4

The dollmaker and his creation begin a journey deeper into the snowy woods in which the rabbit-doll lived her entire life before now. For a few minutes Jonathan silently follows his creation, as he opens and studies the next of the remaining pair of "Perk Capsule" he owns, smiling all the while.

The first of the two remaining "Perk Capsules" Jonathan examines as he and his creation venture deeper into the woods contains a perk named "Meaningless Talent" from a "Setting" known as "Mind Control University". This perk confers both active and passive benefits which immediately take root in the young man. 

These alterations push every aspect of his physique even further and grant him knowledge of the human body that he immediately files away in a corner of his mind. Part of the reason why the young man is willing to travel all the way to a distant village on his first day in a new world is for the sake of experimenting with the abilities and powers he possesses, and as he thinks about that he watches the capsule in his hands vanish just like the last one did. 

The powers of the perk, uniquely physical in nature even in the context of the knowledge it grants the figures who possess it, become a part of the figure's mental encyclopedia of the powers he possesses. This encyclopedia is a potent thing, filling with more and more information, and is itself a manifestation of the stranger's most curious nature and that which most accurately encapsulates his essence: that of a "Trickster". 

Amid a sea of perks, and hailing from a family of perks that tend to have stranger names, is a simple perk named "Inspired". This perk is as simple, and as potent, as its name implies. It is a creativity and wisdom booster that amplifies the speed of the figure's thoughts, with a special focus on problem solving. It is this perk which takes the reins of the stranger's mind as he thinks about potential applications of his newest and quite quirky perk. With the newest tool in his toolkit he can do things like paralyze with a well-aimed touch or induce stunning pleasure with a targeted tap. For someone like him, it is a handy thing. 

The power within him is growing, and he wants to begin to experiment with it. He wants to actually use his strange magic, and offer his potent skills as a means by which he can gain employment and make connections with other human beings. This drive is what pushes him as he considers how his powers might properly mix together and allow him to gain influence and knowledge in the days to come.

He sighs quietly and summons the final capsule, which appears in his hand moments after the last one vanished. He is quick to open this one as well, and what he sees causes him to chuckle. 

This final capsule's perk mixes two equally potent properties together. The first thing it does is make it so that so long as Jonathan is either seeking out work, or willing to work, work will find him. The second thing it does is serve as a sort of reputation enhancer that ensures that the work he does always nets him rewards of some sort, and makes it so that he quickly acquires a reputation befitting his work. 

This perk is named "Fame and Fortune" and hails from "The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion". It is a valuable perk, and possessing it compels Jonathan to continue his journey into the depths of the forest. The final capsule in his possession vanishes, and with it Jonathan is left with nothing to focus on but the journey and the pleasant view he has of his doll's behind.

Each step the pair of adventurers take hone their constitution stats. For Jonathan this is an especially powerful boost, given the experience multipliers he possesses and the fact that his constitution stat is the current subject of "Hyperspecialization". 

The two of them quietly wander through the woods for several minutes. The doll is not particularly skilled at guiding her master, as she is not particularly worried about warning him about uneven terrain or slippery areas with deceptively deep snow, but these obstacles would only impede normal people. Jonathan walks with the surefootedness of a skilled ranger or woodsman and with each step he takes he seems to gain an uncanny and supernatural awareness of his surroundings. 

The leader of the tiny party is quiet in part because he is listening. He is not listening to his doll, partially because she's not speaking, but mostly because he is listening to other things as the two of them explore the forest.

____________________________________________________________________

"Language of the Insane" is a, for lack of a better word, insane perk, and that becomes increasingly clear as my companion and I wander deeper and deeper into the forest. With it, I can make sense of not only every distant howl I overhear but I can also "hear" the mechanism that trees use to communicate! 

Over the course of several minutes after I acquired "Language of the Insane" the perk began to slowly activate. At first I could only understand things like animal sounds, and through that understand animals in my surroundings. It would take a few minutes before I began to overhear stranger things like the chemical pathways plants use to share information and warn each other of impending danger.

The first of my three new perks is a strange ability that fundamentally alters how my senses work. That's just one of its functions, but I can freely admit, in the safety and privacy of my own mind, that I hadn't considered the simple reality that plants are living creatures. With that knowledge, which I've only gained because I've been feeling the effects of my perk for a few minutes now, my appreciation for this perk has skyrocketed. 

