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

to accept that.

Now he needed to focus on what he could do to get the [Ring of Broken Vows] and get out of the catacombs. If he could reach it and retrieve it, he would gladly accept death. He wouldn’t even bother trying to collect his wisp. It would be well worth the price.

But to get there, he had to survive the gauntlet of nigh unkillable creatures and dark pathways that were shrouded in darkness. All without a map, not that he could have remembered any directions that Alec gave him.

“How much can you improve my Knight’s Armor?” Jacob asked the Fire Oppa.

“If you’ve got the Souls and the right type of spark, I can improve it up to around plus five, why?”

“Not plus ten?”

The Fire Oppa shook his head. “Nope, need a special ember to strengthen the Pyre for that. Not enough heat.”

“Any idea where I might find one?”

“Now that you ask… I do have an idea,” the Fire Oppa gave him a wolfish grin. “I can’t tell you precisely but there’s nothing prohibiting me from saying I heard there are quite a few treasures down in the catacombs. Adventurers and brave knights who lost their lives and their very valuable items. Coffins often contain more than just bones.”

Taking off his [Knight’s Armor], Jacob put it within the flames of the Pyre, careful to avoid the Fire Oppa. He took out a [Dull Spark] and looked at the Fire Oppa.

With a wave of his bushy, flaming tail, a prompt appeared.

[Equipment Reinforcement]

Knight Armor [Chest] -> Knight Armor [Chest] +1

Cost: 200 Souls

 

Physical Protection: 90 -> 102

Blunt: 20 -> 22

Slashing: 40 -> 46

Piercing: 30 -> 34

 

Magical Protection: 70 -> 80

Arcane: 30 -> 33

Fire: 15 -> 16

Water: 10 -> 12

Earth: 15 -> 17

Harmony: 0 -> 1

Chaos: 0 -> 1

 

Resistances

Bleed: 22 -> 30

Poison: 9 -> 11

Curse: 0 -> 0

Stability: 20 -> 22

Durability: 550/550 -> 600/600

Guilt: 1 -> 1

It was less than he hoped for, but the price was less than a tenth of what it would take to increase his Health.

Health was better, but for the half the Souls he could +5 his [Knight’s Armor] and assuming it was roughly the same increase each time, he would have a significant defense boost.

There was no reason to think he would get a new piece of armor and even if he did, reinforcing his [Knight’s Armor] would increase the chances that he could survive long enough to discover something better.

Deciding upon his course of action, Jacob upgraded his [Knight’s Armor] to +5. The Fire Oppa took the [Dull Sparks] and the Souls as fuel for the process. The Pyre surged and flared, its long flames licking the ceiling as the Fire Oppa worked his magic.

Curling coronas of flame leaped across the breastplate, strengthening it and giving the ridges a dull gleam. The tattered leather accouterments darkened back to their original, lesser worn color.

It was as if the Fire Oppa was peeling back layer after layer of time, rejuvenating the [Knight’s Armor] and returning some of its former glory.

When the Fire Oppa was done, the [Knight’s Armor +5] gleamed like it was freshly polished. Its asymmetrical ridged pauldron caught the firelight in its gilded curves.

It was beautiful. For as simple and thin as the metal was, for the first time in forever, Jacob felt a sense of pride as he donned the armor.

Out of all his equipment, the chest piece had the highest defenses and would improve the most. But he was still surprised at the results.

It seemed that the more it was reinforced, the more it improved. Going from +4 to +5 was almost as large an upgrade as +0 to +3.

[Equipment Reinforcement]

Knight Armor [Chest] +5

 

Physical Protection: 90 -> 212

Blunt: 20 -> 48

Slashing: 40 -> 94

Piercing: 30 -> 70

 

Magical Protection: 70 -> 193

Arcane: 30 -> 71

Fire: 15 -> 40

Water: 10 -> 26

Earth: 15 -> 40

Harmony: 0 -> 8

Chaos: 0 -> 8

 

Resistances

Bleed: 22 -> 55

Poison: 9 -> 21

Curse: 0 -> 5

Stability: 20 -> 40

Durability: 550/550 -> 800/800

Guilt: 1 -> 1

And it only cost him 1,000 Souls and 5 [Dull Sparks].

With the extra 54 protection against slashing, the attack that had killed him would do less than 100 damage. Even if it was at the lowest end of the damage the skeleton could do, he still should have enough Health to weather any single blow.

The extra 5 [Cinder Ampoules] would come in handy, with 10 total he would be able to withstand 11 hits. That last hit would bring him down to critical Health but it might be enough to make it where the [Ring of Broken Vows] was stashed.

He didn’t need to kill the Gnawing Hunger if he could slip in, nab the ring and take a one-way death trip back to the Pyre.

Deciding that he should go all-in on this strategy, Jacob spent every last available Soul he had. He added 1 point to VIT, and 2 went to reinforce his AGI, leaving him with 1,437 Souls.

[Status]

Jacob Windsor

Covenant: None

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

Level: 20

Health: 132

Stamina: 94

Anima: 0

Souls: 1,437

Required Souls: 2,857

 Parameters

VIT: 4

AGI: 8

END: 7

TMP: 9

STR: 10

DEX: 10

INT: 8

FTH: 3

Curse: Fractured Sight

Curse Level: 0

 

Spell Gem: Heat Blade (3/3)

Reinforcing weapons was costlier, but with a single [Dull Spark] left, Jacob decided it would be better to upgrade something. It wasn’t likely he would get to keep any Souls he had on him. Though he favored his [Longsword], he already knew it was notoriously ineffective against skeletons.

Anything besides blunt type damage was severely impaired, which made his choice relatively easy. It was between his [Mace] and his [Kite Shield], the latter was technically considered a weapon under certain conditions.

Jacob heard more than one account of a player dual-wielding shields to varying degrees of success. They were still stuck in the lower level areas compared to those who went with more traditional setups but they seemed to be promising.

If only there had been enough time to figure out the mechanics.

Entrusting his [Mace] to the Fire Oppa, Jacob reinforced it to +1, exhausting his supply of [Dull Sparks] and spending 500 Souls