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

the academy and was forced onto another path. A lot had happened since this guy was my teacher.

“I take it this is your doing, our winged friends’ sudden pacifism?” I said.

Anna nodded. “See how much better my powers are since we last met? Not to blow my own trumpet, of course. Why do people say that, anyways? If you own a trumpet, isn’t the whole point to blow it?”

“Now, Anna,” said Bolton. “Remember what we said.”

“Play nice. Right.”

“Not that.”

“Oh! Yes. Focus.”

“If you lose control of the monsters, we’ll be more than a little stuck,” said Bolton, in a kind yet frustrated voice.

Now, this was weird to see. Bolton was talking to Anna like she was his daughter or something. And she was listening to him! That was a miracle in itself, given she was the most obstinate wench I’d ever met.

“Argh!” cried a voice.

Eric stumbled away from Shadow. She’d bitten him, torn off part of his ear, and spat it out.

Before Eric could pick up his lost piece of earlobe, one of Shadow’s hounds gobbled it up. He spun in circles while clutching his ear as if that would make the pain go away.

The other three dogs stayed well away from their master. They’d seen Shadow like this before. Back when Anna had controlled Shadow’s mind and used her to murder Redjack. The hounds weren’t scared of much, but they were terrified of seeing their master like this.

Now Anna was back, and Shadow had lost her mind again.

“Reverse it,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Get your stupid arse out of Shadow’s mind, and stay out.”

Anna looked at Bolton. “I see what you mean about the core now. He really is an idiot.”

“I never said that,” said Bolton, glaring.

I was furious. “Anna, you took control of Shadow’s mind again, and you did it at the worst possible time. See that three-eyed half-orc over there?”

Anna looked around the room, pretending not to see Warrane, who was lying on the floor, his leathers covered in blood.

“Three-eyed orc…hmm…you’d think I’d notice…”

“If he dies, you trollop, I’ll smear you with fish oil and throw you into a bear pit.”

“Now, Beno,” said Bolton, putting his hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Let’s not get nasty. You shouldn’t assume this was Anna. Don’t you think it’s unfair to leap to conclusions?”

“She has a history of mind control, Bolton. Her Chosen One power is mind control. Or mind handkerchiefs, or whatever she calls it.”

“They’re called mind blankets,” said Anna. “And don’t you forget it!”

“Whatever. She has a history of it. Let’s not forget what she did to Shadow the last time she was in the area.”

“Anna?” said Bolton, using a fatherly tone of voice. “Was this you? Be honest now.”

“Nope.”

“You’re sure?”

“She said no!” said Utta.

Anna stepped toward me, wearing a cheeky look.

“You know, it really wasn’t me this time. I didn’t touch the kobold’s mind. But I could fix her for you. For a price.”

“Price?”

“Just tell me that I’m stronger than you,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“In front of all your monsters, and in front of Bolton here, tell me that my powers are better than yours, that I’m cleverer than you, and that when it comes down to it, you’re not as special as you think you are. Oh, and that I have better hair and a much nicer singing voice. Wait, you don’t have hair. Okay, just the voice part.”

She waited.

I felt everyone staring at me. I knew what they were all thinking. They wanted me to say the words so that Anna would help Shadow. They were willing me to admit that she was better than me in every way.

Right then, just for a split second, I wanted to destroy the whole damn lot of them.

But Gull was hurt, Warrane was worse, and Shadow had lost her mind again. There was no time for pride. Shadow still hadn’t recovered from the last time this happened. The longer I let her stay in that state, lashing out at everyone, the more damage she’d do to herself and others. There was a chance she’d never, ever forgive herself.

Gods, I hated Anna. I truly, truly wanted to grind her into a paste and then feed it to the hounds.

“Your powers…” I began.

I tried to swallow the words, but they were like poison.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her reduce me to that in front of everyone.

I summoned some of my last remaining essence from my core. I focused it, and then cast it out.

Trap Created: Axe of ebbing doom

An axe appeared above Anna’s head. It looked sharp enough to cleave her skull in two. In front of her were thin tendrils of spider webbing.

“Anna…” said Utta, pointing.

Anna looked up. Saw the axe.

She smiled. “Ooh, an axe! Looks sharp.”

“I know you aren’t scared,” I said. “Fear requires emotion, and you just don’t have it.”

“And don’t you forget it!”

“But I know that you can think logically. The axe above your head is quite sharp, yes. You are incredibly observant. However, the webs surrounding you are quite fragile. The two go hand in hand.”

“What’s all this?” said Bolton.

“It’s called a trap,” I told him. “The webs are the trigger. If Anna breaks one, she’ll get a sudden case of split personality.”

“I know what a damned axe of ebbing doom trap is! I invented it, Beno! I’m asking why you have just constructed it around my dau…around Anna.”

“Because I want her to tell me that my powers are better than hers, that I’m cleverer than her, and that when it comes down to it, she’s not as special as she thinks she is.”

Bolton shook his head. “You two are no better than each other.”

“Dark Lord,” said Tomlin. It was the