Taylor Shard Keeper 4 (Patreon)

Annette paused as she went to avoid the suspect step that she needed to fix and realized that it had been replaced. "When did you fix the step?"

"I never got around to it," Danny admitted, knowing he should have made the time once it got to the point it wasn't safe.

"Taylor?" Annette asked thoughtfully.

"Probably," Danny replied as he walked over and opened the door. "We're back."

Taylor pulled her attention away from the computer screen and turned to look at her parents as they walked in. "Any trouble?"

Annette absently closed the door as she looked around the spotless living room. "Have you been cleaning this whole time?"

"Nope, I bought a cleaning spell from a girl in town," Taylor replied with amusement.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Cleaning spell?"

"Apparently mages are lazy," Taylor replied with amusement. "Did you have any trouble at the station?"

"They ran my prints and I'm provisionally alive again or at least I'm one step closer, we have a meeting with a PRT agent tomorrow. What type of spells have you learned?" Annette asked, excited to talk about something that didn't involve a lot of paperwork or worries about the PRT causing trouble.

"Healing, cure minor poison, cleaning, mage hand, a couple of leatherworking spells to speed things up and a lightning spell," Taylor replied with a grin. "I also managed to pick up a couple of useful skills like carpentry, leatherworking, tailoring and various types of metalworking that should come in useful."

"New boots?" Annette asked when she noticed the unfamiliar pair of floppy lace up blue boots that were next to the couch.

"One of my more successful attempts," Taylor replied with a grin. "I've been working on boosting my skill so I could make a costume."

"Shouldn't you have a bulletproof vest or something a bit more durable than leather?" Danny asked, worried about his daughter.

Taylor shrugged. "I can't even scratch the boots without an enchanted knife which means they should hold up to knives."

"Are you saying you made these?" Annette asked in surprise as she picked up the surprisingly light boots so she could examine them. "The leather is gorgeous."

"How expensive is the leather?" Danny asked, thinking about some of his friends in the union that could use better jackets, especially if they stopped knives.

"It's more or less free," Taylor admitted. "For a given value of free."

"Given value of free?" Danny asked as he walked over to look at the boots.

"The rabbits are annoyingly common around the mithral nodes I'm trying to mine in my Exploration Shard which means the leather is basically free, why?" Taylor asked, wondering what he was thinking.

"I know some people in the union that could use some decent winter jackets, especially if they're stab proof or at least resistant," Danny said thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a good way to grind leatherworking," Taylor replied, thinking of the term one of the websites used for leveling a skill quickly.

Annette glanced at Danny then set the boots back on the floor and looked at Taylor. "How long would a jacket take to make?"

"Assuming I can get all of the material to one of my shards, five minutes? It depends on how long it takes to make buttons," Taylor admitted.

"Is there a reason you can't just buy them at the hobby store?" Danny asked.

"Several," Taylor admitted. "I can only take clothing into my shard realms unless I bought it in my shop realm or I harvested the material from my Exploration shard and my crafting skills actually take close to the proper amount of time on Earth."

Annette nodded. "In other words, you're better off making everything in your shards."

"Basically," Taylor agreed as she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Speaking of cheating, do you have a necklace you want enchanted with the ability to see in the dark or should I just give you one of the ones I already made?"

"Enchanted?" Annette asked with a grin.

"Yep! I'm sort of a knock off Dauntless or at least I can spend mana to enchant items with various effects." Taylor lifted her leg as if she was going to take a step then stepped off the air like it was solid, hovering a foot aboud the floor. "Like walking on air."

Danny stared at his daughter's blue boots. "I'm fairly sure Dauntless' stuff doesn't work for anyone else."

"What can I say? My power is awesome," Taylor replied with amusement as she took a couple of steps before stepping back to the ground. "How much do you think the PRT would pay for boots that let you walk on air?"

"It would depend on how long they last," Annette said thoughtfully.

"Considering how durable the leather is, I doubt they'll wear out," Taylor replied with a shrug.

"They're permanent?" Annette asked in surprise.

Taylor shrugged. "There are magic items in my Adventure shard that are thousands of years old and some of the stuff in the Shop looks like it came out of the renaissance."

