Upgrades people! Upgrades!

Asuki waved as she and Motoyasu parted ways before heading off in the direction of Erhard's shop, which she knew thanks to one of the Spear Hero's party members.

She had several reasons for heading there.

1: The mass amount of shields she can Weapon Copy, allowing her to quickly power up.
2: She could likely buy various materials from him, giving her even more Weapon Forms!
3: She wanted to build a good relationship with him and establish an eligible place to sell things before she inevitably got framed for a crime she didn't commit.

...She also just realised she could've probably gotten away with absorbing some cutlery into her Shield for more Weapon Forms... Fucking hindsight.

Sighing, she made her way across the kingdom/city/capital/whatever the fuck it was, and made her way to Erhard's shop.

On the way, she cut through as many back alleys as possible, both to save time and to try to get someone to try to rob her so she can rob them.

...She likes the Uno Reverse Technique ok?

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. But in the meantime she did use [Energy Boost] and [Mastery Energy] to upgrade her [Silver Coin Shield]!

[Energised Silver Coin Shield(Awakened)] (R) (0/40)
Mastery Energy - 0/30

Equip Bonuses(Unlocked)
[+60 SP] [+10 EP] [+50 DEF] [+15 MAG] [+30 M. DEF] [Item Drop Chance Up(Major)] [Silver Coin Drop]

Oh, and she also discovered she could use [Energy Boost] to "Energise" her Weapon Forms, giving an overall increase in power. Useful, especially since it allowed her to Energise the [Glass Shield] for even more ATK!

Well, it only gave her an extra +1 to ATK and +3 to M. ATK, but every point counts!

She was also amazed at how only a few Strengthening Methods(Sharing, Rarity Power, Mastery Energy, Energy Boost) could power up a single Weapon Form so much! Just imagine how powerful it would be if she could use the other Strengthening Methods to empower it!

Actually, she technically could if she used [Status Enhancement], [Item Enchantment], or [Job Level], but she didn't want to waste energy on a Shield she probably wasn't going to wield. Hell, the only reason she upgraded it in the first place was to increase the Item Drop Chance while getting some more free stats!

But anyways, she saw Erhard's shop sign, so it was time to say hello to everyone's favourite blacksmith.

Pushing open the door, she heard a bell jingle above her head, catching the attention of a bored-looking blacksmith who was behind his shop's counter.

"Oh, hey! Welcome to my shop!" He said, standing up to his full height and HOLY SHIT HE WAS TALL!!!

Fortunately, Asuki had experience with tall people thanks to her brother. And so, she clapped her hands together, pointed them at Erhard, and said the following.

"My first impression, muscles." She said, looking at the blacksmith's built physique.

This blunt statement caused the man to laugh before eventually calming down.

"Thank kid, I needed that today." He said, leaning down to rest his elbows on the counter.

"Slow day today?" Asuki asked as she approached, looking around and taking note of a few shields she could Weapon Copy into her arsenal.

"Unfortunately. But not every day is going to be a busy one, so what can ya do?" He replied with a shrug.

"I've come to make your not-busy day a bit more busy! So, you got any weapons that have high ATK stats? And the ATK stat is all that matters since I've got a pretty low ATK score." She said, observing a glowing axe resting in a nearby rack.

It had nearly +200 ATK! It would undoubtedly be expensive, but she had 300 Silver Coins to work with here, she could(Probably) afford it.

"High ATK power huh? Well, it depends on your budget." Erhard replied, looking her up and down and likely taking note of her lack of a money bag.

"Hmm... I probably won't need anything too good until later, so lets say about 30-40 Silver." Asuki said, wanting to get a general baseline of how much these things cost.

"Got it, be back in a moment." The blacksmith said before wandering to the back of his store, probably to grab some of his spare merchandise for Asuki to pick and choose from.

Meanwhile Asuki politely waited at the counter, not even touching the shields on display.

Now, you may be wondering why Asuki was trying to get a weapon when the Shield restricted the use of other weaponry. But see, since the Shield had Asuki's fanon Strengthening Method, she thought that maybe it would also follow along with her version of the Legendary Weapons, which didn't have the Weapon Restriction rule.

It might not work, but you never know until you try.

