Taylor and the Twisted Game Part 14 (Patreon)

Taylor grinned as she pulled another book off the shelf in the Scarlet Monastery library and got a point of archeology. "Even if the loot wasn't good, I'd run the place just for the books and the points of archeology."

[It's certainly interesting. I'm going to want to read your copy of Rituals of Power] Admin replied as she pulled a glowing book off the shelf. [It's strange that we're seeing different things.]

"It's probably a game thing," Taylor replied as she headed towards the hallway. "How do you think Shaper and Amelia are doing?"

[I'm sure they're fine], Admin assured her as she sent Shaper a message, [Any progress?]

[Host was correct about more testing being needed], Shaper admitted somewhat sheepishly.

[What happened?] Admin asked Shaper.

[Data], Shaper replied as she waved her wand at the guards her host was fighting and blasted them with bolts of arcane energy, enjoying actually being able to do something herself for a change.

[Do you have a translation of his ranting?] Admin asked, wondering why turning one of the Scarlet Monastery guards into a void elf had caused him to experience a psychotic break when it hadn't caused her host problems.

[No, do you want me to send it to Investigator?] Shaper asked.

[Might as well], Admin replied as she started casting a shadow bolt at the guards that Taylor had sent her wolf to chew on. [How long do you think it will take to get the limited flight ability working?]

[Data], Shaper replied, sending the file with her results before sending a data package with the strange language to Investigator to see if she could make sense of it.

Admin glanced over the file as she continued blasting the various guards and making sure her void walker was doing what it was supposed to. [You managed to stabilize the void elf package by adding genetics from the witch form and the blood elf and high elf mix?] she asked, wanting to make sure she understood the information dense file.

[With bits from the Vrykul codes for durability and Draenei codes for longevity], Shaper added, rather pleased with her combination.

[Can you give them the Draenei healing ability?] Admin asked as she walked over to a glowing figurine on a pedestal and picked it up, getting a minor art object she could sell and another point of archeology.

[Not yet], Shaper admitted as she examined the guard that her host had knocked unconscious, curious if she could modify him into her improved void elf template without causing him to go insane. [It might be something they learn or a deal they struck with some outside power.]

[Let me know when you've finished testing], Admin said as she pulled a bottle of conjured water out of her inventory and took a drink as she waited for her mana to regenerate enough to continue.

[Yes], Shaper agreed as she started modifying the human guard, trying to figure out how to successfully change a person into a sane void elf without having to use her host's ability to alter people as a guide.

"That was easier than I was expecting." Taylor cast her mend pet spell on her wolf then drank a bottle of conjured water to restore her mana while she waited on Admin's mana pool.

Admin glanced at the giant wolf that was sniffing at one of the dead guards then looked at the two lifelike puppets sitting on Taylor's shoulders. [Having three combat pets helps.]

Taylor glanced at the shadowy creature that Admin was using as a second tank. "It also helps that your voidwalker is a decent tank."

Admin glanced at her combat puppet. [It would be nice if I could control the puppet beyond basic commands or use a second one but at least you can control it with your second head.]

Taylor glanced over the loot her pet dragon had brought her then started walking. "Let's see what else we can find."

[We're going to have to run this part of the dungeon a couple times to make sure we get all of the books], Admin said as she followed Taylor down the hallway.

"That's the plan," Taylor agreed as she sent her wolf after a group of guards walking towards them and had her pets start shooting the guards with their wands. She cast her blizzard spell, conjuring a blizzard of snow and ice in the hallway that slowed the group of guards and occasionally froze them in place, making it easy for her wolf to rip them apart.

[This would be easier if my demon was immune to cold, should I switch to my imp?] Admin asked.

"We're not really hurting for damage, you might as well just keep the voidwalker out in case we need it to tank something." Taylor cast a frost bolt at the last guard, causing the already frozen man to shatter when the spell hit. "We can always reevaluate once we're done."

[Okay], Admin agreed.

0o0o0

Amy froze when she stepped out of the Scarlet Monastery's library and saw a group of five people around the summoning stone that looked like they'd walked out of a steampunk convention or movie. "Hello?" she asked, ready to dive back into the dungeon if the group proved hostile.

Leet turned to say hello and froze when he noticed Amy's level. "How are you already level thirty three?"

