Waximillian lay in a secondary resting spot he'd prepared for emergencies, the spatters of blood not showing against his chitin in the darkness of night. It wasn't his blood (not that bees have blood exactly). It was funny how easy it had been to level up after so long, and all he had to do was sharpen a few sticks. After observing his prospective prey, it was easy to lay traps hidden on their trails, and easier still to finish them off with more wooden spikes.

  Beatrice really was a great friend. She helped Waximillian see the limits he had imposed on himself, and she gave him a purpose besides trying to wheedle his way into a hive and die soon after mating. Beatrice had a remarkable talent for finding and making trouble, he could see that after a day of knowing her. He wanted to protect her. It was simple, but sometimes simple was best.

  Sometimes simple was best. But he had no intention of settling for simple when it came to his race evolution.

  He skipped over Greater Silverwood Honeybee Drone (F) and Silverwood Honeybee Labor Drone (F). He briefly considered Silverwood Honeybee Consort (E), but only until he saw his last option. Silverwood Honeybee Defender (E). It spoke to him on a deeper level, and he chose it without hesitation. He only hoped he could get back before morning to show Beatrice.

  Beatrice woke to clattering acorns, and grumbled internally about Ian and his antics. She considered going back to sleep until she saw it was light out, and there was a strange bee in the hollow.

  For once, Beatrice was happy she didn't have lungs or she would've screamed. The strange bee was big, almost twice her size, and significantly larger than Ian. Their legs were thick and powerful to hold up their bulk, and their chitin looked like polished black and yellow armor with vital areas heavier armored than the rest.

  Without moving or making a sound, Beatrice watched as the bee home-invader picked up a silver branch in their mandibles and snapped it like a twig (technically it is a twig). She turned her attention to the honeycomb next to her without giving any external indication of being awake. 'Okay, deep breaths Beatrice. If you're going to fight, you have to fight smart.' She thought about suffocating the invader like she did with the deer, but she didn't know how bees breathed.

  Beatrice's mind froze as the large unknown bee walked up to her. It stood silently before her, and she imagined it's malicious thoughts shone in their compound eyes.

  "Are you awake dear Beatrice?" The large bee asked.

  "Ian? Is that you? How did you get so... big?" Beatrice's fear was quickly becoming relief as she recognized Ian's familiar pattern of speech.

  "Indeed, tis I. It shames me to have taken so long to evolve after witnessing your almost galling nerve -and I mean that as a compliment- whilst hunting." Said Ian, really laying it on thick with flowery language.

  'His skill has to be focused around speaking like that right? The question is whether it focuses on instinctual knowledge, persuasion, or some other effect. Not that it matters, communication skills aren't mind control or anything. Damn I'm curious though.'

  "That's great! And you look pretty badass." Beatrice made a slow circuit around Ian to get a good look at the changes.

  "I look like a bad... ass?" Ian actually looked a little hurt, and a lot confused.

  "No, you look badass. As in cool, awesome, dangerous in a good way." Beatrice explained, Ian still looking confused but no longer hurt. 'I guess not all words translate into bee very well. But he does look cool and... very nice.'

  Beatrice froze, turned away, and skittered to the honeycomb. She took a nice long drink of honey, and focused on the taste. "I think I'll make more wax cells today!" she shouted. "We'll need more honey to comfortably survive winter right?"

  "An excellent Idea Beatrice, but you should level up and evolve first. The best way to survive is by accruing power. I imagine we'll be able to survive winter easily enough as tier two monsters, and survival would be trivial as tier three monsters. And with your methods, reaching tier two won't take more that an hour or two aside from the evolution time itself." Ian's argument was logical, which wasn't fair. Beatrice was trying to avoid... Actually it didn't matter. She could tier up before getting back to work, and maybe get some more levels too.

  "Sure, let's go hunting."

  Beatrice and Ian once again flew through the forest. Ian's buzzing was deeper and harsher with his extra weight, but he was still setting the pace with his higher stats.

  Beatrice had a secret goal for the hunting trip inspired by how easy it was to kill tier two's by suffocation. She wanted to kill a tier three monster. She didn't think it was an unreasonable goal, and she wasn't planning on fighting fairly. The ideal target would be a tier three that, one, took linear evolutions, and two, had to breath. The only danger was that a tier three might be powerful enough to get the honey out of their system, but Beatrice had an Idea for that too. She only hoped it would work.

  Unlike their other trips, Beatrice was trying to keep an eye out for threats. She usually left it to Ian as the guide, but it would be stupid of her to not pay attention if something actually attacked them. Sightseeing through the magnificent forest could wait, as regrettable as that was.

  Since she was paying attention this time, she saw the group of animals gathered in a large clearing before Ian led them down to land on the side of a tree. 'These little bee claws are nifty.' From their vantage point, Beatrice and Ian had an excellent view of their prospective prey.

