I turned around, smiling cheekily. “And if I do?”
“Then your water rations get revoked. You do it twice, we chain you inside a cell with about two feet of freezing water and see how long you last. Of course, you can stop this right now, and just tell us where the Heart is.”
“Nah, a little manual labor won’t kill me.”
The guard laughed sickly. “Let’s see you keep up that attitude in the next couple days when you’re starving and exhausted.”
With that, he spoke a chant in Script, and the platform shuddered and lowered me into hell.
Crudely made wooden furniture littered the space. Tan ceramic plates and cups lay forgotten as every eye was on me as I stepped off the platform.
As I was about to take a step, raw emotion flooded through my connection with Eris. It was slow to build, but unmistakable. Pleasure and lust flowed from her to me, and my heart nearly stopped for a second time in as many days.
I stiffened as it rolled through me. My throat burned as my vision blurred as heat settled into my chest as I fought back my tears. I dug my nails into my palms hard enough to bleed, and it still wasn’t enough to match the pain in my heart.
My breathing increased as my heart broke. Unbridled rage filled me as I shut off our connection. I gnashed my teeth and strolled into the prison yard.
Waiting.
It didn’t take long; I knew it wouldn’t. Whether on Earth or Nexus, prison was prison, and the top dog always had to make it known.
A low whistle sounded to my left, and a dwarven male with more scar tissue than face and a heavily broken nose drained his cup and tossed it aside. It shattered on the wall as he stood and sauntered over to me. The man came up to my chest and had the audacity to stare me down.
“Oi, new blood. Let’s get somethi─“
I didn’t let him finish before I sank my knee into his face, breaking his already-ruined nose. As blood rushed down his chin, a warmth spread over my right hand, and when I looked down, it was encased in chitin.
Before he could react to his shattered nose, I reached low, grabbed a handful of the dwarf’s most precious asset, and clenched my fist tight. The color drained from Nose’s cheeks, and he gasped, spluttering as a rapidly growing red stain appeared between his legs.
With a vicious yank, my hand came free, clutching what no man wishes to ever part with. I tossed the bloody, useless organ away as Nose stumbled back from the shock.
It wasn’t enough.
I grabbed him by the collar of his thin tunic and slammed my fist to his face. Nose crumpled, his blue eyes rolled back inside his skull, and he sank to his knees. Blood streamed over the burst cartilage to soak into his shirt.
It wasn’t fucking enough.
I knelt and slammed my fist into his face again. And again, and again, and again. I hit him over and over. I hit him until my chitin ripped flesh from his face and caved in his skull. I hit him until bone crumbled under my fist and I reached his brain. I obliterated his entire skull, and it still wasn’t enough.
I sank to all fours, my breath came in ragged gulps as sweat dripped down to sting my eyes and drip salt onto my lips.
Why? Why? Why?
I didn’t have an answer.
After a long time, I stood from Nose’s corpse, my arm covered in blood and worse to nearly my bicep. I ripped a stretch of relatively clean strip of cloth from Nose’s shirt and wiped the gore from myself.
As I turned back to the others, I tossed the rag aside and stared everyone down. Not a soul moved, even dared to breathe. It was quiet as a mausoleum. Everyone gaped at me.
I was about to scream when a notification slammed into me.
Alert! Arachne’s Blessing Unlocked!
+15 to Strength and Agility
Unlocked (Hive Mind) Special: Arachnid Limbs
The rush of power to my body melded with Eris’s high as she rode her orgasm and left me weary and energized at the same time.
I didn’t know how to feel about it; my rage still burned too brightly for me to make any form of rational thought. I had to let it out, or I’d go mad.
A tortured scream filled the silent room as I tried to tear my vocal cords. A dozen shrieks of surprised flowed with my scream and sank into the stone, never to escape.
By the time it faded away, I rubbed at my aching throat and sighed, letting the rage flood away to cool detachment.
Put it aside. It won’t help you here.
I stood and walked center stage.
“Let’s get one thing straight!” I shouted to the stunned crowd. “There’s been a regime change. I’m the godsdamned king now!”
A twisted laugh rose from my heart.
“I’m starting to like you now, knight.”
***
The first day was pretty easy. I’d asserted my dominance, and most of the prisoners left me alone to work. I slammed the pick down, chipping away at the rock looking for iron.
It wasn’t the first time I’d worked the mines; it was a skill nearly every adventurer had to pick up at one point or another. Whether mining for mana crystals or precious metals, swinging a pickaxe was a necessary skill on Nexus.
I just wish I’d kept up the practice. I wiped my brow with the back of my hand and stepped away from the craggy rock. The constant physical exertion kept my mind from wandering most of the time, but as I settled into a rhythm, I had nothing to do but think.
Eris loves me. That’s an immutable fact. She wouldn’t betray me without cause. And I could guess at what that cause was. The Arachne queen. That new blessing.
I pulled up my interface and looked at the Hive Knight class, quickly finding what I was looking for.
Arachne’s Blessing: +15 to Strength and Agility
Arachnid Limbs Unlocked
Scorpius’s Blessing (Locked)
Mantearia’s Blessing (Locked)
Apocrita’s Blessing (Locked)
So that’s what they are. I meant to ask Eris but didn’t get the chance. So she slept with the Arachne queen to gain her blessing.
