Playing with Dolls

The angry doll standing near the doorway raised its plushy hand and pointed at Pro. Then it charged at Pro as fast as its little legs could move it. The war machine was turned on and the army of dolls hopped up from all around the room before toddling over towards Pro.

Watching the cute dolls piling towards him like ants finding food, Pro felt a bit cold inside, but he could also hear the sound of points flowing into his pockets. Out of instinct, Pro smashed the doll that approached him with his claws and watched the foam inside the doll spew out as it was destroyed. However, the diced up doll still tried to crawl towards Pro with its remaining intact body parts. Pro simply gave it a cruel stomp to snuff out its life.

"Hmm, although there are so many, each one doesn't seem that strong? Perhaps only at the level of low-level lingering spirit? There should be no problem for me to play with dolls like this all day," Pro muttered to himself as he smashed another incoming doll easily.

Nevertheless, the number of dolls was still vast like a river. The bedroom and bathroom doors also creaked open as dolls marched out for war. Firing a small grappling hook made from yarn and a toothbrush, some dolls climbed up to the shelves by the doorway. They then tied a small armband around their head before they launched themselves off the shelf and pounced at Pro's face.

Swish! Pro swung his claws non-stop without even breaking a sweat as he diced up the cute plushy dolls. Foam turned the ground into a snowy field as buttons decorated it like rocks. Seeing their compatriots laying dead, bloody tears rolled down from some of the doll's button eyes. Seeing this, it really made Pro feel like a bad guy.

A small platoon of dolls swiftly skipped out from the kitchen as they held tiny wooden bows in their hand. Like elites in a forest, they spread out and hid behind the layers of buttons in the foam. Then, they played guerilla warfare with Pro as they fired tooth picks at Pro. Alas, it had no effect, but the group of dolls still continued to fire away while watching their compatriots get destroyed with sad faces.

When Pro destroyed a fourth of the dolls, a platoon of dolls marched out of the bedroom as they set up what seemed to be a catapult. Then, Pro watched marbles getting launched at him from those catapults.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Pro just let the marble hit his body and he didn't even feel a thing as they bounced off. He glanced back with pity at the dolls who manned the catapults. Seeing their catapults having to effect, this small platoon of dropped to their knees in despair. Some even hugged each other while staring at Pro with their pitiful, cute button eyes.

"Hehehe~" a little girl's giggle echoed in the room as the bedroom door creaked open fully.

The war came to a standstill as a valiant little doll walked out and stood at the center of the bedroom doorway. She held a little plastic toy sword in her hands and wore some plastic armor. A cute little golden crown sat on top of her brown hair. She stared at her devastated citizens before cutely glaring at Pro with her button eyes while point her sword at him.

However, Pro chuckled as he only found the little doll to be cute and harmless. Even so, Pro felt that her ability was pretty interesting as she could have an army of lingering spirits under her command.

Watching the army of dolls all kneeling and bowing their heads to the princess warrior doll, Pro had the idea of bringing this doll back and subduing it as a toy for Alice. Blinking his eyes, Pro then watched the doll glanced around at her citizens with blood tears leaking from her button eyes. Then, her bloody mouth became flat as she thrust her sword into the air.

Oom! Pro felt the air in apartment 334 vibrate as the yin qi began to gather on the princess warrior doll's body! Pro then watched in shock as all the remaining dolls in the room limply fell to the ground with smiles on their faces, returning back to being normal, lifeless dolls.

On the other hand, Pro felt the growing power of the princess warrior doll. Along with its equipment, the little doll actually grew into a meter tall doll from its original size of 0.25 meters!

"Not so little anymore ey?" Pro mocked as he calmly sharpened his claws.

The princess warrior doll pointed its sword at Pro as it glared angrily at him with a bloody frown.

"Hehehe~" the little girl's creepy laugh echoed in the room once more as the doll ran towards Pro.