  "Ian. I'm not going to kill those, it's not going to happen." Waving her antennae in a cutting gesture of negation.

  "Are they not ideal prey for your methods?" Ian asked. "Their diminutive stature and small legs prevent them from targeting us in the air, and they don't breathe through their skin. All your specifications and more."

  Beatrice looked down at the animals that looked like a red panda, except the red parts were silver. They had bigger eyes, fluffier tails, and their ears were bigger and more mobile, moving around like a cat's ears, or maybe fox ears. They frolicked and played around a particularly large member of their group, about the size of a small bear, that sat and watched over the widdle tier ones, and the dog-sized tier twos.

  "Not going to happen. Those are the cutest things I've ever seen in my entire life, and I'll have to hurt you if you insist on hunting them anyway." Beatrice said with deadly seriousness.

  Ian just glanced at her. "They're not the cutest thing I've seen."

  Beatrice looked at him with incredulity and disbelief, and she didn't back down. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist. Find me something else to kill, and leave these poor babies alone."

  "They're not babies. Not that you'll change your mind, willful soul that you are." Ian said with resignation and prepared to take off. Then the situation changed.

  A large black shape pushed through the undergrowth and into the clearing. It was a bear. Luckily it was a normal looking bear and wasn't breathing fire, but it was also much much bigger than a normal bear. The bear let out a chuff of air and began approaching the super-adorable silver panda creatures.

  Beatrice's first thought was that animals in the forest really liked to get big, and her second thought was 'The babies!' and she took off towards the bear, leaving Ian in her dust for once.

  Ian's first thought was shocked disbelief as he compared the size of the bear to Beatrice's much smaller form, and his second thought was 'Beatrice!' as he took off after her.

  Despite her thoughts mostly being on protecting the adorable critters, Beatrice did have an actual plan. She flew down towards the Bear as it squared off with the largest silver panda, hoping to get close enough before it started roaring. Her plan was simple. She intended to strike when the bear was out of breath and about to inhale. Then it wouldn't have enough air to force the honey from it's windpipe, and would most likely inhale even more honey, making her strategy work better than before. No it wasn't a grand strategy, she wasn't a tactical genius. But it should work.

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  The silver panda boss stood on it's hind legs and raised it's front paws threateningly, making it look extra adorable. The bear roared, creating an actual shockwave that sent the larger panda rolling backwards and scattering the smaller members. Luckily for Beatrice, the roar was directional and didn't knock her out of the sky. She was still buffeted by the wind, but she was able to pull the honey out of her honey stomach and form a big sticky ball of the stuff as the dove towards the bear's face.

  The roar was long and powerful, and Beatrice doubted it could roar again without taking a breath. She hovered a safe distance in the air and away from the bear's field of vision. Bears were predators, and with their forward-facing eyes had a narrower field of view than a prey animal. As the bear's roar trailed off, Beatrice pushed the honey at the bear. She was surprised when the bear suddenly turned towards the honey as it flew towards them, and quickly realized the bear must've smelled it. The bear on the other hand was looking happy, if a bit perplexed, at the free food flying towards it.

  The bear didn't feel threatened by anything in that clearing, and that made its downfall inevitable. The glob of honey slammed into the bear's face, which didn't hurt it at all, and it actually opened its mouth to let the honey in. Beatrice almost felt bad about that. Imagine your favorite food is presented to you, and just as you're about to tuck in and have a nice meal it jumps up and begins to kill you horribly. Probably only cannibals have had such experiences on Earth, but this bear had a similar experience as the honey forced it's way down the bear's airways. In line with Beatrice's plans, the bear was indeed short of breath and inhaled to try and get some air. There was no path for any air to reach the bear's lungs, with honey covering it's face and filling first its trachea, then filling its lungs with thick, sticky honey.

  It took a long time for the bear to die. It started tearing up the ground in huge chunks and swiping at the air with its claws, the shockwaves from the impacts pushing Beatrice around in the air. The bear even clawed at it's own face and neck to try and get the honey out, it's blood spilling on the ground around it and dyeing the honey red. It took several minutes for the bear to collapse, and nearly a full minute after to receive the notification for killing it.

  You have killed a Dire Black Bear Level 12 Tier 3.

  Congratulations! You have reached Level 10.

  Congratulations! For killing an enemy two full tiers higher than your own, you have advanced the title Underdog (D) to Giant-Killer (C).

  Congratulations! You have reached the max level for your tier. Tier evolution is now available.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked multiple branching race evolutions. Please select your preferred path to begin evolution.

  Beatrice obviously couldn't start evolving right there in midair, so she didn't bother looking at her options right away. Instead she turned to check on the silver pandas. They looked all right, if a bit dazed from being knocked around by the roar and shockwaves of the bear's struggles. The largest panda stood up and started posturing again, this time at her.

