the crowd of workers. He grinned broadly and waved.

"Come on. Follow along, everyone." Some sort of exchange happened between Brutus and Duran, but the man's expression was as unreadable as ever. The only thing Favius could make out from Brutus's back was the man shrugging his shoulders. Soon they were rushing across the estate, accompanied by several dozen of their new workers and a quarter of their guards, who had formed a loose formation around the entourage.

They ran towards the estate, passed by the mansion and the formal gardens, then crossed the well-kept grass. Favius smirked as he noted the herd of sheep in the distance. They made their way through the small forest where he had held the snowball fight in winter. Brutus's fist shot into the air.

"Silence," he commanded. With that single word, the gossiping crowd of workers froze, their eyes wide. Urania's hand found Favius's. He heard it then. A deep, droning hum, almost too low to hear.

"What's that?" murmured his sister, shifting from side to side. Even Caliga took a step back. Brutus and Duran again exchanged a look. The Rhexioni ranger shook his head.

"It almost sounds like... But no, that can't be." Favius concentrated and looked in the direction of the humming and buzzing. That's where the beehives are. He dragged Urania along as he stepped up to Brutus.

"You think it's safe?" The cultivator flashed his canines.

"Even if something strange is going on with the bees..." He looked over his shoulder and addressed the workers.

"Prepare—" But Duran grabbed Brutus's arm.

"No. Let's approach it carefully. If you upset them, and there truly are that many..." Without any further words, Duran faded into the woods. While everyone waited, Brutus stood there with a casually relaxed posture that held the potential for instantaneous and devastating violence. A few of the workers began murmuring again, yet their voices were subdued as they whispered into each other's ears. Less than a minute later, the Alticultor archer returned.

"It's safe," he whispered loudly.

"But you've got to come see this." They advanced, and the buzzing and humming grew more intense. Finally, they reached the last large row of trees and bushes, and the humming filled the air like something physical. Favius saw it. A black, whirling vortex. That thing has some sort of geometrical structure. He stepped out of the forest and froze behind Brutus. The over two hundred beehives of the new design stood near the wall of the estate.

The sheep-cropped grass was empty except for a roofed workstation near the hives and a single man sitting on a stool. At least, I think it's a man. He was the eye of the storm, the center of the vortex of bees, and his shape was barely recognizable beneath them as they crawled all over him. Favius looked up and shivered.

"There are so many," murmured Caliga.

"It's hard to say, but I think there are between ten and fifteen million," whispered Urania. Favius shook his head.

"That's absurd. Even with our new hives." Their workers stood in slack-jawed amazement, and Favius noticed that even Duran and Brutus had tensed. The ranger was clutching something around his throat and murmuring under his breath. Favius could only make out the word Rex several times. He's praying. He distantly noticed that several of the workers followed the priest's example, but Favius studied the cloud. There's a definite pattern to them, but God damn it.

It's multilayered and three-dimensional and also changing somehow. They seem like one giant organism. Holy... Favius cleared his throat and touched Brutus's forearm.

"What…" he whispered before clearing his throat.

"What is this, Brutus?" Surprisingly, it was Duran who broke off his prayer and turned to him.

"I assume your estate has quite the skilled beekeeper, doesn't it?"

"Well, I think so. I mean, I've only ever really talked to Beren." Favius paused as he recalled what Serran had said about who would be receiving the spiritual materials and whose twin brother had already had a cultivation breakthrough. The first twin cultivated so easily. Does that mean there's a genetic factor in cultivation potential? He dismissed the thought. Before he could ask his next question, rustling could be heard from the forest.

Suddenly, Phaidros was there, standing almost casually with his hands raised.

"I came over as soon as I—" He paused.

"By the Hearthmother's tits!"

"Hearthmother indeed," murmured Duran. Caliga tilted her head.

"But if that's Beren, and if he's having a breakthrough, why is there..." She gestured.

"No lightning, screaming, and convulsing?" Phaidros chuckled.

"In almost all cases, the acquisition of a new insight or the ascension into a different realm is a violent affair, especially when one seeks out tribulation lightning."