I easily overhear "voices" of all sorts of creatures from things like nearby grass that survives underneath entire inches of snow, to the conversations birds are having as they study the world underneath the branches where they have made their nests. The information I am receiving is quite passive but it's enough for now that I can't really complain about it. Heck if I wanted too, I could speak directly to animals using this specific ability.

This particular perk, mixed with the sheer range of my senses, will undoubtedly make me a terror in modern, by my home world's standards at least, cities. With this I could do something like go to the depths of a Russian prison or the Iranian countryside back on Earth and use my charisma to make even the most insane beings my allies. And I could do it without making someone one of my dolls, which is the truly amazing part of this. 

Perhaps more importantly than the actual perks, though, is a brief notification that comes along with them. What it says excites a small part of me more than the actual perks do, even though the perks are remarkable. 

[Alert: Jumps Unlocked

Acquiring perks from a setting allows you to purchase more perks from said setting, even ones that you have not visited. Initially these perks will be linked to the origin they hail from, but as you purchase more perks more origins will open up and you will be able to purchase them as well. This fact, coupled with the perks you got from the [Perk Capsules] has resulted in you acquiring the ability to purchase perks from [Elder Scrolls: Oblivion], [Generic Water Manipulation], and [Mind Control University]. 

Perks are quite costly, but can be discounted in a range of ways, such as behaving in line with the origins the perks come from. For example, if you behave as a [Cultist of the Deep] might, you will find it easier and easier to purchase perks from that setting. If you behave as a [Warrior] would, purchasing perks from that origin will become somewhat easier.]

This notification is intriguing. I am able to peer at the perks that are linked to each of the origins of the perks I have newly acquired. "Language of the Insane" is linked to an origin named "Cultist of the Deep Ones". "Meaningless Talent" is linked to an origin named "Chi". "Fame and Fortune" is part of an origin named "Warrior". The only perk that isn't an entry level perks for its origin is "Meaningless Talent".

Of all of the perks and origins I can now peer at, the "Chi" origin is the best as far as making people susceptible to my "Dollmaker" essence goes. Even with just the perk I have unlocked I can do things like render people unable to resist the effects of the essence, so long as I am dealing with humans, but the capstone perk can allow me to subjugate people, regardless of their species, with less lifeforce than myself just by being near them! It's also incredibly expensive, costing more than anything I've ever seen, in the realm of billions of in-store currency. So… It's a goal to work towards and something worth discounting.

With my "Dollmaker" essence I could theoretically make any creature my ally, but thanks to my charisma and my perks I can easily accrue allies even without subjugating them. In all honesty I'll probably be better served by reserving my essence for unique creatures or major foes, since using my powers on a living creature effectively kills them and snuffs out their identity prior to meeting me, even if the resulting creature still retains their identity prior to their conversion. 

I can tell a lot about the essence itself just by reading the description of the essence that is in my head. It's a dark power, and the thing sleeps inside of me. It's like it is a living thing that wants to be used. I can feel its joy at being used on the rabbit, and I can powerfully sense how determined it is to be used again and again, especially but not just against humans. It seems fascinated by the prospect of being turned into a weapon to subjugate normal people, and as a potent tool against beings greater than humans. 

I feel the subtle activation of a few different perks, and I shake my head as I imagine turning infamous figures from video games and franchises into my minions. A Bowser doll would be… fascinating. I audibly laugh when I envision Bowser transforming from his intimidating true form to a stylized, attractive, lady form. 

I could even imagine a way to capture the King of the Koopas using one of my items: "Gleipnir". "Gleipnir" is the name given to nine cosmically potent binding tools, which can physically manifest as things like ropes and handcuffs, that I possess that I can use to capture and depower anything. This would, naturally, leave such depowered things at my mercy. In theory I could use such items to capture even someone as powerful as Bowser or Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of the Thieves and overarching antagonist of the The Legend of Zelda series. 

Honestly my desire to use my powers aren't helped by the fact that I can, even now, feel my stores of "Potential Energy", the internal power I use to transform people into dolls, growing. Every step I take counts as training for all my trainable abilities, thanks to "Master of All" so even a single step hones my powers just a touch and by honing my dollmaking abilities my internal wellspring of transformative power grows. 

I focus on my companion as she takes me deeper and deeper into the forest. The idle "voices" of the nearby animals, many of whom are located underground, and of nearby trees fades into the background as I study my ally. 

