The tragic story of Mercy still bothered Erika. As an RPG veteran, she felt incompetent for not considering the possibility of Mercy’s revolt. She normally only tamed cute and lovely critters in games, the kind which she’d never bully. Openly attacking the same species as her familiars was an alien concept for her.

I need to stop thinking about it... I learned my lesson.

There were two important things which Erika learned from spending time with Mercy. First, she had the option to tame a Drainer Bee and it wasn’t hard to do. Second, it was a bad idea to tame more than one bee by force.

With that in mind, she decided to start off by finishing her latest quest: 【Please exterminate these pests!】. She had to fight Drainer Bees in order to complete it, hence taming any bees beforehand was pointless; she’d only be betrayed again.

Erika and Blobby ran all over the area and many Drainer Bees were splashed. The hunting was a walk in the park. Drainer Bees offered next to no resistance after they were soaked in water. For a change, God Vessel Online felt like an easy game made for casuals.

As Erika found it mentally difficult to repeatedly strike down the pitiable bees, she allowed Blobby to deal the finishing blow to one of the bees. Though she hadn’t attacked the bee directly, the quest still counted that kill as hers. It was a pleasant discovery.

From that point onward, she left all the fighting to Blobby and only followed him around like a doting mother.

Drainer Bees had two unique drops: Windflora Pollen and Waterflora Pollen. She had already received such drops before, but it always happened in stressful situations; she never had time to pay attention to them.

【Windflora Pollen】

【Pollen infused with the wind element. Loved by many insect species.】

The Waterflora Pollen was identical, save for its water element. Same as Windflora Seeds, this was another type of loot which had no practical use for Erika. However, it sounded like the type of food which could lure Drainer Bees.

After Erika killed enough bees for 【Please exterminate these pests!】, she switched gears and acted nice toward the bees. She called out a Drainer Bee and offered it to nom some pollen.

“Zuu!”

The bee rejoiced and happily chewed on the yellow powder. Unlike the cautious Water Blobs which Erika constantly tried to befriend, the bees were way more nonchalant. Whether they were more friendly or overly confident, that she couldn’t say.

My, what a gluttonous bee.

Even after eating 3 Windflora Pollens, the Drainer Bee didn’t express any interest in becoming Erika’s familiar. The bee only chewed on pollen and waited to see whether Erika had more to offer.

I’m not running a charity here.

The Drainer Bee lived up to its name, draining Erika’s inventory dry. The economical loss ticked her off and she eventually gave up on the whole charade. She asked Blobby to submit the fat bee by force.

“Z-zuu...”

“If you promise to land me a hand, then I’ll spare you. What do you say?”

“Zuu... zuu!”

The bee turned its back to Erika and tried to flee. It awkwardly titled from side to side as it flew toward the forest.

I see. This approach doesn’t have a 100% success rate. Alright then.

Erika didn’t let this failure bother her. RPGs always involved a degree of randomness. It was nothing new.

“Pyu!”

Blobby shot down the escaping Drainer Bee. Then, a new bee was chosen as a replacement.

I was really lucky the first time around...

The second bee didn’t join Erika either. Neither did the third and the fourth bees. Taming by force wasn’t nearly as effective as Erika thought. On the fifth attempt, the victimized bee sold its freedom and joined Erika.

【Drainy became your familiar!】

With this, Erika was back to her desired position of power. Now, she could test how far a Drainer Bee could get against the Windflora King.

Optimally, she wanted to send a whole squad of bees against the boss. She appealed to other Drainer Bees in the area and let Drainy help her with negotiations. Alas, all her peaceful approaches fell through. Words and food weren’t enough to convince the bees.

The peaceful routine was abruptly interrupted by a yell.

“A-ah! Go away!”

Vivi came too close to the bees’ territory and became a target. Two Drainer Bees circled around her and tried to stab her.

“Ugh, this is what happens when you anger the great Vivi!”

Vivi’s face was twisted with hints of anxiety as she shot the two bees. Strangely, no wind came out of her palms. She neither shot her usual gust, nor channeled her body with wind force. What flew out of her palms were... water splashes?

“Z-zuu...”

The wet bees trembled and lost their coordination. Nonetheless, they continued to try stabbing Vivi. Erika charged forward to protect her little pixie, but her legs froze midway.

Drainly will hate me for attacking fellow bees. I can’t fight them... at least, not in front of him.

