A few days had passed since Lightforge had shared an unexpected heart to heart with Circe. At this point he truly had no clue what to think of her. All he was sure of was that she had been helping him and that she was right about this world gaining a bit of gray now that people were stuck inside. He still didn’t know what that meant for him and his shop, but it was something to keep in mind.
In the meantime, he’d been spending time delving into the depths of the status screens that were available to him. It was bothering him how they kept gaining more information seemingly at random. Except that Circe had implied it wasn’t random. It happened when you expected to see more information.
He was sitting in his store, the pile of now repaired items sitting on his workbench waiting for Circe to pick them up. He was going through each ability and item that he had, looking for more information than had been presented to him the first time around. So far the most interesting thing he’d discovered had come when he’d looked for information about how to improve his abilities.
Ability: Light Dagger
* Summon simple daggers made of light.
* Current Maximum: 2
* Can be used in close combat or thrown.
* Daggers have either piercing or explosive damage
* Damage type selection is random unless imposed during conjuration
* The weapon’s power scales with Strength.
* The weapon’s durability scales with Aura.
* Ability will upgrade at level 7
Just like that, plain as day. He’d gone looking for more information, and now he had it. Now that he thought about it, it was sort of like the various menus in video games. It was pretty common to have both a basic and a detailed view available in the menu. Apparently that rule still applied here, but it didn’t advertise the existence of the more detailed descriptions.
It was interesting information, and he needed to do more research to see what else he could find out about the things around him. He opened his inventory to continue the process, but he simply couldn’t bring his fingers to go through the motions. He had to face facts.
He was bored. It had been more than a week since he’d been in a fight, and he spent all his time sitting inside his shop waiting for customers to wander in. Smashing the tv wasn’t interesting anymore, and there was only so long that he could stand to stare at descriptions and thinking about different things that could be hidden there.
One more level. With just one more level he’d have access to the crafting system and be able to fill his days with experimenting and trying to invent new things. Until then, he was starting to consider throwing himself off the roof just to test the fall damage scaling of the world. The store was only a single story, so it almost certainly wouldn’t kill him.
He had nearly talked himself into making the attempt when the front door rang as it opened. Shaken from his thoughts, he pasted on his fake smile and looked up. The grin quickly became genuine as he recognized the red and white fatigues and the bazooka casually slung over one shoulder.
“Cannoneer!” he said, “Good to see you. What took you so long to visit?”
The hero smiled right back and said, “Sorry about that. I was in the middle of a plan I cooked up with a few other heroes. Couldn’t get away until now.”
“A plan? What kind?”
“We lured out a gang of villains and wiped them out. But they put up one hell of a fight.”
He pulled his weapon from over his shoulder and held it out towards Lightforge. It was still in one piece, but that was the best that could be said about it. The barrel was warped and bent in several places, and there were cuts and gouges running all along the length. Lightforge let out a low whistle.
“What were you fighting? A living blender?”
“Not too far off, actually. Speedster with knives. Can you fix it?”
“You keep me waiting for two weeks and only show up when you need something? And here I thought we were friends.”
“We are. I just happen to be busy these days. This was the first reasonable excuse I’ve had to come by.”
“I guess that’s fair. Hand it over, let’s see how bad it is.”
Cannoneer walked over to the workbench and gingerly set his weapon down. Lightforge noted the display. This was a man who’d called the weapon a piece of crap not so long ago. It seemed that the Weapon Specialist mindset was settling in at last. He took a quick look at the weapon.
Name: Stovepipe Rocket Launcher
Type: Projectile Weapon
Level: 5
Quality: Common
Base Power: 30
State: Severely Damaged
A simple rocket launcher lauded for its dependability and power.
Ammunition Types:
* Explosive
* Incendiary
* Shockwave
Repair: Yes/No
Tune-Up: Not available
Upgrade? Not available
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Severely damaged? That was new. Apparently it was in an even worse state than it looked. Maybe that meant that he would get extra experience for fixing it? That would be nice. He got to work, activating Repair and creating the tools that he would need. He nearly dismissed the confirmation window without looking at it, as he’d seen it dozens of times over the past weeks. But something on it caught his eye.
Repair
Item is above your level, reduced odds of success
Due to this item’s poor condition, it will be more difficult to repair. Reduced odds of success.
Chance of Success: 70%
If repairs fail, this item will be destroyed.
Proceed? Yes/No
He swallowed hard; this had better give him extra experience with stakes like that. With a slight sigh he confirmed the choice and got to work. This was going to require his utmost attention.
One of the idiosyncrasies of this world was that there was a lot more skill involved than there had been when this was a game. Before, abilities like Repair would have happened on their own. A lot of attacks were the same way; once you hit the right buttons, the game carried out the rest on its own.