After waiting a few moments, Erhard with a few swords. What they were didn't matter.

"Here you go, take your pick." He said, setting them on the counter.

"Thank you." She replied, going to pick up one of them. However as soon as her hand touched it, she received a small electric shock and a pop-up about the Weapon Restriction Rule. "Ouch." She said sarcastically.

"What the? I swore that one wasn't enchanted." Erhard said in surprise, picking up the sword to inspect it.

"That's because it wasn't, but rather my Weapon Restriction." Asuki explained, leaning on the counter.

"Your what?" Erhard asked in confusion.

"Oh, right. Allow me to introduce myself." She said, holding up her Shield before shifting it back into it's [Small Shield] Weapon Form. "I'm Asuki Hatashi, the current Shield Hero." She introduced herself, causing the blacksmith's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Really? From what I heard all of the past Heroes were male." Erhard explained while examining the Shield before she switched it into the [Dragon Hourglass Shield] form to start unlocking it, as the [Blanket Shield] unlocked during her search for Erhard's shop.

"Yeah, the Legendary Weapons thought they were being a bit too misogynistic, so I was summoned to help start balancing it out a bit." Asuki joked with a smile, admiring the appearance [Dragon Hourglass Shield], which was really beautiful in an ornate way.

"Ok... But that still doesn't explain what you mean by Weapon Restriction." Erhard stated.

"Long story short, the Legendary Weapons are kinda possessive of their wielders, so we're limited in wielding only them." Asuki explained with ease, having confirmed that this timeline was a mixture of canon and her fanon version of Shield Hero.

Annoying, since she didn't know which parts would be canon or fanon, but she can work with it.

"Hmm... I see. What about armour? How does that work?"

"Oh, armour's fine. It's just weapons that are affected." Asuki replied, watching the Unlock Timer slowly tick down while reminding herself to set up Portal Markers at key locations.

"Huh, guessing you'll be wanting some armour instead then." Erhard said, leaning down and resting his elbows on the counter.

"Nah, I have so much DEF right now that it'd be completely redundant." Asuki said, thinking for a moment before continuing. "Instead, I'm looking for materials, particularly rope, pipes, a whetstone, and tools. Though if you have anything else..." She trailed off.

"Uh... I can understand the rope, whetstone, and tools, but why pipes?" Erhard tilted his head in confusion.

"Long story short, Heroes like myself can absorb various materials into our Weapons to gain new Weapon Forms. Not only do said Weapon Forms grant various stat bonuses, proficiency boosts, and resistances, but they occasionally also give their Hero a Skill, which is basically magic only a Hero can do, and the [Pipe Shield] has a particularly useful one." Asuki explained patiently.

"I see. It sounds like that Shield of yours is much more versatile than it appears." At that, Asuki laughed.

"Oh my dear blacksmith, you don't know the half of it." She said cheekily. "So, about those materials..."

"I've got some stuff I'm not using in the back, but some of it will cost ya." He said standing back up.

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of coins to spend." Asuki replied with a smirk.

After a few minutes, lots of back and forth gathering on Erhard's part, and a bit of negotiation on Asuki's, the Shield Maiden had acquired a vast bounty that had more worth than what she paid for it.

[Copper Coin Shield] [Pickaxe Shield] [Axe Shield] [Shovel Shield] [Whetstone Shield] [Flint Shield] [Rope Shield] [Pipe Shield] [Nail Shield] [Sleeping Bag Shield] [Tent Shield] [Map Shield] [Game Shield] [Phone Shield]

All of this at the low low price of 4 silver, 40 copper, some of Erhard's kind generosity, and absorbing the leftover copper and her phone into the Shield, because she remembered she could do that.

Also, she was essentially immortal for the time being due to how much sheer DEF and M. DEF the [Game Shield] and [Phone Shield] alone gave her! Seriously! It was a ridiculous amount!

Then again, considering her phone and probably most games don't exist here, it might be the Bow's [Rarity Power] having a field day due to how rare they are in this world.

Speaking of Strengthening Methods, she decided to get started on the Claw's [Skill Mastery] with her first use of her new Skill.

Feeling a bit giddy, she threw her hand forward and called forth her new ability.