Erika tried to shove Drainy into the DiVe, but he dodged her hand. Drainy insisted to witness the events which were about to unfold.

Meanwhile, Vivi did a solid job of beating the hell out of her staggering foes.

“Ahahaha! Take that, weaklings! Feel the warmth of the great Vivi!”

Vivi charged her limbs with wind force and trashed the bees like punching bags. There was no danger of being stung, and no risk of triggering the aggro effect. Vivi could freely unleash her fury on the bees to her heart’s content.

【Vivi defeated Drainer Bee.】

【Vivi defeated Drainer Bee.】

Ever since Vivi delivered the surprise water attack, the bees’ lives were at her mercy. Erika didn’t even need to step in.

This is bad...

The fight was resolved smoothly, but Erika had other things to worry about. Namely, Drainy’s reaction to this development.

Should I deliver the first strike, before he revolts?

She prepared to give Blobby the command to fire. However, she changed her mind after seeing Drainy’s expression.

“Zuu...”

Drainy lowered his head and a crying emote popped above him. There was no anger toward Erika, there was only sadness about a friend’s death. He wasn’t going to seek revenge against anybody.

The RPG veteran had multiple ways to explain this behavior. If mobs in GoVe had an advanced AI which granted fleshed out “personalities”, then perhaps Drainy had a more peaceful personality than Mercy.

This incident was also different than before, since the enemy struck first this time. Hence, the Drainer Bees which started the fight were the “bad guys”. Perhaps Drainy reasoned along these lines.

Even more so than Drainy’s neutrally, Erika was surprised by Vivi’s excellent performance. The pixie was surrounded by two bees, but she single-handedly wiped them out.

“That was amazing, Vivi~ When did you learn to use water magic?”

“Hmph. Like, I never said I can’t do it.”

Vivi shifted her eyes away with a solemn expression. She and water didn’t get along, for some reason. Even when she used water magic to overwhelm her foes, she looked disdained with it.

“Say, Vivi. Is there a reason why you’re afraid of water so much?”

“H-huh!? A-afraid!? Who’s afraid of what!? Like, are you an idiot or something!?

Vivi acted strong, but the evidence against her piled up. She was paranoid about “monsters in the lake”. She was thoroughly traumatized after being digested by a Waterflora. She hadn’t used any water magic until now, even though she was capable.

“I-I just never thought of using water against these pesky bees, hmph! It’s not like the thought never crossed the wise Vivi’s mind... she just never had a chance to try it out! Yeah, that’s it!”

Vivi became lost within her own excuses as she tried to keep face on all fronts. It was both cute and amusing. Even with the ability to see emotes beside the pixie’s head, Erika was unable to dig any further into the truth.

The bottom line was that Vivi could use water magic. After watching Blobby’s successful assaults on the Drainer Bees, Vivi must had realized how powerful water was. She could reduce notorious enemies into punching bags by lightly spraying them. No matter what sort of enmity she harbored toward water, she was willing to cast it aside in order to destroy her enemies.

On top of combat advantage, spraying a bee also blocked its ability inflict the aggro state. The bees turned into an antagonistic mind hive once the yellow gas latched onto the offenders.

I wonder if bees can also cause this aggro state without dying. If so, other bees could be directed to attack the same target, even without becoming my familiars.

Erika decided to test this idea.

“Drainy, could you please mark this Windflora as an enemy for all bees? Only, don’t attack it yourself.”

“Zuu.”

Drainy approached the Windflora pointed by Erika. She wasn't sure whether her request was clear enough for an AI, but Drainy proved himself a smart bee.

“Zuu!”

Drainy rattled for a few seconds and then released the familiar yellow substance. The gas floated through the air and coated the Windflora.

After the target was marked, Drainy was dazed and tilted from side to side. The aggro skill must had put a great toll on the bee. This explained why the ability wasn’t commonly used during the combat itself.

A couple of bees noticed the signal and approached the marked Windflora. They ganged on the flower and stabbed it to death. Sadly, Erika didn’t receive any loot for this indirect murder which was orchestrated by her.

After further experimenting, Drainy’s aggro skill proved itself extremely potent. Drainy needed a lengthy rest after each time he used the aggro, but eating pollen quickly restored the bee’s energy and motivation.

Other than making Erika spend pollens, the aggro state worked like a charm. With this new weapon at her disposal, for the first time she felt confident about defeating the Windflora King with a frontal confrontation.