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

constitution was another story. My weak body couldn’t handle physical strain, and no attempts at nourishment helped to improve the condition. As a result, I looked perpetually sickly, as if suffering from an incurable terminal illness.

Which, to be fair, was an accurate diagnosis.

Looking at Beko, you couldn’t quite tell his age. His facial features did appear vampiric, and those creatures were ageless. But if you looked past the abnormally sharp lower jaw and the comical ears, his chalk-white skin tone would be the sole feature distinguishing him from a regular person. Aside from all that, he looked like a regular teenager, only shorter than usual and scrawny like me. His clothes amounted to a layered heap of rags, his hair a clumped mess, and his bare feet nearly black with dirt. Yet, the ghoul didn’t reek of unwashed filth, suggesting he was at least familiar with personal hygiene, even if they weren’t on particularly great terms.

The way Beko savored the lard, you would think he was dining at a 3-star Michelin restaurant. The stuff must have been an extraordinary luxury for him.

I couldn’t help but ask the nagging question.

“How long has it been since you ate lard?”

He thought about it for a moment, then replied uncertainly.

“I don’t remember eating lard. I remember the smell. They let me smell, but don’t let me eat.”

“Greedy bastards.”

“Greedy, yes,” Beko agreed. “And they take what’s mine, too. All the time.”

He gave me another askance look of suspicion.

I shook my head to assuage his recurring fears.

“You see that I’m not taking anything from you, right? In fact, I’m sharing with you the little lard that I have. Once the lard and the bread are gone, who’s going to feed me? You?”

“I would feed you because you’re kind. But I don’t have anything.”

“What do you eat, then?”

“They give me work every morning. If I do the work, they feed me. Not lard, but porridge.”

“Do they pay you for the work?”

“They give porridge. In the morning and in the evening. But not during the day.”

“I see.”

“But sometimes they don’t give porridge, and then I go to sleep hungry. Like today. I did the work, but they took it away. So I brought nothing back. And they say no work, no porridge. But now I’m full. Not a lot of lard, but it was tasty.” With that, Beko stared pointedly at the pouch that held the remaining chunk.

“We should save it,” I replied to his wordless suggestion. “If we don’t get any food tomorrow, we’ll end up hungry. Who took your food?”

“The Carps.”

I recalled the conversation with the fort’s management, but still thought to ask the foolish question.

“You were robbed by fish?”

“Not fish. They’re the local boys. Bad boys. Satat, Jakos and Tashi. Little Tatai has been hanging with them lately, too. They’re called the Carps because they clean the nets of grass and garbage. They dry the nets, too. Satat, Jakos, Tashi and little Tatai. They also clean the fish sometimes. But they don’t catch fish. The grownups do that. The grownups don’t hassle me. They can call me names and smack me around sometimes, but they don’t beat me like the Carps do. And when the Carps are pissed, they take everything.”

Beko pointed to his left eye. Swollen and black, it made for a vivid demonstration.

“What kind of work do they give you?” I kept questioning him.

“All kinds of work. Yesterday I was helping to water the gardens.”

“There are gardens here?”

“There are. If you go down, you’ll see beds of plants. Small beds. With stones around them.”

“I see. And they gave you porridge for that?”

“They did. And the day before yesterday, Old Megaera gave me an onion. Not very big, but juicy and almost free of rot. And today she said to pick wild leeks. I picked lots, but the Carps took my basket when I came back up.”

“Did you at least put up a fight?”

Beko lowered his head. “No. There are three of them—four now with Little Tatai. I’m lucky they didn’t beat me too bad.”

“What about running away or taking another road?”

“There’s only one path leading up. And I can’t run fast. Satat is almost at the sixth degree of enlightenment, no way I can escape him.”

“Any idea where they’ll send us tomorrow?”

“More wild leek picking, I guess,” Beko conjectured. “The caravan brought barrels of lard. And lard is tastier with leeks than without.”

“What’s the point taking the leeks from you?” I asked, puzzled. “You got the job, not them.”

“Old Megaera gives me the job. Or Rukko the Lame. But the Carps take the leeks to Fatso Oren at the inn. And he pays them with tasty food. Not porridge.”

“So they’re profiting from you while you go hungry?”

“Yes. They do it all the time now. Always taking what’s mine. Everyone wants to take what’s mine.” Beko glared at me yet again, but instantly averted his eyes, looking guiltily. He didn’t have a problem with me, but old habits die hard.

“And food at the inn is tasty, you say?”

“Smells soooo tasty...” Beko nearly sobbed. Fatso Oren is a bad man. But he’s got lots of food. And all of it tasty.”

“So, tomorrow we will both pick wild leek,” I declared.

“You’ll get beaten, too. We both will. And they’ll take everything again.”

“No, Beko, they won’t. Because now there are two of us.”

“So what? They can rob both of us as easily as one.”

“No, they can’t. You know how things work around here. Therein lies your strength. But my strength lies in keeping what I’ve earned.”

“They don’t ask for it or anything. They just take.”

“Even if they succeed, I’m going to put them on my blacklist.”

“What’s that?” Beko looked intrigued.

“Magic. My magic. My people’s magic.