When the doll approached Pro, it actually waved its sword and sent a wave of black mist flying towards Pro's head! Pro widened his eyes in shock as he barely managed to dodge full hit by tilting his head, but a tiny cut still appeared on his face.

The doll did not stop there as she launched herself forward intending to cut off Pro's leg with her sword. Pro frowned a bit before he retreated to dodge the attack while firing yin needles at the doll.

"Who said I would fight you head on?" Pro muttered as he shamelessly kited the poor door from afar. The doll chased after Pro on its short, plushy legs, but it wasn't able to watch Pro no matter how hard she tried. Her sword's black mist attacks were also thrown in vain after Pro became vigilant of them.

After a arduous wild goose chase, the warrior princess doll had already lost a plushy hand and one of her leg was almost chopped off. She now had to use her plastic sword as a cane to help her stand.

Pro calmly walked in front of the cute warrior princess and squatted down in front of it. The princess swiped her sword as a last struggle, but Pro easily knocked the sword flying away with his claws. The doll could only helplessly fall to the ground as she stared up at Pro with blood tears leaking from her eyes.

Blinking his eyes, Pro then gently spoke to the cute little doll, "Well, I have a proposal for you. I think you would make a good toy for my wife. So, I plan to take you back. How does that sound?"

The doll's response was an angry frown as she reached out her remaining plushy hand to touch Pro. The doll then began to shrink back to its normal size as an intangible force burrowed into Pro's body.

Feeling the doll's touch, Pro actually felt dizzy for a bit as if something was trying to take control of his soul.

[Warning! External force attempting to control host's spirit ...]

[Host's spirit is stronger than external force by more than one rank. Control failed.]

However, Pro recovered not long after as he stared down at the doll who blankly stared back in despair.

"Well, good try, but the level gap isn't something a little low-level baleful spirit like you can cover," Pro stated with a grin as ignored the little plushy doll's struggle and picked it up.

Pro was actually somewhat shocked inside as that was the first time he encountered another spirit that can domesticate other spirits! It seems that the subordination power from his domain is not exclusive to him. Pro now had more worries regarding those powerful blood spirits that could rule over the upper floors.

Collecting the doll's missing hand and sword, Pro stepped into apartment 334 to make sure that the doll itself was the possession object. Sensing no yin qi from the dolls on the ground or elsewhere in the apartment, Pro felt the as if he has lost big time, but at least he found another spirit with a lot of potential.

What he needs in his domain isn't powerful spirits or those with weird abilities. He needs spirits that are compatible with his powers or ones that could help serve as distraction and bait during battles. The doll army can really fulfill this purpose, and Pro believes that he won't have to spend points to recover his spirits so often. As for Alice, she was just a special case.

Returning to his domain with the doll that was now sadly laying in his hand in despair, Pro received the notification that he expected.

[The invader is determined to be a low-level baleful spirit. The invader's level is an entire rank below the host and can be incorporated into host's domain. Does the host want to consume 250 life points to enslave the low-level baleful spirit?]

"Yes."

[250 life points have been consumed. Enslaving the invader, low-level baleful spirit ...]

[Ding~ Enslavement success. Host gains a subordinate, low-level baleful Warrior Princess Doll.]

[Name] Warrior Princess Doll

[Gender] Female

[Level] Low-level Baleful Spirit

[Description] A resentful spirit summoned from the depths of the underworld! She was once a little girl who loves doll, but her cruel fate turned her into a doll. The expansion of her doll kingdom attracted the attention of the government and she was banished to the underworld. She was fortunate to survive the cruel underworld and was even luckier to be summoned back!

The spirit is bound to a plushy doll and can recover as long as the plushy doll is not completely destroyed. The plushy doll is now bound to the host's domain and host can consume life points to regenerate the plushy doll if it is destroyed.

[Abilities]

Doll Conversion, In Dolls We Trust, Doll Army

Pro watched the doll stiffen in his hands while it was enslaved. It wasn't long before the doll turned obedient and showed a friendly smile towards Pro.

