Alpha

Alpha Zero by Arthur Stone follows a boy who should never have survived past infancy in a world where strength determines who lives and who dies. Born an “empty” child with no ability to cultivate power, he reaches the age of thirteen barely able to walk, his continued existence bought at great cost by a struggling clan on the fringes of civilization. When strangers arrive at the family estate, their presence forces a brutal choice between an early death and the desperate pursuit of survival through cultivation. The novel blends fantasy, survival, and progression elements as a physically frail but determined male protagonist confronts a world that has already written him off.

Some say these lands are the most dangerous in the entire North.The Grove is a perilous wound on the face of the planet, home to the most fearsome creatures in all of Rock. Death himself has trod these paths, leaving in his wake freakish mutants who still bear within themselves a piece of his morbid nature.The only thing more difficult than reaching the Grove is leaving it alive. If you came unwillingly in the first place, escape is impossible – unless, of course, you are a great hero.I’m no great hero. Just a level zero, whose last life ended in frailty, failure, and flame.But I’ve never let the fact that something is “impossible” stop me before. Bring it on.

I had a plan. A good one that I thought through really well. But it
only took a single cunning dwarf accompanied by two goons to force me
into acting earlier than I’d planned to and before I could complete
all my preparations. So all my plans needed revision in face of a
bunch of unpleasant surprises.

Instead of using an army of silent helpers to eradicate the scourge,
I’d have to act on my own. The town that might conceal something I’d
been searching for so long turned out to be under siege.

Apart from that, I got mistaken for a spy and a bloodthirsty maniac
offered me a walk to a place most often mentioned to scare children.

The plan might have not been that great to begin with, after all…

So you want a brilliant cut for your rough diamond? In that case, you should get on with the cutting! That’s how I found myself looking for a suitable lapidarist. Since I was anything but your run-of-the-mill little rock, the master crafter also had to be special.

The one fitting the bill happened to be truly excellent, but, alas, he did have his quirks, too. A recluse living on top of a tall, barren mountain, he did not take kindly to most uninvited intruders, sending them back rolling down the hill in the most unceremonious of manners. And he had plenty of secrets too—of which the most unexpected would leave anyone gasping for breath.

And hey, I did not even think anything could surprise me anymore.

For two years, I have been thinking of this place and how to get here. Every step in my grand masterplan was but a waystation en route to the main prize.
The door.
And what a special door it is! Behind it lies what will not only make me strong, but put me at the very top of this world. Or at least close.
At the moment, the door is as good as locked for me. Unapproachable. To get access, I will have to do my damnedest because you cannot just buy your way to it using regular cash. One needs a special currency here: points. Rating points.

Some things cannot be bought for cash. Not even a pot of gold would buy you those coveted tally marks on the blackboard.
Rumor has it that this year's leaders will receive an unusual reward from the Emperor himself. The exact nature of that reward is a mystery to everyone. What is absolutely clear though is that the number of prizes is limited, and just about everyone wants them.
So let the battle begin—in the hearts and minds, within the school walls, on training grounds, and even in the streets of the capital city. This will be the ultimate test of one's strength and cunning. It will be fair—and not. It will be bloodless—and the stuff of one's worst gory nightmares. And the winner will take all.
Brace yourselves, boys and girls. The battle for the rankings is about to kick off.

An unexpected roadmap—or better yet, a book—makes looking for treasure so much easier. Reading into it what the authors have never even thought about makes for a welcome extra bonus. These are all but lucky waystations on my journey to the doorsteps of this world’s greatest mystery.
But there’s a everyone and his brother has already been there, and even the worst losers know the way.
So, is this the end of the road? The demise of the Great Plan?
Or have they all knocked on the door the wrong way?

Imagine a warm, beautiful country populated by friendly and happy people that live in harmony under a true democratically elected government. In a feudal world dominated by a small cohort of ruthless nobles that would indeed be a bright spot, right? It sure would—except keep dreaming, folks. Where our hero is going this time is the exact opposite of the above—a slum of a city in the middle of a dry, inhospitable desert, pervasive corruption, and all kinds of formidable enemies. Just about the only thing that seems real in that strange place is democracy, believe it or not, but even that is an aberration and a smokescreen at best. And though the task at hand looks like a piece of cake at first, it surely isn’t. However, the price of failure is finding yourself in a certain unfortunate secret hallway in the local ruler’s palace. You don’t want that to happen. Trust us on that.

The enemy is strong. There are a lot of them, and they are pressing the attack forward. Me, I don’t have enough supplies and weapons for my army. Heck, I don’t even have an army to speak of. Corruption is rampant, the government is in free fall, and rioting mobs run free. Thievery is rampant to the point that even my old friend Beko is left speechless. Because it is not his own doing.
But the worst of it is they want me to pull out of that unfortunate place altogether—and save face too. Because the Empire never abandons its friends, does it? Jeez, it may well be easier to just win. And change the regime while I am at it.