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

for a brief moment above the water line. The color was typical of kote. So great was their excitement that Romris cast the line a good ten yards farther than necessary. Which got the tackle hopelessly stuck. After several powerful but futile yanks, the angler turned and tried an over-the-shoulder pull with anchored feet.

Wild leek stalks were sturdy material, but everything has its limits. The cord snapped, leaving the tackle in the snag.

The competition made their next attempt only about two hours later. Failing to find a proper stone, they somehow managed to make a hole in an ordinary flat pebble.

This tackle lasted longer. Armed with bitter experience, the fishermen steered clear of snags. Plus, they had enough sense to secure the hook to a not-quite-as-strong piece of stalk. That caused the hook to break off a few times, but replacing it with spare ones was a simple thing.

By evening, having run out of all their spare hooks, the pair scratched their heads for a minute, then headed back up the path. They didn’t come near us this time, sufficing with nasty looks that expressed everything they thought about our “innovative” technique of kote fishing.

After activating my Fishing Instinct for a few seconds, I shifted roughly thirty yards upstream, having spotted near a solitary boulder an elongated form that wasn’t quite as large as yesterday’s trophy. I set the block again, then secured a hook to a spoonbait, and cast the line.

Nine casts yielded no results. On the tenth, I considered my current reserves of shadow chi, then activated the talent just when, by my calculations, the spoonbait had to be close to the fish... Only there was not a trace of the kote anywhere. The predator—if it had been her—must have departed while we were relocating.

Beko was surprised that we were moving again, so I had to explain.

“There’s no fish here. I have this skill that allows me to determine that.”

“Then why did we move here?”

“It was here when I checked before moving. But fish don’t stay in one place. Let’s move over there, to the rocks. I see two fish in that area.”

At the new location, it took only two drags to get a bite. Only the hook didn’t set properly. The line tightened, but when I began reeling it in, it was empty.

That was encouraging, not disheartening. If one fish took the bait, another one should, too. Or, perhaps, the same one. Kote were still out feeding, and that was valuable knowledge.

I activated the talent for another half-second, instantly glimpsing a large fish no more than ten yards away. I cast the line right in that area, and before I could even begin the drag, there was a bite on the line.

Yank.

“Got a live one!” I hollered, fighting the resistance of the fish thrashing on the other end.

Hopping over to Beko, I barked the order.

“Hold the stick tight! Bring it in! Closer!”

Catching the end of the line thrown over the block, I wound the slack around it, then put my whole weight on it, forcing the fish closer to the shore. It was clearly smaller than yesterday’s, and so far my efforts were sufficient to be winning this tug-of-war.

Once at the shallows, the kote, in its desperation, put up a veritable storm. I began to grow concerned that the fish might come off the hook, so violent was the thrashing and leaping—sometimes as high as my head.

During one such leap, the predator ended up on land, where it began to thrash even more violently, entangling itself with the line.

I snatched my club, ran up to the fish and brought it down on its head. The second strike caused the fish to cease all movement.

You have caught a kote using a rare method. You have dealt significant damage to the kote. You have dealt fatal damage to the kote. The kote is dead. You have defeated the kote (2nd Degree of Enlightenment).

You receive:

Ultra-Rare Method

Greater Symbol of Chi x1

Greater Standard Talent Mark x1

Greater Standard Universal State x1

Kote Defeated!

Lesser Symbol of Chi x6

Lesser Attribute Mark, Agility x1

Lesser Attribute Mark, Stamina x1

Lesser Attribute Mark, Strength x1

Standard Attribute Mark x1

Talent Mark, Scent of Blood x1

Talent Mark, Detect Poison x1

Lesser Standard Talent Mark x2

Lesser Personal Talent Mark, Fishing Instinct x1

What was I to do with the Fishing Instinct mark? I had already raised the talent to the max. Further development would require choosing a new branch at level three, which I couldn’t do on account of my lacking attribute levels. Which meant the trophy was useless to me.

And I didn’t want to carry dead weight.

I recalled mentions that some of the Order’s gifts could be disassembled. Maybe even all of them. Doing so would result in a certain amount of chi, which could always be used or transferred to others. Perhaps my memory was wrong, but the matter should be clarified pronto.

Drawing close to me, Beko let out a sigh.

“Yesterday’s was larger.”

There was no arguing that. Compared to yesterday’s trophy, this one seemed like a string of snot next to a jellyfish. It couldn’t have weighed more than ten pounds. And the rewards were considerably lower, too. Then again, I really shouldn’t complain. A greater symbol of chi with its twenty-five points was enough to counteract four days’ worth of energy leakage. And the lesser ones meant more shopping power. I could especially use some gloves, as the rags wrapped around my hands were doing a piss-poor job of protecting my hands.

“It won’t be enough to fill the basket,” Beko kept lamenting.

“So what?” I protested. “We’re under no obligation to supply anything today or tomorrow. Did you forget what Ash said?”

“Then what are we going to do with this one?”

“Do you even have to