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

Decisions, decisions.

Jacob knew where another Spell Gem was, but to get it he’d have to backtrack. And it wasn’t like he had another spell to use either. As much as he would like the extra gem, it didn’t fit into the goal of getting to the Burgon Beast first and destroying it before it could destroy everything.

And on top of it all, the Fire Oppa had a task for him. To reignite as many Pyres as he could. Some were, apparently, more valuable than others.

With a significant task completed early, he could venture out to the Drowned Halls to relight the Pyre there. If he could go beyond to the Ashen Flood - quite the way out of his projected path - that would be 5 out of 6 Pyres lit.

When he lit the final Pyre in Hollow Dreams, he would have satisfied the minimum number of Pyres that the Fire Oppa asked to be relit.

While Jacob had never been to the Ashen Flood, it seemed as good a destination to him at the moment.

Retrieving the [Ring of Broken Vows] so early allowed him to cross that particular item off his to-do list, which meant he could focus more on farming Souls and growing stronger.

Despite the annoyance of having an empty ring slot, Jacob kept his newly acquired rings firmly in his inventory. None of them directly helped him at the moment. As with many rings in the game, they held niche uses that he could exploit later.

What he really wanted, was a ring that affected his stamina. Which meant he would likely never find such a ring without great trouble. That seemed to be the way of things.

If he was practiced in Clemency, no doubt the [Ring of Opportunity] he found would have increased the power of Sorcery instead.

“Some Pyres are what… stronger than others?” Jacob asked the Fire Oppa.

“You could say that.” The Fire Oppa didn’t even lift its head, barely even responded to the petting like before. “Each Pyre radiates a strength to the surrounding regions. Igniting a Pyre where it is darkest provides the largest benefit. You could, if you so chose, ignite all of the Pyres. It would increase my strength, and the strength I could lend to you but that would be time-consuming.”

“And so the Ashen Flood is the closest Pyre of significance?” he asked.

The Fire Oppa shut his eyes and seemed to go to sleep, ignoring Jacob’s question. He was about to repeat himself when the Fire Oppa spoke. “Yes. There are six total Pyres that need to be lit. Though each region has more than a single Pyre, lighting any will do.

“The Ashen Flood is so named for one of the darkest betrayals the Phoenix Covenant ever experienced. It is a bleak, horrid place that I would greatly wish could be lit with the warming strength of the Pyre.

“You have already reignited the Pyres of the Razor Pass, the Steps of Penance, and the Desecrated Catacombs. Twelve Pyres in this area remain cold and dark, though only three of them need to be lit.

“To the north and west, the Drowned Halls and Ashen Flood. Northeast is Hollow Dreams and the Defiled Cistern with the Blind Sisters far to the east of those two. To the southeast, the Corpse Garden, and Mercy Tower. Directly south of us is the Stalking Wood and Fogdrift Garden.

“Southwest is Weslyn’s Watch, and finally to the west is the Smog Rifts, and Journey’s End. Which you choose to relight is up to you.”

While there was no map to be had, Jacob had a general mental layout of the areas given to him by Alice and Alec in his briefing. That meant Weslyn’s Watch, the Stalking Wood, Corpse Garden, and Defiled Cistern could all be skipped.

If his goal was to help the Fire Oppa, that is.

Each of the areas was fairly far from the other, and Jacob could guess well enough that lighting the Pyre in the Stalking Wood and Corpse Garden was less effective as they bordered one another.

With a list of destinations in mind, Jacob started to rise. “Looks like I better get a move on, then.” Though he didn’t really want to get up. It was harder each time to pull away from the comfort of the flames.

For the first time, Jacob saw just how lonely the Fire Oppa must be as the little animal opened its eyes and watched him with a sense of resignation.

Jacob didn’t know what to say. So he returned to the Pyre to offer the ferret-like animal one more sympathetic pet. “Would that somebody could stay by your side and give you a home and love that you deserve,” he said, only then aware of how belittling and demeaning that might sound.

What if the Fire Oppa was a god, or some creature far beyond a simple magical animal? How offensive might his words be then?

The Fire Oppa merely shrugged his narrow shoulders and snorted a tiny jet of fire from his nostrils. “It is a nice sentiment,” he agreed.

Unable to stand the sad look in the Fire Oppa’s eyes, Jacob quickly left to search out a way through the upper levels of the Desecrated Catacombs.

22

Jacob veered left, pivoted on his back foot, and cracked through the ribcages of two [Skeletal Knights], sending their bones scattering into the dark. Completing his turn, eyes focused on the sapphire wisp at the dead-end, Jacob sprinted forward while the skeletons recovered from the blow.

He didn’t bother to ignite his [Mace] for the blow. Jacob abruptly threw himself forward when he noticed the discolored flooring below him, diving and rolling with a clatter over the trap without triggering it.

Up in a run, Jacob made it to the sapphire glow of the wisp just as the two knights came after him. Ignorant of the trap, the two [Skeletal Knights] were immolated in a burst of white-hot fire.

There were only three things that could destroy