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

was still studying in the academy and probably wouldn’t have leveled up much yet. In fact, his battles in the tournament were probably his first taste of leveling.

However, as Mid–Foundation quality, he had the advantage of storing different essences in his core, which he could use on his monsters and traps. This gave him versatility that I lacked and would allow him to react to my attacks within seconds, using much less essence in the process.

I would have to be careful about how I approached the fight. After discussing it with Bolton and Gulliver, and thinking on my own for a while, I decided on a strategy.

My first plan was to create two undead spirit archers at a total cost of 900 essence. That was quite a chunk to take out of my core, but it was worth it. Because the archers were undead, they would be able to withstand physical and magic-based damage. Their archery skill would give me a bit of range, and allow me to attack any of Aethos’ monsters that were air-based.

With that resolved, it was time to create some dead guys.

Usually, I would just gather the appropriate amount of essence in my core, create a mental picture of the monster I needed, and then let the essence form a shape, gradually becoming a creature.

This time, I used Essential Overload. I practiced it the way Gill and his tablet has shown me. First, I gathered the essence I needed for the undead archers. I pictured the monsters in my mind, and then I pulsed my essence.

But before the monsters were fully created, I pulsed even more essence from my core. It surged out and then stopped, meeting resistance around the almost-formed undead.

I had already used the amount of essence I needed to create them, after all. The excess didn’t know what to do.

Gathering my core strength, I pulsed harder. The air seemed to snap, and the essence broke through the resistance and gathered around the undead archers. Essential Overload fired surplus essence at them.

 I watched in amazement as they grew taller than usual. Their bones looked stronger, their eyes keener.

Soon, two undead archers stood in front of me, their bones making click-clack sounds when they moved.

Normally, every newly-created monster started at level one.

But not today.

Essential overload had changed things.

Undead Archer 1

Level 23

Undead Archer 2 - 

Level 21

To say I was impressed with the Essential Overload technique would be an understatement. My archers had skipped all the way past level 20, which normally would have taken many hero battles to achieve. During which, it was likely that at least one of them would have died before even reaching level 20. Using Essential Overload, the archers started with a better defense and much-improved archery skills.

It was amazing. I couldn’t help but think how higher their levels would be if I had all my essence. I could have pulsed more to them, and level twenty wouldn’t be the limit.

And what about if I had been a higher quality core? The core in the Essential Overload tablet had created level 50 monsters without much effort. If I could have done that, my fight with the Dungeon Core Academy would be over in seconds.

One of the archers saluted me, his arm bones rattling when he touched his head.

“Reporting for duty, Sir.”

“You’re disciplined. That’s good. See those practice dummies? I want you to train your archery for the next couple of days. I want you to shoot so many arrows that the dummies look like hedgehogs.”

“Yes, sir!”

Leaving the archers in the arena, I crossed through my dungeon until I came to a chamber that had served me very well in past battles. The sign at the chamber door read, ‘Monster Melding Room.’

Murals of all kinds of fearsome and devastating creatures covered the walls of the Monster Melding Room. On the ground were three circles made by runes, big enough for all but the largest monsters to stand in.

The Monster Melding Room was one of my favorites because of the power it promised. All I had to do was create three different monsters and command each of them to stand in a different circle. The Monster Melding Room would combine them all, creating a single monster out of all three.

But here was the problem. There was no telling which of the three monsters’ traits would be used when the melding room combined them.

With my undead archers training in the arena to maximize their skills, I had to think of a separate form of attack I could employ in my fight. The spirit archers would provide mana-based projectile damage. This meant I needed something physical. Something that could smash the hell out of any creatures Aethos conjured. Not only that, but I wanted this monster to have thick skin. I wanted it to be able to take a real beating.

After thinking about it for a while and trying to work out what possible combinations the melding room could produce, I settled on which creatures I would use.

Gathering my essence inside me until it felt like a tight ball ready to be pulsed, I pictured three separate creatures.

My essence left me like a gust, and thin webs of light flashed in the chamber. Slowly, the monsters appeared.

There, standing in front of me, were a bone guy, a dread bear, and an ox. I felt a little sorry for the ox, given that its present company consisted entirely of either the undead or the resurrected. It didn’t seem to mind and was content to sniff the chamber floor and just stand there, its tail swishing behind it. The bear, however, was a little more animated. It reached across and pawed the bone guy.

“Stop that,” I said. “You’ll break him!”

I commanded the melding chamber to begin its work and then left. It was always advisable