First of the Hive

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Born a slave, Ves’s entire life has been naught but servitude and abuse — until an accident on a hunting trip leaves her lost and dying in an ancient forest filled with hungry beasts and old monsters. Her only chance of survival lies in a chance encounter with an otherworldly being in dire need of a host. Stuck with her new “friend” making who knows what changes to her body, Ves must learn to survive. More than that, carve out a new home for herself and the scattered lost souls around her. Made all the more difficult with her old master and a world that fears the threat she and the thing in her head could become.What to expect:Progression fantasyKingdom BuildingCultivation-like advancementPost are Monday & Thursday. ( Patreon is 26 chapters ahead )

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Sel Reugge

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 1,517
Views: 163,704

What readers say about First of the Hive

“Found this looking for a new progression fantasy, and was not disappointed. Its early days, but the character is likeable, the world building has been really good. I like the twist on the classic companion story, and the fact their abilities seem to come wi…”
DarkgnomeoxRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I was looking for something new to sink my teeth into, and boy did I find it! This isn’t your typical progression fantasy. The pacing is different, more relaxed but somehow always interesting, and the story structure just feels more grown-up than most stuff…”
Bobby BrudalRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(7)

DarkgnomeoxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Found this looking for a new progression fantasy, and was not disappointed. Its early days, but the character is likeable, the world building has been really good. I like the twist on the classic companion story, and the fact their abilities seem to come with a somewhat sinister cost, it not just another cheat skill.
Bobby BrudalRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I was looking for something new to sink my teeth into, and boy did I find it!
This isn’t your typical progression fantasy. The pacing is different, more relaxed but somehow always interesting, and the story structure just feels more grown-up than most stuff I’ve read lately. There’s a really strong hook, and the author’s got the world and backstory working together instead of just info dumping It doesn’t just have character progression for the sake of it. There’s actually some real growth and change.
I’ve got to say, the main character’s biomechanics are wild and make for some truly cool scenes. I’m genuinely excited to see where things go with Vess and her “passenger.” It’s just such a weird, fun dynamic. It can be dramatic, and even humanizing, and altogether it’s something else entirely. Even the side characters don’t feel like throwaways, which is kind of rare in this genre.
Plus, Sel, the author, actually hangs out in the comments and listens to the comments. I'm hooked on it, and can’t wait to see what happens next!
I can't tell you how much I love the biomechanics of the MC, it's really fun!
Looking forward to more, the initial content drop set my expectations up there a little bit for sure!
DocJinxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Stumbled on this one by chance right as it began posting (I think I was a single digit follower!). The story is a very creatively done one with an interesting mix of a dark world with some elements of body horror as the protagonist progresses.
The world building is the strong part, with hints of a much larger world, and a very interesting hook of attacks by creepy insect creatures that seem to be much more than they appear at face value.
Some of the basic progression stuff is slowly revealed and seems fairly standard (levels of progression named after gem stones, divided into body, soul, and mind) but the protagonist's merging with something alien and weird happens in parallel. So there's a compelling mystery of just how her distinctness will evolve and integrate with the world.
I appreciate that her "passenger" ends up being sort of combination of the classic AI companion or a pet companion, but internalized and a distinct character in and of itself.
The writing is pretty good. There are some issues with dialogue of characters sounding a bit too modern and colloquial, and all sounding the same, but the description and worldbuilding are quite good.
I highly recommend giving it a read. Different enough to spark interest, well written enough to keep that interest, and with enough mystery and creativity to want the next chapter at all times!
kodudnaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
(Minor Spoilers)
So, I think I'm 14 chapters in, and I have NO idea where the story is going - in a good way!
The good:
The world building is fire. Everything feels fresh and original, and even though the whole thing so far has taken place in a single forest, the glimpses we get of different peoples, places, and cultures are tantalizing.
The characters are fun and feel real, and the main character's situation is a unique and interesting take on an alien, symbiotic relationship.
The story itself is moving apace, leaving you wanting more.
The bad:
I have to keep it real and take some points off for grammar and syntax. It's not terrible, but reads as if the author gets excited as they get in the groove, and start rushing things a little. Nothing a solid editing pass by another set of eyes or two can't fix.
The confusing:
There is a magic system here that all the characters clearly understand, but its never really explained beyond mentions of tiers of some kind. I don’t want to put this in the bad, because its definitely hard to find a balance between over explanation and exposition, and letting the world “explain itself” naturally and fluidly. Just something for the author to consider as they continue.