"I don't know if they'd pay for their regular troops but they'd probably drop a couple of hundred dollars per hero without batting an eye," Annette said thoughtfully.

"At least," Danny said, knowing a couple of thousand was basically a rounding error in the PRT's budget.

"Have you finished your costume yet?" Annette asked excitedly.

"Annette," Danny complained, trying not to think about Taylor running around in a costume where she might get shot.

"What? It's a valid question," Annette replied, knowing her daughter was going to be pulled into the cape scene one way or another.

"I'm getting closer," Taylor replied as she gestured at the computer. "It's hard coming up with something that doesn't look ridiculous, especially when I'll be upgrading bits and pieces as I find better magic items."

"In other words, you should probably look at some of the tinkers," Annette said as she walked over and sat down in front of the computer. "Climbing harnesses?" she asked when she noticed the webpage Taylor had been looking at.

Taylor grinned. "I can enchant things to fly, it seemed easier and more comfortable than flying on a broomstick."

"Are they as uncomfortable as they sound?" Annette asked as she opened a new tab and brought up the search page.

"It's worse than a bike," Taylor admitted.

"You're going to need to learn to fight," Annette pointed out as she ran an image search for tinkers.

"It's on the list," Taylor assured her.

"Have you considered joining the wards?" Danny asked, figuring it was better to have support even if it complicated things.

Taylor shook her head. "I'd probably fall under the tinker rules and I'm not mass producing magic items without getting paid a reasonable rate. I don't mind selling them gear but they'd probably try to stop me from exploring my shards or try to take over and manage things."

"Probably," Annette agreed as she looked through the pictures.

"Have you considered volunteering at the hospital and healing people?" Danny asked, trying to get Taylor to consider something less risky than running around fighting the gangs.

"I'd have to talk to Panacea and I want something a bit better than the basic healing spell I have before I talk to the hospitals." Taylor frowned as she realized she should probably give Panacea something for saving her life. "That reminds me, I should probably look into making her some decent armor or some defense bracelets when I figure out how to make them."

"Not a bad idea," Annette agreed as she pointed at one of the pictures. "What do you think of that one?"

Taylor shook her head. "They look like a rainbow exploded and I don't think it would go with my cloak."

"Defense bracelets?" Danny asked.

"Some of the magic users don't bother with armor, they enchant rings, bracers and circlets," Taylor explained as she glanced over the pictures.

"Cloak?" Annette asked thoughtfully.

Taylor took a step back and used her ring to change into her costume.

Annette stared at the unfamiliar looking athletic girl in a black halter top, blue leather pants and a black cloak. "That's one way to stop the PRT from connecting the dots."

"You could always add a leather jacket, gloves and a mask," Danny suggested, fairly sure a bunch of capes had worse costumes, especially starting out.

Taylor sighed. "It seems a bit basic."

"There's nothing wrong with keeping things simple," Danny pointed out. "Especially if you have the power to back it up."

"You could always go with a skirt and pick up a wand," Annette said as she opened a new tab and ran an image search for witches.

Taylor shook her head. "My wands are a bit lethal, I'd rather find something a bit safer."

"Like a sleep spell?" Annette asked thoughtfully.

"Or something that teleports people into a holding cell," Taylor replied with a grin.

Danny smiled at Taylor. "Take your time."

"What have you been crafting?" Annette asked.

"Boots of air walking, mithral rings of jumping and safe fall and necklaces that let people see in the dark," Taylor replied as she pulled a small handful of plain silvery blue rings and amulets out of her belt pouch to show her parents. "I need to hit the local dungeon to pick up more magic items to reverse engineer but I wanted to look up some patterns for climbing harnesses and got a bit sidetracked."

"Local dungeon?" Danny asked in concern.

"It's basically an old keep in the woods that got taken over by a group of goblins," Taylor explained as she handed a ring and amulet to both her parents then stuck the rest of the jewelry back in her belt pouch. "The rings should let you land safely and jump higher if you need to and the amulets should let you see in the dark."

"Thank you," Annette replied as she studied the bluish charm on a leather cord. "Can you show us the town?"

"Sure," Taylor agreed. "Just let me finish taking notes on the climbing harness so I can make one."

"What are you going to do if your harness breaks?" Danny asked warily.

"Probably scream in terror then hit the ground," Taylor replied with a shrug.

