“Our group will do the mission from Firefly Apiary and…”
“Mars and I will complete Rolling Boulder monster mission,” Christian said.
They split up.
Neo and Jack visited the Firefly Apiary’s shop.
A plump woman welcomed them.
“Hello, what are you looking for?”
“We are here for the mission.”
Neo showed them the information on his phone.
The woman, Joana, covered her face with her hand.
“The Ruler accepted our mission?” She smiled. “It’s our pleasure to have you. Please follow me.”
They entered the door behind the counter.
After moving through the indoors, they came out in the backyard.
It was filled with trees.
Long trees.
“Salamander bees use sunlight to make their honey.
“The taller the trees the tastier their honey. Solvana Trees are their favorite.
“The expected height of nests can reach anywhere from 500 meters to 1,000 meters,” Joana explained.
“It would hurt if someone falls from there,” Jack muttered.
“That’s why we ask students to collect the honey for us. Salamander bees are quite an aggressive bunch.”
Jack nodded in a daze.
“What happened to the people who fell from that height? Did they survive?”
“…”
His question was rhetorical.
He believed the Apiary must have safety equipment to prevent falls.
But Joana’s smile made Jack afraid.
“Did they survive?”
“…”
“N-Neo, I think I know why this mission wasn’t chosen by other students.”
Suddenly, Jack recalled something.
“You should climb, Neo! You survived the fall from the cliff during the entrance exam. This much should be a child’s play for you.”
It was a logical division of labor.
Still, Neo couldn’t help but smile bitterly at how quickly Jack threw him under the bus.
“I guess I’ll do it. It will double as my training.”
“As expected from the Ruler. Nothing is difficult for you.
“Please come this way. I’ll give you the equipment and teach you how to extract the honey,” Joana said.
The woman led Neo to a shed.
She gave him a brown full body suit.
It had a large backpack connected to a vacuum hose.
“The gloves and boots work will stick to the trees if you pass your Divine Energy though them. You can practice a bit before you start working.”
Neo wore the suit.
It was hot inside it and the mask of the suit got covered with fog whenever he took a breath.
“This is annoying…”
He didn’t take long to adjust to the suit’s functions.
After all, his Magic Circuits on palms and soles were developed thanks to his Spells.
The only problem was the amount of Divine Energy being consumed.
Neo had to use his Divine Energy carefully if he didn’t want to be emptied mid-way and fall.
“I’ll climb now.”
“Good luck. You will need it.”
Jack spoke the last part in a barely audible whisper.
Neo heard the words since his hearing was boosted when he devoured the Gremlins.
However, he let Jack go and focused on the task.
“Here I go.”
He circulated his Divine Energy through his limbs and climbed.
The gloves and feet stuck to the tree’s bark like they were glued.
Neo had to cut off the Divine Energy supply when he wanted to remove his limbs from the tree.
Circulate the Divine Energy.
Stop.
Climb.
Circulate the Divine Energy.
Stop.
Climb.
He repeated the same thing over and over.
For someone like Neo, whose biggest weakness was his Divine Energy control, it was a wonderful training.
There was only one problem.
Neo was down to the 1/4th of his Divine Energy reserves before he climbed half of the tree.
He had to climb to the top and return too.
“Damn it. I’m wasting too much Divine Energy. My control isn’t refined enough.”
Over 60% of his Divine Energy was leaking while only 40% went into the suit.
Neo used the Essence Breath Spell to recover his Divine Energy when he hit 1/10th of his Divine Energy pool.
His climbing speed decreased drastically.
Using Divine Energy for the suit and for the Spell while making sure he wasted as little of it as possible was hard.
He had to divide his focus between three tasks.
The boiling heat inside the suit wasn’t helping.
Neo felt he was swimming in sweat when he reached the top.
“Two hours. Huff, Huff, fuck this.”
His limbs were sore and he felt exhausted.
Unfortunately, the Salamander bees didn’t appreciate his hard work.
The palm-sized orange bees flew around like a storm and bashed their bodies against his suit. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
They died when they hit him and exploded into a blazing fire.
…!
The heat and force of the attacks were fierce.
However, the worst part was the explosion. The smoke from them blocked his air supply tubes.
Neo felt he would die from suffocation if he didn’t die from the fall.
“Fuck off!”
He used Ocean’s Breath Spell.
It did little against suffocation.
As more and more Salamander Bees attacked him, Neo felt he would fall from the tree.
The burning heat was boiling him alive.
He clenched his teeth and used the Aura of Darkness.
Every Elemental Aura carried the property of its element.
Just like how Aura of Death could kill, the Aura of Darkness could absorb.
Black flames burst over Neo’s suit.
It lessened the impact of the explosions and Salamander Bees attacks.
Neo used the chance to pull out the vacuum tube from his backpack.
He stuck it inside the beehive and let it absorb the honey.
The task was slow.
It wasn’t long before the Salamander Queen Bee, almost as big as Neo’s torso, appeared.
“I’m fucked if that thing attacks.”
Neo regretted not bringing Obitus up there.
He left it since there was no place to keep it in the suit.
However, had he known the attacks of Salamander Bees were so fierce, he would’ve carried the sword no matter what.
The Queen Salamander Bee flew towards Neo like a cannon ball.
Neo held the tree with one hand and pointed his other hand at the Salamander Queen Bee.
Red lightning flickered around his fingertips.
Aura Snipe.
A single bolt of lightning shot out.
The attack seemed weak compared to his first Aura Snipe.
However, it was far more condensed.