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

Wisps are able to walk across the red soil on their legs, which are also sensitive organs that  detect the slightest vibrations in the soil. Once they do detect any, wisps  begin to panic and signal their master. The master will transmit special energy to all panicking individuals, lightening their weight for a time. With this reduced weight, wisps are able to fly at low altitudes for a limited time. But without their master’s energy, the wisp’s small wings cannot lift it, and only help them balance and move on their vibration-sensing legs.

Wisps are not carnivorous. They primarily feed on rukh excrement. Each rukh rules a swarm of several dozen wisps. In rare cases, when a very old rukh is involved, a swarm can grow to a hundred or more individuals.

Wisps are aggressive. Their primary prey is cystos pollinators, which they hunt during mating migration seasons. Once they smell their prey, the wisps rush towards it and sting, injecting a strong paralyzing poison. After stinging, the wisp immediately goes to the center of the swarm, where the rukh is located, and signals the position of its prey with special buzzing patterns. This brings the rukh out of meditation and causes him to move towards the prey, traveling along the ceiling of the cystos structure. Once he reaches the indicated position, he leaps down on the prey, landing precisely and crushing its bones or shell with his immense weight. Then, the rukh swallows his prey entirely. It can even digest teeth or wool. Then, the wisps wait to digest the rukh excrement.

When their master dies, wisps lose their aggression and enter a state of total apathy. They gather by their rukh’s carcass, without responding to any stimulus whatsoever, until they perish of hunger or inactivity.

This description pleased me so much that I barely had the willpower to force myself back to the swamp. I wanted to keep pumping this talent, right here and right now.

But I remembered what had occurred when I activated it. Don’t take unnecessary chances.

None of the specialization choices struck me as particularly attractive. The best I found was Monster Instinct. It allowed me to determine the probability that Chaos creatures were near. But this only worked if the creature’s power level did not exceed the enlightenment degree of the talent user. And as long as the distance wasn’t too great.

For tier 3, I selected Mark Monster. If the description rang true, I could use this talent to mark a chosen creature. It would remain in my field of vision even if there were obstacles between us. The description specified that this was “for a time,” but I didn’t know whether that was seconds, minutes, or hours. Distance limitations were also unclear. It was obvious, though, that the maximum distance grew with talent tier, and that everything depended on the power level of the monster targeted. This talent didn’t just work on Chaos creatures but on ORDER creatures as well. It might even work on humans—though I wasn’t sure about that.

Of course, I could try it out on Beko.

But first I would stay here just a little longer. I wanted to figure out my way around the marker system. Being able to mark monsters and map points was obviously a useful perk—but I wasn’t at all accustomed to it yet.

If I could indeed track the movement of individual wisps, that would provide me important information. Information I needed to finally get out of these foggy lowlands.

Chapter 39 Winning Plans

Degrees of Enlightenment: 0 (335/888)

Shadow: 335

Attributes:

Stamina: level 7, 350 points

Strength: level 4, 200 points (200+50)

Agility: level 5, 250 points (250+26)

Perception: level 3, 150 points

Spirit: level 2, 100 points

Energy:

Warrior Energy: 150 points (+4.89)

Mage Energy: 100 points

ORDER Talents:

Extreme Boatman (tier 3): 10/10

Fishing Connoisseur (tier 3): 10/10

Cure Wounds (tier 3): 10/10

Throwing Knives (tier 3): 10/10

Apprentice Navigator (tier 3): 10/10

Chaos Talents:

Mark Monster (tier 3): 10/10

Free Talents:

Spinning Rod Master (tier 3): 10/10

States:

Equilibrium (15.44): level 15

Enhanced Enlightenment (0.79): level 0

Shadow of Chi (0.69): level 0

Measure of Order (3.28): level 3

This kote was not a common fish. I had selected a larger lure and aimed for the middle specimen. It had weighed 25 pounds, give or take. Slowly the fish had made its way past a large underwater rock. That had been my target—but then this alligator-sized fish had leaped out of nowhere to seize my lure. My intended fish had correctly evaluated the situation and escaped.

I had already lost one of my beloved shiny lures less than an hour before. Some unknown beast had torn it off, along with a decent length of line. I could not let myself lose this one too. There were no traders in this region. I had to rely on the stock of hooks and lures that we had brought with us.

Few remained.

Had a fishing encounter like this one happened some 15 days ago or so, I would have ended fighting for my life in the water. The monster would pose a serious challenge even to an adult. Now, thanks to both the ORDER and Chaos, I had four Strength attribute levels, comprising 250 absolute units of Strength. Not counting my amulet, whose exact parameters were still a mystery. So that particular attribute was about as high as the Strength of a well-developed commoner at 4th Degree Enlightenment. That wasn’t incredible, but it was enough to fight this river giant on equal terms. Thankfully, the strength of my line and ruggedness of my spinning reel allowed me to maintain the upper hand.

There was one important nuance though. The raft was not anchored, so the fish dragged it along, gradually exhausting itself. I only had to keep it from snapping the line with a desperate jerk—or unreeling