She lacks my grace. Her movements aren't as confident or as natural looking as mine but that can't be held against her. Not only am I a near-peak-human being, I also possess perks that grant me a dancer's grace and boost my ability to travel. Still, while the doll lacks grace she doesn't lack tenacity. 

My companion and I have been moving for several minutes, quite close to an hour, by now. I spent a lot of time contemplating my powers, and I've been quiet as I followed behind the doll. She is not tired at all, and in fact one of the things that makes her different from me is that she is incapable of suffering from exhaustion. She has no physical needs of any sort and in terms of her true physiology is probably closer to some sort of golem than a true person. Though to be fair to myself I am also incapable of suffering from exhaustion in a meaningful sense, if I am given half an hour to rest I regain all of my spent stamina. "Gamer's Body" is… out there, in terms of its potential.

I watch her closely as the two of us make our way deeper and deeper into the woods which surround my home. She really is something, aesthetically, with a body that is in a very real way tailor-made to appeal to me. It's easy for me to watch her and to enjoy the sight of her body in motion. The nameless doll is a work of art. Eventually though, I reach into my inventory and withdraw one of my new toys even as I call out to her, ignoring the bubbles that appear around her as I speak. 

"Hey, before we go any further, turn around for a second would you?" I ask, causing her to immediately stop and turn to face me. There's a cheery smile on her face as I toss the newly materialized spear in her direction. She lets out a shocked gasp and darts forward to catch the weapon, and when her hands wrap around the thing's shaft they widen in warm surprise. 

"A spear! Now this is a neat weapon." She exclaims, and even just by looking at her while possessing my total list of skills and perks I can feel her knowledge increasing. I can sense the gears in her mind turning as she gains superhuman knowledge and skill with her newfound possession, even without attempting to read her thoughts or peer into her brain. 

This allows me to confirm something important about the nature of her powers in a fighting context: her transformation alone did not grant her active mastery over all weapons. She has a potent weapon and fighting major trait but it's only when she gets her hands on something that she can actively utilize the mastery over the weapon that her powers grant her. Still, judging from how her eyes have widened she's surely gained a terrifying amount of skill with that spear… 

Speech bubbles appear around her again. These ones matter more than the ones I ignored.

"I wanted to give you that. I have one as well. I even have a spare we could use as a gift to anyone we meet." I tell her, speaking simply and causing her to turn her attention to me. The words I chose this time were one of the options. 

"Thank you master. I'll treasure it forever." She exclaims, causing me to let out a dark chuckle. The speech bubbles change as I consider what to say next. 

"We should keep moving, but I also want to talk a bit more. I needed a second to mentally adjust to my powers. Even now I can passively feel them in the background… Still, I want us to keep moving. It'd be good if we could make it to our destination before terribly late." I tell the doll, electing to focus on a message that will keep us in motion. 

She nods and turns around, spear in hand, eager to guide me deeper into the depths of her birthplace. That said, she reveals herself to be interested in chatter by immediately asking me a question as she takes her first steps since getting the spear.

"So, master… What are your goals? Your touch filled my head with information, but when it came to you the available information was scarce." The doll reveals, causing me to smile as we continue our trek. Her words cause me to think even as I watch the words in the speech bubbles surrounding my companion change and shift. I study the bubbles, and note that one of them includes mentioning my full origins to her, while another simply focuses on the present and doesn't mention the past. I choose the one that focuses on the present. 

"I am a traveling scholar. I wish to explore this land and learn what secrets it holds. My ability to create dolls is both a result of my studies and one more thing for me to research." I tell my servant, mixing a new "Truth": my identity as a "Traveling Scholar" with partial truths to create a plausible enough narrative. 

My doll accepts this as a sort of fundamental truth immediately, and I vaguely sense her impression of me changing ever-so-slightly. Seeing her so happy makes me want to make her even happier so I elect to do something which will both benefit my servant and myself. 

I look at her and I will one of my powers to activate. This is done by me electing to use the power and focusing on that decision for a few moments, which prompts the power to make a text box appear in front of my companion. This makes the doll gasp in surprise, as she begins to read the curious thing before smiling and tapping a box that had appeared inside of the bigger text box. When she taps it I see a stylized window containing a picture of her appear in the middle right of my mind's eye. 