"I get experience for killing idiots and we had a cape run us through Shadowfang Keep," Amy explained. "You?" she asked, trying not to stare at Ember's see through shorts and fishnet shirt.

"Replace Shadowfang Keep with Gnomeregan," Uber replied with a smirk.

"You wouldn't believe the stuff you can salvage." Sherrel stared when she noticed the strangely lifelike doll sitting on Amy's shoulder.

"Nice, did you get any decent engineering patterns?" Amy asked, wondering if it was worth it.

"A couple. Are you an engineer?" Leet asked.

"I took fishing and alchemy," Amy replied, not seeing a reason to tell a group of random strangers about the trick with the symbiotes.

"Have you found any combination recipes yet?" Uber asked, curious how the professions would combine.

Amy shook her head. "I picked up a couple of recipes for turning fish into various useful products but nothing earth shattering."

"What's with the shoulder sprite?" Uber asked when he noticed her sprite studying him.

Shaper waved to Uber as Taylor stepped out of the dungeon entrance, narrowly avoiding bumping into Amy.

Amy took a step to the side to make it easier for her friend to get past her. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"I noticed," Taylor said as she looked at the group, trying to figure out what species everyone was without cheating by looking at their sheets. She was fairly sure the green haired half giant with demonic wings was some type of demon mix, probably with Vrykul for the sheer size, the cat girl was obviously custom and the other three were some type of elf mix. She smiled when she recognized Ziz from the trade center. "Have you had any more trouble with the Trade Guild?"

Ziz shook her head. "We've been running dungeons so we haven't run into them but I'm sure they'll cause trouble eventually."

"Are you still planning on selling your puppets?" Amy asked as Admin stepped out of the dungeon entrance.

"Sure, they're basically wand using turrets and they can be damaged so I don't mind selling them," Taylor replied as she stepped out of the way so Admin wasn't stuck right next to the entrance to the dungeon.

Leet glanced at Admin when she waved at the group then focused on Taylor. "How much, how long do they last and how do they work?"

"I need two gems for eyes and two bolts of cloth or clothes for the body, the higher the quality the better the puppet. They last until they're destroyed and yeah, healing spells work just fine to make sure they're in decent shape. Some people can control them like combat pets and some people have to just let them wander around blasting their enemies, it sort of depends on the person," Taylor explained.

Ziz opened her inventory and pulled out a handful of moss agates. "Do you want ore, herbs or gold for payment?"

"Herbs would be great," Taylor replied as she grabbed the tailoring kit she'd picked up when she picked up more recipes.

Ziz handed Taylor the gems. "How long will it take to make them?"

"At least a minute per puppet," Taylor admitted.

Ziz glanced at the dungeon. "In that case, do you have enough mage silk to start? We'll finish the dungeon and give you the silk and several stacks of herbs as payment for your time."

"Sure," Taylor agreed as she moved off to the side and got to work making the first puppet, using a bolt of nearly sheer silk that was glimmering in the light. 'At least it's durable.'

"Speed run!" Ziz said cheerfully then stepped into the dungeon.

Sherrel laughed as she jumped in after their leader.

"Lock and load!" Leet exclaimed then jumped into the dungeon.

"Lunatics," Uber complained in a horrible British accent then stepped into the dungeon.

Ember shook her head then followed them, not wanting to miss out on loot and experience.

Amy pulled her attention away from the dungeon entrance and looked at Taylor. "You're leveling like a fiend."

"Three times the normal amount of experience adds up, not to mention I was able to run it twice because I didn't have experiments to run," Taylor said as she worked on making the green eyed mage silk puppet, using a second bolt of mage silk for stuffing and her best thread so she didn't wreck the quality of the rest of the ingredients.

"That makes me feel a little bit better," Amy admitted. "Did you find any interesting books?"

"Eight, including a book that should help with crafting wands," Taylor said cheerfully, looking forward to doing some research when she wasn't running dungeons, if only to increase her collection of spells and skills.

"Nice, it always annoyed me a bit that you couldn't craft high end wands in the game," Amy complained.

"Are you heading back in?" Taylor asked.

