Ella's Meditation World.
Located deep in the ocean, Evergreen Island boasts a perpetually spring-like atmosphere.
On this isolated island, numerous giant Titan trees tower into the sky.
The flowers of the Titan trees bloom year-round.
These flowers are so large that adults can climb up and down them like tiny insects.
Two bee tribes, the Trie and the Yabei, have inhabited the island since ancient times.
The Titan flower fields provide the bee tribes with a source of nectar.
The two tribes share the fields, jointly maintaining peace in Evergreen Island and defending against foreign invasions.
Over time, both tribes multiplied.
As the population grew, the flower fields gradually became insufficient.
Over the competition for nectar, the two tribes frequently clashed.
To avoid war, the queens of the two tribes agreed to divide the fields equally. On this basis, both sides were forced to strictly control their populations, ensuring they would not exceed the limits of the flower fields.
At first, both sides were able to strictly enforce the agreement.
The populations of the two major bee tribes ceased their rapid growth and remained within a relatively healthy range for generational replacement.
Unfortunately, this fragile balance could not last.
The queen of the Abe tribe, for unknown reasons, suddenly changed her temperament, brazenly tore up the agreement between the two tribes, and provoked war!
Ambitious, she sought to dominate the entire island's flower fields!
As the Abe tribe's army approached, the Trie tribe rose up to resist, fighting to preserve their share of the flower fields!
The war between the two tribes raged on for years.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and neither side was able to completely defeat the other.
To secure victory, the two tribes actively recruited soldiers.
Foreign adventurers are also allowed to enter the Hive Cities and serve as mercenaries within the Beemen Legion.
The so-called "Hive Cities" are essentially giant honeycombs, built atop the branches of giant Titan trees.
Both the Abe and Triae Hive Tribes possess numerous such hives.
Based on the size and population of the hives, they are divided into several levels, such as "village," "town," and "city."
The largest hives, known as "Hive Cities," serve as the capital of the Beemen.
Both the Abe and Triae Hive Tribes are typical daughter-like nations.
Female bees are numerous, gathering flowers and making honey, and are brave and skilled in battle.
Drone bees are scarce and short-lived, neither skilled in combat nor in collecting honey.
The social status of both sexes is often determined by the division of labor.
Since drones are so useless, their social status is naturally low.
Female beemen, influenced by their ethnic tradition of female superiority and male inferiority, often look down on drones, even males of other species.
In beemen society, drones are a sexual resource, their value stemming from providing life-giving seeds or sexual services to female bees.
Scarcity makes things valuable, and not all female bees are entitled to drones.
The queen bee firmly controls the majority of the males in the colony, using them to enrich her vast harem.
This monopoly on sexual resources is the key to the queen bee's revered status and widespread envy among the female bees.
Every queen bee is the master of the hive.
The clever queen bee understands that controlling all the drones will inevitably arouse the jealousy of all the female bees.
The foundation of her rule will also be undermined.
She must provide the female bees with some sweet treats and entertainment to relieve the fatigue accumulated from work and battle.
To this end, the queen bee has established two specialized entertainment institutions. The first type of institution is similar to a government-run brothel in human society.
When a male bee makes a mistake, angers the queen, or tires of sex, he or she is banished to a brothel to serve as a gigolo.
Female bees use honey or magic stones as currency to buy pleasure at the brothel.
In this way, the queen can also recycle valuable resources like honey and magic stones, enriching the treasury—killing two birds with one stone!
In a hive city, there are too many wolves and too little meat. Brothels are short on males, so female bees kidnap humanoids from outside.
Women, the elderly, the weak, and the disabled are all killed, while young and strong men are captured alive whenever possible.
The captured men are first selected by the queen.
Those whom the queen finds appealing are taken into her harem.
Those whom the queen dislikes are sent to brothels for sexual pleasure.
While male bees generally have a low social status, there are exceptions.
For example, the courtesans in brothels were considered idols!
Their final destination was often to be taken into the queen bee's harem.
