It had been about two and a half weeks since Lightforge had been dropped into this world of heroes and villains. After a few days of complete insanity he'd settled into his new shop to try and level up the slow and safe way. It had paid off.

Name: Lightforge

Alignment: Neutral

Level: 4

Power Set 1: Hard Light Construct

Power Set 2: Gadgeteer

Stats:

Health Points (HP): 547/547

Ability Points (AP): 330/330

Strength: 16

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 16

Aura: 18

Slowly but surely customers had started to trickle in as news spread about his offer: no cash required, he only wanted the XP. He'd heard enough chatter from other people to know that many still didn't trust him; they were waiting for him to explode onto the combat scene and steal all the experience out there.

Those people would continue to be disappointed. He had no interest in fighting over a couple of crooks a day. Maybe when some newbies showed up he might participate, but no one would mind in that chaos.

Instead he was currently passing the time the same way that he always did these days. He had brought the tv from his base and had it sitting on the workbench in front of him. One of its nonsense programs was running, but he wasn't paying much attention to it. With a thought he conjured his glowing war hammer into his hand. It settled perfectly into his hand, heavy head on one side and a nasty spike on the other.

Casually, he spun the weapon until the spike was facing forward and drove it straight into the tv. Sparks flew as the weapon easily stuck into the screen and shattered it. With a twist the spike became tangled in the inner workings of the tv and allowed him to lift it together with the hammer.

With an utterly bored expression, he smashed the tv against the concrete floor of his shop. He swung over and over again until there wasn't enough left of the thing for his hammer to hold onto. Bits of electronics, plastic, metal, and glass were scattered around the store.

He yawned as he activated his Repair skill. Hard light tools appeared around him, mostly brooms and dustpans. They began sweeping the debris together and shoveling it toward him. This part didn't require any active effort; the tools would gather all the bits and pieces for him given enough time.

Weapons and other equipment fundamentally had three states: normal, damaged, and destroyed. Normal was self-explanatory, damaged meant he could repair it, and destroyed meant that it was only good for parts. But it turned out that this limitation only applied to items meant for players to use. Items that were meant to be part of the environment like the tv could be repaired no matter how destroyed they became.

While it had started as a legitimate experiment, the exercise had quickly become an interesting way to pass the time. How many tiny pieces could he smash the tv into before he couldn't repair it anymore? So far he hadn't managed it, and he was running out of ideas on how to destroy the thing. Getting the pieces much smaller would involve intentionally breaking each already-small piece. That was more work than he was willing to put into this particular project.

The process of repairing the tv had also been interesting at the beginning. Repairing player equipment was fairly realistic; replacing damaged components, working around damaged circuits, things like that. Environmental items didn't require as much thought. Pieces that went together attracted one another and eventually snapped together like magnets. Given enough time, this attraction would actually repair the items all on its own. This was how the city stayed in one piece amid the super powered brawls.

Unfortunately, that convenience came with a price: he didn't gain experience from repairing this type of item. That had been the initial idea when he'd smashed the tv for the first time. The utter failure to provide any sort of reward had been the largest contributor to his waning interest in the project. But it was still a way to pass the time.

As he watched the smaller fragments begin to reassemble themselves, a bell rang from the front door. He put on his best smile and said, "Hello, and welcome to the Gadget Forge! How can I help you?"

He was proud of that name. It felt right. The smile slipped when he realized that he recognized the hero who had just walked in through the front door. Dressed in sky blue and forest green, it was Windshot, the archer who'd blown up at him for "trying to kill-steal." It took more than a little effort on Lightforge's part not to sneer at the man. After all, he was apparently a customer now.

He kept the smile plastered to his face and watched as Windshot took a look around the store. There wasn't much to look at; the only things for sale were Lightforge's services. He kept all his components in his inventory for the sake of both security and convenience. It was faint, but it looked like the archer might actually be a bit embarrassed. It would make sense; they didn't exactly meet under ideal conditions last time.

Finally, Windshot said, "So I heard you can upgrade weapons. Is that right?"

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"Yeah. Just like I told you the first time we met."

"Right… About that. I should have phrased things differently, but I stand by the sentiment. I don't need to be helping rivals out there."

"I get it. Things are stressful around here."

"That's one word for it. [BLEEPING] insane is another way."

"Fair enough. Now I assume you'd like me to upgrade your bow?"

"Yeah, if you could."

"Hand it over and I'll see what I can do."

Name: Longbow

Type: Projectile Weapon

Level: 3

Quality: Common

Base Power: 14

Projectile Speed: 8

A simple bow. Its limitations are set by the skill and abilities of its wielder.

