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

the rooms. Chiefly the loot chamber, since that is where most battles are fought. If I’m going to use bowmen, they need cover.”

“But you aren’t just going to wait around for Cael to come to you?”

“Defense is like you and your cravats; you don’t always need them, but you feel lost without them. I just want to cover myself.”

“What about our friend over in Hogsfeate, then?”

“I thought I might just have Dullbright killed.”

“Hmm. A rather simple solution.”

“Almost graceful, I think,” I said.

“It doesn’t seem wise to send an army, even if you had one big enough to invade a walled town.”

“I was going to be a lot subtler than that. I thought perhaps that I could send Shadow. She is the only member of the dungeon adept at stealth, and she has the Backstab ability. It seems to me that with Dullbright gone, the people of Hogsfeate might be content to let the matter drop.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“You saw Dullbright. You saw his statue. Did the two even bear any resemblance? The man has gone to pasture. His sword-swinging days are almost over, and when they are, what will he have left? Defeating Namantep is how he got his name, and doing the same to me is how he’ll keep his name relevant. If he were to unfortunately pass away, most of the Hogsfeate townsfolk would be content to just get on with their lives, I imagine.”

“Maybe. As long as they didn’t think a dungeon core had arranged the killing.”

“Shadow will have to make sure it looks like someone else’s work.”

Wait a second.

“Someone else’s work,” I said. The words were awakening something in my mind. “Someone else’s work…someone else’s work…”

“Do you need a lie-down, Beno?”

And then it fell into place.

“Nope. I need essence. And for that, I need time.”

When I visited Core Jahn’s dungeon, I found Jopvitz, one of my miners, sitting on the floor, alone, in an empty chamber.

“What’s going on? Where are the core visions?”

Jopvitz shrugged. “The other Dark Lord said he no longer has time to cast them today. He needed to focus on his work.”

“The other Dark Lord? Do you mean Jahn?”

“Yes!”

“Not all cores are your Dark Lords, Jopvitz. Just me.”

“Yes, Dark Lord.”

“Did you get a chance to see anything at all?”

“I watched visions, Dark Lord. I watched for hours. Most of the time it was just people in their horrible houses. Eating meals. Talking.”

“No secret meetings? No whispering?”

“Nothing, Dark Lord.”

“Damn it.”

“Ah, it’s you, Beno! What a lovely surprise. Twice in two days you have come to visit!”

Jahn had just appeared on the pedestal in the center of the room. He was covered in dust and gave off an air of exhaustion. As well as having strong human emotions, Jahn was the only core I had ever met who needed to sleep.

“Good to see you, Jahn. Where are the core visions?” I said.

“I’m sorry, Beno, but it was taxing. I have so much work to do for the chiefs, and I found it impossible to focus on it while keeping my visions projected.”

“Damn it!”

“I am really in a difficult position, Beno. Reginal and Galatee expect me to work on the town. If my progress slows, they will wonder why.”

I sighed. Not at Jahn, really, but myself. “I know. I understand the position I’m putting you in, but this is important for both of us. If we don’t take care of the No-Cores, we’re in real trouble.”

“I know, Beno. I’m trying.”

“I know you are. I’m sorry, Jahn. I don’t mean to behave like an absolute donkey’s arse.”

Jahn gave off a wave of kindness. “Are you scared, Beno?”

I paused. I glanced at Jopvitz, who had the expression of a child trapped in the middle of his parents’ sensitive conversation, and unsure of how to extricate himself.

“I’m not scared,” I said.

“It’s okay to be. You always say that the old core ways of doing things are wrong. That we shouldn’t treat our dungeon mates as slaves. That we should foster relationships with them. Well, why do we not say the same about the old idea that cores shouldn’t have emotions? Eh?”

“Emotions stop you from thinking clearly.”

“Beno, emotions guide us. Why do you suppose people have them? They are there to influence our decisions and ensure our physical and mental survival.”

Was this Jahn I was speaking to, or had someone taken the place of my friend? I had never expected to hear this kind of thing from him.

“You’ve thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”

“I know what they all used to say about me, back at the academy. That more of my human side had come through than for anyone else. The overseers said it would hold me back, and perhaps it did, when it came to dungeons. But I think there’s more to it than dungeons, Beno.”

“It?”

“More to our existence than being a core. Have you never thought about it?”

“More to our existence than being a core? We are cores now! There’s no more to it. That’s like asking ‘is there more to being a human, than being human?’”

“You’ve never asked if there might exist other reasons for a person to be resurrected and forged into a new life?” said Jahn.

Jahn was leading me into dangerous thoughts and murky waters. At the academy, we were taught not to think about things like reasons or purposes, because no answer could ever satisfy the hunger once you woke it, and further questions would only make it stronger.

“Beno?”

“I don’t need a higher purpose, Jahn. I’ve never heard of them doing anyone any good. Right now, I need to see a core vision,” I said. “A particular Yondersun resident named Boothe Stramper.”

“The man with scars all over his