My doll has joined my party! This brings a smile to my face, and causes me to look at her with delight. I again ignore the changes to the speech bubbles and I speak freely. 

"I see that you have accepted my invite. Good, by joining my party you make it easier for both of us to work together and also allows you to more easily grow in power." I tell her, honestly. 

We swiftly continue our journey, all while I tell her why I asked her to join my party. The simple fact of the matter is that by having her join my party I give her some of the benefits I have as a… gamer. 

People invited into my party gain the benefits of assorted facets of my system. They gain access to the "HP" and "MP" systems, their own mini-maps, the ability to gain and equip titles, skills, and traits, as well as access to the same leveling and attribute systems as me and are protected from harm resulting from my attacks. The "Party System" is a powerful thing, especially since my version allows me to have up to ten people in my party, counting myself as one of them, at once.

We only have to wander for a few more minutes before I finally watch the trees begin to thin out. It takes the rabbit-doll and I a few more minutes to finally reach the edge of the forest. We step out beyond the last of the trees and find ourselves atop a small hill. It overlooks a tiny village, consisting of a little more than two dozen buildings and a roughshod wall that has four exits, one in each cardinal direction. We are still a good distance away but we are close enough to it to be just a short walk. 

I reach into my inventory and grab a copy of one of my few items, the basilisk hide I am using as a trenchcoat. I hand it to the doll and tell her to put it on, while I do a quick review of my perks. 

There is only one "jump" or setting I possess a litany of perks from. I own every perk from the item-less Generic Gamer jump. My gamer system is also fully maxed out, possessing every feature possible, but the very nature of these perks and features means that even if they start out as potently as possible I need to train them for them to truly be worth using.

Some of the features of my system are intriguing. I know, for example, that somewhere in the village is a "Safe zone" which is both a place where if I sleep there I know I'll wake up unharmed and also a place I can use as a fast travel point between my home and the village. Every settlement has one, and no matter the distance between any points I use as fast travel destinations only a single minute will pass, allowing near instant teleportation. One of my goals for today is finding the closest village's "Safe zone". 

My other settings offer me things that are more immediately helpful. I possess every Trickster perk and item from Germanic/Norse Mythology which offers me a hefty amount of power right away. With every power at my disposal I am a consummate shapeshifter, and I have the mighty "Afarkaup Avarkostir" perk, as well as potent items. 

Between "Draupnir" and "Brisingamen", three gold rings that spawn more gold rings periodically and a trio, due to "Afarkaup Avarkostir", of jewelry pieces that enhance my charisma and beauty respectively, I have immediately handy items. I mentally do an experiment, attempting to exchange one of my "Brisingamen" with the store in exchange for the "Fearsome Presence" perk from Mind Control University. It doesn't work, the system tells me that items like "Brisingamen" are "Innate items" and cannot be sold to the system, which saddens me but I can accept the loss in stride. I hand the rabbit-doll one of my three "Brisingamens", which manifest as amulets that the doll and I immediately equip. 

The miniaturized version of the "Essence of the Archmage" I possess offers me a grab bag of tiny things. Some of what it offers me cements other perks, such as "Mental Prowess I" which is a perk that enhances things like my memory, while a handful of other perks offer me new abilities such as "Trivial Applications". "Trivial Applications" is neat because it allows me to easily manifest lesser versions of powers I've honed to a fine edge, such as using fire magic to effortlessly stay warm or light a campfire.

When the rabbit-doll is dressed in the cloak and the jewelry I take a deep breath and I instruct her to start to walk towards the village. The two of us head down the hill together, and as we do I spot activity in the village below us. I watch the distant silhouettes of the village's inhabitants as a number of them go to and fro, wandering around the center of the village. As we draw closer to the village I begin to be able to faintly hear soft echoes of the words of the villagers, allowing me to appreciate the synergy of my perks as they enhance my senses to truly absurd degrees. 

I can hear fragments of conversations and smile as I make out what the villagers are talking about. Decontextualized arguments and bits of gossip begin to flow into the back of my mind, even as my companion and I find ourselves within eyeshot of a few people tasked with keeping the small village safe. 

They spot us and nod at us even as we close the distance, and the two of us nod back, before smiling at them. I can easily sense the quickening of the hearts of the men as we draw closer, due no doubt to the fact that both my companions and I are naturally aesthetically impressive and we are both equipped with beauty-enhancing items. I don't doubt that we are two of the most aesthetically pleasing people anyone here has seen in a while. The two guards are wearing white masks and dark armor, and both are equipped with spears that they lightly lean on. 

