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

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

The dragon. I had prepared for this as well as I could, but it was useless. I had no monsters capable of fighting it. I still had two monster spaces available for use in the fight, but who could I summon?

Shadow was probably quick enough to avoid the dragon’s fire attacks, but she wasn’t strong enough to pierce its scales. All my other monsters would be scorched before they raised their claws.

A voice echoed through the chamber. “Cores, take your places in the arena.”

“You need to make a decision, now,” said Gill.

Everyone in the chamber stared at me.

I didn’t know what to do.

And then footsteps boomed through the dungeon. Two sets of them. Soon, a pair of familiar monsters stomped into the loot room.

Relieved was much too strong a word for how I felt. They got my mana message after all.

“Razensen! Kainhelm!” I said.

“Beno!” boomed one monster. “By the ice, it’s good to see you.”

“A pox on you, core. I am pleased to be back,” said the other.

Standing in my loot were Razensen and Kainhelm. Razensen was a bogan monster who hailed from icy climes. He towered over everyone in the chamber. On his head were three horns, and his bogan eyes shone with light. Right now they were glowing orange, but if they ever turned red… well, the person who angered Razensen enough to make his eyes turn red would soon regret it.

Kainhelm - and I meant this as a compliment - was one of the ugliest creatures in existence. He was tall and skinny and made almost entirely from bone. On his back was a flap of skin made from the people and creatures he had killed.

One look into Kainhelm’s eyes was enough to infect the mind of a weak-willed person and send them crazy.

Thankfully, Cynthia and Maginhart had created a potion that suppressed Kainhelm’s madness-causing affliction. After all, how was he going to travel the world if he sent everyone in it insane?

It wasn’t just his stare that made him dangerous. Kainhelm also possessed the power of psychic disembowelment. He could pull a person’s guts out using the power of his mind. All in all, he was a delight.

Razensen and Kainhelm had spent the last few months traveling around Xynnar. Kainhelm and lived all his life in a dungeon. Despite him once swearing allegiance to me, I had allowed him to leave so that he could see some of the world. He and Razensen had subsequently become best friends. Right now, I was beyond happy to see them.

“You got my mana message, then?” I said.

“We took a mana carriage to get here quickly,” said Razensen. “And by the ice, it isn’t easy to get one that will accommodate two good-looking, yet extremely large specimens like Kainhelm and I.”

A voice echoed through the dungeon again. “Will Core Beno make his way to the arena, or risk forfeiting the fight.”

“We don’t have long,” I said. “I’ll explain the ins and outs of it later. The basic of it is a dragon is waiting out there. I need to send someone out to fight it. This is a tournament, so you can’t die. Will you temporarily swear allegiance to the dungeon and fight under my banner?”

“A curse on your lineage, core,” said Kainhelm. “Where is your banner, eh? All I see are bedsheets and white towels, curse it.”

Razensen laughed. “I know about the Battle of the Five Stars, Beno. I will gladly fight for you and send your enemies to the ice! Especially a dragon. Anything that breathes fire needs to face frosty wrath, if you ask me. Leave it to Razensen.”

“There’s just one condition. You have to temporarily swear allegiance to my dungeon core academy. Then, you will technically be one of my monsters, and thus eligible to fight.”

“You ask a lot, core. It is lucky you have earned the friendship of the bogans.”

Chapter 22

The crowd cheered my name. Actually, they cheered “Razensen! Razensen!” In my head, it was easy to make it sound like, “Beno! Beno!” Self-delusion is a powerful tonic, and very easy to drink. But no matter which of us they were cheering for, it was clear by their placards which academy they now supported.

And why not?

Razensen and Kainhelm had just defeated a dragon!

Razensen had taken a nasty wound on his leg from the dragon’s tail, and Kainhelm’s skin cape was scorched. But they’d won, and I was through to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

At least half the arena held up blank placards. By my estimation, that meant around 500 spectators supported Beno and Jahn’s Dungeon Core Academy. It was more than I could ever have asked for. More than I could ever have hoped for.

And I still wasn’t satisfied. Glory is a curious food. Its taste is divine, yet fades from the tongue all too quickly, and never leaves you feeling full.

Across the arena, the Academy of the Eastern Spire lackeys tried valiantly to help move their beaten dragon out of the arena. Their air of quiet dignity was gone now. One of their overseers even took off his robes, threw them onto the ground, and stomped on them, before shouting obscenities at me.

An announcer took his place in the center of the arena and reeled off his usual obligations. Who won the fight – me – and a request that the audience gave applause to the Academy of the Eastern Spire for their honorable show in combat.

“Core Beno will now choose a monster from the Academy of the Eastern Spire,” he said.

I didn’t even need a second to think about it.

“I choose the dragon, obviously.”

Some of the crowd cheered. Way behind me, towards our portdoor, I heard Wylie jabbering excitedly. The Eastern Spire lackeys,