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

“It’s not just about me, Gull.”

“True. People seem more receptive to my pro-kobold rhetoric. I believe your monsters will be accepted in town before you are.”

“That’s something, at least. Keep working on it. I don’t expect a parade in my name, but if we could get to the point where I can visit Mimic Dullbright without causing a scandal, we’d be getting somewhere. Now, tell me about Overseer Bolton.”

“I have something to talk to you about first,” said Gulliver.

“Why do I sense trepidation in your voice?”

“It’s about Morphant.”

“What about him?”

“I’m beginning to have my concerns, Beno. He…uh…seems to enjoy playing his role a little too much.”

“That’s his whole point. He’s to appear in public as Sir Dullbright so that the townsfolk believe he is still alive. That way, we control the whole town.”

“Yes, Beno, but there’s something strange about this mimic. Your other mimics, like poor old Dolos…they are lacking in personality, yes? They are neutral.”

“That’s the point of a mimic. They have little personality of their own so that they can inhabit their mimic forms better.”

“Well, Morphant is acting strange. Sir Dullbright had…uh…lady friends. He had several, in fact.”

“So? He was rich, powerful, and he wasn’t married.”

“Well, the ladies are still coming to Dullbright’s palace.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you! Mimic Dullbright is allowing them to visit.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “He’s a mimic! He only uses Dullbright’s form to carry out my orders. He wouldn’t have any…desires. Ugh, the whole idea makes me feel ill.”

“Think about how I feel, having to spend so much time here! But I don’t think there is any romance there, Beno. I think he just enjoys their company. Even so, it is dangerous for the mimic to spend so much time alone with someone because it increases the chance of him being rumbled. I also feel bad for the lovely ladies. I see one of them around town from time to time. Part of me feels like giving a warning.”

“For demons’ sake, Gull, you can’t do that! We’re trying to get the public to gradually accept Dullbright changing his whole world view on cores and monsters. We can’t afford to make him act any more suspicious. If someone realized what was happening, this whole thing is over.”

“The ladies aren’t all, Beno. Morphant is getting a little too big for his mayor pants. He was in a meeting with Pvat from the heroes’ guild last week, and a servant spilled his wine. Morphant ordered him to be whipped! It was the poor lad’s first day on the job, and he was terrified. Luckily, I was on my way to visit, and I was able to stop the lad getting his arse lashed.”

“I’ll have to think about this,” I said. “Just keep an eye on him.”

“I have my own job, Beno. What about the barbarian, isn’t he supposed to be watching over him?”

“Eric? I gave him leave to look for Shadow. The bloke was obsessed with finding her, and truth be told, the longer she stays missing, the worse it is for dungeon morale. For some reason, people in my lair love her.”

“As you say, then. I’ll try and watch out for anything untoward.”

“Thanks, Gull. Now, about Bolton. What did the owl-faced overseer want? Was he surprised that you were meeting him?”

“Why should he be?” said Gulliver. “I told him that after I finished writing a book about your exploits - which Bolton had already read and hated, by the way - a more powerful, richer, and altogether kinder paymaster had offered me a job. I then insulted your sense of morals. Bolton seemed perfectly happy with that reasoning.”

“So, what did he want?”

“I got the impression he wasn’t too pleased to be speaking to me, Beno. I told him that Dullbright was ill and that he was currently resting his plump rump in his chamber. Bolton didn’t pry too much, but he didn’t let loose with his lips, either.”

“I wasn’t asking you to seduce the poor man, Gull.”

“All I could get out of him was that he seemed awfully interested in the core that went berserk in town.”

“Namantep? Does he have any idea that she’s in my dungeon?”

“I doubt it, or he’d be poking his snout around your lair, wouldn’t he? Why don’t you get rid of her?”

“Because I made a deal with Mage Hardere. He created a portal so I could murder Cael Pickering, and I agreed that I would keep his dormant dungeon core in my lair.”

“I know, but it’s been months. How long does he expect you to keep her for?”

“I don’t know, because I was so desperate for the portal that I didn’t make sure of the terms of our deal as well as I should have. Nobody’s perfect, however close some of us come.”

“Why not just have Razensen take Namantep out of the dungeon and throw her as far away as he can? She’s not your problem.”

“Throw her? We cores aren’t just pieces of rock, Gull, no matter how many people say it. Anyway, when you make a deal with a mage, you see it through. Breaking a deal with a mage tends to have consequences.”

“Ah. The unbreakable pact spell.”

“Pretty standard among wizards and the like.”

“Don’t let him hear you calling him a wizard,” said Gulliver. “The other day, he threw his new serving goblin from his tower for having the audacity. What are you going to do?”

“I’m not a part of the Dungeon Core Academy anymore,” I said. “And although Bolton is a dungeon overseer and has his ways of moving around dungeons undetected, I have no duty to make it easy for him. I know how to construct a hidden chamber. I suppose I’ll just keep Namantep in there. What else did