Chapter 9 – Friendly Neighborhood Inventor
The lab was quiet, save for the hum of a crystal-powered magnifier and the faint scratching of charcoal on paper. Steven hunched over his workbench, surrounded by half-finished gadgets and pages filled with schematics. The smell of hot metal and ozone hung in the air the scent of trial and error.
He hadn't left this room for hours.
No, days.
The chalkboard in front of him had become something sacred. At its center, scrawled in bold white:
Project Archive – Echo Tech
A dream born from desperation and obsession. A collection of inventions from a dozen worlds, reimagined for a city powered by magic and science. Some were crude, others ambitious, all of them sketched from memory.
But there was one he kept circling. One he couldn't stop thinking about.
Arc Reactor
A clean, compact energy core. Limitless power. Could replace every unstable crystal in Piltover.
Steven exhaled sharply and crossed his arms.
"Still impossible," he muttered.
The materials were far beyond his budget. He'd need refined Hex crystals, rare alloys, advanced stabilizers — things that even council-backed researchers struggled to get. Not to mention the sheer danger of failure.
For now, it was just a dream.
So, he focused on what he could build.
...
...
His eyes drifted to the rest of the list. Items in various stages of design or testing:
Repulsion Bracer – Directional force bursts. Good for movement or defense. Still prone to recoil feedback.
Recon Visor – Multi-spectral lens array. Functional HUD overlay. Crystal efficiency needs work.
Shock Ring – Palm-triggered electric defense. Reliable at close range. Limited charges.
And the latest addition:
Webslinger Gauntlet –
Inspired by a superhero from Earth who swung between skyscrapers. The concept: a wrist-mounted grappling device that fired a rune-threaded tether. Built from spring-loaded coils, crystal anchors, and reinforced wire. Still missing one crucial part a reliable braking system.
He chuckled to himself. "Friendly neighborhood inventor," he mumbled, tightening a screw on the prototype.
It was messy, dangerous, and completely unnecessary to survival which made it perfect.
The sound of his stomach growling pulled him out of focus. He hadn't eaten since morning. Maybe yesterday morning.
But he ignored it. He had to. Piltover wasn't going to wait for him to catch up.
His mind drifted to Professor Heimerdinger. The old yordle was a living legend a beacon of knowledge and innovation. Jayce had the charisma and the hammer. Viktor had the mind and the vision. Steven? He had schematics. And scraps. And stubbornness.
That had to be enough.
By the time the candles burned low, Steven had updated the chalkboard.
Project Archive – Echo Tech
Repulsion Bracer – Field testing phase
Recon Visor – HUD adjustments pending
Shock Ring – Prototype V3 stable
Webslinger Gauntlet – Cable tension flaw
Arc Reactor – On hold until funding secured
Modular Gloves – Concept stage
HUD Integration Lenses – Vision lag detected
He stepped back and looked over the list.
No arc reactor. No miracle energy core. Not yet.
But it was a start.
And if the people of Piltover wouldn't give him power, then he'd build his own — one blueprint at a time.