That wasn’t the case anymore. As he’d learned from his multiple near death experiences, fighting just wasn’t that simple anymore. While he was constantly upgrading his base physical attributes, that didn’t give him any additional skill when it came to actually using his physique. That part he had to figure out on his own.
The same was true of skills like Repair. The system gave him the knowledge of what needed to be done and let him instinctively know what tools would be needed for the job. But there was no automated animation that would fulfill the task for him. He was on his own. It had let him intentionally fail against the robot spiders, which had led to his Sabotage ability. But he was also realizing that it applied in reverse as well.
With enough dedication to focus on his craft, he could improve the success rate of his Gadgeteer abilities. So while the system gave him 70% odds, that number would fluctuate based on how well he performed the repair tasks that the system poured into his mind.
The process was grueling, but satisfying at the same time. Slowly but surely the bent sections of the weapon were straightened out, the scratches filled and welded. Circuitry was repaired and mechanisms replaced. Idly, Lightforge wondered if a real life bazooka was more or less complicated than the in-game counterpart he was working on. He had no idea, and he would probably never know.
At last, the last section was fully repaired and reassembled. The tools around him vanished into motes of light and he realized that there was a thin sheen of sweat forming on his brow. That was new. Apparently he’d underestimated what it meant to work on such a badly damaged item.
He handed the weapon back to Cannoneer, who took it gratefully but didn’t take his eyes off of Lightforge.
“Are you ok?” Cannoneer asked, “You look like you just ran a marathon.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just the first time I’ve worked on something so beaten up.”
“Was it really that bad? I know it looked rough, but I figured it was mostly aesthetic.”
“Apparently not. If I’d failed, your weapon would have become a pile of scrap.”
“Woah. Feels like you should have mentioned that before you started.”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Uh huh. What even happens if my weapon gets destroyed? It’s kind of central to my abilities.”
“There would be a new one waiting for you in your base. It would be a level or two lower than the old one, but otherwise identical.”
“I can see how that wouldn’t be a big deal in the game, but that would be a brutal penalty for us here. I guess I really owe you this time.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re helping me level up, remember? That’s all the thanks I need.”
“All the same, just let me know if you ever need anything. I’ll be there.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that. Are you still busy, or do you have time to hang out for a bit?”
“Well, I was planning to go help with the cleanup, but I can leave that to the others. Do you have something particular in mind?”
“Not really. I’m just bored from sitting here by myself all the time. Seems like a waste.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts. Word is getting around about this place. Before too long I bet you’ll have more work than you can handle.”
“I hope so. I’ve only gotten one level since opening this place up.”
“Really? How much did you get from fixing this thing?”
“I don’t know. Let me check.”
He’d been ignoring the system message, but now he pulled it up to see what he’d gained.
You have successfully repaired a Severely Damaged Item
XP Gained: 25
You have reached level 5!
Free Points: 4
New Abilities Available
“Huh,” he said, “Would you look at that? Fixing that actually just put me over the edge to level 5. I guess I’ve gotten two levels from this shop now.”
“Nice. Before long you’re going to pass me. I’m only level 7.”
“Two weeks ago you were level 5 after two months.”
“Yeah, but then some really nice guy added a taser mode to my weapon. I stopped getting so many collateral damage penalties.”
Lightforge was going to respond, but was cut off when a buzzing sensation began rattling his head. It felt like someone had put a cell phone on vibrate and jammed it into his brain. It didn’t quite hurt, but he definitely couldn’t ignore it. Just as he began to wonder what was going on, the system message appeared.
Congratulations!
You have unlocked missions specific to your power sets.
New Mission Available!
Name: Mechanical Neutrality
Prerequisites: Gadgeteer Power Set, Level 5, Neutral Alignment
Reward: 80 XP, Component Scanner, 120 Hero Bux
Mission:
There are rumors of an abandoned lab hidden somewhere in Chancery Hills. Its technology is ripe for the taking, if you can survive the security measures that drove out the original owners.
Objectives:
* Assemble a team consisting of players from all alignments (Hero, Neutral, Villain)
* Find the hidden lab
* Defeat the security systems to reach the vault
Time Limit: None
Lightforge just stared at the words in front of him, completely slack jawed. His mind was going into overdrive trying to process the words, but it wasn’t working. It was all he could manage to turn towards Cannoneer, still wide eyed and gawking.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Lightforge said, “But I just got a mission.”
“What?! How?”
“It says it’s for Gadgeteers. Maybe I’m the first in this area?”
“Perhaps. I know I haven’t met any others so far. Is it a solo mission, or is there room for me to tag along?”
“Not only is there room, it actually requires a team. But I’m not so sure that you’ll be so happy when you hear the rest of the conditions.”
Lightforge explained the details, and he was right. Cannoneer didn’t like it. For his part, Lightforge wasn’t as bothered as he’d expected to be. After the talk that he’d had with Circe, he found that he was a lot more comfortable with the idea of truly working together with her. And this would be the perfect chance to test that idea out.