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

channels which could only be manipulated by the mind—or the animal instinct—of a creature of the ORDER.

I would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, spending 200 units to develop 2 attributes had decently reduced the chi in my reservoir. Now, I would watch to see if the leak slowed or not.

* * *

Disaster struck at the twenty-third fish. The first twenty-two had been a breeze to pull out, their seven-eight pounds of weight hardly an exertion even for me. Kote were powerful creatures, but when securely hooked, you needed no more than a few minutes to drag them ashore.

Everything was going fine at first. Upon feeling the bite, I pulled on the cord, puncturing the fish’s maw with the rough iron hook. Then, ignoring the disturbed kote’s protests, I began to spin right to left, winding the cord over my torso. It felt a bit silly impersonating a giant spool, but it kept my hands intact and the cord untangled.

A powerful force knocked me off my feet. I skidded forward a few yards, ending up in the cold water as I dug my heels instinctively into the sand. The braking effort worked, but it took all of my strength to resist the force from pulling me into the river. It was as though a tractor was dragging me forward. My feet were starting to unearth rocks, signaling that my “anchors” were operating on borrowed time.

What the hell?! This is a common kote, not a great white!

I activated Fishing Instinct for a few seconds, and almost cursed in a long-abandoned tongue from my first life.

The reason for my indignation was obvious: instead of a ten-pound kote, I had a veritable living log thrashing on the other end of the line, a monster no less than seven feet long. I recognized the creature right away. Aside from the cold water, it was these vile things that dissuaded the fort’s inhabitants from opening beach season.

The beast was significantly larger than the fish from which I had begun my angling career. Only where had it come from? I had been looking at the water just moments ago, and hadn’t noticed anything near its size.

But that was idle curiosity to be entertained later. For now, I had work to do.

The block wouldn’t be of any use. I had already wound the cord several times around my midriff, and besides, the stake wouldn’t hold. The fish was too huge, too strong. Even if the stake were firmly secured deep in the sand, it would rip it out with ease.

“Beko!!!” I bellowed.

“What?” the ghoul exclaimed.

“Hold on to me!”

“How?!”

“Literally hold me! It’s trying to pull me in!”

“Is it large?”

“Larger than the very first one!”

“Woot! Ged caught a big one!”

“It’s not so clear who’s caught whom yet!”

The fish pulled again, dragging me another yard into the water, my heels leaving large burrows in the sand. Beko followed, holding on to my shoulders with both hands.

This is going to end badly for us.

“Get on my feet!” I yelled.

“How?!”

“Literally,  stand on my feet and push them into the sand! Harder! I’m braking with my heels! Help me dig my heels in!”

I kept screaming, trying to express the same message in every way possible, until Beko finally grasped it. He climbed up on my shins with his bare feet, then crouched, holding on to the back of my head. There was nothing else to hold on to, and our balance wasn’t steady. We continued in this precarious position for several seconds.

“It can’t pull us now!” Beko exclaimed triumphantly, staring unblinkingly at the cord, taut like a cello string.

“You haven’t felt its true strength yet,” I said tensely.

I should have kept quiet. The next moment the fish jerked with such force that I nearly shrieked with pain, as the cord wrapped around my body dug into my flesh. I felt as though it was cutting me to pieces.

Thankfully, the cord slackened after several seconds, no longer pulled by anything.

Pushing Beko off of me unceremoniously, I scampered back to land and began pulling out the cord hastily, laying it out on the ground. I didn’t bother pulling out the dangling orphaned end of the cord, but began wriggling out of my wet clothes. The day was gloomy and the water wasn’t as warm as one might expect on a late spring day, as evidenced by my chattering teeth.

“Where is the fish?” Beko asked, baffled, as he followed my lead in removing his wet clothes.

“No fish for us,” I replied in a quivering voice, dancing a jig to warm myself up. “The damned thing ripped the cord.”

“We should have been using wild leek. It’s tougher. And free,” the ghoul sighed.

“It wouldn’t have helped. Not this time, anyway. This kote was much too big for us.”

I noticed Beko staring at something behind me, fear filling his eyes.

It all made sense when I turned around and saw the Carps, in full force. Even Romris was with them—the cousin of the leader of this band of ragamuffins.

The first thought that unwittingly came to mind was that, upon seeing us dancing buck-naked on the beach, the crew had decided to exact their vengeance on us at last, and that things were about to get hairy. But it soon became obvious that they meant no harm. Though not exactly beaming with warmth and friendliness, they showed no signs of aggression.

“Fishing?” Romris asked glumly.

I nodded, teeth still chattering.

“A huge kote bit. Ended up ripping our tackle.”

“Pray to ORDER that it chokes on your stone and croaks,” Romris declared mockingly, then spun around and made for the awning.

“Will you need help hauling baskets today?” Satat inquired warily.

I hadn’t felt this cold since... Well, ever. Yes, I’d never felt this kind of cold. So I half-spoke, half-howled my