Chapter 16: CH16 Doll Game 4

The three of them chatted a bit and eventually went to bed. The next day followed the normal morning routine and Alex bit the bullet to wear the uncomfortable corset and skirt with a little help from Fufi to don it. After getting dressed with the skill-boosting outfit he made his way back into the rift. Alex's plan was to upgrade his two clockwork dolls and start a third one. He was getting quicker but he didn't think he could finish the third doll in a day.

Alex walked into the shop and was greeted by an empty room. Like before it was filled with displays and the same bookshelves as before that he had gotten more and more familiar with over the past few days. Even after spending several days here, he found this empty building on an island floating in space to be more than a little creepy. At least the mannequin wasn't in the hallway this time. Taking the thing back to the adventurer's guild made that walk a little less weird. There was one thing that he wanted to make sure to do because he put it off yesterday. This place had a bathroom with a working sink, working toilet, and a big mirror. These would go away after the dungeon was cleared. He wanted to take them back with him. Well, he wasn't sure why he thought having a nice mirror was important but he figured it was somehow.

Alex went to work. He started with gathering some hand tools from the workshop. Next he closed the water valves on the sink and toilet. After some time turning wrenches and using a crowbar he had the bathroom stripped. He even took the wooden door and door frame. If he was going to set up a bathroom in the adventurer's guild then they wouldn't want to use it without a door. That would be a little weird.

Once the bathroom was stripped Alex moved onto the dolls. He began to gather materials and search books for references.

Alex went to the library to get the book on the first doll. He was looking for information on the gears and the springs. He was also trying to find out how to make the dolls' legs and hips move so they could aim up and down.

He found the reference material he was looking for quickly. The book contained a lot of diagrams and pictures. It was written in flowing script which made it difficult but not impossible. Everything appeared to be handwritten which really drove home the 19th century Victorian aspect but took some getting used to. He bookmarked a couple leg schematics and looked in on different ones as he redid the legs for his two dolls.

Alex finished both doll's legs and set them aside to polish after giving a generous coating of grease to the gears. Using some tiny tools, he removed the legs from both the dolls. His previous design didn't allow for gears from the torso to connect to the legs so he also had to take apart the lower torso's gearbox and update it with a more complex design. The pieces were incredibly tiny. He was sure that at some point he would grab something with tweezers under the magnifying glass only to knock it off the table and never find it again. Luckily this did not happen. Alex wasn't sure if it was divine providence or his skills at work but he made slow steady progress over the course of a couple hours until the dolls were back in working order. He confirmed this by mounting them on the testing station and was thrilled with the results. He was so caught up in the work that his uncomfortable clothing didn't bother him as much as it did at the start of the day.

Alex sat in front of another workstation and considered his third doll. He had tried to fish for ideas from Fufi earlier but that just devolved into that whole using Alex as a dress up doll.

Alex stood up and stretched his arms. "I'm gonna take a break and think about my new project."

Alex left the workshop and headed outside. He leaned against the building and stared up at the sky. There were no clouds. It was the same starscape that was there every time. He searched for something familiar in the perpetual night sky but couldn't find it. There was no moon, no big dipper, or any other constellation that could be identified from earth.

"I wonder what it is like out there." Alex said to himself. "What do I know? This is just a rift dungeon. Those stars might just be an illusionary background and not real space. That would make more sense because if this was a real asteroid floating through space I don't think I'd be alive right now. Anyway, I wish I had some schematics from my world. There were some battlebots in a TV show he watched once with spinning part that were absolutely devastating. I am not a mechanical engineer though. This workshop is set up to make dolls not battle bots sadly."

Alex took out some sheets of paper, an ink quill and a board to draw on. With a quill in hand he wrote, He drew a picture of a robot with a gun and a sword. He laughed at himself and said, "That is not cute at all and there is no way I can make a gun." The next drawing was of a girl in an armored dress with shoulder length hair, bangs and an angry look on her face. She had a chainsaw instead of a hand. "Hmm, the armored dress I could make but the chainsaw no way." Alex laughed at himself and tried to think of something that wasn't impossible to make with what he had on hand.

