We sat in the back room for almost an hour before Ra showed up. I dont fully know what I expected but what came through the door was anything but expectable. His face was blank of anything besides a bird beak and a monocle sitting next to it where an eye should be. His skin was a metallic copper color and reflected his surroundings. He was slim and in the brightest yellow suit imaginable. It actually reflected the light in the surroundings. He wore a wide brimmed white top hat and walked around with a cane like it was a prop. He swung it back and forth with happy momentum swinging it around in circles every once in a while. He was the general height of everyone else but he was still eye catching as hell. As he grew closer I felt heat emanating from him in waves. Like a desert sun bearing down on desert travellers. Mercury pulled out a metal chair for him to sit in.
I stared at him. He sighed. "Last time he sat in one of my nice chairs it caught on fire. He has one hell of a power. He damages anything that gets too close to him besides metal." He grumbled. Ra arrived at the chair and sat down. With a flick of his wrist his cane was in hand and sitting across his knees. "Well, well, well. Didn't expect to see the Battlefield champ here of all places. And with what I desire most. You have the luck of the heavens kid." He said with his beak opening and closing like a cartoon bird if it could speak. I nervously nodded my head. "A pleasure sir. But I got it completely by chance. But it's of no use to me. But according to Mercury you have been looking for it for a while." I said wringing my hands a little. The heat I was feeling was actually a little uncomfortable but I stayed where I was. I wasn't backing down despite being so nervous.
Ra nodded at Mercury. "And I'm glad he still remembers me after all this time. To be honest I remember when Mercury was just starting out in his business. Good head on his shoulders and a solid understanding of business. Not very good in the Dome mind you but he was a natural at talking to people." He said tapping the tip of his beak as he spoke about the past. "Though..." He said as he placed his cane on the ground and leaned forward on it. He stared at me. I couldn't see his eyes but I could tell what he was doing regardless. "You do not hold such talents. You fight and dissapear into the shadows like a person born for it. Or perhaps... you were forged by a different type of battlefield before you got here." He said as he leaned back in his chair again. The metal was starting to turn a little red around the seat area and Mercury jumped into the conversation and I could tell he was trying to hurry things up. "We really dont need to reminisce about those old times though do we? How about we focus on the matter at hand.
The armor!" He said. And with a gesture he pulled away the black cloth that had been covering it on the table. The light from Ra reflected off of it in glory. And the armor seemed to truly come to life. The wings beat mightily against the air feeling the presence of one who could wield it. Could Wear it. Could Unleash it.
Ra's face was priceless. His jaw dropped at the sight of it. It was for but a moment though before he collected himself. "What was it you said for this wonder Mercury? 8000 points? That is well worth my money. Shall we shake on it?" He said. Mercury nodded and shook his hand readily. I saw small lights flow from him to Mercury during the handshake. I looked at them both expectantly. Mercury looked at me with a grin. "I know these points will be mine by the end of the day. Go grab 40 D-Rank parts and we'll be even." He said pointing behind him.
I grinned a little in understanding. I would have done it anyway. Ra stood up and before I could move he transformed. His form stretched into a 7 foot tall bird-man. His features were mostly humanoid except his head which was a human sized falcon head. His head down to his shoulders were covered in gold feathers. His muscled chest was laid bare for all to see. But his waist down was covered in an Egyptian cotton loincloth. His wrists were covered in bands of gold with the symbol of a scarab inside a sun on them. His feet were clad with Brass colored shin guards that laced into leather sandles leaving his feet mostly exposed. But his cane was the real kicker. It had turned into a long black serpent that went and wrapped itself into a circle behind his head. The circle then filled with a red sun as his top hat changed to match it. He looked like a deity if nothing else I had seen. And what's more is that his light grew to match the object before him. He reached forward and (without having to touch it) his armor flew to him. It opened up like a crocodile opens it's mouth to snap at unsuspecting prey. The head hole fit Ra's head perfectly. It then snapped shut around his body but when I looked at it it seemed a bit big on him after all his character was still somewhat slim. The armor then did something I hadn't expected. It shrank like latex to contour to the body it was on. Every muscle became apparent and the images on it didn't even change. The wings expanded slightly pulling Ra from the floor in a somewhat permanent levitating stance as he suddenly crossed his arms and laughed.
"Hahahahaha! How long have I waited for this moment. Decades? No. More than a century! Now I am whole again!" He screeched with the cry of a falcon. It was so loud I had to cover my ears. Mercury grimaced before rubbing his ears. "Oy! This isn't a talent show for the powerful. I also have alot of customers out front. Don't scare them off please!" He said loudly which managing to get Ra back under control somewhat. His body shrank again to reveal a different style of clothes than before. It was a suit of course. This time though it was a black tuxedo with swirling gold and red colored lapels and insides. A sun was embroidered on the left lapel like a brand of company. His top hat changed back but had changed itself to black to match the tux. His cane was in his hand again and he had raised his hands happily. "Alright! Now for me to show the ladies! Haha!" He shouted as he turned and skipped happily toward the door.