When we find ourselves in front of them and the gate they are guarding I open my mouth and sense time slow to a stop as text boxes appear and one of my system's features activates. At first the text boxes are empty, but then I sense my system orient itself with regard to what I want, and I watch as the text boxes fill with lines of dialogue of their own accord, words hand-picked by my system to help me achieve my goal. 

There are different lines of dialogue in each of the text boxes that appear in front of me. Some of them are aggressive and haughty, and my enhanced wisdom strongly urges me to avoid those options. Others are friendlier, and one even focuses on what I can offer the guards and I have a strong sense that if I pick that one I will be able to more smoothly get what I want. That option also includes an additional section the other ones don't, a section that includes naming my companion. I inward mutter a word of gratitude towards my system and begin to speak, having chosen what words to say. 

"Hello, my name is Jonathan and this," I say before gesturing to my companion. "Is Maya. We are travelers, and I very specifically am a wandering scholar. I have a range of skills and I would love to offer them to the people of this village in exchange for some food and lodging." I explain. The guards listen to my remarks and then glance at each other. I also hear "Maya", the rabbit-doll, gasp in delight when she hears her name. 

I watch the guards exchange looks, and I notice the subtle movements of their eyebrows as they expertly communicate without exchanging a single word. My enhanced senses are actually pretty neat, especially now that there are people I can use them on. One of the guards steps forward and I subtly hear Maya's muscles tense as the figure approaches, but the guard is only approaching me to more intently study me. He looks me up and down before glancing back at his companion and nodding. His companion then begins to speak.

"Hello Jonathan. My name is Oscar, and this is the village of Silverberg. Are you, by any chance, a healer?" The man asks, and I smile and nod at him. I watch what facial muscles of his I can see beneath his mask rise upward joyfully as he sees my answer. I can sense my charisma enhancing perks, and "Fame and Fortune" at work, doing things that make me more trustworthy, and affording me intuitive chances to earn some goodwill and a reputation worth having by providing me with chances to work.

I am not lying. Back on Earth I was no doctor or medic of any sort, but here I have multiple helpful perks that allow me to heal, most notably "Healer" a perk which hails from Generic Gamer and makes me an astoundingly gifted healer. Additionally, I am armed with my "Epic Wand" and I know basic, generic healing magic thanks to a feature of my system named "Magic System" which grants me access to a range of generic spells, some of which are capable of healing. 

"That's excellent! If you are an even halfway decent healer and you take a look at and treat some of the hunters the people of the village would be incredibly grateful to you." Oscar remarks, even as he turns slightly and glances at his companion. I almost leap with joy when I get a nice, hefty notification that alerts me to the activation of one of my system's features. 

[Alert: Quest Received

Quest Giver: Oscar

Quest Details: Heal the village of Silverberg's injured hunters (0/7). 

Quest Rewards: Reputation with the people of Silverberg. Extra rewards may be offered depending on how you heal the quest's targets.]

I momentarily "Pause" the world around me and I mentally interact with the notification. I accept the quest, and I watch as my map updates, showing me the general locations of seven different dots in areas still affected by the annoying fog of war effect that makes me have to explore to make my map maximally useful. 

"Hey, isn't your shift almost over?" He asks. The other guard gruffly nods, but I don't sense any ill-will there, I suppose the guard is just a grumpy fellow generally. Oscar smiles wryly, and pauses for a moment as he considers what to say next. 

"In that case, why don't you take Jonathan and Maya into the village? You can guide them to the village square and then have a local take them to the Hurt Hut." Oscar proposes. The gruff man is silent but he does nod at his companion, and Oscar turns his attention back to me with a large grin on his face. 

"Alright, Alex has agreed to guide you into the village! He's not very talkative, but he's a good man. He'll take you into the town square, and by having him with you locals should be more relaxed than they might otherwise be." Oscar tells me, even as lifts his spear and taps it against the side of the wooden gate that keeps visitors and such out of the village. The spear subtly glows and then the gate begins to slide open, seemingly of its own accord. I smile in pleasant surprise at this, and Alex turns and silently wanders past the gate. Maya and I dart after him, and I feel my mood becoming more cheerful the closer I step toward other actual humans.