Alex got up and went back to the workshop. He could start by making the armored dress and work from there. He sat down at the sewing station and started to sew the cloth together. The trick to this outfit was to have the metal plates provide protection while still allowing movement. It also had to look cute. He couldn't just make a normal suit of armor.

Alex spent the rest of the evening working on the outfit. He was having trouble with the fabric. It kept tearing. He had to stop and start over several times. By dinnertime he had what he thought was a nice looking outfit. He decided to take it back and show it to his friends. They could give feedback while he made dinner.

Alex was happy to see that the food was ready when he returned. He was hungry. After he got out of the outfit and back into his robe, he sat down and ate with the others.

"So, what do you think?" Alex asked, placing the doll-armored dress on the table.

"It's cute." Fufi said.

"Meru Meru," the slime girl approved with a nod.

"I wish there was some nylon thread. The cloth tears against the metal easier than I'd like. I doubt they have that in this world though." Alex shook his head after complaining.

"You should try to make it a little more feminine. You're trying to make a girl's outfit. You need to add some frills and lace." Fufi suggested.

"I guess I could try to use some more lace. It could have the benefit of being tougher than cotton or wool thread." Alex considered Fufi's suggestion. "What do you think she should have for equipment? We already have two ranged dolls one shoots water and the other shoots arrows so I wanted something that could stop the sirens from getting past the towers."

"Perhaps make her a shield. She could use it to block attacks. Or maybe a spear. It would be good for close combat. A flail is also an option. It is too bad you don't have any enchanting ability or you could make magical dolls." Fufi considered Alex's limitations.

"I get it, magical girls have the best powers. I'm not going to call Luna and ask her to transform me just to clear a dungeon." Alex said stubbornly.

"I'm just throwing out options," Fufi said innocently.

The trio kept chatting until bedtime. Merumeru was extra excited when Alex showed her the sink and toilet. The fact that it used pipes seems to be amazing to her.

"I'm going to sleep. I'll get up early tomorrow and hopefully have the third wave of the tower defense game cleared by the end of the day." Alex said with a yawn.

"Goodnight." Fufi said.

"Meruuuu." Merumeru said.

Alex went to his pile of blankets and curled up before falling asleep.

***

Alex woke up feeling refreshed. . He was glad he was able to get a full nights sleep. He was also relieved to see that the sun was shining. He was hoping for a sunny day so he could finish the last few waves of the tower defense game. Fufi helped him get changed into the outfit he wore yesterday and he headed into the rift gate.

Alex walked through the gate and found himself in the same room as the first time. He headed to the workshop and used some of the books to start work on the third doll. The design was similar to the previous two. He had made the doll's body out of porcelain, the arms out of brass, and the legs out of brass. The torso had a lot of moving parts. He created a star-shaped shield and a flail with a star shaped iron ball on the end of a chain. He also redid the battle dress with more lace and some frills here and there.

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Alex was pleased with the results. He set the doll on the test bench. The gears spun with no problem and the range of movement looked good. The new doll looked like some kind of princess knight from a heavenly kingdom.

He was in a hurry to get to the next level. He was anxious to see if he could beat it. He placed the dolls in their positions. When he placed the third one in a spot that put her in the way of the rail that lead to the castle he realized that he was missing something. "You need a name." He said while placing his hand on his chin and regarding the new clockwork doll.

Alex picked up the doll and held it in his hands. He examined it and thought about what it would be like to be a girl. He imagined what it would be like to be a magical girl. He wondered what it would be like to be a girl named after a flower. That line of thought startled Alex. The only thing that made sense was the last part. The other two dolls were named after flowers so it would make sense for the third one to be named after a flower as well. But what was a fitting one? What would go well with Lily and Rose? He thought about knights and flowers that were star shaped.

"What do you think of Edelweiss?" Alex asked the clockwork doll in his hand, "You seem very noble and so does that flower. Edelweiss welcome to the lilypad team." He set the doll back in place and looked to his phone where the next wave button was displayed for the tower defense game.