In hive cities, the people valued martial arts.
The arena was an important entertainment venue, alongside the brothels.
The arena offered two types of activities: gladiatorial combat and tournaments.
Gladiators were usually prisoners of war, who would kill each other for the audience's amusement.
The tournaments were conducted by the most skilled female bees.
Female bees who performed well in the tournaments were awarded the title of "soldier bee," earning them a prestigious position within the hive.
Soldier bees, freed from labor and dedicated to combat, were considered the "knight" class within the hive and received a stipend that allowed them to support retainers.
If a soldier bee achieved meritorious service on the battlefield, they would receive special privileges.
The queen bee would select a male bee from her harem and bestow it upon her as a son-in-law. The soldier bees, granted the title of "son-in-law" by the emperor, are among the very few female bees in Hive City, aside from the queen bee, to possess a legal mate.
They are truly "winners of bee life"!
The ancestral spirit that Ella merged with is a young female Triae bee.
This bee girl was originally just an ordinary worker bee, tired of her tedious honey-gathering duties and aspired to become a soldier bee.
To achieve this, she needed to distinguish herself in the tournament.
Allen was also summoned to Hive City by Ella.
He fabricated an identity: a wandering mercenary from the Magic Leopard Clan.
Allen, the mercenary, also needed to prove himself in the tournament if he wanted to accompany Ella into battle.
Thus, both of them signed up for the Triae bee recruitment meeting held that spring!
The soldier bees of the Triae Clan are generally taller and more muscular than the worker bees.
The average height was 1.8 meters, and the weight was no less than 160 kilograms.
In comparison, Ella's fused ancestral spirit was too small. In front of the tall, muscular Soldier Bee examiner, she looked like a stunted toddler.
"You're too small to be a soldier. Go home and collect honey!" the recruiting officer said coldly.
The recruiting officer judged people based on appearance, but Ella, of course, refused to accept his words and argued:
"Being small makes it harder to hit!"
"We haven't even tested you yet, so how do you know I won't be able to do it?"
"Hmph! You stubborn little girl, you're asking for trouble!"
The recruiting officer personally tested Ella's abilities.
Two of her Soldier Bee colleagues served as judges and brought two sets of Soldier Bee equipment.
This included a chainmail shirt, a dagger, a longbow, and a quiver of arrows.
The dagger and arrows were both forged from cold iron. Cold iron is a special type of steel with special effects against demons and fey creatures.
The weapons of the Triae Hive are mostly made of cold iron.
Because their sworn enemies, the Abe Hive, have fey ancestry, non-cold iron weapons are difficult to penetrate their natural armor.
In contrast, the Triae Hive's natural armor is limited to silver-plated weapons, which ignore their damage reduction effects.
Therefore, the weapons of the Abe Hive are mostly made of silver.
Hive Hive armor is mostly made of refined chainmail.
A chainmail shirt is like a woven steel shirt.
Worn close to the body, it accentuates a beautiful figure and does not hinder flight, but it does not protect the lower body.
Human soldiers wearing chainmail shirts must also wear armor such as skirt armor and greaves.
Hive Hives do not need to do this.
Beemen are naturally shapeshifting creatures, possessing three forms: humanoid, giant bee, and hybrid.
Hybrid form is half human, half bee.
From the waist up, they are humanoid, while below that is a plump bee abdomen. The female bee also has a poisonous stinger on its tail.
When fighting, beemen usually transform into hybrid or giant bee forms to facilitate flight.
The lower half of these two forms is too different from their human form to be suitable for armor, nor is it necessary.
The round bee abdomen is covered with a smooth, tough chitin exoskeleton, providing protection comparable to that of an iron plate.
The problem is that Ella's chainmail shirt doesn't fit her well.
It looks ridiculous, like a child wearing an adult's coat.
Laughter erupted in the arena and beyond.
"Can you give me a smaller chainmail shirt?"
Ella blushed and asked the referee.
Then, she was ruthlessly rejected.
