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

first of the skeletons illuminated at the edge of his [Mace’s] light. There was enough time.

Leaning away from the spikes, Jacob tapped the plate hard enough to trigger it and retracted his foot quickly.

There was a brief delay as the mechanism activated and then the spikes shot forth with such speed that the air whipped about. The pierced skeleton flew off as if catapulted, he could not hear it hit anything and did not wait to listen longer than it took for the spikes to retract.

Nearly a second, he thought, mentally timing the trap. It’s enough.

And if it wasn’t, he would be dead or slowed to the point that the rattling horde of skeletons behind him would finish him off.

Well worth the risk.

Lowering his shield, Jacob hopped over the plate and took off at a run. He sprinted flat-out, not caring to watch his footing except to place the next over something solid.

Traps triggered and spikes jabbed at empty air. A heartbeat slower and he would be sporting numerous wounds. Stopping meant death. He was far beyond the skeletal undead but they were no longer his main threat.

If his Stamina wore out before the gauntlet of traps….

Pushing the thought from his mind, Jacob continued on until the green bar of his Stamina began to shrink to nothingness. The traps were unending and the dead were without mercy or fatigue.

With nothing but bad choices available to him, Jacob raised his shield just as his Stamina nearly bottomed out. His heavy boot came down on a pressure plate, he twisted his hips to face the wall and the spikes struck out with lethal purpose.

Rather than impale him, they clanged off the shield and sent him flying. With so little Stamina he took a significant amount of damage from the blow. He sailed through the air, dazed and reeling from having his block broken.

Even mid-air, Jacob had the presence of mind to summon a [Cinder Ampoule] and break it open, healing himself back to full just before he landed with a back-breaking crack.

Out came another ampoule, healing the damage that nearly killed him from full health. For a moment, Jacob thought the fall had severed his spine and somehow the [Cinder Ampoule] failed to heal it. His legs felt like they were dangling, which couldn’t be right.

Lifting himself up on his elbows and angling the fiery light of his [Mace] revealed the truth. The bottom of the room was shaped like a donut, with a massive pit into darkness at its center. Jacob only barely managed to avoid it with his knees right at the precipice, causing his legs to dangle into the dark.

Catching his breath, he watched as a skeletal form lunged at him from on high. It fell short several feet and sank into the void without a sound. Another skeleton followed it, then another.

Up above him, the red stars were falling as the skeletons took the shortest path to him in an effort to claim him as part of their number.

He watched, somewhat amused as skeleton after skeleton fell into the dark pit never to return. He pulled his feet beneath him but took a moment to sit and recover his stamina.

Alive and whole, he couldn’t believe he survived. Idly, he wondered just how many of the skeletons he could bait into the pit. He could potentially clear out dozens of rooms making his return that much easier.

Scores of white wisps streaked out and struck his chest with their chilling touch. Even with such a dismal amount per skeleton, his Souls were quickly filling up by the sheer quantity of skeletons plunging to their death.

The thought was immediately discredited when a large skeletal hand the size of his torso reached up and slapped itself down two feet to his right. Joined a second later by another.

It dug its long fingerbones into the stone, filling the chamber with an ear-bleeding screech like nails on a chalkboard. Each of its fingerbones was as thick around as Jacob’s thigh.

Scrambling back as fast as he could, Jacob soon got to his feet and did a quick look around the room for any exits. He spotted only one.

Stamina restored, he poured on a burst of speed and made a beeline for it as he cast a glance over his shoulder to see the monstrosity that came out of the pit.

What did I just wake up?

Unfortunately for Jacob, the tunnel was wide enough to admit the bestial skeleton. The blood-red fires in its eyes locked on Jacob with murderous intent and it galloped toward him. It did not rear up and run like a person but used all four limbs to chase him like some kind of animal.

But the creature was clearly humanoid, though its massive skull was twisted in a way that was vaguely reminiscent of a canine.

Running blind was not the way Jacob intended to explore the catacombs. But with a hulking monster quickly gaining on him, he had little choice.

Dust shook free of the tunnel and Jacob didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know the horrid thing was gaining on him with every furious heartbeat. There was a side passage up ahead, one too small for the thing but he would never make it.

One last look over his shoulder showed it less than three feet from him. As it raised a bony clawed hand toward him, Jacob threw himself hard to the right. Halting his forward momentum was easy with a planted boot but the Skeletal Beast had a much harder time.

It was going much faster than Jacob and was heavier besides. As it reached out to grab at nothing but air, it overbalanced and tumbled forward. Giant mitts raked the sides of the tunnel, digging furrows in the hard stone and arresting its movement.

But Jacob was already up on his feet by them, sprinting toward the side passage that was now between the two.

With a look of utter hatred, the Skeletal Beast lunged forward just as Jacob reached the smaller