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

“Oh, I suppose I know when to keep my ears open.”

“And where are you from?” the merchant pressed on. “An Imperial, I presume?”

“No. Born in the North, never set foot on Imperial land.”

“You look more like a ratwolf than a Northerner,” Guppy said suspiciously.

“And yet, I am a Northerner. I’d like to buy these two hooks.”

“What do you need such huge hooks for? I told you, there’s no normal fish left in these waters.”

“Those are the ones I need. And do you have spoons? Metal ones?”

“Metal, eh? Keen on playing the aristocrat?” Guppy chortled. “I’ve got a couple of copper ones.”

“I’ll take them.” I was glad to see the number of spoons matched that of the hooks I fancied. “But mind sawing the handles off?”

“How are you going to eat with them then?” the trader looked curious.

“I’ve got my ways. And can you make a hole here and here?”

“Then they won’t be spoons anymore. What exactly are you scheming?”

“You’re right, they won’t be spoons anymore. This would make them special amulets of my people, honoring the memory of our ancestors who were tortured to death in dank dungeons,” I lied without batting an eye.

“And what exactly did those ancestors do to get tortured to death? Were they murderers?”

“They were loyal to their lord until the bitter end. But, alas, his clan lost the war.”

“That’s sacred. Loyalty like that is to be revered, so good on you. Though we don’t require amulets for that, I suppose everyone’s got their customs.”

“I also need some thin wire. And that should be it. Can you find some among your wares?”

“Sure. It’ll cost you four small symbols for everything.”

The wonders of numerology continued—four symbols was exactly what I had to trade.

But I shook my head with a smile.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, but only if you add some food.”

“Food? You’ve got some nerve to haggle with me, boy. Fine, I’ll throw in a few crackers, but that’s it!”

Not much of a negotiator, Guppy was. And his prices were backbreaking.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a case where I could simply stroll down to the next stall and compare prices. This was the only shopkeeper in the whole damn fort with the materials I needed. Negotiating with craftsmen would cost even more.

It was too bad Guppy was so unaccommodating to his customers.

* * *

I was in no hurry to return to the barn. Upon delivering the collected wild leeks, we were rewarded with a generous portion of porridge from Megaera. She was a kind woman, indeed. But she was also impressed with not only the quantity of the fragrant herb, but also the quality, as the ghoul was now able to bypass the tough base of the plant by cutting off only the upper section, which was juicier.

Then Beko and I climbed on top of the wall, which afforded a nice view of the river and the woods sprawling over the left bank. There we put away Megaera’s porridge and Guppy’s crackers, as well as most of the leftover lard, leaving only a bit for tomorrow so as to not start a new workday on an empty belly.

I had to do something about the food situation. And pronto. My organism was experiencing an unprecedented surge. My muscles had suddenly remembered that they wanted to grow. Similarly, all my other organs and subsystems demanded their fair share. Harmonious development necessitated a full set of “bricks” with which to build new layers and stories: proteins, fats, carbs, vitamins and various other nutrients. Last but not least, I needed Rock’s special spices, without which my inner parameters would remain far below their maximum values.

Although, considering the capacity of my chi reservoir, the Order seemed to have made an exception in this respect. And while that presented another hurdle for me, perhaps my abnormality also meant that my attributes might grow to their max values on their own.

Unlike talents, the concept of attributes got fairly complex. The number of attributes was just that—a number. A well-developed Agility attribute might require, say, forty units of minor essence of Agility, but only ten units at the early stages. Accordingly, one person may save on spices and pump Agility quickly, investing the bare minimum. While another may blow it up to the size of a blimp by spending four times the minimum amount. The first would have invested one hundred small essences, and the second four hundred. And if the two of them were to compete for something where pure Agility was the determining factor, with all else being equal, the first would end up the loser, every time.

That made nobles who didn’t want for anything more than just alphas. They were alphas with inflated attributes.

I didn’t know what I would become—if I became anything at all. But assuming I succeeded in raising my parameters, it would behoove me to do it right from the start, in a way befitting a noble.

My amulet was nothing but a stopgap. A temporary solution to the problem. It was entirely possible that its embedded attributes were working in overdrive, filled to the max or at least close to it. If I managed to quickly bring my body to a decent condition, I would look like a decent omega at a second degree of enlightenment.

And I would remain such for a bit under two months, at which point my life would be over.

Unless I found a way out to escape this jam between a rock and a hard place. Between the inexorable flow of time and the unrelenting leakage of chi.

* * *

The primary building material of nearly all of the fort’s structures was wood. Decorticated logs fitted together using just one tool: the axe. Decorticated trunks typically required lengthy drying, which wasn’t always possible.