"But not all breakthroughs are like that," said Duran.

"After all, violence is not in the nature of every breakthrough, and no insight has ever killed its cultivator directly." Phaidros nodded and tore his eyes away from the swarm to look at the children.

"Especially Cultores Agrarum, which you Republican barbarians value far too little compared to my glorious home…" He puffed himself up, but swallowed down the joke after nobody reacted.

"Never hurt the subject of their insight by achieving it. Instead of lightning, there tend to be..." He gestured helplessly.

"Different manifestations." Favius narrowed his eyes. Come to think of it, he's right. I chalked it up to my first insight having been my ascension from mortal to Cultor, but my second one... Sure, the air was quite charged, but there was very little violent lightning. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Suddenly, the geometric pattern of bees convulsed and shrank to nearly half its size. Yelps and murmurs rose up, and all the cultivators tensed.

Favius felt Brutus's aura rising around them, and there was a distant note of Phaidros's presence as well. The two Magnicultors placed themselves beside the children. Then an intense, glorious smell of honey hit them. Without any further ceremony, the bees began dispersing in five streams in every direction. The swarm did not disappear. Maybe a quarter of it remained buzzing, humming, and swarming above the newly minted cultivator.

Favius shook his head as he saw Beren sitting there casually on a three-legged stool, his hands on his knees, his eyes closed, his smile content. The man stretched leisurely, curling his back as he brought up his hands, rotated his head from side to side, and yawned. He opened his eyes and stiffened.

"What?" he began as he studied the crowd in front of him.

"Beren!" called Caliga. She scrambled forward several steps. Phaidros twitched as if to grab her, but then decided against it.

"What did you do to get a breakthrough? What sort of insight did you get? What was it like being in the swarm of bees?" The beekeeper's expression grew more and more confused.

"A swarm of bees? I was just practicing, contemplating my beekeeping. And now all of you..." He looked from side to side at the incredulously staring crowd. A smile spread over Favius's face. Oh Gods. I don't think he actually knows any of this happened.

"But you were literally in the middle of this humming storm of bees, and..." Caliga gestured back at the three adult cultivators with an almost indignant expression.

"They all said you were having a breakthrough."

"I... I..." he began.

"I'm sorry, I do not understand. I was just sitting there, and I drifted off, and I thought about bees, and..." He paused briefly and looked at the senior aristocrats before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Young Lady, but I surely would have noticed a swarm of bees." He blinked again as Caliga pointed upwards. Beren flinched as he noticed the swarm that was still whirling in a vortex less than ten meters above him.

"I..." he began before a thoughtful expression settled over his face.

"They are all out here, but they are very calm," he murmured. The cultivators and children approached the still-sitting, newly minted Cultor. Phaidros rubbed his chin.

"So, a Cultor Agrarum with a beekeeping insight." Duran clicked his tongue.

"I've only ever heard that the priests of the Hearthmother sometimes attain such insights."

"Oh, it's far from uncommon. Yet it is the norm that, if a familia beekeeper earns such an insight, the temple makes an excellent offer to bring them into their service," Brutus replied. Duran hummed.

"So does that mean..." Brutus shook his head.

"Usually, we would have a hard time retaining him." Before Favius could consider the implications of that, Raukhan arrived riding bareback on Grapestrider. The servants yelped as the night-black horse with its red eyes galloped past them. The Thrari slid casually off its back, his ordinary robes creating an incongruous contrast with the raven feathers woven into his hair.

"Ah." Brutus smirked.

"The last of my glorious companions has finally arrived, mere hours after the sign of danger became obvious to a sleeping man." Raukhan made a disgusted expression.

"That is hardly my fault. After all, you Irilians are so fond of claiming that mortals ought to schedule their lives around aristocrats, and I was..." His eyes briefly fell upon Favius's sisters.

"Indisposed," he finished lamely. Phaidros raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying you did not come to defend the estate against a potentially attacking cultivator because you were taking a dump?" Utter silence settled over the group as the cultivator shifted. Finally, Grapestrider sniffed, glared up at the bees, and turned towards the forest. Raukhan's chagrined expression turned serious.

