The hive did resemble a kicked beehive a bit, even if Regina disliked the obvious metaphor. She couldn’t think of a better one, though. And the way the drones bustled about, chaotic and yet somehow organized, without getting in each other’s way, was pretty impressive.

“Please don’t worry about Max, my Queen,” Tim said.

Regina turned to him, blinking. “I wasn’t.” She felt a bit guilty to realize that that was … mostly true.

Max had gone out with a few other Warriors and a score of War Drones (assuming she remembered correctly that a set of twenty was called a score, she wasn’t quite sure.) They were hunting a monster Ash and his scouting team had found, a Rock Troll she was pretty sure had reached level 20 at least. It was moving towards the hive, which meant it needed to be dealt with.

Regina had wanted to go out and fight it herself, but the drones had all been obviously anxious about that idea. They wanted her to stay at the camp, especially since they might still get attacked by angry humans at any moment. Max had almost literally begged and pleaded to go instead, so she’d given in. She was pretty sure he wanted to reach level 20 himself. Which would be useful.

“Max can handle himself,” Regina told Tim. The assurance in her voice wasn’t faked. Max had never let her down, had always been the strong presence at her side. She knew intellectually that it didn’t mean he couldn’t screw up, or even just get unlucky. It was just hard to feel that emotionally.

“Of course he can,” Tim agreed.

Regina shot him a look. It occurred to her that Tim might want to be the one who reached level 20 first, but he seemed completely confident, even reassuring. It’s good to see they’re close, no matter what.

Their conversation was interrupted by a group of War Drones and one Production Drone carrying what looked like a hastily put together door through the nascent street. Regina stepped aside to let them pass, glancing around and noticing the group of three Workers, headed by Ina, who were waiting by the skeleton of the newest house. This one was larger than the ones they’d built before, also intended to house a number of sapient Drones. They still seemed to prefer sleeping together, and mostly used furs, scraps of cloth they might turn into pillows and mats of woven grass to build a large sleeping area. Regina herself was happy with her small but more private room and her bed, even if it was mostly just a plank of wood covered with things intended to make it a softer surface. There was talk of building a new house for her, but she’d stopped that. The hive had more important things to do.

They didn’t have to wait long for Max and his group to return. Regina breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw him come out of the forest, followed by a cluster of War Drones carrying the large, gray corpse of a monster. He didn’t look entirely happy, though.

“The threat is dealt with,” Max reported when she met them by the palisade. “I’m not sure what we might be able to use its parts for, but I’m sure there will be something.”

“Good work,” Regina said. “Any problems?”

He shook his head. “No, it went pretty well. Trolls might be tough, but they aren’t the smartest, so we managed to bait it into our trap pretty easily. I didn’t level up, though.”

“Alright.” Regina managed a smile. “Glad to see you’re all okay.”

They stepped into the camp, and the drones went back to various tasks, with Ivy taking charge of the Troll’s corpse. Regina listened to Tim gently ribbing Max about the trip, but she only smiled to herself while pretending not to hear anything.

Max went straight to the training field, and Regina decided to work on some more controlled maneuvers with her flight while watching the drones’ training. She didn’t even get the chance to lift off into the air, though.

As soon as Max finished his first training bout, a fast and hard exchange that left Tim wheezing on the ground and probably regretting his recent decisions while Max stumbled away from him, he froze up. Regina paused, then tried to fold her wings up again when she saw Max looking for her, a smile on his face.

“I reached level twenty,” he told her, obvious excitement in his voice, even though he tried to appear calm. “It says I can undergo Evolution, and it’s offering me a choice of Classes.”

“Does it say exactly that? Evolution, not Class Progression?” Tim asked. He’d pushed himself to his feet and was coming up behind Max.

The other Warrior glanced back and nodded. “Yes, Evolution.” He hesitated. “What Class should I take, my Queen? There are five options.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “I think this is one of those decisions everyone in the hive should probably make for themselves, considering how important it is that the choice is one they’re comfortable with and can make the most of, even if I’ll give advice. Which of those options do you like?”

