See, Tomlin had done all of my dungeon digging in the early days, but he hated it. He had a much more academic brain.
When I created Wylie, who loved digging, I had to appease Tomlin. I named him my dungeon lieutenant, and gave him authority over Wylie. This made him happy, and despite their difference in rank, the two became great friends.
The rank of lieutenant, however, didn’t actually give Tomlin any boosts, since it was one I just made up for him.
Pleased with boosting my monster roster, I dismissed the message and allowed the next one to appear.
You have killed [8] heroes!
A party of 8 heroes have died in your dungeon.
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 return after I use them.”
“Tomlin understands.”
“Then do you know what I want you to do?”
“He thinks so. Tomlin is to protect the essence room.”
“So close, yet so far. That’s almost what I need, except you aren’t much of a fighter. No, Tomlin, I would like to give you the rank of cultivator. Your job will be to help my essence grow. To maintain the existence vines, and to plant them on the walls of new rooms. I’ll even have Wylie excavate a special cultivation room.”
“Tomlin will get his own area of the dungeon?”
“Yep.”
“He will be the boss of it?”
“Subject to my ability to overrule absolutely everything you do, if that’s what I choose. Then yes. You’d be the boss.”
He smiled now. Though a cheerful, friendly kobold, Tomlin rarely smiled wide, and it was nice to see him do it now.
Assign role: Cultivator.
Tomlin [Kobold] is now a [Cultivator!]
Due to your kobold proficiency, he begins at level 5.
“Tomlin feels different!”
“Interesting. How, exactly?”
He tapped his claws on his chin. “He sees where the vines are strong, and where they need more space. He can feel which are best to clip and plant elsewhere.”
“I think you’re going to enjoy this,” I said.
“Tomlin would like books. He would learn more about essence and the way it grows.”
“Those kinds of books are held in the academy library.
Sorry, bud. Even if I could persuade Galatee to send someone there, we couldn’t pay for any books.”
“Essence vines are a plant, Tomlin surmises. Other books may hold their secrets.”
“A book on regular horticulture? Maybe! I’ll ask Warrane.”
“Tomlin thanks the Dark Lord.”
“The Dark Lord is a kind core with a generous soul,” I said.
After both keeping my best kobold friend happy and hopefully securing the growth of my essence vines, it was time to think about the dungeon.
I needed more rooms. Lots of them. I had to construct traps, make puzzles, and in general, fashion this place into a pit of horrors where any intruder stupid enough to invade it met a gruesome end.
What do you need if you want to excavate lots of rooms underground?
Miners. People willing to do the dirty work so that you can keep your core hands clean.
I already had Wylie, but as good as he was at excavation, it would take him too long. So, why not increase my workforce a little?
After all, I could spend 450 essence points at a time now, and Tomlin would hopefully increase my essence regeneration speed soon. Besides, after leveling up, my dungeon could hold 18 monsters at a time.
I was about to create three new kobolds at 35 essence points each when I paused for a second. I remembered back when I had begun my first dungeon, when I was an inexperienced level 1 core. Back then, creating one kobold had been a task, and look at me now!
Before I created my new workforce, I checked my crafting list to see if there was any creature better suited to digging. Every time I leveled up, more and more things would be added to each crafting list.
Monsters
Spider [Cost 15]
Leech [Cost 15]
Fire beetle [Cost 20]
Kobold [Cost 35]
Angry Elemental Jelly Cube [Cost 75]
Sinister Owl [Cost 120]
Stone Dwarf Troll [Cost 180]
Bogbadug [Cost 200]
*New* Bone Guy [Cost 250]
*New* Hivemind Shrooms [Cost 375]
*New* Mimic [Cost 500]
There were some interesting additions to my list now. The Bone Guy was appealing to me. I cast my memory back to Overseer Winthrop’s creature class, and the module we’d studied on undead creatures. The undead covered tons of things; zombies, vampires, ghosts, demons, librarians. Lots of crossovers.
Bone Guys were of the undead affiliation, which meant they could take a beating. Man, could they take a pounding for the dungeon. You could club a Bone Guy around the head for hours, and he’d just stare at you and ask for more brains to eat.
That made them a good front line creature, one you sent forth to give heroes a bit of a test and to fatigue them. They did, however, have a weakness. Most undead creatures got all weak-kneed when they faced any kind of holy power. If a paladin or monk was in a hero party, don’t bother sending a bone guy to fight them.
The hivemind shrooms…I didn’t know much about those.
Surprised? The Core Beno, the all-knowing, the mighty, didn’t know about something?
Nah, I wouldn’t be surprised either if I was you. There’s tons that I don’t know. After all, the overseers only taught us enough so that we could graduate from the academy. For most cores, their real learning started when they built their first dungeon.
I’d have to craft some Hivemind shrooms to see what they could do, but not yet. I still had so much to do.
The final new entry on my crafting list made me very, very excited.
Mimics!
What is a dungeon, really, if it doesn’t have a mimic? It is like a bard without his lute, a mage without a beard, a barbarian without unchecked vanity that makes him stare at his reflection in his sword.
In case you don’t know, a mimic is a most delightful creature. They are shapeshifters capable of taking on the appearance of inanimate objects. Their true form is a sort of giant mouth, with a slurping tongue and rows of dagger-sharp teeth.