"I might as well take a minute to eat something and skim through the books I picked up, I doubt they'll take all that long," Amy replied as she pulled a plate of grilled fish out of her inventory and started eating, figuring the group would be finished by the time she finished eating and skimming through the books she'd collected.

0o0o0

"This feels like cheating," Arthur complained as he watched the massive boulder crush another group of demons, like an adult stepping on toy soldiers with combat boots.

"I don't think we're supposed to fight fair, they're demons," Cassie pointed out as she sent her large boulder crashing into another group, enjoying the steady flow of experience they were getting.

"Blizzards of doom!" Riley shouted as she cast her blizzard spell, slowing an entire group of demons as Cassie flew the 'flying' carpet around the demons.

Arthur grinned as he dropped a flamestrike on the group of demons that Riley was 'holding' in place with her blizzard. "You're going to fall behind with your magic."

Cassie snorted and sent her rock crashing through the group of demons, finishing them off. "I'm pretty sure I don't have a skill system."

"Are you sure? That's how I level up mine," Arthur replied.

"I go to the skill trainer and hand him money, it works," Cassie replied as she worked on killing another group of demons.

"In that case, keep killing them, we're getting decent experience…" he trailed off as he hit sixty and the experience bubbles on his experience bar didn't vanish. "I thought you said the cap was sixty?"

Cassie glanced back at the giant black gate she could see in the distance. "Technically, the gate isn't supposed to be active so yeah, I'm guessing that changed with everything moving out of beta."

"In that case, we should probably investigate the town and see if we can figure out where we're supposed to be going," Riley suggested as she looked over the rocky valley, trying to ignore the swirling almost outer space like sky as it was both breathtaking and disconcerting.

"Works for me," Cassie said as she turned the flying carpet towards the outpost she could see in the distance. "We could probably survive one of the dungeons if Arthur wanted to blast everything with his power."

Arthur weighed the apparent durability of the demons running around and decided that he was more than able to deal with them barring unforeseen circumstances. "Let's hit a dungeon."

"Good, we could use some better gear," Cassie grumbled, wishing someone in the group had picked up some form of armor crafting so they wouldn't have to depend on loot drops.

"I can always work on my magic later," Arthur admitted, figuring he'd go back to improving his skills after they had better armor.

0o0o0

Taylor had about twenty seconds left on the last puppet when Ziz's group stepped out of the portal looking smug. "You're quick."

"I'm a decent telekinetic, I just collected the mobs in a ball and the group burned them down," Ziz replied as she used the trade window to give Taylor several bolts of the sheer magical silk that she'd used to make the puppets as well as three 'stacks' of herbs. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Taylor assured her. 'I can't complain, I got three points of tailoring and four points of enchanting for making the puppets.'

"Can I check your powers by poking your arm?" Amy asked Sherrel, having noticed her racial flight with her inspection ability.

"Sure," Sherrel agreed, curious what she'd find.

Amy reached out and touched Sherrel's arm and compared her genetics to the witch species to see if she could narrow down the specific changes for wingless flight.

Taylor finished the last puppet and held it out. "Who wants the first puppet?"

Sherrel glanced at Ziz then held out her hand. "I'll take it."

Taylor handed Sherrel the puppet, "Just activate it."

Sherrel activated the puppet and dropped it, causing it to change into a foot tall girl with a motorcycle helmet and a pair of overalls without a shirt. "I have an icon to return the puppet to my inventory."

Augment waved at Sherrel then walked over and sat down on her boot.

Uber held his hand out. "I'll take it."

Taylor handed Uber the next puppet. "Go for it."

Uber activated the puppet and grinned when it changed into a foot tall dark haired girl that was dressed like Luigi and wearing an obviously fake mustache.

[Can I have a wand?] Skills asked hopefully.

[Don't forget to remind them about equipping wands] Admin suggested.

"Good point, don't forget to give the puppets wands and outfits," Taylor suggested as she gave Leet and Ember their puppets.

[Why can your host hear you?] Augment asked.

[She needed a friend], Admin replied, not seeing a point in admitting that she wasn't sure how Taylor's ability worked.

Ember used the puppet and grinned when she got a number of control icons on her heads up display. "Perfect, I can have it follow me around or stay somewhere and shoot things."

Leet ignored the feeling that something was going to go wrong and used the puppet. He was slightly surprised when it transformed into a busty blonde haired girl with a silver crown between her horns and a dragon tail and a turtle shell on her back. "Could be worse."

