To reach the bees new hive, they'd need at least two days of travel through the humongous forest,a place teeming with dangerous monsters. The bees couldn't fly all day and their stamina would drain mid-journey. The cloud, however, could fly endlessly. Since when do clouds need stamina?
"I think we should rest awhile and find food too" Raiz suggested, descending toward the ground. Moon didn't object; he wasn't in a hurry.
While the elder slept after the long day, Raiz and Moon spoke alone. Moon revealed he knew Raiz was a reincarnator and had seen his past life. Raiz startled. Seeing someone's memories without permission… Cloud had learned this could be seen as rude in the human world.
Raiz shifted uncomfortably, his focus frayed. Moon sensed the former human's struggle,his deepest secret laid bare. After five minutes of silence, Raiz sighed heavily, inhaling deep.
He'd always felt guilt over killing, even in self-defense. Now, he finally asked: "Sir Moon… what would you have done in my place?" Raiz stared at the ground.
Moon's reply was firm: "If someone threatened my life, I'd chop their head off without guilt."
Raiz gaped at the faceless cloud. "Moon, you're something else, huh? But you're right. Feeling guilty toward someone who wished you harm…"
"Glad you see it. This world won't reward hesitation. I can feel it in the air."
A weight lifted from Raiz's heart. As they say, mind and body connect,the moment guilt vanished, energy surged through him, light as air.
As night surrendered to dawn's first light, the unlikely trio resumed flight,this time within the forest , not above it. Their first encounter a goblin.
The green-skinned creature, clad only in ragged loincloth, attacked instantly upon spotting them. Weaponless, it lunged at Moon first. Its fist swung and the attack passed clean through the cloud's form.
Enraged, the goblin unleashed a flurry of blows. Not one landed. Finally, it turned its fury on the next target.
Raiz dodged the exhausted goblin's punch then stung it. Raiz felt the smoothness he could operate his body now. The creature's blood boiled, it collapsed mid roar. Even Raiz looked surprised.
< Ting! >
< Level Up >
Strength flooded Raiz's body,twice what he'd felt moments before. If one level did this… what would level 10 bring?
The goblin's corpse dissolved into light. Both Moon and Raiz recognized this.One from gameplay, the other from watching it. Raiz even scanned the ground for loot. Nothing.
The elder bee stared, bewildered. How does a body just vanish? No logic explained it. Lately thing had just been getting stranger and stranger
"With a system, I definitely expected loot," Raiz chuckled. "Who knew goblins just… leave?"
"If anyone heard you, they'd think you got robbed!" Moon's laughter rumbled like distant thunder. Seeing Raiz so relaxed pleased the cloud. They flew onward ,before realizing someone was missing.
Only when Raiz shouted for her did the elder bee snap back to reality. She took flight, catching up. How were these two so unfazed? She'd known Raiz barely a week.
Alia spotted another bee lying under a large fern leaf. His wings were cracked like broken glass, and his antennae had dried nectar stuck to them. Seeing a stranger from her own kind here in this empty part of the woods ,made her chest feel tight. Was he from a lost hive?
When the bee woke up, his eyes looked foggy and confused. He cleaned his damaged wings slowly, like his body remembered how even if his mind didn't. "Do you have a name?" Alia asked gently. He just clicked his jaws silently. Considering the state of his body , he mustve forgotten everything, she concluded back then.
When Cloud mentioned the goblin vanishing into light, Raiz just nodded calmly. Of course, Alia thought sadly. When you can't remember your own life, nothing seems strange anymore.
Raiz hovered closer. Look , faint words above him.For a second, < ??? Lvl 1> glowed over the bee's head before fading. Cloud rippled quietly. A broken system? Alia stared Raiz with pity look.
After hours flying through thick, quiet forest, the trees suddenly opened up. Ahead stood a massive tower made of twisted wood and dark stone, taller than any tree. Bees swarmed around it like ants on a hill.
This isn't right, Moon thought. Bees make honeys and not damn buildings. The sheer size made his misty form feel small.
Raiz buzzed in surprise. "Wood? Bees build with wood? Since when?!"
Alia's wings faltered. She looked at Raiz with sad gaze. Just how much did he suffer to have forgotten the basic of basic.
They landed in a whirlwind of activity. Thousands of bees carried bark strips, patched holes with glowing tree sap, and carved symbols into stone. Nobody noticed the purple cloud ,until a voice boomed like thunder:
"ALIA! SWEET POLLEN, IS THAT YOU?!"
A huge bee burst from the tower.Muscles bulging, wings beating fast. He grabbed Alia's shoulders, his eyes wide with panic. "Your core was shattered! You shouldn't be FLYING! Trying to break my heart?!"
Before she could speak, he zipped away, returning with a tiny cup full of liquid gold. "Last Sun Dew sap. DRINK! We've turned this forest upside down looking for healing moss"
Alia gently pushed the cup away. "Calm down, you really dont change , do you." She explained Cloud's magic healing, Raiz's floating words, everything. Brav went utterly still, staring at Cloud before flying off and coming back even faster. Holding jar of honeys, brav looked at his hand that barely held 4 jars. As if making decision he flew off, this time he had brough bees over, everyone of them carrying few jars of honey
"Its time to eat" He yelled
Moon watched the mess. Bees just wiped sap off their faces, then went back to working. An old bee with measuring string around his chest hovered near Raiz.
"He does this weekly," the builder sighed. "Last moon, he flooded the food store singing 'Bee Brave.'" He nodded as Brav tried a wobbly flip mid-air. "Yesterday he ordered wall repairs while hanging upside down. Nearly broke the scaffolding."
The old bee's voice softened. "But we'd be dead without him. When the sickness came..." He touched the tower's blackened lower wood. "...Brav gathered survivors. Said 'Build new one or die.' He traded his royal honey share for almost nothing. Went hungry for weeks."
Cloud swirled warmly So his craziness comes from caring too much. This wildness isnt too bad