Jake was taken aback at the Queen’s intense stare but even more so by how she addressed him.

”Sire?” Jake asked with confusion. No, wait, she had just been born, right? How did she even know how to talk? Why did she look like a fully mature woman? Why did she also give him the vibes of a fully grown adult with some innate sense of manners?

”Is that not what you are?” the Hive Queen asked as she moved her limbs, stretching as if asleep for a long time. ”Through your power, I was allowed to awaken and become who I am now. As the reason for my current existence, is it an inaccurate assessment to refer to you as my sire?”

Jake was about to answer but kept his mouth closed. ”It is just that the word comes with some implications I am not sure are entirely on point.”

He tried to keep his eyes locked on hers to not stare too much, and she seemed to notice.

”Excuse my indecency; I failed to consider your cultural norms,” the Queen said as a yellow silken dress was summoned out of thin air and covered her body. ”I did not mean to cause Sire any discomfort.”

”Just… you can just call me Jake,” he said, shaking his head. Saying this, he got a sense of deja vu from how many times before he had this kind of conversation. He never freaking got people to just use his damn name. They always defaulted to using something like Chosen, Lord Thayne, or even something horrible like Mas-

”Very well, Jake,” the Queen nodded in agreement.

Wait… just like that? Jake questioned his own sanity. That easy? Really? He finally got his bearings to also Identify the Queen and did not find the name overly flashy... but something was definitely off.

[Vespernat Hive Queen – lvl 200]

Vespernat. Vesper. Jake knew what that meant, as a sense of horror overtook his mind.

He had made a bloody wasp and not a bee! A wasp! Jake questioned how much he had fucked up. No one liked wasps. Wasps were the asshole counterparts to bees, only bringing misery and suffering while not giving any of that sweet honey or even being good pollinators.

”Say… do you remember your prior race? The one you had in D-grade as an egg,” Jake asked, unsure how things worked as he wanted to figure out how something like this could have happened.

The Hive Queen nodded in confirmation. ”Pollendust Bee Queen, I believe it was.”

”And now you are a wasp, correct?” Jake asked.

”Yes,” she confirmed.

Damn.

”As the Origin of the bee species, is that not only to be expected?” the Hive Queen asked, a bit confused at seeing Jake failing to hide his disappointment.

Wait… really? he questioned himself. Jake had to admit he had no idea where bees actually came from historically. Not now and not before the system had arrived. He did know that bees and wasps had stuff in common, but they were definitely not the same thing. Maybe the system had changed how things worked, or maybe Jake just didn’t know enough about the genealogy of bees.

”Could you give me some insight into what exactly a Vespernat Hive Queen is and how you ended up as one from being a Pollendust Bee Queen?” Jake asked, knowing he was maybe overstepping a little. ”Only if you feel like it, of course.”

”It would be my honor,” she nodded. ”Bees and wasps are indeed considered two separate variants of ectognamorphs, but the bees were all once wasps, having evolved over time to become less combat-focused and instead dedicated their skills to the cultivation of nature and supplying their hives with resources. Often these bees will be seen working closely with other species and not be solitary hives, finding protection from those more capable of combat. While powerful bee variants do exist, they are all lesser to I.”

”Huh,” Jake nodded in recognition.

”I did plan on spawning a Bee Queen as my first daughter to better harness materials, but I need to know if that decision is up to me or not?” the Hive Queen asked him in a curious tone.

”What do you mean if it is up to you?” Jake asked, equally curious.

”No matter what I call you, you are my sire, and I am not blind to the investment required for my birth. Debt has been made, and expectations of a return are only natural. So tell me, Jake. Why did you create me?”

Jake was taken completely off-guard as he realized… that was a damn good question. Why had he worked so hard on the bee ritual and wanted to create this Bee Queen – now Wasp Queen, apparently – in the first place?

He had wanted a bee to help tend to his garden back on Earth… a garden that he had now mostly neglected, and Rick had thoroughly handled what gardening was being done in the big underground cavern. He had acquired the Bee Queen Container before he had ever gone to the Order or really been aware going there was an option, and by now, he really didn’t need a huge garden of his own.

Materials were not an issue to him. He had money if he needed to buy anything, he had nepotism if it was rare and hard to get, and even if he did want to cultivate his own garden, it would take a long time before it would give him anything he could actually use.

