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

“There’s not much I can really say,” said Gulliver. “For a while, I was sure that I was being followed around town. Never by the same people, but they were there, lurking in the background.”

“You never mentioned it to me.”

“Well, here’s the thing. This is a little bit delicate, my friend. What I say next might shock you, and I pray that you do not think badly of me. That you do not let this alter your whole impression of me. I have done a bad, bad thing, and I know that you may judge me harshly, but please try not to. Alright?”

“Get on with it.”

Gulliver sighed. “I have been…spending time…with a married woman, Beno. The shame! The shame!”

“I don’t really care about your romantic life. Get to the evil part. What have you done that’s so wrong?”

“That was it. You aren’t surprised?”

“Gull, that is just the sort of thing I expected from you, in truth. I would be more surprised if you weren’t having an illicit dalliance of some kind. You are my best friend, but that is just who you are when it comes to love. You’re like a magpie always looking in other people’s nests. Your behavior is shameful, but you’re a shameful person, so your behavior is consistent.”

“Well…as much as I’d like to have my ego boosted some more…I was sure that my new love’s husband was getting people to follow me.”

“Who is she, this woman? Don’t tell me it’s a noble lady. I know they’re your type, but their husbands tend to be rich, powerful, or both.”

“It’s Kathryn. She is the head of the town guards.”

“What?”

“And her husband is also a guard. I believed that he had put his colleagues up to following me, having grown suspicious of Kathryn and me. But after being followed one night, I then received a summons to go and see that mimic of yours. When I got to Dullbright’s house, I was smacked on the head. Here, in this pit of luxury, is where I have been ever since.”

“You’ve got the wrong end of the sword on this, Gull. Morphant wouldn’t attack you. I’ll use my core voice to talk to him. One second.”

“Wait! Beno, I am telling you that Morphant summoned me to his home, and then this happened.”

“You must have been waylaid by your girlfriend’s husband on the way here. He and his pals gave you a beating before you got to Dullbright’s house.”

“I remember getting there. I remember seeing Morphant in Dullbright form, and how he seemed to have put on weight. I remember wondering how someone could put on weight so quickly, and whether it was even possible for a mimic to gain weight in his mimicked form.”

“It isn’t possible. Morphant would have to actively change himself into a heavier version. Any weight gain you saw was purposeful.”

“He’s been acting strange, Beno. Drinking lots. Hanging around with some beggar woman in his bed chambers.”

“Well, you aren’t one to pass judgment on romance, are you?”

“Beno…”

“Fine. Let’s assume that Morphant is behind this. How? Why? Who?”

“I…uh…this, again, is shameful,” said Gulliver.

“Out with it….”

“If it wasn’t Kathryn’s husband, then my next guess was…well, I half-thought it was you.”

“What?”

“Look at it from my point of view!” said Gulliver. “Morphant is your mimic. He summons me to his home, I get whacked on the head, and I wake up here. I was under the impression only you could give him orders.”

“Evidently Morphant has begun thinking for himself.”

“Or…could anyone take control of him, Beno? Is there a way to do that?”

I thought about it. I had read about a similar situation in the Dungeon Core Academy library, I was sure of it.

“It is rare for a dungeon core to be so physically distanced from one of his creatures as with Morphant and me. I suppose that with Morphant being here and me being all the way in my dungeon…”

“So it’s possible, then? That someone could assume control of him?”

“I can’t disprove it as a possibility, but that doesn’t make it likely.”

“It’s the simplest answer, no? Which leaves us with the who,” said Gulliver. “Now, we need to think really hard about this, Beno. Do you and I have any enemies in town?”

I took a second. “Let me see. There’s Pvat from the heroes’ guild and by extension, all the heroes who fall under his command. There’s your girlfriend’s husband and by extension, any of his fellow guard chums. There’s the possibility that someone may have rumbled our mimic ruse, which could mean that anyone who supported Dullbright is a potential opponent. There’s also the cotton merchant whose arse we whipped a while ago, and I’m sure there are others I’m missing out. Tavern owners who you forgot to tip. Other angry husbands who are victims of your shameful philandering.”

“Alright. So the who doesn’t help us one bit.”

“Probably better we focus on our current predicament,” I said. “As much as I like dark places underground, I like them to be ones in which I am the captor and not the captive. Let’s see how we can get out of this place and leave Hogsfeate. They took Rusty’s shaman paraphernalia, so he won’t be much good. No offense, Rusty.”

“Offense taken, Dark Lord.”

“What about your scribe abilities, Gull? You’re always bragging about your prowess. Why not just write a note for the guards to find? One that reads something like ‘You will let me out of here.’”

“Tried that already. I wrote a message using the hay. There wasn’t much, so I only managed to write ‘unlock gate and fall sleep.’ Still, it worked. That done, I used the guards’ keys to unlock a door just beyond the cell, climbed a few steps…and emerged right into the middle of the guards’ barracks. That’s why you would notice, if it