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

damage depending on the way he attacked. Thrusts provided piercing damage while standard swipes dealt slashing.

He always wanted to try a [Bastard Sword], though he never quite had enough STR to swing it properly.

One item did stand out to him, however. He reached forward to the [Bladed Whip].

The coiled leather was wrapped in long jagged blades sticking out at odd angles. Only the handle was safe to touch and as the length of whip unfurled it hit the floor with a rattle, like hail on a tin roof.

Brother Aker giggled, quite disturbingly. “I knew you would pick that one! Penitent through and through, I see. Knew it when I saw that ring. You are a true believer! That price is for one of the Brothers such as yourself, quite a rare and expensive item. You’ll bleed out all that Guilt in no time.”

Prompted by the husk’s words, Jacob examined the item in further detail.

Bladed Whip

An unwieldy item that exceptionally devout Penitents use to self-flagellate, ridding themselves of the Guilt they have borne out of sacrifice to their fellow man. Of poor make, the item is just as likely to turn on its wielder as it is to strike at a foe.

Physical Damage: 87

Type: Slashing

Scaling: DEX [B]

Magical Damage: 35

Arcane: 0

Fire: 0

Water: 0

Earth: 0

Harmony: 0

Chaos: 35

Status Infliction

Bleed: 50

Poison: 0

Curse: 0

Stagger: 0

Break: 0

Durability: 200/200

Guilt: 3

The Guilt was heavy but manageable with his stats. Chaos damage was one of the rarest types. Most of the enemies in Pyresouls were mortal or had once been mortal, so Chaos damage did exceedingly well against them.

Technically, the total AR of the weapon was stronger than his [Mace]. The [Bladed Whip] was a grand total of 122. Comparatively, his [Mace] was only 100 damage and dealt nothing but blunt.

Nothing in the item’s parameters said it would work particularly well on the enemies nearby except the brief mention in its description. That, combined with what Aker said, made Jacob wonder if there was a hidden attribute to the weapon.

There was some part of him that simply wanted the whip for the sake of owning one. His favorite game growing up had been the VR hit Castlevania: Brotherhood of Shadow. Simon Belmont was one of his childhood idols and he loved the vampire slayer's characteristic weapon.

The world was filled with heroes that used far more practical and versatile weapons like swords, hammers, and spears. But it was just cool the way you could swing from a conveniently hanging branch with a whip or knock off a skeleton’s head with a resounding whip crack.

Not that he desired to face skeletons again in Pyresouls.

No other game made skeletons – typically the fodder of any fantasy game – so terrifyingly overpowered and deadly. He would have no choice but to run from them if he stumbled across even a few skeletons.

Deciding he had enough Souls to spare, Jacob purchased the [Bladed Whip] and equipped it. Immediately he felt the strain of Guilt lay a heavy burden on his heart. Together with his [Mace], that brought him to 4 Guilt, a little less than half of his Temper.

He could feel the Guilt of the whip’s past owners. Their failure and lamentations over the death of their loved ones. No amount of physical weight could compare to the burden that coursed through his limbs. And yet, when he went to move he didn’t feel slow at all.

He should be at the second or third tier of Guilt already, somewhere between a 10% and 25% Movement and Stamina penalty. Except, he was light on his feet as if the feeling deep in his chest wasn’t there at all.

Moving around experimentally, Jacob caught a flash of light on his hand and realized what was doing it. The [Ring of Blameless Guilt] said it increased “Maximum Burden” but there was no parameter by that name.

A red light shimmered within the darkness of the black teardrop jewel set in the middle of the iron band. Jacob could guess easily enough that what it meant was that by wearing the ring he could withstand more Guilt than normal.

As tempted as he was to confirm his theory and take off the ring, he didn’t. Not only because Brother Aker might attack him – no longer able to tell he was a friend because he took the ring off – but because some rings would break as soon as they were removed.

Particularly powerful rings.

Since Jacob had never once heard of a ring that could increase the burden of his Guilt, he was not about to risk it.

The ring itself was a game-changer. At 4 Guilt he should have been slowed at least a little bit, but there was nothing. At the very least, the [Ring of Blameless Guilt] acted like he had +2 Temper. If not more.

Likely, it was a percentage but the specifics didn’t matter. What mattered was that the ring allowed him to spend points on other stats. Temper was only useful to keep him out of any serious penalties. He would accept a 10% penalty but once he reached the third tier of 25%, the cost would be too high to fight effectively.

Not with Pyresoul’s legendary drawn-out battles of attrition it would become known for. It was not something most people built their parameters for. Even Alec only realized the dire importance of Temper late into the competition.

He accredited his shift to farming Souls later on specifically to boost his Temper as the reason he was able to get past some of the harder areas and get to the main boss of the game itself, the Burgon Beast.

“Anything else catch your fancy?” Aker asked, “No? Well all right, may the Guilt rest comfortably upon your bowed shoulders, brother. I’ll be here for a spell if you change your mind.”

With a nod, Jacob returned to the campfire and sat down.

He was going to continue pumping TMP so he would be able to wear the knight’s armor without much strain but his new ring changed that plan.

Jacob took a look at