To a hero, though…the first time a hero meets a mimic, it is usually in the form of a loot chest, or a magic book. The stupid hero will approach it, thinking that it must be his birthday, and he’ll open the chest…
…only to get eaten alive by the mimic!
Does that sound beautiful, or what?
I couldn’t wait to get a mimic, but it seemed I would have to. They cost 500 essence, and right now I only held 450 at a time.
Since I couldn’t make any creature more adept at mining than a kobold, I create three more of them. 105 essence points left me, and the core room glowed with the three patches of light that spun around and around, soon becoming fully formed creatures.
Two were Shadow’s height, while the third was even smaller than Wylie, and had a rather pronounced gut. Unlike Tomlin, Wylie, and Shadow, these kobolds had taken more of the lizard side of their lizard/wolf genes, and their faces looked more reptilian.
“Wylie,” I said. Both he and Warrane had been standing side by side as I created these new dungeon dwellers, both of them equally as transfixed. “These are your new mining mates.”
“Wylie is boss?” asked the kobold.
I thought about that. A team needed a leader, no doubt about that. And Wylie was technically my second-longest-serving kobold and had dug many rooms for me in my old dungeon. Should I reward his loyalty?
I decided against it, as much as I felt bad to do that. Loyalty and long-service wasn’t a great way to award power. Someone should have to earn power through a display of skill and experience. Though Wylie was a good digger, he wouldn’t make a good leader.
“Wylie, as much as I could use you as a leader,” I said, “It pains me to say I need my greatest digger to focus his attention on what he is the best at.”
“Wylie sad.”
Hmm. I wasn’t doing a great job at letting him down gently. Maybe this would have been a good time to take a more authoritarian dungeon core attitude.
Warrane kneeled beside Wylie and put his hand on his shoulder. “This leaf has seen many kobolds. There is a kobold tree in Wrotun caves who also dedicate their lives to mining.”
“Tree?” said Wylie.
“He means family,” I added.
Warrane nodded. “For all the years the Wrotun kobolds have spent mining, none match you, Wylie. A gift like yours would be wasted without a pickaxe in hand. This leaf has not found his gift, yet, so he can recognize its absence too well.”
“Wylie is good miner?”
“An exceptional miner,” I said. “And from now on, the four of you are my mining and excavation team. And you will be supervised by Warrane.”
The green-faced boy stared at me now, his three eyes blinking not in unison, but one after another. I hated it when he did that!
“This leaf will supervise them?”
I could see the smile creeping on his face. Warrane had spent his life dishonored thanks to events he couldn’t control. Was it his fault people in his tree turned tail and left the caverns? Nope. All the same, he’d grown up knowing he’d never be allowed to rise to a fourth-leaf or anything above, and he’d never get whatever perks of authority that came with it.
Well, I couldn’t fix their wonky honor system, but I could help the kid.
I displayed my map to them all now, but I spoke primarily to Warren. “See the essence room? I need a tunnel coming off it, with a new room excavating. This will be a specialized essence growing room. Essence grows on walls, so I’ll need lots of smaller walls built in rows all through the room.”
“This leaf understands. Many walls in the same room, but with space between so that cultivator Tomlin can attend to them.”
“Exactly.” I pointed to space beside the essence room. “And right here, I need you to build a melding room.”
“How can this leaf distinguish on room type from another?”
“You just need to give the order to Wylie and his team and dig the space, I’ll allocate a purpose to the room, okay?”
“Yes, Core Beno.”
“I’ll need yet another room connected to this by a tunnel. Then,” I said, this time pointing to the opposite side of the map, just west of the core room, “I’ll need a large, oval-shaped room here. This will be the loot room. Only, we won’t be using normal loot.”
This was something I had thought about a lot over the last few hours.
See, I was a dungeon core trained by the Dungeon Core Academy. This meant that my skills were honed toward a very particular type of dungeon. The common kind, where the core placed loot for the heroes to find, and they battled their way through to it.
The function of a loot room in place like this was to stage a final battle. Providing the heroes didn’t die before getting there, a core would always place a boss monster there, ready to tear the heroes new bumholes.
Things were a little different here, in the Wrotun caves.
For one, the Seekers weren’t ordinary heroes. Their motivation wasn’t to earn treasure and glory, but to get to the mana springs. I assumed that they would also want to spread out into the Wrotun’s main cave and wipe them out so they could claim the springs as their own.
So, the Seekers didn’t want loot. That meant they wouldn’t behave the same way as regular heroes, which threw quite a lot of my training out of the window, right?
Yeah, I’d thought so too.
Then I thought about it. Loot itself is just a prize. It’s a token of success.
That was what the mana spring was to the Seekers. Getting to the spring represented success. All I needed to do to get them to act more like the heroes I had studied how to kill, was to replace loot, with mana.
How could I do this?
Well, now that I had figured things out, that was the easy part.
CHAPTER 15
Under Warrane’s supervision, it took Wylie and the other miners three days to dig out tunnels and excavate the rooms like I asked. When they were done, I visited each room and spent the essence to assign them each as special rooms.
Dungeon Core Academy: Books 1-7 (A LitRPG Series) Page 24