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

the rotten boards that would surely send him falling to his death, Jacob reflected on the difference between himself now and the young man he was when he first visited Hollow Dreams ten years ago.

Those Vacant would have presented more than the trivial challenge they posed to him now. With unsteady hands, he would have battered, blocked, and dodged aside all while expending at least 2 [Cinder Ampoules].

Fear of pain was a powerful motivator. Especially to a young kid barely old enough to look out for himself and who had never endured any true hardships.

Ten years of nothing but horror and death made the pain of Pyresouls inconsequential. He dealt with pain every day. Getting a gash in Pyresouls was just another Tuesday to him.

The Vacant within Hollow Dreams were of varying difficulty. Particularly those of the western side of town, there were Vacant Assassins that would leap out of the shadow and take off half of your Health or more with a single blow.

Few people went out that way. To the best of his knowledge, there was nothing out to the west of Hollow Dreams. Only a strange pair of rents in the ground and a location called The Blind Sisters. Likely named after the two impossibly deep crevices.

Nobody knew what it was for or how to get past them. To the north was a sheer cliff face that rose more than three hundred feet skyward and a massive city that could be seen from most places in the valley. To the south was a steep canyon and Journey’s End.

And the gap between the two massive cracks in the ground was too far to jump.

Reaching the second-to-last floor within the tower, Jacob turned from the stairs to the opened room filled with tall clay jars. The temptation was too great to resist.

With large sweeping two-handed motions, Jacob shattered several pots in a single swing. A few items revealed themselves as sapphire wisps but mostly the room was empty.

You gain [Anima].

You gain [Rusted Spear].

While he had never come to this Pyre, he knew of it well enough. Placed at the southern side of Hollow Dreams, it was often considered the exit Pyre.

From the south side of town, he could venture into the canyon where the Smog Rifts and Journey’s End were located.

His original path had taken him to the center of town, down into the Defiled Cistern. A place he never intended to venture again.

This time, his path would take him to the south and to the Smog Rifts. Provided he didn’t take too long at the Crossing in Hollow Dreams, he should make the rifts within 2 days.

He hoped.

Time was weird in Pyresouls Online. Most especially when moving between areas.

Sometimes the sun seemed to be in a set position, other times it seemed to move. Not many people appeared to care because the few people who pointed it out never bothered to look into it.

Not that most players would. It was irrelevant to the contest, and any player who explored more than was necessary found themselves falling behind.

And with such a juicy prize dangled in front of their faces, nobody was going to waste time researching and testing things that didn’t directly have an impact on their ability to progress.

The cool wind of the rooftop chilled his sodden armor. When he looked at the Pyre, a pile of cold ashes situated directly beneath the tilted black bell, Jacob felt a pang of disappointment.

Did I really expect to see Camilla again?

For just a moment, he realized that he did. Somehow, he thought she might be here.

He missed the company.

Reigniting the Pyre, Jacob gathered the ruby flame of Kindling into his palms and tipped it once more into the Pyre. The flames leaped high into the bottom of the bell and then stilled.

This time, the Fire Oppa didn’t emerge from the ash and coals. He arrived in a flash of flame and light, floating in the air between Jacob and the Pyre. “Still soaked, are we?” the Fire Oppa asked with a wolfish grin.

Jacob sat down, resting at the Pyre. The comforting warmth washed over him. It wouldn’t dry his armor but it made the soggy outfit matter less. It almost felt like he was floating in a warm bath.

His weariness faded and as always, he felt rejuvenated in mind, body, and spirit.

Pyre Ignited.

Your respawn location has been set to Hollow Dreams (East).

The Fire Oppa stokes the embers of your conviction.

Health, Stamina, Ampoules and Spell Gems restored.

You Kindle the Pyre.

With a playful swish of his fiery, fluffy tail, the Fire Oppa swept a corona of flame over Jacob. The flames were harmless, and he looked curiously at the Fire Oppa before his mind caught on to what happened.

His armor was bone-dry.

Jacob took off his helm and set it aside, then reached forward and pet the Fire Oppa gratefully. “I appreciate that.”

“As does my sensitive nose.”

“That’s fair,” Jacob said with a smirk.

“One more Pyre to go,” the Fire Oppa said, he almost sounded hopeful. “You really had to thumb your nose at the Vile One, didn’t you? You couldn’t simply have gone on your way?”

“Had to be done,” Jacob said with mock sorrow.

“Be that as it may.” The Fire Oppa clearly didn’t agree but he had the good sense not to argue the point. “You would do well to avoid any of the Vile Covenant. They will be out for your blood, quite literally.”

“Duly noted.”

The Fire Oppa’s whiskers twitched as he leaned toward Jacob and sniffed. “I take it you want to do some reinforcing?”

Jacob nodded but he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to spend it on. He had enough Souls for a single parameter reinforcement and a few upgrades to his [Elite Knight’s Helm] but that was it.

Reinforcing TMP wouldn’t do him much good. In a way Temper was a breakpoint parameter that was only useful once it cleared certain thresholds.

Increasing TMP from 11 to 12 wouldn’t allow him to equip anything new. Even the [Elite Knight’s Gauntlets] with