Congratulations! You have unlocked a branching skill advancement. Please select your preferred advancement for Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E).

  Beatrice was excited to see a new system mechanic. A branching skill advancement? Did it split into two skills or something? She had no Idea, so she focused on the notification, hoping to see what it was all about.

  You have unlocked the requirements for the linear advancement for Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E): Advanced Honeybee Interpretive Dance (D)

  You have unlocked the requirements for the branching advancement for Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E): Persuasive Honeybee Interpretive Dance (D)

  You have unlocked the requirements for the branching advancement for Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E): Honeybee Interpretive Dance of the Outcast (C)

  You have unlocked the requirements for the branching advancement for Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E): Sweet Honeybee Dancing (C)

  So she had to pick just one. That made more sense than her silly splitting skill idea. She jolted a bit when she was reading and a description of Advanced Honeybee Interpretive Dance (D) popped up in her vision.

  [Advanced Honeybee Interpretive Dance (D)]: 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 miniscule degree.

  'Hallelujah! I can read the skill descriptions. Hopefully the C rank skill selection fiasco was a one-off. But this skill is the same as the old one. The only difference is that the bonus scales with charisma to a miniscule degree instead of an Infinitesimal degree.' It wasn't exactly that Beatrice thought the skill was terrible. It was just too bland, and a full rank lower than two of her options.

  [Persuasive Honeybee Interpretive Dance (D)]: A passive skill than provides a limited range of instinctual knowledge of how to communicate through dance. The breadth of instinctual knowledge is replaced by an increased persuasion bonus when communicating using interpretive dance. The bonus in persuasion scales with Charisma to a minor degree.

  Better, but not great. Beatrice was relying a lot on that instinctual knowledge after all.

  [Honeybee Interpretive Dance of the Outcast (C)]: A passive skill that encompasses the honeybee's instinctual knowledge of how to communicate through dance. The skill suppresses those who perceive the user's dance, forcing them to watch until the user is done. The degree of suppression scales with charisma to a substantial degree. The skill inflicts a penalty to persuasion when communicating using interpretive dance. You will be seen, but none shall listen to the outcast.

  'My sister would've loved this skill when she was eight. Forcing people to watch you dance? Aside from the outcast part, it's like it was tailor made for her.' But it wasn't like Beatrice wanted to alienate anyone she talked to. Hopefully the last skill was less niche.

  [Sweet Honeybee Dancing (C)]: A passive skill that encompasses the honeybee's instinctual knowledge of how to communicate through dance, as well as knowledge of how to speak sweetly through dance. The skill also grants a bonus to persuasion when speaking sweetly through dance. The bonus to persuasion scales with charisma to a substantial degree. Coat your words with sugar and honey, and watch as those around you eat them up.

  Beatrice just sat atop her honeycomb-in-progress and buzzed for a bit. There were things she liked about Sweet Honeybee Dancing, and things she frankly hated. It definitely had the largest bonus to persuasion, it still had the instinctual knowledge plus a little extra, and it was a C rank skill. But. 'I have to speak sweetly? Like a cutesy little girl?' She almost shuddered at the thought. First of all, she used to be a man. A normal man with no interest in being cutesy. And even if she had never been a man, she was almost eighteen! What kind of eighteen-year-old wants to be all cutesy-cutesy? But it didn't say she had to speak that way, so she could turn it on and off in a way.

  With a substantial degree of hesitation to go with the persuasion, Beatrice picked Sweet Honeybee Dancing

  Congratulations! Due to your increased eloquence and experience speaking sweetly, you have advanced the skill Honeybee Interpretive Dance (E) to Sweet Honeybee Dancing (C).

  Out of morbid curiosity Beatrice stopped buzzing and turned to Ian. "Iiiian! would you please me some nectar to drink? I'm so thirsty from all this buzzing. I'd really appreciate it." her words practically dripping with honey.

  *Clatter* Ian dropped his nearly completed bee statuette.

  Congratulations! Due to your knowledge and experience in sweetly seducing the opposite sex, you have advanced the skill Seduction (D) to Sweet Seduction (C).

  'Ah. I see. Fuck.' Beatrice really didn't want Ian to get any weird ideas. "Sorry. I was just testing out a new skill advancement."

  Ian froze midway through reaching for an acorn of nectar/juice. "Oh good. I mean it's good that you got a skill advancement! Hahaha. Ahem. If you still want some nectar..." Ian trailed off on a rising questioning note.

  "I'm actually fine. I just said the first thing that came to mind."

  "I'd be happy to help even without your new, um, skill. Feel free to ask for any assistance you require, and I shall do the same." Ian said, becoming more composed.

  Beatrice got back to buzzing and Ian got back to munching and crunching on his statuette.

  The rest of the day was spent with Beatrice and Ian taking turns buzzing at their nectar. Beatrice tried her hand at woodworking and couldn't leave a mark on the silver wood of the trees, but she did manage to turn a normal branch from a bush into a chewed-up branch from a bush. Yeah she didn't see herself becoming a carpenter bee. Hehe. She spent more time sampling Ian's collection of juices and nectars, and sometimes flied around outside to practice her flying. But Ian insisted on accompanying her during flight practice, so she couldn't justify spending too much time doing that.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The day was almost done before Beatrice realized she had forgotten something important, so she pulled up her status page.

  Name: Beatrice

  Race: Silverwood Honeybee Worker Level 2 Tier 1

  Strength:9

  Agility:20

  Endurance:11

  Vitality:9

  Intelligence:15

  Wisdom:12

  Charisma:33

  Free Stat Points:7

  Skills: Honey Manipulation (C), Sweet Seduction (C), Sweet Honeybee Dancing (C), Aura of Authority (E), Sacrificial Strike (E), Novice Wax Construction (F), Swarm (F)

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

  Equipment: Cape of Authority (E)

  Titles: Reincarnator (A), Kin-Slayer (C), Survivor (D), Pariah (E)

  Time to see what her titles did, and why her charisma had dropped five points.

