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

And if he never defeated the Minos, he would never have discovered this woman.

“Are you some kind of sicko?” she asked, her voice strained as it jumped another octave. Unlike the first time Jacob came to her, she was pressed against the wall. As far away from him as possible.

Something twisted in his guts to see her look at him like he might have come back specifically to torture her or worse. With a shake of his head to dispel the thoughts, he said, “How can I free you? I have no magical weapons, but I do have this.” He raised one of the [Minos Horns] from his Inventory.

Her demeanor flipped in an instant and she was reaching and grasping for him. Jacob barely slipped out of her reach. “Yes, that can free me! Please, I’ll do anything you want. Just loose me from this Hell!”

Feverish ruby red eyes glinted as they locked with his. “I’ve seen the way you look at me. You want this body?”

She tried, in vain mostly, to push up her scantily clad breasts to look more appealing. It only made her ribs stand out more though and a pang of sorrow lanced through Jacob’s heart. “Free me and it’s yours. Anything… just don’t leave me.”

The way her voice broke on those last four words crumbled any resolve Jacob might have possessed. “I’m not going to use your body,” he said. To his surprise, the woman didn’t act nearly as relieved as he thought she might. “But I will ask for something in return.”

She seemed to regain some of her composure as she eyed him curiously, though the woman still attempted to appear sultry and alluring. The effect she intended might have worked if her thin clothes didn’t hang off her twig-like limbs.

Jacob couldn’t believe he might have left her to die. At the very least he could have put her out of her misery with a clean death. He’d done enough mercy blows since the Collapse to know it was a kindness, even if it was one of the hardest things to do.

“Clearly, I’m not in much of a position to argue,” she said. “You don’t want to ravage me on the spot and take whatever you like, so you’ve at least some morals. Even if you did nearly leave me to rot a slow and painful death.”

Seeing Jacob’s darkening expression and likely presuming he did not appreciate her last words, she abruptly tried to clear her throat and started over, a note of panic in her hoarse voice, “But you came back! That’s what matters. Surely no noble knight would-”

Jacob lifted the [Minos Horn]. “How do I use this to free you?”

The woman tilted her chin up, indicating above her head where the chains from her wrists and led. Slowly following the path of the engraved links revealed to Jacob the overall design. Everything ran through a single eyelet about a foot above the woman’s unkempt, raven black hair.

From there, if she moved her legs, arms, or neck enough it would tighten everything else. It seemed like a security flaw to Jacob but he didn’t major in dungeon design so he let it go at that.

He knew well enough the properties of a [Minos Horn] and how he might release its magic to break the magic holding the chains together. That still didn’t answer his question. He might free her from the wall but she would still have lengths of chain linking the manacles at her ankles, wrists, and the collar at her neck.

“I don’t care what you want,” she said as she moved slightly out of Jacob’s way when he came forward with the horn raised above his head. He placed the tip of the horn at the base of the wall where the eyelet was anchored. “But, just for my curiosity, what is it you do want?”

Jacob paused. What did he want? A friend? A companion to help him through that wouldn’t be limited mostly to Crossings like everybody else?

Was he hoping to be some white knight come to save a damsel in distress and they’d beat the evil, then ride off into the sunset to create a kingdom of their own with a thousand happy stupid children?

Truthfully, he didn’t know.

He would welcome the help, she wasn’t a player and so if she helped him he would still win the prize. Most importantly, even if she was weak, he would be greatly strengthened just by having one other person around.

Having Emily by his side in the Defiled Cistern – while ultimately leading to his doom - had been an immense relief.

The fear was cut in half, there was somebody who was supposed to watch your back and all the while every monster had to contend with two targets, not one.

But this girl, he didn’t know if she was even going to be useful. Rescuing her, only to use her like bait felt sick and cruel. Unlike a player, he had no idea if she would come back if killed.

In the end, he realized she had nothing to offer him. And strangely, that he wanted nothing from her.

He wouldn’t turn down an offer but he would be damned if he was going to force her. It was hard enough staying vigilant for enemies, if he had to make sure his “rescued help” also stayed loyal his attention would be split.

And he would never see her as anything else other than an unwilling ally if he demanded she worked for him as some sort of debt repayment. It would be better if they parted ways and he could continue on his own.

“You’ll probably want to cover your ears,” he warned, a moment before he pounded the [Mace] into the wide broken base of the [Minos Horn] like he was hammering a nail into the wall.

The resulting explosion blasted him back several feet and rained debris and masonry down upon him and the woman. His improved armor