Rewind: A Grimdark LitRPG Series (Pyresouls Apocalypse, Book 1) by James Callum (reading tree .txt) 📕

he couldn’t. Alec was at least on par with him by this point. If Alec was sent back to his Pyre, that would at least give Jacob a little advantage on him.

But he wasn’t going to let that sneak stab his best friend in the back. Motioning for Camilla to come over, he pointed at the dark figure across the alley. The figure kept their head bent and eyes glued to the gold armor of Alec’s.

Most people thought you could steal armor from a downed enemy and so people with particularly beautiful and rare armor were targeted frequently. At least, until people realized that this wasn’t a normal game where you could loot the items of dead players.

He knew what he had to do. Jacob removed his [Elite Knight’s Helm] and tugged on the [Assassin’s Cowl]. It was one of the few items that was not a consumable that would hide his identity from another player.

Which meant he could kill Alec without the man ever knowing.

It also had decent boosts to riposte and backstab damage. With only 2 Guilt, it wasn’t a bad piece of equipment but its defense was abysmal.

Jacob gave Camilla the sign to attack the man on the other rooftop. One of many that they had developed while they were under the silence effect in the Asylum of Silent Sorrows. Jacob dismissed his shield and started to run.

Even though he wore only a single piece of the [Assassin’s Attire] set, his normally clanky and loud footsteps were decently muffled.

It felt good to have somebody to fight alongside again.

You mean it feels good to have Camilla by your side again. Jacob nearly missed a step at the errant thought. He pushed hard at it, focusing on the task at hand.

The assassin across the way, however, still heard his footsteps and looked up just as a ball of writhing fire slammed into their chest.

Launching himself into the air, Jacob took hold of his [Longsword] in both hands as he used Heat Blade to limn it with shimmering fire.

With the explosion distracting Alec, turning his gaze to the opposite roof, he never saw Jacob’s attack coming. It was somewhere in between the grace of Falcon Dives and the brutal strength of Planting the Flag.

With the many stacking bonuses from Jacob’s use of a Sword Form, the cowl’s bonus to backstabs, and his Heat Blade, the damage was higher than it should have been.

Jacob’s flaming sword pierced Alec’s armor just to the side of the neck, right through the meat of his shoulder. His blade sunk to the hilt, puncturing Alec’s lung. Even with Alec’s impressive armor, the attack still did 115 points of damage.

But Alec - like Jacob - had more Health than that.

The man crumpled beneath Jacob’s assault, and Jacob was thrown from Alec with the force of the collision. He tumbled forward in a clatter that left his flaming blade inside Alec, but even the continual bite of the flames wasn’t enough to finish the man off.

Reeling from the attack, Alec began to stir against the threat. Before he rose another inch, a column of fire immolated him, finishing off what little Health remained.

“Sorry, buddy,” he said to the corpse once he got to his feet and touched the crimson wisp that floated above it.

You defeat [Alec].

Awarded 4,500 Souls.

He felt a pang of guilt and wondered if Alec would have treated him differently if he knew that it was Jacob who had killed him.

He shook his head, that wasn’t important, unfortunately. Alec’s setback was for the good of all.

Camilla gingerly picked her way down from the roof and together they fled Hollow Dreams. He was hardly surprised when Camilla came along with him through the Fog Gate without issue.

29

September 10th, 2035 – 3 days remain before the Collapse.

They walked in silence for a while across the dusty plains that slowly sloped downward. Their path was filled with tall rocky outcroppings hiding shambling Vacant that, while threatening, were slow in their heavy armor.

Despite the Souls they offered - 800 each - Jacob urged Camilla to let them be. The pair sprinted when they needed to but kept up a steady jog the rest of the time to keep ahead of their potential adversaries.

“They’re a trap,” Jacob said as they descended into the canyon. A black wall of rising smoke greeted them to the south nearly a mile away. The smoke was easily visible in the bright moonlight of the night as it rose and blotted out the stars above.

The western side of the canyon leading to Journey’s End was hidden by the rising gray stone walls on either side of them.

Scrub brush clung to the walls here and there with stunted trees vying for whatever foothold they could gain. With the Vacant far behind them, it was almost peaceful.

“How do you figure?” she asked, placing a hand on her floppy hat as a mournful breeze groaned through the canyon. “I killed a few on the way into Hollow Dreams. They give decent Souls and aren’t hard to kill.”

“Both true,” Jacob agreed. “But they were heavily armored. They would have taken a long time to kill even if they were relatively easy to do so.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that a bunch of heavily armored, slow, and bulky creatures were between Hollow Dreams and one of the most important regions in Lormar?”

Camilla shrugged her shoulders. “Not really, no.”

Jacob was glad his visor was still down so she couldn’t see him rolling his eyes at her. This was real to her, he had to remember. It is real but it was also built up as a game.

And as a game, it would make plenty of sense to put easy - but time-consuming - targets as a tantalizing distraction right before the final goal.

Those that were strong enough or felt they might be, could bypass the creatures with little trouble.

People who stopped to farm them - with no Pyre for miles - would have to return to Hollow Dreams, rest