Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) by Alex Oakchest (book suggestions txt) 📕

That left a couple more things for my plan to capture the narkleer to work.

I found myself in the alchemy chamber later that day. This was a most useful addition to my dungeon. It was also the brightest, with decoratively carved walls, and waves of multi-colored lights flowing over them like a stream. Annoyingly cheery, actually.

Oh, and it was also the room where I could dissolve corpses to take their power.

That was how my kobold, Brecht, had become a bard, after all. A party of Eternal clan goblins had raided the dungeon, a while before the clans’ peace treaty. I had killed the party with a delightful riddle door trap, earning myself a pile of corpses.

One of them was a bard, and after dissolving the bard’s corpse in my alchemy chamber, I was left with a pile of bard dust. I made Brecht gobble this down, imbuing the kobold with bard magic.

Right now, there were no corpses to be dissolved. I needed to-

“You asked for me?” said a voice, interrupting my thoughts.

A female kobold was standing in the doorway. She was short and squat, with devious eyes and dull lizard scales all over her body, except for on her wolfish snout.

She was Shadow, a former escape artist, a full-time trickster. A kobold you needed to keep not just one eye on but three, and for most people that meant procuring an extra eye from somewhere.

This kobold girl was an expert at stealth, able to move with barely a whisper and to blend into her surroundings like a pair of really unremarkable curtains. Adept at spotting traps and sensing danger, it meant she was a great weapon to have when heroes came calling. Her signature move was a wicked backstab, where she would jam a dagger in a poor sap’s back, twist it, then drag it up his spine. Lovely.

But for all of that, she was about as loyal as a really, really disloyal cat. Only two things allowed me to trust Shadow and keep her around; the fact that as the dungeon core and her creator, she could not disobey me, and also her weird penchant for announcing when she was going to double-cross someone. That’s right; Shadow would stab her own grandfather in the back, but she’d make sure to warn him first.

“Ah, Shadow. Come in.”

She slunk into the alchemy chamber, her hips swinging, the daggers in their sheaths on her belt knocking against her thighs.

“As you command, oh glorious master,” she said.

“We’re on a sarcastic day are we, Shadow? It’s always a treat wondering what mood you’ll be in. I much prefer this to aloof day.”

“You’re lucky you get the occasional smile, gem-face. It’s more than you deserve.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tomlin tells me that you are figuring out a way to free yourself from the idiots up top,” she said.

“Pillow talk, was it? Don’t tell me you and Tomlin are a couple again.”

“Why, you jealous?”

“Thanks. Now I feel physically sick, and that’s quite the achievement since a dungeon core can't vomit. Good job, Shadow.”

“Take a big old glass of hypocrisy to settle your stomach, you busted up lump of asphalt,” said Shadow. “Tomlin says you want to free yourself from servitude. That you don’t like the goblin and the woman chief ordering you around.”

“Most cores work for the academy, but they do not have owners. I don’t see why I should be someone’s property.”

“This is like the pig telling the goats that they stink,” said Shadow.

“Excuse me?”

“How is it any different you being told what do to by your lawful owner, and me being told what to do by you?”

Damn it, she had me there. She really did.

“It’s plenty different,” I said.

“Tell me how.”

This kobold was sharp. Way too sharp.

“I’m waiting…” she said.

“It’s different because…”

Lots of things rushed through my head then.

It was different because I conjured Shadow from essence. Or more accurately, I used essence to generate a mana-transfer that brought Shadow from the academy breeding grounds, to here.

It was different because I was a dungeon core, and not too concerned with looking like a hypocrite.

It was different because I had the power and authority to erase her from existence.

“It’s different because…shut up,” I said. “I called you in because we’re heading into dangerous territory. I assume you’ve heard about the narkleer, since you seem to know everything else that goes on.”

“The walls whisper of Dylan getting his guts ripped out.”

“You don’t seem too upset about a fellow kobold’s demise.”

She shrugged. “We all meet the ten reapers eventually, gutless or not.”

“At any rate, we might need you to do some scouting for us once we get in. If narkleers are lurking around, then who knows what else is?” I said.

“You know me; always delighted to help. Where does alchemy come in this?” she asked.

“Oh, just something I need to do with an angry elemental jelly cube. You wouldn’t be interested.”

She shrugged again. “I might. The stuff you do with corpses is fascinating in a way.”

I couldn’t help feel an inner smile then. The stuff I do with corpses is fascinating! That was the first time I’d ever heard such a sweet compliment.

“You want to see?” I said.

“If you don’t mind, boss,” she said, this time without sarcasm.

 I guessed it would be nice to have an audience, someone watching me work. Much of a dungeon core’s labor is spent alone, so it would be a welcome break.

“Well, first, I need to create a jelly cube,” I said.

I brought up my list of craftable monsters.

Spider [Cost 15]

Leech [Cost 15]

Fire beetle [Cost 20]

Kobold [Cost 35]

Angry Elemental Jelly Cube [Cost 75]

Sinister Owl [Cost 120]

Stone Dwarf Troll [Cost 180]

Bogbadug [Cost 200]

Bone Guy [Cost 250]

Hivemind Shrooms [Cost 375]