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

path ahead split again, prompting Jacob to slow down and summon his armaments. Shield lifted, sword out to the side at the ready, he came into the rough circular chamber.

A lone knight’s body with a sapphire wisp was laid in eternal rest to his left, and a Snake Sister was to his right, staring at the earthen wall.

Realizing his fortune at sneaking up on a Snake Sister, Jacob moved as slowly and quietly as he could. [Longsword] poised for a backstab, he got within two steps before he lunged forward with all his might into her naked torso.

He jammed the blade up to the hilt. The Snake Sister let out a shrill sibilant cry and her too-long neck twisted about in a series of sickeningly cracks and pops.

Oversized serpentine eyes glared at him between curtains of oily black hair. Her jaw unhinged, showing fangs several inches long dripping with venom.

Repulsed, Jacob planted a boot on her pale scaled back and forced her to stagger forward. With her head turned around, most people would take the opportunity to chase her and strike.

That was a rookie mistake. One that was likely to end in death.

Jacob waited, shifting his back foot to be perpendicular to his right. He knew what was coming and kept his sword pointed low to the side in hopes of baiting her.

True to their name, the woman’s neck elongated by several feet. Mouth wide and fangs dripping with venom, she struck with the lightning quickness of her namesake.

But Jacob was expecting it and at the slight twinge foretelling of the strike, his blade was already arcing to intercept the attack. Moon Crests the Horizon severed her neck before she could bite him.

Her head toppled to the ground, and her body a moment later. Dismissing the monster from his attention, Jacob bent to the sapphire wisp.

You defeat the [Snake Sister].

Awarded 500 Souls.

You gain [Dull Spark].

Jacob walked to the entrance of each split in the tunnel and listened. He knew the left path was the one he wanted to take. Alec had told him the path he took and Alice confirmed that – as far as they could tell – there was nothing useful down the right path.

But if he heard shuffling, he might be able to gain enough Souls to reinforce a parameter by the time he hit the first Pyre in Hollow Dreams. Which should be coming up fairly soon, considering the distance traveled already.

Not hearing anything, Jacob decided his curiosity wasn’t worth the cost in time and took the left path.

Luckily, there were a few more Snake Sisters littered throughout the earthen tunnel. By the time the tunnel began to slope upward and Jacob saw the first hints of light at the end of the tunnel, he was 1,500 Souls richer.

He came out into the weak, watery sunlight of Lormar, still sopping wet from the Drowned Halls. As stifling as it was, he didn’t remove his helm. Just because it was a town didn’t mean it was safe.

Hollow Dreams

Hollow Dreams was a maze of tight turning corridors and tall leaning buildings. Most of which were utterly abandoned or filled with Infested Rats or Vacant. Considering the meager Souls killing them would net, Jacob gave those places – and their suspiciously stacked crates – a wide berth.

The rats liked to spring out from the crates and surprise the unaware. Their bites were poisonous and painful. Not quite deadly but being poisoned was no fun, even with the vials of [Gekk Blood] he had on him.

Winding through the dirt roads, Jacob came within sight of a tall burned-out husk of a building. It had once been a guard tower. The blackened bell hung at a sharp angle on its flat-topped roof where he knew a Pyre awaited him.

But first, he had to clear out the Vacant that were milling about the courtyard in front of it.

They saw him – or perhaps heard him, he wasn’t really sure since he made no effort to quiet his loud clanking and squelching armor – and turned to face him, broken weapons raised threateningly.

The first came at him with a club studded with nails. Jacob caught the blow on his shield as he swept it up and around, opening the monster up to a vicious riposte that tore out what little desiccated organs it had left.

As the first attacker lay dying at his feet, the next came on too fast for Jacob to parry. He threw himself into a roll, coming up and around the Vacant’s axe swing.

Hummingbird’s Kiss took it in the unguarded back but he didn’t have time to finish it off as he heard the third Vacant coming up behind him.

Ripping out his sword, Jacob spun on the balls of his feet. Shield raised, he accepted the triple-jab of the Vacant’s rusty spear. The blows gonged off the metal, his arm tingled from the reverberations but the only loss he suffered was a tenth of his Stamina.

When it had spent its initial fury, Jacob dismissed his [Kite Shield] in a whirl of ash and took his [Longsword] in both hands.

He quick-stepped forward to bridge the gap between him and to get inside the longer reach of the spear. Falling Rain shattered the creature’s frail skull.

Up and around Jacob lifted the sword and it fell upon the creature’s head with a resounding crack that split the air. The red glow of fire in the Vacant’s eyes winked out, leaving only the recovering axe-wielding Vacant.

Turning on the still-staggering Vacant, Jacob could only shrug in disappointment. He took a few casual strides toward it, blade tipped low that drew a line in the dirt as he walked to it.

By the time the creature turned around, Wind Parts the Grass carved a lethal wound from groin to chin.

You defeat the [Vacant Shambler].

You defeat the [Vacant Spearman].

You defeat the [Vacant Axeman].

Awarded 300 Souls.

With the way clear, Jacob headed into the tower and took the laborious climb up to the roof. On the way up, avoiding