Alpha Zero (Alpha LitRPG Book 1) by Arthur Stone (top 5 books to read TXT) 📕

pit bubbles, all at once. A perplexing cacophony.

But despite my brain’s inability to process it, my legs knew quite well what it was.

The awakening of something mighty and terrifying. A stubborn and ravenous monster set on enjoying a meal.

Beko understood, too. He twitched and rolled off of my shoulders, landed on his feet, and surged forward. And then just collapsed. But he jumped up, grabbing my outstretched hand. “Run!”

“We are running. On my shoulders, quick!”

“No, Ged. He’ll catch us if we do that. I can do it on my own!”

Beko glanced back and blanched with comingled joy and horror. The latter was understandable, but it took me a split second to understand the former: he had a few of his prized mushrooms clutched in his hand.

How had he managed to notice and pluck them while he was rolling on the ground?

What a weirdo.

I was not about to argue with his greed, but I very much wanted to vacate the area. I seized Beko under the arm, and so we pressed forward together. We were hardly any faster this way, but it was probably comforting for the ghoul.

How could he do nothing with such mortifying sounds just behind him?

The cystos columns trembled as some horrific beast moved along somewhere up above. I had no idea what the area up there looked like. The fog had never allowed me so much as a glimpse. But it was clearly something like a giant, solid umbrella. The rain which had poured into the swamp yesterday had not reached the ground here. This ground remained as dry as ever.

The sound grew rapidly, and pushed us forward better than any drug. Something new joined the mix. A rapid, pounding beat with which the cystos rocked in rhythm. Our imaginations painted a picture of a terrifying, many-legged monster bull-rushing us.

Beko pushed away from me and increased his speed. He was stumbling, but he was moving on his own. The talent worked well—just not quite instantly.

I’m sure the adrenaline played a part, too. Now, I could barely keep up with him.

The giant’s sound slowed and then began to fade. A massive crash ensued, along with the sound of a falling gargantuan—followed by a blast of an all-out roar. Only this time, it was more of a piercing whistle of terrible pain and anger. It was clearly upset and trapped, furiously trying to escape by pounding its limbs against anything it could.

Beko was far ahead of me now. Since when did he become so quick? I kept my pace, trying to pay attention to the interface without crashing into any of the columns. I was waiting for a long message of accomplishments, delivered by the ORDER upon our victory.

As the seconds passed, though, nothing of the sort happened. It was then I knew that the trap had failed.

That realization gave me such a boost that I nearly caught up with Beko in a matter of seconds. I almost shouted with joy when the ORDER finally made itself heard.

Until I read the message.

As you fled from a perilous creature, you have shown unusual running qualities for your level of development.

You receive:

Lesser Symbol of Chi x1

Personal Talent Mark, Runner x1

I nearly screamed in displeasure. The powers that be were mocking me.

Were they laughing at my exertion? I was moving at world record speeds.

We charged all the way to the swamp, where our speed immediately dropped. It was simply not possible to run full out through puddles and mud. The ground sucked our legs in to the ankle with every step.

Unless the rukh suffered a similar problem, we were done.

Damned swamp! I shouldn’t have rushed. I should have dug that pit for a week. Two weeks. A month! Dug it so deep that a herd of elephants would perish inside! I could have dug a canal from the swamp to the pit so that it was filled to the brim with water. And we could have upgraded the spikes in width and sharpness. Tree-sized spikes! Whichever way we could have gotten them there.

Now, I was going to die, thanks to my greed and laziness. I had been too lazy to “waste time.”

Beko tried to maintain his speed through the swamp and, predictably, crashed face-first.

He pulled himself up, sobbing. “We’re going to die!”

I stopped abruptly and dropped to my knees, realizing that my energy was gone.

We could not run any longer.

Nor did we have to.

You have created a two-part trap. You are the first to create such a trap. You lured the rukh into a trap. Both components of the trap worked as planned. You have dealt significant damage to the rukh. You have dealt fatal damage to the rukh. The rukh is dead. You have defeated the rukh using an unknown method. This creature is part Chaos (Chaos Power 26).

You receive:

Unknown Method

Greater Chaos Mark x5

Random Greater Personal Chaos Attribute Embodiment x1

Greater Standard Talent Mark x2

Greater Attribute Power x1

Random Greater Personal Chaos State Embodiment x1

Greater Standard Universal Chaos State x2

Greater Primal Essence x1

Greater Star of Transformation x1

Victory over the Rukh (a worthy victory, over an opponent orders of magnitude stronger than you)

Medium Chaos Mark x14

Medium Attribute Power x2

Medium Concentrated Warrior Energy x2

Medium Universal Chaos Talent Mark x3

Medium Equilibrium State x1

Medium Enhanced Shadow of Chi State x1

Medium Enhanced Measure of Order State x1

Medium Primal Essence x2

Medium Standard Universal State x2

Medium Chaos Refill x2

The Rukh is a part Chaos creature.

You receive Emblem of Valor x7

Creating a New Trap

Lesser Chaos Mark x12

Personal Chaos Attribute Embodiment, Shrewdness x1

Personal Chaos Talent Mark, Shadow Chaser x1

Lesser Chaos Refill x8

Successfully Using a New Trap

Greater Standard Chaos Talent Mark x2

Greater Standard Universal State