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

his stats, mulling over what parameter he should increase next. The plan he had kept in his head all along was altered but it only meant he could skip a few Levels of increasing his TMP.

There was no way the ring was so powerful that he would never need to increase his TMP again.

[Status]

Jacob Windsor

Covenant: None

Race: Kemora - Fae-touched (Human/Fairy)

 Level: 2

Health: 124

Stamina: 86

Anima: 0

Souls: 1,527

Required Souls: 690

Parameters

VIT: 3

AGI: 6

END: 3

TMP: 9

STR: 4

DEX: 5

INT: 8

FTH: 3

 

Curse: Fractured Sight

Curse Level: 1

Spell Gem: No Spell Inscribed

If his memory was right, the parameter improvement after next would be around 700. He would have just enough Souls.

Even with 2 points of VIT, he wasn’t going to be much sturdier. Armor would work better than raw Health, especially with his paper-thin robes.

More STR would increase his damage with the [Mace] but the [Bladed Whip] scaled off of DEX, making any increases to STR useless while wielding it. And he had a hunch about the whip that he wanted to test out.

Stronger weapons often required upwards of 10 DEX in order to wield. Something that came as a shock to most players who had built specifically for STR then realized they needed thousands of Souls to move their DEX a single point.

Each parameter increase raised the cost for the next, just like traditional levels would in most other games. He could leave his DEX at 5 – many people had left theirs much lower – and continue on his way gaining Souls and increasing his other stats.

But when he came across an item many levels later that required even 7 points of DEX, if he was in his 20s, that’d require 5,000 Souls or more just to move 2 points of DEX.

Hitting the common breakpoints for weapons and gear earlier meant that he could equip the items as soon as he found them. The rest of his time could be dedicated to increasing his combat prowess.

Jacob spent his Souls to increase his DEX 1 point. He breathed a sigh of relief when the next parameter cost was only 707, just within his amount of Souls. He spent those 707 Souls to raise his DEX another point, to a total of 7.

Unlike most other games, increasing his level didn’t make him directly more powerful. On the contrary, the common consensus among surviving players was that the creatures in Lormar actually became stronger with each level a player in their shard gained.

Of course, like every other theory about the game, it was just that - a theory. Nobody knew for sure how Pyresouls worked. Their best “rules” were little more than anecdotes.

Level was just a useful tracker to know how many times a person’s parameters were reinforced. His Health or Stamina would only go up if he raised the appropriate parameter.

While 2 points in DEX may not seem like much, it made him significantly more adroit than most humans. At 7 DEX, he was approaching levels of deftness that even heavily augmented humans struggled to reach. And he was one step closer to the 10 DEX he would need for some of the heavier kite shields he intended to use.

In the meantime, he would get a nice little boost to the damage of his [Bladed Whip], which he took out and uncoiled with a rattle of sharpened metal plates on the stone floor.

“You’re going to cut yourself with that,” the Fire Oppa said, eyeing the weapon lazily. He crossed his paws and laid his head atop them.

Remembering his earlier vow, Jacob dismissed his shield and reached to pet the Fire Oppa’s small head. While he already pet the Fire Oppa once, he was eager to do so again.

Precious few animals - ones that were neither mutated nor violent - existed on Earth. Whenever he touched the Fire Oppa, he was filled with the most soul-soothing sensation. As if the cold corpse of Lormar could rise from the ashes and live again.

He brushed the thing’s fiery, rounded bear-like ears back and heard a distinct rumbling sound emanate from the creature. His tail puffed up and thrashed about behind him, fanning the flames of the Pyre higher.

“You like that, huh?” Jacob asked, smiling at the warmth that spread through him and the obvious enjoyment of the Fire Oppa. “Is that your name, Fire Oppa?”

“No, that is what I am.”

“Then, what is your name?”

The Fire Oppa, whose eyes had shut in contentment, popped open a single dark eye to regard him. “Perhaps later,” he said.

Jacob didn’t press the point. He was far from well-versed in magic but even he knew that there was power in a name. Clearly, there needed to be more trust between them before the Fire Oppa would consent to give such a potential weapon over.

As always, Jacob wanted nothing more than to sit at the Pyre and pet the Fire Oppa. There was a peace there that he had not known in many years. He felt he was standing on a precipice over a black abyss. The worst was yet to come for humanity, and for himself.

He knew it and yet he could not help but feel a sense of relief. Yes, he may be standing at the edge of a dark, impossibly deep pit just waiting to swallow him and ten billion people up but for now he was safe.

For now, Jacob knew peace and the warmth of a Pyre.

It was better than the perpetual fall, wondering when you would hit the bottom. Knowing, with iron certainty that the gruesome death awaiting you was not a matter of “if” but of “when.”

“I have to go,” Jacob said mournfully to the Fire Oppa as much as to himself. After resting at the Pyre if he died he would be sent back. His [Cinder Ampoules] were filled and he had a purpose beyond the lofty goal of beating Alec to the Burgon Beast’s lair.

“May the flames light your path,” the Fire Oppa intoned once more upon their parting.

“May they guide me back home.”

Back in the halls outside, Jacob moved