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

she would be back. She needed to help her mother, and she wasn’t really a child. She was older than me, in fact. She’d be sensible enough to not let her emotions ruin her chances of helping her mother.

“Vedetta?” I said.

No answer. Yep, she must have left.

Hopping back into my loot room, I needed to come up with a way of destroying the bogbadug once we let it out of the loot chest.

Problems, problems. I thought back to my academy classes, but we had never covered what to do when you trapped an overgrown frog in a chest and asked your kobold to sit on it to prevent it from escaping.

I had an idea, though.

By now, all of my essence had regenerated, leaving me with 49 points. That was enough, I hoped.

I focused on the ground in front of my pedestal.

Create fire beetle.

There was a whoosh of light, and I felt essence leave me in a gust. The light spiraled on the ground, forming into a shape. When it dispersed, I was left with a strange little creature.

It was a beetle. Small, black, with a hardened shell that had streaks of red light on top of it. It smelled faintly of horse crap.

“What is it?” said Tomlin, staring curiously from the loot chest.

“You have never seen a fire beetle before? Not even in the academy?”

“Breeding grounds are kept separate, Dark Lord.”

“Ah. Yes. Well, this is quite simple. It’s a beetle, and it’s infused with fire damage. That’s as clear as I can put it, but it describes it quite well.”

“Tomlin doesn’t like it.”

“Tomlin will have to get used to it; this beetle is now one of our clanmates.”

“What is your name, fire beetle?” said the kobold.

“It can’t talk, Tomlin. It doesn’t have your great intelligence. Beetles are quite simple creatures, I’m afraid. At least it won’t talk back to me, though. Now prepare yourself, because I need another.”

Create fire beetle.

Another twenty points of essence left me, and a second beetle spawned on the ground. The two of them faced each other now, and they gently butted heads. I guessed that was what passed as a hello among the beetles.

They were quite cute. Probably hideous to most people, but as a core, it was natural that I’d be fond of the creatures I created. Even ones who were cowardly, and who only mined for me so they could earn study time.

The greatest thing about the beetles was that with their limited intelligence came a limited emotional response. They would at least carry out my orders without reluctance.

They also had fire damage. That was the key when dealing with a frog creature like the bogbadug. I was hoping that, as a creature that spent some of its time in water, it was weak against fire.

“Tomlin, when I tell you to, I want you to jump off the chest, and then run to the tunnel behind me. No matter what happens, do not let the frog into my core room. Got it?”

Tomlin sighed. “Yes, Dark Lord.”

“Okay. Here we go…jump!”

The kobold leaped off the chest and darted over to the tunnel. I felt anxious as I waited for the bogbadug to emerge.

The loot chest rattled. The lid shook. Then it suddenly opened, and a rather angry overgrown frog emerged from it.

I stared at my beetles. “Attack!”

They made strange chirping sounds, which my core intuition translated.

“Attack!”

“Kill! Kill!”

Ah, so they could talk, just not very well. They wouldn’t be having enthralling dinner conversations, anyway.

Both insects bombarded the bogbadug with little balls of fire. They were barely bigger than apples, yet the fireballs hit the creature again and again, burning its skin and tearing holes in it.

It made me feel bad. Only for a second though, because then I remembered that I was a core, and that particular feeling had no place in my dungeon. Besides, this was an essence-hungry intruder. If I couldn’t watch it die, how would I cope with slaughtering parties of heroes?

So I stayed on my pedestal and watched, resolute and unrelenting, as my beetles killed the creature.

Finally it made a rasping sound, and it fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Bogbadug killed!

 

You have leveled up to 2!

- Total essence increased to 100

- Crafting categories unlocked: Puzzles and Traps

- Existing categories expanded

- Dungeon capacity increased: 6 rooms, 8 traps, 4 puzzles, 8 monsters

 

Your fire beetles can now learn the [warrior] specialty.

Ah, that felt good!

It was hard to explain just how brilliant it felt to level up. The nearest sensation was a really, really delicious meal. One that danced over your taste buds, one that left a warm feeling inside your belly. One that satisfied your hunger yet didn’t make you feel too full, and instead was just right.

Even that delicious sensation wouldn’t compare. This felt bloody brilliant, and it wasn’t just a phantom feeling, either. This was all too real.

I enjoyed the feeling as it worked through me. Once it left, I realized I had quite a lot to take in.

Firstly, leveling up had increased my total essence to 100, and I couldn’t understate how important that was.

In addition, and even more vital to my dungeon operations, was that I had unlocked both the puzzle and trap categories. This meant I could finally satisfy one of my dungeon requirements. Progress!

Finally, my beautiful little bugs had earned an important specialty: warrior. Now, I had two creatures who could fight any dungeon intruders for me. No hesitation, no fear, just plain, blood-thirsty obedience.

Assign specialty to fire beetles: warrior.

 

Your fire beetles are now [Warriors Lvl1]!

Hmm. The day had begun with an overgrown frog threatening my very existence, and then an annoyed overseer springing a premature evaluation on me. It hadn’t turned out too badly, when