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

Ah, the goblins had finally died. Shame about their slaves, but I hadn’t asked any of them to come here.

But wait.

Heroes? I hear you ask. The goblins were far from being heroes.

I would agree, but the academy's definition of a hero prevails over everything. A hero is ‘One who is not a core or monster, and finds their way into the core’s dungeon by their own means, for their own motives.’

See? The goblins and their human ferrets were heroes, alright, and not all heroes are heroic.

The goblins and humans must have died from First-Leaf’s toxin now. They did it quietly, bless them. That was very considerate.

This meant that something wondrous had happened.

You have leveled up to 6!

- Total essence increased to 450

- Existing crafting categories expanded

- Dungeon capacity increased: 16 rooms, 20 traps, 10 puzzles, 18 monsters, 2 boss monsters

- Shadow [Scout] is upgraded to lvl 6!

I felt the increased essence weigh heavily inside me as my total leaped from 380 to 450. To liken it to a human feeling, it would be like a barbarian’s muscles growing after weeks of swinging his sword. Only, the effect for me was instantaneous. This was why it felt so good to slaughter heroes. Despite the fact it was the First-Leaf’s toxin that finally killed them, they perished in my dungeon, which meant I earned the rewards.

I was excited to use my essence and to see how much my crafting list had expanded. It was always thrilling to find out what new and diabolical things I could place in my dungeon.

I turned my attention away from my level ups and back to my now rather-crowded core room. Tomlin, Wylie, and Shadow were chatting to each other in kobold speech. Warrane was leaning against a wall, clearly uneasy while Gary stood next to him.

I couldn’t blame him, of course. I would guess that when I was a human, if a spider-leech creature tried to make small talk, I’d have been looking for either the nearest sword or the nearest exit.

“Tell me,” said Gary to Warrane. “What passes for culture down here? I would love to read some of your books if you could procure them for me. It will help pass the time while in the loot room. It can be a rather long wait between heroes, you see.”

“This leaf…he will find them for you. Yes.”

Over in the corner, Wylie was quizzing Shadow. “Shadow is scout?”

“Yes, little one, I am.”

“She like to dig?”

“Not really.”

“Oh. She like to mine?”

“Not so much, I’m afraid.”

“Excavate?” said Wylie, hopefully.

Shadow smiled. “Perhaps if you show me, I might start to like it.”

Tomlin, though standing close to them, was acting strange. A little aloof. I’m not a great reader of emotions - being a core saw to that - but I got the feeling he was trying to act cool. Was it because of Shadow?

“Tomlin,” I said. “You need to tell me what you’ve been up to. It feels like it’s been months!”

“Tomlin was in charge of new whelps in academy breeding grounds.”

“Ah. Did you like it?”

“Tomlin liked it better than digging, but there was little time for study.”

“I’m glad to have you back, my friend.”

“He is glad to be back.”

I decided to let them all talk for a little while longer. The truth was, I liked the noise. I liked the sound of talking and joking and laughing in my dungeon. They don’t always have to be gloomy places, you know.

CHAPTER 14

I knew now that the Seekers could strike at any time, and they might not wait to regroup before doing so. Although I had a few more allies, I needed to be more prepared.

There was a smart way of doing that, and a stupid way. Overseer Bolton always used to say, ‘Give me six hours to fell a tree, and I will spend four of them sharpening the axe.’ No idea where he got that from, though. There’s no way the guy had even picked up an axe in any of his first, second, or third lives.

“My friends,” I said. “It is time to work. Tomlin, do you know anything about our new surroundings?”

“Gnome lady told Tomlin about the Seekers.”

“Good. I have been thinking… I know that you enjoy being the lieutenant and supervising Wylie’s work, but it might not be the best use of your skills.”

“Tomlin is a good boss. He isn’t scared of hard work. He helps Wylie.”

“Lie!” said Wylie.

“I’m sure that’s true,” I said, “But I have a much more important task. I recently earned the ability to bestow roles on any kobolds in my dungeon. Not just useless made-up ones…not that being a lieutenant is useless…but ones that will actually give you more skills.”

“Tomlin is interested.”

“Great, follow me,” I said.

In less than a second, I hopped from the pedestal point in my core room to my essence room.

Then I realized that saying, ‘follow me’ and then teleporting to another room didn’t help Tomlin much.

“Over here,” I shouted, trying my best to get my stupid-sounding core voice to carry through the tunnels.

Tomlin soon met me in the essence room. My purple vines had spread over a quarter of one of the walls, while the red moss was uncultivated and untouched, save the small patch I’d taken away earlier.

“I don’t know how much I ever explained to you about my essence, Tomlin.”

“Dark Lord told him the essence is how he builds the things in his dungeon. Without it, he is pathetic and powerless, like a little worm.”

“Exactly, well put. So you can imagine the importance of this place. See, the essence vines replenish my power. The healthier they are, the more they spread, the quicker my powers