Danny stared at Taylor. "How are you that calm?"

"I wrapped a rabbit hide shoelace around two branches and had the blacksmith yank on one of them while standing on the other, he couldn't break the cord. The straps are larger and more durable which means I don't think I have anything to worry about. Worst case, the enchantment fails and I drop like a rock, I'm durable enough to survive a fall," Taylor assured them.

Annette stood up and moved out of the way so Taylor could sit down. "Let me guess, you already took a tumble?"

"I was testing my first broom," Taylor admitted as she sat down and swapped back to the page with the harnesses. "Besides, that's what the safe fall rings are for."

"Any side effects?" Annette asked.

"Nope," Taylor replied, not seeing a reason to mention the original ring. "Everything should be safe."

"We should probably check with the PRT at some point or at least get a geiger counter to make sure your gear isn't radioactive," Danny suggested, only sort of teasing.

"I'm not joining the wards," Taylor replied as she worked on copying down the measurements and drawing a sketch of what she needed to build.

"You don't need to join the wards or sign your life away to get your powers tested," Annette assured Taylor, fairly sure the rules hadn't changed too much while she'd been dead.

"It's probably worth looking into, especially if you want to sell them stuff," Danny said, fairly sure they'd jump at the chance to buy defensive gear or items that made their jobs easier.

Taylor sighed. "Give me a couple of days, I want to see if I can find a teleport spell or something that would let me escape if they toss me in a cell."

"In a cell?" Danny shook his head. "They don't throw kids in jail when they haven't done anything wrong."

"Tell that to the Principal at Winslow," Taylor grumbled as she finished taking notes.

"Don't worry, you're never going back and I'll take the issue up with the school board once I'm officially back from the dead," Annette assured her. "There has to be a reason they wouldn't deal with the problem."

"I'm glad you're back!" Taylor replied as she stood up and hugged her mom.

"I'm glad I'm back," Annette assured her as she patted Taylor on the back.

Taylor took another look at the paper she'd written the measurements on then reached out and grabbed her father's hand and focused on teleporting to her Adventure shard.

Danny blinked when they found themselves in an old fashioned looking hotel room or bedroom. "A little warning would have been nice."

"Next time," Taylor replied as she let go of her parents and picked up her backpack filled with her money and the local supplies she hadn't already sold or used.

"Are you okay?" Annette asked in concern when she noticed Taylor's grey skin.

"I'm fine," Taylor assured them. "It's just part of my power. Let's grab some cider and take a walk around town then you can grab a room and 'talk' while I go exploring," she suggested, trying to change the subject.

Annette glanced at her husband. "Sounds better than traumatizing Taylor because the walls are too thin."

Taylor shook her head and headed for the door. "Let's go."

Danny laughed as they followed Taylor into a hallway, glad that things seemed to be getting back on track. "Where are we going first?"

"The cook, I've got some rabbit for him and I want to check to see if you can pick some interesting skills," Taylor replied as they headed down the hallway lit with glowing stones mounted on the walls.

"Like what?" Danny asked.

"Cooking," Taylor replied with a grin then blinked and stared when she saw a naked red haired teenage girl walk around the corner with a glowing staff, a belt and belt pouch. "That's new."

"Plastic?" the girl blurted when she noticed Annette's glasses and their modern looking clothes. "Are you from Earth?"

"One of them," Taylor admitted as the busty girl dashed over, causing her breasts to bounce and drawing Taylor's attention.

"Do you know how to get back?" the bouncy girl asked hopefully.

"Not really, I just think about Earth Bet and slip between the cracks," Taylor explained.

"Earth Bet?" the girl asked warily.

"That's what we call our version of Earth because someone opened a portal to a different Earth twenty five years ago and we had to keep them straight," Taylor explained.

The girl sighed as her hopes for an easy way back were dashed. "So much for doing things the easy way."

"There's a hard way?" Taylor asked, wondering what she was talking about.

"The wizard that dropped me here said that I'd get the ability to jump worlds if I defeated one of the local demon lords," the girl admitted.

"Did he forget to include clothes?" Annette asked.

The girl shook her head. "Nah, he grabbed me from the beach."

"That sucks," Taylor offered.