I shook my head and let go of my ears in hope that it had turned quieter. Mercury patted my back hard enough to stand me up. "Always been a bit excitable that one. Dont let it bother you too much. He's happy as a clam. Now grab your parts before I grab them for you." He said as he ventured toward the front of the store again. I picked out 40 pieces which I showed Mercury for him to count.
It didn't take long for me to have a bag and be on my way back to the faction house. I made it to the elevator and pushed 36 on the button list. I pulled out the points and morphed. The first place I started adding them to was my bandages. I put ten into the bandages before getting a notice from Interface.
"You have reached the maximum part cap for your level on this part. Please select another part to enhance."
I looked at the bandages and found they had started to glow blue. I asked Interface what my healing factor had become.
"Your bandages now heal 10 points of health per minute. Congratulations on maxing out your first part for D-Rank!" She chimed. I took my other part thinking about where to put them. I decided to divide them equally between my parts. 5 parts per leg, 5 per arm, 10 for my head, and 5 per my chain sickles.
I felt my strength had increased and looking at my strength in my character sheet I realized it had increased by 3 points making it 23 now. My speed had increased from 17 km/h to a maximum of 20 km/h. I only needed 33 more parts to max out the rank for my frame. And my health had increased by 5. I now had 105 points of health. I could feel it. My limbs moved easier and my strength was felt in my individual muscles. My eyesight had increased in detail and I could feel my teeth had become sharper. My body felt lighter and I felt faster. The elevator beeped indicating I had arrived at my floor. I quickly resumed my civilian form before exiting the elevator. The floor was still busy despite night having taken over the sky. Fairies acted almost like flying street lamps as they gave off light and allowing me to see the street better. I took my time getting back to the faction house. I liked the night. It was calm and quieter than the day. It reminded me of mars. I looked at the night sky and saw the stars. Pixelled but still there. It was a relief for me to still see them. It made everything feel less awful and more real. I looked at my hands clenching and unclenching them. I didn't know why. I just did it. Like I was looking for some reaction or feel something out of place. I did that most of the way back to the faction house. The petals were still being spat out of the skull above the door and it was still a very lively house. I could hear Henry and Horacio arguing about something inside which made me smile before pushing open the door and saying "I'm home."
Lily had a hologram going on the table and was examining it thoroughly. Henry and Horacio were arguing about getting another couch or a TV. "What do you mean the coffin couch is a bad idea!? It was fantastic last week when I brought it! Henry said loudly. "Yeah but we should add something a bit more lively like a loveseat or a beanbag couch to offset the sense of death in here! It's depressing!" Horacio retorted.
Beth rose from the couch as soon as she saw me though. "Ah good. You're back. How'd it go?" She asked. I pointed at Henry and Horacio. "How long have they been arguing for?" I asked curiously considering it felt like I had walked into a couple's spat. She waved them off. "They've been at that for the past hour so you can ignore them." She said and tapped my chest. "But you didn't answer my question." She said. I looked down at her slightly. "It went very well. I got 8000 credits which I exchanged for 40 D-Rank parts. I maxed out my healing factor for my rank. So now I heal 10 points a minute. I only need 33 more parts till I can rank up." I said with a smile. She grinned back at me. "That's good but you're still the rook so dont get too cocky Sil. Btw. Lily might want to talk to you. She's going over strategies and needs you to tell her your abilities again so she can account for them in her tactics." She said patting my arm and sitting back down on the couch.
I turned and walked over to Lily feeling a bit nervous about what type of questions she was going to ask. She looked up at the sound of my approaching footsteps. "Ah good. Just the person I wanted to see." She held out a screen that glowed neon green in the air. "I need you to write down all of your abilities and passives so we can make better battle plans for the team. Make sure not to leave any out." She said as she went back to scrutinizing the diagram before her. It was a large diagram of within the dome. A city scape by the looks of it. I shivered at the thought of what would have happened if I had been dropped onto a skyscraper instead of the plains area I had experienced.
I went and sat down and pulled up my character screen. I wrote down my auto chain defense, healing perk, the scales, and feather of truth abilities. I also entered the effected by freezing, burning, and slowing effects part I had read off the screen. "This should do I." I said as I handed the green screen back to Lily who eyed it over and raised an eyebrow. "The scales seems to be a double edged sword." She said.
" I make sure I fight my battles wisely. No stupidity will be seen from me." I said as I went downstairs. I wanted to see how it felt to be in combat after my parts had improved.