"Well, I certainly felt it. Yet there were no screams of bloodshed or slaughter, so I assumed there was no urgent need for me." Phaidros stroked his chin.

"That is true, barbarian. There is no urgent need for you anywhere. Yet there is always an urgent need for me everywhere." He easily deflected the horseman's jab. Everyone—cultivator, child, and worker—burst into laughter. Favius cleared his throat.

"Now that we have settled that fascinating subject, how about we figure out what sort of insight the newest cultivator among us has earned?" Raukhan stepped forward.

"Indeed, that would be wise. And I shall be asking the questions." He strode forward. Caliga and Beren gave the barbarian a mistrustful look, and Favius cleared his throat.

"Not that you can't ask questions, but why?" he called out as he followed. The horseman laughed.

"Because bees are sacred to my God, little Lord. After all, while nothing equals the glory of the grape and its fermented juice, the mead produced from the bees' honey is second only to wine." Favius relaxed. As long as he doesn't attempt to induct our beekeeper into his cult. Duran snorted as they advanced and looked at Favius.

"The second reason, of course, is that as Sydian is a God of madness, he is well suited to talk to those who voluntarily poke their hands and heads into the dwellings of poisonous and ill-tempered insects." Raukhan nodded.

"True, true." The muscular horseman slapped a hand heavily onto the sitting beekeeper's shoulder and pulled him up.

"Congratulations on having transcended mortality, beekeeper. Do tell me your name."

"Beren, my Lord," he replied, only hesitating briefly as he looked around the circle of powerful aristocratic cultivators.

"What were you thinking of when exploring your insight?" Beren swallowed.

"I..." He looked over at Urania, then at Favius.

"My Lord, we built those hives that were topped with the kind of woven horsehair grid that we used for..." He bit his tongue.

"It's okay. You can tell him."

"Papermaking. The Young Lady"—he gestured at Caliga—"thought it might be interesting to observe the bees within their dwellings." He pointed over at a hive that stood at the workstation, and Favius noticed that instead of the standard black-painted wooden cover, it indeed had one of the horsehair-woven sieves on top.

"I was just contemplating their patterns of movement. How they buzz about and they work the honeycomb." Everyone, including Favius, studied the hive and the newly minted cultivator with thoughtful expressions. Well, it's an interesting starting point. So what? Does he understand bee behavior better? Their preferences? I mean, Veren got an insight that essentially allows him to X-ray wood to understand its internal structure. Before Raukhan could continue, Favius stepped forward.

"When you..." He paused and looked at the man who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the circle.

"... woke up, you said that the bees felt unusually calm. Why?" Raukhan looked at Favius, and the side of his mouth twitched into a smile.

"They are just..." The beekeeper again looked into the air and shrugged.

"Just calm. It's rather obvious." He swallowed and glanced from side to side, but Favius laughed.

"Do not worry. Nobody here will take offense." He said it while looking at each of the three cultivators in turn. They all nodded and made agreeable noises.

"To me, that's just a weirdly flying and angrily buzzing swarm of bees. I'm honestly kind of surprised that we weren't attacked yet." Beren looked at Brutus, who instantly made a face.

"Please, my Lord, refrain from using your aura. That would upset them, I believe."

"And I guess Marcus wouldn't appreciate me decimating the bee population of one of his enterprises." But Favius wasn't quite listening to the conversation. So his insight is bee empathy? Bee telepathy? No, that would be fucking ridiculous. A bee doesn't have anything like the internal experience to allow for something like human-to-bee telepathy.

"Well, I think..." Favius gestured to the open-topped hive.

"Could you walk over there and tell me how that hive is feeling, Beren?" They all followed, and soon Beren stood there and frowned at the hive after picking up his straw hat from the table.

"They are..." He closed his eyes.

"... are..." He paused. Raukhan stepped up next to him, squeezed the man's shoulder, and held out a wineskin.

"Drink this. You earned it, Cultor." As soon as Beren opened the wineskin, the rich spiritual smell of the wine hit Favius.