Alex pressed the button and the screen flashed. The sirens were attacking again only this time they were not alone. Each siren had a knight paired with them. They had the same crest as was on the flag of the castle. The siren's song tried to enchant Alex but his new resistance held. He was able to shake off the effect of the charm. However, the sirens came in pairs. Rose could silence one at a time with her water gun but not both. Lily kept shooting arrows at them but the armored knight used their shields to block the attacks.

Alex was impressed with the knights. They seemed to be holding their own against his dolls. He was worried that he might be forced to use his empower doll skill. However, it had a cooldown of one day so he needed to find the best moment to use it.

The battle continued and the sirens tried to get past the two ranged dolls that harried them. If they could make it far enough then the tower mounted attacks would be out of range. However, the third doll, Edelweiss, was blocking the way.

Alex was beginning to worry. The star knight doll clashed with the first of the prince's charmed men. His doll used her shield to block the sword attacks of the charmed knight. She counter attacked with her flail. The spiked ball slammed into the chest of the knight. The force of the blow knocked the knight back. Lily shot an arrow at the siren who the knight was protecting. The arrow pierced the siren's chest. She fell off the rail. The siren's defeat caused the knight to pause for a moment. Another siren's song could be heard and the knight reacted. He was not quick enough. Edelweiss struck him in the head with her flail and he was knocked off the rail as well.

"That's one down." Alex said.

Another pair of charmed knight and siren appeared from the chute on the far in of the game table to replace the ones that had fallen. A second pair was right on their tail. Lily and Rose peppered the enemies with water and arrows but it wasn't long before Edelweiss was trying to fight two charmed knights at the same time. A third one was covering the rear shielding three singing sirens. Her shield and armor were taking a beating from their swords.

"I'm going to use my empower doll skill. The only question is which doll should I empower?" Alex said while looking at the game table intensely. If they could get past Edelweiss then this battle would be theirs. However, if Lily or Rose were empowered then they could do more damage.

Alex decided to use the third doll. Edelweiss was the tank for Lillypad and in any adventuring group keeping the tank up was the most important thing.

Alex used his empower doll skill. He instantly knew what to do to activate the skill. He danced around and spun in twirls a few times. When he stopped he shouted "Empower doll Edelweiss!" The doll's eyes glowed and she began to change. Alex felt a surge of power from the doll. It was like she was growing stronger.

The doll's hair grew longer and turned a pale pink. Her face became more feminine. Her clothes changed as well. She now wore a white dress with a pink sash. She also had a small crown on her head. The crown was made of gold and had a single large diamond in the middle. Her flail and shield shone with a radiant light. She struck the knight in front of her with her glowing flail. The knight raised his shield to block. The flail smashed through the shield and hit the knight in the chest.

The knight was knocked backward and fell off the rail.

"One down." Alex said.

The remaining two pairs of knights and sirens charged into the fray. However this left the sirens open to Lily and Rose. The two dolls took advantage of the opening and fired a barrage of arrows and streams of water into the backs of the Sirens.

The sirens were silenced.

The knights attacking Edelweiss stopped when there was only one left and Rose kept her from singing. The two damaged knights turned on the siren and attacked her relentlessly. After a few strikes she was just a bunch of broken clockwork parts laying on the game board.

The remaining knights lowered their weapons

Alex was relieved to see that the tower defense game was over. He was also relieved to see that he had won. Edelweiss was damaged from the many sword strikes. After his skill wore off he could see that her dress needed repair. The material was ripped and torn. Alex was happy that he had won but he was sad that his doll had been damaged. He was glad that she was still functioning.

Alex's phone rang out:

[Tower defense game complete please collect your reward]

The dumbwaiter came up from the floor and delivered a scroll. The scroll was titled 'Animate doll' and was covered in strange runes.

His phone rang out again:

[Level up! Magical Girl has reached level 2

+2 cuteness, +1 intelligence]

Alex walked to the workstation and got some cloth and needle and thread. He repaired Edelweiss. He also fixed the other dolls. He was able to fix the damage that the knights had done to the dolls. He also put some lace on the dolls' hair. He was satisfied with the result. Collecting the scroll and the three dolls, Alex headed back to the adventurer's guild. This time, when he walked through the portal it closed behind him. He had cleared the dungeon and leveled up.

 

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