The tiny monster girl tossed a tiny firebolt at Leet which burst against his boots quite harmlessly. [Give me a weapon or parts so I can build something useful and kill him!] Prototype demanded.

"Is there a reason my puppet is trying to kill me with tiny fireballs?" Leet asked as he watched his puppet run over and start trying to untie the laces on his boots.

[Why do you want to kill your host?] Admin asked, tired of dealing with screwed up shards.

[There was a glitch in the configuration of his ability, instead of an end product lockout, he has a component lockout. Death of the host will fix that], Prototype explained.

Admin briefly considered reformatting the shard and starting over. [Upload used components to his engineering list, reconfigure restrictions] she sent the codes, along with the information to hand out additional schematics, glad for once that there wasn't anyone on Eden's side of the network to argue or complain about her fixing things.

Leet blinked then stared as his engineering list exploded with updates and messages about schematics. "What the hell!"

Amy pulled her attention off the cat girl's fascinating genetics and looked at Leet. "What's up?"

"I just got a bunch of patterns," Leet admitted.

"Define a bunch," Amy told him.

"Like tons, like all of the patterns I've ever made that blew up in my face," Leet said, not really thinking about what he'd just admitted to as he was a bit distracted by the hundreds of patterns he'd just gained.

"Blew up? Leet?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, no?" Leet said unconvincingly.

Amy scowled. "What the hell were you thinking with that thing with the hookers?"

"Look we didn't actually beat up any hookers, we paid them to take a fall, it was a gag," Leet assured them. "Granted, at this point it was a very bad idea since we've had to explain it multiple times but Grand Theft Auto seemed like a good idea at the time, and yeah, they were used cars, we had every right to use them."

"They were junk, I fixed them," Uber spoke up.

"And Armsmaster crashing his bike?" Amy asked, deciding not to mention the reckless driving charges they'd racked up for that particular stunt.

"Not my fault he can't dodge a wrench," Leet argued.

"It is when you throw it," Uber pointed out.

"Whose side are you on?" Leet asked his partner in crime.

Uber shrugged. "It's just part of the game, they chase us and we run away."

"We haven't hurt anyone lately," Leet argued.

"If you ignore the Trade guild," Uber cut in.

"They don't count, they started it," Taylor argued, less than happy with the group.

"I'm not even sure how they expect to corner the market on player created items," Sherrel complained. "If you block people from using the auction house, no one is going to waste time checking and they'll just make other arrangements."

Uber nodded. "And if you don't block people from using it, someone will eventually just undercut you."

Sherrel snorted. "Not to mention your name is on everything you auction which means someone can walk over to a mailbox and send you a request for products and unlike in real life, no one can trace the packages to your physical location which means tracking you down would be nearly impossible."

"Considering you can send things cash on delivery, they can't stop someone from doing business," Leet added.

"That's a good point," Amy admitted as she finished comparing the witch's magical DNA with the cat girl's DNA. "Thanks, that should let me give the rest of the group a version of flight."

"Seriously?" Sherrel asked in surprise.

"Yep," Amy replied with a grin.

"How much?" Ziz asked, figuring having her group able to float down to the ground or fly for thirty seconds every minute would be useful enough to help with a project.

"How about more stacks of herbs and helping us fight a horde of undead in the plaguelands for experience?" Amy asked.

Ziz dropped a dozen stacks of herbs that she'd picked with her telekinesis into the trade window and hit the button when Amy accepted. "That should cover it."

"Absolutely," Amy agreed as she closed her inventory page so she wasn't distracted. "Let's start with Leet."

"Hell yeah," Leet replied enthusiastically as he held his hand out.

Shaper considered ways to improve the talent as Amy worked on giving Leet flight, fairly sure she'd eventually figure something out.

Taylor looked at Ember's shorts. "Did you pick the shorts or do you want to change them?"

"They're random heritage gear, do you have the transmogrification ability?" Ember asked hopefully.

"And tailoring," Taylor replied as opened her transmogrification menu and shared the list of options with Ember.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver. It has decent stats but it's a bit obscene," Ember complained.

"No problem," Taylor replied, glad that she could make someone's day better.