Military armor is of fixed specifications, designed and manufactured to the average size of a soldier bee. A little fatter or thinner isn't a big deal.
But... by soldier bee standards, Ella is simply too thin.
Compared to the standard size, she's 30 centimeters shorter and 70 kilograms thinner.
The difference is too great; she simply can't support the military armor!
In the end, Ella had no choice but to forgo armor and enter the arena in plain clothes.
Because of this farce, the audience on the sidelines were not optimistic about Ella passing the conscription test.
Her examiner, however, didn't underestimate her opponent and was determined to teach this ignorant young woman a lesson.
At the very beginning of the competition, she unleashed her ultimate move!
The two major bee tribes share a martial spirit.
However, their specialized skills differ greatly.
The Yabei bee tribe excels in close combat. The Triae bees are masters of long-range shooting.
Triae soldier bees are all skilled marksmen.
The examiner unleashed three cold iron arrows in a single burst, forming a line that whistled towards Ella!
First-level martial art—Quick Wind Triple Shot!
In competitions, blunt-pointed arrows are used, which won't kill.
However, blunt force can inflict significant damage on the body, and with Ella's petite and fragile frame...
Onlookers believed she couldn't withstand even a single arrow!
What followed stunned everyone.
Ella, clearly a bee girl, leaned forward and transformed into a white cat!
With a series of dazzling leaps and tumbles, she narrowly avoided the three arrows!
"Magic cat transformation! What kind of magic is this?"
"Transfiguration?"
"Transfiguration can't turn a human into a cat! Could it be... a 4th-level Transfiguration?!"
"I never expected that! You're quite impressive, little girl!"
A flurry of discussion erupted from the outside.
Ella's dual animal bloodline gave her even more diverse transformation abilities.
In addition to the three normal bee-man forms, she possessed two additional forms—cat-man and cat-cat.
Dodging three bursts of blows from the soldier bees, the white cat flipped over and transformed back into human form.
Ella's size changed dramatically before and after the transformation.
Non-magical equipment cannot change size with body size.
When Ella stood up, her coat, dagger, and bow and arrows were all left on the arena.
She was left wearing only her underwear, which looked incredibly thin.
Ella didn't care about being unarmed; she didn't rely on the bee people's equipment to fight.
Softly chanting a spell, flames erupted from her palms, transforming into a pair of blazing scimitars!
"My turn!"
The girl's pretty face betrayed a murderous aura!
Crossing her blades, she unleashed a flaming air-slashing wave!
Swish!
The energy transformed into two fiery crescents, crossing and slashing towards the soldier bee examiner in mid-air.
The examiner's face suddenly changed!
She didn't dare to take the flaming air-slashing wave head-on. She hastily unleashed another secret martial art of the Triere bee people, and her muscular body transformed into a cloud of silver mist.
Bang!
The flaming air-slashing wave roared towards her, shattering the mist.
Meanwhile, the soldier bees had teleported a hundred paces away, narrowly escaping death!
Alan, watching the fight from the sidelines, raised his eyebrows in thought.
The Triere bee tribe's heritage includes the second-tier martial art "Phantom Step."
It seems Ella will have a chance to awaken this move in the future.
In the arena, Ella transformed once again.
Transforming into a bee-man, she flew at high speed, chasing the soldier bees!
The soldier bees were unable to fight back and had to flee.
Two referees on the sidelines blew their whistles simultaneously, declaring Ella the winner.
In the audience, people stood up and applauded, cheering Ella's performance!
Congratulations on her successful assessment and becoming a soldier bee!
"Incredible!"
In the stands, the Triere bee queen fanned herself in admiration.
"Such a thin, delicate girl possesses such formidable fighting power!"
…
Soon afterward, it was Allen's turn to appear as a mercenary and undergo the assessment.
His opponent was also a Trier Bee Soldier, far more powerful than Ella's previous opponent.
Seeing Allen's tall stature and muscular build, the Bee Soldier cleverly chose the "kite" tactic.
