CH 58

Chapter 58 – Test it

“I’m here.” Hime said.

“Good timing, Hime!” I replied.

She arrived right after I finished putting the fur on the fox doll.

Instead of using the fur to give it a real feel, I instead tried making it have a cute look… This ended up making the wooden part stand out to some extent, but this much is fine, as it is now a lot cuter than when it was completely wooden. It was a time well-spent.

“Is this?” Hime asked.

“Yes, look at its back here.” I then showed the doll’s back to her.

Hime held it for a small while, carefully staring at the doll.

How about it? I completely covered it with high-quality fur! It feels very fluffy, doesn’t it?

“Mmm…” Hime muttered as she stared at the doll.

Then, she picked up the tail with her hands to check its feeling…

And oh wow! She took off her mask and buried her face on the doll! And she gave me a thumbs up after a few seconds like that!

It’s my victory! “It’s great, isn’t it!?” I asked her.

She nodded, then replied, “Though the core still feels a bit stiff to the touch.”

“It’s because it is made of wood…” I told her.

“I see…” Hime muttered.

While the fur part is great, I suppose it can’t be helped that one will feel the wood if they bury their head into it.

… Wait, I asked her to come to help me move the doll, not that!

The two of us have been defeated by the fluff… I wonder how would Mika fare against that.

But still, it’s Hime that we’re talking about. Once we finished the fluffing, she started moving the doll around perfectly. It was as if the doll was moving on her own.

Just how is she doing that? She can even move the joints individually… Maybe she is not just moving the threads from their tips, but instead constantly changing what part she holds?

Either way, it’s really amazing.

“Oh.” Hime suddenly muttered.

“What happened?” I asked.

“’Puppeteer’ acquired.” Hime replied.

“Eh!?” I couldn’t help exclaiming.

Did Hime acquire the skill while doing those splendid movements of the doll? But… How? There were rumors about its existence on the forums, but nobody found out how to acquire it yet as far as I know.

It’s easy to imagine this kind of skill existed because it seemed to fit together with the Magical Gloves a bit too perfectly, but the necessary conditions to acquire it were a mystery.

Of course, people did try making and manipulating dolls or stuffed animals, but none of those attempts bore fruit so far.

And yet, Hime seems to have obtained the skill now…

“How? What was the unlock requirement?” I asked her.

“… Doll?” Hime suggested.

“Eh…!? Wait… It can’t be…” I started thinking as I muttered that.

Coming to think of it, the dolls that people made while trying to see if the puppeteer skill existed weren’t actually based on recipes, because people didn’t have a doll making recipe in the first place.

Meanwhile, my doll was made by following it. Even if I couldn’t benefit from the recipe during the crafting process, I still followed it properly. And while I may have altered the doll by putting fur on it, it was done after the item had already been completed, so it didn’t count as a proper alteration.

Therefore, this isn’t an original, but instead the proper ‘Wooden Doll – Beast Type – Fox’ doll.

So… The unlock requirements for Puppeteer are to manipulate a Wooden Doll made with a recipe by using the Magical Gloves?

“Test it.” Hime stared at me as she said that.

“Yes!” I replied.

As Hime has already achieved the conditions and acquired the skill, she can’t test it herself.

However, I don’t have it unlocked yet, so I can do the testing… Of course, two people testing isn’t enough to guarantee that we have found the right unlock requirements, but it’s a start.

******

“It appeared!” I exclaimed.

“We got it.” Hime replied.

I first acquired the ‘Magical Thread Gloves’ skill, then tried manipulating the doll’s threads without using the Magical Gloves for a test, but the Puppeteer skill didn’t appear on the list of skills I could acquire by doing that.

But then, after I equipped the Magical Gloves and manipulated the doll’s threads with that, the skill appeared on the list.

This should be almost enough to guarantee the exact requirements. We just need a few more people doing tests to be sure.

