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

excavate another room, though at ten feet squared, this was the smallest in the dungeon.

Here, we – and by we, I mean Tomlin – dug little holes in the walls, going deep enough into each one until we saw worms squirming in the mud.

“Collect as many worms as you can find, and put them on the floor,” I said.

Tomlin did so, and after an hour he’d found a hundred of them. The floor was practically crawling. It was like a rug from my crafting list, except disgusting and alive.

Next, I snipped four leaves from my essence vines. I had Tomlin tear these up into the smallest pieces he could, which he then sprinkled over the worms.

A few seconds later, and there I had it! The essence nourished the worms, and it made them breed at an insane rate. Not only that, but it sped up their biological process, and soon, there were thousands of them. All I had to do now was let them carry on breeding.

“There you go, Tomlin,” I said. “A never-ending food supply for you. Lots of lovely, squelchy protein.”

“Worms? Tomlin must eat worms?”

“Well, what did you expect? What did they feed you in the academy, lobsters and caviar?”

“Sometimes breedmaster Hulle would give kobolds sheep meat.”

“Worms are a kind of meat…I think. I’m sorry Tomlin, but breedmaster Hulle and Vedetta have spoiled your palate. This is a dungeon, not a restaurant, and I’m afraid this is the best we can do for now.”

“Hmm.”

He wasn’t happy. I could see that. The problem was, I had been a core for so long that I no longer had an appetite, and food wasn’t a draw for me anymore. I tried to be empathetic.

“How about this? If, while you’re working for Vedetta and me, you come across any underground fungi or anything like that, you can collect them, and we’ll cultivate them. Huh? Sound okay?”

“It isn’t pastry or sheep meat.”

“No, like I said, Vedetta has spoiled you. Now I have to be the bad guy. I’m sorry, Tomlin.”

“Dark Lord must teach, then. Study time?”

I liked to think that I was a core of my word. So, Tomlin and I spent the evening in my core room, where I taught him as much as I knew about dungeon structure, and I answered all of his questions. He picked it up quite quickly, actually, and asked things that neither me nor any of the other cores had thought to ask back in class.

As the night wore on my essence reached 100 again, and I started to get anxious about finishing my dungeon. After all, there was no telling when the overseers might return.

Then, on cue, there was a knock on a door, way across the dungeon.

CHAPTER 18

“If it isn’t my favorite ex-core, miner extraordinaire!” I said, after unlocking the door and having Tomlin carry Vedetta into the dungeon. To her credit, she did a great job pretending the kobold was kidnapping her.

“I’ll have to be quick,” she said. “Mom needs me later, and my brothers aren’t much help.”

“Send her my regards.”

“Ah yeah. ‘Mom? A dungeon core sends his well wishes.’ I don’t think so. Thank you for the thought, though.”

“Did you find any iron?”

“Some. Not a lot, but some. Let me show Tomlin where to dig.”

“Woah. Hold on a second. Show me.”

“Oh? You dig things for yourself now, do you?”

“No, but despite all appearances, my dungeon conforms to a very strict plan. I can't have a kobold digging up holes everywhere.”

“Hmph. Fine. Do you have a dungeon map?”

“What kind of core wouldn’t?”

With a mental command, I made a map appear in front of us. It showed my core root, loot room, worm larder, and the three unassigned rooms. Tiny symbols displayed our current location, as well as the fire beetles who I had stationed as guards in room two, which would eventually become the hero entrance. Unfortunately, it was entirely lacking trap and puzzle symbols right now, but that would hopefully change soon.

Vedetta pointed out a section in the corner of the third room.

“If you dig a small tunnel a few yards there, and then go up a little, you should find some iron.”

“That’s much more precise than I expected.”

“I told you; I’m a pretty good miner.”

“Then why haven’t you found what you need yet?”

“The wundaroot? It’s a much rarer substance than iron, and my mining level isn’t high enough yet. I’ll find it eventually, though. Now, I better go.”

“No problem. Oh, make sure you flee the dungeon screaming and waving your arms. It has to appear like you’re escaping.”

She nodded. “Will do.”

She then raised her arms, screamed, and fled the dungeon.

I felt much happier now. In fact, I was buzzing with excitement. Tomlin turned to me with a grim look on his face.

“Tomlin has to dig now, I suppose?” he said.

I grinned. I had planned a surprise for him, and I guessed it was time to let him know.

“Not so fast. Wait a second.”

Create kobold.

Essence left me, and just as before, a figure took shape before my imaginary eyes, and soon I had a second kobold.

He was shorter than Tomlin, and had inherited more of the wolf side than lizard. He had fine, bristle-like hairs all over his head, and his eyes shone with cunning.

“This is your new clanmate,” I said. “You, Tomlin, are his supervisor. Would you like to name him?”

“Tomlin name him?”

“I told you, you’re a lieutenant now. He will be under your direct supervision as a miner.”

“Thanks, Dark Lord!”

“Don’t mention it. Now, what’s his name?”

Tomlin pondered on this.

Then he pondered some more.

To be honest, I grew a little tired of all the pondering. “Out with it!”

Tomlin approached the new kobold with a giant smile