Azaria The Doll Dungeon 4 (Patreon)

Hey Guys! Don't worry! I plan on working on Holy Blood and Revenge over the next couple weeks. I just needed to fill the gap while my job went through this change. I've had barely a minute to write. This is all backlog material. Plus, I've been wanting to start another dungeon story for a while. Haha. 

Chapter 4: Summoning!

Azaria

“Starburst! Starburst~ Star! Burst!” I said while making circles around the grumpy unicorn. He’d been ignoring me for the last hour. I moved in close and whispered directly into his ear, “Starburst.”

He reared back and stomped his hooves. “Damn it, Girl! I’m trying to think!”

I folded my arms, mental as they might be, and pouted. “You could have just said that.”

“Dolls are difficult. They are never meant to be the main race in a dungeon!”

“Then why won’t it let me summon anything else!?” I shouted throwing my hands in the air. Again, mental as they might be.

“I don’t know. For now, let us just work on getting you a semi-decent fighting force. If you die, I die. I’m not looking forward to that again.”

“I have been trying to use the summon thingy, but my eyes start spinning when I look at it.” There was so much that you had to input. Some of it made sense while other parts didn’t.

“Well. You are designing a personality from the ground up. What else would you expect?”

“Premade options!” I said putting my hand up like student in class. 

Starburst just looked at the ground and took a really long deep breath. He didn’t say anything for several minutes. “Just select random then…”

I turned to look at the list and sure enough there was a random option. “Is… Is that safe?”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re not going to try to attack me or anything like that?” I asked tapping my fingers together.

“They won’t. They can’t exist without you.”

“That’s good to hear!” I said then tapped the summon button. A swirl of light sprang up near us. I felt the energy leave me again, much more this time than when I just infused Starburst with a soul. I was sure that if I had a physical body my eyes would be wide opened. It was sort of fascinating to see a new body forming right in front of me.

A doll about the size of a child formed. It had long straight silver hair that went to the small of her back with a small pair of devil wings poking through. She was wearing a Victorian dress. She had an expressionless face that was made from a white material.

“Now is it a winner or loser?” Starburst muttered while looking the doll over.

“That’s rude, talking about a lady like she isn’t even here,” said the doll as she unfolded a fan and held it in front of her mouth. I could feel some sort of power radiating from it. I wish I could see her status like I could my own. As soon as the thought formed another list popped open. 

N/A

Age:0

Level:1

Race: Sentient Doll

Type: Manipulator

“OH! Hey Starburst! What’s a manipulator?” I asked as that was the only thing I really didn’t follow.

“What? She’s a manipulator? How’d you get so lucky on your first random?!” Starburst muttered while tossing his head back and forth. I swore he acted more like a horse as the hours went by. I just hoped he didn’t forget how to talk eventually.

The doll chuckled and folded the fan in one swift motion. “That’s right! Bow before me pheasants!” I ignored her and repeated my question to Starburst.

“A manipulator is a being that is able to control several lesser monsters without costing the dungeon souls. They are far weaker and frankly stupider, but if the manipulator gets skilled enough, they can get quite powerful.”

“I’m glad to see my luck is bring me good things for once,” I said with a fist pump.

“Ah. I remember, you had a ridiculous luck and fate number.”

“I’m glad to see that you understand my prowess.” The doll said sticking its nonexistent chest out. 

“The only problem… They’re incredibly weak themselves. Not really something you want for your first monster,” Starburst said turning his head away from the doll. I could almost see the pity aura coming off of him.

“If they can command a whole bunch of monsters, wouldn’t they be the best to summon first?” I asked confused.

“Well… You have to feed her Aether for her to be able to summon things. You have what, a thousand Aether? Likely less since you summoned us. That’s not a lot to work on,” Starburst said the pity aura only growing stronger. 

“No. I have over eighteen thousand.”

“What!? HOW!?”

“Yeah, don’t ask me. I don’t know.”

“Summon! Summon more! Then we’ll work on creating an actual dungeon for you!” Starburst said prancing around my center. I still found it strange that he barely made any sound since he weighted close to nothing. I wish I had my physical body back so I could cuddle with him. I would need to figure out how to get the dead god out of him first. That would just be awkward.

“Don’t ignore me!” 

“I’m not ignoring you, Lucy,” I said.

“Lucy? Can’t you see I’m more of an Elizabeth?!”

