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

And that left me on my own again, watching the scenery go by, seeing the cracked orange of the wasteland gaining on us in the distance.

I took the idea I’d had, and I played with it. I twisted it, folded it, picked at it. All the while, I repeated the words of Anna’s best friend.

As long as you’re not dead, still have a chance.

Well, I did have a chance, didn’t I?

If I wanted to enter the Battle of the Five Stars, I needed an academy to sponsor me. And if no academy would sponsor me, then what was the answer?

To create a Dungeon Core Academy of my own.

Chapter 7

A few days later, I took yet another mana carriage. This time I was headed to a city named Tavercraig. I had wanted to go alone initially, but then thought better of it. For what I was going to do, it would help to turn up with an ex-Dungeon Core Academy overseer. Even if said overseer was wearing a short-sleeve shirt with flowers on it, was half drunk, and was puffing on a pipe.

“Did you have to wear that horrible shirt today of all days, Bolton?” I asked.

“Try anything once. That’s my new motto, Beno my boy. It just so happens that I only have, at best, ten or fifteen years to try everything. So, unfortunately, lad, today’s the day I am wearing a floral shirt for the first time. For the first time, I am sampling a whiskey known as Snake Tongue, and chuffing on red-nettle weed. Not only that, but I have never visited Tavercraig before. Four new things accomplished in one lovely morning.”

Tavercraig city was famous for being the home to the Satisfactory College of Bureaucrats, where the Empire sent its best would-be gatekeepers and paper-pushers. As such, whenever a person needed to get a license of some sort, they had to come here. Need a license for flyfishing? To Tavercraig you go. Want to set up an archery guild? You know where to visit.

Contrasting the rather dull nature of its education system and commerce, Tavercraig was a remarkably beautiful city. Centered around a rectangular pool of water that fed into the sea, it was a place of white stone buildings capped with bulbous blue domes, some of which glistened with gems.

Bolton walked around like a child, craning his neck to stare at everything in a manner quite unbecoming of an ex-overseer. I floated ahead, very much wanting to get this done, and then get on with the business of setting up my academy. The problem was that before I could set anything up, I needed a license to open an academy. Only licensed academies could sponsor a core in the tournament.

There were 506 permit offices in Tavercraig. They issued permits for all kinds of things imaginable. One of these was even an office that issued permits for permit offices to be registered as permit offices. Winding my way through the maze of streets and trying to find the one that dealt with academies, I thought I would lose my mind, but eventually, we found it.

Inside the small office, a rather studious -looking goblin sat behind a desk. His black hair was slicked back, and he wore hoops through both ears. He didn’t even acknowledge us as I floated right in front of his desk, and as Bolton drunkenly stumbled towards him. Instead, he flicked through the pages of a book, stamping each one with ink.

Already tired of this bureaucratic city, I floated above his desk and then slammed down onto it, rattling his cup and shaking his papers.

“Yes?” he said.

“I want to get a license to open a dungeon core academy.”

He looked me up and down. “You’re a dungeon core.”

“You’re very astute.”

He sighed. “A dungeon core cannot open a dungeon core academy.”

“And why not?”

“Well, let’s see. Tell me this. Can a flea open a flea circus? Can a sheepdog train other dogs to herd sheep? Can a…uh…”

“Running out of stupid examples?” I asked.

“Not at all. Can a lion tame other lions?”

“I don’t give a damn about whether you think I’m capable of opening a dungeon core academy. If you want a test of my skills, you’re welcome to come to my dungeon anytime you like. Make sure to bring a sword, shield, and a fresh set of pants for when you run away screaming. But while I’m here in your grubby office, all I want you to do is open a book of yours to a fresh page, write me a license to open a dungeon core academy, and then stamp it.”

Bolton sipped from his metal whiskey flask, and then pulled out his pipe and lit it.

“You can’t smoke in here,” said the goblin.

Bolton muttered to himself, and then stumbled outside. I couldn’t help but stare. He used to be so dignified as an academy overseer. He commanded the respect of every core in his classes. And yet, I couldn’t help but notice that he seemed much happier in his new life, with his new motto of trying everything once. Who was I to judge?

The goblin folded his long green fingers in front of him and stretched his arms out across the desk. “I suppose that you can be granted a license just like anyone. Providing you meet the requirements of a dungeon core academy, of course.”

He reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small card. He passed it to me. Lacking arms, I couldn’t take the card from him, so I waited until he realized as much and placed it on the desk. From there, I read it.

The requirements to open a tier 10 basic dungeon core academy are as follows:

1) One enrolled core student, who has not previously attended