Max frowned and looked off into space, clearly reading System screens. Regina didn’t begrudge him the time, and waited silently until he returned his attention to her. “There are a few that sound interesting,” he said. “Two look like straight-up evolutions of the Warrior Class, probably based on humans. One sounds like a pure Hive thing, but still pretty generic. Then there’s the options of Drone Commander and Royal Bodyguard.”

Regina’s other eyebrow climbed up. “Both of those sound good. Interesting that the latter option doesn’t have ‘Drone’ in the name, but it’s still pretty clearly tailored to you. The other one sounds like something that would be very useful, too, though. What does it say about them?”

“Not much, unfortunately.” Max hesitated for a moment. “I know we need commanders, but I feel like the Royal Bodyguard Class is rarer and maybe a better choice for me. And it does line up with what I’ve been doing, so it should be okay to evolve further …” He trailed off.

Regina was quiet for a few seconds. “Pick which one you want, Max.”

He nodded, then his gaze focused on something in front of him as he clearly made the selection.

The next moment, he stiffened and almost fell over. Tim only just caught him. Regina took a step forward, but hesitated before touching him. It looked like shadows crawled out of the cracks of his shell, solidifying until his body was wreathed in a dark cocoon. After a minute, Max wasn’t visible anymore, just a vaguely person-shaped bundle.

“Is this what I think is going on?” Regina asked, running a hand through her hair.

“It looks like he’s molting,” Tim answered. He was examining Max’s form with interest.

Regina shook her head. “I probably should have expected something like this, given the info about Evolution for monsters,” she muttered. “Let’s get him inside.”

“It should be okay,” Tim said as he grabbed where Max’s feet should have been. “This is probably normal.”

“Yeah.” Regina picked up his shoulders. She appreciated the reassurance, although she was aware Tim probably hadn’t said that just for her sake. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t take very long.”

As they carried Max into one of the houses, Regina focused a part of her attention on her psychic bond to her hive. She didn’t get much from Max. He was obviously unconscious. Then she called up his status with the System.

Max Royal Bodyguard Level: 20 Mana: N/A Con: 16 Str: 15 Dex: 11 End: 14 Int: 15 Wis: 12

He had been going for a defensive build, so she felt whatever Abilities the Class gave would probably synergize well. It looked like he’d gotten a point in Con and Str for his Evolution, too. Regina was looking forward to seeing what else he might get for his new Class. And he’s probably going to grow even more, and maybe get other physical changes.

“I wonder what kind of options me and the others will get?” Tim mused.

Regina shrugged. “I’m sure there will be interesting ones. Don’t take stupid risks trying to catch up to Max, though, please.”

Tim nodded, although he didn’t quite look her in the eyes. “I’m already level 19, anyway,” he said.

Regina would rather not have all of the people she relied on most incapacitated at the same time. On the other hand, it would be good if they could all get stronger Classes as soon as possible.

They set Max down on one of the mattresses in the smallest hut, and Regina stationed a War Drone there as they walked out. Less to guard him against any damage, she trusted her hive members, and more so that she could keep an eye on him and see when the molting, or whatever it was, finished.

“Did you manage to get that message to the elves, anyway?” Tim asked, changing the subject.

“Yes. It went pretty well, I think.” Reflexively, Regina checked on Dark. The little bird hadn’t come back to the hive, but he was currently perched on a tree watching a squirrel and prepared to ambush it. “I managed to get Dark in close enough to drop off the note outside the government building you described. They did see him as he flew off after that, of course, and one elf almost caught him in some magical net, but he made it out safely. I think someone called off the chase pretty quickly.”

“Does that mean you didn’t get to see their reaction?”

“Unfortunately not. Dark kept his distance from them, so I saw a bit of the commotion, but no details. They might send someone with a response, though.”

“Well, Ada and the others are keeping an eye out. And that’s my cue to get back to training, I was going to spar with Ace.”

