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

You couldn’t argue with the assertion, though I was quite bemused by Rycer’s unprecedented generosity. Until now, he hadn’t treated me with any such kindness or nobility. Hell, he hadn’t seemed to care about me at all. I had gotten food only twice so far: last night and this morning. Both times my meal amounted to crude porridge from the common pot. Thankfully, the cooks followed the traditional recipe that made it thick enough to cut with a knife. Lacking a plate or utensils, I could hold the lump in the palm of my hand, finishing my modest ration in the span of two minutes. For the first time in my second life, I had an appetite. And a beastly one at that. Nowhere near satisfied by the meager handouts, I was thinking about food nonstop. And so I would drink liters upon liters of water, tricking my body into feeling just a tad less ravenous.

Rycer hadn’t skimped on bread or lard. This was far better than the wooden gruel that obviously did not include ingredients like butter or meat. Here was my chance to finally satiate my hunger.

Studying me with his surviving eye, Rycer shook his head.

“You need a healer. The way you’re chowing down, there must be some kind of tape worm working your insides.”

“Thank you...” I muttered belatedly.

“Kashik has your money,” Rycer said.

I tensed up, but didn’t stop chewing.

The soldier continued.

“It was Atami who noticed you, lying in the grass, about fifty paces from the road. He and I carried you to the caravan. The grass under your body was badly crumpled—you must have been lying there a while, maybe even several days. You were lucky that no critters gnawed on your face. Kashik came over then and took your coin. You thought it was me and Krol, but we had nothing to do with it. Kashik said that dead men need no coin where they’re going.”

“But I didn’t die,” I tore away from the food for the first time in the conversation to voice the obvious truth.

Rycer nodded. “Indeed, you didn’t. I don’t know what sickness you had, but there’s not a trace of it now. Though you’re still weak, and most definitely odd. Your hands don’t look like peasant hands, and you don’t act like a common plowman. I can’t make heads or tails of you, boy. But you can forget about getting your coin from Kashik. He ain’t the sharing kind. Once he gets his paws on something, it’s gone forever. Now, you helped me, and I ain’t the kind of bastard to forget it. I don’t have money to give you, but I can share some of my grub. Enough to hold you over before we part ways. I can help with some advice, too, so remember everything I say, cause I won’t repeat myself. The fort is a wretched place. Remember the ruins in the meadow?”

“Yeah.”

“That was an outpost of it. To this day, no one knows what happened to it. It simply burned down, along with everything on the meadow. It hadn’t rained for a long time and the land dried up badly. We were lucky to have avoided a forest fire. No clear tracks were left, and some of the bodies looked awful, missing limbs and even a head here and there. No fire could have done that.”

“What, then, if not fire?” I asked.

“All we know is that it was someone, not something. These are the kinds of things that happen here, so my first advice to you is to keep close to the fort. It has lasted a whole decade, which is a damn long time for the Wild Wood. And with a little luck, it might last another one. The local beasts know to stay away, taught to fear by experience. And fear can be a better defense than even high walls. So make use of that.” Rycer paused for a moment, thinking. “My second piece of advice is going to be harder to pull off. Hold on to your freedom. You’re nobody to Kashik. We picked you up in a field, but that bloodsucker will try to make some coin off of you. Don’t let that happen. You ain’t in debt to no one, and a free man can’t just be sold into servitude. Still, he’s going to try and pull something, bloody cheat that he is. It’s a good thing you’re such a wretch to look at. Ain’t nobody going to offer any serious coin for you, so he might not bother over a pittance. So, I say your chances are decent. Finally, my third piece of advice, and the most important one. Find somebody powerful and win his interest. Show him you’re useful for something. Don’t let go of your freedom, but stay close to him. Do whatever you can to avail yourself of his protection. You’re too weak to survive in that rotten place on your own.”

“What about going back south with another caravan?” I thought to ask.

“It’s a long way. Long enough for Kashik to come up with a dozen ways to get his hooks into you. Even a couple of coins don’t grow on trees. Besides, life down south ain’t no picnic, believe you me. For someone like you, at least. Being a weakling sucks, wherever you are. You’re welcome to try, sure, but if I were you, I’d stay put. The Wild Wood is full of peril, but in some ways it’s fairer than other places. Life here is simpler than down south. That’s all I’ve got to say on the matter. The rest is up to you. Think long and hard what you’re going to do. In these parts, being stupid is even worse for your prospects than being weak.”

* * *

The caravan arrived at Blackriver just before sundown. The name