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

to this many fish. My spinning rod invention was worth it. However, it still had not paid for itself. Kote spices are of little value, especially in the smaller specimens. The fish themselves were worth even less. But as long as I caught an equal amount the following day, I would be able to repay the blacksmith and carpenter in full.

About three hundred and fifty people resided at the Blackriver trading station, nomads and visitors not included. If half of them were well fed by the town, times were relatively good. The rest were not in permanent employment and received, at most, a meager ration for services rendered such as wild leek harvesting. If I kept bringing in so much fish, though, there would be a surplus. The people ate more than just the gifts of the river, after all.

Jadiro had hinted at this as he counted out the money. However, he did not see it as too much of a problem. Some of the catch could be salted and smoked, and then sold to the residents of the free villages and outposts situated on the right bank of Blackriver. As long as the brains were suctioned out from a neat hole cut in the back of each fish’s head—and not using the crude manner in which we usually cleaned our catch.

I told him we would do exactly this. We wanted our catch to earn maximal profits. I even hinted that we might catch more the next day. Or the day after.

The innkeeper was so inspired by our success that he offered us a loan, in exchange for a percentage of the catch that he claimed was “fair.” He knew that I was in debt to a couple of craftsmen. I politely declined the financial assistance, but said that if I changed my mind, I would know who to turn to.

In actuality, the terms of the loan were sheer usury. The condescension of the man’s offer left me torn as to whether to laugh or to cry. Or to spit in his face. As contradictory as it might sound, in this world where numbers were all-important, mathematical literacy was rare. This fat man was likely certain I would put two and two together and make five, and that, consequently, he could rob me blind-minded. He had learned his multiplication and division to a fourth-grade level. Impressive, I thought, and I was serious: this was quite the accomplishment for a commoner here.

Beko and I ate so much that night that he asked to be excused from his lessons. The only thing he could manage to do well on a stomach that full, he claimed, was sleep until morning.

I eagerly assented. Swinging and flinging the weighty spinning rod around all day had tired me already, before the gluttony of the evening. I had other matters to attend to before bed, as well: distributing the rewards of the day. Any such changes in my ORDER numbers would cut down my strength significantly for a time. Utter relaxation during and after this process was strongly recommended.

My invention of the spinning rod, my discovery of the new talent, and the various associated achievements had earned me many valuable perks unknown during standard kote fishing. I could crush my way through several stages of progress in one fell swoop. Perhaps at the end I would match Beko—or even be stronger than him. Although I had never made such leaps before, I suspected this would have serious physical consequences.

Consequences that were at once terrific and terrifying.

First, I reclined as comfortably as possible. Calming my racing mind, I realized that with straw in short supply, I could make a softer bed for myself by drying some reeds. But with my stomach full, even the bed I had now was very pleasant to lie on.  But a comfort upgrade would go a long way.

As I slipped into a peaceful, detached state of mind, I began to make my changes.

First, I poured all 12 Greater Symbols of Chi into my leaking reservoir. I would need a lot of this pervasive energy source. Each of these contained 50 units.

My Dexterity points had reached 43, my Stamina 47, and my Strength 39. I did not touch my universal marks, which could be applied to any attribute. This brought my Stamina level to 3, my Agility to 2, and my Strength, at last, to 1. The 6 total points worked out perfectly, since the rule was to ensure that no two attributes were equal to each other.

It was a woefully inconvenient rule, but I supposed the ORDER had some good reason for it.

I had begun the day with only three attributes. Now, I had all six. Although the physical effects were noticeable, I did not faint. The back of my head tingled slightly, I heard a rustling in my ears, and my drowsiness increased. I wasn’t sure that the latter effect was from my changes. After all, I had spent most of the day fishing, and it was only yesterday that I had begun to recover from my illness.

I risked sitting up. A wave of mild dizziness came over me, pushing me to lean back against the cold wall. Two or three minutes passed before I lay back down and risked more changes.

I wasn’t about to touch my attributes any further. Let them cool off a little.

Nor did I touch my talents. My current talents were sufficient for now, so I could handle point distribution tomorrow, or even later. Depending on how I felt.

I moved on to states, of which there were also six. Two were currently unlocked, and I could unlock two more. The ORDER had provided me with a couple of trophy items to this effect: a personal greater embodiment of the Chi Shadow state and a personal greater embodiment of the Measure of Order state. The first would increase my Shadow;