Transforming into a half-man, half-bee form, it flapped its wings and hovered, maintaining a height of 20 meters above the ground.
Alan tentatively launched a "Finger Wave."
As expected, the Bee Soldier, with its high agility, easily dodged the finger force.
While dodging at high speed in the air, the Bee Soldier unleashed another secret martial art of the Trier Bee Clan.
Magic energy erupted from his palms, condensing into two 20-meter-long, translucent force field threads.
The second-level martial art, "Dou Qi Transformed into Silk," possesses both toughness and stickiness. It can be used to bind prey and assist with jumping, sliding, and climbing, making it a versatile martial art.
Examiner Bingfeng displayed a high-level manipulation technique, tying two Dou Qi threads to a cold iron dagger.
As she waved her arms, the Dou Qi threads pulled the daggers, piercing the air and stabbing Allen!
Controlling the silk with Qi, the sword with the silk!
Control at will, as if using one's arm with one's finger!
"It looks pretty, but that's all."
Alan stood in the center, assessing the dazzling display of wire-controlled flying swords.
"Such fancy tricks won't work on me."
Clang!
Clang!
The two flying swords pierced Allen's chest and back one after another.
Sparks flew as they were deflected!
The soldier bee's sword control was skillful, but unfortunately, its blade wasn't good enough to penetrate the "iron bones"!
Alan stood in the center, letting her wield the sword with all her might.
Alan was sweating profusely, yet he didn't even scratch Alan.
Alan stripped off his tattered shirt and tossed it carelessly onto the arena, revealing his muscular physique, a gleaming metallic sheen.
The spectators, mostly female bees, whistled in unison at the sight of Alan's shirtlessness.
Their excitement was no less than that of a pervert at a strip club!
On the second floor of the stands, in the most luxurious box,
Queen Triere, reclining in her armchair, leaned forward, her beautiful eyes sparkling.
The maid discreetly offered a telescope.
The Queen Bee peered through her monoculars, carefully examining the tall, imposing young mercenary on the field.
The camera panned down, lingering for a long moment between his legs, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"Such a handsome man, I've only seen once in my life. Don't miss him!"
Then she instructed her attendants to summon him to the palace for an audience after the conscription meeting.
"Your Majesty, what if that young man fails the test?"
A fanning drone beside the Queen Bee asked sourly.
The Queen Bee cast a pitying glance at her male favorite.
"You can't even see through my character, yet you're so jealous. You're truly pathetic!"
"This makes me worry. By favoring a fool like you, I'll become foolish myself."
"Someone, take this little fool to the brothel."
"Although he may not be very smart, at least he has a nice figure. He can help me earn some money, so it's not a loss."
The drone was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed for mercy.
However, the queen bee was no longer interested in him and didn't even bother to look at him.
He turned leisurely, picked up the telescope, and returned his gaze to the arena.
Two soldier bee guards dragged the wailing drone out of the box.
The wailing gradually faded, and silence returned to the box.
The rest of the male concubines who served the queen bee... all looked at each other with pale faces, silent as a mouse!
Your Majesty's favor and disdain are just a matter of a thought.
For the male bees around her, fate was a transformation from heaven to hell.
Serving the king is like serving a tiger; this is no joke!
Queen Triere was no tyrant; quite the opposite, she was known as a wise king.
She simply disdained to explain to her male concubine, who used her beauty to serve her, that a mercenary who had mastered the secret art of fourth-level body refining could never lose to an ordinary soldier bee.
Explaining such simple matters was a sheer waste of energy, even a bit insulting to her intelligence.
She didn't want to lower her intelligence to that of her male concubine.
The male concubine was merely a cute little pet to keep for fun, a way to vent her excess energy.
She didn't mind her pet being a little clumsy; a bit of silliness was also endearing.
However, being dim-witted, narrow-minded, and obsessed with vying for favor showed she had no sense of purpose.
A wise and virtuous king couldn't tolerate such a hidden danger in his harem.