It happened so soon after she nearly died. She had to have a good reason for it. I believe that. I have to, or I won’t survive.
I couldn’t take losing her. It would kill me.
With a too-heavy swing, I stopped mining. Time for a break. My pick clanged against the ground, drawing a few curious eyes, but they swiftly turned back to their tasks as I went to the table.
The rough wooden chair scraped on the ground as I sat down and poured a cup of water. It was stagnant, barely drinkable, but I drank three cups before sitting back in the chair to rest for a moment.
I really didn’t mind the punishment as it was so far. I could handle manual labor all day long, and after my brutal display, no one wanted to get within six feet of me for fear I’d do the same to them. But those were the easy parts—the hard part would be after a few days when I’d be starving.
I wasn’t allowed food, and even though I had plenty in my inventory, I couldn’t touch it.
Though I was relatively obscured in the tunnels because the guards never dared come down here, I couldn’t risk eating for fear that the others would turn me in for a chance to gain favor.
Some of them would be more afraid of me than the guards, but not all of them. and I couldn’t risk it, not right now at least.
Raven will get to Magnus eventually. All I have to do is be patient. I didn’t like relying on Magnus to facilitate my release, but he probably had the best chance of doing it without bloodshed. Should the worst come to pass, I’d call the Gloom Knights, and we’d slaughter everyone. Not an ideal plan, but I’ll do it if it comes to that.
I was lost in thought when someone joined me at the table I was at.
He was young, but that told me nothing. Tall and thin. His shoulder-length greasy and lank dark hair covered his lean, starved face and bloodshot brown eyes.
“The fuck are you?” I asked, fire in my voice.
“A friend, hopefully,” he said with a smile
.
“I don’t need friends, so get out of my sight before I get angry.”
The man held up his hands, his eyes softening. “I promise, I mean no harm. Name’s Maus.”
I stood up, knocking over my chair in the process. “Don’t care. Leave. Now.”
He nodded. “Fair enough, but come see me if you change your mind. I have an interesting proposition for you.”
Maus left, and I went back to work, carving through rock a sliver at a time.
By the time it was time to call it quits for the day, I’d worn my muscles out and was ready for some rest and water. I was getting hungry, but going without food for a couple of days was something I could deal with later. It was barely more than an annoyance at that moment.
I settled back against the wall and drank my fill of water while watching the other prisoners come and go. They ate sitting around the same cheap wooden tables, nothing more than thin soup and a heel of bread, but it was more than I was getting.
By the time dinner was through, I was ready for sleep, and I leaned back against the rock, closing my eyes for just a moment.
I slept rough, only to be woken up by the bell in the morning, signaling another day’s work. It went much the same as the first. I worked my body to the bone mining, and my hunger only got worse as the day progressed.
The Aspect did what it could, helped take the edge off the worst of the pain, but it could only do so much. At the end of the second day, I stumbled over a loose rock and nearly toppled over. It was a simple mistake, but that was all it took in a place like that.
I’d just shown that I was weak and vulnerable to a pack of predators.
It didn’t take long after that for the first hopeful king slayer to approach.
A dark-skinned human with long black hair shoulder barged me as we passed. I turned, grabbed a handful of his greasy mane, and wound it around my wrist. I jerked hard on his locks, and he stumbled back. I kicked the back of his knee and sent him to the ground.
I let go of his hair and curb stomped his throat, collapsing his windpipe.
The man’s eyes bulged as his hands went to his neck as he gasped and wheezed, trying to breath.
I left him to choke to death and walked past him.
The others took one look at him, and they backed up. I went to my corner and sat in my chair, keeping an eye on everyone while I clicked on the blinking notification.
Combat Results!
One Killed (Dwarf): 1800 Exp!
One Killed (Human): 1500 Exp!
Total Exp Gain: 3300 Exp!
5600/5600
Level Up!
Level: 57
2200/5700
10 Stat Points Available!
Might as well keep bumping up my Durability, but I need to start putting some points in Battle Fatigue. I’m hitting my limit on nearly every prolonged fight. If I have a bit more Battle Fatigue, I could use Dance without fear of maxing my fatigue.
I dropped five to Durability and five to Battle Fatigue.
As the dead man jerked in his final death throes, I leaned against the wall and sighed. If it happened once, it would happen again. It was only a matter of time, and I would only grow weaker as the days wore on.
I’m going to have to keep my guard up, or I’ll find a shiv in my neck while I sleep.
The next few days went by in a blur. I’d work, drink as much water as I could and then go to bed hungry. By the third day, I was starving, and I couldn’t keep my strength up no matter how hard I tried.
In the morning, the first of the attacks started.
A glint of light off the pickaxe was the only warning I had before it came down, aimed at my spine. I stepped back on reflex as the pick glanced off stone and lashed out with a kick. I took my attacker in the side, snapping a few ribs. He stumbled back from the blow, dropping his pickaxe and giving me a good look at him.
