Alpha Zero (Alpha LitRPG Book 1) Arthur Stone (hardest books to read .txt) 📖

was rather uneventful. It got us some food and got me some more chi, which I hoped to spend soon on the Artificer talent. My instincts told me that would be a useful addition, and one that I should not delay—since the amulet’s charge would not last forever. I wanted to somehow be able to work with it right now, not after it ran out.

Still, that Chaos talent was the most intriguing for the short term. At last I had enough marks to get it.

You are about to learn the talent Monster Connoisseur. This is a Chaos talent, but it can be learned by your species. The consequences of learning Chaos talents are unpredictable. In order to reduce the likelihood of failure, make sure you eat well over the next few days. Use the strongest spices you can obtain.

This was the first such warning I had ever seen the ORDER provide. Chaos talents must have been rare and protected indeed. I had to follow this advice.

We were too fearful to light a fire, so I had to make do with raw fish. There were gobs of fish, of course, so we could pick the best parts. It wasn’t exactly luxury food, but I wouldn’t go hungry. So I was good on that part.

Spices, though? We had already grown weary of munching on kote brains and livers flavored with precious garpike caviar and hups, the fungi worth more than gold. Many a noble would envy us if they knew our diet here. For breakfast today, I had consumed as much spice wealth as my mother’s entire estate had earned in a year. She had not been the richest noble, of course, but a few dozen peasant families had worked for those left in the Crow Clan by the end.

I made no hesitation to activate the talent mark.

Thankfully, I did so sitting down, or I would have collapsed.

My vision went dark, and my legs felt like strange mounds of wadding. I nearly fell over on to my side. The sounds of the surrounding world had vanished, muffled by the thundering of my heart, which had decided it should make all attempt to jump out of my chest.

This was certainly a unique item.

For a few minutes, I became helpless. All I could do was mentally curse my own stupidity. I should have left the red lands before I began. So what if there were no wisps here, near the outskirts? I didn’t know the complete behavior profiles of these creatures. What if they arranged a massive assault right now?

My death would be swift and stupid. I’d wake up in the digestive tract of this mysterious rukh, and no one would ever even know how I died. Just that the river swept Beko and me away. The ghoul wouldn’t survive without me. We would both die.

Thankfully, none of the buzzing balloons approached my limp body. A half hour passed before the negative effects subsided. Only a slight nausea and weakness remained, and my hands trembled.

Monster Connoisseur talent learned! It has adapted itself ideally to your specie’s capabilities. This is a rare characteristic for Chaos talents. Now, you can develop it, choose various talent branches, and duplicate it. This should not cause any significant negative consequences.

The ORDER was being very sociable today. It was congratulating me on my success. There was even that unambiguous indication that my well-being would not suffer in the future.

Still, I rose and limped back to the swamp. I sat down at the very edge of the red land—any further, and I would have to sit in a puddle—and began to boost my new talent.

Only once I reached level 10 of the 1st tier did I actually investigate my new abilities. They were unclear at first. The user interface ran into all kinds of bugs, glitches, and delays when trying to manage a Chaos talent. But I was a stubborn boy, and undoubtedly clever despite my many mistakes, so within a half hour I knew what I wanted to know.

The talent seemed like a real gem.

I rushed back to the place I had last hunted the wisps in order to confirm my suspicions. Crouching down above the carcass of one, I touched its broken wing with my finger, which looked huge against the bug’s deflated body.

Then, I checked the interface again and involuntarily smiled.

There it is! An encyclopedia with information on a multitude of creatures from the world of Rock was now available to me.

The wisp was included. Whether the ORDER or Chaos itself had composed the writeup that followed I did not know. But it was protracted, and included information known neither to me nor to Beko.

It even mentioned the rukh.

Including information so valuable I wanted to jump for joy.

Wisp carcass. No potential artifacts. No signs of life. No signs of undead life. Danger: This creature’s stinger can cause its poisonous effects for days after the creature’s death.

 

The wisp cannot see stationary objects well, but it notices the slightest movement. Like its master, the wisp has a poor sense of smell. However, its hearing is excellent, able to perceive the slightest vibrations in the soil (when in walking mode, without the energy of its master).

 

The wisp is a creature of both ORDER and Chaos, but more of Chaos. Wisps have been encountered ranging from the 1st to the 9th degrees of Chaos. The common range is 2nd to 6th degree. This small creature lives in the lowlands, where cystos grow. It only ventures outside of these regions rarely, and only together with its master. This happens only in dry weather, since liquid water is a powerful poison for the wisps’ master, able to cause significant damage on contact.

 

Wisps are bound firmly to their master. Adult wisps cannot change masters. They choose their master during the larval stage of their development.