Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (black authors fiction txt) 📕

The game world isn’t behaving as it should be, and that worries me. Though I didn’t have any way to qualm the uneasy feeling in my gut. Par for the fucking course there. I’ve no clue about anything anymore. And regardless of if it should be or not, I’d completed the quest, which gave me an honestly mind-boggling amount of Exp.

Quest: One of Us Completed!

Become a member of the Hive

Reward: 100,000 Exp!

A hundred thousand Exp would push me past level forty easily, which would give me access to aura again and two additional abilities from my new class. I could’ve gotten rid of them in place of whatever new abilities I’d gained access to, but I immediately discounted it.

With my level in the forties, I can only have four abilities, and both Dance and Aura are too powerful to let go. They’re still my aces up my sleeve.

Level: 1

Exp: 100/100

Level Up Available!

When I accepted the quest reward, I was immediately rewarded with a string of level-up notifications. I advanced to level forty-four and made it almost a fourth of the way to level forty-five. Which meant I had four hundred and forty stat points to allocate, and once each stat had at least twenty-five points, I could access the sub-stat list.

Though I was torn on my build. I couldn’t go back to the same layout as before. Blade master wasn’t an option anymore. Besides, I had a feeling whatever had caused this change wouldn’t let me just switch classes.

Eris had fallen asleep while I was fiddling with my interface, and I wasn’t yet ready to wake her. She shifted when I stood from the bed, turning over and clutching one of my pillows to her chest. A strand of her hair fell across her face, and I brushed it past her ear. She’s cute when she’s sleeping.

I started pacing the room, lost in thought. What to do? What to do?

I’d been the textbook definition of a glass cannon previously. While at full strength with my auras, I’d argue I was one of the strongest players on Nexus, but take away my abilities and I could only handle a few hits before I redlined.

Can’t go back to that, not when I have to stick close to Eris. I thought briefly about being a tank but quickly discarded that idea. Playing the punching bag isn’t my style. I wanted to keep my speed and damage up, but maybe I would add a bit more health and defense. Become more of a well-rounded swordsman this time.

Satisfied that I had at least a vague outline of my build, I opened the Hive Knight’s abilities list.

First Tier List

Aura of the Arachnid

Poison Blade

Exoskeleton

Chitin Shield

Hive Guard

I could only pick two, and I knew Poison Blade was a must. It added a constant effect to my weapon. A permanent twenty-five percent of additional damage to my attacks and gave the damage over time poisoned effect.

I’d never seen a skill like it. Normally, assassins and rogues would have to apply poison to every attack individually. Having an ability that just added that effect was tremendous. Wilson and Makenna would lose their minds over this.

After I had one skill picked out, I had to deliberate over which other one I would choose. Aura of the Arachnid was a must pick, though one I would save for when I was stronger. It would be able to take the place of a few auras I had lost, since it boosted verticality, movement speed, and attack damage.

I was leaning towards Exoskeleton. It was a passive ability, like Poison Blade, and they were rare. Usually saved for the final tier class abilities. Exoskeleton was also a defensive ability. It permanently increased my base defense. The flavor text was a little weird, though.

Assimilate with the Hive, imbue yourself with hard chitin to become harder to kill.

It was between Exoskeleton and Chitin Shield. Both were similar; Chitin Shield created a small shield of hard chitin on my off-hand. It’d be handy to have a shield that I could deploy at will, but I held off for now.

I decided on Poison Blade and Exoskeleton. Having both will put a significant strain on my tiny mana pool. I’ll need to add a few points to Wisdom to offset the cost. The last thing I wanted was to be at constant risk for mana depletion.

I accepted my new abilities and a tingle ran up my spin. My skin itched, which quickly grew into a burning sensation. I yelped at the pain before I could stop myself. Then quick as it came, it dissipated. I looked down at my arms and legs. They didn’t appear any different, though when I ran my hands up to my shoulders, there was a hardness just below the skin. Guess that explains how strange Eris’s body felt when I touched her.

With my abilities sorted out, I had to allocate my stats.

Since I was keeping my speed high, I decided to continue being a damage dealer. Though I would change my health and defense to be a bit sturdier, I wouldn’t be as fast or strong as I used to be, but I would be a good bit more durable. After I had placed my stats where I wanted them, my new character build looked a lot better.

Strength: 75 (85)

Strength Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Damage: 25

Constitution: 75 (85)

Constitution Sub-Stats (-)

Health: 25

Health Regen: 25

Endurance: 75 (85)

Endurance Sub-Stats (-)

Battle Fatigue: 10

Battle Fatigue Regen: 10

Agility: 50 (60)

Agility Sub-Stats (-)

Attack Speed: 15

Movement Speed: 10

Wisdom: 25 (35)

Wisdom Sub-Stats (-)

Mana: 20

Luck: 0 (30)

Charisma: 0 (10)

Not exactly min/maxing, but even if I’ve never had much use for them, I don’t like having zeros on