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

After I commanded it to open, Overseer Bolton strode in. He was wearing a full set of combat leathers, complete with a sword tucked into a sheath on his belt.

“Taking it up a new vocation? You’re rather old, Bolton, but I suppose the heroes’ guild would still have you.”

“Try anything-”

“… once. Yes. And what exactly are you trying today?”

“I’ve always been an academic, Beno. Apart from when I was a dungeon core and lived a life of murder and slaughter, of course. Even then, I never got my own hands dirty, it was always my monsters who did the fighting. I thought it might be fun to learn how to use a sword properly.”

“Well, if you’ve come here to challenge me…”

“Gulliver said you’d been dwelling in here all day. Nothing more pathetic than a dungeon core moping around his core chamber.”

“It’s Tomlin. He’s an excellent cultivator and getting better by the day. But he doubts himself too much, and I can’t persuade him to take the F-class license exam.”

Bolton sat down on the chair and peeled off his leather chest piece. “So? Just order him to take it. You’re his bloody master.”

“That wouldn’t work. He will need to study to get the license and will need to do so in record time. It normally takes academy-educated cultivators months to prepare for the exam. He will have days, at most. For that kind of task, he will need complete motivation. A core order might override his free will, but it won’t replace his natural motivation.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Bolton. “You know, back at the academy, there was a core we once forged. I took a special interest in him because I had a hand in choosing his human soul to be put into a gemstone. I didn’t often do that. I expected great things of him, but when he was forged, he was unconfident. Doubting himself so much that it affected his performance in tasks and practical exams.

I thought of all kinds of ways to give him some confidence. I tried praising him. I tried setting him extra work. I tried changing the way I taught, in case I was the problem. Nothing worked. Eventually, I did the only thing I could. I showed him some tough love. Kicked him up his core arse. And you know what? It did the trick. He became one of the best students in the academy. Shame about his graduation, though.”

“You’re talking about me.”

Bolton simply smiled, stood up, and left the chamber.

I knew what I had to do. If Tomlin needed tough love, then I would become the toughest lover he had ever had.

In any case, I headed through the dungeon and to the cultivation chamber, where once again Tomlin was hard at work and didn’t seem to notice me.

“Wylie?” I said, using my core voice. “Join me in the cultivation chamber.”

Soon, Wylie scampered into the room. Seeing this, Tomlin finally paid attention.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Need Wylie, Dark Lord?” said Wylie.

Wylie gave me a salute. I had never asked him to do this, but Wylie had been to Hogsfeate on one of his free days recently. He had seen the guards saluting each other, and he liked it so much that he’d adopted the practice.

“Wylie, I decided to make you the head cultivator of the dungeon. Tomlin, you will now take Wyllie’s job as dungeon enforcer,” I said.

Both kobolds blurted out at once, “What?”

“Tomlin,” I said, “Give your cultivation gloves and pruning shears to Wylie, please.”

Tomlin looked like he was on the verge of tears. It made me feel bad to be doing this. That was a wonder in itself, given I didn’t use to care how my actions as a dungeon core affected my underlings. But I had to see this through.

“Why?” said Tomlin.

“Because I don’t think it is doing you or the others any good to stick to our rigid roles. Why trap ourselves on one path? Why worry about exams and so on? No, from now on we will not have set roles. Nobody will be a master of one job. Instead, we will all learn multiple jobs. Everyone will pitch in on everyone else’s tasks. No specializations whatsoever.”

Wylie seemed inexplicably happy at the turn of events and reached out for Tomlin’s shears. Tomlin snatched them away.

“Tomlin doesn’t want to be a dungeon enforcer. He only wants to be a cultivator. It is his life, what he wants to do. He’s the best in the dungeon at it!”

“You’re the best cultivator in the dungeon?” I said.

Tomlin nodded. “Nobody comes close to Tomlin.”

“Then why don’t you take the F-class exam and prove it?”

Tomlin nodded even more eagerly. “I will! Dark Lord will see. Tomlin will start studying today and pass the exam with full marks!”

Chapter 10

Dungeon cores used to be a rarity in Xynnar. The reason is that it’s difficult to make a being like myself or Jahn.

First, you need a corpse with a core inside it. That isn’t especially difficult. Even if you don’t want to get your hands dirty digging a grave, you can usually find a corpse or two in some of the seedier alleyways and rogue-filled streets of any big city.

Getting hold of a gemstone that will allow itself to be bound to a dead soul is more difficult, however. Not any old gemstone will do. You can’t just take a lump of quartz, glue it to a corpse, and expect to have yourself a dungeon core. At best, you’ll have a very fancy-looking dead body.

No, the hardest part of creating a dungeon core is the forging. The transition of the core from the dead body and into the dungeon core. It