[Ding! Warrior Princess Spirit's possession object is damaged. Does host want to consume 40 life points to repair the spirit?]

"Sure."

Pro then watched the detached plushy arm reattach itself back onto the doll. Its detaching leg also sewed itself back into place and the holes in its body recovered as the foam was sucked back in.

[20 life points consumed. Warrior Princess Spirit's possession object repaired.]

Pro smiled at the little doll who was now rubbing its face intimately against Pro's hand to thank him for the treatment.

Pro then checked its abilities.

[Doll Conversion] By touching the physical or spirit body of a living target with a soul power that is one rank or more below itself, the warrior princess doll can extract the target's spirit and convert it into a physical doll with life. The converted doll will be loyal to the warrior princess doll.

[In Dolls We Trust] The warrior princess doll can absorb all the spirit and yin qi of the dolls under its control in order to give itself a temporary buff in power. The buff strength depends on the number of spirits sacrificed.

[Doll Army] The warrior princess doll can grow stronger as it accumulates more dolls under its control.

"Oh? Not bad, these abilities are fairly interesting. With this, I can convert weak invaders into an army that I can use for distraction against stronger enemies!" Pro commented as his mind began to come up with ideas of how to apply the ability with less risks.

"M-Master ...?" Alice's worried voice came from beside Pro as she poked her head through the wall of apartment 448.

Pro glanced over and saw Alice staring with watery eyes at the doll that was rubbing his hands. Knowing what she was thinking, Pro chuckled as he commanded, "Alice, come out. Meet your new friend. She will be your toy in the future."

Alice blinked her eyes a bit before her eyes lit up. She skipped through the wall and happily shuffled up to Pro while glancing at the little doll with curious eyes, "A gift from master for Alice?"

The doll blankly stared back at Alice as it played dead.

Pro chuckled in mirth as he placed the doll onto the ground, "Alice, don't scare it. I think it's a bit shy."

Leaving the warmth of its master's hands, the doll sat up in fright as it bumbled behind Pro's legs and hid behind it. Peeking its head out, it shyly glanced up at Alice who squatted down to observe her.

"Don't be shy, go on. Alice will take care of you in the future," Pro persuaded as he bent down a little to give the little doll's back a nudge with his finger.

Alice smiled kindly at the doll as she gently laid her hand on the ground in front of the doll.

The doll glanced at the hand and hesitantly walked up on it. Alice smiled happily as her eyes sparkled. She gently lifted the doll up and gave it a soft hug, "Oh my goodness, you are sooo cute! Even more cute than Toi Toi! You will be Alice's best friend from now on! Alice shall name you ... Ali!"

A faint blush seemed to appear on the doll's small face as it struggled around in Alice's hand. Alice giggled and gently patted the doll on the head. She then skipped to Pro's side and pecked him on the cheek, "Thank you master! Alice love's master's gift!"

Pro smiled as he gently replied, "As long as you like it Alice. Teach her the rules and remember to treat her well. She will be useful against our enemies in the future."

Alice nodded as she happily brought the doll away to show it around. After watching Alice leave, Pro went to recover his energy. Then, he set off for the third floor once again.

"I hope the last room doesn't disappoint," Pro muttered with a hint of caution.

Unfortunately, it was truly a disappointment! After a tedious cautious entry into apartment 335, Pro only discovered three lingering spirits there. His speculation was wrong. There was only three baleful spirits on the third floor.

Pro sighed in disappointment as he harvested the three spirits and recovered 60 of the 290 points he spent on the warrior princess doll, leaving his points total at 1740. After recovering fully, Pro then decided it's time to send an expedition to the second floor!

"The second floor shouldn't be disappointing as well would it?"

With a soft mutter, Pro silently raced down the stairway. Time is ticking and a second shouldn't be wasted or he might end up on the floor one day.