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

Without any dangers nearby, Jacob wandered into the village, wondering what the Fire Oppa wanted in coming here.

A guttural, triumphant roar split the air, echoing in the vast space of the Razor Pass behind him.

The Fire Oppa shook and shivered. Jacob lifted him up to the burning flames on his blade, trying to warm him up. That seemed to rouse Fenris a little, enough for him to open his eyes. Though breathing still seemed strenuous.

“Pyres… gone. Make this count, okay? I believe in you.” With a long, drawn-out sigh, the Fire Oppa seemed to deflate and become less substantial. His fur began to glow again, and Jacob felt his heart lift in hope.

But then the embers broke apart into a thousand tiny glowing motes, each of them pulled into Jacob’s armor and body. His armor was repaired in an instant, he felt invigorated, and the flames from his sword burned even brighter and hotter.

Tears stung Jacob’s green eyes as he looked at the empty spot where the Fire Oppa had been.

A faint voice came to him on the breeze that ruffled his hair. Always. With. You.

35

Tears burned Jacob’s eyes and blurred his vision. Heat shimmered over his arms, and for the first time, Jacob felt truly warm. Like he used to feel before Pyresouls Online, before the Collapse. When he was a normal teenager looking toward a bright future with limitless possibilities.

The Fire Oppa fuels the Flame of your Soul.

[Cinder Ampoules] now recover full Health and Stamina.

Passive Health regeneration.

Your Guilt is assuaged.

A glance at his Guilt showed it at a staggering 0%. Not even Savages could attain such a low amount of Guilt. Not unless they were willing to go unarmed.

Jacob could feel the warmth of the Fire Oppa within him, comforting him, guiding him.

Just in time too, the Burgon Beast’s roar sounded even closer. Remembering how he dealt with the Vacant upon his return to Pyresouls Online, Jacob hurried up to a side path.

His movements were swift and sure, more than they had ever been before. He reached the familiar boulder at the gravesite overlooking the narrow entrance to the Razor Pass.

For once, he was glad that most things reset in Lormar when he rested at a Pyre. If not for that quirk, the boulder would still be below with two Vacant crushed beneath it.

Setting his shoulder against the boulder, Jacob leaned out just enough to see a sliver of the Razor Pass below. He didn’t have to wait very long. The dark form of the Burgon Beast skidded along the rocky path and collided heavily with the tall sheer walls.

The impact was so great that it nearly set the boulder Jacob was braced against rolling before its time. A few moments later, Jacob heaved with all his strength.

Bouncing down the steep path, the boulder crashed into the sprinting Burgon Beast. Seeing it coming but unable to put its bulky form to a stop in time, the creature poured on the speed, going as fast as its legs would carry it.

It wasn’t fast enough. The boulder crushed its hindquarters against the far wall with a sickening crunch.

How the Burgon Beast howled! Shrill cries echoed off the high walls of the Razor Pass. As Jacob stepped back to get a running leap and stab into the beast and finish it once and for all, something horrible happened. Again.

The Burgon Beast’s head split wide open. Its furry body began to flatten and deflate. Out came a black morass, like a giant ethereal hand was squeezing the Burgon Beast’s body like a tube of toothpaste.

A parasite, there was no other word Jacob could think of to describe it, slipped out of the ruined body of the Burgon Beast. It slithered forward on stretching, ropy appendages that were fast differentiating themselves from simple tendrils.

A single great yellow eye like that of a serpent’s slid along the bulbous, tumorous body until it fixed Jacob with its awful gaze. Jacob’s legs locked up at the sight of the horrible thing.

This was the terrible truth of the Burgon Beast. A parasitic creature that had taken over the poor beast. There was no fear at the sight of the [Duskblade] burning so fiercely in Jacob’s hands.

Its name shimmered into being when their eyes locked.

The Incomplete Vessel

As the parasite climbed with surpassing ease up the sheer mountainside, Jacob could feel a familiar warmth emanating from the monster. His [Phoenix Tree Crest Shield] was still inside the disgusting thing.

Breaking free of his own surprise, Jacob lunged forward just as two slimy arms gripped the scrubby ground at his feet. Reaping the Harvest cut those two bands of darkness free only for four more to replace it.

The greedy jaundiced eye of the bloated parasite stood before him nearly as tall as Jacob and several times wider. Whipping tendrils cracked the air a dozen times over. It sounded like hail on a tin roof.

Rows of teeth appeared like silver-gleaming zippers all along its body without rhyme or reason to it. Two grasping arms shot out for Jacob and were summarily cut down with a sweeping arc of Moonlight’s Edge.

Falling Rain took out two more appendages, while Diving Falcon went for the massive yellow eye. The creature blinked, and its slimy skin became hardened steel. His sword skittered off the eyelid and drew sparks across the black mass.

In fast retreat, Jacob was whipped three times even as his enhanced speed managed to put some space between the two. The attacks brought his Health down to half, but it was already swiftly filling thanks to the Fire Oppa.

The Incomplete Vessel whipped out repeatedly, and Jacob was glad to keep his distance, picking off the stretching appendages with practiced strokes. He was taking a measure of his new opponent. What it lacked in speed from the body of the Burgon Beast, it made up for with an inexhaustible number of appendages.

Diving its many tendrils into the stony ground, glistening black roots