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

a different set, that would require unlocking other attributes, which was far from simple. Or getting a new degree, which would net six more points to distribute among the same three attributes.

In other words, my second superstructure displayed the attribute levels of a full omega of the third degree. Yet, according to the same superstructure, I had only achieved the second degree of enlightenment.

At first, I couldn’t make heads or tails of this mystery. The natives simply didn’t have multiple superstructures, so what could it mean that I did?

And then it hit me.

Careful not to draw any attention, slipped my hand into the cut of my tunic, found the amulet, then took it out and brought it up to my face, trying not to fall back into my regular state. That is, I tried looking at it with my inner vision, and then tried to make order of the chaos it presented. I followed the same path as before, viewing the picture through the lens of raw computer software.

Experience was a grand thing. Not five minutes had passed before I organized all the information into a neat icon free of anything extra.

Black Claw on a String. Amulet. A vessel for chi that has absorbed a portion of the great might of the Crow Clan.

Active Effects:

Unknown Spellcaster

Conditional Degree of Enlightenment: 2

Stamina: 9 (56 days remaining)

Agility: 6 (56 days remaining)

Strength: 3 (56 days remaining)

Treya the Enlightened from the Crow Clan

Invisibility (44 days remaining)

 

You’ve bonded with this item as a result of a devastating stream of primordial power passing through you.

Did I understand everything that was written? Hardly. I had more questions than I could count.

I had already known that the amulet boosted attributes when worn. That had been the general consensus as to how Gedar had managed to make it to thirteen years of age when most empties died either immediately upon delivery or a few torturous days after.

Except that Gedar had possessed this body for only its first year. For the subsequent twelve, it was occupied by a new owner. And I hadn’t been merely counting flies on the ceiling all of those years, but also studying the world in which I’d ended up against my will. Some things were clear, other things less so or not at all. Either way, I had been dutifully storing all the observed information in my memory bank in hopes that it would come in handy later in life.

My amulet had always added six attribute points. And deficient attributes at that. Three points to Stamina, two to Agility and one to Strength would bring me to the level of a full omega of the first degree. But whereas children at this stage behaved like you would expect—running and jumping and generally horsing around—I had been barely capable of moving my feet. Most of my time I had spent either lying down or lounging in a low armchair. A walk of twenty steps was a record-setting affair that took no less than a minute and required at least one spotter to ensure I didn’t stumble and fall, as such an injury could have easily resulted in my death.

So, any way you sliced it, I was a fragile creature with broken parameters. And those weren’t even mine, but borrowed from a recharged amulet that I had always struggled to adjust to in its brief periods of activity.

And now, I had not six attributes, but eighteen. Even if they were deficient as before, that still meant I was now three times more capable. The practical application of this discovery was not yet clear. I wasn’t feeling any special vigor, but only the familiar pain in every joint, muscle and bone.

Just as the pain was familiar, so was the state. I had experienced it on numerous occasions, albeit not so acutely.

It would happen whenever Camai was a few days late returning from his trips. The reasons for the delay had varied, but the result had been the same—I would experience negative sensations upon reuniting with the amulet’s life-giving power.

After taking the amulet, Camai would put me on forced bed rest, then set out south with maximum speed in search of the nearest master of enchanting offering the required recharging services. Alas, the claw wasn’t of the legendary tier of artifacts, so the attribute boost wasn’t permanent. Magical items that held charges for at least a year carried considerable costs that even top clans were often reticent to pay, never mind those down on their luck. As for the destitute Crow, such luxuries had been well out of reach.

Even my amulet had been far beyond our financial means—nobody knew the lengths to which mother had gone to keep hold of such a powerful item. She had been squeezing every last drop from her pitiful remnants of shudras, and selling every last crumb of clan property. Denying herself all but the very essentials and driving the clan further and further into penury.

Camai had been able to charge the amulet for near one calendar month. That was the amulet’s maximum capacity.

But if the enchantment’s status was to be believed, the effect would fade in fifty-six days. Roughly twice the expected duration.

The boost seemed similar to the one applied to my parameters. So, the simplest answer appeared to be that the power that had escaped the abunai was to blame. The power of the Crow. In my veins coursed their blood, and around my neck hung their amulet, which the clan’s chi had also apparently taken as belonging to me.

The unleashed power had somehow impacted both the claw and me. Unlocking a source of chi and activating my inner eye, and making the black claw more effective.

And the latter must have been the source of my pain. Previously, my frail body experienced discomfort even after Camai’s brief absences, the boosted attributes