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

Or, to be accurate, the mimic living out his days as Dullbright.

He got up, his stomach fluttering with thousands of moths. He poured himself a glass of brandy, chugged it back, then poured another at double the measure.

Why would the mimic, who worked under Core Beno’s orders, try to have him killed?

Mimics were supposed to be blank canvases. No desires of their own, their only purpose being to mimic their chosen targets on their master’s orders.

The thought made Gulliver so weak that he had to sit down.

Had Beno ordered Morphant to arrange for his murder? Would his best friend do that?

I mean, Beno is a dungeon core, after all. Forged without a soul and trained to kill heroes. And a hero, as he always tells me, is someone who enters his dungeon willingly. I did that. I have always met his definition of a hero, and he would have no problem killing me on that score.

Then again, what does the definition even matter? He had the real Dullbright murdered, after all! Beno is a killer!

He brought his brandy glass to his mouth, but now the smell made him feel sick. He flung it against the wall, where it smashed and showered his floor with amber liquid.

Gulliver suddenly missed Kathryn. Suddenly yearned for the feeling of protection he had when he was with her.

He tried to settle himself. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote you are calm on it, and he let some of his scribe mana seep into the words. Reading them back, his anxiety left him. His mind unclogged, and he could think clearly.

It didn’t make any sense whatsoever for Beno to kill Gulliver. He’d appointed him head of public communications to one day make the town accepting of cores, and in the meantime to give legitimacy to all of Dullbright’s orders. In other words, to make sure the people never, ever learned that the real Dullbright was dead, and a dungeon core was the true master of the town. Killing Gulliver earned Beno absolutely nothing. And besides, they were friends. Core or not, they really were friends.

That meant that, as crazy as it seemed, Morphant was behind the order. The damned mimic had tried to have him killed!

I need to speak to Beno. But the only way is through his core shavings, and Morphant has those.

Damn it. He could send a message, but he knew all too well that words had power, and if his written words fell into the wrong hands…

He’d have to get passage on a wagon or rent a horse and go see Beno in person. He could leave at daybreak. It was the only way.

Feeling somewhat relaxed now, Gulliver settled on a chair. But he didn’t want to sleep yet. Nor did he want to open the window, like he usually did, and let the sounds of the plaza drift in. He didn’t want to hear any of the town’s nightlife, such as it was. No, he’d just stay awake all night, stay alert, and leave as soon as it got light.

Four heavy knocks sounded on his door. A voice spoke.

“Mister Scribe? Sir Dullbright would like to see you.”

CHAPTER 14

Heroes slain in last battle: 29

You have leveled to 22!

- Total essence increased to 2460

- Existing crafting categories expanded

Ability gained: Core Voice Projection

[Core voice power increased, and can now be used across greater distances and with your creatures and with non-dungeon people]

Ability Gained: Core Vision Intensification

[Core vision can be used across greater distances, allowing you to see non-dungeon locations occupied by a) dungeon creatures or b) shavings / shards of your core self 

Current Abilities:

Core Control

[Temporarily assume control of one of your creatures]

Float

[You no longer need to use pedestals to move around, and instead can float]

As Razensen had agreed to become a part of my dungeon, his blood-lust rampage on the pirates – the tale of which a bone guy had recounted to me - had leveled me from 19 to 22. The instant increase of the amount of essence I could hold made me feel powerful, no doubt like the ‘pump’ Eric the barbarian always said he felt after trying to impress us by completing 500 push-ups on the loot chamber floor.

But more important were my new powers, Core Voice Projection and Core Vision Intensification. Until now, my core vision had let me remotely view only the chambers within my dungeon.

Added to that, I had been unable to use my core voice beyond the boundaries of my dungeon and Yondersun and thus had to send a few shavings of my core to Hogsfeate so that I could communicate with Shadow and Morphant.

Now, though, I had no such limitation. I could talk to my dungeon mates no matter where they were. And that wasn’t all. I wasn’t limited to just using my core voice with my own dungeon mates anymore. I could use it to speak with anyone. Chief Reginal, Gulliver, even Overseer Bolton.

Maybe I could even talk to the bloody king of Xynnar if I wanted to!

Wait…that might be fun. Now, what did the king look like? He’d be sitting on a throne, no doubt. Wearing fancy clothes. He was somewhere north of the wasteland, in one of his royal palaces.

“Hello?” I said.

Nothing.

Huh.

Now, I pictured Tesca, a gnome who owned a candle and wax shop on Jahn’s row.

“Hello, Tesca. How are you today?”

“Wha…who said that?” answered a voice.

“A ghost,” I said. “Your shop is haunted. Bye!”

This was glorious! Yes, it seemed that I could only project my core voice to people I had already met. And yes, that took a little of its use away, but it was important, nonetheless. It meant that I would