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

the natives experienced this leak. Their chi was always increasing, restored over time. If they avoided spending chi on attributes and talents, they could easily reach degree 7 or 8 by age 15. They would have a handicapped character, of course—but hypothetically, it was possible.

So, getting a complete set of chi was no problem. It was after this that problems could begin. Right now, I was a big fat zero, an empty void, which the ORDER was trying to fill. If I reached 1st Degree, it might begin to consider me a normal person—after which I would have to catch kotes for days just to earn a single +1 to an attribute. I would have to live the way that ordinary people did.

Worst of all, that might not stop the leak.

Meaning that I might lose my increased chi production without gaining any compensation. I would have to take steps, but not yet. Talents were not yet requiring this value to increase, and nor were my attributes.

I could shelve all Enlightenment progress, for now.

Now, three attribute levels was nothing impressive. Normal restrictions at 1st Degree allowed six. But my Equilibrium level doubled this maximum. At this pace, I would have to work for a long time in order to reach that maximum. Depending on what kind of rewards I got. Sadly the standard attribute marks—which could be used on any of the five attributes—did not drop very often.

Not that I had anything to complain about. If I had my prices right, one standard mark was worth enough to buy a cow or two. The natives hardly ever saw such trophies.

Stamina had a clear lead, for now. It kept receiving the biggest boosts. I saw no reason to hinder the growth of this attribute. It was useful for everything. The higher my Stamina, the stronger my Health was, and the better my general chances of survival.

Strong Health was never a bad thing. I would allow my Stamina to keep growing.

My States looked at once good and bad. An Equilibrium level of 6 was good. I doubted that Camai’s Equilibrium was any higher than 2 or 3—and by the standards of the North, Camai was considered a strong fighter. Plus, I had unlocked Enhanced Enlightenment, too. It still had not reached level 1, but I was in no rush for that. All that stat did, after all, was increase the capacity of my chi reservoir, and I did not need that. It would come in handy in the future. I would be happy to strengthen my Perception and Spirit, but for the time being, that was also unnecessary. Nor were Mana Regen and Combat Energy Regen important—I couldn’t use either of them yet.

I would be happy to advance my Chi Shadow number, though. The higher my Chi Shadow, the faster I would regenerate the energy needed for Fishing Instinct. Without that, though, a couple hundred points were good enough for a full day, if I used them wisely. And those points could regenerate fully during the night. Still, I could not deny that I’d like to stop needing to carefully conserve and calculate the exact values day in and day out. Using my ability more often might have allowed me to avoid the large kote attack.

A high Measure of Order state was the aim of everyone, commoners and nobles alike. The more I pumped that stat, the more rewards would drop when I was victorious. Currently, I had no Measure of Order, but of course I wanted to begin to remedy that. The more and the sooner, the better. Only then would it make sense for me to advance to degree 1. That way, my boosted Measure of Order would compensate for any loss of rewards from the ORDER.

Alright, so as far as states go, Measure of Order and Chi Shadow are the priorities. However, I could not unlock or improve either at this time. All of this thinking was theoretical. Just something to remember for the future.

Talents, however, were something I had available to me now. Each attribute I unlocked allowed me to learn a single talent. With three attributes, and with Fishing Instinct already purchased, I had two left.

Treya had left me 12 different items and trophies, each with a variety of potential talents. Some were unavailable to me. All in all, 9 different talents were ready to activate.

Personal Talent Mark, Scent of Blood x15

Personal Talent Mark, Detect Poison x11

Personal Talent Mark, Detect Traps x14

Personal Talent Mark, Novice Jeweler x1

Personal Talent Mark, Novice Healer x1

Personal Talent Mark, Novice Stonecutter x2

Personal Talent Mark, Novice Carpenter x1

Personal Talent Mark, Novice Blacksmith x2

Personal Talent Mark, Fishing Instinct x8

Personal Talent Mark, Hand-to-Hand Combat x1

Talent Mark, Hand-to-Hand Combat x10

Talent Mark, Iron Skin x10

There were also many standard talent marks I could gain and boost by a decent amount.

Greater Standard Talent Mark x12 (+25 progress to any talent)

Standard Talent Mark x10 (+12 progress to any talent)

Lesser Standard Talent Mark x42 (+1 progress to any talent)

I was satisfied. Boosting a rank 1 talent from level 0 to level 10 cost 100 units. A rank 2 talent took 200 units for the same. I could clearly see that I had enough units in reserve.

Which talents should I choose?

Scent of Blood was something kotes used to detect injured fish and other animals. Detect Poison sounded more interesting, but I couldn’t think of anyone who might try to poison me. Detect Traps was also irrelevant. The Jeweler’s profession was a fine one, but not a priority in my situation. Same with Stonecutter, Carpenter, and Blacksmith. The local area had enough of these specialists already. No one would be interested in my novice abilities. I wouldn’t be able to progress beyond a novice level, either, due to the Degrees of Enlightenment prerequisites for further advancement. Activating a profession would