Overall, I'm enjoying it immensely, and can't wait to find out what happens next!
MultiplicityRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I'll keep my review slightly structured.
World - whilst only having any lore on one nation and a forest, the world so far is very interesting, something of a very dark high fantasy setting which I love!
Characters - so far the characters are amazing, I feel some could be fleshed out a bit more, but our main heroines are very distinct and have a lot of room for growth which i feel is what most people look for, myself especially.
Story - Story so far is open ended, has some slight hints of turning into a city cultivator, but has not fully commited to any type of future currently, it could go any way I feel.
Okay, that's the good, now for the bad, and the reasons I've only gives 4 stars and not higher.
Grammar. - there is a lot of grammatical errors, most of them stuff that would be fixed/highlighted automatically by Google Docs. I highly recommend the author swap to Google docs or something similar to write, as this will help them see the grammar errors they're making as they go.
Power system - the power system seems to have some base tiers to it. But other then various metals and gems being names I'm very confused on the system as a whole, in desperate need of some explanation. Every character in the story already knows how the cultivation works, so that just leaves us as the reader in the dark which isn't a good thing, one character is mentioned as a Ruby cultivator, but other then being an impressive gem I have no idea how high that is in the grand scheme if things
That's all, keep it up, grow and improve, ill be here to see you progress❤️
NiktukuRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
8.1/10
Good development so far, fun but balanced and weak main character, good sense of immersion and citybuilding as well as worldbuilding with hints of survival. The politics and geopolitics are well-introduced for now.
Style: This may sound harsh; I have issue with stories that have a good decent mature POV, then spirals to be more child-like at some other points. Given the MC is basically an adult in her mid 20s, and a servant to boot, she should behave differently and reflect her survival development with her other skillsets. Some actions like the base building and sense of time also needs work; they are surviving, they should have more focus on the negative aspects of their situation as a collective and as individuals.
Story: The clear winner, no doubt. The worldbuilding is starting good, and the politics are good so far. Few mysteries in the background, and hints of some more important immediate threat in the horizon.
Grammar: Some issues, but overall good.
Character: The MC is good, the supporting cast is good, the group development is good, but there isn't anything super challenging yet for them to face. Yes, slavers and their countrymen attacking them is a big issue, but they don't pose a threat outside the immediate ones. I feel like if the author doesn't develop this well first, then jump into citybuilding, it is going to leave a bad lingering taste in future contents. There needs to be a sense of movements in their oppositions, or even a false sense of security that is hinted in the writing of how precarious they are.
Her parasite passenger also seems far too conveniently knowledgeable, and thus the sense of personhood development is lost in favor of a boring infodump tadpole. This will have consequences for when our MC actually needs to think creatively, whom decision-making needs to be challenged.
Otherwise, I fear the characters will steamroll through the situation and the citybuilding will feel unearned. It is only the beginning, of course, but I do
Amber QuillRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Overall I'm finding the story enjoyable, but there are issues that keep throwing me out if the story.
I will say the MCs ignorance in the world makes sense with her backstory, which is making her a great viewpoint to learn the world through. The downside is anything explained is fine as exposition and not flawlessly written into the dialogue. The teirs are interesting, but the cultivation aspects still don't make much sense. We just got into the nitty gritty of it in the most recent chapters and I hope it getss clearer as the MC grows in power. The magic system seems to be a mix of fantasy magic meets Wuxia cultivation.
I also like the current setup in the world. It is slow for the city building aspect, but it makes sense with the history/struggles of the people. We are in chapter 40 but there is still no set leader for them to lead them, and at the same time there are some strong contenders to take that position.
As for issuesso far.
First is power scales. We have powerful characters here and there who seem to get killed fairly easily. That in itself isn't bad, as it shows even powerful people are vulnerable. The issue is with one of the recent fights where one bad guy gravely hurts a character, with an item that it is stated is strong enough to kill dragons. Yet outside of that nobody says anything else about it. Another gets is a skilled mercenary decapitated by the MC who is the equivalent of a maid flying her arms. It doesn't make much sense, and feels plot contrived. The MC doesn't out think her opponents but seems to win by luck more often than not.
My second issue is the romance aspects written in. There are multiple potential female romances with the MC, and one male. None are big pushed away by the MC, but she is flirting with all of them. I wonder if the romance tag should be added and/or a harem one. These romantic plot points are the main parts throwing me out of the story, making me roll my eyes more than hoping for anything to actually develop.
The st