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

you are edging on the boundaries of my question. A shaman in himself is not an elemental creature. Rather, the bones he uses for totems are mana-attuned and derived from an elemental creature. In short, Beno, don’t try and be so clever.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to get at.”

“Before the obelisk had used its water shield, none of the runes on its surface were lit. They only did so…”

“After Mokrus’ core etching slit up,” I said, eager to blurt out an answer.

“More precisely,” said Gill, “After Mokrus channeled essence to the obelisk.”

“There’s always something extra, with you. Always some last part of the answer that I miss. I’m sure you do it on purpose.”

“You’re right. I do. Because if you are going to scale the mountain of greatness, you cannot afford to miss a single foothold. Think of me as a fire surging up the mountain, always driving you to climb higher and higher to escape me and reach the peak. Now, think about what it means for Mokrus to send his essence into the obelisk to deal with whatever threat he faces.”

It was confusing to work it out at first, but the pieces began to arrange themselves in my mind.

“The obelisk isn’t actually creating these attacks or defenses,” I said. “Mokrus has different types of essence inside his core, and he is feeding these to his obelisk. The obelisk is translating the different elemental essences to elemental effects.”

Gill smiled. “You’ve pretty much got it. The Dungeon Core Academy has only ever taught you to harvest and use one kind of essence, haven’t they?”

“The one I use to create monsters and traps.”

“It’s true name is Formation essence. Think of it as the flour of the essence world. Combine other types of essence with it, and you never know what kind of cake you will bake.”

“Poisonous bears? Flame-fisted yetis? Arcane sharks?” I said.

“I forgot how much I missed fledgling cores and their imaginations,” said Gill.

“How many types of essence are there?”

“Fifty, that we know of. There might be more. Essence comes from essence plants, after all. There could be vines growing in some cave deep under Xynnar that nobody has ever explored yet. There could be a secret cultivator school out there that has rare buds and leaves in their chambers. We just don’t know.”

There was a movement in the arena. A third symbol lit up on Mokrus’ core. It was a yellow hand, palm open.

“That’s the symbol of healing magic. A type of healing essence?” I said.

Gill nodded.

Mokrus pulsed essence from his core and toward the obelisk. A similar symbol lit up on his obelisk. Warm, yellow light left the obelisk and drifted lazily across the arena, where it gathered around the dead shaman.

Soon, the kobold stirred. The arcane wounds on his chest stopped smoldering and then knitted themselves together. Finally, he stood up.

I was amazed. I had just witnessed the power of three different types of essence. Were there really fifty types?

“Pretend you were Mokrus,” said Gill, “But with your current abilities. When your rival summoned a shaman, what would you have done?”

“I would have made a flame-resistant barrier of some sort.”

“To cover your side of the arena? Very costly. A most needless use of essence. Not to mention that the shield being in place would restrict your own monsters’ attacks and movement. What else could you have done?”

“Conjure a water-based creature to negate the shaman’s fire totem.”

“Ah but then it becomes like the two of you standing there, unguarded, and slugging each other’s faces. Water creatures can negate a fire attack, but they can also be vulnerable to it. By using water essence, Mokrus could make his obelisk form a water shield, without making the obelisk itself a water-based creature. The obelisk is just a receptacle for essence, yet one that can use it to cast spells. What about Mokrus’ arcane attack? How would you accomplish that?”

“I would have to conjure another creature. One specializing in arcane magic. But it would have taken me five times as long and five times as much essence as it had Mokrus.”

“Exactly. In which time, the shaman would have scored much more damage.”

I was fascinated by Overseer Gill. How long had it been since I had found anyone who’d engage with me on this level? Who’d feed my curiosity? Better still, who’d make me feel like an idiot. Rather than being ashamed of my stupidity, I was glad for it. It meant I was learning. The tired muscle grows stronger than one that is never tested.

“How do you think Mokrus achieved his obelisk’s effects?” said Gill.

“If I have this right, Mokrus has several different types of essence stored in his inner core. For example, when he wants to give a creature the water element for its attack or defense, he switches to water essence and pulses it toward the creature. If he wants a monster to have an arcane attack, he switches to arcane essence and transfers it to the creature.”

“You’re nearly there. If we could look inside your core, Beno, we’d see it full of Formation essence. As much as your current level will let you hold. If we opened up Mokrus, we’d see that his inner core is divided into sections. Each is dedicated to a different type of essence. In his dungeon, he will have several different cultivation chambers.”

“And he can cycle through these essences at will?”

“Correct. If Mokrus uses his arcane essence and combines it with formation, any monster he creates would have the arcane element for its base defense or attack.”

“What about his obelisk? It kept changing,” I said.

“The Obelisk of Flesh is an advanced monster that only the Academy of the Infernal Obelisk knows how to create. Think of the obelisk as a tool that can use different essences