Repair: Not Available

Tune-Up: Y/N

Upgrade: Y/N

It was surprisingly powerful for what it was, which was balanced out by the low speed. From what Lightforge could remember, speed had been the archer's greatest complaint. With that in mind he opened the upgrade screen.

Upgrade

Multiple Upgrades Available

* Impact Shot

* Add explosive force to arrows, causing enemies to be pushed back on impact.

* Swift Shot

* Increase projectile speed by 20%

* Increase projectile range by 5%

* Wind Guide

* Take advantage of the wind to increase both speed and power of projectiles

* Increases limited by current weather conditions

Leveling up was truly incredible. Ever since reaching level 4 his Upgrade ability had started giving him options for what path to take a piece of equipment on. He knew which one looked best on paper, but it wasn't his weapon that he was working on. He read out the options to Windshot. The other hero's eyes lit up when he heard about Wind Guide.

"That one," he said, "it's perfect."

"Well, that was quick. I'm guessing that Wind Manipulation is your second power set?"

"Exactly. I'll always be able to get the most out of that ability."

"Before you get too excited, let me check what the material requirements are."

Lightforge touched the third option on the list, bringing up more details.

Wind Guide Upgrade Requirements

* 3x Minor Crystal Shard – Wind

* 2x Minor Crystal Shard – Force

Result:

* Apply Pending Weapon experience

* Weapon gains ability "Wind Guide" (passive)

Note: The effectiveness and upgrade cost of this ability will scale with the user's level.

Huh, that was new. Apparently it paid off to lock in your more powerful upgrades early. That was something that Lightforge would have to keep in mind once he started charging for these things. And at the thought of price, he made a snap decision.

"Alright, I need minor crystal shards. Three each of wind and force. Do you have that?"

Windshot started inspecting his inventory without a word. Shards were the magical equivalent to the gears that Lightforge had used to upgrade Cannoneer's bazooka. A bow didn't have a place for mechanical parts, so the game included magical crystals that served an identical purpose.

With a touch of concern, Windshot looked up and said, "I don't have that many. I have three wind and two force. You can make that work, right?"

"Hang on a sec."

Lightforge took a moment and pretended to study his inventory. It was interesting that he'd only been presented with options that the hero could afford. And while he wasn't going to make a habit of cheating his customers, he wouldn't lose any sleep about adding a minor payback tax.

"I've got an extra one here. How about we say you add 20 Bux on top and we'll call it even?"

Windshot nodded excitedly and passed over the money and the shards from his inventory. Lightforge felt a brief pang of guilt over the trick, but he reassured himself that this was a one-time event. A minor and ultimately harmless bit of revenge against someone who'd treated him poorly. He could let himself slide this one time.

Items in hand, he activated his Upgrade ability. He wasn't sure how it would work on a magical item rather than a mechanical one, but he knew that it would. After a moment, the knowledge of what to do filled his mind and the tools he needed appeared in his hands.

It was actually pretty simple. Sharp, glowing tools carved space into the wooden bow in the shape of the shards. He knew that the placement was important, but he didn't know why. That wasn't directly relevant to the task in front of him, so the ability didn't provide it.

Once the shards were all in place, the bow began to glow and floated a few inches into the air. In a rush of energy it flashed and changed. Instead of plain wood, it held a faint green hue and the shape had become a little more complex. It was the same bow, just better than it was before.

Name: Wind Guide Longbow

Type: Projectile Weapon

Level: 3

Quality: Common

Base Power: 16

Projectile Speed: 10

A simple bow imbued with the power of the wind. Its limitations are set by the skill and abilities of its wielder. Power and speed will be heightened based on the wind near the user, up to a maximum of 10% increase.

Repair: Not Available

Tune-Up: Not Available

Upgrade: Not Available

He handed the weapon back to Windshot and couldn't help but grin as the hero's face lit up at the new description. He threw a thank you over his shoulder as he all but sprinted from the shop.

Lightforge watched him go; it was a common response to his services. People were excited to get out and start experimenting with their new equipment and abilities. He didn't hold it against them; he would have acted the same way if their positions had been reversed.

His plan was to go back to fixing the tv again, but his attention was once again called away. This time it came from a knock on the back door that echoed from the office that he hadn't found a use for so far. In moments, hammer and shield formed in his hands.

This building didn't have a back door. Or at least it wasn't supposed to. It had been one of the reasons he'd picked it. Sneaking up behind him would involve breaking through the cinderblock wall separating the shops from the storage units next door.

He walked to the back of the store and, sure enough, there was now a heavy metal door set into the back wall. It was surrounded by uneven, broken stone where the cinder blocks had been cleared away to make room for it. And now someone was knocking on it from the other side. Probably a good sign since they weren't just breaking through. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out.