  'Adorable.' She'd have to get one as a pet eventually. Maybe when she was a big bad queen bee that nobody would dare mess with. She realized that Ian was flying near her protectively, hovering in the background like a bodyguard. Was he there the whole time? After giving the silver pandas another look, she decided the cuties were frightened enough, and she gestured to Ian for the two of them to leave.

  Beatrice and Ian were back at the hollow, and Beatrice was settling down to evolve.

  "Sorry you didn't get to do any hunting Ian. You probably wanted to test out your new evolution." Said Beatrice, feeling bad about them stopping their trip just for her sake. What other reason would Ian have for looking so grumpy?

  "That is besides the point dear Beatrice. I'm only upset because you took foolish risks and could have gotten yourself killed."

  Beatrice felt a mix of half warm affection, and half anger at Ian's overprotectiveness. Well, maybe it was just protectiveness. That dire bear likely would have killed her with a single glancing blow, so maybe Ian's behavior was justified. But that didn't mean she had to like it! (She did like it a little bit though)

  "I'm sorry you were worried, but I don't intent to change the way I act." Beatrice stood her ground and looked him in the eye.

  Ian slumped slightly and nodded. "I know, you're a maniac. Go evolve into something crazy."

  The response was so unlike Ian that Beatrice didn't respond until Ian had already walked away to stand at the entrance to his hollow. At which point responding would've felt silly and petty, which is why she did. "Fine! I hope you have fun doing nothing you big dummy!" It wasn't dignified, but she felt it had to be said.

  'Time to pick my evolution. wonder if I got something cool for killing the bear.' Beatrice distributed her free stats and chose to begin the evolution process.

  You have unlocked the linear race evolution for Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F): Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (E)

  You have unlocked the advanced linear race evolution for Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F): Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee High Queen (D)

  You have unlocked the branching race evolution for Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F): Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Huntress (D)

  You have unlocked the branching race evolution for Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F): Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness (C)

  You have unlocked the branching race evolution for Stunted Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen (F): Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Seductress (C)

  Okay, these names were too long. Not that she would just choose the shortest named evolution, but the temptation was there. She decided to ignore the first evolution option since it was an inferior version of the second one, and gave the last option a dirty look.

  [Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee High Queen (D)]: The juvenile form of a Silverwood Honeybee High Queen (C), the Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee High Queen (D) only appears rarely in the largest hives of the Silverwood Honeybees. The High Queen stands above other queens in both authority and ability and can maintain control over multiple other queens, often leading to the creation of super-hives. Her egg laying ability is enhanced and her eggs have an increased probability of hatching more advanced worker and queen variants.

  'Basic, but decent. It's nice to know there's a linear evolution of a higher grade at my next evolution, and I could start a glorious bee state with the extra authority. But it's not like I need company, and don't really care about the bonus to egg laying. So pass for now.'

  [Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Huntress (D)]: The juvenile form of a Silverwood Honeybee Huntress (C), the Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Huntress can arise from worker or queen, the only requirement for advancement being the hunting of powerful monsters unaided. The Huntress lives for the hunt and receives several hunting skills to allow for the tracking and hunting of worthy prey. Upon accepting this evolution workers lose the capacity to make honey or wax, and queens additionally lose the ability to lay eggs. The Huntress consumes her prey for sustenance, and has no need nor stomach for honey. Warning! The Huntress has no place in Silverwood Honeybee society and will likely be expelled from the hive.

  'Perfect aside from the no honey thing, I'm even already expelled from my hive. But no honey? My sweet tooth won't tolerate it. Also, as loath as I am to admit it, I do want kids someday. Yeah it's a lot more awkward for me as a girl, but laying eggs is much better than giving birth. Don't really want to think about it. Anyway, pass!'

  [Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness (C)]: The juvenile form of a Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness (B), the Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness appears when a queen is born with an unusually sweet temperament, and an unusual love for sweets. The Queen of sweetness wields sweetness as a weapon, both through her honey manipulation and her honeyed words. Rather than enhancing her egg laying ability, the Queen of Sweetness prefers to produce and mix special honeys. Her honey mixes can be specialized for raising young, healing wounds, improved taste, and much more.

  'I... Actually love it. It's not like it's forcing me to speak sweetly after all. and the ability to make extra delicious honey? Healing honey too!? And it's grade C with a guaranteed B rank evolution.' Beatrice braced herself for the last option and read the description.

  [Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Seductress (C)]: The juvenile form of a Silverwood Honeybee Seductress (B), the Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Seductress appears when a worker rises above their station and uses her powers of seduction to spread sedition and cripple the operations of a hive. The Seductress cares only for her own gain, and uses the power of lust to set herself up as the usurper of a now failing hive. Warning! The Seductress has low combat ability and will be hunted by authority figures due to her destabilizing influence.

  'Disgusting! I hate it! Low combat ability? Seduction? No thank you!' Beatrice picked Juvenile Silverwood Honeybee Queen of Sweetness (Still a mouthful), and settled down to evolve.

  Evolution in progress...