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

certainly spelled his doom.

As it was, he lost over 20,000 Souls. Not a small sum, and for once he wasn’t keen on trying to retrieve them. The depths of the Desecrated Catacombs had nothing for him anymore.

They could keep whatever treasures lay buried deep within. He was done with that place. He would travel the upper levels to continue on and no more.

Jacob pulled out the [Cloven Phoenix Tree Crest Shield]. The fact that it was broken was obvious from more than the item’s title. Never before had he known an item’s title to change when it was broken. The item, upon examination, offered no stats.

In fact, it acted like it was an item and not a piece of equipment.

[Cloven Phoenix Tree Crest Shield]

Shield once belonging to a knight of the Phoenix Covenant. The shield symbolizes a high amount of trust given to the knight, suggesting he or she was on an important mission when they perished.

The Fire Oppa perked up at that. “Where did you get that?” he asked.

“I found it down in the catacombs outside of the room with the Gnawing Hunger.”

“So she failed,” he said softly. The flames that made up the Fire Oppa began to cool and darken, the little furry thing sullenly slinked back to the Pyre as his coat turned as dark as coal.

“Who failed?” Jacob asked, setting the shield aside.

“A friend.”

“Do you know what the Phoenix Covenant is, then?”

“It is the covenant of the Pyre,” the Fire Oppa said simply. “Extended to those trustworthy individuals who were tasked with assuring the Pyres stayed lit.”

“I take it they didn’t do so well?” Jacob hedged, not wanting to flat-out state the obvious. Judging by the state of Lormar, and the lack of any Pyres when players first arrived that covenant was likely wiped out.

“Unfortunately so.”

Glancing at the shield, Jacob lifted it and placed it into the Pyre beside the Fire Oppa. “Here, this isn’t going to do me any good in its current state and it sounds like this has some sentimental value to you. Why don’t you keep it?”

The somber, reflective Fire Oppa looked up curiously at him. His little rounded ears perked as he regarded Jacob in a new light. “That is… unexpected of you. Thank you.”

With a swish of his tail, the Fire Oppa summoned a swirl of flame to consume the shield, leaving nothing in its wake. Jacob inclined his head and took out the rest of his loot.

While he didn’t get to keep his Souls, the items he found were more than compensation.

Few people were able to say they plundered 5 rings, one of them a key component to the Burgon Beast’s release, and a full new set of armor. All from a single foray into a highly dangerous area that the vast majority of the player base would never survive, let alone see with their own eyes.

When Jacob looked over the set of armor, his jaw nearly fell to his chest. The elite knight armor set was something that even Alec never managed to find. It wasn’t precisely ground-breaking but for the protection it offered it was amazing. It could punch well above its weight.

But the cost was high.

[Equipment]

Elite Knight's Helm [Helm]

Physical Protection: 60

Blunt: 20

Slashing: 20

Piercing: 20

 

Magical Protection: 50

Arcane: 15

Fire: 15

Water: 5

Earth: 5

Harmony: 5

Chaos: 5

 

Resistances

Bleed: 15

Poison: 8

Curse: 0

Stability: 15

Durability: 600/600

Guilt: 4

 

 

Elite Knight's Armor [Chest]

Physical Protection: 134

Blunt: 40

Slashing: 54

Piercing: 40

 

Magical Protection: 113

Arcane: 32

Fire: 25

Water: 18

Earth: 15

Harmony: 11

Chaos: 12

 

Resistances

Bleed: 33

Poison: 19

Curse: 0

Stability: 29 

Durability: 600/600

Guilt: 8

 

Elite Knight's Gauntlets [Gauntlets]

 

Physical Protection: 54

Blunt: 18

Slashing: 18

Piercing: 18

 

Magical Protection: 48

Arcane: 15

Fire: 15

Water: 8

Earth: 8

Harmony: 1

Chaos: 1

 

Resistances

Bleed: 15

Poison: 8

Curse: 0

Stability: 10

Durability: 600/600

Guilt: 3

 

Elite Knight's Leggings [Leggings]

 

Physical Protection: 103

Blunt: 32

Slashing: 36

Piercing: 35

 

Magical Protection: 84

Arcane: 30

Fire: 18

Water: 10

Earth: 10

Harmony: 8

Chaos: 8

 

Resistances

Bleed: 24

Poison: 17

Curse: 0

Stability: 15

Durability: 600/600

Guilt: 6

Despite superior protection, the cost of guilt was high. Far too high for Jacob at the moment. Even donning the gauntlets, among the lightest at only 3 guilt, would bring Jacob fully two tiers of Guilt up to tier 4 or even higher.

And that he knew he could not withstand.

Tier 4 was a 50% penalty to both movement and stamina drain. Even if he switched exclusively to his [Longsword], which had its own drawbacks against certain enemies strong to slashing and piercing, the drain would be too much to bear.

But the defense was enticing. For medium grade armor, it was surprisingly sturdy and well-balanced with a hefty amount of magical protection.

Curious, Jacob swapped his current helm for the elite version. It would still be far too much for him to withstand but he remembered that the [Ring of Blameless Guilt] was lightening his burden somehow.

If his burden increased by the difference of 3, then he knew the ring was static. Good for early game but he would soon want to increase his TMP the old-fashioned way.

On the other hand, if it reduced that value as well then he might have something worth more than he knew. With so many rings in his possession, his 2 slots suddenly became hotly contested.

Once I figure out what those rings do, he reminded himself.

Dark thoughts settled deep into his bones. A sense of loss that was not his own stole into his heart and without even bothering to look at his parameters Jacob could tell he had significantly slowed.

The effect of so much Guilt weighed heavily on his soul.

Not quite doubled, he thought as he moved his arms around with familiar effort. He didn’t bother to get up, tier 3 Guilt was what he was used to back on Earth. Tier 3 then, not tier 4. Interesting. Adding 3 more Guilt onto the 7 from my equipment should have put me over 100% Guilt.

But it hadn’t, and that meant the [Ring of Blameless Guilt] was not a static reduction.

A glance at his equipment painted a clearer picture. Originally, he should have been at 7 points of guilt. Which the ring reduced to 4. With the addition of the [Elite Knight’s Helm], he was adding 3 guilt onto that 7. But his guilt only increased to 5.

He knew,