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

“That’s symbolic of what this room does. The three runemarks make up a complete word, just as placing a creature in each of the three marks gives me a complete melded monster. This, my friend, is where I create a new boss creature. Take a look at this. What beasts would you blend to create something capable of mass slaughter?”

Gulliver tapped his chin. “Touch question. I suppose blending a dragon with a great big ice troll might work. They’re both sufficiently monstrous.”

“Great idea, blending a lizard with fire in its belly with a being made out of ice.”

“I’m not the dungeon core. The closest I’ve gotten to experimentation is deciding which cravat to wear with which shirt.”

“And you still haven’t mastered it. Fine, just watch.”

I brought up my monster list now, filtering it so that only the new craftable monsters showed. These were the creatures that became available to me after leveling up three times by beating the last hero party.

*New* Raven [Cost 18]

[A black-feathered bird known for its curiosity, confident strut, and the subtle suggestion of menace. Often seen hovering above funerals or outside the window of a death bed.]

*New* Shrub Bandit [Cost 100]

[A shrub so inconspicuous that you may not notice it in the background, slowly getting closer and closer, until it is too late. Loves gold and jewels, but only when looted or stolen.]

*New* Porcu-Pinetree [Cost 195]

  [A tree full of pine needles, that can shoot them out at will. Can move, but in an extremely lumbering way.]

*New* Clock Work Sentry [Cost 1007, Artificer required]

[A sentry that can be given a sole task and will before it for eternity with no complaints nor questions. Requires the expertise of an artificer to construct, cannot be performed by core alone.]

At first glance, not a great range of new monsters. Ravens? Shrubs? Trees? Not impressive. But there was potential there, and it was my job to know how to use it.

Back in the Dungeon Core Academy, we had learned all about critters and creatures, about their abilities, strengths, weaknesses. Even the simplest- lowest-on-the-rung creature had its uses in the right situation. This meant there was hope for us all, even cart parking wardens and census takers.

With 909 essence points burning a hole in my core, I had a boss monsters to create, and I needed to use my knowledge to blend the right creatures.

“Let’s see…”

“This is exciting,” said Gulliver, his book and quill in hand. “Like watching a nobleman choose a new frock.”

“Well, my first choice of garment is easy,” I said.

I gave a mental command and brought the essence inside me brimming to the surface. Wielding this, I created the first component of my new boss monster.

Creature Created!

500 essence points used [Total: 409/909]

With a surge of light, a new creature formed in front of us. Gulliver, apparently still not used to how things worked down here, jumped back a step when it materialized out of nothing.

Recovering himself, he looked at the new monster and said, “That’s…uh…certainly…not interesting, exactly, but it’s something.”

Yes, it would be hard to describe my new monster as interesting. Right now, it was just a hand-sized mound of goo, rather like builder’s putty. Grey in color, lacking any sort of features or scent. Hard to believe that this thing costs 500 essence points.

“Say hello to my new mimic,” I said.

“That’s a mimic? I thought they presented as treasure chests?”

“You’ve been reading too many books.”

“Writing too many, too, some would say.”

“The whole mimic as a chest thing was started by dungeon cores, actually. Classically, dungeon cores utilized mimics by telling them to disguise themselves as treasure chests. Heroes generally come into our lairs for loot, and what better than to have them approach a chest, rubbing their greedy little mitts together, only to have their face bitten off when they realize it’s a dupe?”

“Why not do that, then?”

“Because it's cliché, and I hate clichés. They make my blood boil and they grind my gears. What’s more, heroes are wise to the mimic trick now. They usually use anti-illusion powder or cast an unmasking spell before they open a chest. No, I won’t be going in that direction. Mimics have a much better use.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me. It looks like a glob of hair pomade, or like it should be spread on a windowsill to keep the rain out.”

“That blob is the mimic’s natural form, but it wouldn’t be a mimic if it stayed like that. Watch this.” I looked at the pile of goo. “Mimic, transform, please.”

The mimic stretched out as if plied apart by invisible hands, its mass growing larger and larger in a complete middle finger to physics. The dough was the size of a cannonball, then a pumpkin, and grew more and more until it finally reached six-feet tall.

Its grey features took on colors; mustard yellow and salmon pink and a chalky white. Its smooth surface grew features, resulting in a pointy nose, delicate chin, frills, hairs, buckles, a belt, adding more and more elements until the effect was complete.

“Gulliver,” I said. “Meet Gulliver.”

The real Gulliver walked a circle around it, tapping his chin. “My, I’m a handsome fellow. I see an error, however. This mimic…well…it has a certain lack of physique, to my mind. It has copied my form, to be sure, but not my toned arms and athletic thighs, honed from numerous romantic dalliances over the years. It may have mimicked aspects of my visage, but it can’t copy the aura I bring to a room. It doesn’t understand experience, wit, bravery, and it certainly doesn’t possess my immense modesty. A mimic it may be, but a true copy it is not. In fact, it brings to mind the counterfeit books doing the rounds. You must know of