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

“If we were going to pursue him, Beno, would it not have been better to do it straight away?”

“I only got the full story yesterday. It took Razensen the best part of two days to leave his fury fugue completely, and Eric’s been sedated while Cynthia webbed his leg.”

“Then their captain will be far away, Beno. Hardly seems worth the effort.”

“I suppose that’s it, then. Thank you for your time, gentlemen.”

“Tomlin has a request,” said the kobold.

“Oh?”

“Horrible little girl set fire to Tomlin’s plants. Tomlin knows that you bought powder from Cynthia to extinguish fires in cultivation room, but this was situation where Tomlin couldn’t get to powder, because equally horrible freckle boy was threatening to use powers.”

I resisted the temptation to rebuke Tomlin for referring to the essence vines as his plants. This was my dungeon, and every tunnel and every chamber belonged to me.

Then again, Tomlin was the one who spent hour upon hour, day after day carefully tending those plants. He put the hard work in, not me. And though they replenished my essence and were important to me, to Tomlin those plants were something else entirely. They were his duty, his life’s work.

How could I ask my dungeon mates to sweat for my dungeon, to lose limbs and even their lives for it, yet still insist that everything within it was mine, and mine alone?

So, I didn’t let my ego or my pedantry influence what I said. It still left me with a problem.

“That’s a good point, Tomlin. We need better security for the cultivation room so that nobody but you or I can access it. We also need a system of protecting the plants from attack. Hmm. I’ll take care of the security today, by placing a door only we can open. As for everything else, leave it with me.”

“Thank you, Dark Lord.”

“Tomlin?”

“Yes?”

“Good work with your plants. You are doing a great job.”

Tomlin grinned. “Thank you, Dark Lord. And let Tomlin know about Shadow.”

“I will.”

Tomlin left. As Gary followed, he patted me with a leechy leg. “And thank you for your work too, Beno, dear chap. It is not lost on us all how hard you work for us.”

She was restrained with ropes around her wrists, ankles, waist, and neck, which were secured around metal hooks fixed deep into the wall. I didn’t like seeing her this way, but there wasn’t much else I could do.

We’d had our problems, Shadow and me. Our disagreements, fallings out, even full-blown arguments in front of everyone else. But I never, ever thought we’d have to treat her this way.

To think, I was so sure that we’d turned a corner. That by sending her to assassinate the mayor of Hogsfeate, I had given her the trust she craved, and she’d repaid it plenty. And then the little witch came along and ruined it.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Where’s Anna?” said Shadow. “Anna, a pure soul. A kind master with really nice hair and a lovely singing voice.”

“Yes, Wylie and the others told me you say that a lot. She’s really burrowed into your mind, hasn’t she?”

“Burrowed? Enough rubbish, core. Where’s Anna?”

“Shadow, let me ask you something.”

She spat at me. “Where is Anna?”

“Answer a question, and I will take you to her.”

“Ask, then.”

“Who are your friends in the dungeon, Shadow?”

“Anna.”

“She’s not from…well I suppose she is in the dungeon right now. So technically, you’re right. Is there anyone else who you remember having a friendship with?”

“Utta. But not as much as Anna. A pure soul. A kind master with really nice hair and a lovely-”

“Singing voice. Yes. We haven’t heard her sing yet, Shadow. She might start singing when I send good old Kainhelm into her cell.”

Shadow began struggling against her ropes. “No! You foul lump of rock! You wouldn’t!”

“Alright, calm down. I’m only trying to gauge what parts of the old Shadow are still there. Mainly the bad parts, as far as I can see. Do you remember what you did to Redjack?”

“The kobold? I stabbed him.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

“What are you, a mind healer? Take me to Anna, you disgusting rock.”

“Well, I’ve been called worse. How do you feel about Tomlin?”

“Just another kobold.”

“No attachments to him, then?” I said.

“My only attachment is to-”

“The great and wonderful Anna, yes. I suppose there’s no getting around this brain blockage of yours, is there?”

Shadow said nothing.

I began floating out of the room, but then stopped. “Ah. Perhaps there’s one thing. Wylie?”

The door opened and four dogs came tearing in. When they saw Shadow their tails started wagging side to side like buoys in a sea storm. They crowded her, some leaping up to lick her face, others licking her feet and legs.

“Get them away from me!” she shouted.

One dog backed away. The others looked at her, heads tilted, tails halfway up.

“Get them away!”

I sighed. “Damn it, I was sure that would work. You love your hounds more than anything. Oh, well. No sense subjecting the poor things to your new state of mind. Wylie, take them away. If you could ask Brecht and Rusty to play fetch with them for a while, I would appreciate it. Poor hounds have been starved for attention lately.”

Wylie herded the hounds out of the chamber, leaving Shadow and me alone. I stared at her, remembering what I had been forced to do with the other monsters Anna had beguiled, and wondering if there was any way back for this loyal dungeon servant.

My core gut told me no but at the same time, when I looked at Shadow, I saw a tear sneak from the corner of her left eye