The Legendary Beekeeper-Chapter 51: Forced Contracts

In a void of gold and ice, Beelathorn remained suspended for three days.

To a Goldeborne, regeneration was as simple as breathing; entire appendages reattached without direct thought or effort.

However, it was the mind that was truly fragile.

The supermind had pushed its mortal casing beyond its limitations; fragmentation was not a simple task, and the creation of a new, permanent fragment came at the cost of deep slumber.

Regardless, this downtime was needed. Mistakes had to be analysed, social cues and calculation variables, once ignored, needed to be rechecked.

A tool of the greater purpose could be defeated once, and only once. Repeated mistakes were not permitted... otherwise, the Hive would deem it obsolete... both the fragment and its ego.

Han the human may not have been aware of this, but to the supermind, it was ingrained like instinct. Its existence mattered only as long as it was useful.

And so, for three days and three nights, as the brain and its burned synapses restored themselves, the supermind and its derivative fragments reperfected themselves.

Spatial territories were debated, resources redistributed. The newer fragment demanded its fair share, and the supermind dictated on behalf of its sleeping ego.

Truly, behind Beelathorn’s closed eyes, another battle was still being waged.

And as for the result of their battle on the physical plane?

That was a question for when they awoke.

’Bodily function is now operating at 100%. Mind restoration processing...’ The supermind reported to no one in particular. ’Commencing cortisol awakening response. Expected "waking" state in... 0 seconds.’

*

Consciousness returned like thawing ice... gradual and slow.

Beelathorn could hear someone moving beside him before he could see them.

"You’re finally awake," a voice said.

He struggled to sit up from the pillowed coffin that surrounded him; however, blurred sight came before the strength to move his body.

"Take your time," the voice said. At this point, Beelathorn was already aware that it was the Shadow woman talking to him. "No one will find you here," she said.

A few seconds later, he gained feeling in his face, and he could finally move his mouth. "Where... where am I?" he asked. A million and one other questions plagued his mind, but he felt this was the most fitting given the circumstances.

"My room," the shadow woman responded, right as Beelathorn regained feeling in his body. He felt a soft warmth hugging against his side. And as he turned his head to investigate, he found the Shadow woman’s naked form lying down in bed against him.

"Why?" he asked, before taking a deep breath. A wave of pain attacked his head; it felt like he had been used as a battering ram.

"You passed," the Shadow woman said, stirring beside him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up so that her breath caressed the soft skin on his lips.

"We’re married now," she mused.

’Ahh. That’s right. I lost... didn’t I?’ he realised.

The memory of the battle fragments fight just now flowed into his section of the mind. ’But why am I alive?’ he thought, staring at the Shadow woman with a blank stare.

She smiled, a gentle thing against the predatory expression of her face. "Don’t worry. We didn’t do anything," she said, caressing his croach area with the sole of her foot. "This armour doesn’t exactly allow me to do much," she joked.

Though Beelathorn was in no mood for it. His body felt heavy, and having someone as dangerous as the Shadow woman skin-to-skin with him wasn’t exactly favourable.

The Shadow woman pouted once she realised she wouldn’t get a reaction out of him. "Are you sure you’re really a man beneath this suit?" she asked with a raised brow.

Beelathorn remained silent, and the Shadow woman sighed. She crept out of bed, her shadow gown forming around her supple skin the moment she got to her feet.

"Well, dearest, we’ll have many more chances to have fun," she said, walking towards the dressing mirror at the far end of the room.

The room in question was vastly different from his previous one on the top floor. This one was smaller, but way more crowded with furniture and odd trinkets.

An extension station lay beside the bed, clay cups stacked above it as if it were but a bedside table. A weapon rack hung on the wall to the right, fitted with six daggers, each a different colour and make.

And beside the dressing mirror was a crimson and black closet, f mimicking the overall colour scheme of the room.

"My contact from High Central will be arriving in a few minutes," the shadow woman said, fixing her face in front of the mirror. "We can trust him... or at least, I can trust him. I have him under a binding spell," she giggled.

Beelathorn’s brows furrowed. "Your contact... A binding spell? What exactly is going on here?" he asked.