But well, the Puppeteer skill costs 5 Skill Points. It’s a bit too heavy for me who is always lacking Skill Points, so I guess I’ll skip on it.

After all, differently from Hime, I don’t have much use for it. We were just testing things out to figure out the necessary conditions to obtain it in the end.

Moreover, I found a skill that I’m much more interested in. It only became available to me once I reached the necessary conditions to unlock the Puppeteer skill.

“Hime, do you perchance see ‘Doll Making’ in the list of skills you can acquire?” I asked her.

After quickly checking through her list, Hime replied, “No.”

It is on my list, but it’s not on Hime’s… I guess it needs something else to be acquired then? Perhaps you need to not only be allowed to learn Puppeteer, but also have already created a doll?

Well, regardless of the actual conditions, the important part is that this skill will allow me to use the doll making recipe.

It costs 5 Skill Points, the same as Puppeteer… But well, I don’t think it’s a heavy cost when talking about a production skill, so I instantly acquired it.

“I’ll entrust the doll making to you.” Hime told me.

“It’s an honor!” I replied.

“But test it.” She said.

“I think it might be a bit hard. I can’t transfer the recipe to others as it is not an original.” I told her.

“Disappointing…” Hime muttered.

That said, there are other people in Works who should be able to do woodworking, so it shouldn’t be that hard to test it out with other clan members.

So, even if Hime was a bit disappointed, we were still happy with all that this doll brought us. If I find a new doll recipe, I’ll definitely make it and gift the doll to Hime.

It’s just fun to see how it moves around as if it was alive. As expected of Hime.

******

After a while of playing with the doll, Hime eventually had to leave. We were close to the end of the woodcutting event, so Hime was very busy right now. I’m grateful that she came here even in the middle of such a tight schedule.

And it goes without saying, but I gifted the fox doll to Hime. I can’t manipulate it well, so I’m sure Hime will make much better use of it than me.

And well, it might also be nice for soothing her clan members during break time, so I think it was a nice gift.

Either way, I still have some time until I need to log out, so I guess I’ll keep on training the Improved Magic Language and Decipher skills to try learning new recipes.

Well, that, and also some more crafting of Iron items for the store. Even if I’m out of materials from the Eku Labyrinth, I can still make good gear!

And I can also train the Doll Making I just acquired, so… Well, I guess I have a lot of things that I want to do.

Let’s try carefully scheduling my time so that I can do everything then.

******

After making iron equipment for a while, I enjoyed my reading time. There were no new doll recipes, but both Improved Magic Language and Decipher ended up getting a decent amount of levels.

I got a really nice surprise when I started making use of Doll Making though. I only had one recipe available, so I had to keep on making the same item over and over again, but still… I got some really nice results. Like this one.

——

Wooden Doll – Beast Type – Fox

Doll/6*/ATK +12/Small Attack Power Enhancement/Durability 30

——

There is a skill called Puppeteer, so… I suppose dolls being usable in battle is quite possible.

In fact, most people on the forums theorized that Puppeteer would indeed be a combat skill, and this kind of result just makes their theories more realistic.

A battle method where you equip your doll with weapons and armor… It’s quite something, isn’t it?

I currently have only the recipe for the fox doll, but it’s not hard to make a humanoid doll. If one doesn’t try making it too elaborate at least.

And well, using many weapons with the Magical Gloves applies a considerably damage penalty to your attacks, but… If you’re using dolls instead, especially now that I can see that they can get offensive Options… Then this downside might be nullified?

It’s quite possible, isn’t it? But it’s hard to be sure without trying, so… Let’s send a message to Hime. I’m sure she’ll be glad to test this out.

And as she is cutting down the Demon Trees, I’m sure she’ll have no shortage of battles coming her way.

In any case, due to Doll Making, I can now properly use the recipe when crafting a doll, so its crafting time was cut by more than half… Recipes are surely convenient. They’re indispensable for any crafter.