"Don't get me wrong, getting the chance to learn magic and game skills is awesome, I'm just a bit worried about fighting a demon so I figured I'd ask if you had a method of leaving," the girl explained.

Taylor winced as she thought about fighting one of the endbringers by herself. "I can't say I blame you."

"Do you need better gear or some clothes?" Annette asked, fairly sure Taylor had enough stuff to share.

The girl shrugged. "I wouldn't object to a small loan so I can pick up a couple of skills before I start hunting monsters but one of my cheat skills is 'Naked Hero', I'm a lot safer without clothes though I wouldn't object to some help fighting monsters until I get the hang of it."

"Cheat skills?" Danny asked.

"Cheat skills are basically any skill that allows you to do something most people can't or that gives you a completely unfair advantage. In my case, I get a substantial bonus to my stats, armor class and movement speed when I'm not wearing clothing."

"Including shoes?" Annette asked.

"No, I can wear shoes, I lost my flip flops running from a group of thugs on the way to town," the girl admitted.

"I have a couple of things that should help, including some boots." Taylor held her hand out. "I'm Taylor."

"Beth, nice to meet you," the girl replied as she shook Taylor's hand.

Taylor pulled a pair of boots and some socks out of her belt pouch and handed them to Beth. "I was just about to show my parents around town before heading into the forest to hunt monsters, I wouldn't mind some company."

"Thanks, I'm still trying to get the hang of casting spells and killing monsters," Beth admitted as she leaned up against the wall so she could put the socks on.

"How dangerous is the forest?" Danny turned his attention towards the young man that was staring at Beth.

"Compared to Brockton Bay, the monsters should be easy," Taylor replied, fairly sure there wasn't anything that could hurt her in the forest but willing to take things easy. "If the rabbits with mithral teeth can't chew through my skin, I doubt the goblins will be able to."

"OP, please don't nerf," Beth teased as she finished pulling her new socks on. She slipped her feet into the comfortable boots then knelt down and worked on lacing them up. "Please tell me I can keep these, they're really comfortable."

"You're welcome to keep them, I was just making them for practice," Taylor replied with a smile as the young man that had been staring at Beth decided he had better things to do with his time and left, mostly because of her mother's look of disapproval.

"Thank you," Beth replied, glad that someone in the strange world was nice enough to help her get started.

"What's your world like?" Annette asked, trying to get an idea of the differences. "Do you have a United States or a Europe?"

"Yes and yes, fifty states?" Beth asked, figuring they'd either know what she was talking about or not.

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "Does your world have magic?"

"Not that I know of or at least I didn't really believe in magic before yesterday," Beth admitted as she finished lacing up her boots. "I'm looking forward to learning magic."

"I can't say I blame you," Taylor replied, looking forward to having fun. "Let's show my folks around and pick up some more skills then we'll start hunting monsters."

"Sounds good," Beth said cheerfully, looking forward to getting started. "Wait, how are you going to grab more skills?"

"I'm to cheat," Taylor replied as she glanced around the empty hallway then used her ring to swap her appearance.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Beth asked hopefully.

"No but I have a ring," Taylor replied as she pulled a ring out of her belt pouch and tossed it to Beth. "Did you pick a magic style at the training camp?"

"Black," Beth replied as she put the ring on. "You?"

"White, healers aren't exactly common on my Earth," Taylor explained.

"Doctors or magical healing?" Beth asked as she focused on the ring and activated it, changing into a busty girl with long blue hair that matched her mini dress.

"We have plenty of doctors, we just don't have a lot of parahuman healers," Taylor replied as she studied Beth's face, fairly sure no one would recognize her.

"Are parahumans like mutants?" Beth asked

Danny turned to look at Beth, relieved that she was actually wearing something. "Basically, only they get their powers because of trauma."

"Weird," Beth mused. "I can see why you want to create more healers. Do you think you could copy the robes?"

Taylor grinned. "It's worth a try."

Danny shook his head. "Just don't get in trouble."

"I'll do my best, let's go, I want to grab herbalism and alchemy and maybe glassblowing if I can talk the lady into teaching me for an indestructible bottle."

Beth grinned as she thought about bringing healing magic back with her when she got home and ruining the lives of the people that had been unable to save her father. "It's worth a try."