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

Kingdom were not suited to freshwater, they thrived in the lightless depths of the ocean.

The man spoke in a watery voice. His eyes were several sizes too large, his skin sweaty and glistening like it was melting candle wax. Most telling of all was the mouth that split his face in half. “You have come to pay ssssuplication to our great Covenant?”

The hint of suspicion in the man’s voice reminded Jacob to keep his sword down and low. In his recognition of the man’s features, he had instinctively tightened his grip on his sword and began to raise it.

His original plan was to get close enough that he could kill the monstrous thing before it could slip away or worse, call for aid. This was, after all, a holy place to the Vile Covenant.

Jacob looked at the dark spots of the water, wondering how deep they went. There were several other paths just beneath the brackish water that vanished out of sight.

The saltwater was an oddity, but hardly unexpected. Especially considering the only body of water nearby was the Ashen Flood, a freshwater lake.

Now that he looked at the fish-faced creature sweating nervously as Jacob stalked toward him without answering, another idea came to him.

A blurring streak of ash made his shield and sword vanish. “I have heard that Covenants could make me stronger,” Jacob said, doing his best to sound like a typical greedy player. The sort that looked for any shortcut or boost to power without any regard for the long-term implications.

“Ahhh.” The priest grinned happily, greedily. The wide mouth taking in all of his wide face. “Yessss, we have much you might wissssh to sssavor.” With a gesture of his wide billowing green sleeves, a small egg-shaped gem appeared on the altar.

Jacob’s surprise was real when he climbed the dais and eagerly reached toward the spell gem. A tentacle slithered out of the man’s robes and smacked Jacob’s hand away. Not enough to hurt him but more than enough to chastise.

It made Jacob’s skin crawl. A blinding rage filled his chest like a growing white-hot fire. It was all he could do not to snarl and slay the creature where it stood.

“After you have sssigned the Covenant,” the priest explained. “Then you may have the sssspell gem. Many more giftssss await the loyal dissssciples of the Vile Covenant.” Another flourish and a simple prompt appeared.

Join the Vile Covenant?

Yes / No

He never managed to join a Covenant before but he knew enough about them that there was a specific set of rules governing each. Rules, that like most of Pyresouls Online, nobody was told about.

While any Covenant – if offered – could be joined, it was impossible to join more than one. And often joining one Covenant prevented another Covenant from being offered later.

Jacob was free to accept and then betray the Covenant but in doing so he would be declared an enemy and any players that belonged to that Covenant could seek him out for a bounty.

In essence, it would incentivize players to invade his shard and kill him.

Rejecting the Covenant had similar, but less severe, consequences. The Covenant looked unfavorably upon the person and interactions with its members was viewed through a negative lens.

Staying completely neutral, however, was not an option. Many Covenants looked down on those without any convictions at all. And it was often a requirement to turn down certain Covenants in order to gain access to another.

The Lightblade Covenant, for example, required one to be tempted by the Blacksun Covenant and reject them.

If Jacob chose to remain within the Vile Covenant – fat chance, that – he would be able to receive more boons and greater prestige if he climbed the Covenant’s ranks. A feat that involved performing tasks set out by the Covenant.

There was an incomplete list of Covenants in Pyresouls and the question of which was better was a hotly debated issue. Learning more about the Vile Covenant, even just what tasks they preferred would be useful.

Not to mention, he could get a spell gem out of the deal. He wasn’t so committed to his morals that he couldn’t use the Vile Covenant to further his own strength a little bit.

Especially if it meant betraying them. The irony was too delicious to pass up.

Jacob accepted the Covenant. The priest grinned stupidly at him and generously offered the spell gem to him.

“Hail the Vile Covenant,” the priest intoned.

You join the Vile Covenant.

The purpose of the Vile Covenant is to invade other shards, defeat the champions that reside within, and carve out their hearts to be gifted to the Great Old One. Once you have proven your worth, you will gain access to the gift of transformation to be closer to the Great Old One.

You gain [Sacrificial Knife].

You gain [Spell Gem].

“Great Old One?” Jacob muttered, but apparently loud enough for the priest to hear.

The man-fish gasped and a tentacle lashed out, slapping across Jacob’s closed helm. It did little damage but it startled and enraged him all at once.

He barely heard the priest shout, “You sssshal not speak of Him! You worm! You filth! A Neophyte ssssuch as yoursssself is not worthy to know His-”

Jacob lunged forward, wrapping the priest in a tight hug. Focusing, Jacob summoned the [Sacrificial Knife] to his right hand. As he squeezed the priest, he drove the blade into the thing’s back.

Twisting the blade, Jacob wrenched it out to the side, tearing through its lung. Seafoam froth bubbled out of his mouth mixing with black blood familiar with those aligned to the Vile Kingdom.

Easing the dying man to the stone, several tentacles flopped about on the floor. They curled and weakly tried to hit Jacob but could hardly fight their way out of the folds of the priest’s robes.

Without sympathy, Jacob knelt on the man’s chest, eliciting a gurgling groan of agony. The dark, tainted blood spread into a wider pool beneath them. Jacob flipped up his visor. His dark green eyes filled with hate aimed at the