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

that I had to use tree bark. There was some behind the carpentry workshop—where logs were carried in, either over a small suspension bridge or by a primitive crane, which picked up the logs from rafts carrying them in via the river.

The thought of rafts made me shudder once more. I was glad to see that the river was empty.

Chapter 25 Wild Tales of the Wild Wood

Degrees of Enlightenment: 0 (198/888)

Shadow: 198

Attributes:

Stamina: level 2, 112 points

Strength: level 0, 31 points

Agility: level 1, 83 points

Perception: NA, 50 points

Spirit: NA, 50 points

Talents:

Fishing Instinct (tier 2): 10/10

Cure Wounds (tier 2): (10/10)

States:

Equilibrium (6.31): level 6

Enhanced Enlightenment (0.5): level 0

Supper was dry rations only—crackers, corned beef, and a piece of salted fish resembling herring. The rush to harvest hornflower had crippled our culinary capabilities.. Beko glared and nearly growled at his portion. He had been quite busy today, by the look and sound of him. I had been, too. Eating felt like tossing food into a bottomless abyss, but I was glad to be ravenous, for an appetite is a sign of health.

We cleaned our plates as we sat in our favorite spot. The northern wall really did offer a spectacular view. If I’d had free reign over the place, I’d have planted a hut along its wide top so that we could sit inside as we admired the panorama through a large window.

Not a crumb remained on his plate when Beko downed the water from his birch bark mug. “Seventeen squares today.”

“Nice,” I smiled. “Is that how much you pull in every day?”

“Of course not. Only during hornflower season, and that only lasts a week. It’s too bad, really. Such easy work. Other spices come into season at other times, of course, but they don’t sell for nearly as much. I used to give my squares to the treasurer for safe keeping. Then, during the winter months, I’d live off them. And I’d have plenty to last until spring. During the spring, of course, you don’t need squares to live. Everything is blooming again. Is it true that you found Savi and Gamus?”

I choked. “Uh, that’s a secret that no one is supposed to know about.”

“No one? Everyone knows! When I was delivering my hornflower, the whole line was talking about nothing but the skinnings. It’s a shame. Gamus was a good man. You know, he brought me food one spring, when I lay ill. He liked to share these wild pears he would pick, too. No more pears for anyone now. Not every day you meet someone like that. Most people would never stoop to help a ghoul.”

I marveled at the inability of the locals to keep a secret. “What else are they saying?”

“That it’s too dangerous to disperse, to go off alone or to go far. That we all need to stick together. Safer that way. But that would severely limit our harvest. Some said they wouldn’t be going back out again because they’re too scared. It’s going to be a rough season. Our numbers won’t be very good this year.”

“I didn’t mean that. I mean—thank you, though. That’s interesting.”

“What did you mean, then?”

“About that thing I’m not supposed to speak of. Do we know who did it?”

“They say it was the Emperor of Pain.”

“Gruesome nickname.”

“It’s not a nickname.. It’s hereditary. It’s a post that someone fills. The leader of the Pentagon used to go by that name. Only a sorcerer could fill the role. He was here for ages upon ages, all the way up until the trading post. They drove him out once they established the trading post. Now, the post harvests spices here and mines the earth for ore,. Instead of the sorcerer doing it. He’s angry at that and wants to put everything back the way it was. Make everything his own once again.”

“A sorcerer... is that an omega or an alpha with magical talents?”

“Most likely,” Beko shrugged. “That’s what they say about the last Emperor of Pain—that he was a powerful sorcerer.”

“I’m not a big fan of rumors.”

“You think they’re fibbing?” the ghoul asked.

“Think about it. If he’s so mighty as all that, why is this trading post still intact? He lacks the strength to drive out a bunch of foragers and traders? Where’s his army? Ash has what, twenty-five guards? So the power here is Ash. He doesn’t even look that strong—neither do any of his guards.”

“Ash is a great warrior, they say.”

“I won’t argue that. But no matter how you frame it, the Emperor of Pain must be weaker.”

“He is not alone. Bandits report to him. All the scum of the region come and—”

“And are just as weak as he is,” I stabbed back.

“The Emperor of Pain doesn’t just kill someone. He destroys them.”

“What?”

Beko cautiously glanced across the river. “These people torment their victims. The more pain they suffer, the more blasphemous power the Emperor of Pain harvests from them. When he accrues enough of this power, he can raise the very dead and subjugate them to his will. The undead are very hard to kill. They are dead already, aren’t they? Without magic, I doubt Ash could ever get to him. And Ash has no magic.”

“Things that go bump in the night,” I shook my head. “If this legendary Lecter had undead underlings, they would overrun this trading post without a moment’s pause.”

“The undead cannot come to our shore,” Beko replied.

“What prevents them?”

“This is Wild Wood. A diverse place, with all sorts of wonders. Here, you find places where entry is categorically denied to certain kinds of beings. The undead of the Emperor of Pain cannot cross the river.”

“So why doesn’t he unleash his minions on the hornflower