"You hid the good stuff," hissed Duran under his breath. But Phaidros's hand fell onto the ranger's shoulder.

"He always has a reserve. That's what his God grants him." Brutus made a sharp gesture, and the bickering stopped instantly. The wineskin still in one hand, Beren again closed his eyes and moved his hands close to the hive.

"They are upset…" he began, speaking as if from a great distance.

"They... they discovered a rich patch of flowers." One of his hands drifted off, and he turned his upper body slightly in that direction.

"By the sun, it would just be..." He shook his head as if getting rid of an odd feeling. Favius stared intensely and felt the gentle pressure of the auras of the other cultivators. They're analyzing whatever he's doing.

"They don't like that the hive is exposed to the light."

"You can understand what they are saying with their buzzing!" blurted Caliga. Beren jerked back, shaking his head like a wet dog.

"They don't talk with their buzzing," sneered Urania.

"It's just the noise their wings make."

"Beren," Favius said, "check the other hives." He gestured, and approaching from the far side, the beekeeper obliged. Favius looked at the cultivators.

"So?" he asked. It was Brutus who answered.

"It's an aura externalization technique. It's almost as if he's..." Brutus clicked his tongue.

"Inundating the hives," Raukhan suggested.

"Yes," said Brutus, "but I don't quite understand what he's doing there. An intuition for animals is far from rare for agricultural cultivators."

"Or Vitaii mages," added Duran.

"Many know the thoughts of their favoured beasts." Favius shook his head again. That makes no sense because... well, how do I explain why brain capacity is important for intelligence to a bunch of people who believe in souls? Before the conversation could continue, Beren pointed at three hives.

"Those two are doing well. They're mostly talking about where the flowers are and certain duties that need doing in the hive. But this one..." He shivered.

"I think there's a sickness among them." Favius narrowed his eyes. Well, if I put a penalty against the improbability of some sort of telepathy... I only vaguely remember reading about this, but don't bees communicate by moving? Or dancing? And what he said about the direction and the sun... Favius hummed and studied the cultivator again.

"I think... Could it be that you've learned to interpret the meaning of the movements of the bees in the hives?" Beren's eyes lit up.

"Of course! I get the impressions, but I felt they were gesturing at me, and the gestures held..." Somehow magic keeps being more and less magical than I expect. Sure, understanding animals like this is amazing, but also... hell, I wouldn't have been surprised that by the time I died on Earth, people had already figured out how to interpret a beehive using AI and sensors, though the sensors would of course have been the difficult bit.

Caliga stepped forward and pushed Beren towards the other hives, and both sisters inundated the man with one question after another, some of them far more practical than others. Finally, Phaidros cleared his throat.

"All right." He gestured at the crowd.

"The show is over. I believe we all have work to do."

"Once his brother is back from the workshops, I'll sponsor you all a feast to celebrate a new cultivator among us." The crowd dispersed after cheering, and Favius for a while followed the conversation between Caliga and Beren alongside all the other cultivators. Finally, he cleared his throat.

"Caliga. Beren." The two of them reluctantly interrupted their conversation and turned to Favius. He snapped his fingers as he looked at his sister.

"I taught you to experiment. Try different things. Move the hives about. See where they are happiest and most productive. With your insight, Beren..." Urania grinned.

"You want them to do bee science?"

"Science?" murmured Raukhan and Duran simultaneously. But Favius ignored them.

"You mentioned weak colonies. Isolate them and see how they react to different herbs nearby. Stuff like..." He gestured.

"Sage, thyme, mint, lavender, and so on." Beren's eyes rose.

"You mean there might be medicines to help weakened bees?" Favius clicked his tongue.

"Who knows? It's not the first time you've done it. It's like the sizing for papermaking. Try things, vary them, write them down, and..." He gestured.

"Get other beekeepers involved." The conversation continued for several minutes as Favius handed Caliga the new project. Soon they left, and the entire hubbub seemed to be over. But then another gaggle of people appeared from the forest and marched straight towards them.