"[Airstrike Shield]!"

As soon as the Skill was said, a floating green shield appeared in the room, emblazoned with a majestic emblem.

Asuki stood there, entranced by the magnificent shield apparition, until Erhard reminded her she had company.

"Well damn, didn't think I'd ever see something like this." The kind blacksmith said, having come around the counter to gently place a hand on the floating barrier.

"Yeah, it's beautiful..." Truly, the anime didn't do it justice when they made it's animated rendition.

"So... What is this thing anyway?" Erhard asked his costumer, knocking her out of her trance.

"Oh! Uh, it's called [Airstrike Shield], and it's one of my Skills, which are basically magic Spells only Heroes can do." Asuki explained to her new bald friend in a way he could understand.

"Right... I guess I can see how the Heroes are so powerful then, if you're capable of doing this without any sort of training or chant." Erhard said, sighing at(Probably) the OPness of the Legendary Weapons.

"Again, my dear blacksmith friend, you don't even know the half of what we're truly capable of." Asuki said, smirking as she looked down at the Shield's [Whetstone Shield] form, one which was only 16 minutes away from unlocking, and that meant more stat bonuses for her.

"Well, I'm no expert on the Heroes or the Legendary Weapons, so fair enough." Erhard replied with a shrug, walking back behind his counter.

"Regardless, thanks for the new Weapon Forms big guy! I'll be sure to come back here in case I ever need something forged." Asuki said, walking out of the shop while waving behind her.

"See ya!" Erhard responded, waving back.

Now, you might be thinking: "But Asuki! You forgot the Weapon Copies!"
I didn't, I just want to stop calculating Shield Forms and stats for one goddamn minute to continue the fucking story already.

So, bleh!

Asuki sighed as her legs carried her forward. Fortunately Erhard's shop was close to her designated gate, so it didn't take her long to reach it.

Travelling a decent distance away from the capital, she switched to the [Dragon Hourglass Shield] and set down one of her Portal Markers, letting her get back quickly in case she needed to make a quick escape(Or she was just too lazy to walk back).

Once that was done, she travelled a bit further out into longer grass before switching to her [Tent Shield], which took the form of a rather large tent. Like, seriously, it could probably fit four people inside rather comfortably.

And then, she crawled inside of it and began yelling.

"YOOHOO!!! COME AND GET ME BALLOON BITCHES!!! DINNER'S ON THE MENU!!!" She yelled as loud as she could, attracting the attention of the local trash mobs.

Now, you might be wondering what the fuck she's doing. But you see...

Shing!

Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]

She had used the Vassal Hammer's [Weapon Form Synthesis] to grant the [Nail Shield]'s [Backstab] Skill to her [Tent Shield], essentially making it a self-defending fortress and allowing Asuki to remain perfectly safe while grinding.

In other words, she could now semi-AFK farm. So long as she keeps yelling, of course.

"COME ON YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!?!?!?" Man, what she wouldn't give for [Hate Reaction] right now...

Shing!

Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]

Well, at least she was going to Level Up quickly.
It'd still be faster with [Hate Reaction] though...

Regardless, she should still be at least somewhat proactive, and so she made use of the Vassal Gauntlet's Strengthening Method and dumped three of her Skill Points into [Backstab], while putting the remaining two into [Airstrike Shield].

"[Airstrike Shield II!]" She called out her newly enhanced Skill, causing it to appear within the confines of her safe haven, and entrancing Asuki once more with it's ethereal appearance, now enhanced by the Skill Points.

"Woah..." As she was admiring the Skill, she noticed something. Or rather, two somethings. Countdown times, ticking down inside of her head simultaneously, which she somehow knew on an instinctive, or perhaps existential level, that they were the duration and cooldown periods of the [Airstrike Shield].

Amazing... Was this what it was like to have a Power?

Shing!

Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]
Pop! [+10 EXP]

Level up!

Snapping out of her trance-like state(And noticing that [Backstab] also had a similar cooldown period to it's usage), Asuki checked out her new notification.

Letting out a hum of contemplation, she wondered if she should use the Whip's [Growth Revision] right now. After all, it'd be good to know how it interacts with other Strengthening Methods for future reference.

To revise, or not to revise, that is the question here...