“Nope. I’ve already decided on Lucy.”

~~~

“I’m surprised. I figured since I could only summon dolls, they would all be soft and cuddly,” I said watching the mole stuffed animals I summoned working to dig into the side of the tunnel. While their main bodies were soft, their claws were made from steel. I was able to do this by using creation, destruction, and summon at the same time.

I pulled some of the steel from the old train car. Following Starburst’s instructions I made the claws. Deconstructing them, I was able to use them to influence the summon and create a mole stuffed animal. From there I was able to copy them and summon more. They costed two hundred aether per, plus a soul. I went ahead and created five.

“Dolls have certain limitations, but they are highly customizable. I’ve never studied them fully.”

“Stella. We really need some Earl Grey,” Lucy said to her twin. I’d summoned Stella by copying Lucy. They were both stuck up so I left it at two.

“Indeed. This dusty tunnel is getting quite boring,” Stella replied lifting her dress up off the floor.

The Moles were hard at work carving a path down into the Earth. Apparently, I had to leave the station mostly as it was. That was disappointing as it wasn’t very cute. They’d been working for over an hour now, and had already carved several feet from the wall. 

Another ten minutes went by with everyone doing their own thing. I was floating aimlessly in the air, while Starburst appeared to be practicing stabbing people with his horn. At least that was what it looked like to me. There was a loud boom and everyone turned to the wall that the moles were digging into.

Water flooded into the tunnel from what looked like a busted pipe. One of the moles had sliced clean through the pipe. They were trying to get out of the of quickly growing pool, but their fluff was making it hard for them to move.

“Ah, the pitiful pheasants. I supposed we should help them,” Lucy said to her sister. The snapped their fans closed and flung them out. A string of energy shot out and wrapped around the moles. They each pulled two out, while one managed to escape on his own.

“Ah, you poor things!” I wish I had a way to dry them off. I tried using deconstruction on just the water and found that it worked. I moved over to the pool that was starting to spill into the rest of the tunnel and started absorbing it.

“Starburst! Starburst! I’m getting really really trace amounts of aether from this water! Why?!” I asked while spinning around his head.

“EH?!” he replied slamming his hoof on the ground. I flew back giving him his space. “It’s the life in the water. Bacteria and what not. You get Aether from absorbing life energy.”

I absorbed all the water and all that kept flowing in. I started to worry it would never stop and had the moles start digging in a different part. This time they were ordered to avoid anything that wasn’t made of stone or soil. After about five hours the water flow slowly became a trickle.

All in all, I gained four Aether. The moles had carved nearly a dozen feet and were hard at work still. Starburst explained it was one of the benefits of the dolls, unlimited stamina. I was happy to hear there was something good for them. Golems and a few of the other options also had this benefit. I stuck my tongue out at Starburst when he said that. 

“Well the moles are hard at work and the water’s stopped. Let’s take this moment to have the two dolls summon some minions.”

“You’re going to finally allow us to summon our servants? It’s about time. Nobility should have some servants,” Lucy said with a snap of her fan.

“I agree! It's downright rude of you,” Stella said from next to her.

“AHHHH! Shut up before I toss you out of the dungeon!” Starburst yelled at them while tossing head back and forth.

“You brute! You would rob Mistress Azaria of her precious Aether but making us turn to dust!?” Lucy demanded while pointing her fan at him.

“You’re just so annoying! She has a lot to do before her dungeon is opened! We don’t have time to deal with your attitudes.”

“Sister. I believe we shouldn’t push the old man for a while.”

“Very well…”

“Good. We’re all friends again!” I said floating in between them while clapping my hands. “How much Aether should I give them?” 

“Since we have so much to work with, go ahead and start with five hundred. That should be more than enough,” Starburst replied.

I moved over their heads and pictured the strange energy I’ve been feeling flow into them. Their fans lit up as did their eyes. They moved apart and unfolded their fans. With an elegant wave, they formed to large magic circles in front of them. 

“Toy Soldiers!” Lucy intoned.

“Penguin Army!” Stella said in the next second.

In Lucy’s circle, three dozen figures that looked like nutcrackers took shape. They were about three feet tall and wielded halberds, or was it pikes. I’m not sure which it was. I’d never really studied weapons or was interested in them after all. They were painted blue and red and lined up in precise lines.

In Stella’s circle, penguins equipped with various armors. They appeared to wielded swords. They were about the same height as the nutcrackers. I clapped when I saw them as I thought they were super cute. I liked the nutcrackers but they had a more traditional feel to them. The penguins were more my style. 

“Well. How are they?” I asked floating around them while trying to keep my composure. I wished I had a physical form so I could hug one of the penguins. 

“Not bad. They should do well against weaker foes. Let’s get to work on the dungeon itself!”