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

Her lips twitched in a knowing smile.

Though the physical damage of the weapon dropped, its overall damage went up, considerably. The doubled Stamina cost was a shock but he had to remind himself that he functionally created a brand new weapon. Secretly, he felt a little better with that huge downside.

As weak as the simple [Longsword] was, it still had a purpose. He could flow from one Form to the next with the [Longsword] but the [Vile Mace] would chew through his Stamina in two to three swings.

There was nothing stopping him from being able to upgrade it further at a later date. And though the damage was now split between physical and magical, it gave him a rare magical type of damage he didn’t have before: Chaos.

Not only that, but the weapon could now cause stagger, poison, break, and whatever corrode was. He never heard of it before but the word, combined with the description of the weapon and what he knew of the Great Old One painted a good picture.

With a grumble - glad that he hadn’t rested yet after his last parameter reinforcement - Jacob reinforced his TMP by 1, raising it to 15. Immediately he felt the weight of the [Vile Mace] lighten in his grip.

With no more [Dull Sparks] to reinforce anything and only 1,457 Souls to his name, Jacob curled up next to the Fire Oppa and fell into a deep restful sleep.

There was no way to tell the time within the Smog Rifts since it plunged the world into a smoky eternal night, but a glance at his clock showed that it was still September 10th. Though it was later in the day than he would have hoped.

Jacob got to his feet. He shook his head. Over a thousand Souls and there was nothing he could do with them. Already his next parameter reinforcement would cost him 4,581 Souls.

“Are you ready to go, Camilla?” he asked.

The ruby-eyed elven woman eyed his mace apprehensively. “So long as you watch where you’re swinging that thing, yes I’m ready.”

With one last check to make sure everything was in order, Jacob hefted the [Phoenix Tree Crest Shield] and stepped out into the wall of smoke.

30

“Oh man! Did you see that, Camilla?” Jacob bellowed with a hearty laugh.

You defeat the [Rot Soldier].

Awarded 450 Souls.

That last Rot Soldier went flying, in four different pieces. It wasn’t too long until lanky creations of exposed bone and skeleton reared out of the pits around them.

Jacob had managed to convince Camilla to hold off until he could try out his new [Vile Mace]. It was completely, hilariously broken. He could trigger the corrosive effect but it chewed into the durability when he did so, costing 50 durability each use.

He would be able to use its unique ability 10 times before the weapon broke and he would need to repair it. But even without using its special function, it was so heavy that a single-handed swing carried enough power behind it to blast through these strange monsters.

[Vile Mace] swinging with abandon, Jacob laughed gleefully as he blasted apart one bone-and-sinew creature after the next. Some took a few hits but with his new shield he could weather more attacks.

It was an interesting give-and-take. The [Vile Mace] ate up his Stamina like a man dying of thirst while his new [Phoenix Tree Crest Shield] was splendidly efficient with its Stamina usage.

Combined, he was still expending more Stamina by a country mile compared to his sword but he didn’t need his high skill here. Raw power, unfortunately, trumped his skillful swordplay when attacking unthinking, fodder-like monsters that didn’t parry or dodge.

A Rot Soldier clambered out of a hole in front of the pair as a blast of noxious black fumes erupted from the cracks to either side. Shield raised to fend off any clawing attacks, Jacob rushed the creature and with one mighty swing of his [Vile Mace] crushed its exposed ribs into powder.

It wasn’t even fair.

A part of Jacob mourned the loss of his finely-honed skills. It was replaced with brutal strength that while addictive in its own right, was shallow and lacking.

Heat Blade and it’s big brother, Flame Blade didn’t work with the [Vile Mace]. That Flame Blade didn’t work was unsurprising considering the [Vile Mace] was technically another Covenant’s alignment. Naturally, the two didn’t play nice.

But Heat Blade also didn’t work and he could only assume it was due to the already enchanted nature of the weapon.

He didn’t need to parry and take advantage of tiny lapses in an opponent’s defense.

He could smash aside any defense thrown at him like the breaking tide. A rather fitting mental image considering the empowering Soul’s origins.

The next two Rot Soldiers that opposed him were crushed beneath his unrelenting assault. One’s skeletal face was crunched down into its chest with a heavy overhand chop, a sloppy rendition of Hammering the Nail.

Jacob stepped back, raising his shield to cover the slow backswing of the unwieldy weapon. Two clawing strikes scraped against the shield but he accepted the blows, biding his time to get the [Vile Mace] back under his control.

He would need to reinforce his STR the next chance he got. While he wasn’t below any requirements for the [Vile Mace], its power was unwieldy with his current STR. Raising it - or dramatically increasing his Mace Skill - would help him to control the weapon better.

Twisting, Jacob let his body’s momentum do most of the work as his tentacle-headed mace whipped around, his arm at full extension. Breaking Rocks shattered the creature’s upraised arm and shoulder.

Up went his shield to cover the backswing. After two hits and blocking two more, he was almost out of Stamina. While the [Vile Mace] was fun to blast things apart with, a single miss or glancing blow required him to bide his time and recover his Stamina.

With only 94 Stamina, a single light attack of the [Vile Mace] took off nearly a third of his Stamina,