There was also the entire question of what the Bee Queen would want with her life he hadn’t even considered. If it was a non-intelligent insect monster, which was kind of what he had expected upon buying the container, it would have been all fine and dandy to just leave her in a nice big garden and have her chill. This Wasp Queen was something entirely different.

In conclusion, Jake had totally lost track of his purpose with this entire Bee Queen thing at some point. The objective had shifted from being about the result to the process itself. It hadn’t been about the Queen at all but about actually being able to spawn her and create the core. He hadn’t even considered what the hell his end goal was once she was born or what he wanted to happen then.

Jake looked at the Hive Queen in front of him, patiently waiting for an answer. He decided to not bullshit her and just be honest.

”Originally, I wanted to have a Bee Queen to tend to my garden back on my home planet, but with time, that shifted from no longer being necessary, yet I continued working on the ritual. My goal moved from what a Bee Queen could help me with and became how I could use my abilities to help birth a variant as powerful as possible,” Jake answered genuinely. ”So, if I am being honest, then I have no expectations now. One could say I already accomplished my objective simply by you standing here before me.”

Wasn’t that the truth at the end of it? Jake had wanted to prove he could do something, and he had done it. He wasn’t the kind of person to think that the Hive Queen owed him for being involved in one of his own selfish goals. Even if he did want her to do something for him, his own code of conduct wouldn’t allow him to demand it. He never gave her a choice to be born, so who the hell was he to have expectations of a return? Only shit parents saw their kids as some kind of future investment or natural servants, and even if Jake didn’t like the thought of it, he was the reason why the Hive Queen now lived.

In his mind, the Hive Queen was the same as Sandy or Sylphie. Their own people, with their own lives.

”I am uncertain what exactly you mean?” the Hive Queen asked with confusion. ”If it is desired, I could help cultivate a garden. I have the skills and abilities.”

Jake shook his head. ”As odd as it sounds, then, from my end, all debts are already paid, and we don’t owe each other anything. It’s probably weird from your point of view, but you are free to do whatever you want.”

”You may view it as that, but I do not,” the Hive Queen shook her head. ”You have sired my Path and allowed me to evolve into what I am now. Both parties have to agree if a debt exists or not, and in my view, there is one to be repaid.”

”Now I am the one confused,” Jake said, befuddled. ”How can you pay a debt when I don’t think one is owed? How can you do something to pay it when I don’t want anything from you?”

”Perhaps you may not want anything here and now, but something in the future,” the Hive Queen smiled as she looked around.

”I have been meaning to ask, but where are we? My awareness of the outside world was limited while within the egg.”

Jake considered her words about debt and was a bit surprised at her change of subject. She seemed to realize it was a dead topic and shifted the conversation, something Jake was more than happy doing. ”This is the Order of the Malefic Viper. Ah, the Malefic Viper is-”

”One of the twelve Primordials,” the Hive Queen nodded.

”Huh… how do you even know that? How do you know, well, a bunch of things? Were you sealed inside the egg or something while in D-grade?” Jake asked, curious.

The Hive Queen looked at him and shook her head. ”For being my sire, your lack of comprehension of my race is truly puzzling. Like most monsters born at maturity, I inherited Lineage Knowledge from my ancestors. I know of my own history, of my race, and of many things in the multiverse. As a True Royal of the Ectognamorph race, my granted knowledge surpasses that of most manifold. As for the question of if I was sealed… my first time experiencing life was the moment I was sired by you; there were no prior incarnations.”

”I figured there was something like that inherited knowledge,” Jake nodded. He had read a bit about how most monsters were born with some innate knowledge, and it made sense that something like a Hive Queen was born with a lot of it. He was just surprised that she held not only knowledge of her own skills and heritage but of the multiverse as a whole. Jake didn’t comment on the last part, though it made him feel weird that the woman he was talking to was technically only a few minutes old.

”Can you tell me what a True Royal is?” he asked.

”The highest level of variants within a particular Lineage among the ectognamorphs,” the Hive Queen answered. ”For us ectognamorphs, the hierarchy is one of the most important structures. It is not simply a preference but of conceptual power. Within a singular hive, the drones bow to their commanders, the commanders bow to their Hive Queen, and the Hive Queens bow to the oldest Queen, often their own mother. This is not a question of loyalty or trust; it is their Path.”