Regina nodded and waved him off, before she turned back to the hive’s camp. Mia and Tia had both reached level 18, although they were mostly doing different things. Right now, though, they were cooperating on a project, trying to use the not-wax the Production Drones made to improve their fortifications. Regina didn’t have high hopes for it, but even if they only managed to improve the way the palisade held together a little bit, it would be worth it. She was a bit more hopeful for their other project, which involved creating quivers and other parts of equipment their fighters might need.

Regina slowly walked through the camp, checking on everything. She paused by the training field’s newest extension and watched as the new Shooters practiced, hitting a few simple targets and target dummies made out of wood and scraps of cloth and hides the others had set up.

It turned out that they were actually producing their own ammunition, even if it was rather limited. Their chitin-like exoskeleton (she’d decided that since it added some structure to their people’s bodies, it deserved the name, even if they also had an endoskeleton) grew some spines on the sides of their weapon-limbs. The larger ones even worked as simple, small javelins for their throwing arm, even if actual ones with real spearheads would probably be better. But Regina liked the fact that they wouldn’t be completely dependent on the hive’s supplies. And it wasn’t like they didn’t still have hands, which they could use to fight with other weapons, even in close combat. Max had already said he wanted them trained in that, just to be safe.

Their aim was pretty good, considering they were barely trained. Regina didn’t have much of a point of comparison, but she didn’t think she could hit such a target close to its center at, what, twenty meters? No, probably more. And that was just with javelins, which were probably harder to aim than a bow and arrows. What we really need might be crossbows, she considered. They could be used by even the Warriors with relatively little training at high accuracy, right? If I remember correctly, they’ve got this sight thing. Well, they won’t be easy to make, but it shouldn’t be that hard.

Regina made a mental note to try something. She’d taken to writing down some of what she remembered on the odd piece of paper she summoned, as well as a few wooden boards and slates. Mostly just basic physics formulas. They should be able to help the Workers figure out a few mechanisms, or help with building them, at least. She included things like atomic theory and the basics of electricity, even if it would probably take a while before they were really able to use that.

And if all else failed, maybe she could even use that knowledge to bargain with some of her enemies? They did say knowledge was power, after all. Though Regina was still reluctant to show too much of her hand to anyone.

She wasn’t particularly surprised when she heard a commotion coming from further towards the edge of the forest, where Tim had gone to train. Regina sighed and checked on what was going on through her telepathy. It didn’t take her long to realize that Tim had been fighting a group of Spiky Squirrels, and was now setting off into the forest with a group of young warriors.

Regina made to stop them, then paused. If she remembered the schedule correctly - and she was quite sure that she did - then they had scheduled an expedition, anyway, and Tim was bringing those who needed the experience. She was confident enough that he would not be going off chasing glory and XP while he had them to look after.

Besides, it was probably not a good idea for her to interfere, in general. Especially with the hive continuing to grow, she needed to let her drones handle things themselves and couldn’t jump in for everything.

Still, she just happened to be near when Tim and the warriors returned a while later. Judging by the satisfied smile on Tim’s face, he had gotten enough opportunities to earn Experience for himself. Most of the others had gained a level, as well.

Regina wasn’t surprised when he sought her out to talk about the Class choices offered to him. She listened to him lay them out in a calm manner, quietly thankful for Tim being Tim. They were similar to the choices Max had, although the last choice was somewhat different, more suited to Tim’s actions and style of combat than Max’s.

“Alright,” she finally said. “They all sound pretty good. But I assume you want to choose along the same lines as Max did. A few of the others are close, so I guess we’ll get more standard Classes from them.” Not that they were wrong. The Classes that sounded more like prestige Classes and were probably harder to qualify for could definitely be more powerful, and she couldn’t afford to forgo power right now.

“I want to do what I can to best serve you, my Queen,” Tim said. “And the hive. If you need me to make a certain choice, I will.”

Regina shook her head. “No need. Do what you’re good at, that will serve us all best in the long run, I think.” She smiled slightly. “Just go into the hut next to Max before you confirm the choice, please.”

Tim smiled, nodded and set off, still with a bit of a spring in his step.

When Regina checked a minute later, she saw another cocoon beside Max’s. Tim’s Class had changed to Royal Blade.