The shadow woman stole a glance at him before looking back at the mirror. "I thought it was obvious. You’re mine now... and I’m yours. Partners," she said.

"Anyway, I’ve arranged for a false identity and acceptance into one of the lower guilds of the Manor."

"You need to keep a low profile..." she went on, ignoring the confused expression on his face.

Beelathorn pushed himself against the bed’s headboard, trying and failing to get out of bed. "Partners? I didn’t agree to this," he said, though he was only half serious.

At this moment, he was at her mercy. He knew nothing of what was going on around him, and the fact that his body still felt sluggish was beginning to seem suspicious.

The shadow woman giggled. "This part is always fun," she said. "Look at your system screen."

Someone else opened his system screen for him, and he was reminded that he was not alone in his mind. Still, he didn’t care to acknowledge the supermind, or the new fragment he felt stalking around the fringes of his psyche.

Instead, he read the system screen. And after he finished, he read it again, his face frozen in disbelief.

┏━━━━━━━━━━━┓

─System Overview─ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

〖Trait: Beekeeper〗

〖Grade: U〗

〖*Rank: Royal Drone〗

─Player Details─

〖Level 6: 0/800〗

〖Health: 200/200〗

─Player Status─

〖Contract Bound **player is afflicted with a level-based contract**〗

**3 items currently in Inventory**

┗━━━━━━━━━━━┛

"Level-based contract...?" he whispered. "What did you do to me?"

The shadow woman was leaning against the dressing mirror’s counter. "A cute little leash, that’s all," she smiled, before pulling out a piece of paper from the darkness of her shadow gown.

It was an ancient-looking thing, stained coffee brown from age. Several concentric circles were drawn in blood at its centre, with a massive snake circling itself around the largest them.

At the bottom, text had been inscribed in shimmering black ink: [Player#2255130: Han Kim].

"Ahh, you’re new here. You don’t know what this is, do you?" she laughed. She tapped the centre-most circle, and it glowed.

The snake on the paper began coiling, and the entire thing glowed deep red.

Beelathorn quickly found that his own body was glowing as well, and an instant later, a system notification chimed.

『You have been placed under a level-bound contract. The higher-level contractee reserves dominance rights.』 it said, and Beelathorn was forced to his feet, as if controlled by unseen strings.

"Do you get it now?" she asked.

Beelathorn’s mind froze. A wave of humiliation and defeat clenched at his heart, draining him of whatever will he still had. If not for the contract’s binds keeping him standing, he would’ve fallen to his knees.

This was a defeat greater than any physical loss he could’ve ever faced.

The one thing he feared... the one thing he fought and sacrificed so much for had been stolen from him.

He was no longer his own, but a puppet... not just in word, but in the truest sense.

"It’s hard to tell what you’re thinking with that armour on," she said, tilting her head as she tried to read his silence.

Suddenly, her face lit up.

"I have an interesting proposition. How about you take it off for me?" she said, before tapping the contract once more.

Beelathorn did not move. An impossible command could not be completed. Yet this didn’t stop the Shadow woman from repeating it and tapping the contract again.

After several failed tries and dead silence on Beelathorn’s end, she sighed in defeat. "Why won’t you take it off?" she whined.

"I’m not wearing armour." The words were forced from Beelathorn’s mouth. Though it wasn’t as if he was aware of what was going on around him.

He had retreated to the confines of his mind, still struggling to process what was going on.

"What do you mean, you aren’t wearing armour?" the shadow woman asked. Her interest was piqued.

Beelathorn was dragged back from his self-pity. This woman already knew too much. If knowledge of the Hive fell into her hands, there was no telling what she would do.

"Come on, don’t make me use the contract," she said, stalking towards him.

She smiled. "It’s something interesting, isn’t it?" she asked, holding the contract out in front of his face.

Beelathorn struggled against the invisible embrace of the contract’s will, trying and failing to lift his arms to rip the contract from her hands.

She sighed. "I didn’t want to be too abusive," she whined, though the smile on her face said otherwise.

She tapped the contract and spoke the words.

"Tell me about this bee form of yours. What is it, really?"