”How do True Royals play into that?” Jake asked, already knowing how hives worked.

”A True Royal is the apex of a particular variant. If I went to a hive of bees, I would be seen and recognized by the Queen there as her superior – as royalty standing above her in the hierarchy. True Royals are the Hive Queens that transcend a single hive and are the leaders of ectognamorph society.”

”I see,” Jake nodded with recognition. Damn, he had underestimated what a True Royal was.

”If I may ask, Jake, had you considered a name for me before my birth?” the Hive Queen suddenly asked.

”Nothing serious… maybe Beelinda, Beeatrice, or perhaps Beella,” Jake said, cracking a joke. Jokes that would have Miranda threaten to kill him.

”Amusing naming sense,” the Hive Queen smiled, actually getting the joke.

”Yeah, sadly, it was ruined by you turning into a wasp,” Jake shook his head in fake disappointment.

”I sincerely apologize,” the Hive Queen went along with it before turning a bit more serious. ”If nothing was pre-determined, I would like to adopt the name of my ancestor and first of my race.”

”Please decide for yourself!” Jake readily agreed.

”Very well, in that case, I shall take the name of Vesperia,” the Queen announced.

Vespernat Hive Queen… Vesperia… not that much better than my naming sense, Jake thought first thing, but it probably made sense if the first Vespernat had named itself something close to its race name.

Jake also figured that he was actually being a bit rude by now. They were still standing in the plains outside of the mansion, the remnants of the broken ritual circle all around them and stone shards having ripped up big parts of the lawn.

”Vesperia it is, then. Now, how about we move inside?” Jake asked. ”I got tea.”

”I would be remiss to not take you up on the offer, Jake,” Vesperia smiled and bowed.

Jake nodded, motioning for her to follow. They walked up the steps and quickly entered the living room as Jake went to the kitchen to fetch one of the pre-prepared pots he just had to heat.

”A wonderful residency you have here,” the Hive Queen commented from the living room. ”Is it provided by the Order of the Malefic Viper?”

”Yep,” Jake answered as he heated up the pot of tea while walking back to the living room, cups floating behind him. ”Mine is a bit special compared to the norm, but all of them are really nice.”

”I can assume you are not an insignificant figure within the Order of the Malefic Viper. Hm, this may be presumptuous to ask, but do you hold the Blessing of the Primordial himself?”

”I do,” Jake confirmed.

The Hive Queen nodded.

”I know my history as an egg from the land of Yalsten, sealed by the system eras ago, and that I spent much time within the newly integrated universe. I am also aware that the Malefic One recently returned to the multiverse, spurred on by something that happened in the newly integrated universe,” the Queen spoke, almost as if she was just voicing her thoughts.

Jake sat down with the tea and used telekinesis to pour it into two cups as she spoke.

”Your Patron must be aware of what you are doing here and the fact that you felt confident showing methods capable of leading to my birth… I see. That is why. You are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, are you not?”

Raising his eyebrow, Jake looked at Vesperia. ”What made you reach that conclusion?”

”It makes sense, and it contextualizes many of the Records I felt during my creation,” the Queen nodded. ”And your answer confirms it. If you were not the Chosen, you would have displayed outright denial and offense at my suggestion.”

Jake once more found himself lost for words. He couldn’t lie… he felt significantly outclassed in intellect by someone who had been born less than an hour ago.

”Guess there is no need to hide it,” Jake shrugged.

”Is that part of the reason you do not believe I would prove useful to you?” Vesperia asked, leaning forward as her antennas shook in what he could only interpret as annoyance. ”I will have you know you are severely underestimating a True Royal.”

”Again, it isn’t like that,” Jake shook his head. He wanted to try and clarify once more as he felt someone enter his Sphere of Perception. In the entrance room to the mansion, an elf stepped through the teleportation gate and looked out the front door, likely seeing the ritual circle was gone. He then saw her rush over, and within two seconds, she reached the doorway of the living room.

”Lord Thayne! Did you succeed in-”

Meira stood frozen in the doorway as she stared at Jake and the Hive Queen sitting in the living room drinking tea, both looking back at her.

He saw her eyes dart back and forth, and Jake felt an incoming headache.