A stubby dwarf with a thick beard and bald head. He winced as his shook off the pain. I shuffled forward and swung my pick. It connected with the side of the dwarf’s head, piercing through his temple and coming out his eye.
Blood and gore slid down his nose to stain his beard, and I ripped my pickaxe free, tearing through bone and cartilage.
He dropped to the ground dead, or wishing he was. I raised the pick once more and brought it down on his skull, splitting his head wide open to reveal bloody bone and brain.
I left the pick where it lay stuck in his worthless body and knelt, snagging the dead dwarf’s pick and continued my work as if there wasn’t a dead body leaking blood and bile two feet from me.
After the first two failed attempts, I’d have thought the other prisoners would have gotten the message, but attacks still came my way. One or more a day, and I was running on fumes.
This went on for three days, and I’d killed half a dozen prisoners. I was tired, but I had no choice but to fight. It was that or roll over and die.
As the day’s work wound down to a close, I dropped my pick and left the tunnel back to the main room. I was going to sit at my table when I found it occupied by four men. Each of them held the look of lifers, scarred, ruthless men who’d committed heinous acts and were now made to pay for it.
“Get up,” I demanded.
“Or what?” a man with a squished, ugly face said, sneering.
“Or I rip open your throats and gorge myself on your disgusting blood, you inbred fucks. Now. Move.”
I’m going to need your strength to fight.
“Delicious. But let’s try out our new ability. I’m anxious to see it used.”
Fine by me.
A pleasant heat spread from my chest to my back and along my spine. It tingled, and then something rose from my back.
Four black limbs forged of chitin entered my vison, and I glanced side to side at them. They were long and thin, broken only the dorsal hinges as they flexed. Sharp points of chitin tipped the ends like four razor shard dagger points.
Okay, these are kind of badass…and terrifying.
“Let’s bring terror to them!”
One question, how do I control them?
“Like any other appendage, you fleshy meatbag.”
It was correct. I found I just had to put a little bit of focus into them, and they moved just like my own flesh and blood arms.
The four men stood transfixed at the sudden appearance of four new limbs from my back, but they could do nothing now. They’d made their choice.
The first man stood just as my foot connected with his tanned chest. He went headfirst over the back of his chair and cracked his thick skull on the rock floor, tearing a long gash on the side of his head.
By the time the first man hit the ground, the others rose from their chairs and attacked. I stepped to the side of the second man’s swing. The dwarf’s attack went wide, the extra force throwing Second off balance. I struck his unprotected side as he tried to right himself. I speared into him with two of my new limbs. They slid between his ribs with ease, slicing across his ribs, tearing through his lungs and puncturing his heart.
I jerked my limbs free, and they came with a spurt of blood. Second fell to the floor, barely missing hitting his head on the wood as he dropped. His eyes went wide with pain before they dimmed.
Third tried to go around Second’s body, but I shoved him into First as he picked himself up. Both of them tumbled to the floor. Fourth snarled, his blackened teeth set in a fierce grimace as he leapt over the table.
I grabbed the chair I’d been sitting on like it weighed as much as a feather and bashed Fourth across the face as he landed from his jump.
His jaw dislocated with a crunch, and he sprawled on the ground, joining his friends. The chair still in hand, I brought it down on his kneecap, shattering it.
While Fourth screamed in pain, I slid my arachnid limbs into his neck and ripped his head from his shoulders. It thunked on the table and gushed blood across the worn wood.
With two of the men dead, I dealt with the remainder. The cavern plun
ged into silence as everyone stared at the mess of blood and bodies I’d left in my wake. The guards overhead watched with dispassionate gazes and went about their day, not fazed by the deaths of the inmates.
First shoved Third off him and stood. His wild hair was flecked with blood from one of the men I’d killed. He didn’t care that I’d dispatched two of his friends with ease; he charged me.
I caught his unhinged swing and dislocated his arm at the shoulder. I let go of him as I brought two of the chitinous limbs down and into his back. I forced him to the ground as I sought his heart. With a flick, I tore it to pieces and retracted my spider legs.
As First bled out, I dealt with Third. He stared at me in terror as his eye flicked from me to his dead friends.
He turned to run but stopped.
Third stood very still for a long moment before he stumbled and fell to the side.
Standing in front of him, wielding a bloody shiv, was Maus.
He knelt and wiped his bloody hand. “Sorry about stealing your kill. I know that’s not cool, but I figured I’d save you the trouble of chasing after him.”
“I didn’t need your help,” I spat.
I used one of the dead mens’ tunics to clean the blood off myself and walked over to the nearest table where three men sat staring with unblinking eyes.
“Move.”
They shot up like a bolt of lightning and were gone in a flash. I sat down and helped myself to their untouched waters.
“That was fun.”
It wasn’t boring. Now let’s catalogue my notifications, I’m betting I leveled up from these past few fights.
Combat Results!
5 Killed (Dwarf): 9000 Exp!
3 Killed (Human): 4500 Exp!
1 Downed (Dwarf): 1800 Exp!
Mercy Penalty: -600 Exp!
Total Exp Gained: 14700 Exp!
Exp: 5700/5700
Level Up! (x2)
Level: 59
5400/5900
20 Stat Points Available!
Hive Queen Page 31