Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) by Alex Oakchest (book suggestions txt) π
Read free book Β«Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) by Alex Oakchest (book suggestions txt) πΒ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: Alex Oakchest
Read book online Β«Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) by Alex Oakchest (book suggestions txt) πΒ». Author - Alex Oakchest
It came from behind us, a new voice echoing throughout the chamber.
Who else could it belong to? A voice, spoken by a person who had arrived unannounced, a person capable of walking through a dungeon completely undetected?
βOverseer Bolton,β I said.
βAh, Beno. It seems you are a raven now, are you? It suits you. Sneaky, too curious for your own good. Treacherous.β
βShiny thing!β said another raven.
βAye, obsessed with shiny things, too. You have a lot in common with your corvids.β
βDeath and thunder!β said the core. βWhat is this? Those robesβ¦an overseer? Here?β
βQuiet,β said Bolton.
Edgar fluttered around so I could see Bolton properly. He was standing by the core room entrance, no longer in his laborer clothes but adorned in his sweeping academy robes.
βWhat are you doing here?β I said.
βI might ask the same question. I knew you were hiding something, Beno, but I thought it would be some misguided attempt to trick First-Leaf Galatee and Chief Reginal. I never dreamed you had made a discovery such as this yet failed to inform the academy.β
βYes, the academy is a paragon of truth, isn't it?β I said.
βDeath and thunder! I awake to an overseer and braggart raven bickering in my chamber? Kainhelm, get here this instant!β shouted the core.
Overseer Bolton walked across the chamber. While Shadow had taken cautious steps with her dust, the overseer was more than capable of detecting traps with the barest glance, and it was only seconds before he stood in front of the core.
βIt is time for you to sleep again.β
βDeath and thun-β
Light glowed on Boltonβs palm, and he gently caressed the core. The blood-red glow left the gem, returning it to its grey state. It spoke of death and thunder no more. I had seen overseer do this in the academy, of course. Overseers needed to be able to control us cores, or they wouldnβt be worthy of their titles.
βWe have quite a dilemma, donβt we?β said Bolton. βThis core still belongs to the academy, despite being lost in the sands of time. While my overseer powers let me render it docile, I cannot do the same for you, Beno, since you arenβt owned by the academy any longer.β
βAnd why would you want to do that anyway?β
βI think you have seen enough in this dungeon, that you have begun to understand who this lost core is.β
βYes, you bet your arse I have,β I replied.
I hadnβt.
I had pieced together some of the clues, but only in a way that let me date this core to somewhere during the Corenaissance. But as for its identity, I had no idea other than its name, which I had never heard before. I certainly hadnβt read about it, which meantβ¦what? That it was an academy secret, perhaps?
I badly wanted to know. And I wanted to learn what it had started to tell me about the true purpose of cores. Had it just been manipulating my natural core curiosity to buy itself some time? Was it merely demented from so much time alone? Or did it know somethingβ¦
But I couldnβt ask it now. Nor could I ask Bolton. Overseer Bolton believed I knew something that he wanted keeping secret, and he couldnβt shut me up the way he had with this core.
That gave me something to bargain with. The key in any negotiation is not to flaunt your cards, and instead to let your opponent show theirs. In other words, to keep my core gob firmly shut.
βWhat do you suggest we do?β I said.
Bolton ran his finger across the dormant core. βThe academy would appreciate your discretion in this discovery.β
βAnd how will they buy my discretion?β
βLet me see. What can I offer to a dungeon core?β
βYou could get me my freedom,β I said.
βQuite impossible. I cannot influence Galatee in that way; to do so would undermine the academy. We cannot be seen to sell our failing cores, only to trick our way back to ownership.β
βLess of the failing,β I said. βAfter all, I discovered this place. You chumps had no clue about it.β
Bolton laughed. βNo clue? Why do you think I have been hanging around this barren pit of dirt in the arse end of nowhere? To help the clans? Pah. Why do you think I have been digging on the surface, staining my hands with dirt? Not for bloody thermal pockets, let me tell you. I am not even convinced such a phenomenon exists, despite Chief Reginalβs insistence. No, Beno. The academy knew that one of our cores was lost out here, but the records were destroyed in the great academy library fire of β22. I was sent here when it became clear the clans were expanding their settlement. I was to make sure they never stumbled upon this place. But in the hundreds of miles of wasteland, I never suspected a dungeon would lay exactly next to yours.β
βLady Chance at work.β
βYou think it is chance that draws cores so close to one other? Lady Chance has a sister, Beno. A most stubborn one who they call Destiny.β
βIf you need my secrecy, then here is what I want in return.β
βIβm all ears.β
βYou can take the sleepy core, and I will say nothing. My reward for my silence is that everything in this dungeon belongs to me. The blaudy stone, the narkleer, the hideous statues, everything.β
Bolton looked concerned. βThereβs a narkleer here?β
βThatβs a long story, so letβs pretend youβve already heard it. The narkleer is mine.β
βA dangerous creature. Too dangerous for a young core like you.β
βIn many dwarven towns, they let children carry their own battle axes. I can handle a narkleer.β
Bolton seemed to weigh my deal in his mind. βI suppose we can agree, but only if you ensure the narkleer never presents a danger to the
Comments (0)