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

then,” I replied. “We have three baskets left. This monster will nearly fill two of them—we’ll have to lash any new ones to the raft.”

“We can do that with these wild leek stalks,” Beko replied. “Lots of fish is good. Our fish. Plenty for us to buy lots of delicious food!”

“And clothing and everything else,” I agreed. “First, though, we have to repay our debt. I do not wish to owe anyone. We can handle that today, once we sell this batch. We’ll have plenty left for food. Then, we can figure out how much some good clothing and shoes cost.” Beko was used to walking around barefoot, but that was no way for a winner to live.

And then what? Well, I would keep catching more and more fish, squeezing every bit out of this windfall that I could. The rewards the ORDER granted me were automatically stashed in the pouch I had received from mother. It was now bursting at the seams—I had to find somewhere to stash everything.

When the ORDER has nowhere to put something, it puts it right in the winner’s mouth. And since marks and symbols can be quite substantial, I had heard some stories about their recipients choking on them.

My case might prove much worse. A particularly successful catch would see the ORDER packing my mouth so full of goodies that it might break my jaw.

Or dislocate it, at least.

I did not want that. This evening, I would redistribute my loot into other containers. I did not want to take it out of the invisible pouch, of course—but there was nothing else I could do.

After finishing up the last bite of bread, I considered an additional raid on the supplies. Fifty yards upriver, a double splash punched into the air. This was one of the signs of a school of those mysterious fish I had wanted to get to know better.

Fishing Instinct convinced me I was right. Six agile silhouettes glided straight down the river, barely deviating from a perfect line, along a constant depth. The only exception in their steadfastness was an occasional rise to the top, producing the double splashes. They were only minor splashes, true, since the fish kept very close to the surface.

My spinning rod had not yet fought with this kind of fish.

I would rectify that shortcoming.

Standing, I activated Fishing Instinct again. Casting a line at these bolts of lightning was a real undertaking.

I had to aim and swing while keeping my talent active. All of that after allowing the school to come closer, of course—my spinning rod and tackle, though unique in the world of Rock, were still primitive and capable of little.

My cast was true: just ahead of the pack. After giving the spoonbait a moment to begin sinking, I hastily began tugging it. Normally, I would have given it more time, but the current was already pulling. Unless I moved quickly, my lure would simply float, exhibiting none of that sparkly rotation that attracted predators of all kinds.

The line tugged back. It was a single pull, sharp and powerful, nothing like the string of lesser tugs characteristic of the kotes. A surge of water erupted from the fish as it jumped clean out of the river. Its dark flesh flew into the air, as high as my eye level—it was not gigantic, but this leap proved that I was in for a fight that could not be matched by any kote.

The battle would be legendary. Once the remarkable fish reentered the water, it made straight for the bottom. For the first time in my fishing career, I had to release the spinner and give the fish some slack. I was not strong enough to hold my prey during this burst of energy.

But keeping it at a greater distance was actually what I wanted. This way, it would not encounter the anchor line. So, I gave the fish more and more slack, biding my time until it ran out of steam.

Even the most powerful creatures in Rock had limited Stamina, and this was not a powerful creature.

The fish’s efforts began to fail. Its pulls grew weaker and its jumps lower. Soon, it did not surge to the surface with enough force to fly out of the water, just to stand on its tail for a moment and then fall, allowing me to pull it another foot closer.

Once it was close enough to the boat, the net went in, the clubs went to work, and then the ORDER recognized the battle as over.

You have dealt significant damage to the garpike. You have dealt fatal damage to the garpike. The garpike is dead. You have defeated a garpike (4th Degree). This is your first victory over a garpike! You played a decisive role in its defeat.

You receive:

Garpike Defeated

Lesser Symbol of Chi x30

Attribute Mark, Agility x5

Attribute Mark, Stamina x10

Attribute Mark, Strength x7

Lesser Standard Attribute Mark x2

Personal Talent Mark, River Battler x1

Personal Talent Mark, Detect Traps x1

Personal Talent Mark, Natural Instinct x1

Personal Talent Mark, Orientation x1

Lesser Standard Talent Mark x14

Personal Talent Mark, Fishing Instinct x1

Personal Talent Mark, Trolling with Spinning Rod x1

First Victory: Garpike! (decisive role)

Medium Symbol of Chi x1

Medium Attribute Mark, Agility x1

The fish most resembled a sturgeon, and it weighed a little more than twenty-five pounds. Its nose was shaped differently, though, and it had plates protecting the carcass from all three sides—its white underbelly being the exception. Scales grew there, too, but they were underdeveloped, like rough warts.

It was a smaller fish, I thought, than that first monster kote I had landed—the one that nearly pulled me under. God only knows what would have happened had I not chanced upon that sunken snag. However, the ORDER told me this here was a level 4 creature, which would be