  [Pariah (E)]: A title granted to those who have been ostracized from their home, community, or even race. The owner of the title inspires instinctual revulsion in those who cast them out, and receives a -5 penalty to charisma, and a +2 bonus to intelligence and wisdom. The instinctual revulsion scales with the rank of the title.

  'I see. No happy bee family for me.' Beatrice thought. Half sarcasm, and half regret.

  [Kin-Slayer (C)]: A title granted to those who have slain a member of their own family. The owner of the title inspires instinctual fear in those who are direct familial relatives. The instinctual fear scales with the rank of the title, and the rank of the title increases with the closeness of your relations [Sibling] and number of relative you have killed [1].

  Beatrice sat there for a while, having forgotten to keep buzzing. It wasn't like she knew that nameless worker, but she had trouble coming to terms with what she had done. It was one thing to kill a stranger, and another to find out that stranger was your sister. It made sense. Queen bees lay the whole hive after all. She wondered briefly whether there was a way to disable titles, but there didn't seem to be one in the status page.

  'You know what? My only real sister is a nerd, a weeb, and a human to boot. If someone wants to be my family, they have to put in the work and grow up annoying me.'

  At least Ian wasn't affected by the kin-slayer title. Hey, it would be a nifty way to find long-lost relatives. Except that they'd be afraid of you. And you have to kill a family member to get the title. Yeah, the title sucked.

  Beatrice wrapped up her little pity party by putting one stat point into vitality and strength each, three points into wisdom, and two into intelligence. It might've been silly to put points into strength and vitality right now, but now they were each an even ten. Nice and even.

  The next day was nice and peaceful, and Beatrice spent her breaks from buzzing in meditation. Or she tried to anyways. She'd never meditated before, and the closest thing she'd experienced was when her psychology teacher had the class go through some mental exercises for relaxing. So that's what she was doing. Imagining a light, moving from the tips of her antennae, and slowly moving through her body to the tips of her claws, and finally to her barbed stinger. It wasn't real meditation, but it was relaxing and helped her to focus on her mostly unfamiliar body.

  'Bet women would kill for this waist to hip ratio. Heh.' Not that human and bee physiology is comparable. The abdomen is like a cross between a butt and a torso, and the thorax was where the leg stuff was taken care of. And the head was the head. So technically her waist to hip ratio was atrocious. Again, bees and humans are different. Duh.

  Ian was busy putting the finishing touches on his statuette. Smoothing out the rough edges with some rough but even bark and using little pointy silver twig to add some fine detail. How he managed all that without hands was a mystery to Beatrice, but she figured practice had something to do with it.

  The honey was coming along nicely and Beatrice estimated two to three more days before it was finished. Things were going well, and she was surprised at how little her crazy murderous fit bothered her. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd kill any stranger that demeaned and wrote off her friend for dead. She didn't remember being like that as a human, but people did change supposedly. Or were people supposed to never really change? She wished that Earth media was more consistent and accurate. Maybe it would be if everyone was forced to survive in a strange world and kill people... Not that they weren't and didn't.

  The day was nearly done before Ian announced the completion of his statue. "It's finished! My finest work yet!" Ian exclaimed, walking over to Beatrice and presenting a startlingly realistic silver honeybee. Beatrice took it gently and placed it down on it's legs to get a better look at it. 'Wow, he even did the veins on the wings.'

  "That's amazing Ian! Your carpentry skill must be high to make something like this." Beatrice said, still examining the details of the statuette. 'Even the little compound eye lenses? Ian's a monster of a carpenter to do something like this.'

  Ian looked embarrassed at the praise. "It's nothing really. I did rank up the skill to B rank just now though." Ian said with pride.

  "Thank you for the gift Ian. I'll make sure not to break it." Beatrice said with a mischievous glint in her compound eye.

  Ian just looked at her like she was a freak. Fair.

  The next day was equally peaceful, except for one thing. Beatrice's emotions were getting harder to control, and she had no Idea why. If she were a human she'd blame it on a hormone imbalance, or PMS, but she was a bee, and a worker bee at that. Maybe she wasn't getting enough vitamins? She and Ian took a short trip to some flowers that were rich in pollen, and she made sure to eat some. And since one of the wax cells was practically empty, she dispersed it's contents to the other cells and started a cell of pollen.

  She did feel a bit healthier after eating some, like eating a salad after days of meat and carbs. But her emotions were still kind of crazy. Was she bipolar in this world? She dismissed her worries and focused on achieving a sense of zen during her buzzing duties, subconsciously altering her buzzing to be less irritating and more soothing.

  Congratulations! Due to your ability to sooth minds with the sound of your buzzing, you have acquired the skill Novice Soothing Buzzing (F)

  Beatrice felt a shift in her buzzing that brought a sense of calm to her mind for the first time since being reborn in this world. For a few seconds at least.

  Status effect Queen's Pheromones has worn off.

  Suppressed mutations regaining functionality.

  Congratulations! You have released the hidden mutation Ovaries (F).

  Hidden lateral race evolution unlocked.

  Evolution in progress...

  Beatrice fell off her perch and to the silver wood floor of the hollow. She probably would've fallen without her vision tunneling and her mind drifting away, she was effectively insensate already due to the mental shock at her notifications. And boy did tunnel vision look funky with compound eyes. Her last thoughts before falling into oblivion were a curse to the world.